Insight - Page 38 of 45 - Nadine MullingsNadine Mullings | Marketing Essentials

October

06 2015

7 Surefire Ways to Build an Awesome Email List

As an independent business owner, coach or consultant, if you want to build your business online, then email marketing should be a part of your marketing mix. If you already use email marketing, you know the importance of continuously growing your email list with interested and engaged prospects, but building an email list can be a difficult task.

In this blog post, I will share 7 Surefire Organic Ways to Build an Awesome Email List:

[Tweet “7 Surefire Organic Ways to Build an Awesome Email List. #MarketingEssentials #EmailMarketing “]

Send an email invitation to your current database of contacts– You probably have a database of contacts with e-mail addresses. This is a great starting point to CREATE or GROW your opt-in e-mail list. Send an invitation to your ENTIRE database of email contacts INVITING them to opt-in to receive your e-mails. Be sure to let them know the valuable information you will be providing them so they will WANT to opt-in to receive your emails. One mistake I see a lot of people make is they just add their contacts to their e-mail list, don’t do this! Make sure they have opted in (you don’t want to be a spammer- someone who consistently sends e-mails to individuals who did not request it!)
Offer an AWESOME incentive for joining your email list (i.e. FREE report, e-Book, white paper, checklist, etc.). Everyone likes to get something for FREE, so provide information that will be VALUABLE to your contacts and use that as an incentive for them to opt-in to your e-mail list. Some people refer to this as your “lead magnet” because the right offer can act as a magnet for leads for your business.
Add a sign-up box on your website and on social media– A great tool that will help you grow your e-mail list is to have an e-mail sign-up form and place it on your website, blog, social networks, etc. You can use the same offer that you created in #2 as an incentive to sign-up for your e-mail list in these various places! Most email service providers offer an option and provide support on how to add an email sign-up box to your website, social media and your blog. Check with your email service provider to learn more about adding this function to your platforms. My email service provider is Constant Contact, they easily integrate with my website and blog with a simple WordPress plugin, and I’m able to connect my sign-up form with Facebook with a simple Facebook App.
Consistently promote joining your email list on all of your platforms– You have to promote joining your e-mail list on your social networks, e-mail, website, blog, etc. Create posts that will encourage individuals to sign-up to join your list. You can’t rely just on your initial list of contacts and the sign-up forms you have online, you have to continuously promote joining your e-mail list.
Promote joining your email list offline– The promotion of joining your e-mail list is not limited to just online; you can promote joining your e-mail list by including a QR Code (Quick Response Code) that links to your e-mail sign up form. The QR Code can be placed on your business card, brochures, flyers, etc. Check out my QR Code below:
Scan to join my email list!
You can also promote joining your list when you host events or have a booth or table at an event, be sure to have an email sign-up form at your table and ask people to join your email list. You can always use the item you created in #2 as an incentive to get people to join your email list offline too.
Use Text Message Marketing to promote joining your email list– Another way to promote joining your e-mail list offline is to offer a text to join feature. Make it easy to join your e-mail list by texting a special code to a shortcode, which will then allow them to sign-up via text. Most Email Marketing Service Providers offer this option to their customers. To see how it works, Text “JOINME” to “42828” to join my email list.
Add a pop-up box to your website– As annoying as pop-up boxes may be, they do work, so consider adding a pop-up box to your website. There are many different types of pop-up boxes. Some appear immediately once you land on someone’s website, others show up when you scroll down the page, and others appear when you are exiting the website. Whatever option you choose, pop-up boxes really work. There are several pop-up box tools available, but I use and recommend SumoMe. SumoMe has a free basic option that works well and has lot of other tools you can use to help to build your email list.

Are you growing your email list? If so, what methods are you using to grow your email list? Be sure to let us know by commenting below.

Need some help with your email marketing? Be sure to check out the Marketing Essentials Checklist of 21 Things You Must do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Email Marketing.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | 2 Comments | in Business, Email Marketing, Marketing, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants

September

22 2015

How Often Should You Post on Your Business Blog

One of the questions I get when its comes to blogging for business is how often should I post on my business blog?

[Tweet “How often should I post on my business blog? #MarketingEssentials #Blogging”]

Some people would say it’s important to blog every day, or it’s important to blog at least three times a week. This may be a good strategy for a professional blogger, but your business is not blogging, you should be blogging for business as a part of your marketing mix, so you should take a different approach to how often you blog.

I feel the answer to that question differs for each business. If blogging is part of your marketing mix, you have to decide how much time you or someone on your team can dedicate to consistently posting on the business blog.

Depending on the decision that you come up with for your business, this will determine how often you should blog. However, as a rule of thumb, I would say you should try to put new content on your blog at the very least twice a month.

New content on your blog is important for various reasons:

It keeps your blog from getting stale– Nobody wants to visit a blog and the last post was from 3 months ago, so to make sure that your content stays fresh it would be important to post at least every two weeks.
You rank higher in the search engines when you have newer content. Search engines like to provide browsers with more recent information, so the more updated your blog is, and the newer the content on your blog, the more likely you are to rank higher in the search engines.
Promoting your new content helps to bring consistent traffic to your website. Having a business blog and promoting your blog posts is a great way to get traffic to your website. The more you post the more traffic you will get.
When done correctly, your new content can also help to create new leads for your company, so the more content you put out, the more leads you can expect to get for your company.

However, it’s not just important to have new content on your business blog, but it’s just as important if not more important, to promote the older content you have on your blog, so in addition to creating new content for your blog, you should also have a plan to promote the older content that you have on your blog.

[Tweet “In addition to creating new content for your blog, you should also plan to promote the older content on your blog. #MarketingEssentials #Blogging”]

For example, if you decide to post on your business blog at least twice a month, then after just one year of posting at least twice a month, you will have at least 24 pieces of content that you can repurpose and share on your social media networks, your email list, etc.

So no matter how often you post on your business blog, it is important to have fresh content (at least twice a month), and it’s important to promote both your new and old content in order to get more traffic and get more leads for your business.

Do you have a business blog? If so, how often do you post on your business blog?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Blog, Business, Business Development, Marketing, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Uncategorized

September

15 2015

How to Stay Consistent With Your Business Blog

One of the hardest things about blogging is staying consistent. Many coaches, consultants, and independent business owners, start blogs but don’t stay consistent with their blogging effort. A great way to stay on task and remain consistent with blogging is by creating an editorial calendar. When you plan out what you will be blogging about in advance, and when you schedule your blogging activity, it becomes part of your routine.

In this post we will explore some editorial calendar options for your blog:

A wall calendar. Although it may seem old-fashioned, a paper calendar is a good way to stay organized and on task without having to use any technology and it works as well as technology. You can use a 12-month calendar to map out your entire year of blogging activity. For each month select the topic you will focus on for the month, then schedule out when you want to publish your posts. This advance planning will really help you to stay on task with your blog. I use an At A Glance Wall Calendar to keep me organized, and since it is posted on the wall, I am always aware of when my blog posts are due, and what I need to be working on.
Your device calendar– Almost all the devices (iPad, Smart Phone, etc.) have a calendar option within the device that you can use as an editorial calendar. The great thing about the calendar on your device is that your device is typically always with you, so even if you’re not in the office and don’t have access to your wall calendar, you can always know what you’re working on and what needs to be done by checking the calendar on your device. I use my iPad calendar to stay on track with when items need to be produced and published on my blog.
An online calendar– Another great option for an editorial calendar is an online calendar. The great thing about an online calendar is if you have a team or someone who helps you with your blog, having an online calendar makes it easier for everyone to stay on the same page and know what needs to be worked on. Many people like to use a Google Calendar for their online calendar and if you use Gmail you can check your calendar and your email right in one place, making it very convenient to stay on task. The Google Calendar allows you to color code different types of activity, so you can color code the dates a draft is due, then put a different color for the day that a blog post is published, etc.
An online editorial calendar– An editorial calendar is designed specifically for the task at hand, keeping your blog organized. There are tons of online editorial calendar software, but I choose to use Coschedule. If you use WordPress for your blog, Coschedule integrates directly with WordPress, so you can plan and post right in one place. You can also directly post to social media from Coschedule, so you can plan, post, and promote your blog from one tool.

These are just a few options of how to stay consistent with your blog by creating an editorial calendar. Are you using an editorial calendar for your blog? If so, what calendar tool do you find the most useful?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Blog, Business, Marketing, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Small Business

September

08 2015

7 Essential Elements for a Highly Successful Business Blog

There are 1001 ways that you can market your business, but if you are a coach or consultant, blogging should be an essential part of your marketing mix. However, it’s not that easy to run a successful business blog. The blogsphere is very crowded with lots of blogs covering the same topic that you will be covering, so how do you stand out and create a successful business blog?

Here are 7 Essential Elements for a Highly Successful Business Blog:

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Show your personality– A blog, even a business blog, should have a personality that reflects the style and tone of the business. If you have a fun business, that should be reflected on your blog. If you have a serious business, then that should be reflected on your blog. What makes a blog stand out is how the personality of the business shines on the blog, so make sure that your blog is reflecting the true personality of your business.
Know your target audience– The most successful business blogs resonate with their target audience because they know their audiences needs, wants, struggles, and creates blog posts around those issues. In order for your business blog to be successful be sure that you are addressing the needs, wants, and struggles of your specific target audience.
Create amazing content– With so much information available on the Internet, it is important that the content you create and share with your audience resonates with them. It is important to create content that will inspire, motivate, inform, and/or educate. People love to learn, and when they know that your content can teach them what they need to know, you will create a successful business blog.
Have a strong call to action– Providing amazing content that resonates with your target audience is important, but in order for you to get business, you also have to have a strong call to action. You want to not only inform your audience, but encourage them to take the next step with you. The next step could be joining your email list. Having a strong lead magnet to encourage individuals to join your email list at the end of your blog post would be important, or if you are selling a program, product, or event, having a link to the sales page to encourage sales would be important. Whatever your call to action, it is important that you have one at the end of each blog post.
Promote your blog– In order to get traffic to your blog, you have to promote it! It’s not one of those things where once you write it they will come. Nope! Just like anything else you have to promote, promote, promote. That should include promoting the post to your email list and on social media. You have to get the word out about your blog post in order for people to read it and engage with it.
Be consistent- In order to have a successful business blog, you have to blog consistently. Whatever that looks like for your business. Whether it is monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, be consistent in how often you blog. Being consistent shows that your company is professional and reliable.
Remarket your blog– Promoting your blog should not be limited to when you first publish a new blog post, but you should remarket your blog posts. Select some of your most popular blog posts and promote it again on email and social media. This one exercise of remarketing your blog post can increase your traffic by leaps and bounds.

Are you blogging for business? If so, what essential elements do you feel makes a business blog successful, leave your comments below.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Blog, Business, Business Development, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Small Business

August

25 2015

How to Build a Powerful Text Message Marketing List

In my last two posts I talked about 5 Reasons You Should Be Using Text Message Marketing and How to Use Text Message Marketing in Your Business, so in this post, I am going to address one of the key factors to being successful with Text Message Marketing, which is building an effective Text Message list.

[Tweet “The key factor to being successful with Text Message Marketing is…… #TextMessageMarketing #MarketingEssentials”]

Similar to building an email list, you have to get people to opt-in (give permission) to receive information via text message. So in this post I will cover 5 ways to grow your text message list:

[Tweet “5 ways to grow your text message list. #TextMessageMarketing #MarketingEssentials”]

Encourage individuals to join your text list by offering a special incentive. (i.e. Text “SPECIAL” to “515151” to receive a 10% off coupon). People are more likely to opt in to join your list if they get an immediate benefit like a discount code or a coupon. You can place this offer in your emails, at events offline, on social media, etc.
Encourage individuals to join your text list by having a contest. (i.e. Text “Ticket” to “515151” for a chance to win tickets to an awesome event that is happening in town). People always like to have a chance at winning something, so this can be an easy way to build your text message list.
Encourage individuals to participate in a text poll. Polls are a great way to get instant feedback, but you can also use it as a way to build your text list. (i.e. Text “Yes” to “515151” if you agree with the question of the day, or text “No” to “515151” if you disagree). You can use this method of building your list on platforms online or offline just by promoting participating in the poll to your audience.
Encourage individuals to join your text list by offering a lead magnet. Now I am pretty sure you have heard this term used for online marketing activities. A lead magnet is a FREE download that would be of interest to your target audience. Some popular lead magnets include, eBooks, Checklists, Guides, etc. You can offer the same types of lead magnets to grow your text list, (i.e. Text “FREEDownload” to “515151”) and send the lead magnet as a link in the reply text message.
Include a “mobile phone number” field in your sign-up forms and add a disclosure on the sign-up form stating that you may contact them via text message (i.e. event sign-up forms online, event sign-in lists, etc.). Requiring individuals to add a mobile phone number is an easy way to grow your opt-in text message list.

These five ways are a great way to start to build a text message list. Once you have a text message list, be sure to check out the How to Use Text Message Marketing in Your Business Post so you can learn how to use Text Message Marketing to effectively reach out to the people on the list that you have created.

Have you started to build a text message list yet? If so, what have you found to be the most effective way to build your text message list? Be sure to comment below and let us know.

Looking for an easy text message marketing platform to use? Check out EZ texting, an online browser-based mass text messaging software that is affordable and easy to use.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Marketing, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Text Marketing

August

18 2015

How to Use Text Message Marketing in Your Business

I recently posted 5 Reasons You Should be Using Text Message Marketing, and got several inquiries and questions regarding text message marketing and how to use it in business, so today’s post is all about How to Use Text Message Marketing in Your Business.

The first thing I want to clear up is that I am talking about using text message marketing to market to individuals who have opted in to your text message marketing campaign. I do not support and I totally disagree with randomly texting individuals marketing messages who have not given you permission to contact them via text.

Once you have built up a text message marketing list, then you can use text message marketing in several different ways. Here are 7 ways to use text message marketing in your marketing mix:

[Tweet “7 ways to use text message marketing in your marketing mix. #TextMessageMarketing”]

Special Offers– An easy text message marketing campaign is to text your list a special offer. Special offers could cover several things (coupons, discounts, bonuses, etc.) The key to a successful special offer is that it needs to resonate with your audience. Make sure it is an offer they will appreciate and take advantage of.
Promote Events– Text message marketing is a great way to spread the word about upcoming events that you may be hosting (workshops, seminars, open house, etc.). Your text message can even include a link to the address where the event is taking place, making it easy for people to find the location.
Appointment Reminders– Send your clients a friendly reminder of upcoming appointments. This helps to keep everyone on the same page as to when their next consultation or visit is scheduled to take place. You can send out reminders one week out, one day out, and even one hour before. This also helps to eliminate missed appointments
Tips– Send out relevant tips to your clients via text message. Sometimes just sending helpful and timely tips can be awesome for your clients. The key is to make sure your tips are relevant and will resonate with your audience.
Flash Sales– Text messaging is great to get the word out about a sale that is happening in a very short amount of time. This type of sale usually occurs within hours (i.e. 9:00 am-1:00 pm, 1:00 pm-9:00pm, etc.). Because of the need to purchase quickly, text messages are a great way to get the word out about flash sales.
Surveys/Polls– Need feedback on a product, service, etc. Text messaging can be a great way to send a quick poll or survey to get feedback from your audience.
Welcome Notification– Welcome new customers, clients, members by sending them a welcome text message. This is a great way to stand out and show appreciate to your new customer, client, or member.

Are you using text message marketing in your business? If so, how are you using text message marketing in your business. Be sure to comment below and let us know.

Looking for a easy text message marketing platform to use? Check out EZtexting, an online browser-based mass text messaging software that is affordable and easy to use.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Marketing, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Small Business, Text Marketing

August

11 2015

5 Reasons You Should Be Using Text Message Marketing

Although text messaging has been around for a while now, using text messaging as a part of a company’s marketing mix is a fairly new concept for most business owners, coaches, and consultants, but the potential of text message marketing is huge.

So why should you be using text message marketing in your marketing mix? Let’s examine some of the benefits of text message marketing:

A large percentage of consumers use cell phones on a daily basis, and many people send and receive text messages on their cell phones. In fact, text messaging has become an easy and efficient way to communicate, so sending text messages to your own opt-in list would be an easy and efficient way for you to communicate with your clients or prospects. Did you know that:

“86% of consumers send or receive a text message every week” source- EzTexing-SMS Marketing Statistics

[Tweet “A large percentage of consumers use cell phones on a daily basis. Are you using text message marketing in your business? #MarketingEssentials”]

2. If you would like your marketing messages to be read, then text message marketing is one of the best channels to use to ensure your message will be received and read by your audience, check out these statistics:

“95 out of 100 of your customers who have opted into your text messaging program OPEN and READ your mobile messages within 3 mins.” source- Forbes- Pulling Back The Curtain On Text Message Mobile Marketing

[Tweet “text message marketing is one of the best channels to use to ensure your message will be received and read by your audience. #MarketingEssentials”]

3. Text Message Marketing is one of the most affordable marketing channels. Text Message Marketing services range from free, to a couple of cents per text, to a low monthly fee depending on what Text Message Marketing Service you choose to use, making it one of the most affordable marketing channels you can use.

4. People often take immediate action with a text message. Unlike other marketing channels, text message marketing tends to be immediate and people tend to take immediate action regarding a text message (i.e. respond, download, click, etc.), so if you are looking for immediate results, you may want to consider text message marketing.

“30% of consumers interact with a brand via text message.” source- EzTexing-SMS Marketing Statistics

[Tweet “text message marketing tends to be immediate and people tend to take immediate action regarding a text message. Are you using text message marketing #MarketingEssentials”]

5. Text Message Marketing is easy to use. Once you sign-up with a Text Message Marketing service, and you have built an opt-in text message list, sending text messages to your audience is super simple. Just log on to the platform, compose your message, click send, and your message will be received by the individuals on your opt-in list within minutes.

Are you using text message marketing in your marketing mix? If so, what other benefits do you find from using text message marketing?

Interested in using text message marketing, check out the EZTexting Platform. And see how you can start using Text Message Marketing in your marketing mix.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Small Business, Text Marketing, Uncategorized

July

28 2015

5 Top Social Media Management Tools That Save You a Ton of Time

Social media can play an important role in your marketing mix, but as a busy business owner, coach, or consultant, it can be impossible to find the time to manage your social media. That’s why using the right social media management tools can save you a ton of time.

Here is a list of 5 Top Social Media Management Tools you can use in your business to save you time.

Hootsuite
This list would not be complete without Hootsuite. More than 10 million users use the Hootsuite social media management platform. This platform allows you to manage your social networks, schedule your messages, engage your audiences, and measure your ROI right from one easy to use dashboard. Hootsuite has a FREE plan that offers basic benefits for personal use, and has business plans starting as low as $9.99/month
Learn more…..
Buffer
Buffer is an app that is used by more the 2 million people. Buffer helps you drive traffic, increase fan engagement, and save time on social media. Buffer makes it easy to consistently schedule content on social media, increasing your reach and fan engagement. This powerful publishing tool make it easy to share content across multiple social networks with one click. Buffer business plans start at $50/month.
Learn more….
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a powerful social media software. A management and engagement platform for social businesses. Sprout helps entire organizations extract real business value out of social media through effective engagement, publishing and analytics. Sprout Social offers a Free 30-day trial and plans start at $59 per user/per month
Learn more….
SocialOomph.com
SocialOomph.com is a service that provides free and paid productivity enhancement services for social media users. Originally created specifically for Twitter, many of the features are specific to Twitter, but it also offers scheduling for Facebook and LinkedIn as well as scheduling your blog posts. SocialOomph offers a FREE account with basic features, and offers paid accounts starting at $17.97/bi-weekly.
Learn more….
Meet Edgar
Edgar is a social media scheduling tool like no other. Instead of publishing your updates just once, Edgar carefully catalogues them in a limitless library that you build over time. All of your updates are sorted into categories that you create and published on a schedule that you choose, so Edgar publishes what you want, when you want it. Edgar is by invitation only and is priced at $49/month
Learn more….

Are you using a social media management tool? If so, what social media management tool do you use?

Be sure to download our 21 Top Social Media Marketing Tips to help you with your social media marketing!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Marketing, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Small Business, Social Media

July

21 2015

5 Easy Ways to Use Social Listening to Grow Your Business

Listening is an important skill to master in both your personal and professional life. Being able to listen carefully can improve your personal relationships, and being able to listen carefully to the needs and wants of your customers, clients, and prospects can improve your business. However, many independent business owners, coaches, and consultants have not mastered the art of social listening.

A great way to listen to your customers, clients, and prospects is to conduct surveys and polls to gain valuable insight, but one way to listen that most companies are not taking advantage of is listening on social media, so how can listening on social media grow your business?

Here are five ways social listening can grow your business:

[Tweet “Five ways social listening can grow your business! #SocialMedia #MarketingEssentials”]

Listen to the posts people are making in your community (i.e. posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) Sometimes you can find your next customer right in your own backyard just by listening within your community. I have gotten more business listening to people in my community on social media over any other social media marketing method. When someone posts a question or concerns that you are able to answer, be sure to reach out to the individual and let them know that you can help. The key is to take the conversation offline. The post may start in a public arena such as a public post on Facebook, but you should move the conversation to a direct or private message, and then move to a meeting either on the phone or in-person. The reason why this technique works so well, is because when someone expresses a need on social media, and you have a solution, it’s almost guaranteed business for you as long as you handle it correctly by taking the conversation offline to learn more and offer your services as a solution.
Listen to the posts people are making in online groups. This could be LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups, etc. I have found more success listening to comments people make in various Facebook groups, especially if you belong to groups that have your ideal target audience, every once in a while someone may post about being in need of someone who offers your services. Seeing those posts and responding, can be a great way to get new business. Similar to listening in your own community, the key here is to take the conversation offline to close the deal.
Listen to the comments people make on your platforms. This could be comments made on your social media posts, or your blog posts. If someone takes the time to comment, be sure to listen to their comment and even respond to their comment. Taking the time to do this nurtures that relationship you have with your fans and followers, and if your response if valuable and helpful sometimes that same person who commented could become a customer.
Create online polls and poll your fans and followers. Another great way to listen to your audience is to ask questions. Social media is a great place to conduct market research. You can create a simple poll and ask questions that will help you understand your target audience better. For example, a good poll for me would be “What social network do you use the most for marketing your business?”
1. Facebook
2. LinkedIn
3. Pinterest
4. Google+
5. Other

By asking this simple question and getting responses, I will then better understand what social networks my audience is using, and I could create blog posts about that particular network, or even create a program or course that talks all about that particular network, but I would never know what my audience uses unless I polled my fans and followers and listened to their responses, and then took some type of action based on their responses.

5. Create online surveys and survey your fans and followers. Similar to an online poll, an online survey can provide you with invaluable information regarding your fans and followers, so why not create an online survey and post it on your social media channels and encourage your fans and followers to complete the short survey. The insight you gain from that survey can help you in so many ways. You can use the information to:

Find out how you are perceived
Learn what your audience struggles with
Create new products, programs, courses with the information you receive
Create your next promotion
And so much more…

Are you using social listening to grow your business? If not, be sure to schedule a FREE strategy session so you can learn how to use social listening in your business. Click Here to contact us and schedule your session today!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | 2 Comments | in Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

July

14 2015

How to Decide What Content to Post on Social Media

As an independent business owner, coach or consultant, you know the importance of using social media in your business, but do you know what type of content to post to encourage engagement with your fans and followers?

In this blog post, I am going to review five steps to posting engaging content for your fans and followers that will also help to grow your business:

[Tweet “Five steps to posting engaging content for your fans and followers that will also help to grow your business. #MarketingEssentials”]

The first and most important step is to know your target audience. Before you will ever be able to post content that your fans and followers engage with, you must first understand your audience. Understand what their needs, desires and frustrations may be, and tailor your content around those topics. It helps to know your target audience’s demographics (age, gender, income level, etc.), but more important for social media is to understand their psychographics (dreams, desires, attitudes, tastes, etc. ). Once you understand your target audience’s demographics and psychographics, you will be better able to select content that will resonate with your audience, which will increase engagement.
Always remember that social media is “social”, so your goal, no matter what social media platform you decide to use, is to be social with the content that you post. Think about your posts as talking to a friend. If you were talking to a friend about a particular topic or subject what would that conversation sound like? Create conversational posts. Starting a post with a question can help to be more conversational. Another way to be social is to be entertaining. After all people are on social media to be social, not to hear you pitch your business, so think of ways that you can create entertaining posts. Some examples of conversational/entertaining posts can include:
1. Funny posts from Someecards
2. Inspirational Quotes
3. Videos
4. Questions that spark nostalgia or just a really good feeling
5. Filling in the blank statements
Individuals are very visual, so regardless of what platform you choose, pictures and videos tend to get the most engagement, so if you create pictures and videos that will resonate with your target audience, you will receive more engagement. Even if you do not create the pictures and video yourself, but you share it with your audience and it resonates with them, that is also a great way to create engagement.
[Tweet ” regardless of what platform you choose, pictures and videos tend to get the most engagement. #MarketingEssentials #SocialMedida”]
As an expert in your field, you also want to post content that educates your audience, and showcases your expertise. This type of content can include:
1. Blog Posts
2. Tips
3. Recommended Tools
4. Articles
5. Infographics
6. Statistics
Lastly, one of your goals on social media should be to get new business. If this is the case, you also need to post promotional content. This type of content can encourage people to get to know you better or work with you. This can include:
1. Special deals or promotions
2. Join your e-mail list
3. Attend your event

Are you using social media marketing in your marketing mix? Are you posting engaging content for your fans and followers? Be sure to download the 21 Top Social Media Marketing Tips and start using social media effectively today!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Marketing, Marketing for Coaches, Marketing for Consultants, Social Media