Business

10 Ways to Maximize On Your Social Media Messaging

Published

2 weeks ago

March 4, 2019

Figuring out what you really want to do with life and share with others is not easy. There are so many options nowadays, and if there isn’t something out there that you want to do, you can create the opportunity. After deciding on your social media messaging strategy, these steps below will help you maximize your reach and spread your message through social skills and social media.

Have a clear message

When it comes to your social media messaging strategy, have a clear message that is short, to the point and simple to understand. Someone who is viewing your content for the first time should be able to know what you are providing them in a couple of seconds. Don’t lose a potential client/follower because they did not know what you are marketing.

Hook your audience in three seconds and keep their attention. People scroll through social media feeds very quickly. Your content needs to stop them in their tracks then have them scroll back to see what you posted. It can be an attention grabbing title, a stunning location they would want to visit, an adrenaline pumping video or an abstract photo that gets them confused and wanting to figure out what is going on.

Once you’ve hooked them, they will now want to check out the rest of your content. Stay constant with your message throughout your content. Focus on one message at a time. What is your core value and the first thing you want your audience to know? Once you have grown your first message then you can expand and pick up another message to share.

Provide value with your content

Now that you have a clear message with what you are marketing, how will it provide value to your audience? Whether you are selling a product or a service, how does it make your user’s life easier? A value doesn’t have to be something monetary or physical. Provide social media messaging that can inspire your audience. Something to motivate them to get up and do something. Believe it or not, envy is also a good motivation. That’s why social media influencers have the job they do. They market their content in a why that makes you want to be in their shoes.

Everyone who is following you is doing so for the same reason, they like whatever you are offering them. That is at least one thing they all have in common. Build a community where they can connect with you and each other on a more personal level than just commenting on each other’s post. Give them somewhere to go to talk about and share similar ideas.

Understanding and responding to your audience

Understand what excites your audience. Understand what made them follow you in the first place. If you can find out what gets them excited and wanting to share your product, you will have them doing half of the marketing for you. Take the Starbucks social media messaging strategy for example. People like personalized things. Something as simple as writing their name on a cup will have them taking a picture of it and sharing it on social media and with friends. Free publicity for Starbucks. Add some hearts or funny misspellings and you’ve got yourself a winning cup.

When you are provided feedback, listen to them. Gather what your friends, family and audience has said and respond if the request or advise is reasonable and in good taste. They will feel like they are a part of your journey and appreciate it. Surround yourself with positive people who want to see you succeed. You don’t have to remove anyone from your life, they just don’t have to be a part of your growing process. There is a difference between people who are shut down every idea you have and people who critique your work. Find people who will provide honest feedback to better yourself and your work. That can be people in your circle, in your interested community, Reddit or Facebook groups. Believe in yourself and your work. Also, you are your hardest critic. So don’t forget to celebrate how far you are come. And don’t forget to celebrate with your audience. They are part of the reason you are where you are. Create milestones and little celebrations.

Making connections

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Sadly, that cannot be true enough. Yes, you still need solid skills and products but the first step is to get in and get noticed. This is why people collaborate. In order to reach the audience of the other group. If you notice, social media influencers, Youtube especially, collaborate with each other through a combined social media messaging strategy. They understand that the audience of the person they are collaborating with are all potential new audience for themselves. When you see a new person mentioned in your favorite YouTuber’s video, you go and check out what they have to offer as well.

Collaboration and networking is very important. It can also be very annoying. If you are an introvert, networking is actually one of the most dreaded task. But not all networking has to be in a conference room. When you chatting and connecting with someone, whether it is your neighbor or the barista, that is networking. Those are the kind of networking that will last longer. They are more genuine. Neither side went hoping to get something out of the situation.

Understanding the different social media platforms and which ones work for you

Anyone who wants to get their message across needs to be on social media. Word of mouth is great but that can only spread so far. Being active on social media will draw in clients from all around the globe. But it’s not good enough to just be on every social platform. You need to be constantly active on each one with a clear social media messaging strategy catered to individual platforms. And learn all the ins-and-outs of what makes each platform unique. That can be very overwhelming. Pick one or two platforms to focus on first. Grow a real following with an active community and get in the swing of things before moving on to the next.

Have a unique offering

What makes what you are offering better than what is already out there? Like Apple, you do not have to be the first at something but you have to be better. Whether you are marketing a lifestyle or material goods, add your personal touches to it. People get tired of seeing the same things over and over. That makes social media messaging boring for you and your audience. Everybody is unique and different. And people get bored of the same old thing. So if you add a bit of your personality and style into your work, that will shine brighter and market better than if you were to stick with the standard.

But be ready. Have something to showcase your work whether it is a website or a media kit. You don’t want to throw something together last minute. The quality of a last minute project will never be as great as something well prepared and thought out. And make sure to keep it up to date. When the opportunity arises, you have to be prepared.

Quality over quantity

People like high quality things. This is why new models come out every year and video quality keeps getting higher. The quality of your content needs to be your best work. Make sure the photos you are sharing vibrant, your videos at the highest quality. Make people want to share your content on their site or tag a friend. Give them a story they want to be a part of.

Keep an idea or inspiration board to pull from for days you need a little motivation. Also, think about what made you inspired by their content. Did it invoke a feeling? Was it something you always wanted to do? What was it about the photo that made you want to save it? Keep those things in mind and think about how you can bring those feelings to your work.

Make it searchable

If you were to Google something related to what you are marketing, what phrases would you search? When creating social media messaging content, keep in mind the phrases or words you yourself would search for. Have a good caption or description. Use keywords. There are tons of resources online that provide you with a list of words to make your content more searchable. A good course to learn more about this is the Google Adword course. You can read more about that course here.

Spend money to make money (not just literally)

Invest in yourself. Invest in your hobby and your passion. More importantly, invest in your business. Investments are not just material goods but also skills as well and marketing social media messaging tactics that will help maximize your reach and impact.

Yes, you still need to have proper gear whether it is a tripod if you are a photographer, software or hardware if you are a designer, a good blender if you are a chef. Do your research based on your budget and availability.

If you are providing a skilled based service, take classes and attend workshops. You can practice, network and get fresh perspective from people in your class. Sometimes, the newbie asking the “dumb” questions will actually be the one with the most out-of-the-box brilliant ideas. They are not used to what the “standard” is so they will have a different frame of mind than what you are so used to.

Once you have some solid content, you are ready to start marketing. Along with marketing through social media, friends, family and your network, look into paid marketing. Think about how much big companies pay for ads. They would not be spending that kind of money if it did not work. You probably don’t need a big billboard on the side of the highway but you will benefit from ads and marketing on social media. Do your research on what social media platforms your target audience would most likely be on, what time of day they are most active, what other things do they follow.

Timing

Time your content to coincide with special events or holidays. Is there a random holiday that you can work your content around? National llama day is coming up, December 9th. If the holiday is big enough or silly enough, social media accounts have special features on them. Work your content around those holidays to get your content featured on the main page.

Keep an ear out for what is trending at the moment? Get into high school gossip mode! What are people talking about? Whether it is good or bad, how does your content apply? Get creative but always make sure you are true to your message.

Related Topics:featured growth hacking marketing social media

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Business

170 Questions to Ask A Client Before You Begin Your Campaign

Published

16 hours ago

March 19, 2019

Johnathan Grzybowski

Confused about what type of questions to a prospect in the crazy world of tech?

Well, worry no more! We decided to give you our 170 questions that we ask our clients, before we begin working with them. Now, we don’t ask every question, because let’s be honest, we would be here for several hours before we get all of the answers. Choose your questions wisely and add your company’s culture into how you ask your questions!

If you’d like to add more onto this list, feel free to comment below or email us your additions.

Current Website Questions

– What is the purpose of your current website?

– Are there any aspects of your current website that you love?

– Are there any aspects of your current website that you hate?

– Is there anything on the current website that needs to be removed entirely?

– Is there anything on the current website that must absolutely stay?

– Do you have multiple locations?

– Where are they located?

– Do you offer different products or services per location?

– What is your business’s unique value proposition (UVP)?

– What are the services you want to highlight on your website?

– Why do visitors currently come to my website?

– Is your website easy to navigate and is it easy to find information?

– Are your current website visitors being converted into sales?

– Are competitors’ websites more functional and have they recently been redesigned?

– Does the content on my website deliver the right message?

– Is your website a good representation of your business?

– Does your current website instill trust and confidence?

– Is it easy to update your website?

– Are visitors who come to your website being tracked and analyzed?

– Does your current website make it easy for website visitors to contact you?

– What tools and apps do you use to run your business?

Website Redesign Questions

– Why do you want a new website?

– Do you have a proposed sitemap prepared?

– In an ideal world, what do you want your website to become?

– What are your specific goals for your new website that will help indicate if your investment is profitable?

– How quickly do you want to achieve these goals?

– Is there anything that you would like to have included in the new website that you lack currently?

– Will your copy need to be reviewed and approved by legal and compliance?

– Will your legal team need to create the privacy policy for the site?

– At the end of this project, how do you qualify it as a success?

Competitive Analysis Questions

– Who are your top seven competitors?

– What about these companies makes then stand apart from others?

– What elements of these companies and/or their online activity would you like to model after

in your redesign?

– What do you currently like about your competitors websites?

– What do you hate about your competitors websites?

– What are some sites that you like the style of, features, and functionality of?

Branding Questions

– Do you have brand guidelines?

– If not, do you need help putting this together?

– What are the brand guidelines?

– Are there any color preferences for the new website?

– Do you have the hex codes for your current brand colors?

– Have you created buyer personas?

– If you did; how many do you have and will we need to set up conversion funnels for each persona?

Do you have a site architecture completed?

– Do certain products and/or services speak to different type of clients?

– What differentiates your product or service from your competition

– Is there any legacy on your current website?

– Do you currently have duplicate content on your site?

– What types of content will you publish on the site?

– How do plan to market the website once it is launched?

– What are some images that relate to your business?

– Will you be updating and reusing content and/or images from your current website?

– Do you need help creating new visual components for your website?

– What are some visual components that you’d like to add to your website?

– Do you have a tag line?

– What is your elevator pitch?

– Do you have a mission statement?

– What differentiates your company from your competitors?

Sales, Marketing, and Advertising Questions

– Do you have a documented content strategy?

– What types of marketing are you currently involved in or practice on a regular basis?

– Why kind of ads will you be running? (Google, Facebook, native, display, search)

– Do you have a current advertising budget?

– When it comes to marketing (in general), what are your biggest challenges?

– When it comes to obtaining qualified leads, what are your biggest challenges?

– When it comes to closing leads, what are your biggest challenges?

– Are there any short-term or long-term goals that need to be considered in the website redesign?

– What social media elements would you like integrated?

– Do you need a subscription option or other offer?

– Will you be blogging on your website?

– Who will be blogging on your website?

– When do you see the most customers go to your website?

– Do you currently use marketing automation software?

– Do you use email marketing, landing page, or other tools on your site?

– Do you use a CRM to store sales and customer information?

– What is the target demographic of your website visitors? Are there specific sectors, industry segments, company sizes, geography that needs to be focused on more than others?

– Would you like to personalize content so that the content shown is targeted and relevant for different types of visitors?

– Do you create ebooks, white papers, and other resources are placed behind a form?

– Do you send email marketing communications?

– What types of emails do you send to subscribers, prospects, leads, and customers?

– Do you want automated emails to be triggered by actions customers take on your website?

– Do you want the ability to create, edit, and publish landing pages and site pages?

– Would you like to run predictive lead scoring every few months to automatically determine the properties and weight of each factor to create a lead score?

– Have you performed A/B tests of your landing pages and calls-to-action to increase clickthrough rates?

Lead Generation and Contact Page Questions

– How do you currently track leads on your website?

– How do you want to collect customer information?

– Are you comfortable with having your phone number on your website?

– What is the email address you want on your website?

– Can you speak to your customer experience?

– How does a user become a customer of yours on your current website?

– Do you currently include relevant call-to-actions on content posts?

– Do you collect information from visitors and store this in a CRM or use it to inform marketing efforts?

– What fields do you currently or want to include on forms?

– Do you use call tracking to track online campaigns?

SEO Questions

– Do you need assistance with search engine optimization?

– When was the last time you reviewed your website was optimized?

– Do you have someone who can review content for SEO best practices, internally?

– Do you have someone who can create unique meta titles and descriptions per page or blog post, internally?

– Do you have a Google Analytics account?

– Do you have a Google Webmaster Tools or Bing Webmaster Tools account?

– Based on what you know right now, what keywords or phrases would “you” use to search for your products and/or service offering?

– What search terms are your competitors targeting?

– Of the words you just listed, which ones would you like to target with the new website?

– Do you have existing content that can support these keywords or phrases?

– Does your existing website and content rank for these phrases?

– What are your top performing keywords?

– What are your most trafficked pages on your website?

– Which site pages rank high in SERPs?

– What percentage of visits are from organic sources?

– What percentage of traffic are referrals from other sites?

– Which referral channel gives your website the most traffic?

– What percentage of traffic is from social media sites?

– What percentage of traffic is from email marketing?

– What percentage of traffic is from direct or people who type your URL into the search bar?

– What percentage of traffic is from mobile devices?

– What percentage of traffic is from tablet devices?

– What sources — social, referral, organic, etc. — generate traffic from mobile and tablet users?

– How many landing pages do you have?

– What are your top performing landing pages?

– What are your top performing blog posts?

– How many visits does your site get each month?

– How many page views does your site get each month?

– How many leads do you generate each month?

– How long do people typically spend on your website?

– What is the bounce rate for your site?

– What is the average amount of sales generated by your site each month?

– What is the page load time of your site?

– How many inbound links are pointing to your current site?

– Is your current site optimized for mobile users?

Reporting Questions

– Do you like data?

– What types of reports and data would you like to receive from our team?

– Do you prefer phone call reporting?

– Would you like to receive reports via PDF’s?

– Would you like the reports to be converted into videos?

Website Functionality Questions (UX and UI)

– Will you require a responsive design (adapts automatically to mobile devices)?

– How often will you be updating the content on your site?

– What functional requirements are needed within the new website?

– Is there any specific feature that is needed for your website?

– Do you want users to be able to comment on blog posts and other types of content?

– Do you need to integrate chat features?

– Will you need an internal search engine for your site?

– Do you plan to post audio/video files to the site?

– Do you have a video hosting service or will you be uploading videos to Vimeo or YouTube to embed videos on your site?

– Will you need people to log in on the site either with a username and password or by using social logins?

– Will users need the ability to post product reviews?

– Do you want people to be able to share content from your website?

– Will visitors have to enter credit card information and other personal details on any section of the website?

– Do you plan to sell anything through your website?

Development and Hosting Questions

– Who is your current website host?

– If switching hosting companies, do you know where your DNS is controlled?

– Do you have any and all logins?

– Hosting

– Domain name

– Website

– Where is your site currently hosted?

– Do you know the current level of hosting you have?

– Do you have or need an SSL certificate?

– Do you have specific accessibility requirements? (Possibilities include, larger text, language conversion, blind accessible)

– Will your site need to announce that they use cookies?

– Do you have an existing content management system you prefer or would you like our suggestions on the proper CMS?

Project and Budget Questions

– What is your budget for this project?

– What is your yearly budget for website improvements?

– What is you desired kick off date?

– Who all is responsible for reviewing and providing feedback on the site?

– Who will give final approval for the site prior to launch?

– Who will be managing the site once it’s completed?

– Will you require training on how to properly maintain the site?

At Owners Magazine, we care deeply about creating an incredible experience for our customers. What better way to get to know our clients than to ask them fun questions? The world of business can be so serious and with the way our society is becoming, we decided to throw a wrench into your average questions.

DISCLAIMER: These questions don’t work for every company. It all depends on your company culture and how your customers view you.

Get To Know Your Clients Better

– At which store would you like to max-out your credit card?

– If you could have one super power, what would it be?

– If you could be one character in any movie, Tv show, cartoon, who would you be?

– What movie title describes your life?

– What is your favorite TV show?

– What is your favorite video game?

– If you could choose one Pokemon that relates to your personality, who would it be?

– Do you have any nerdy addictions?

– Have you ever refitted an item, and if so, what did you regift?

– What’s the strangest talent you have?

– Do you have any nicknames?

– Which way does your toilet paper hang on the wall – over or under?

– What is that one song on you’re afraid to admit that you like?

– What are three things still left on your bucket list?

– If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Business

What To Do When Your Brain Is Fried

Published

19 hours ago

March 19, 2019

Yvonette Sanchez

We’ve all been there before. A great creative week where ideas are flowing endlessly, inspiration and great feelings abound. You feel like you’re breezing through and galloping towards the finish line. Then you come in one day and spend hours and hours staring blankly at your computer screen. For writers, it’s writer’s block, while others simply refer to it as a fried brain.

If you’re struggling to think coherently or if you feel like there are no ideas or clear thoughts coming from your brain you may be suffering from mental fatigue. This can occur anytime to anyone and can hamper your productivity. For most people their first step is to get a caffeine fix. But this might not be the only way to beat a fried brain. Here are some great examples on how you can get your brain to work again.

Take A Walk

According to a study conducted in Edinburgh Scotland, taking a quick walk can help combat mental fatigue. The study hooked 12 people to a portable ECG machine that measured their brainwave patterns that can be used to gauge excitement, frustration, arousal and more. The participants were asked to walk through a predetermined route around Edinburgh through busy shopping districts and green spaces. ECG readings of the participants showed that walking through green spaces reduced feelings of frustration indicating a reduction in stress levels. Richard Coyne, PhD and one of the authors of the study states that taking a walk through a park reduces cognitive overload and can help you overcome your fried brain.

Think Positively

When the brain is stressed, it has problems sending signals from the amygdala – the brain’s center for emotions, emotional behavior and motivation – to the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for higher level thinking. However, focusing on positive thoughts like your plans for the upcoming weekend or even quitting time can help lower stress levels thereby increasing the flow of information to your prefrontal cortex. This means happy thoughts can help you think clearly again.

Go On Youtube

Did you know that YouTube has the same calming effect as taking a walk around the park? Studies show that humor has a very positive and relaxing effect on the brain so when you’re feeling as if your brain is fried, hit Youtube and look for humorous clips from Jimmy Kimmel, Carpool Karaoke from James Corden, or Jimmy Fallon. Or if you’re looking for something more inspiration look for FunForLouis, Casey Neistat, or Gary Vaynerchuck. The videos won’t only help your brain “laugh,” but also increase your motivation and perseverance so that stress is decreased and you regain mental clarity and health.

Sleep

The brain gets tired too. Although it never really goes to sleep, sleeping helps the brain slow down so that it essentially takes a break from thinking and just focus on bodily functions and repairing your body after taking a beating from stress. Switching off can help you forget about what’s keeping you stressed at least for the night and give you energy to tackle problems tomorrow. When the brain is rested you might see your problem in a new light and give you new angles on how to best tackle it.

Fatigue, slow mental response, irritability and finding it harder to perform are some of the signs of a fried brain. Giving your brain a break from time to time will not only keep you from burning out physically but mentally as well. Finding ways to relax your poor exhausted brain will help you in the long run too.

Business

Business Insurance And Why You Need It

Published

21 hours ago

March 19, 2019

OM Contributor

Business insurance is a requirement that you should not ignore even if you are in a low-risk workplace. For certain business sectors such as healthcare industries, mechanical workshops or amusement parks, getting a liability insurance is essential. Finding the best insurance can be a challenging and complicated process, but it is better to get an insurance coverage. Disasters happen, and you need an authorized protection to save you from severe economic loss.

Why is business insurance necessary?

If you start a business and employ some people, you need to have business insurance. It is a legal requirement. The insurance coverage varies from one country to another. Almost all countries have made it compulsory for the companies to get a liability insurance. You may think that your business is small and has less risk. You can also think that you can afford the losses your companies might face. The business experts always advise getting a proper insurance for every kind of business. There can be natural disasters like floods or earthquakes. Fire accidents and thefts are not the only risks. Your business can incur massive losses due to disruption of work. There can be cash crunch, skilled labor crisis, road work, police barricades and criminal acts too. You should consider all the aspects before buying an insurance coverage for your company.

General Liability Insurance

Almost all trades have some liabilities. So, a general liability insurance is essential. Before you hire some employees for your business, get a liability insurance first. Your company becomes the ‘employer.’ It becomes a legal need if you wish to make your business a limited company. If any of your staff falls ill or faces any fatal accident during working hours, your company becomes liable. You need to discuss with your insurance broker about the amount of liability insurance cover your business needs. If there is any death because of their work in your company, you need to arrange appropriate compensation. So, you should avoid any expense trimming while buying insurance for the company.

Professional Liability Insurance

It is also known as errors & omissions (E&O) insurance. This is not a one-size-fits-all insurance. Each industry has different concerns while running the business. So, you need customized coverage for your business. The professional liability insurance protects the business from the claims that the company was negligent in performing their services accurately. When you buy the E&O insurance, make sure you appoint an attorney for your company who can defend the lawsuits filed against the company.

Property Insurance

Property Insurance is a must when you run a business. Be it your own building or leased property, you need coverage. This insurance covers your business inventory, equipment, signage, and furniture from any losses due to fire, storm or burglary. Home based businesses still do not get much coverage from property insurance. You need to ask your insurer for extra coverage.

Product insurance

Apart from the above-mentioned insurance policies, you should get an additional product insurance to cover your manufacturing business. It covers any loss due to manufacturing, distributing and retailing hitches.

Buying insurance for your business is complex. You need a trustworthy insurer. Every business needs a unique package based on the requirements of the company. You should always review your insurance policies and keep them in active status.