Make sure your image is visually appealing. Bright, colourful and in theme with the rest of your Instagram feed!
Use a high quality photo. Blurry and pixelated photos can make you look unprofessional and your account uncurated and unplanned.
Use your caption to grab attention. Words like “You”, “Free” and “New” are always good, and using questions to engage your audience is usually very effective also, such as “Do you like this quote?” or “Would you choose the red or the white dress?”.
Have a call to action. For example: “Link to read the rest of the blog post is in our bio!” or “Head to the link in our bio to shop now!”.
Use relevant hashtags, but no more than 8! Any more and you will see a drop in engagement. It is a very fine line. Try not to put them in the caption, but rather as a comment on the post.
And finally, respond to comments and answer questions! People will buy from you once they trust you!
Last year we did a two part series (part two is below and you can find part 1 here) on Super Bowl advertising and how digital can be intertwined and why small and medium enterprises should think BIG. We enjoyed it so much we thought we would take a look at the ads for this year and see if they passed muster.
Get ready for Grammy Winners, Oscar Winners, Hall of Famers and a Super Model to boot. We’ll use a fairly simple grading system Great, Good Enough, Meh, Bad.
ADP – Good Enough
A simple enough premise with pumping music and ADT made a good choice of spokespeople/influencers. You might not know their voices but when the “property brothers” come into frame one is like “oh, yeah, I like those guys”. There might be a bit too much negative language “it’s not about…” but it does a good job of appealing to wide audience and makes the stale idea of security warm and family friendly.
Amazon – Bad
I hate this ad – it’s too frenetic; it wants us to be on the joke but we aren’t, it makes no sense and just makes them look like eff-ups. I am not sure if you needed stars for this ad Harrison got an OK role but Forrest, Abbi and Ilana were left high and dry (or quite the opposite) being wasted. This ad just feels like we had a big budget for this ad lets waste it all.
Audi – Good
It’s funny, it’s aspirational, it has a message. It’s brand building for Audi done the right way.
Avo From Mexico – Good
It’s our first installment from a brand that isn’t familiar in Australia. Overall it sticks with their usual style of humor for their ads, they’ve used Kristen Chenoweth not sure if she was needed but why not throw her in there. It gets a good because it has broad market appeal.
Ban & Viv – Meh
Mermaids appearing on Shark Tank – I like the idea but the payoff at the end isn’t good enough for it to be a reveal. Interesting product and an interesting way to tell your products story.
Bubly – Good
At last, an actual smart use of a celebrity, I knew we would get there. It’s cute, Bublé is well liked and does a good job.
Bud Light – Good
Very interesting alignment, GoT is great at killing off our favorite characters but it’s a bold move for the ad’s mascot to be killed.
Bud – Good
Budweiser is notorious for the use of nostalgia in its branding. We are American as apple pie and baseball. This is an interesting ad for them because they play on old-fashioned values but also introduce the environmental element to the company. I’m giving it a good for their market although I find it personally a bit boring.
Bumble – Good
Strange as it may sound, I genuinely was looking forward to this ad I’d heard about it coming in an article about Serena but I was left wanting more. But then again I am not the target market – and the visuals and music are first class.
Burger King – Bad
I just dislike it, it’s boring who cares if it’s a found footage ad from a documentary. I don’t care how Andy eats his burger and are they insinuating that they don’t put enough sauce on their burgers?
Colgate – Great
Luke Wilson is well liked, simple messaging and good backing track – it’s good clean fun just like your teeth should be.
Devour – Meh
Risque can always mean risky and in America it might be too full on for the average audience but it was executed fairly well and an interesting nugget.
Doritos – Meh
Star power with Chance the Rapper and N’Sync; a funky beat but just feels lame – the mashup between the two seems forced. But it does deliver the message that Doritos is cool but now hot. Almost good.
Expensify – Good
Who doesn’t love Adam Scott; Two rap stars in a row. It does automatically give you street cred but does it lose street cred for the rappers? Regardless again the scene is set up nicely, there’s humour and the messaging is on point.
Google – Meh
Did this hit you right in the feels? It didn’t for me – it felt like the kinda schmaltz that you expect from a multi-national but not really Google. Humans are good and so are we…
Hulu – Good
Very different, very interesting, and with an already popular product Hulu did a good job.
Hyundai – Great
Why would we need to tout how good our cars are when we can tout the least important part of a car the buying of it? It main sound like a silly concept but it’s actually quite ingenious – because most people don’t like shopping for cars but also most people won’t go on many test drives so if you can be one of the few by offering a great experience buying. And I have a huge soft spot for Jason Bateman.
Kia – good
Not that we would know it in Australia but Kia have tubthumped their American factory often for the US audience so when the Super Bowl is being played so close to your factory why not try and cash in. It may not work for me but for the intended audience – it works.
M&Ms – meh
M&Ms are well known for their humorous, childish personified red and yellow M&M characters. And this is a great twist on the rambunctious kids in the back seat trope but it is more than a little jarring to see a mum say they will eat their kids… even if it is Christina. Maybe I am holding them to a higher standard but that’s only because they have set that standard themselves.
Mercedes – bad/good
Mercedes are for… ahem… wankers and I guess this may appeal to that market. Bad for me, Good for them.
Michelob Light – bad
One part of a good ad is being memorable, and this off the wall idea might have worked especially with a young fan favorite like Zoe. But in the end it just comes off as pretentious.
My word there are a lot of ads in the Super Bowl… Don’t worry we are passed the halfway mark
Microsoft – Great
Where Google failed Microsoft succeeded you don’t get to say that often anymore – but this human interest story is a winner. I was hooked.
Mint Mobile – Great
A brand I am unfamiliar with but it has all the elements of a solid ad: gross-out factor, animal mascot, smart language, and a good deal to spur action.
NFL – Great
This is clearly a winner for the Super Bowl audience. The targeting is on point! The humour is there – even if you don’t get all the references you can have fun with it. It does a great job of including the female audience. It embraces the leagues history. The only thing I am wondering about is that it is the end of the season why unveil it now?
Norwegian Cruise Line – Good
This achieves its intended purpose makes the ship the star of the travel. Rather than the picturesque destinations it will take you to. It may slightly try to make everyone happy, a couple relaxing on the same boat that kids are zip lining and go karting on? not too sure if they want to be on the same cruise. Overall it’s a bit of fun and might convince some people that hadn’t considered cruising yet.
Olay – Good
A really nice change from the stuffy world of adult moisturiser advertising. Another celeb making an appearance this time it’s Buffy!
Pepsi – Good
More star power for Pepsi with Steve Carell, Cardi B and Lil Wayne. Interesting concept trying to reposition itself rather than the alternative or the ok. Simple, effective.
Persil – Meh
Not much here – a few bells and whistles although the FX could be better.
PLanters, Mr Peanut – Meh
A few more celebrities to go in the countdown, in this installment we have Sheen and ARod, it might appeal to their target market (assuming someone that would watch two and a half men). Do we use footy players in our summer ads, NO and America shouldn’t be putting baseballers in their Super Bowl ads.
Pringles – Meh
I’m not sure if I get this one. Is stacking your Pringles with different flavours a thing or are they trying to make it a thing? Either way more power to them if they can get more people opening different flavours at the same time sounds like more profit. Plus I think it might be a bit too hipster leaning for me.
Simplisafe – Meh
I know our worldview would tell us that Americans especially viewers of a certain channel are peddled with fear on their news all the time but this ad seems to lean in too hard, especially as they are a technological product and making technology out to be a fearful thing. Interesting concept although I think it’s too exaggerated to elevate it passed “meh” for me.
Sketchers – Meh
Tony Romo is likeable, he is a football dude makes perfect sense for the Super Bowl. The messaging is ok but not nearly as inventive as they could have been.
Sprint – Good
Another athlete this time Bo Jackson – this one is simple and effective.
The Washington Post – Good
The best celebrity get so far Tom Hanks, the star of The Post. Although, it may seem to earnest to some – this spot works well in the context.
T-Mobile – Great
I could say this is derivative: a mobile screen typing or the often used what are we for having for dinner dilemma or a little on the nose music choice. But it works together really well and the thought of free tacos is a winner.
Toyota Rav 4 – Meh
Antoiette Harris deserves all the accolades and sponsorships for being an out and out star but over all the challenge expectations mantra that is being extolled here falls short for Toyota.
Toyota Supra – Great
This… now this is fun – it’s a little retro, a little futuristic. A cool little ad – that’s all about the car, then pinball, then finishing off on the car. This works.
Turbo Tax – Great
Robo-child cool. Accountants are real people especially at Turbo Tax CPAs to boot. Great Ad.
Turkish Airlines – meh
Behind the camera celebrity this time with Ridley Scott at the helm for this ad that led into a six-minute short film. The story is ok, shot well, Turkey is beautiful – but did anyone really care about this ad?
we are almost done don’t worry
Verizon – bad
If you haven’t figured it out yet – I am not the biggest fan of cheesy schmaltz and this ad that pulls at the heartstrings with Real American Blue Collar Heroes does not do it for me (though they are heroes – I am not here disputing that).
Weathertech – bad
I don’t own a pet or a heart so it’s hard for me to get on board with this one.
Wix – meh
I have been seeing Wix ads with Kloss ads for a long time in pre-rolls so it doesn’t feel new to me. Even though Wix do offer a fine product – I bet all Wix websites would look amazing if you have a style guide, a super model and professional photography at the ready.
After all, your budget may not go anywhere near that far and in many respects, whilst the Superbowl provides the ultimate exposure, it simply isn’t open to the average size business.
There are a couple of lessons business of any size can take away from the Superbowl regardless of how big or small you are.
You can reach a lot of eyeballs and it doesn’t have to cost the earth.
There is no doubt that a one off event like Superbowl will throw a spotlight on your brand if you were willing to stump up the cash to buy such massive exposure but buying high quality targeted exposure can actually be a whole lot simpler. The beauty of digital (which is why we love it) is with budgets nowhere near as large we can create immensely targeted campaigns that can deliver real results for your business.
Don’t think just one channel – We deal with an array of companies large and small, and many have a variety of marketing initiatives across an array of channels. What the Superbowl ads often do is create a great narrative and produce a phenomenal TVC, but this isn’t where these campaigns end. The ads are merely the tip of the iceberg for most of the advertisers. Each ad will be supported with search, social and dedicated landing pages to ensure that after the audience has seen the ad they can find it, share it and learn more about it. There is a natural PR aspect to Superbowl that your average campaign may not have, but if you work to create a great brand story there is no reason why you couldn’t integrate some tailored PR around your marketing approach whatever channel you use.
Ultimately, Superbowl is an ad campaign on steroids. Whilst the spotlight shines upon the ads themselves the fundamentals of having a great creative story, a targeted message and a fully integrated approach really apply from the Superbowl right down to the most basic of campaigns.
On the weekend my friends were discussing house cleaners; of the group, 3 people had cleaners (two fortnightly and one had hers come weekly).
I don’t have a cleaner – that’s not to say I am better than them, far from it: I don’t have kids nor do I have as big a house (apartment, in my case) and I have a terrible confession to make I don’t hate cleaning – shocking I know – but nearly every Sunday morning I put on some music or a podcast and get to it: vacuuming, mopping, clothes, bathroom, bedroom, windows. kitchen gets wiped down every night after dishes are done. And then during the week I will do some spot cleans here and there to keep it all spick and span. It’s just not a big deal.
My friends clearly still have to do a lot of the things on my cleaning list (e.g. wiping down the kitchen bench for example) but the nitty gritty is done by the cleaners – and that’s fine! They choose to use their hours on the weekend (which are precious and all too few) doing other things and pay someone to clean – and that’s fine.
It got me thinking that there seems to be direct correlations with marketing.
Many people view marketing as a chore.
Some people do theirs in-house and some outsource their marketing.
Cleaning and Marketing make you look good.
On the weekend – they were actually having a laugh about the old trope of cleaning the house before the cleaner gets there to make it look respectable enough for them.
It’s often true that when you hire an agency you will still have to do some of the work. Whether it is provide a brief for us to work to or give some insight into an article we are writing or simply give feedback.
Most clients are great but sometimes we get some push back from clients or they drag their heels on answers. They view approvals or reviewing the stats from the last campaign as a chore.
But it shouldn’t be seen as a chore because it can be fun creating plans to get people excited about your company. And just like cleaning it makes you look good!
There are simple ways to change the perception of a chore
Treat yourself:
Mary Poppins had it right a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down; reward yourself when you do it on time.
Make it fun:
She’s at it again
Allot the time:
We are all busy and you have to prioritise – so choose the time each week/month/campaign when you will sit down and a) do the tasks required b) discuss upcoming opportunities. It will make it easier.
Positive reinforcement
Whilst you have allotted the time review how far you’ve come – it will make it all worthwhile.
And of course, even if you are a little messy doesn’t mean you can’t pretend (we are all messy sometimes)
If you have a mess that even you can’t clean – call in the professionals
The client always comes first…
but isn’t always right.
Our job is often to create something new almost every day. I am not always sure that customers or even those around us appreciate how difficult it can be to create something from nothing nearly every hour of every day of your life.
For us, as artists, that can be both thrilling and terrifying all at the same time, and it can also be draining.
One thing is certain is that designers, writers, videographers and producers all inherently attempt to make something great each time. And that too can be as much trouble as it is worth sometimes.
Especially when those for which you are making things for (we’ll call them clients) are often not necessarily trained nor geared to think or do what we do.
Now this article is not to place us on some pedestal, nor to belittle clients, after all what we do exists 99% of the time solely for you, but it is an article designed to offer some perspective and perhaps seek to help clients better understand the process we go through for you.
So let’s role play here a little:
You’re a client and you need a logo, a brochure, a video or something…
You brief your designer, now there are a few key phrases we hear almost daily:
“I’m not looking for anything fancy”
“Don’t spend too much time on it”
“I need it quickly”
Each of these phrases is the beginning of the exact same process, effort and compromise as someone saying, “really make it awesome, invest as much time as you can in getting the right result, but the deadline is X”… You see the only real difference is the mentality the client brings to brief, because from this point on a client’s expectation is generally the same, but ironically, the one who suggests any of those first phrases I mentioned, are likely to be the most difficult client to deal with.
Why?
There are a couple of key reasons, the phrases themselves reflect a lack of appreciation of the time, effort and inherent skill the designer and design process entails. It also generally shows a lack of genuine personal investment in the achievement of the outcome which is distinctly different from their desire for the outcome itself.
When a designer (or, a design firm, or agency) present a client with something or a range of options, one of the most difficult aspects of our job is the flippancy for which customers either dismiss ideas, overlook the thinking that went into the work or again underestimate the skill that went into its creation.
Now, I am not insinuating that we are always right, but at the same time I am insulating that customers aren’t either.
If we have selected a certain image, or left s p a c e in a design it’s generally a considered approach to a design problem, it has been worked on and tested in all matter of ways to get to the end result – a result that attempts to blend the aesthetic requirements of the task with the need to showcase and clearly display or convey information.
Now all the words in the world can succinctly showcase my point so I thought these short videos might help.
Don’t get me wrong, you are the client and your opinion matters, but if the logo is a certain size, or the designer has left space for words to breath, it is not some sort of attempt to frustrate you, but rather it is years of education, thousands of hours working at their craft and an eye for aesthetics that make them specialists in their field being provided to you as part of their service to you.
As a designer, they will always put you first, a business we will always do the same, but the creation of all the work we do, we are always open to suggestions, but before you make them, take some time and consider if your feedback reflects the best interests of the project and if it may go against the approach your design or agency partner has put forwards with the best interests of your project, your message and your audience.
We thought that our first article of the year should be something a little inspiring to help kickstart your success for 2019, so here are a few pieces of extremely valuable advice from 5 of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs…
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”.
Bill Gates (Microsoft)
At the time, unhappy customers can make you feel very disappointed, and rightly so. But take that disappointment and turn it into improvement. Unhappy clients can be assets. Pay attention to what any disgruntled customers might have to say. This is a wonderful chance for you to learn and to grow in the right direction.
“Quality is much better than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”
Steve Jobs (Apple)
Steve Jobs is really an entrepreneurial legend. And he had some very sound advice for entrepreneurs. He is known for his exemplary attention to detail, and putting quality over quantity. If you always put quality first, you can’t really go wrong! And in the context of marketing/social media, it is definitely better to go viral once, than have two average posts!
“Move fast and make mistakes… Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. We have a saying: “Move fast and break things.” The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough… Most companies mess up by moving too slowly and trying to be too precise. When you are moving quickly or doing anything like this, you want to make mistakes evenly on both sides. We wanted to set up a culture so that we were equally messing up by moving too quickly and by moving too slowly some of the time. So that way, we’d know that we were in the middle.”
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
A pretty self explanatory way of thinking (and a pretty different way of thinking, too)! Play around with your marketing. Making mistakes is all a part of the game, until you find out what works best for you and your business!
“Business opportunities are like buses; there is always another one coming.”
Richard Branson (Virgin Group)
Richard Branson is what you could call a pretty bloody successful business man. He has more than 400 companies under his wings, with an extremely diverse business portolio! So, keep your business portfolios as diverse as possible, and always be on the lookout for new opportunities! Marketing is very similar. It is always changing, so you need to keep your finger on the pulse and keep up with the trends! Don’t fall behind and miss out on good marketing opportunities!
“Business success is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics.”
Tony Robbins (Entrepreneur, Author, Philanthropist and Life Coach)
Tony Robbins is possibly the best business and life strategist out there. In fact, he is quite remarkable, and his success has been nothing short of that. He is an expert in organizational turnaround, psychology of leadership, and the art of negotiations. He believes that in order to succeed, you must be clear about your strengths, weaknesses, goals and strategies! Marketing is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics, also! It is all about connecting successfully with your customers and inspiring them to BUY!
We hope that 2019 brings you lots of success and some very successful marketing, and that this article helps in some way!
Today, a client was asking for advice with their email subject lines and whilst I was writing the email I figured I would share it to a larger audience.
And I should be honest, I lied, there is no perfect subject line although the above is pretty damn good, if I do say so myself 😊 *pats self on back*
The one thing you should never do is be misleading; it will annoy the reader and make sure your follow up email does not get read.
AUDIENCE
Depending on your audience, things can change dramatically if it’s someone you know well they are going to open it anyway – half the time my friends might not even bother with a subject line or the even more interesting “Fw: “. But in general, when wanting to write a good opening line it’s to someone you want to impress either in business or personally and it might be a large group or an individual.
THE STARTING POINTS
You want people interested in what is inside the email. It’s oft told that there are only a few stories in the world and they are just told differently so goes the email subject line. It’s all roughly the same just with a different emphasis here are some tried and true methods
You can ask a question
• Do you know how to write a great subject line?
• Can you write a great subject line without even trying?
• Are your subjects subpar?
You can impart knowledge
• Learn 6 ways to write a great subject
or you can tweak it and make it a personal story
• How I wrote the perfect subject line
• Why did they not reply
Urgency or FOMO or Jealousy
Play on peoples egos or insecurities
• Don’t waste another email
• Hurry – Last chance to learn how to write the perfect subject (ok so they don’t all work for all situations)
Offer
People love an offer. “X% off” or combine it with urgency FOR “25% off sneakers for another 12 hours.”
• SAVE time when writing your emails (ok cheating but if you aren’t selling)
Make it Personal
Never be afraid to drop in a name if it makes sense to do so
• Stephanie, Learn why your emails aren’t getting opened
Mix it up!
And don’t always start the subject with Brand X’s [weekly newsletter] consistency isn’t bad but it can get boring and wastes valuable real estate.
AND you can be cheeky
Is the subject line the new pickup line?
THE BUZZWORDS
Instincts can get the best of us and when we see certain buzzwords our interest is piqued the good people at CoSchedule has given us, not one but two, great lists. Words that will get your emails opened and words that won’t DON’T MIX THEM UP!!!!
All these tips should see you in good stead to write popular, thought provoking, click generating headlines, subject lines, text messages…
A friend asked me the other day “When can we stop marketing?”
I smiled and suggested that the answer may be never but it could also be right away (it should be noted that she works for a company that we are not contracted with so I do not have any skin in the game). “Why do you want to stop?” I asked.
Then she rambled some reasons off but the gist of it was
Our ads are just adding to the maelstrom of crap out there – I don’t want to annoy people… people unsubscribed from our mailing list plus no one is engaging with our Facebook page.
Basically, it sounded like a marketing existential crisis.
To Stop Or Not To Stop
You might have been surprised earlier when I said you could stop marketing right away but it wouldn’t be the right thing to do – it would mainly be a reason to pivot. There are two reasons why you could stop marketing:
Your marketing is genuinely losing you money – in which case, I would say you need to change your strategy rather than stop.
You feel so loathsome and part of a corporate machine adding to the crap that it’s affecting your life – in which case I would say you need to relax a little and then frame it differently in your mind. We don’t have to call it “marketing” or “advertising” we can call it communication or connecting or outreach. And I would also change my strategy because if you feel loathsome – you probably don’t have enthusiasm for your brand and the communications you are putting out into the world and if you don’t – why should/would your current and potential customers?
The main reason why you shouldn’t stop marketing is that you have a product or service that needs to be sold. Depending on the size of your business – you may say that word of mouth has treated you ok so far, well, at it’s very essence all marketing is word of mouth even if it’s organic. You starting a business and telling your friends and family that is in essence marketing. Them telling their friends – that’s marketing, and you don’t feel disgusting about that now, do you? So why should you when you are connecting with people via a different platform be it traditional media or any of the new platforms that we have access to nowadays..
So if you see an unsubscribe don’t feel bad assume that that person was not the best fit for your company not that everyone that gets your messages is perturbed by your very existence. If on the hand no one ever opens your emails then it might be the time to rethink your content. One client recently was scared after many unsubscribes in one email but it was the first email after these people had been added to their list after entering a competition which can be expected after all we use entry guidelines like subscribe to win but inevitably some people will unsubscribe once the competition has finished.
Another way to make you not want to feel like giving up on marketing is embracing your customer find out what works – sift through the analytics; use AI; a simple chat bot can prequalify your customers but also gain valuable insight into what your customers are expecting from you, your website or a given page.
Will they buy the cow if they are getting the milk for free?
Another customer was scared about giving too many tips away for free – I say give more and give it better because:
you have more knowledge than your readers
you will never not be better than them at your job and
they will never have the time to do what you do because they already have a role
At the end of the day the only reason we think you should ever stop marketing is when you close your doors.
If connecting with your customers is getting too hard or feels likes its not working . Don’t give up! The value good marketing brings is invaluable! Be patient, be persistent, create content that is true to your brand, offer value,embrace your customer and make it easy for them to get what they want.
We love a good statistic, all of us. Period. We, marketers, that is, use stats to demonstrate value. One great stat that I love is:
Doesn’t really sound like a stat… here… how bout this… “Renown essayist says that 50% of what is seen should not be trusted”We like well researched and enjoyable content to read so it’s important to get your facts straight when creating content for your readers. When we create content we always double check our facts and make sure they come from reputable sources and are pertinent to the message that is being conveyed. If it’s not you will lose your readers… quickly.
Part of the reason I am writing this is because of a post I was reading the other week – it was an article called “28 Powerful Facebook Stats Your Brand Can’t Ignore in 2018” today and many of the stats were eye opening to say the least.
Many of these listicles (articles that are written as lists) and stat driven posts pop their heads up year round but especially at the sta(r)t of the year (so get ready for the 2019 articles to appear).
Fake news has been one of the hot topics of the year, and many think it’s insidious and it is but it can also just be good old fashioned negligence at fault.
You might find a great stat from a reputable site and think awesome have I got a topic to attach this too without really reviewing it especially if the stat while true came from a study that was ill conceived.
So back to the article, one of the stats reads “40% of Facebook Users Have Never Liked a Facebook Page” I read that and thought wow – there must be so many fake accounts but the opposite of click farms – why would there be that many? And would Facebook own up to a stat like that? Hell No
So I found the study it was based on (NB I’m not shaming the company they do have some good research on the site but the quality control person clearly took the day off in this case) and noticed that the sample size was 300 Americans over the age of 18. Not only was the sample size fairly small but the question was misleading and the inference taken by the article writer even more so. The question read “how many brands they tend to Like on Facebook” 0, 1-10, 10-20. They tend to like? What obscure language for a hard hitting stat with a headline 40% of Facebook users have never liked a Facebook page.
And then I looked a little deeper and noticed this illustrious study that it had to be included in an article about stats that my brand couldn’t ignore in 2018 was conducted 4 years ago (or 28 in dogs years and a millennium in internet years).
I went back to the post – That headline again 28… powerful… stats… can’t ignore… 2018? This is a picture perfect clickbait headline (hence why I was reading in the first place).
I scrolled down the page and noticed that it was posted in Feb 2018 but the comments below are time stamped over three years old so this is an old article that was updated and repurposed for 2018 (editor’s note: In SEO speak it’s a good practice to update blog posts from time to time to keep the information relevant and to keep the link authority tied to the updated post rather than creating a new one. It’s also best practice to mention that it is an updated article, which in this case it is not).
There were a number of other mistakes in the post, like a fact that said “Facebook Has More Than 2 Billion Daily Active Users” and then only to contradict itself a line later to 2 billion monthly active users on Facebook.
Don’t worry rant is almost
So, in summing up, if you are planning on going down the content marketing path there are many rules to follow but please make check your facts your readers will be thankful. If you need help on how you can embark on a comprehensive content marketing strategy drop us a line.
Also there is rarely a time you can’t find a relevant Simpsons quote…
Countdown: Top Resolutions for EVERYONE but mainly marketers
We flipped the good old new year’s resolution on its head and are counting down the most popular ones with a slant for the marketer.
8 – “I’m going to read more”
All of us want to knock off those books on our list, but we should also be reading more on the internet, and by that, I mean reviewing your pipeline and your statistics, spending a bit of time each week to know exactly where you stand. When you are across the ins and outs fine tuning will be a breeze.
7 – “I’ve always wanted to learn a language”
The universal language of love? Nope, I am talking the universal language of the code. Learning a coding language can be a lot simpler than one would think and even if you aren’t going to use it day-to-day it helps to be self-sufficient if you need to roll up your sleeves and do some maintenance PLUS it gives you a better appreciation and understanding of how one of your most vital business systems work.
6 – “Make New Friends”
Some of us wake up one day and realise that we don’t have many close friends, perhaps after struggling to find a ripper party to go to on NYE. Building your social following or email lists can be similar – you may have once had a thriving social media life but people move on get married, unsubscribe, have kids, unfollow you. You have to continually top up your streams with new friends that want to spend time with you.
5 – “Spend more time with family and friends”
On the flipside, nothing is better than rekindling a friendship that you hold dear so before you lose your friends engage them – keeping your followers interested in what you are doing is only half the battle, don’t foget to be interested in what they are doing, who they hang out with and where they do it.
4 – “I’m going to get more sleep”
Having a regular routine is key to getting sleep; just as having a routine like a calendar for creating content and reviewing your campaigns can keep the momentum going and not find yourself running out of time for one of the most important facets of your sleep business.
3 – “Take a break”
We often get preoccupied with work and lose focus on what’s important: our lives outside of the office which is why it’s so important to take on only what you can handle and delegate responsibilities for those that could be better handles by others.
2 – “Eat Healthy, Get Fit”
Leading on from taking a break is turning yourself into a lean mean marketing machine. If you are feeding your site with all the healthy hygiene and spend time getting massive gains from your hero content that will deliver engagement and awareness of your brand.
1 – “This is the year I will get organised”
You know you have been putting it off and doing things the hard way for too long, but this is the time to do it, clean out those drawers of unwanted items and get to organising and having everything in place. That means segmenting your DBs, making sure your followers are still engaged run a reengagement campaign. Oh, and wouldn’t it be great if once everything is organised you take a break, get some sleep, spend time with friends, new and old, and all those other things? That’s right part of organising is getting that CRM perfect and using your marketing automation platform that you set up but never really put the finishing touches on.
Managing your business’s social media over the holidays, while also trying to enjoy the silly season!
If you are in charge of social media for your brand, you will probably be feeling a little envious of your colleagues who can totally switch off and forget about all of their work responsibilities for a couple of weeks! Unfortunately, as we all know, social media doesn’t sleep – not even for Santa! In fact, this is the time when people tend to be on social media the MOST – people do love scrolling their feeds on the couch after a big Christmas lunch, and on New Year’s day after a late (maybe a wild?) night after all…
So, what does that mean for you, when you are craving a bit of a break and some fun also and aren’t totally sure when you will have time to keep up with your posting?
Luckily, we have a few tips that can make your job a little easier over the next couple of weeks… so keep reading!
Planning ahead is key. It might be annoying now when you already have so much to wrap up for the year, but you will thank yourself later! How often are you going to post over your break? Whether you post everyday or just twice a week, you should probably keep this up. Consistency is important! What are you going to post, and when?
There are a couple of ways that you can go about managing your Instagram when you are busy celebrating! If you pay for an Instagram scheduling app, this can be an easy and low maintenance way to go. And scheduling your posts on Facebook is also an excellent idea. But if being shadow banned or having lower reach and engagement as a result of using a scheduling app concerns you, or you just don’t want to pay for a scheduling app, then we have a pretty great alternative!
I always make sure that I have all of the images and graphics that I will be needing for social media over the break, saved in my phone in a photos folder, in the order that I want to use them. So that when I need to post, I can easily find the piece of content! I write up my captions beforehand, and store them in the notes section of my phone. You can also number these so that they match the order of the content/images that you have stored. I also make sure that I have a couple of sets of hashtags pre-prepared, so that I can easily pick a set and add to the post (remember to mix up your hashtags to avoid being shadow-banned). Easy! And feel free to add #Christmas #Holidays and #NewYears to your hashtag sets also!
In terms of replying to comments and messages on both Facebook and Instagram and monitoring your engagement, try to set aside just 15 minutes per day for this – doesn’t sound so bad, does it?! You might also want to occasionally share some funny Christmas/New Year memes or posts on an adhoc basis, too.
If you are worried you are going to forget to either post or check up on your social media community, just set some alarms or reminders on your phone – easy! Most of us have our phones glued to our hands anyway, and if you have everything pre-prepared a post should only take a couple of minutes!
Good luck – we hope you feel a little more confident and prepared to tackle the social media world over the holiday season now!
