by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 27, 2014 | Customer Service, Marketing, Small Business
What you serve to your customers is what keeps them coming back to you. Feed your audience more than a side dish of products and services. Anyone can make the same entree as you but when you spread on a little aioli love or some spiced up wasabi sauce, it is you who tantalizes the tastebuds.
Add some authentic sizzle.
A true taste of flavor of what it is like to do business with you instead of the competition. What makes you so different, so incredibly unique that your audience should shake your hand in partnership? Step away from the mediocre and predictable to be outstanding in your field.
Make a list of:
- The inspiration for starting your company
- Your most distinctive qualities
- Your company’s assets
- Your solutions to pain points
- Your customer’s needs
- Why does your product or service matter
- Your vision to give back and embrace your audience
Review your list!
- How do you put this into action every day?
- What message do you send to your fans and followers in each of your posts?
- Does your content reflect any or all of the items you listed?
- Do you embrace your followers?
- Does your audience feel valued?
Get into your customer’s head. Be their thoughts, anticipate their actions and feel what they are feeling. Remember, you aren’t writing for yourself, but for THEM. Know what they find meaningful and engage with them on their terms.
If you can be them, you can recognize what they need and it isn’t just your product but a solution to their difficulties. Your condiments are what will make the difference in their lives, their daily routines, or business operations.
Create brand evangelists who want to scream into a megaphone about your business. Don’t just run to the bank with their money. Show them they truly mean something to you beyond a burger and fries. They are the cornerstone of your meal. Without them, you have no business.
No one likes to gag on a dry hard bun. Use a fresh baked baguette. Toss on some garden tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic infused olive oil, some diced kalamata olives, sea salt and ground pepper. This little treat is something that entices the senses. It’s not dry. Boring. Or status quo.
“Here is a powerful yet simple rule. Always give people more than they expect to get.” – Nelson Boswell
Think of the times when a vendor, potential partner or service provider has made you feel special or important. Did you tell anyone about them? Were you a repeat customer? If you know what impacts you to be loyal, to share your experiences with others, then deliver that same “emotion” to your audience. To your customers.
A recommendation from a friend is more credible and noteworthy than a paid advertisement.
It’s that simple.
Go the extra mile and pay attention to every detail, no matter how minute it seems to you, it will generate an impression. Do this with an authentic heart because it resonates deeply within you. Because it comes naturally – it isn’t something that is forced but instead a part of your innate persona. That is being real. That is appealing to the palette.
Don’t fake it and bake it. People can read BS and if you are only “under the cover of kindness” that is what will show through. Your voice is evident in every word you write, every comment, phone call or message. Keep it real or button up your lips.
The quote below by Melissa Bolton embraces the whole concept of service, business and the customer experience. Do it right. Do it because it IS RIGHT.
You leave pieces of your brand behind you wherever you go.
When people love what you do, it shows. They want to see you succeed and will do all they can to help.
Sprinkle your brand seeds to in the right field,
and your brand evangelists will help you grow them through accolades and referrals.
Empower them to WANT to share the word about you, your company and your services with the finest garnishes because they deserve it.
Earn their trust, loyalty and voice.
What condiments do you serve to your customers?
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Aug 13, 2014 | Leadership, Marketing, Social Media
Status quo or stand up and command market share? It isn’t so simple to grab a piece of the pie when there are billions of social media users and companies searching for and sharing information. You need to find your niche, your voice or something that sets you apart from the rest of the digital ecospace to glean even a few minutes of visibility.
You don’t need to blend in with the rest of the crowd but rise above and be a little unique. Whatever that means to you, do it authentically. Do it from the heart.
Don’t think of social media as purely a soapbox to sing your own praises. It is a tool to connect, share, educate and network, imparting value and enriching the lives of others. Be that someone that people look to for information and problem solving.
As you begin to develop your relationships and nurture your connections, the ROI is a natural occurrence when you focus on the real inherent value and purpose of social media – fostering the connections.
In a recent interview with my good friend and client, Patti Blackstaffe, president of Strategic Sense Inc, her thoughts about rising above the crowd were that too many people focus solely on the competition which only leaves them sitting WITH the crowd. Her recommendation is to leave competition out of the equation and pay attention to relationships and collaboration.
In the interview she offered 3 ways to do this:
1. Analyze what kind of relationship the customers are really looking for
2. What they want to share
3. Getting to know them intimately
Here’s what Patti said about analysis:
“People are looking for connection, relationship – this is a relationship economy. If you are without a means or way of connecting with customers, potential customers and the public, you have no choice but to be left behind.
You don’t have to use every social tool available, but analysis of your market and the type of relationship your customers are seeking is vital for knowing what to choose.
Leadership is about connecting the dots from the lead seat in your company all the way to the customer, knowing what they are looking for from you, gives you the option of creating a relationship they can get from no one else.”
[Tweet “It’s all about customer interaction, not fancy webpages or how often you post #RelationshipShare”]
Patti goes on to talk about sharing:
“Looking for market share? Look for relationship share.
One example is NAISH a kiteboarding company – they understand how to market, how to reach their customers. Do they sell kites? Sure, but that isn’t their main market, their market is building an experience, and their customers cannot build an experience without the relationship factor. Looking for video from them? They share the video of the adventurous customers who buy their kites. How did they know how to do this? They know their customers, intimately!”
Pertaining to customer intimacy, Patti gave this prime example:
“Does your executive, or even your sales team visit customers? Knowing what questions to ask is great, but what if you created a “day in the life” program where you spend a day in the life of your top 4 customers, what would their work-day look like and what do they need? Imagine a database filled with suggestions and solutions to meet customer needs, selectively using the many tools available to you through social media and other marketing genius, interact with them and make a difference.
This is how you increase relationship share!”
If you really want to stand out from the crowd, then build relationships. People buy from people. Add the human touch. Pull your focus away from what you want to give and get to know your customers and your audience by what they really need.
[Tweet “YOU are the CRO: Chief Relationship Officer. #relationshipmarketing”]
“Too many business owners and sales people try to sell their product or service, neglecting the fact that their customer is a person. In fact, the customer is a person who has feelings, influences and a mind of their own. They want to be connected with, and to trust and believe the person from which they are buying.” Rebecca Wilson
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | May 13, 2014 | Content Marketing, Marketing
Switching to a new online newsletter vendor can seem like a daunting and frustrating task, but with a little organization, planning and insight, the transition will progress smoothly. Carefully investigate the options, keeping in mind your budget, long and short term goals, how you intend to reach out to your database, format, templates, frequency of touch points, autoresponders, opt-ins and analytics.
One of our recent projects was to assist a client in moving from her two current platforms to just one. My team and I met via SKYPE to brainstorm options, the client’s current business operations, target markets and overall marketing needs. We did a lot of research to compare several options to determine the best fit for her organization.
This in-depth discovery process as well as our ongoing conversations ensured greater success in choosing the best tool and an effortless conversion for all stakeholders involved.
Using Redbooth, formally Teambox, I was able to create task lists for each of the three platforms to clearly define every step that was required. Because there were sign up boxes for e-commerce products in addition to the newsletter opt-ins on two websites, it was paramount that we created a set system of steps so as not to lose or confuse her audience while we built the new templates, moved the coding and rebuilt her list building funnel. It was an ongoing process of approximately 2 months, involving conference calls, revisiting goals and refining some of the methods. The outline below has been somewhat simplified but hopefully provides you with the required steps to change or even set up a new e-newsletter platform.
Steps to Switch E-Newsletter Platforms
| Platform 1 (current) |
Platform 2 (current) |
Platform 3 (final) |
| Write intro content to move current subscribers to P3 |
Write intro content to move current subscribers to P3 |
Design 2 branded newsletter templates for client’s 2 companies. |
| Clarify current lists, ensure all should remain as recipients |
Review all subscriber lists, delete bounces, download all lists for review, tagging and new categories |
Set up branded welcome and thank you pages |
| Review coding, opt-ins and page pop-ups for current e-book |
Send to each of the 2 company market segments from P1 and P2 subscriber lists: A/B split testing days and times (2 for each segment) |
Create subscriber categories and segments for new sign-ups |
| Remove P1 and input new P3 code on website |
Review initial mailing metrics, download email address of non-opens, resend with new subject line and A/B split testing |
Design 2 branded touch point emails |
| Close out account |
Review results |
Design autoresponder content and discuss delivery based upon opt-ins and e-newsletter schedule |
|
Download any old desired templates |
Add opt-in coding on 2 websites |
|
Consider repurposing content |
Review new sign-up metrics from P1 and P2, as well as brand new subscribers |
|
Close out account |
Brainstorm content and delivery schedule for kick-off emails |
Other miscellaneous items for discussion:
- Adding the sign-up to company email signatures and a Facebook tab
- Sharing the opt-ins in social channels
- Creating white papers and other valuable content for signing up
- Coordinating the content to be consistent with company mission, goals and other monthly posted content
- Formalizing the editorial calendar
This was a great team project, requiring a lot of thought and planning. We look forward to the final deliverables and continued marketing success.
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Apr 15, 2014 | Entrepreneur, Marketing, Small Business, Social Media
As you have read countless times, social media is about relationship marketing, engagement and making authentic connections. Real-time conversations with real people, doing and wanting real things. Your audience is not a conveyer belt digesting your content. They want and need genuine dialog and interactions.
Yes, it is all extremely time-consuming; eating many hours of your day, but with a mix of “healthy” automation and personal engagement, you can feel the success of this medium.
I am not against automation; however, when you choose to merely schedule all of your posts, without any time for personal communications, you are missing out on tremendous opportunities to meet and network with your global community. I love automation tools for content search and scheduling posts because they help save a lot of time and energy, which there is so little of. Populating your content ahead of time frees up your hours for the “social” in media.
With proper use of social media automation, you can make your time spent on your social media online marketing as productive and profitable as possible. business.com blog
Don’t set it and forget it.
Auto DMs? I can say they are a pet peeve of mine. We just met seconds ago and knowing nothing, you are asking me to click on a link, buy something, join you on a different network or download your product? It’s not going to happen. I had one follower who offered me a free massage when I purchase five, but I highly doubt flying to California is a viable option. If you choose to send a DM to welcome a new follower, then make it personal not robotic. You may get unfollowed.
You are a social being, act like it. Think about your behavior and mannerisms at a cocktail party or networking event. Do you shake hands, immediately hand out your business card and ask for the sale? I don’t think so.
- You ENGAGE in conversation.
- You ask questions.
- You share valuable information.
- You exchange in mutual dialog.
Practice the same online.
Take the time to get to know your followers, their interests, their pain points, their passions…. Human beings enjoy real conversations versus sterile robotic machines.
Review your Twitter stream. Is it just links and tweets or do you engage? Sure, automate some content, but keep it real. Reply to tweets and retweets. Share the love of your follower’s content. Review profiles and websites – discuss them, ask questions.
What does your Facebook page look like? When someone likes or replies to your post, don’t ignore it. They took the time to comment. They are interested in your page. Respond. People love to talk to people, to their favorite brands and pages; stand out from those who don’t engage. Be the brand that you want to buy from.
Whatever various platforms you choose to deploy, humanize your networking with real interactions.
Simple as that.
Have a presence.
Be remarkable and continue to nurture your audience with rich dialog and connections.
Social Automation Tips
- Evaluate your needs and goals to pick a tool that works best for you. Examples: Buffer, Do Share, Hootsuite, IFTTT, Zapier
- Understand when to automate and when to engage.
- Monitor your tools and automated posts.
- Automate your RSS feeds as well as those in your network.
- Schedule non-urgent posts like favorite quotes and tips.
- Don’t schedule the exact same content across all of your platforms. Keep it fresh.
- Don’t overschedule and drown your audience. Too much of anything is a bad thing.
- Update your channels daily with current news and trends. Mix it up a bit.
Once all of that is done, you will have saved yourself a few hours to engage with your audience, creating deeper connections and meaningful relationships.
Social automation is a great time-saver but don’t overdo it. You’ve got real people enjoying real conversations, with real needs. Exceed their expectations.
Be SOCIAL. Don’t do social.
Bring human resources to the table where the opportunity for real social media engagement exists, and use computers to make all else more efficient. Just be sure the quality meets high standards and builds audience. Adam Stetzer
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 13, 2014 | Blogging, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
Writing great and ‘share worthy’ content takes time.
It takes effort and isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do.
The problem is that simply writing something that is ‘great’ doesn’t mean that it’s going to get any views.
There’s a lot more to it than that.
In this post I’m going to share a number of things that I do differently when I write content. Using these tips I have been able to generate thousands of social shares on a relatively new blog.
Identify a problem and solve it
In recent years the bar has been raised thanks to the level of quality content that other writers are producing.
The easiest way to compel your audience to share your content is by identifying what problem they are experiencing and then solve it.
When people have been searching high and low to find the answer to a problem and they finally find it, they can be very appreciative.
Get the timing right
Sometimes timing can be a big factor.
A great example is when Google first announced that Google Reader was closing. The keyword ‘Google reader alternative’ became incredibly popular overnight.
Within a short amount of time there was an incredible number of blogs writing about the topic which meant that the competition went up dramatically.
Although the first few blogs to cover this would have seen significant increases in traffic, mostly from organic search.
Also, one thing that I noticed was that even the blogs that were late to cover the topic generated an above average level of social shares.
This type of thing is often referred to as news jacking because that’s essentially what you’re doing.
If you publish a blog post just before journalists are scrambling for information then you have a great opportunity.
David Meerman Scott also published a great book on the topic, learn more about it here.
Keep it easy to read
Readability is an important factor and it’s important to keep your articles at a level where everyone can understand them.
Breaking your sentences up into smaller chunks, writing clear sub headings and utilising formatting are all a good way to do that.
A very helpful tool that I found recently was the Hemingway App that grades your articles readability and offers ways to improve it.
Add value and come up with a unique angle
Before you start writing anything you need to think about how you can add value to your content.
Check out what other people have wrote about the topic in Google and find out what’s missing:
- Do you have a unique perspective on the subject?
- Can you add more detail and make a more comprehensive resource?
- Is there a content type that isn’t used?
There are plenty of things to think about but what you need to identify in most cases is the content gap.
By finding what’s missing you can make sure that your content fills the gap and becomes what people have been wanting.
Mention influencers and tell them about it
There is a form of marketing that is trending right now.
It’s known as influencer marketing.
The idea is marketing directly to those that influence your target audience rather than directly marketing to your target audience.
I’ve found it to be very effective but another thing it can really help with is content distribution.
By mentioning influencers in your content and letting them know (using Twitter, Google+ or email works fine) you can skyrocket the amount of social shares for your content.
People love it when other people say awesome stuff about them.
Finding influencers
There are a lot of tools on the market that can help you, but as a starting point I’d recommend giving BuzzSumo a try. It’s free to get started while the tool is in beta and it’s very straight forward to use.
Contacting influencers works best from a personal account even if you’re working on behalf of a brand – the personal touch works best. Something Jennifer Hanford covered here.
How to incorporate influencers into your content
Simply linking out to influencers can work great and for a lot of people it does.
There is a way to get more influencers to share your content.
That is to involve them directly in the creation of the content – you may have seen this referred to as group interviews or crowd sourced content.
The end result is the same – a group of influencers contributing content and because of that they are more willing to share the content.
Here are a few examples that have generated an impressive number of social shares:
The reality of influencer marketing
Instead of my websites or my clients starting out and having no audience whatsoever we have used this to put tap into the established audience of market influencers to put their content, their brand and their message directly in front of their target audience.
It’s not an overnight strategy, it does take time and there are more steps involved, but that’s the same in any form of real marketing.
Clicking publish doesn’t mean the job is done
The biggest mistake that I see bloggers and marketers make is spending an incredible amount of time creating a really great piece of content but don’t put the time into promoting it.
The truth is that clicking publish maybe all you’ll need to do if you are Tech Crunch or Mashable but most of us have got a fair distance to go until we reach that point.
I’d recommend checking this post out because it goes into a lot more detail (and it’s a very large topic) but ultimately after every post is published you need to spend as much time promoting it as you have done creating it.
Think about your target audience and where they hang out online. Then put your content directly in front of them.
Don’t do it in a spammy way or just drop the link in online communities but actually engage with your audience and start building a discussion.
Engage with your audience, be present and help them.
Soon enough you will develop your own influence.
Summary
There are plenty of ways to help get your content shared, this isn’t an exhaustive list by any means.
Now I’ll put the question to you – what do you do to help make sure people share your content?
We would love to hear more in the comments below.
Guest Author Blog Post:
Adam Connell is the Marketing Manager for a UK based marketing agency; UK Linkology. In his spare time Adam trains people to get better results out of content and social media.
Connect with Adam:
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Photo Credit: giulia.forsythe via Compfight cc
by Ace Concierge | Virtual Assistant | Mar 5, 2014 | Marketing, Social Media
Your social media marketing efforts are the architectural structure, the blueprint toward creating communities, a positive customer experience, brand image, a following, online reputation and a strong digital footprint for a return on investment. It goes far beyond simply a few posts on various channels; it is a two-way conversation. Interaction. Collaboration. Education. Communication. Community.
Building and maintaining your online relationships will eventually turn into revenue, but it does take time and effort.
It is paramount that your digital footprint, in each platform remain consistent and representative of your goals and mission. Even your content must clearly define and support your company and brand. Everything in life has plan, an outline with action steps.
The Forbes’ article, “7 P’s Of Social Media Marketing That Drive Results” helps to define and outline some of the basic etiquette and how to’s to build your brand and your digital landscape.
Social media is a powerful brand building tool that can drive long-term, organic growth which is sustainable through any micro- or macro-environmental threat.
Developing the value of your brand should always be a top strategic priority. Brand value has saved more than one company or product from going under in recent years. Playboy and Twinkie are just two brands that survived another day thanks to the value of their brand names.
Click to read more: forbes.com
Image courtesy of forbes.com
