Social media brand marketing recommendations from Edan Gelt today: TripAdvisor is great for brick and mortar physical locations as a way to attract tourists or local community members looking for places to visit. This is a great platform for bars, restaurants and entertainment venues. SlideShare is a strong option for business to business marketing and offers the opportunity to embed your YouTube video in your SlideShare deck. Vimeo is similar to YouTube in platform but also differs in that it is more creatively focused and often features higher caliber videos. This is a great place to engage with other creatives or business professionals that focus on video content. Find more info at Eden Gelt.
Turn on the message app in GMB – it may be painful to answer sometimes, but this is a great way to capture leads. By engaging in messaging this gives you the power to talk to your audience in real time. These conversations are what can help your business stand out because it shows you are a real person rather than a bot or a corporate conglomerate company, that personal touch goes a long way. Don’t let the fact of being ‘live’ scare you away from messaging through your GMB. There are settings that allow an automated response so if you don’t want to be monitoring your messaging 24/7 this initial response will give your customers the response they want while you can get back to them with their exact answer the next day or during business hours.
Lead by Example: Testimonials on Google, Yelp and Facebook lend credibility to your brand. Ask your existing clients to write a review and share their experiences. Even better than written testimonials are those done in video format and shared to your Google page. Samples of your work or case studies can also be extremely helpful when closing a new client or attracting new ones. Case studies share how your product or service created value for someone else and samples of your work exhibits how you did it.
When starting out you will need to choose a social media platform to broadcast your content and this means knowing your audience and where to find them. For example, if your audience is interested in the beauty industry and loves to watch hair and make-up tutorials then maybe podcasting isn’t for you and it would be best to stick with Instagram or YouTube. Business guru and YouTuber Vanessa Lau advises not to get caught up in “shiny object syndrome”, trying to launch your brand across a multitude of platforms and waste time pitching to irrelevant audiences. Two or three platforms suitable to your brand is adequate to diversify your content but also guard against stretching yourself too thin by managing too many social media accounts at once. Find additional details on Edan Gelt.
Video Marketing is the King of Content in 2020! Per the online site Hubspot, more than 50% of your clients/diners/shoppers want to see videos from your brand over any other type of media you are providing. It is projected that people will consume 100 minutes each day watching online videos in 2021. With the current pandemic, that number might even be higher. But you’re probably thinking, “ Edan, I am so uncomfortable making videos! What will I even say, aren’t they expensive? I just don’t know where and how to get started”.
Stepping outside of your target audience might seem daunting but this is crucial to increase exposure of your product and company. Free samples increase your product and company’s awareness. Since this broad, new audience now has your product in their hands, consumers make both a physical and mental connection. Next time they are in the store or shopping online and come across your product, they are more likely to make a purchase. Thus, making the transition to becoming a customer all because of the familiarity they had from your free sample.
Online Services: When the pandemic hit, Peloton offered 90-days free of their in-home workout app – up from 30-days previously. This allowed potential users to try their program and get hooked. After the free trial was up, it was just $12.99 a month – who wouldn’t continue? Moz, a software platform for digital marketers offered a free trial with no commitment other than signing in. This showed off their capabilities and made users feel compelled to commit to Moz when they were ready for digital software. Hubspot, Amazon Kindle, LinkedIn, Google, Canva and others offer free tools and platforms with the strategy of ‘free’ and reciprocity in mind.
You need to either create a listing or ensure you have a Google business page setup. If your business is established (usually founded several years ago), it’s likely Google already has a GMB listing and you just need to claim it. Ensure your listing clearly includes what your business does, where it is, and how consumers can quickly and efficiently acquire the goods and/or services you offer. See extra details at Eden Gelt.
Businesses are having to think long and hard about how to get their messages across sensitively. These new messages focus on remaining positive. This current climate is driving significant shifts in the communication strategies of just about all the world’s top brands. Communicating in Trust During the Pandemic: The trust economy existed before Covid-19. With the emergence of ‘fake news’ and Social Media’s ability to spread this information in the blink of an eye. Building consumer trust begins to take on as an important role. This is mainly in part of the product’s capabilities or taste.
3…2…1…ACTION It’s game time and there is no fancy equipment required. Are you ready to film? Just take out your handy phone, iPad or computer and let’s start rolling! Depending on the type of content you are looking to share, you can record 1-minute clips straight through or you can film individual segments and patch them together with film editing software such as iMovie, Open Shot, Movie Maker 10 and more. If you’re not handy with editing, you can hire someone (or recruit your children). You can also just publish raw and real footage. Depending on your business type and brand, sometimes having unedited content may even help you connect better to your client base.
