Slay Social Media 2018 Survival Kit

Slay
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Hi, my name is Dr. Lakisha Ross (aka The Brandologist), and I am Success Coach & Expert Brand
Strategist for Budding Entrepreneurs, Creatives, Small Business Owners and more. I bring over
10 years of digital marketing and branding experience to the table. I help my clients think
strategically, stand out visually and dominate digitally in the online world and have helped
business owners launch, brand, market and increase their profits worldwide. Below you will find
the Table of Contents together with Page Numbers so you can easily reference sections as
and when necessary.
DESCRIPTION PAGE #
■ Facebook Tips & Tricks 6 - 8
■ Instagram Tips & Tricks 9 - 11
■ Discover Your Target Audience (Create your Business Avatar) 12 - 13
■ Picture Perfect (How to take images that stand out) 14 - 15
■ 8 Ways to Slay Social Media 16 - 17
■ Video Marketing 18 - 19
■ Content Marketing & Email Marketing 20 - 24
■ Algorithms & ShadowBan 25 - 29
■ SEO/Lead Generation/ Sales Funnels 30 - 34
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The truth about Social Media
Studies show that there were 2.46 billion internet users in 2017 and that this shall increase to
2.77 billion by 2019. In 2017, 71 % of internet users were social media users and these stats are
growing daily. Did you also know that Facebook owns almost 70% of all Social Media
advertising revenue? That’s HUGE! For the person looking to grow their business online and
gain online visibility, this allows you to tap into billions of followers daily on a worldwide basis.
The key to using Social Media to grow your business is visibility but how do you do that when
there are billions of people fighting to be seen on each social media platform daily? …simply
by following all the guidelines contained within this 2018 SOCIAL MEDIA SURVIVAL KIT!
So why do you need a survival kit you ask? Because there are thousands of businesses like you
dying daily simply because they are not paying attention to the huge changes which in turn
are effecting their ability to continue to be visible online. If you are not being seen by your
target audience then you will forever remain in the background waiting for that big break! I
don’t believe in waiting for the BIG break…I believe in CREATING it by using FACEBOOK &
INSTAGRAM to my strategic advantage. In this guide, you will learn what it will take to remain
10 steps ahead of the game in 2018.
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The truth is, SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED AND WILL CONTINUE TO CHANGE! If you plan to
continue branding and marketing yourself like you did in 2017 and the years before that, then
don’t expect to be dominating in your industry anytime soon…the raw truth!
What’s all the Social Media hype about?
Social Media was created for people to be SOCIAL! It doesn’t take much guess work there
but over the recent years, marketers tapped into its potential to generate big bucks and build
million dollar empires in little to no time. Mark Zuckerberg, was not happy and long story short,
the algorithms were put in place to make timelines less spammy and more about connecting.
Well, that’s great for those who only use it to socialize but what about those of us building
digital empires? ….the following pages will answer that question.
Many think that all it takes is posting pictures to gain exposure and clients. Completely wrong!
If you are not using a strategy for your posts, you will most likely get tons of likes and nothing
more and as we know, likes do not pay the bills. I have created this guide to inform you of all
the things you should know when posting on Facebook and Instagram. If followed correctly
and consistently, this will help you not only gain exposure but have your audience paying
major interest!
Also, do not try to maintain multiple social media platforms at once without support or some
form of automated system. The Online Gurus will tell you to have Instagram, FB, Twitter,
Snapchat, Pinterest, Linked In, Periscope and a host of others. The truth is unless you are
paying someone to do that all for you, you will end up burning yourself out. It is better to show
up daily, frequently, and consistently on 1-3 different platforms than once per week here,
there and everywhere.
Depending on your product or service, some platforms are better suited than others but this
guide is based solely on Instagram and Facebook users.
IMPORTANT: Before you invest time infographics, websites and a host of other things you need
to BUILD YOUR AUDIENCE on each platform. The more people you have following you, the
more potential for one to lead to a customer/client. Marketing your products to an audience
of only 100 followers will generate far fewer results than marking to an audience in the
thousands. If you want to increase your audience (in addition to the tips in this guideline),
start requesting friends on Facebook, following other accounts on Instagram and encourage
them to follow you back. You should attempt to attract a minimum of 5 new people to each
platform daily.
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Facebook Tips to Increase Visibility
FACEBOOK: The average lifespan of a post on Facebook (time it can be seen by others) has
increased drastically. With the new algorithm changes, a post can be visible for days. A
simple comment or like on an old picture can also have that appear on the top of your
timeline again too. On average a post on FB sees the most interaction within the first 6 -12
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hours. As such it is not necessary to post every single hour of each and every day to gain
exposure.
It is recommended that you post to your business page and then share the post from
your business page to your personal page. This is a way of encouraging others to
Like/Follow/Share your business page.
Boosting: Due to huge FB changes, only approx. 5% of your followers see posts to your
business page because FB wants to force business owners to pay for boosted/paid ads.
Paid ads are still a good idea as you can invest as little as $1 per post. Highly
recommend you only pay for ads that are promo related and make sure you have a
product/service to offer.
How do I boost? Whenever you post on your business page
you will notice a boost option at the bottom of your posted
image! Simply click that button, choose your target
audience (you can customize your audience to target
people who have specific hobbies or interests. Simply
select the amount you want to invest and hit boost.
What are the best times to post? With the recent algorithm changes, studies show that
the best times to post on FB are usually as follows on the weekdays: 6 AM (people
naturally check their phones when they wake up), 1pm (people are on lunchbreak) –
3pm (people are often ready to go home and start slacking) and 7pm (when people
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are relaxing after dinner in the evening). Over 50% of smartphone users grab their
smartphone immediately after waking up.
80% people are in the ET and CT time zones. Make sure you post during peak times for
those time zones. For those of you who have audiences outside the United
States, demographic research like this is simple enough with Google Analytics to
understand where your own audience is, giving you the opportunity to target their time
zones accordingly.
What should I post? It is recommended that you alternate content to keep the audience
engaged. Based on you posting 3x per day, I would recommend 1). An Informative Post
(see content marketing section), A Promo post selling a product or service and 3).
General Motivational Post.
Do I need hashtags? A hashtag is basically a 1 word or phrase proceeded by the #
symbol that describes your business, services and target audience (see section on
Shadow ban, Algorithms for more info). Examples of hashtags I use for my business
#BrandStylist #Branding #BusinessConsultant #Graphics #WebDesign #Entrepreneurs
Keep your pages clean, try to stick to the
colors of your brand and use branded
images whenever you can. Treat your
Facebook pages like you would your
store front window. You want your pages
to be easy on the eye while flowing
seamlessly for any potential client.
Also, I suggest all your pages be Public as
I always state “we are living in a day and
age where the two cannot be separated
and people will find your personal page
even if you don’t provide them with the
info.” They simply google you. That’s why
we should never post anything we don’t
wish a potential client to see.
Share informative content. Show yourself as the expert. Remain consistent and always
be professional. To engage your audience more, offer free giveaways, promos, and
gifts for sharing or recommending your products and services.
Use GROUPS to increase your engagement. NETWORK!
Do NOT put links to external websites in your posts (Facebook doesn’t like that), put the
links in the comment section under the post.
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Instagram Tips to Increase Visibility
INSTAGRAM: Instagram operates differently to Facebook as the marketing strategy is at a
faster pace and more image based. In Instagram images are used to tell the story rather than
words. Although most of the rules remain the same as FB, here are some important things you
should know:
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Have you noticed a decline in your Instagram engagement recently? That is the effect of the
algorithm, in addition, there is also a possibility you’ve been shadow-banned…what’s that you
ask? See the ALGORITHM and SHADOWBAN section!
The lifespan of one of your posts on Instagram is much shorter than Facebook. Yes, it may
still appear on your follower’s timeline a day or 2 later but since the dreaded algorithm
changes, the average post will see the most interaction within the first 1 hour of being
posted. Based on that, there really is no limit to how frequently you post BUT I would avoid
excessively posting consecutively at the same time as this may annoy some of your
followers and cause them to unfollow you. Space your posts out at least 3 hours inbetween.
Post images that are consistent
and show your brand colors and
style (see Slay My Brand Visually)
section to learn more about brand
styling.
Do I need Hashtags? Hashtags
are your lifeline on Instagram.
Using them allows potential clients
and your target audience to find
you and are VERY IMPORTANT.
Instagram was designed for
hashtags to be used and if you are
not using them, you are losing out
on potential clients and your
target audience. Instagram allows you to use at least 30 hashtags but it is no longer
recommended you use them all. This used to be an easy way to gain new followers but
could now get you SHADOWBANNED (see separate section on shadowban). 20
hashtags per post should suffice. Should you wish to use more, see below for little trick to
getting 30!
FOCULMARK is the best thing ever invented. It is an Apple/Android app that will
automatically generate the top hashtags to get engagement in any category. You can
download right not and start using instantly. In addition, the key to hashtags is
researching them by either using google explore or typing a hashtag into the Instagram
search engine. It will tell you how many times the hashtag has been used by other users.
You typically do not want hashtags in the millions or hundreds of thousands as it makes
it less likely you will be seen through all the competition. Try to find ones above 10,000
users and below 100,000 users.
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MAJOR TIP to Increase Engagement: Did you know that there is a way you can use more than
30 hashtags on Instagram? Whaaaatttt! Yes, it’s true. We all know the more hashtags you use,
the more engagement you can possibly get and right now this a trick that is currently out there
as of (November 24, 2017), yes I have used it and it works but I must issue this DISCLAIMER:
Usage of this technique can be considered a growth hack and could get you shadowbanned.
I only mention it because it is something I am asked about often but once again use at your
own risk! This is something you can learn more about by simply googling “how to post more
than 30 hashtags to Instagram.” In all honesty at this point with all the algorithms it is better to
grow your account organically and stray away from anything that may affect your account.
Instagram Business Profile: Ensure you
have converted to a Business Profile on
Instagram. This can easily be done by
going to your settings and clicking the
business profile option. This will not only
allow you to share posts from your
Instagram to your FB business page with
ease but will also allow you to see
detailed info about your audience and
what times they are online. It will help
you to see the best days/times to post
to your current list of followers. This is
where the use of analytics comes in
handy.
The best times to post on Instagram? Apart from using Instagram analytics as a
guide, the best times to post differ from FB and it really is a cat and mouse game
between you and your target audience. I have found an easy way to figure out your
audience is to set certain times to post an image during the day and night. Then
make a note of the amount of engagement you receive for each post. After a week
you should be able to see what times brought the most engagement. You generally
want to stick to posting at the high engagement times to help with exposure and
visibility.
(SEE ALGORITM SECTION & SHADOW BAN SECTION TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
ORGANICALLY BUILDING YOUR AUDIENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA)
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Know your Target Audience
When it comes to advertising your business, it's imperative that you know who your "target
audience" is, and how to reach them. While it's important to reach as many people as possible,
and it often seems like focusing only on certain segments of the population is limiting, you
need to be "direct." Directly reaching those interested in your product or service will ultimately
create a loyal following truly interested in what you have to offer while putting more money in
your pocket. Therefore, before you decide what your message is, and how to deliver it, you
need to understand your target audience.
What Is a Target Audience? A target audience is the demographic of people most likely to
be interested in your product or service. If you own a plumbing company, your target
audience is property owners, both commercial and residential. If you own a toy store, your
target audience would be kids, parents, grandparents and anyone else with children in their
lives. Other examples of target audiences include single men in their 20s, tweens, working
mothers, retired seniors and dog owners. In some cases, the target audience becomes very
narrow-focused. For instance, if the product is a pricey Italian men's business suit appropriate
for up-and-coming Wall Streeters, then the market audience is single men in their 20s who live
in New York City and earn over $200,000 year.
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Why Does It Matter?
In order for people to "buy into"
a product or service, they need
to relate to the tone and
content of the message.
By striking a chord with someone,
a personal connection is made,
and trust is established. Let's say
the goal is to sell a product to
working
mothers.
The advertising methods might employ digital and social media platforms and may have an
energetic and empathetic tone. For example, a better approach for reaching retired seniors
is a marketing campaign using print ads in newspapers and magazines that carry a more
subtle and relaxing tone.
Finding Your Target Audience:
The best place way to figure out your target audience is by thinking about the specific needs
your product or service fulfills.
Then pretend that your business was a
person. Look at the image beside this
and answer the questions as if the avatar
was your business. If your business was
human what would the answers be?
If your business is designing websites
you’re going to focus on selling those
websites to business owners, not retired
people. If your product is very general in
nature (e.g., a common condiment like
ketchup) less market research is needed
because most people use ketchup. If,
however, the audience is more specific
it's important to gather data about your customers so you can narrow-focus.
One way to gather data is to offer a special price or coupon code to those who visit your
website (or place of business) if they fill out a survey that captures the information you need.
Market research companies can also help conduct this type of research for you.
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...because every picture tells a story!
The first interaction someone usually has with your business or brand online is usually a visual
image. The bottom line is that we as humans are visual creatures. We love to look at things
and become interested when they are pleasing to our eyes. In marketing that visual interest
is used to entice you to purchase a product or service. Statistics show that 65% of people
retain information better when paired with a visual and you only have seconds to make an
impact. A poor quality image, irrelevant or offensive image could run clients and consumers
away. This is why it is important to always show up in the best light possible and take the time
to research your niche and target audience!
Aim for good lighting, clean and clutter free backgrounds. Always ask yourself 3 Questions:
Is it high quality? …can you visualize it in a high class magazine?
Is it relevant? ….how does it relate to your brand and building your credibility as a guru
in your industry. If it doesn’t relate, ask yourself if it’s necessary to post.
Does it tell a story? …a picture should give you an idea of what it is about without you
ever having to read anything.
If the answer is not YES to all 3 questions, don’t post it.
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Tips for taking pictures:
Stage your pictures scenes. If someone is taking a picture of you, make sure you are
positioned at a nice angle, capture something cute in the background to give an idea
or where you are and a glimpse into your lifestyle. If taking pictures of your services or
products, use props, lighting, etc. to set the perfect tone and capture a high quality
image.
Look Professional: Always look the part. Social media is about building relationships and
making your audience want what you have. Show them the BEST version of you!
Is it the Right Light for a Selfie?
Let’s Talk Selfies for a moment!
I am a fan of the selfie as much as anyone else
but when branding your business there are a
few basic guidelines you should try to follow:
1. Do not take selfies in bathrooms unless the
bathroom relates to what you are posting in
some shape or form. Is considered quite tacky
in the industry.
2. Never use or provide others with selfie
photos to be placed on business cards, flyers
or another other marketing material…it
screams UNPROFESSIONAL and not only makes your brand look bad but can also damage
the brands of other companies who may become affiliated with you. Things like this can be
a warning to other brands that you are not ready to play in the big leagues.
If you look at the images of any well-known brand, you’ll see that they use the same colors
repetitively—in their logo, in their text, even in their images. That consistency is what helps
viewers recognize the company and evokes certain feelings and emotions associated with
the brand.
You can apply this same approach to your own visual content by choosing two to four colors
and using them consistently. You can find and save your brand colors using hex codes, which
are the six-digit codes that appear when a color is selected on the color wheel.
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Visually
8 Ways to Slay
Are you getting maximum results from your VISUAL CONTENT?
Do you use graphics, fonts, and colors to create visually consistent images that can be
associated with your brand? Graphics that are consistent increase engagement and build
familiarity with your brand. Here are steps to ensuring you are visually slaying your Social
Media:
Consistency: If you look at well-known brands, you will see they use the same colors, logos
or filters in their brand repetitively. That consistency is what helps people recognize the brand
and then form feelings and emotions based on that brand depending on their content. It is
important that you are always consistent with BRAND COLORS, TEXTS, IMAGES, YOUR MESSAGE
and YOUR STYLE! The more consistent you are the quicker you will build an audience.
Note: the images do not have to be the same but must contain some sort of uniformity. Aim
to use your brand colors in at least 50% of your images so people begin to associate them with
you!
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Customize your graphics: Nothing gets you branded faster and looking more professional
than by using customized graphics. Yes, I know hiring someone can be expensive but there
are tons of free online apps that can assist. My favorite is CANVA (www.canva.com), which
is a free online platform that allows creating customized graphics to brand your business by
using their ready-made templates. It is uber easy to use and if you have trouble you will find
tons of beginner video tutorials on YouTube.
Choose Images that fit your style: What
messages are you trying to convey. Whether
images are used as stand alone or with a
background it is important to pick a consistent
them. To discover your companies’
personality and find images to suit it, ask
yourself what product, service or experience
you are trying to sell. If your brand was a
person, what kind of things would it like to do
or see? Find images that match your answers.
For instant, if you were in the health industry,
you would probably want images showing
healthy foods, people in the gym, people
waking, mountain climbing, etc. Basically,
everything associated with health.
Collaborate: There is power in collaboration. Find other people who are in a similar industry
or who may be in an industry you can combine with yours to offer a great service or product.
Try to find others who have a high follower count. This will increase your exposure quickly.
Be Interesting: Nobody wants to follow someone who is considered boring. Social Media is
the opportunity to sell your personality, your ideas, and your business.
interesting…capture their attention.
Make it
Show Up Daily: I cannot express just how very important this is. It is imperative you show up
daily on all social media platforms to not only boost the algorithm but to show consistency and
build credibility.
Create content likely to elicit positive feedback from your audience, in the form of positive
comments, likes, or reactions, which are now weighted so they affect post ranking slightly
more than likes.
Publish content that promotes engagement and an investment of time from your
audience; video content is an excellent option here. Post content that’s social and shareable
Create posts that are likely to result in your audience liking, commenting, and sharing with their
friends. SN: Try to refrain from using 3 rd party apps, Facebook and Instagram do not like that
and will give your post a low ranking.
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Video should be your Best Friend
The video is long past the status of an "up-and-coming" marketing tactic. It's here, and it's an
increasingly powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition,
and build relationships with your customers and prospects.
The most recent statistics show that video content isn't just effective -- the demand for it is
growing at an impressively rapid pace. Did you know, for example, that 43% of people want
to see more video content from marketers? Or that 51.9% of marketing professionals
worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI? Video marketing is all over
the Internet. Look no further than your favorite brands, your Facebook, your YouTube
homepage, and there it is: successful video marketing that has found its way to your eyes.
Video Marketing Stats:
The average video retains 37% retention rate to the end of the video
Videos under 90 seconds long see a retention rate of 53% but videos over 30 minutes
retain only 10%
The average retention rate of personalized videos is 35% higher than non-personalized
videos.
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Definition of Video Marketing:
If a photo’s worth a thousand words, then
how much more valuable is video? That’s the
basis of video marketing, a forward-facing
marketing strategy that integrates engaging
video into your marketing campaigns.
Video marketing can be used for everything
from building customer rapport, to promoting
your brand, services or products.
Additionally, video marketing can serve as a
medium to present how-to’s, promote
customer testimonials, live-stream events
and deliver viral (entertaining) content.
How Video Marketing Works:
On the surface, the how of video marketing is pretty simple: Your brand creates videos that,
in some way or another, promote your company, drive sales, raise awareness of your products
or services, or engage your customers. To develop your video marketing strategy, you’ll want
to:
1. Allocate resources. You’re going to need to designate some budget for video – at the
least, decent equipment, good editing software, and a video marketing guru (or, better,
team) – as well as time to create it.
2. Tell your stories. Storytelling has never been as important as it is in the video, so get
brainstorming: What stories do you want to tell? How will you tell them?
3. Engage. It’s not enough to simply tell your stories; you must engage your audience while
you do so. How will you make your stories interesting? What will hook your audience?
4. Keep it short. There’s no set length for marketing videos (although there
are recommendations), but the general rule is that shorter is better. Be ruthless with your
editing. Cut, cut, cut out everything extraneous. Attention spans are short, so make the
best of what you get.
5. Publish. Publish your videos far and wide – embedded in your website, uploaded to
Google-owned YouTube, and on all your social media channels. Then, promote,
promote, promote.
6. Analyze. Track metrics and stats, to determine which videos do the best – and why.
How to Record Video: You do not need to go and buy the latest equipment and book a
studio. Video can be done from your car, in your home, from your office or while you are on
the go from your phone. Just make sure video is clear, professional and has either a plain or
scenic background.
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You Must Create Great Content
Content marketing is the process of creating high-quality, valuable content to attract, inform, and
engage an audience, while also promoting the brand itself. Buyers and consumers are already searching
the web for answers that your brand is uniquely positioned to offer. Its benefits are three-fold:
1. Increased brand awareness: As prospects and buyers search the web for answers to their questions
and solutions for their problems, your brand continues to show up.
2. Increased brand preference: Content marketing helps to further establish your brand as a thought
leader in your industry, which strengthens relationships with buyers.
3. Greater reach lower cost: It is not a short-term strategy, but over time, a library of great content will
continue to reach more qualified leads and interested buyers.
Content marketing is the savvy marketer’s response to the new, relationship-based, buyer-driven, digital
marketplace. A strong content marketing strategy includes a variety of content types, so as individual
pieces begin to take shape, there are some specific things to keep in mind:
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Blog Posts
Distill your content marketing strategy into your blog
schedule/strategy. The company blog can and
should be used to cross-promote other content, which
will help keep posts on a consistent schedule. If you
don’t have a marketing team member who is familiar
with SEO, this is one area where you might want to
consult a professional.
Ebooks
EBook content should follow some sort of narrative
structure and include a lot of good, visual design.
The goal of an eBook is to educate (rather than
entertain), but make sure to keep the language
conversational if that is consistent with your brand
and personas.
Workbooks and Templates great way to keep
your brand in front of buyers, while also being really
helpful. These resources should be designed for
print and made as interactive and practical as
possible.
Video
The trick to effectively using video as part of a content strategy is keeping it as timeless as possible. Otherwise,
you risk wasting resources (time and money) updating videos every year. High-quality video content can
also be used to expose your brand to YouTube’s large and active audience.
Infographics
The name says it all: just give readers info and graphics. Use as little text as possible for the former, and let the
latter tell the story. If you don’t have a killer graphics artist in-house, this is one for which you might want to
work with a professional.
Slide Decks
Slide decks are a great format for breaking down complex ideas into simple steps or bite-sized pieces.
Keep the slides simple: minimal text in one font throughout, and use big images & graphics.
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The Money is in the Emails
Before we go any further, do you realize that if you promote your business via Social Media
and Facebook? Instagram or any other platform disappeared tomorrow, your followers would
too. The fact is, none of us own our Social Media platforms and they can be deleted in a
heartbeat. We only truly own our websites (as long as we keep up with subscription/hosting
costs) and our emails. Based on that you should frequently be finding ways to obtain your
follower's emails to add to a mailing list database and here’s why:
Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses electronic mail as a means of
communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. In its broadest sense,
every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing.
However, the term is usually used to refer to:
Sending emails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its
current or previous customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.
Sending emails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current
customers to purchase something immediately.
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Adding advertisements to emails sent by other companies to their customers.
Email marketing has several key advantages over traditional mail marketing, including the
following:
Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of email subscribers who have opted in to
receive email communications on subjects of interest to them.
Over half of all Internet users check or send email on a typical day.
Email allows marketers to reach out to consumers with personalized, relevant, dynamic
messages.
Transactional emails allow businesses to respond automatically to important consumer
events like purchases or shop-cart abandonment.
The disadvantages of email marketing
surround the rejection/spam rate of the
emails by the consumers’ email program,
negatively affecting the delivery rate of the
emails. This has somewhat been eliminated
with the idea of “Opt-in” emailing, where the
consumer consents to receiving the emails
and therefore eliminates the idea of
receiving unsolicited emails – Ideally
maintaining emails that are relevant and
appropriate to each individual recipient.
Why?
So the questions are why and how should
one go about email marketing? Well here
are a few thoughts on the matter:
Cost – Email marketing is CHEAP, there are no two ways about it. Whether you do it
yourself, or through an email marketing agency, marketing to hundreds of consumers
via email is going to cost you tiddlywinks compared to other channels of advertising.
Success – Emails can be targeted specifically at the ideal consumer. With this concept
in mind, along with email cost-effectiveness, it’s no wonder that email marketing’s ROI
often blows other direct marketing strategies out of the water – The trick is that you have
to get it right!
Measurability and Flexibility – With the analytics available today it’s easy to track
responses to your emails exactly, in order to work out what parts of your campaign are
working and what parts aren’t. With this knowledge, you can then react instantly to
modify your campaign strategy if need be
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NOTE: MAILCHIMP is a great Automated Email Application for beginners and the basic
package is FREE!
HOW?
Creative – This refers to the
overall design of the email
(layout/images/color).
Specifically, it is a good
idea to ask each customer
whether they would like the
emails in text or HTML as
there is often a great
preference for one over
the other.
Relevance – Targeting,
targeting, and more
targeting. Make your
emails relevant and
personalized to each
recipient if you want that
response rate to rise.
Incentive – Recipients
look at emails and think “WIIFM?”, i.e. “What’s in it for me??”. There’s no such thing as a
free lunch right? Well… Offer the recipient a “free lunch” for participating and they will
be more likely to respond.
Timing – Don’t send out an email that recipients will receive overnight, let it pop up in
their inbox during their working day. This also expands to selecting certain days, months
and even years. Remember – You can test and measure what timing works best for
which email.
Copy – When considering the copywriting for your email you must consider all aspects
of the language, from the subject line through to your mail signature. With emails, not
all links should be saved for the last sentence, pop them in early to grab that impulsive
customer!
Landing Page – Want those emails to turn into sales conversions? Don’t just hyperlink
your customers to your home page; show them exactly where you want them to go and
make it quick and easy to complete any forms!
So yes… Email marketing is a vital component in many industries, especially for creating those
important customer-firm relationships. Learn to use it well and it will definitely bump up your
company’s success. Use it to nurture meaning relationships, generate leads and as a safety
net should your social media ever disappear.
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Demystifying the Dreaded Algorithm
Guess what? The secret is out the bag and the social media gravy chain to six figures is at its
end! Well, that might be a little dramatic but here’s why I am saying it? The big names like
Zuckerberg realized that entrepreneurs, small business owners, and others were using the
Facebook and Instagram platforms to build 6 figure business in 12 months or less. What’s wrong
with you ask? Nothing to us regular folk but the big dogs want a piece of that multi-millionaire
dollar online industry. So what did they do? They introduced the dreaded ALGORITHM!
What is that? ..simply put a Social Media Algorithm is like a monitor. It assesses the posts you
like and comments on, it assesses the people you interact with frequently, it assesses your
interests and the people who interact with you through likes/comments. For marketers, this
means we have to generate more content, be even more creative and put in a lot more
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work…sucks right? I know! But is this the end of the world and the end of your social media
fame? No, not all…you simply must learn more tricks to playing the game.
Why? The platforms state they want to ensure that the right content gets delivered to the right
people at the right time. Using algorithms they monitor who likes your posts and then ensure
that the person sees your posts. The downside to that is when people do not comment or like
your pictures it becomes more and more likely that they will see your posts on their
timeline….therefore driving away business.
So what do we do? I am about to teach you a few ways to stand out visually and dominate
digitally in your industry, but the truth is the RULE OF THE YEAR for 2018 is INCREASED
ENGAGEMENT! You are going to have to work hard, create better content, be more strategic
and above all remain consistent.
The Social Media platforms are no longer giving us a free ride. They want to make sure we are
either put everything we have into it or paying their ad fees to increase visibility. Basically
either work your socks off OR pay them to make life easier.
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Have you noticed a dip in your engagement recently? If so, you’re not the only one! I’ve been
hearing a lot lately from Instagrammers who are concerned that they’re experiencing the
Instagram shadowban – their follower count has dropped, they’re not receiving as many likes
on their photos as they used to, and their posts don’t seem to be showing up under the
hashtags they’ve used. Sound familiar?
What Is It And Why Is It Happening?
The general consensus is that shadowbanning is Instagram’s attempt to prevent content
which is against their terms of service and encourage users to play by the rules, namely posting
engaging, relevant and interesting content that receives genuine engagement from the
community. Of course, a dip in followers and engagement could also be down to the updates
to Instagram’s algorithm, which has been open to ongoing changes in recent years.
According to Instagram expert Alex Tooby, these algorithmic changes have led plenty of
accounts to see “a drastic decrease in the engagement of up to 50% or more”.
To find out if you’re simply falling short due to Instagram’s algorithm, or if you really have been
shadowbanned, ask yourself if you’re (intentionally or unintentionally) committing any of the
following Instagram faux pas:
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1. Using bots to like, comment, and boost engagement
Did you know that at least 40% of comments on brand Instagram posts are fake?
Understandably, Instagram doesn’t want the platform to fill up with fake, spammy interactions
from bots (which Instagram is cracking down on – hard!). Using bots to gain followers and grow
your account might seem like an easy way
around the change from the chronological
to the algorithm-based feed, but it’s
definitely not a good idea.
There’s a lot of debate around exact ‘caps’
on activity, and nobody seems to have a
definitive answer, but if you’re following and
unfollowing a large number of accounts per
day, leaving hundreds of comments in a
short space of time, or liking countless posts
per hour, Instagram will recognize this as fake
activity. It can lead not only to your account
being shadowbanned but to it being closed
down completely! And that’s not something
you come back from…
2. Using software that’s against Instagram’s terms of service
This one is along the same lines: using third party scheduling apps such as plangram.io and
plany.io, which post directly to Instagram rather than scheduling and then requiring approval
before posting (which is 100% allowed) is another reason you might be experiencing the
dreaded shadow ban. Yes, it saves time in the short term and allows you to post more content
with less effort, but this is why Instagram doesn’t want you to use these direct posting apps.
The platform is about well thought-out, quality content and not ‘bulk posting’, so avoid them
at all costs! Tools which allow you to schedule posts in advance, such as Iconosquare, Later
and Buffer etc. are approved by Instagram and comply with its terms of service. Iconosquare
is actually an official partner of Instagram, so go ahead and give it a try!
3. Using banned hashtags
There are some hashtags that
you’re probably not going to use on Instagram –
you wouldn’t be surprised to find that there’s a
blanket ban on these, and if you search them
they simply don’t show any associated content.
However, you might be using a totally innocent
hashtag to push your lovely content, such as
#tgif, #boho, and even #dogsofinstagram (!)
only for that particular hashtag to be hijacked by
people promoting ‘less lovely’ content and
ruining things for everyone.
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Instagram is tackling the problem of inappropriate, pornographic or offensive content
seriously, and this means banning or limiting the visibility of certain hashtags that are being
spammed – even if they sound innocent enough.
If you think this might have happened to you, search for the hashtags you’ve been using on
the app. If you’re only seeing a limited number of posts followed by a message explaining
recent posts from that particular hashtag have been hidden, it’s best to remove that tag from
your post. The ban could just be temporary, or it could be in place for months! You can also
check out this list of banned Instagram hashtags from The Data Pack, but keep in mind the
hashtags which are banned or restricted are regularly changing.
4. Overusing hashtags
Another innocent mistake that could cost you your visibility and engagement on Instagram is
using the same hashtags too often. Instagram might pick up on this as spam, even if you’re
simply using the same hashtags across your posts to maintain continuity. Be wary of posting
exactly the same hashtags each time you post, and don’t rely too much on branded
hashtags. In fact, according to Instagram, we shouldn’t be relying too much on hashtags in
general!
You’ve been reported!
If your account has been reported for whatever reason, Instagram could decide to shut it
down or make it ‘invisible’. Avoiding posting offensive content or using bots should keep this
from happening, but you never know. There have been cases in which business accounts
have been reported by competitors – unfortunately, you can’t always know people’s motives
for unfairly reporting your account. However, if your account does get disabled, you
can appeal Instagram’s decision and hopefully get your account up and running again.
Can you check if you have been shadowbanned? There are a few sites out there that purport
to tell you if you are shadow banned or not. One of the most commonly used ones is
https://shadowban.azurewebsites.net Disclaimer: I have used this website but I cannot
confirm that their information is 100% accurate. I don’t believe anyone can really crack the
code to Instagram’s behind the scenes effects on your account but it’s worth taking a look.
How to remove the Instagram shadowban
– Don’t use bots to grow your followers or to automate engagement!
– Engage with your community organically. Put the time and effort in and leave meaningful
comments. You get what you give!
– Carry out a hashtag audit and get rid of banned or broken hashtags
– Mix up the hashtags you’re using and make sure they’re relevant to your content
– Don’t use too many hashtags per post
– Post less often or take a hiatus from ‘gramming for a while
– Avoid third party apps that don’t abide by Instagram’s terms of service, such as apps which
post photos to your account directly (rather than scheduling and then notifying you to
complete the posting process)
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SEO, Lead Generation & Sales Funnels in a Nutshell
Let’s talk SEO, Lead Generation, Sales Funnels and all that other technical stuff that you really
couldn’t care less about but want to know why all the gurus say it is important. Yep, I know
you’ve been trying to bypass this step but unfortunately, these things are just as important as
the other actions listed in this guide.
SEO OPTIMIZATION
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,”
“organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.
All major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo have primary search results, where
web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on
what the search engine considers most relevant to users. Payment isn’t involved, as it is
with paid search ads.
WHAT IS SEO?
It's Simpler Than You Think!
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SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the name given to activity that attempts to improve
search engine rankings.
In search results, Google displays links to pages it considers relevant and authoritative.
Authority is mostly measured by analyzing the number and quality of links from other web
pages.
In simple terms, your web pages have the potential to rank in Google so long as other web
pages link to them.
Make Your Site Appear in Google
Great Content encourages people to link to your pages and shows Google your pages are
interesting and authoritative. This leads to search engine success because Google wants to
show interesting and authoritative pages in its search results. It's that simple!
In Summary
Do your homework and understand what kind of content your potential customers are looking
for. Create a great site, create content people need and make it easy for them to share it. Do
this and you'll start to see your website traffic increase.
Definition:
LEAD GENERATION/SALES FUNNELS/TARGET AUDIENCE
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Lead generation is the method of getting inquiries from potential customers. In the old pre-
Internet days of sales, lead generation occurred at places like trade shows – visitors to a
company's booth would fill out a card with their contact information and turn it in to receive
a call back from that company's sales team. Since the rise of the Internet, many businesses
use their websites as a lead generation option.
Leads may come from various sources or activities, for example, digitally via the Internet,
through personal referrals, through telephone calls either by the company or telemarketers,
through advertisements, and events. A 2015 study found that 89% of respondents cited email
as the most-used channel for generating leads, followed by content marketing, search
engine, and finally events. [2] A study from 2014 found that direct traffic, search engines, and
web referrals were the three most popular online channels for lead generation, accounting
for 93% of leads. [3]
Because lead generation is the first step of the sales process, both quality and quantity are
important factors. Quality leads are leads that a salesperson has a good chance of closing,
which means they must at least have the potential to become customers. Every lead list will
have a number of junk leads – people who are not qualified to buy the product for some
reason – but the smaller the percentage of bad leads, the less time salespeople will waste
while processing that list. Quantity is also important because even a salesperson with a list of
100% good leads won't be able to close every one of them.
SALES FUNNEL
Everyone who has an online business needs to create a sales funnel in order to convert his
website visitors into paying customers.
If you fail to do that, you will hardly make any money.
Your primary goal with your sales funnel is to move people from one stage to another until they
are ready to purchase.
Understanding the Sales Funnel Stages
From the first time your prospect hears about you until the moment he buys from you, he passes
through different stages of your sales funnel.
This journey might differ from one prospect to the next depending on your buying personas,
your niche and the types of products and services you sell.
So, you can design your sales funnel with as many stages as you want.
But, in general, these are the four main ones that you need to pay attention to:
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Prospecting – at this
stage, the prospect
learns about your
existing solution,
product or service. He
might also become
aware of his problem
that he needs to solve
and the possible ways
to deal with it. This is
when he visits your
website for the first time,
which he found from an
ad, Google search, a
post shared on social
media or another traffic
source.
Cultivating – at this stage, the prospect is actively looking for solutions to his problems and ways
to achieve his goals. He searches for solutions on Google. This is when you can attract him
with some great content. Now is the time when he expresses his interest in your product or a
service. He follows you on social media and subscribes to your list.
Positioning – at this stage, the prospect is making the decision that he wants to take
advantage of your solution. He’s paying more attention to what you offer, including different
packages and options, so he can make the final decision to purchase. This is when sales offers
are made by using sales pages, webinars, calls, etc.
Closing – at this stage, the prospect is becoming a customer by finalizing the deal with you.
He’s signing the contract and clicking the purchase button. Then the money is transferred to
your back account.
It’s important to state that there might be additional stages to your sales funnel.
Your customers might become brand advocates and bring more business that way. At the
same time, they might buy again from you and become loyal customers.
But, to avoid complications and keep things simple, we’re going to skip that part of the sales
funnel. Still, it’s important to be aware these stages exist.
I have decided to explain how you can use different content for each stage of your sales
funnel:
Blogging (awareness and interest) – by blogging, you will generate awareness and interest for
your solution. It could be your main source of traffic for your website, and it’s also a good way
to engage your list by sharing valuable content. The way you bring awareness by blogging is

to optimize your content with the right key words so you can attract your target customers
from an organic search.
Another way is to promote your posts on social media by influencing other people to share
them or by using promoted posts. It’s important to state that blogging is not a “bottom of the
funnel” activity. In other words, it won’t lead to people making a decision to buy from you. For
that, you will need to create other types of content or push people to go on a sales call with
you.
Lead magnets (interest) – any type of lead magnet is used as a tool to generate interest
toward your product. You grow your email list by offering something of value to your audience
that they’re already interested in, such as a guide or course. Anything that can educate your
prospects on how they can solve their problems and achieve their goals. And during that time,
you can start building the demand for your product. Within the lead magnets itself, you can
place call-to-actions to check out your products/services, call your sales department, etc.
Webinars (decision and action) – even though webinars can be used as lead magnets, they’re
more focused on the decision stage and convincing people to take action and buy your
products. When people sign up for webinars, they’re already pretty interested in achieving a
certain goal or solving a specific problem. This could be growing their traffic, losing weight or
finding the perfect soul mate. Your goal with the webinar is not only to educate them, but to
build their demand in order for them to take action. At the end, you should always have a
call-to-action to buy your product, start a free trial or request a consultation.
Videos (awareness, interest, decision, action) – they can be used in pretty much all the stages
of the sales funnel. YouTube is well-known as the second largest search engine, so by
optimizing the videos for certain keywords, you can generate tons of awareness and traffic to
your website. By creating explainer videos, you can build demand for your product or service.
Last, but not least, with sales videos you can entice people to make the final step and take
action.
I guarantee if you follow ALL the Tips & Tricks laid out in this guide you
will see an INSTANT INCREASE IN ENGAGEMENT. See the next page for
more services and products I have to offer to assist you in taking your
business to the next level.
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