Social Media Marketing Tactics for 2013

2013 is rapidly approaching and hopefully by now you and your company have already determined exactly what is going into your 2013 social media marketing plans.  Perhaps you are behind or you are looking to really boost your marketing plans for 2013, then consider a few of our social media marketing tactics for your 2013 plans:

1- Bump up your use of photos:  Consumers love great photographs.  These days we all may be too busy to stop and read a story, but what's great about a good photo is that it can easily grab people's attention.  For 2013, we suggest creating an entire integrated content strategy around photographs using social media sites like Instagram, Pinterest, or even Facebook.  

2- Focus on building consumer trust:  Since trust is such a big part of what makes or breaks a brand, work your hardest on building consumer trust.  Consumers today are savvy and know when they are just being pushed into purchasing a product.  What do you do?  Rather than just plastering ads everywhere, consider sticking relevant and useful content in a multitude of places.  Nowadays, consumers are apt to trust content that comes from a multitude of places in multiple formats.

3- Use your connections: We're all pretty aware that these days consumers are much more likely to trust a recommendation from a friend than social media ads.  Make 2013 a year full of great customer referrals.  Encourage customers to share your company's information via social media.

4- Get personal:  If you are hoping to built trust with customers through social media marketing, get personal.  No one wants to speak to the robot behind the company.  Consumers want to see who your brand really is, so make sure that in the 2013 months you are making an effort to get more personal with your customers.  Social media marketing is a great way to do just that.

5- Build on relationships formed via social media:  One of the best parts of engaging your business in social media is the relationships you are able to form just by using it.  For 2013 make it your personal mission to take social media relationships further.  Take relationships formed on social media to the next level and try out an email campaign to continually reach your audience.

Looking for more tips on improving your social media marketing for 2013?  Leave a comment below or contact us.

Creating a Content Strategy

We've said it before and we're saying it again... Content most certainly is king, especially in the world of search engine optimization.  Search engines reward those websites that successfully provide fresh, plentiful and relevant content, which is why creating a content strategy is so vital to your business's growth.   As a Chicago SEO Company, we know the power of good content and truly believe that good content not only attracts your target audience, but it also educates and builds trust with them.  Think of content as the foundation for your internet marketing efforts.  Consider the following tips when creating a content strategy:

Step 1- Assess and identify your goals:  Assessing and identifying your goals are definitely step one.  In order to figure out where you want to be, you have to first assess where you currently are.  Ask yourself questions such as: What are you currently happy with?  What would you like to see change?  Who are you trying to reach?  Are you looking to increase brand awareness?  Make a list of your goals first so you can begin to form specific content strategies around your goals.

Step 2- The message:  The crux of a content strategy is determining what your target audience needs to know.  To figure out what your target audience or customer needs to know you have to "swim in the same pool they swim in."  If your target audience is predominately on Facebook, join Facebook and interact with them.  Get a feel for who they are and what they want to know and begin to structure your content around them and their needs.

Step 3- Taking action:  Whenever you put out content for your customers you must identify what action your want readers to take upon reading your content.  Do you want them to buy your product immediately?  Do you want them to read more about your services?  Do you want them to simply contact you for more information?  Structure your content around the action you would like to see your customer take.  When it's done correctly, you'll begin to see the kind of participation you are looking for.

Step 4- Content distribution: There are a variety of ways that you can disseminate your content with options such as emails, blogs, social networking posts, press releases, articles, case studies, reviews, testimonials, etc.  It's not recommended to choose one and just see what happens.  Try a mix and determine which works best for your company and target audience.

Step 5- The results: Now what good would all of your hard work developing a content strategy be if you didn't track your results?  Probably not much good at all since you would have no way of determining what the new strategy has achieved without measuring.  Web analytics are a great way to measure your traffic, visitor activity, and whole lot more.  Measuring results lets you know what you are doing right and what you need to be doing in the future, especially when you compare your results against your initial goals.  

If you're looking for more tips on creating a content strategy, feel free to comment below or contact us.