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Creating the Perfect Pitch

CHuntly

A pitch is when you reach out to a media or influencer target to share your story with the hope that they will want to write about it or share your story in some way. The media receives hundreds of pitch emails every day. You need to find a way to stand out among the clutter. If you don’t, your email will quickly be moved to the trash.

What it really boils down to is that you need to be able to connect with another human being in such a way that they will want to hear more about what it is you are pitching. It is about building relationships. When you pitch the media, don’t think of it as a “one-and-done” strategy. Think of it as a long-term strategy where you make an impression and then you can keep the conversation going while you get more acquainted with your media target.

Here are a few things to consider to help you put together a great pitch that will get you noticed:

  1. Be selective with who you pitch. Your story won’t appeal to everyone. If your business is about beauty products, you likely wouldn’t pitch a sports reporter. While that is an extreme example, you do need to get to know the people on your media list. Look at what types of articles they write and what topics they cover. The goal is to tie it in with something they are interested in already. If that means cutting your media list in half, then do it. It’s better to have a highly targeted list where you have more chance of getting coverage than if you waste time pitching someone who would never cover your story.
  2. Personalize your pitch. Once you have your targeted list, take the time to personalize it by talking about how it fits within their overall topical focus. Reference articles they have written in the past. This will take extra time, but it will make a better impression on your media targets because it shows that you have thought about what you are writing rather than just sending a form letter.
  3. Remember that it’s not about you, it’s about the story. New companies and products come around every day – it’s not news to the media. You need to find a way to make your news stand out. Think about how your news fits into a broader storyline. That is what you want to focus on.
  4. Include a call-to-action – and don’t beat around the bush. Your pitch shouldn’t be too long. Keep it to a few short paragraphs. That means that you have to get to the point. Tell them why what you have to say is relevant. Tell them what you have to say. Tell them what you want from them. Make it easy for them to say yes by being clear and upfront about what you want.
  5. Don’t be annoying. We have all fallen into the “well, they didn’t answer, so I am just going to call again” trap. Often, if you are calling a reporter, they may say they prefer email on their voicemail. Or perhaps they have had a busy day and just didn’t get to it during that day. Give your pitch time to breathe before following up. Wait two days and try again. There will come a point that if they don’t respond to you, they likely just aren’t interested. Don’t take it personally, just move on.

Writing a pitch seems like an easy thing, but don’t get discouraged if you don’t nail it right away. It takes some getting used to. Give me a call if you need to bounce ideas around!

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal at SongBird Marketing Communications, an agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making it unique to you.

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Ingredients for a shareable social media image

Evelyn

Images rule the social media landscape. Photos are shared 128% more than even video. So if you’re not using images in your daily social media marketing, it’s time to start. Creating visual content for your Facebook page or Twitter feed can be tricky. You want to capture your audience’s attention, while staying true to your voice and message. You want to entertain your followers but still give them something of unique value. How do you do all of this, and make an image that is shareable? Here a few key ingredients you should include in your image design.

Choose a good photograph

This one seems obvious, but many people are not sure what constitutes a good image. Simple aesthetics, clean patterns, intense colors, landscapes and pictures with lots of depth and light all make for shareable photos. Good images should be clear and crisp, in focus and adhere to the rule of thirds. Avoid images that are cluttered, poor quality or too bright or dark.

Photos of human interaction and emotion can be powerful storytelling tools. Animals are also great, but be sure that they fit your brand and messaging. Don’t just use an image because it’s popular. Stay true to who you are – that’s what your followers are expecting!

Use clear, easy to read text

Quotes, advice, stats or statements on photos are a popular and highly shareable trend. If you use text on your image make sure that it can be read! Use easy to read fonts and ensure that the text stands out from the background using a contrasting colour, a grey box or a text shadow. Constant Contact’s blog has some great advice on this subject.

Make sure that the text you use is short. Too much text takes away from the image. Always be sure to spell-check and proof your work before you post. Errors can make your followers question your credibility.

Brand your image

Be sure that your images fit with the look and feel of your brand. Standard colours and fonts ensure that your marketing materials look alike across different platforms for easy brand recognition. Also don’t forget to add your logo!

Include a call to action

Images that have a call to action are more likely to get shared. Use your visuals to tell a story and also point your followers in a direction where they can take action. If the image is of a spring collection of products, make sure that you include a link to where they can buy these products. If you are launching a fundraising campaign make it clear what you want your followers to do: share the image, donate, volunteer, or all three. Always give your followers a way to become more involved.

Evelyn Senyi is the owner and chief marketer for Recurve Marketing, a Toronto-based digital marketing agency that offers creative, effective and affordable marketing strategies for Canadian small businesses and non-profit organizations. Follow Recurve on Twitter @recurve_ca and on Facebook www.facebook.com/recurvemarketing.ca.

5 Steps to A Successful Blog in 2014

5STSB

Happy New Year! It’s 2014 and I’m sure you have already set your business objectives for the year. Have you set your blog objectives?

What do you plan to achieve with your blog this year? Many people forget that blogging is a marketing tool. As with any marketing tool you want to be able to see and measure results. You can do this by setting blog objectives.

Here are 5 tips to get you started.

 

1. How often do you want to blog?

If you have been blogging for a while now you have probably set a blogging schedule – daily (very ambitions), weekly, bi-weekly or monthly – or you blog whenever the mood strikes. A way to help with scheduling and planning blog post is to create an editorial calendar.  Your editorial calendar can be as basic or as complex as your business or personality. My editorial calendar is a spreadsheet that includes columns for topic, title, meta title, meta description, keywords, categories, call to action, and date posted.

Once you create your editorial calendar stick with it. It helps to keep you on track and makes you more aware that you have to set time aside on a regular basis to actually sit down and create a blog post. So your first objective is to create and stick to a blog schedule.

 

2.  Increase traffic

Search Engine Optimize each post to drive traffic. You can see from above that meta title, and description are a part of my blogging process and that is because I use my blog to increase traffic to my website. Every week I review analytics to monitor traffic, traffic source and keywords used. This helps me determine which blog posts are effective and helps me plan future posts. It also shows me keywords people use to find my site that I also use in planning. And finally it enables me to set targets based on similar posts.

Your second objective is to drive organic traffic using blog posts, which leads to the third objective driving social media traffic.

 

3. Increase Interaction

Social Media is a big part of marketing today and you want to use it to the fullest. After publishing a blog post the next step would be to post it on social media. Post to all social media accounts and use images to help it go viral. Not only do you want to increase traffic from social media you also want to increase interaction. To see a big jump on interaction you can add social media sharing buttons to your blog posts.

I use analytics with such tools as Hootsuite to see what blog posts are being shared, tweeted, commented on etc. I also look at which social media is driving the most traffic and interaction. These numbers help me to plan future blog posts as well tweaking my reposting to social media. I may repost a blog post with a different title, or image and measure the reaction.

Your third objective is to increase traffic and interaction through social media.

 

4. Drive Sales

Use your blog posts to increase sales. If you noticed above in my blog process I include a call to action because at the end of the day when blogging for your business you want to be able to increase business. Each blog post has an objective that I include in my call to action. The objective may be as simple to comment, share on social media, or a bit more specific such as download a free report or to buy something etc. Even if the call to action is as simple as to comment my ultimate goal is to gather leads and prospect to increase sales.

Not only should you use a call to action in your blog post, you should also be linking to your products and services when applicable.

Your fourth objective is to increase sales by having a blog post objective, a call to action and internal links to your products and services.

 

5. Measure Success

Based on the 4 main objectives above (feel free to add more to align with your business objectives), the next step is to measure success.

Take a look at last years numbers. What were your weekly, monthly, and quarterly organic traffic, what were the traffic sources, what was social media interaction and blog interaction like? For example one week of traffic I had 400 unique visits, 20% from Facebook, 20% from Twitter, 20% from other social media and the rest was organic. That week resulted in # of shares and retweets as well as # of comments on the social media and # of comments on the site. You also want to look at per post as well. So my best blog post had 400 unique visits, 20% from Facebook, etc and my worst blog post (in terms of numbers) had 100 unique visits, 0% from Facebook, etc.

Based on these numbers I will now set targets for 2014. I also look at my call to action, internal links and what sales I can attribute to each blog posts. I use tracking such as URL shortners in blog posts as well as just asking customers where did you hear about us? and why did you buy from us? to help attribute sales. I will also set leads, prospects and sales targets for my blog posts. I also try to figure what made my best post so successful and what I can do better based on my “worst” blog post.

Your fifth and final objective is to set goals and achieve them.

Start planning your 2014 blogging today and I hope you have a successful 2014.

 

Dwainia Grey is an online marketer at Awesome Biz Online. She creates
awesome websites and blogs for businesses as well as working with
companies to optimize their websites with Search Engine Optimization and
Social Media. She can be reached at Awesome Biz Online or by phone at 647-799-1090 x 104. You a can also follow her on Facebook to get the latest on online marketing.

10 Blog Tricks to Increase Holiday Sales

10BTHS

We are now in the 2013 Holiday Season and many small businesses want to know how to increase sales without increasing the budget.  You can use your blog to help increase sales with these 10 easy tricks.

 1. Create A Holiday Promotion

Choose a service or product and offer a holiday promotion. You can rebrand the name to include a holiday keyword such as “Christmas SEO Savings”.  Then you may offer a discount to sweeten the deal.

 2. Give back

Create a promotion where you donate a certain percentage of sales to a local charity, like Big Brothers. Everyone likes to give back, so make it easy for your customers to do so. For your holiday charity promotion you can specify all product sales or a specific product and kickoff with an awesome blog post. Also try to get the charity on board as well.

 3. Add a Call to Action to Your Blog Posts

You are already adding a call to action to your blog post now do it with “Holiday Cheer”. At this time of year your focus is increasing sales so make sure your call to action reflects that: “Buy this Gadget this Holiday Season”

 4. Link to Product Pages in Your Blog Posts

This is a great way to showcase benefits of your product or service then link to the page.

 5. Holiday Upsells

Consider offering a promotion where a customer receives a gift card in addition to a certain order price. A great way to get customers to come back for example is if a customer spends $50, they receive a $5 gift card. You can add value with an add-on bonus service with purchase. Or go the traditional route and show what products can be purchased together even offer holiday bundle discounts.

 6. Create A Shopping List Post

This is a great opportunity to provide a how-to post and link to your product / service pages. Try to get them to see the expanse of your offerings and be able to purchase all they need from you.

7. Feature blog content on your website product pages.

If you have created product related blog post why not add a short excerpt on your product page that links back to it. This is a great opportunity to showcase your product knowledge.

 8. Create Urgency

Create a time-limited promotion and use your blog to get the details out. You can also place a countdown on your landing pages and homepage that indicates how many days are left until important holidays or the end of the promotion.

9. Decorate Your Blog

Add “Holiday Cheer” to your blog such as Christmas lights, holly etc. Be sure to set a date as a deadline to have your holiday design changes removed from your site.

10. Use Social Media

Don’t forget to use social media to spread “Seasons Greetings” and promote your holiday promotions.

It’s very easy to use your blog to increase sales this holiday season. Plan your sales objective for the holiday season and let your blog help you do the work and make it a success. Happy Holidays!

Dwainia Grey is an online marketer at Awesome Biz Online. She creates awesome websites and blogs for businesses as well as working with
companies to optimize their websites with Search Engine Optimization and Social Media. She can be reached at Awesome Biz Online or by phone at 647-799-1090 x 104. You a can also follow her on Facebook to get the latest on online marketing.

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