Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

8 Creative Ways to Build a Mailing List

Do you send a newsletter for your business? A newsletter can be an easy way to inform your customers and potential customers of a new product, a sale, an event or just another way to showcase your expertise. Here are 8 Creative ways to build your mailing list.

  1. Add it to your website or blog: Most mailing list generators (we use mail chimp) have a widget that you can easily add to your website. This has been the most popular way new visitors have subscribed to our mailing list.
  2. Host a giveaway or contest: Whether it’s online or at a trade show a giveaway or contest is a fun way to build your mailing list.
  3. Have a mailing list or guest book: At trade shows in particular have a mailing list or guest book in the corner of your table. Interested potential customers may add their name to learn more about you.
  4. Ask for it: While closing a sale ask the new customer for their email address. You can also use this to follow-up with your customer.
  5. Add it to your facebook page: An easy to use app can be added to your facebook fan pages.
  6. May I?: When a new customer inquires, it’s okay to ask them if you may add them to your mailing list.
  7. Post in on Facebook: Once in a while, pose the question on your facebook page – Have you subscribed to our mailing list (link)?
  8. Tweet about it: Tweet it – Have you subscribed to our mailing list (link)?

Jacqueline Hunter is the Director at Craftadian. In addition to hosting annual Craftadian Handmade Markets, Jacqueline is a resource for Handmade Business owners by offering online courses, work shops and support. She showcases, supports and promotes Canadian artists, artisans and designers.

Connect with Jacqueline

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Email

When to follow technology trends in social media

Kelly Farrell - Teach Me Social -headshot (2)

There is a big difference between jumping on the bandwagon just because “everyone else is doing it” and adding a new tech trend as part of your overall digital marketing strategy. The rate of change in the world of technology, especially for business, is extremely fast-paced and keeping up with the new apps, website trends and social media features can be a very daunting task. Despite the challenges that come with keeping up, it can be very beneficial to be an early adopter of new technologies and digital shifts.

 

First come, first serve

The first users on many new platforms, websites or apps are usually privy to special offers and features. On social media, the early arrivals are almost always the first to develop a large following of other early arrivals, who also tend to be more engaged and loyal than new followers later on.

 

Work out the kinks

Getting on board with a new feature or platform also give you ample time to work out the kinks, a time when making mistakes are part of the game and adds authenticity to your brand. Part of social media is the allure of being able to see behind the curtain of a logo and glimpse the authentic personality driving the message. Working out the kinks and figuring out a new platform with other early adopters also sets you up as a leader and expert when the rest of the crowd follows you.

 

Staying Current

If your brand stands for ingenuity, creativity or innovation in any way, then getting on board and being part of the initial phase could play a huge role in setting your brand up as a leader in forward thinking. When your brand shares their enthusiasm by joining in on trending topics on social media, it shows your followers that you are current, relevant and engaged.

 

Beware of shiny things

All that being said, the biggest danger with new technologies is the “shiny things syndrome”! It’s happened to the best of us – like children, we are easily attracted to new things and can get sucked into spending hours playing with new features and testing out new toys.

 

To avoid getting sucked into new technologies that are not going to see an overall benefit for your small business, you can ask yourself these questions:

  • Will using this tool attract new customers to my business?
  • Is my target demographic already using this tool?
  • Will my business benefit from being part of a trending conversation online?
  • How much time can I afford to spend daily using a new technology tool?

 

If you weigh the pros and cons of each new tool, it becomes easier to identify trends that will have a positive impact on your business and ones that may not be worth your time investment. In most cases, it is always a good idea to get advice from an expert or other small business owners. Attending networking events and joining online communities (like Canadian Small Business Women) are great ways to know what other entrepreneurs are doing online and where they are focusing their energy.

Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Business owners through social media for over four years. Teach Me Social now offers services ranging from training sessions for small business owners and their teams to full-service social media account management. Visit teachmesocial.ca to learn more about our service offerings or to book a no obligation consultation, including an audit of your existing social media channels.

10 Reasons to Tweet Today

Kelly Farrell - Teach Me Social -headshot (2)

When I talk about Twitter to small business owners, I am usually greeted by a look of trepidation before being asked, “Do I really need to be on Twitter?” Twitter has evolved from a simple social network since the first Tweet was sent in March 2006 to the global news source and intricate social sharing environment it is today. Recently, Twitter has even taken leaps into the future of live broadcasting by signing deals with large networks to provide live content via the platform.

With 310 million monthly active users, it is hard to ignore the power of Twitter for small businesses to reach an engaged audience. But, if you need more convincing, here are 10 reasons to start tweeting today!

1.FREE:  Twitter is free to use – The only cost is time and effort to send unlimited Tweets. Of course, like all social platforms, there is also the option to ‘promote’ your tweets with PPC advertising which has grown 208% year-on-year in 2016.

2.CURRENT:  Your presence on social media platforms such as Twitter shows that your business is keeping up ‘with the times’! Did you know that 1.3billion Twitter accounts have been created and over 500 million tweets are sent daily?

3.INDUSTRY NEWS:  Using Twitter can help you keep up with what is going on in your industry.  You can keep tabs on your competition and get the latest news by following relevant hashtags. (ie. #CSBWBiz)

4.QUICK: Twitter is a fast way to get a message out, especially about upcoming events or sales.  Printing, distributing and even website and email marketing take time and planning. Keep in mind that tweets with pictures get 150% more retweets!

5.NETWORKING:  Using Twitter gives you the chance to meet and talk with tons of new people, influencers in your industry, and the opportunity to discover leads you might not otherwise have made.

6.REACH: Twitter can expand your market reach through followers, re-tweets, and #hashtags.  People may stumble across your profile and tweets by chance and 55% of Twitter users admit they have taken action based on a tweet from a brand. (ie. clicked on a link)

7.COMPETITION:  Your competition is quite likely already on Twitter and tweeting away. 70 percent of small businesses are on Twitter and the average Twitter user will follow at least 5 businesses.

8.FEEDBACK:  The conversations, re-tweets, and favorites you receive in Twitter can act as great feedback as to what is popular and what is not in terms of your online brand, not to mention that 77% of users said they felt more positive towards a brand that replied to their tweet!

9.ENGAGEMENT: 80% of Twitter users have mentioned a brand in a tweet, and Twitter allows you to maintain customer relationships both before, during, and after a purchase and act as a constant reminder that you exist.

10.SHORT: With only 140 characters each tweet is short and sweet that allows you to share tidbits and updates without having to write an entire blog post.

 

Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Business owners through social media for over four years. Teach Me Social now offers services ranging from training sessions for small business owners and their teams to full-service social media account management. Visit teachmesocial.ca to learn more about our service offerings or to book a no obligation consultation, including an audit of your existing social media channels.

Dealing with Negative Comments on Social Media

Teach Me Social Blog - dealing with negative comments on social mediaIt’s happened to all of us. We work hard to publish an article or a social media post only to have someone come along and respond with a negative or defamatory comment. It’s disheartening, frustrating, upsetting and even angering and it takes every ounce of patience to not want to write back an equally negative and snarky reply. I’ve been there, and I’ve felt the same way. But I can honestly tell you that the best way to respond to negativity on social media is with positivity.

Sir Isaac Newton described his 3rd Law of Motion by explaining that “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” In elementary Mathematics, we are taught that a negative and positive number of the same absolute value cancel each other out in an equation (ie. -4 + 4 = 0) What does this have to do with social media? Well, the same notion of countering forces can be applied to all positive and negative forces, energy and comments.

As a rule of thumb in customer service, it is always best to respond to customer complaints in a calm, professional manner. As business owners, we need to recognize that the customer just wants to feel validated for their complaint. This can be handled in a number of ways, but it is always best to acknowledge their negative experience and try to offer a solution. There may not always be a mutually agreeable solution, but remember that an angry customer has more potential to do damage to your business’ reputation than a happy one.

Here are some important Do’s and Don’t’s when considering how to respond to customer complaints, reviews or feedback on Social Media…. KEEP CALM AND RESPOND WITH CALM Poster

What not to do –  

  • Don’t ignore it. It might be tempting to try to delete the comment, or hope it quickly fades down in people’s newsfeeds, but there is never any guarantee. It is always better to respond and address the problem than ignore it and hope it goes away.
  • Don’t respond back with negativity. In the world of debates, two negatives never equal a positive! Responding with anger or offence is just going to add fuel to the fire. It’s upsetting for everyone involved and surrounds your business with negative energy.
  • Don’t get into a battle. There is nothing to be gained from trying to have the final say. Anyone following the discussion on your social network will be able to “see” the entire battle unfolding and each of your followers has an easy click to unfollow you and refuse to see any future posts from your business.

What to do instead –

  • DO take time to formulate an appropriate response before typing any reply to the comment. If possible, ask a colleague or trusted friend to read your reply first before you publish it online. Taking time not only allows you to respond with a clear head, but it also has likely given your disgruntled customer a chance to cool off too.
  • DO respond with professionalism and offer to address the complainant’s concerns offline, perhaps via email address or over the phone. Offer a solution to the problem right up front so that the next step is in their hands to either take you up on the offer, or to walk away.
  • DO end the discussion quickly, after a single, well composed reply. There is nothing to be gained by carrying on the discussion if you first response did everything to address the complaint, offer a solution and provide a non-social media form of communication to use to continue the conversation.

Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Business owners through social media for over for years. Teach Me Social now offers services ranging from training sessions for small business owners and their teams, to full-service social media account management. Visit teachmesocial.ca to learn more about our service offerings or to contact us today for a no obligation consultation, including an audit of your existing social media channels.

Kelly Farrell - Teach Me Social -headshot (2)

Is Fear of Failure Holding You Back?

CHuntly

You have your fabulous business idea, you have your goals written out, and you have written a killer business plan. The next step can be the most daunting one when it comes to launching any business – you have to tell people about what it is you do.

Once you start marketing your business one of three things can happen:

  1. You are an “instant” hit – it looks like you are going to meet or surpass your goals.
  2. Nothing – no one seems interested in buying what you are selling, or perhaps you aren’t reaching them in the right ways.
  3. Your audience vocally doesn’t like what you are offering – this is pretty rare unless you have completely misread your audience.

Often, for an entrepreneur, the fear of failure can hold you back from putting together the best marketing strategy you can. You are afraid that if you put yourself out there completely you won’t be received well. The best way to get over your fears is strategic planning and focus.

I know what you are thinking…  I read this blog for THAT?! As simple as it might seem, the one thing that gets pushed aside is great planning. You may have a lot of great ideas for a marketing plan, but is it a full strategy? And do you have a plan to keep yourself on track?

Here are 5 things to consider to help get over the entrepreneurial fear hump and get your marketing strategy in order:

  1. Have you considered your target audience’s needs and behaviours? Your audience should always dictate how you market your business. For example, if you are targeting an audience that isn’t very tech-savvy, that Twitter Q&A you have planned is the wrong place to invest. You may want to consider more traditional tactics like direct mail or event-based marketing.
  2. Do your selected tactics fit within your overall business goals? It’s easy to get caught up with what your competitors are doing or the latest and greatest technology that is on the market, however you should take a step back and consider those goals and objectives in your business plan. If your goal is to become an industry leader in your field but you hadn’t considered a strong content marketing or PR plan, then you should reconsider your planning.
  3. Focus is your best friend. It is easy to look at all of the things you have to do and find smaller, less important tasks that you “just have to” complete first. While cleaning out your junk drawer in your desk can probably wait as well, I am talking about all of the things that can derail a great strategy. For example, you have set out to market your business on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but you heard about how neat Snapchat is and you thought you would “just set up” an account. Before you know it, you have spent half a day on something that you hadn’t planned on.
  4. Are you evaluating your strategy on a regular basis? Changing your original strategy isn’t a bad thing as long as it comes from a strategic evaluation of what is working and what isn’t. If you aren’t getting the traction you expected from Facebook, maybe you should consider a different social channel or focusing your time and resources into a different strategy altogether. It’s important to track the success of your efforts so you can look at your success over time and tweak your strategy as necessary.
  5. Are you trying to be an island? This is a huge cause of entrepreneurial fear (and failure). You may be the biggest champion of your own idea, however, sometimes it’s good to bring a third party in to look at your strategy with an unbiased eye. You don’t have to hire someone to do your entire strategy and execution for you (your budget might not allow for that!) but you can work with a consultant or coach to make sure you are on the right track. Your hesitation in starting your marketing outreach could stem from not feeling confident in your strategy and this will help with that.

As a business owner you should always give yourself enough space to take a step back, take a deep breath, and get back to the basics of what makes your business a business – your idea, your goals and objectives, your brand story, and your target audience. As long as you have a good foundation in the basics, you can approach everything else with confidence.

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning 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 the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website

15 free or low cost marketing ideas for small businesses

FB Pic

1)  Communication: start up as many social media sites appropriate for your business; LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, blog site, live chat through your business website and a toll-free phone number.

2)  Business cards: leave them everywhere and hand them out to everyone!

3)  E-mail newsletters: collect e-mails and send out weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly newsletters informing customers about upcoming promotions or events.

4)  Business webpage: keep your website and social media pages up to date and fresh. Your customers need to see that you are active within your business.

5)  YouTube: create a video of your product or service, post the YouTube link of your video on all your social media accounts and on both your blog and business site.

6)  Stay connected: keep in touch with your clients by sending them a hand written thank you card and attach a coupon.

7)  Loyalty: reward your loyal customers with, for example, a 20 per cent off discount for their next purchase. Do not assume customers will keep coming back, acknowledge them and show them that you value their commitment to your business.

8)  Go old school: print out pamphlets, brochures or flyers and go door to door in your community and hand them out. You could also leave them on the windshield of cars in a full parking lot at a local mall.

9)  Get listed on directories: both Google and Bing offer free listings for local businesses.

10) Vendors: speak with the vendors from whom you buy products or services from and ask them if they know of any other businesses that could use your products or services. Also, check to see if they have a bulletin board where you can display your business card and ask to place yours up!

11) Offer to be a speaker: often volunteer organizations, industry conferences and local business groups are looking for guest speakers for their meetings. This will help you and your business gain contacts, name recognition and publicity.

12) Product or services: it does not matter what you are trying to sell, get out there, hand out sample size products and show off your work. This will help potential customers get a feel for your company and give them a chance to see what you have to offer.

13) On the go marketing: if you use a car or truck for your business ensure that your business name, logo and contact information are painted on the vehicle. For a less costly alternative use magnetic signs and place them on the vehicle.

14) Contest: run a contents through your business website or on Facebook. Ensure that the prize is desirable and that it relates to your business. Example: a coupon offering 40 per cent off a service from your business or a gift bag full of sample size products. *Note: this will also create traffic on your business website and social media sites, along with helping you gain more followers*

15) Community events: a fund raiser, festival or even a family day event, ensure you get out there and offer or donate your services/products to events within your community. This is a great way to get your brand out there and help you better connect with potential clients/customers in your area.

 

Dwania is the Founder and Executive Director of Canadian Small Business Women Contact Canadian Small Business Women:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Website

“I need a social media person” – Do you really need a social media person? – Part 1

Karima

After reading the recent article “Is Social Media Worth It For Small Businesses?” on Forbes.com, I realized that one of the reasons small businesses are disappointed with their social media hires is because they don’t know the roles and skills required to set themselves up for success on social media.

In the 15 years I have been dedicating my practice to helping businesses expand their online presence and (in the last 6 years) growth utilizing social media, I have heard business owners and top-level executives say “I need a social media person”. To me, this affirmation equates to saying “I need doctor” and once you’ve said it, chances are you will need a specialist. It’s the same with social media.

Social Media as a tool for growth

Unlike large organizations who typically have a social media (senior) manager and 1) with multiple direct reports or 2) agencies who manage specific areas of social media, small and medium organization are left to hire a jack-of-all trades who scramble to do EVERYTHING on social media.

Let me back up a little… Although a lot of young people hold Social Media positions, the top level positions are usually given to more seasoned marketing or digital professionals because although social media is about Facebook and Twitter, and blogs and Instagram, it’s also and primarily about business and strategic thinking. Now that the wonders of social media have spread to the world of business, engaging on social media has become a necessity for survival. And your business needs to jump on that bandwagon before your competitors overtake you!

Social media allows you to respond to your customers’ wants and needs immediately. You can boost sales, and people will be more receptive to your message. And let’s not leave out the most important fact of all: your competition is already there.

So, how do you build a solid team while maintaining cost-effectiveness?

You must have a business-focused social media professional come and do a diagnostic of your needs. Whether your company is just launching or is already in business, our program is designed to support you and help grow your online presence.

Identify and define roles

By identifying the roles and skills it takes to make your business successful, you will better reach out to the right people and organize their time based on needs and objectives. Below are some of the primary social media roles and skills that will get you going fast.

  • Strategist: A strategist, pretty much like all strategists in every industry, researches, benchmarks, and creates a plan and tactics. The strategy, when done well, identifies opportunities for growth and for It also determines how and where to invest to meet business objectives. A social media strategist is no different.
  • Project coordinator/manager: A project coordinator is someone who will keep you on budget, on time, and within scope. A fabulous project manager will also identify opportunities along the way and allow you to expand your reach and objectives. Hiring a part-time social media project manager is the key to your success.
  • Content producer: Online content can be blogs, videos, Facebook updates, Tweets, Instagram and Pinterest pictures or even YouTube videos. There is a plethora of types of content and platforms ranging from real-time to scheduled, from on the go to scripted, and from organic to paid. The importance of content is to identify your objectives and build a strategy around them.
  • Community manager: A true community manager builds and grows online An online community is a virtual community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Forums, etc.). Those who wish to be a part of an online community usually have to become a member via a specific site and necessarily need an internet connection.

I will explore other roles and skills in an upcoming blog post.

Why are online communities important for businesses?

Being a member of online communities for businesses and continually establishing and maintaining online relationships is critical to the success of your business. With the extreme popularity of social media, many people are excited about interacting and developing relationships with others whom they feel they can trust and who they consider experts in their industry.

At the heart of your success is the human element. Once people get to know you, and you get to know them, they will want what you are offering and will gladly tell others about what you are offering too.

Karima-Catherine is the co-founder of Red Dot Digital, a digital agency that strives to deliver top-notch solutions to various clients.  Red Dot Digital drives real, meaningful, quantifiable business outcomes for companies. Karima-Catherine is also the co-moderator of #MMchat, a Twitter weekly forum which focuses on business, marketing and social media.  

Connect with Karima-Catherine:

karima@reddotdigital.net

Website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest

 

Why small businesses NEED to tweet at events

Evelyn

I recently attended a networking event for small business owners in Toronto. The theme of the evening was digital marketing. Overall the event was well organized with informative speakers, good raffle prizes and a nice mix of marketers and small business owners.

But what surprised me was how few people were tweeting at the event. Perhaps it’s just that I’m used to going to events packed with social media managers and non-profit communicators, but I was a little disappointed by the lack of networking being done online.

For me, events are always played out on two fields: the action happening live in front of me and the commentary on that action online. Often I find this commentary as interesting, if not more so, then the speakers I’m there to see.

Live-tweeting events is a great way to give your business a boost online. Hashtags organize the conversations taking place, making it easy to follow the action. Plugging into hashtags makes new followers, mentions and retweets much more likely than your average day-to-day Twitter activity, especially if the event becomes popular and trends.

But there are a few things you need to do before you even arrive at the event to make sure that you get the most out of your live-tweeting experience.

Know the hashtag. This seems obvious to those more seasoned tweeters, but it’s important to mention anyways. The day of the event the organizers are probably promoting the event online. Visit their Twitter account to find out both the proper hashtag and their Twitter handle. Once you have that information do a search on Twitter and save the search so that you can access it easily later.

Follow the speakers. Find out who the speakers are going to be (event emails and websites usually have this information) and then find out if they are online. Make a note of their Twitter handles and be sure to follow them. Then at event time you won’t have to scramble to find them or worry about misspelling their names.

Prepare some tweets ahead of time. This is a great way to let people know that you will be at the event and gives them the opportunity to follow you. It also increases your visibility once the event starts. Tweet about your attendance on the day and days leading up to the event. Shout out to the speakers how much you are looking forward to their talks. On the day of you can prepare some tweets to be sent out during the event so that you have more time to actually enjoy it.

Know when to put the phone down. You need to balance the benefits of tweeting with real world networking. Send enough tweets and retweets to gain visibility and make a meaningful contribution to the conversation, but make sure that you also talk to people face-to-face. That’s the reason why you’re there!

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.

GTA EVENTS

March 21st

Twitter Bootcamp for Small Business Owners

Mississauga, 10am – 12pm

Teach Me Social

INFO: CLICK HERE

Visual Marketing Bootcamp for Small Business Owners

Mississauga, 1pm – 3pm

Teach Me Social

INFO: CLICK HERE

March 27th

Young Entrepreneurs in Toronto

Toronto, ON 6pm

INFO: CLICK HERE

April 9th

Social Media Time Management Bootcamp for Small Business

Mississauga, 2pm – 4pm

Teach Me Social

INFO: CLICK HERE

April 22nd

B2B Networking: Sales

Four Points by Sheraton Mississauga

Speaker: Julie Flippin

Info: CLICK HERE

Apr 26th

You Inspire Me Women Quarterly Event

Mississauga, ON

INFO: CLICK HERE

Apr 26th

TOR CAR

Red Rose Convention Centre

The Toronto Caribbean Business Expo 2015

Speakers: Various

Info: CLICK HERE

April 29th

FREE FACEBOOK CHAT

Vistaprint and Canadian Small Business Women

8pm – 9pm

Info: CLICK HERE

May 11th

im the boss

Montecassino Hotel & Event Venue

I AM THE BOSS 2015

Speakers: Various

Info: CLICK HERE

June 06th

Author Summit

Publisher Production Solution

Vendor Opportunity and Workshops

INFO: CLICK HERE

Aug 22nd

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Toronto Airport West Hotel

Canadian Small Business Women

VENDORS WANTED!!

Info: CLICK HERE

Nov 8th

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Toronto

Immigrant Women’s Small Business Expo

EXHIBITORS WANTED!!

Info: CLICK HERE

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.

Social Strategy SOS

SocialStrategy

In the third post in this series, I discussed why you need to consider your customers as “users” and how you go about creating a User Persona to help you target your Content Strategy to your ideal users. Over the next 3 weeks of this series, we’ll finish fleshing out the remaining pieces of the content strategy puzzle, and this week we’ll tackle what is possibly the most perplexing and time consuming part of your digital business: your Social Media Strategy.

Do I really HAVE to have a social media strategy?

Social strategy is complex: there are so many social networks, and sometimes it feels like there is a new one every day.  How does a business owner know which ones to pay attention to, and which ones to ignore?  Engaging in Social Media can be extremely time consuming with little visible return on investment: It can be difficult to clearly see how a social media strategy can help your business.

But social media can also be a virtual goldmine of new customers.  It can be a way that you can develop a relationship of trust with your customers, engage in customer service activities, and even recruit new employees. Social media is here to stay and it is an essential part of every business owner’s sales, marketing, and business development toolkit.   A smart, targeted social strategy can deliver brand awareness, new customers, and even conversions, but it is important to understand why you’re doing it and what exactly you should do, and this is unique to each and every business.

Conversion has changed – forever.

Think about how your customers convert nowadays.  It used to be that customers would become aware of your brand or product through a limited number of expensive and highly controlled channels: perhaps through a television, radio, or newspaper ad, or perhaps through word of mouth.  Their decision to buy was made primarily at point of purchase, that is, when they saw your product on the shelf in the store: the “first moment of truth”, as it was called in the traditional marketing model.

Google has recently described a new model that very accurately captures the new way consumers become aware of, and make decisions to purchase, products and services today, and they call it the Zero Moment of Truth.  The Zero Moment of Truth is all about digital discovery: the extensive searching, recommendation reading, and consulting with Facebook friends that we now engage in before making a purchasing decision.  For products and services big and small, we rarely convert until we have had at least 7 and sometimes as many as 17 digital “impressions” or touch points with a brand.

ZMOTequation

This Zero Moment of Truth is perhaps the most compelling reason that each and every brand, every business selling every product or service, needs to ensure that when the consumer is engaging in this foraging behaviour, that they are there, building trust and clocking impressions that may lead to conversion.  These impressions come from your business website and your social media activities, especially what people are saying with you and about you in social media.

There may be a small segment of the population that doesn’t use social media, but this is a rapidly shrinking segment.  The fastest growing segment of social users is adults 45-54, and more and more seniors come online every day.  In many ways, Social Media IS the Internet, and the Internet IS Social Media.  It’s difficult today to grow your business without a strategy that covers how, for whom, and how often you will engage your customers in the two-way conversation that Social media has to offer as a marketing tool.

So Many Platforms, So Little Time.

Scheduling tools like Hootsuite make it easy to track and control the frequency of your social media communications, and they make it easy to post the same content simultaneously to multiple social platforms.  But while it may be tempting to try and broadcast your messages to multiple platforms at once, it is rarely a good idea.  In his book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook”, Gary Vaynerchuck makes a strong argument that business owners should heed: not all social platforms are created equal.  The kind of storytelling that works really well on Facebook for a particular user will not work on Twitter, or Linked, In, or Pinterest, or….

Knowing which platforms to prioritise is perhaps the most difficult part of your social strategy but also the most critical.  You stand to lose a lot of precious time if you prioritise a platform that really doesn’t work for your business, and you can even erode or undermine your brand if you post something clearly inappropriate for that platform: so how does a savvy business owner choose?

There are three factors to consider:

1) What are the various social platforms “good at”?

2) Which of the social platforms do your users tend towards?

2) What is the nature of your business conversion funnel?

1) A Brief Primer on Social Media

There is much crossover between the various major social media platforms: all of them are, of course, social, meaning they are about engaging in a dialogue with others.  But because each one operates in a slightly different way with different rules of engagement, they require different kinds of Storytelling.

Twitter

  • Has over 230 million monthly active users
  • Twitter followers are 60% more likely to recommend you than a Facebook Liker
  • The average age of a Twitter user is much higher than Facebook, at 39 years
  • 70% of Twitter users expect to hear back from a brand, and 53% want that response within the hour
  • Twitter is good for establishing thought leadership, expertise, for sharing news, and for customer service and customer relationship management

Facebook

  • Facebook is the largest social platform in the world: if it were a country it would the third most populated, after only China and India
  • Facebook does have an influence on purchasing behaviour, even if not a direct one. Your Facebook fans are more likely to convert than non-fans.
  • Facebook is great for visibility in social search
  • Facebook is getting into the retail game with Facebook shops if you are selling a product
  • The new killer app on Facebook is the short video

YouTube

  • Has moved from being primarily a video search engine to a powerful social platform where many brands have been born and built. Khan academy, for example, and Justin Bieber.
  • Web videos are a great way to reach out to new and current customers and generate inbound links to your website
  • Because it is owned by Google, embedding YouTube videos on your website gives those pages a double-boost in Search Engine Optimisation

Google Plus

  • Great for local businesses, reviews, and Google search “juice”
  • Ties your business address into a Google Map and ties into other Google services

Linked In

  • The largest professional network, you must have a personal page on LinkedIn; it is far more common to connect with business contacts on LinkedIn than to keep a Rolodex or stack of business cards or emails.
  • Linked in generates 200% more leads than the other social networks

Pinterest

  • The fastest growing as of December 2012
  • Pinterest is very visual, about ‘things’, items they find interesting, but it works even for small businesses that aren’t visually stimulating.
  • Pinterest is good for referral traffic because the source of the pin is a link to your site, especially images you might be posting in your blogs. Even if you don’t maintain a page or presence on Pinterest, installing a “pin it” button on your website pages is a good idea

2) Where Are Your Users Hanging Out?

The short answer is, everywhere.  But you have to narrow that down a little to come up with a feasible strategy.  It’s important to note here that there are multiple social platforms not listed above, many of them attracting niche audiences where you might find a treasure trove of users interested in exactly what you have to offer.  This article outlines 60 niche social networks and it is worth doing a bit of digging to see if any of them resonate with your business goals.  Another tool that you can use is socialmention.com; social mention searches blogs and social networks for topics or brand mentions and can be a good way of finding out where conversations are taking place that align with the kinds of conversations you want to be having with your customers.  And social crawlytics at socialcrawlytics.com can be very insightful, generating a report that will tell you which pages of your website have been shared in social media, where they have been shared, and even by who.

3) What is the Nature of Your Conversion Funnel?

Typically, the more expensive the product or service, the more touch points the consumer will require before purchasing.  What are you selling, and how many touch point’s do you think your customers need before they buy?

Is your product or service more suited to an active discovery process or a passive discovery process?  For example, if I need an emergency plumbing repair I tend to engage in some very active discovery to find one.  I search Google and will probably call the first few service providers I see.  Social Media is better at passive discovery, at marketing products, services, and ideas that consumers don’t need right away or in an emergency.

Do you have a lot of competitors, so will need more touch points or more visibility in the market, or very few competitors?  Are you in the B2B or B2C market?

How much customer service does your product or service require?  And how much brand awareness do you already have in the market?
SocialStrategySOSWorksheetImage

Document the answers to these questions on this worksheet; by indicating on the sliders in the worksheet where your business lands on these various conversion factors will give you some pointers towards which platforms you might want to prioritise as well as the frequency of posting you might want to consider.  Note that the worksheet is more art than science and is intended only as a starting point: they only way to really get good at social media is by doing it, so start small, perhaps with your LinkedIn page, and build slowly using the worksheet as a guide.

The biggest question the Content Strategist has to answer is “Do I need a website AND a Social Strategy”?  The answer is yes, for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is the findability of your content in Search.  Next month, we’ll cover Search Engine Optimisation and Influencer Marketing, the two biggest ways you can make your website work for your business.

For more resources and information on Content Strategy and to download a detailed description of what content strategy entails, go to analyticalengine.ca/resources or download a Content Strategy Info graphic at http://bit.ly/1qY9tYp.

Christine McGlade is a Business Analyst, Content Strategist, and Usability Consultant.  With over 25 years experience in the media business, Christine helps small business, social enterprise, and Not for Profits how to leverage the power of the Internet to grow their business.  Learn more about Christine at analyticalengine.ca

Is Engagement On Social Media A Return On Your Investment?

Malene Jorgensen

When people talk about social media marketing, there seems to be a focus on what you are getting in return. How is your timely investment measured? How is that investment related to sales? Some people tend to believe that just because you start sharing links on Facebook and Twitter, you will make money. Sure, there are success stories of people making lots of money online with their businesses, but this is far from the norm.

In other words, just because you are sharing links to your e-commerce store or your online products doesn’t mean you will see any returns on this investment. Instead, you may need to change your view of social media marketing all together to see just how useful it can be.

It really isn’t about how many products you sell every time you share a link. Instead, it is about the relationships you create on the network and about how you continue to nurture them. The investment really comes down to the engagement you have on these networks. If you start conversations, chances are that you will gain some loyal customers. So, when you do end up releasing a new product or service, people are more likely to invest in them if they are suited for their needs.

If you have thousands of followers who are excited about your business and you aren’t seeing any purchases, the problem may not be with your social media marketing. One common problem I stumble upon often is that people will disregard their Twitter or Facebook followers because they aren’t seeing any sales. But your social media marketing efforts may be paying off. The followers may be coming to your website – which is the goal of social media marketing – but they are turned off by your website. Then, they leave again without making a purchase.

You can find out whether this is a problem by implementing an analytics system to your business website, so you can see how many people are coming from Twitter or Facebook. You need to analyze all the steps in your social media strategies to determine what isn’t working. Only then can you find your social media success – and see the returns on your timely investments.

 

Malene Jorgensen is an entrepreneur, author and speaker. Jorgensen is passionate about online content, blogging, online business development and e-commerce. She owns an international media publishing company and a design studio. Jorgensen has written several books that are sold in over 50 countries. She is also obsessed with coffee and Twitter. You can reach Malene Jorgensen at Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram 

What’s in a name? 6 tips for choosing the right company name

Evelyn Senyi

Choosing your organization’s name is probably one of the most important decisions you will make when starting your business. The identity you choose will be the public face of the company and your primary marketing tool. Choose correctly and your company will prosper. Choose incorrectly and you may lose valuable time and energy in your marketing efforts.

 

The name of your business should convey what you do or sell, the culture of the company and what makes it unique. With all this is mind, choosing the right name can be a daunting task.

 

30 years ago naming your business was as complicated as checking with your local business bureau to see if the name already existed and searching the federal trademark database. Now you have to take into consideration web domains, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. There are millions of small businesses across the internet that you have to contend with for web addresses, search rankings and social media clout. It’s not easy to find unclaimed digital real estate.

 

To succeed in choosing the right name that is unique and available, you need to think outside the box.

 

  • Do your research – first, see what else is out there in your industry. What types of names do the industry leaders have? Are they fun, serious or quirky? This will let you know what is accepted and expected in your field. Second, make sure that you don’t choose something that is already taken or very popular. This will make securing a domain name and search rankings in Google difficult.

 

  • Keep it simple – creativity is great, but make sure that your potential customers can pronounce and spell your name. Using long words from languages other than that of our business can cause confusion and make you hard to find (for example Abrakebabra). Simple names are easy to market and easy to remember.

 

  • Stick to real words – with so few original names left out there, marketers have taken to creating their own words. While for some (Instagram) this has worked, chances are it will backfire for most. Stick to real, traditionally spelled words when thinking of your name. Names that have no meaning are difficult to market without a lot of paid advertising and are hard to search for.

 

  • Don’t limit yourself – if you own a cafe on St. Peter’s Street it might be tempting to call yourself St. Peter’s Cafe, but what if you move? Alternatively calling yourself Bob’s Door Repair might limit you if you were ever to expand your business to more than just door repair. Be sure to choose a name that can withstand change and growth.

 

  • Use keywords – using keywords makes your business easier to find and more marketable online. It also helps customers determine what it is that you offer. East Coffee Company clearly sells coffee or coffee products, so it will be easier for their name to pop up when customers search for “coffee”.
  • Get input – you might think your name is great but you may not have looked at it from every angle. Words that have one meaning for you might mean something very different to someone else. Take the word dog. To some it might mean that cute little puppy down the street. To others it might be a derogatory word for a person they don’t like. Talking to people about your name will allow you to test how it may be received by the general public.

Whatever name you choose, make sure that YOU like it because hopefully you will be using it for a very long time. Make sure to do your homework and check your local business registry to see if the name is already taken.

Evelyn Senyi is a Toronto-based freelance writer, blogger and digital marketer. Through her passion for technology, solid writing skills and creative flare, Evelyn helps individuals, small businesses and not-for-profits share their stories. Visit her website at www.evelynsenyi.com to learn more about her services or follow her on Twitter @evelynsenyi

Your Brand Values and Governance Model: Developing Your Content Strategy

GovernancePlanning (2)

Part 2 of a 6 part series on Content Strategy for Your Business

 

In the first post in this series, I outlined what a content strategy is and why it’s a critical part of your digital business model.  Over the next 5 weeks of this series, we’ll go through a full content strategy, but where to start?  Sometimes it’s best to start at the end.

 

Governance: Start Your Strategy at the End

When it comes to Content Strategy, A Governance model is perhaps the most important factor.  Why?  Because if you understand up front what it will take to create, measure and maintain your online business communications, you will be more realistic and strategic when you develop your content strategy.  In this post I’ll outline what your governance model will include, and then go into some detail on the creation of the first piece of your content strategy and resulting governance model.

What do I need to Govern?

Online business communications are the basics on your website, which might include

  • Your Home page
  • An “About Us” page or section
  • A services Section and/or product pages
  • Your contact page
  • Campaign based landing pages

Depending on your business goals, it might expand to include content marketing such as

  • Email communications such as e-blasts or newsletters
  • Blogging or articles
  • Info graphics or tools

And depending on your customers and where they are in the sales funnel, it might include brand awareness tactics like

  • Social media: Twitter, Facebook, Linked IN, Instagram, and Pinterest…
  • Influencer marketing

 

Governance of your content strategy means managing these communications, and it is like running a second business, your digital business.  It is part marketing, part sales, and part corporate communications.  And like any business, you need a plan: that’s what Governance is.

Your Governance model brings together all of the pieces of your content strategy into a structured, executable plan of action.  Putting a realistic and actionable governance model in place means being very clear about your brand values and goals, your customer needs, knowing which platforms your ideal customers are using, and which blend of content types will give your brand voice consistency and regularity, and then putting it all in a calendar.

 

A Governance Model Outline

 

Your governance model will be made up of:

1) A clear statement of your brand purpose.  This can be in the form of a mission statement, or it can be in the form of a message map, elevator pitch, or Value proposition (also sometimes called a unique selling proposition or USP).

2) A customer avatar or persona that describes your ideal customer

3) A clear idea of the conversion funnel for your ideal customer and which content types, on which platforms are likely to reach them.

4) An editorial calendar outlining when and what you are going to create or curate and some handy tools to keep it all running smoothly.

These things need to be written down!  Don’t keep it all in your head.  I keep my governance model in front of me in the form of sticky notes and charts pinned to a large piece of foam core that serves as my content strategy whiteboard.   Knowing that these are the building blocks of your content strategy governance model, you can sketch them out very high level, and over the next 5 weeks we’ll fill in the blanks, starting this week with Brand Values.

 

Your Brand Values: Let’s Clarify

What are your brand values, and what are your business goals?  By getting this down very clearly you will have some good material for your About Us page and a guide that will help you with your future content, customer, and platform decisions.  The problem with typical mission statements is that they are very high level and often include a lot of jargon.  For this reason I prefer to create more tactical artefacts, such as a Message Map or Value proposition.

Build a Message Map

A message map is perhaps the most tactical artefact you can create.  It is quick and relatively easy to put together and is a good guideline document if you need to write something quickly such as a product launch announcement, or if you need to give something to your employees so they know the talking points on a particular product, initiative, or your business generally.  CEO’s or PR writers use message maps if they are preparing to do a media interview, for example, or write a press release.

Watch this video about message maps, or use this basic formula, starting with a Twitter-friendly headline.  This means a short, maximum 140-character statement about your brand or product.  Then, write down 3 key points about your brand or product, making sure they are short bullets.  Finally, for each of those three points, come up with a few supporting facts, statistics, or stories that bring the point home.

 Message-Map-Diagram (2)

 

Clarify Your Value Proposition

 

Creating a value proposition using this template from copyhackers will give you a little bit more range of options in terms of how you might talk about your brand as a whole.  Copyhackers has an excellent suite of worksheets and tools for all aspects of content strategy and a great process for figuring out your value proposition, that has you think about your brand and your service(s) or product(s) by filling in this grid.  In the left-most column, write down all of the statements you can come up with that describe the benefits or features of your brand, service(s) or product(s), then really ask yourself if that statement gets a “tick” in the boxes to the right.  When you have a statement that ticks all the boxes, you have a great value proposition!

 

Christine McG
My favourite tool is taken from the book “Gamestorming” because it brings customer target into the mix, and it is visual and easy to fill in the blanks.  Try to make a few of these until you find a combination that feels right.

 

 

elevator-pitch (2)

Once you have a clear idea, or collection of ideas and statements on what you have to offer as a business, the next step is having a very clear picture of your customer: knowing what they want, and where they are going to find it.

Over the next 3 installations, we’ll cover

  • Your Customer: figuring out what your customers want, who they are, and where they are.
  • Social media strategy: we’ll answer the question: do I need a website AND do social media? (The answer is, yes!)
  • Editorial and Content types: we’ll look at creation vs curation and finding the right balance for your brand and your customers, and why you need a schedule. Regularity and consistency is key to building audience.

 

This sounds like a lot of work

I could spend all of my time on creating and maintaining content.  But obviously then I wouldn’t be running my business.  Every business owner has to be a sales and marketing pro these days, however, and much of that sales and marketing activity is contained within the governance model of your online content strategy.  It’s important to find the right balance-or governance model-for your business.

 

For more resources and information on Content Strategy and to download a detailed description of what content strategy entails, go to analyticalengine.ca/resources or download a Content Strategy Info graphic at http://bit.ly/1qY9tYp.

Christine McGlade is a Business Analyst, Content Strategist, and Usability Consultant.  With over 25 years experience in the media business, Christine helps small business, social enterprise, and Not for Profits how to leverage the power of the Internet to grow their business.  Learn more about Christine at analyticalengine.ca