I love marketing and think it’s a lot of fun. It’s my passion as you can tell by this blog. I am always reading and trying something new. That includes new social networks, apps and stepping out of my box. I think more companies need to take this approach and not get stuck just sending out emails and simple status updates. I have a few suggestions you should try in your marketing mix.
Write a Blog – Content marketing is one of the most biggest trends in marketing. I hear many of you say that you don’t write well or it’s not you thing. I started this blog knowing I am dyslexic. Writing was never something I liked to do in school/college. I put off the second half of freshman english till my senior year. My dyslexia in to misspell words or put in the entirely wrong word. I would go into almost panic attacks to write. Then this year I decided to go all in on this blog. Is everything perfect,t not a all but if I don’t start writing i will never get better. I say jump in and keep it simple and build on that. You don’t have to write a 10,000 word review. Start with writing 250 word posts about things happening in your company or industry.
Short form blog on Instagram – While not like taking on a full blog. Brands are seeing good results in writing a long post with a picture. Its something different. You would expect to keep it short and simple on Instagram. I have tried this and noticed an increase in engagement for that post. Was it a one off? It maybe but its worth staying.
Create a Video – More social networks are moving towards videos. Facebook is about to directly take on YouTube. Break out your phone and record a video. Show your employees, showcase a charity event, or how to use your product. Keep it short and simple. Then put it in an editing program to add titles and credits. After you are done post it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter (if short enough) and a teaser on Instagram.
Take Your own Photos for Stock Images – I take a ton of pictures of things I find interesting. The vast majority of pictures on the blog in titles are my pictures. If you are a shutterbug as I am, start using your own pics. There will be no copyright problems since you will own the images. Stock photos are expensive and sometimes cheesy. You never know when that picture of a sock money or goat at the petting zoo will be the perfect picture for a post!
Experiment with Paid social – Paid social is a strategy many brands don’t implement. It can gain you new followers/fans and interaction on your posts. A paid strategy will help you grow through the slower periods of organic growth. You can do this can be done on all major social platforms. Facebook has the easiest to implement. The other sites are Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Join a New Social network – If you are just focusing on Facebook going a new network. One I would highly recommend would be Instagram. It’s not one you have to constantly be on like Twitter. You can show the pictures you took above or other pictures your company has taken. If you are in a clothing/retail think about joining Pinterest.
Sell your products on social media – All social networks are implementing their own buy buttons this year. This could be an easy way to reach customers. Social selling is still in it’s infancy and there will be many changes to the way services sell. If you get on at the beginning you be head of the curve and be up on changes as they happen.
These are a few ideas. Break out and try new things. A wise person said we learn more from failure than success. I totally agree. You won’t know how these things will do until you try them.
