All Entries Tagged With: "growth strategies"
What is your ‘WHY’? What is your reason, goal(s), or impetus that gets you out of bed in the morning? Your ‘WHY’ might be raising a happy healthy family, getting a degree, making a million bucks…
Here at Hub Digital Marketing, our‘WHY’ is all about helping businesses grow through digital marketing and customized growth strategies. Our ‘WHY’ fuels our quest for learning and growing. Can’t stop, won’t stop! We read, watch videos, attend webinars and online classes, and go to presentations and workshops with an almost obsessive dedication. We practice new ideas and platforms out on ourselves, and our own business, ALL the time. We truly enjoy meeting with people and hearing their stories. We are always interested in learning about client’s businesses and we revel in identifying their strengths and weaknesses, their growth stories and pain points then we love working with them to identify, build, and execute growth strategies specific to each and every one of them. We really love what we do and do what we love!
Now you know what our ‘WHY’ is, so what about the HOW and WHAT?
Marketing…what is marketing really? As defined by Miriam Webster:
Full Definition of marketing
Then there’s Digital Marketing, which really is the skeletal structure and/or foundation of everything we do – from the design and development of a website, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing and all that goes into search engine optimization – that is ‘WHAT’ we do! Digital marketing is an umbrella term for themarketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium. Wikipedia’s full definition.
Content is king…you’ve heard that, right? Well, it’s true. Content creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. But let’s think of content as content marketing…Content marketing is the marketing and business process for creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.
And, of course SEO (search engine optimization) is at the heart of it ALL. Search engine optimization is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) — including Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.
A list of WHAT we do…
– SEO Strategy and Execution
– Website Design
– Social Media Marketing and Management
– Blogging and Copywriting
– Grassroots Marketing Strategy and Execution
– Email Marketing – List Development and Template Building
– Paid Search
– Display Ad Purchase and Design
– Graphic Design
Ok, so if you’ve had anything to do with Facebook in the past decade (that’s right, Facebook has been around now for over 10 years!), you’ve noticed that it’s gone through some major changes. What once was a mecca for small business owners who were looking for organic reach and inexpensive advertising, has now become a frustrating place of lost content just floating around with no one paying attention to it.
Algorithm changes over the past few years has significantly decreased the organic reach of business pages. It’s gotten to the point now, where on average a business owner can expect that only 2% of the people who like their page will organically see what they’ve posted. As someone who spends a significant amount of time researching, creating and editing content to send out to the masses, that is a bummer. There’s nothing worse than knowing you have something really important to say, without an audience to say it to.
Well, once you’ve mourned the loss of your organic reach (because trust us, it’s not coming back), it’s time to buck up and make the best of it. Despite some challenges, there ARE ways you can get great reach on the social media platform at a lower cost than other outlets, and those are Facebook ads. Trying them out? Below we’re breaking down just a few tips to help you optimize your ads to ensure they’re working the best for you.
1. Spend some time researching your audience and target them. When you’re looking to target your ad don’t just go by geographic area. Take some time to do some research on some of your existing audience’s interests and likes. On Facebook you can target by general interests, things they’ve looked at on the web, and even other complimentary Facebook pages they’ve liked. Spending some time playing with the interest categories available for targeting can make a HUGE difference in your ad performance.
2. Pick the ultimate pic. Ahh the ad image. This is always the most difficult (for many people) when designing an ad. The image is the first thing people will see when scrolling through their newsfeed so you want to make sure it not only makes sense with your content, but that it’s attention grabbing as well. Find something with bright colors, interesting designs or a little bit of humor to ensure maximum results. And be sure to keep text to a minimum! While Facebook has loosened up a little on their restrictions, it will cost you more to run an ad with text in the image than one that doesn’t have any. And be sure to keep it in the 1200 x 628 wide format so it fits the space nicely.
3. Start small with the budget. A lot of times people think the more money you throw behind an ad the better. However, recent studies have shown that dramatically increasing your budget will actually cause your Cost Per Click (CPC) to go up dramatically as well! Start your budget smaller (about $5 per day) and test it out over the course of a few days to see how it’s working for you. Don’t like what’s happening? Go back and edit the image, text or both until you find the right mix. Happy with the results? Slowly increase your budget (No more that $5 per day) over time to increase the reach without increasing the CPC.
I know many of you out there HATE the thought of having to network. I bet some of you might have even gotten to the door of an event and literally turned around and headed back home? I’m also willing to bet there are some of you out there, like me, that actually look forward to networking events? Whether you’re an introvert, an extrovert, or even an ambivert – that’s actually a thing, ambiverts are those who fall relatively in the middle of being introverted and extroverted, it’s almost like being ambidextrous, but with your personality…whatever your personality type, we can all probably agree that networking to grow your business (or professional career) is important. We’re here to give you some simple tips on how to make it less painful (for those of you that dread it) and more beneficial (for all). Your time, money and energy are valuable – networking can and should be both fun and provide a solid ROI at the same time!
Let’s start at the beginning, peel back the layers of this onion and get right to the heart of the topic…what does networking really mean? One definition of networking that is perfect in this context is: to interact with other people to exchange information and develop contacts, especially to further one’s career. Pretty simple right?
Go away pain…
If you’re the type of person that is painfully shy, just isn’t super comfortable being in groups of people, or maybe you might find the mere thought of going to a networking event causes you anxiety – here are a few tips on how to alleviate the stress:
1. The Buddy System – How about finding someone to go with? You might be able to find a colleague, a coworker, a friend or even an employee to tag along with you!
2. S.O.S . Ask for Help- Talk to the organizer, director, or someone involved with the event – let them know that you see the potential value in attending their event but be honest about your stress. You are not alone, they’ll understand and they’ll probably be more than happy to help! They might connect you with one of their veteran members or an ambassador in their organization that can introduce you around and sort of stay with you.
3. Practice Relaxation Techniques – Whether you’re skilled at mindfulness practices like breathing techniques or meditation (you can easily search for tips on these) or maybe you just need a glass of wine…find something that helps you relax a bit! I know some great networkers that are comfortable around people and even enjoy events like this but we’re all human and sometimes we’re wound a little tight…even the best of us can benefit by having some tools in our toolbox to help us relax and ease into an event!
Time is money, make it count…
Now for our top 5 tried & true tips on how to use networking to grow your business (or career):
1. Find Your Tribe – The first thing to be mindful of, and something I often recommend to colleagues or clients, is to ‘find your tribe’. I often suggest that it’s best to try before you buy – identify different organizations that might make sense to join and/or to get involved with then see what kinds of events are available for you to attend. Go visit, make sure the people that attend seem like the type of people you can see yourself fitting in with, the events are run in a way that works for your personality and you can see that the investment might provide a return on investment.
2. Show Up – It’s more than just signing up for an event and physically being there. When you’ve invested the time, money and energy to attend…you need to really be present, open and ready to make connections.
3. Be Authentic – I can’t stress this one enough! Don’t be ‘that person’ that shows up to take 10 business cards and give 10 business cards…yucko! We’re all people and I guarantee that if you’re authentic and open, you’ll make some pretty cool connections that turn into lasting relationships. Most people are interesting if you take the time to listen – ask questions and be curious!
Not Everything is Black & White – Something that I believe wholeheartedly to be true is that not everything is a straight line! For instance, you might meet me at an event and just because I might not need your service doesn’t mean I don’t know someone who does or will in the future…
4. Follow Up – You’ve identified different groups and picked events to attend. You’ve attended, been present, authentic, curious, and you’ve made some great new connections…now what? Follow up! We are all different and all have different time management algorithms, habits and so on, right? What works for me might not work the best for you but there is a basic routine you can follow then tweak along the way. Let’s say you get home from an event, you’re energized and you’ve met 5 people that you’d like to stay connected with in hopes that it’ll develop into a lasting relationship of some sort? Maybe you’ll become referral resources for each other or maybe it’s a great potential client for you? Whatever the scenario, here are a few basic tips on follow-up…
5. Enter contact info into your database(s).
– Do a little social research – follow, like or connect!
– Send an email/note – I like to send an email that night or within a couple days myself letting them know ‘why’ I enjoyed meeting them (or seeing them again) and might suggest we meet for coffee, a business meeting, etc…to continue the conversation ?
– Then stay in front of them with email campaigns, social shares/likes/favorites or retweets.
I try to go to any event with the mindset that I’ll probably run into someone that I maybe haven’t seen in awhile (yay) and that I’ll probably meet at least a couple/few people that I’ll authentically connect with – I know it also helps that I truly like people (most anyway) and find business in general fascinating. I get that I might not be the norm, but I do know that many of these tips have helped dozens of friends and colleagues ease into networking and make it beneficial in their businesses. I hope you’ll find a take-away here and that you’re future networking events are stress-free and bountiful!
Recent Hub Digital Marketing Blog…
Over the past couple of years, we at Hub Digital have been cultivating some relationships with other complimentary business owners that we’ve met in our travels (it’s one of the biggest benefits of working in a co-working space!). One that I’ve found to have been of great value to both me and my clients has been a special partnership formed with Tuni Schartner, of TRS Strategies and TS Consulting.
With years of entrepreneurship and business consulting under her belt, Tuni has honed the best practices for business owners and is committed to sharing those tips and tricks. Through my client work, I’ve found that many times, their needs extend beyond the computer. While they may come to me needing help with social media, blogging or website development, through the process they’ve realized they need a little something extra. As they streamline and perfect their digital presence, they find they need help with a variety of things including business strategy, integrated marketing, event planning and promotions and even grassroots marketing. Enter Tuni Schartner.
Today we’ve asked Tuni to tell us a little bit about herself and her company and to give us the “why” behind the importance of having an integrated marketing strategy that extends beyond the digital environment:
I have an authentic interest in business, social psychology and history and I truly like people so helping businesses grow is a very natural fit for me. I’m not ashamed to say that at 48 and having been an entrepreneur, or entrepreneur in training, since around age 10…I’m a little bit obsessed with what I do. I am deeply committed to education and growth myself – on a daily basis – and love to put all that I learn into practice. I refer to myself often as ‘a professional spaghetti thrower’…I am in a constant state, for my own business(es) and for my client projects, of throwing spaghetti against the wall and quantifying what is sticking, what isn’t, what to shelf, trash or invest more time, money and energy into!
Business development and/or marketing – no matter what your industry – is changing at the speed of light. All the rules are in a constant state of change. Staying on top of all that change is fun for people like Amy and I. I love working with Amy/Hub Digital and find that her millennial mind and skill set coupled with her education and experience continues to be the perfect compliment to mine. Our clients are continuing to reap the rewards of our partnership and we’re continuing to develop new service offerings and programs, such as a series of ‘short’ and extremely affordable online classes that we will begin to launch (two at a time) quarterly starting in September!
In order for companies to grow they really need to take a holistic, and objective, approach to looking at their business – identifying their ‘why’ (as per Simon Sinek’s TED Talk – we often know what you do, how you do it, but not ‘why’ you do it), clearly identify their differentiator(s) and unique value propositions then create short and long term growth objectives. We work closely with each client to help them work through this process, as well as clearly defining who their audience is then we create integrated marketing strategies with clear short and long term growth objectives.
