Marketing and Social Media Talk at Magalies Business Forum
Marketing and Social Media Talk at Magalies Business Forum
Firstly, a big thanks to the Magalies Business Forum for inviting Odd Poppy Creative to their member meeting to shed some light on Marketing and Social Media in preparation for their annual event, Magalies Rocks the Cradle 2019. This is in fact an enormous topic so we covered it as best we could in the short time we had.
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Get in touch with our team by sending an email to hello@oddpoppy.com for your free online presence and Search Engine Optimisation Audit!
Social Media
Social Media forms part of your online real estate and falls under off-site SEO. Off-site SEO (aka off-page SEO) refers to actions taken outside of your own website to improve your rankings within SERPs (search engine results pages).
Nothing, let’s rather say ‘almost’ nothing that you experience online is by chance. Know that you have been targeted. Whether this targeting is through a well thought out digital strategy or not.
Brand Identity is the foundation of marketing and visual communication. It is what visually sparks and stimulates the emotional response or need in your customer.
Odd Poppy’s 10 commandments of Social Media:
- Acknowledge your power of targeting your audience
- Know your Avatar/Audience as well as you know your Brand
- Identify your business goals and objectives
- Be consistent
- Plan and strategise
- Create content and take advantage of automation and scheduling
- Consider your User Experience
- Data is your new best friend
- In a world of robots, be a human – ENGAGE your audience and maintain your Online Brand Integrity.
- Sharing is caring. Tag a friend!
Why use Social Media?
Social Media allows you to speak directly to your target audience. Gone are the days of paying hundreds and thousands of Rands to Media Houses for media publicity. Make no mistake, these traditional forms of media and advertising are still extremely useful, if you have the budget for it. The beauty of Social Media is that it opens the line of communication directly.
People are generally relaxed when they scroll through facebook or instagram. Although these are public platforms, it’s where people spend their downtime. With the correct strategy, you have the ability to capitalise on the engagement with them there.
YOUR BRAND AVATAR
You can’t just throw a fishing net out and hope for the best.
Build your clear Avatar by analysing your data and asking questions like:
- What does he/she enjoy, eat, drink and drive
- What are his/her hobbies
- Does he/she read magazines or do they prefer books
- What type of music does he/she listen to
- Does he/she watch movies or are they binge watching series and if they are, are they binging on Netflix or Showmax?
- Is he/she driving out here on a Harley Davidson or taking a Sunday cruise in a polished vintage automobile?
Your visitor analytics should not only include your visitor demographic (age, sex, location, race, income bracket) but also explore and identify your visitor’s psychographic and behaviour.
ABOUT YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE, REMEMBER THESE THREE THINGS:
- Consistency is Key – Consistency builds credibility, trust and presence.
- Links are your online currency – A link building campaign benefits your search ranking and overall online presence.
- Content is King – Because Google knows just about everything, when Google Bots come across new content, it pushes rankings up. Keeping in mind that the new content eg. a Blog post is accurate, well written and keyword optimised.
CONTENT
Let’s talk a bit more about content. I know most of you are so busy running your actual businesses that you may feel that you don’t have time for social media. There are a few options for you here:
Plan and Schedule
Diarise a day, perhaps two, set some time aside and create a content calendar along with the actual content (copy, images, events, etc.). Once you’re ready with what you want to say and when you want to say it, spend those hours, make a pot of tea and schedule your posts. Nearly everything online can be automated but nothing happens automatically, what you put in is what you’ll get out.
Outsource
Outsourcing is probably one of the favoured options to Social Media Management. Whether you appoint a marketing agency or employ a dedicated Marketing and Social Media Manager. Having a knowledgeable and experienced Marketing asset on your team makes the world of difference.
USER EXPERIENCE
In your industry it’s all about the experience, right. That’s what most of you are selling. Sure, you have a final destination but it’s about getting out of the hustle and bustle and experiencing Magaliesburg!
What about your online user experience? It’s important to take note of this and consider how existing and potential customers, buyers or clients are EXPERIENCING your Brand online which has a direct impact on your “real-life” sales conversions.
Things to consider here, as part of your strategy, is:
- How are my website and social pages received by my target audience.
- Where am I guiding them, what should my navigation look like. Is my navigation campaign specific, ie. Creating a “yellow brick road”?
- What is the final digital destination, or CALL TO ACTION?
- Has my online presence adopted an “easy to find, easy to navigate” approach?
WHAT TIME OF DAY IS BEST FOR POSTING CONTENT?
This is platform, Avatar, industry and data dependent. There isn’t a set rule for posting times but data offers optimal time suggestions. Here is a general guide to scheduling posts.
Best times to post to facebook:
According to a Buffer study, the best time to post to Facebook is between 1pm – 3pm during the week and Saturdays. They also found that engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays.
- Thursdays and Fridays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. are the best times to post on Facebook [Hubspot]
- Thursday at 8 p.m. [TrackMaven]
- 1–4 p.m. late into the week and on weekends [CoSchedule]
Best times to post to Instagram:
Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Monday: 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 5:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 5:00 a.m.,11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Thursday: 5:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Friday: 5:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday: 11:00 a.m.
You can also gain significant insight on page engagement through platform insights or analytics. This data will specifically show what time of what day your audience engages with your content. Also, what type of content got more attention.
TIPS FOR CREATING SOCIAL PLATFORM CONTENT:
- Do your keyword research and add relevant keywords and hashtags to posts.
- Know you Brand Tone and Brand Voice and keep this consistent.
- Know your Avatar and setup your Target Audience accordingly and accurately.
- Great visuals get more attention online.
- Videos, .gifs and slideshows have proven to draw far more engagement than static images.
- Remember, you only have 6 seconds to grab someone’s attention before they scroll down or jump ship (ie. Leave your website)
- Build your audience honestly and organically to optimize the longevity of your online presence.
- Be consistent, SHOW UP! If you post religiously every Tuesday and Thursday, believe it or not, your audience expects that post! Don’t leave them hanging.
- Share, like, tag and link.
- ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE! In a world of robots, be a HUMAN!
WHEN IS MY AUDIENCE NOTIFIED OF MY FACEBOOK PAGE ACTIVITY?
- When you add an event
- When you go LIVE
- When you update your page details
- When you add your Page Story
As for page Posts, these will appear in their news feed
Not every post or update is viewed by your audience. The Facebook algorithm determines which of your audience is shown the update. Paid ads on Facebook increase the number of people to who your content is shown. Posting on Facebook is not enough if you have an event or campaign that you are running as you won’t be reaching every single like on your page. Targeted ads allow you to do this.
Boosted or sponsored posts and Targeted Ads:
Paid facebook advertising is actually very affordable, target focused and customisable.
DATA
When it comes to drafting and compiling a digital strategy, data is your best friend. Even more so, your own data. How to get data to fuel your digital strategy:
- Google Analytics
- Facebook insights
- Instagram insights
- MailChimp campaign reports (add a read time to the top of your newslettter so that readers know what they’re in for)
Data can help with remarketing strategies.
Lastly, be sincere and mindful in your approach to your online presence, reputation and marketing because remember, you can’t ever delete anything from the internet.
Special OFFER
Get in touch with our team by sending an email to hello@oddpoppy.com for your free online presence and Search Engine Optimisation Audit!
