In this Tech News Tuesday episode, we’ll discuss the basic foundational things that you really need to have in place in order to have a successful digital marketing plan. The Tune Up for 2021 program we developed is a checklist of the action steps that you need for a great foundation for digital marketing success. Today we’ll cover things like your processes and systems, video, social media, and your message. Have a listen!
Links in this episode: Tune Up for 2021
Transcript
Welcome to the Get Digital Marketing Results podcast where we give you information and actionable tips to grow your organization.
Bob: Hi, I’m Bob Clark.
Donna: And I’m Donna Botti. We’re with Delos Inc and we make the web work for you.
In today’s Tech News Tuesday episode, we’re getting our marketing ready for the new year with our Tune-Up for 2021 program, which covers all the basic things you need to have in place for a successful digital marketing plan.
So far we’ve discussed a lot of foundational setup tasks, but now it’s time to focus on what you are going to say and how you are going to do it.
Bob: Yeah Donna, you really covered a lot in a bunch of short videos – Things like your processes and systems, video, social media, and your message.
I should remind everyone that they can get a link to the signup form, which is DelosInc.com/tuneup2021, so you can catch up on all the information you’ve talked about so far.
Donna: That’ s right Bob. The Tune Up for 2021 program is meant to be a checklist of the action steps that you’ll need for a great foundation. One of the checklist items discussed last week was about your processes and systems.
Digital marketing is an ongoing effort. You want to set up processes and responsibilities for the day-to-day effort so that they’re organized and manageable. If you can delegate or outsource your efforts, that’s great. Some examples might be, who is responsible for asking customers for reviews or, who’s going to respond to messages on social media and your website.
To be effective day-to-day, you have to start with a plan and your overall goals. Who is your audience? How does your product or service serve them? And what are you trying to achieve? When you know this, developing a content plan and campaigns that you want to run becomes much easier.
Bob: That’s true. Digital marketing is not a once-and-done item on your to-do list. You need to figure out how you’re going to integrate it with your daily business. Planning and organization is key, and it is helpful to write out your ideas and add them to a calendar.
Donna: Another thing we discussed was your video strategy. Google may be the most popular search engine, but YouTube is the second most used search tool.
Consumers want to see more videos from you. Every day they watch product demos, tutorials, video reviews, unboxings, and general research about things that interest them or a problem they are trying to solve.
Videos get more engagement on social media too, so now is the time to start creating videos in your business.
Bob: I like it. Video is also great for repurposing. You can take the same video content, put in on your YouTube channel, embed it in your website, add it to social media, and use the audio for a podcast, and use the transcript for a blog.
Plus, videos with the proper titles and descriptions can be found in search.
Donna: Video is the one of the best ways to promote your business now, but if you’re camera shy, you can still get social.
Everyone is spending more time than ever on social media, especially since connecting in person is more difficult this year. You can have a presence on multiple platforms so that you claim your business on them, but you should really focus your efforts where your customers are.
For many businesses, this will be Facebook, because it’s the largest platform, with the widest audience. Instagram is more and more popular today, and LinkedIn if your audience is business.
Depending on what you offer, there may be other platforms that are right for you.
Bob: There seem to be new platforms all the time Donna, but the important thing is to concentrate your efforts where your ideal client spends a lot of time.
Another point in the Tune Up this week was to try and make your profiles on each platform consistent. For example, you can’t be Joe’s Pizza on one, and Joe’s Pizza and Take Out on another. This confuses the robot search engines. Have the same name, phone number and address on each one. And try to claim the same username as well.
I like it when you say you can be on multiple social media platforms, but if you use primarily just one, then direct people on the ones you’re not very active on to follow you on the channels you use most often.
You may want to tweak some things, but don’t treat each platform as a silo. There are several posting and scheduling tools out there that allow you to post that same post over several social media channels.
If this is too much for you to work on, I have to remind you that at Delos Inc, we can help you with this. Remember, we make the web work for you!
Donna: We do! But we’re also good with educating you on the processes so you can decide the best use of your time, and what you like to do if you want to do it yourself. The key is to make it manageable with a plan.
And you’re right, the repurposing of content is something we’ve talked about many times before as one of those tips that make it more manageable.
But what kind of message should you put out there that resonates with your audience? Think about the problems they have, their aspirations, and what you can do to help them.
Remember that social media is called social for a reason, so much of your content needs to be interesting, informative or entertaining on these platforms, and this is where the 80/20 rule comes into play. Only 20% of your social media should be promoting you – but it’s important that you are strategic about that 20%.
We recommend creating a series of key messages that relate to your audience and your value proposition. These messages are what we call evergreen, because they can be used again and again throughout the year.
Bob: Evergreen… hmmm…. Love, soft as an easy chair, love, ageless and evergreen…. Oh sorry, I got side tracked.
But really, it’s okay to use your key messages 5 or 6 times during the year, but just don’t make the same one 5 or 6 times during the month.
Donna: Bob, you better stick to your day jobs!
But finally, I do want to remind you that one of the most common concerns we hear is “I don’t know what to say.” and really, you do know what to say, because you’re an expert in your business.
But put yourself in the mind of your customer. What do they want to know? What are they interested in? What objections do they have? The questions you are asked or the things you explain over and over again are a great start for content that should also be on your website.
We’re going to say it again because it’s important and it will save you time.
Repurpose what you’re already creating or key into your daily tasks. If you get a new product, do a review while you are evaluating it, if someone on your team is celebrating a milestone, document it.
There are a lot of opportunities if you think about it while you are going about your day to day business. And all this doesn’t have to be done immediately, consider creating a library of content that can be used right now, or in the future.
Bob: That’s it for today’s episode. We hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season. You can find a link and a transcript of today’s podcast, and a transcript of today’s podcast, at DelosInc.com/165.
Also another reminder that you can also find a link to the signup form, which is DelosInc.com/tuneup2021, so you can catch up on all the information we’ve talked about so far.
And don’t forget to subscribe, so you don’t miss out on our actionable digital marketing tips to grow your organization.