Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING IDEAS
When Spider-Man sees a wall, he promptly climbs it like a spider, reaching the top very
quickly. When a marketing team is faced with a wall, it hits it hard and looks up in
desperation. Sounds familiar?
Truth be told we have all been there. The old ideas work but are not enough, the new ideas
either don't work or are impractical – or you're too scared to put them to practice. What should you do when your creative
magic jar is empty and you need results?
Fear not, friend! When the metaphorical wall takes the best of you, we are here to save
you. These 73 marketing ideas are everything you need to get you out of that tight spot. Carry them with you wherever you go, and you shall never feel desperate and scared
again.
SPREAD YOUR TWITTER HANDLES
The world would be a cute little place if marketing professionals were reserved and did not push their brand and product around so much. Except for the fact that it
wouldn't be called marketing then. Shamelessness is the key – print that Twitter handle on business cards, stamp it
on the corner of whole slide shows, have it prominently featured on your website. Nowhere is safe from your
Twitter handle.
1
WEEKDAYS SELL
You better buy a new calendar, because yours has the weekdays written wrong. Great social media marketing means getting involved with the community
there. One of the easiest and yet most important ways to keep yourself in the game is to follow the weekly traditions.
#ThrowbackThursday, #Humpday, #TGIF – they matter, treat them
accordingly.
2
VINES, THE 6-SECOND MIRACLES
For a bunch of short videos that go viral
before you can say vine, this social media network is under-appreciated.
Take advantage of this, and try having some fun. The lack of competition will
definitely make it easier for you to shine.
3
PINS EVERYWHERE
Some people like to dismiss Pinterest as a website for bored
mums and teenage girls who filled up the board on their wall. Don't listen to them. Pinterest is the perfect place to upload great
images, spread your brand and communicate with creative
customers.
4
KNOW YOUR ENEMY
Facebook now lets you snoop into your competition using
their Pages To Watch service. It tracks what they
post and what works best, so keep your eye on it and learn from what works best. Piece
of cake!
5
FOLLOW PEOPLE, AND FOLLOW YOUR FOLLOWERS
BACK It's very important to keep followers and gain them, and
one of the best and easiest ways to attract followers is to make the first move and follow them. Everyone loves followers, and interacting with your audience this way
shows how approachable your brand is.
6
BE RESPONSIVE
Always reply to your customers' enquiries as soon as you get
them to show your commitment.
7
DIRECTNESS
Twitter's direct message service can be a blessing, but it can get
you banned too. If you see a customer or a potential customer who is having a problem you can solve, use the DM to reach out to them in a private and engaged way. Make sure to not look like
spam, of course. Your goal here is to help, not get banned.
8
SHARE THE INNER WORKINGS
Regardless of your business, your staff and your sales can greatly
benefit from having a staff Instagram. Your employees will be able to pitch in with their creativity,
and the customers will develop a more personal connection with your brand and the people there. Make
them want to be part of your brand's 'family', because you and your team
are just too awesome!
9
SNAPCHAT WORKS
While the snaps last little, the results are here to stay. The
latest and greatest trend among big and small brands alike is to have a Snapchat.
Everyone can dedicate a few seconds of their time to
discover something awesome. Be entertaining, and make sure to not spam too much,
and they will love you.
10
REDDITTING A great way to get honest
opinions and insights is to hit Reddit. Its community is famous for loving a good discussion and propelling quality content to the
front page.
11
FORUMS They have been around for over a decade, yet show no
sign of going away. Forums are popular because they are straightforward. You log in, you speak your mind and engage in lengthy discussions with people around the world. This is a great way to not only spread the word but to collect valuable insights too.
12
STAFF PICKS
You can really say a lot about your company by sharing
content curated by the 'brains' of the machine. Those
can be 'song of the week', 'track of the day' or 'book
we're reading', anything goes here. Use your creativity to
find a regular type of post that is unique to your page.
13
SHARE HONEST LOVE
Your fans are people, and they love to hear feedback. Dropping
an honest and heartfelt comment on their content is a great way to interact and show how much you care. You'll be surprised by how well it works and the connection it creates.
14
THE SECRETS OF URBAN MARKETING
Most people live surrounded by buildings, concrete and cars, lots of cars. Turn that to your advantage.
RULE THE STREETS
In a day and age where digital marketing is on the rise, people's focus has drifted away from good old street marketing. Seize the opportunity and show you are really determined to meet the customers. Print out a few fliers and posters, head up to your local café and the library, buy some chalk and brand the pavement. This is especially effective if you have a local business, but can be used for other things too. Be creative!
15
BUY MURAL SPACE
An image is worth a thousand words, and a 3 metres tall image is worth... Millions? We don't know exactly, but it's a lot. Get permission to decorate a wall on a very visible building and watch the results.
16
USE EVERYTHING AROUND YOU Your surroundings are waiting to be used, and best of all
they are free. Use your imagination to stir the audience's mind.
17
ODD BUT EFFECTIVE SPONSORSHIPS
Take a good look at the city around you and think where can you stamp your brand on. Opportunity comes to those with vision, and do it quick before someone else thinks of
it.
18
DARE TO WEAR
With enough creativity, you can make cool branded designs that your customers will love to wear. You can sell these on your page,
or give them away. Whatever you do, make sure it looks so cool
people will flaunt it in their everyday life. Living, breathing
and stylish billboards.
19
JOINING CONTEST MARKETING
CREATE PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTESTS
There are many things that make photo contests great. Anyone can enter – these days all it takes is an Instagram account – and they give the organisers loads of free user-created content that can be reused as you wish.Harpoon Brewery has mastered the art of photo contests, and you can borrow their Instagram marketing ideas here.
20
VIDEO CONTESTS While video contests are less popular than photography
ones, the quality of the content should be better since you will only get users who are committed to making a video to enter. At the end of the day, you have many talented film makers creating content especially for you! How great is
that?
21
'SUBMIT YOUR VOTE' CONTESTS
Ease to use reigns here too, and they always get tons of entries. Make them straightforward (i.e. 'click this button') and you're done. A bonus for these is that you can use any information received from these as a mini data study. You
can then share these findings as a blog post for your audience to be entertained.
22
CAPTION BONANZA
The formula is old but effective: post a photo and ask users to submit their best caption. The next step is to brace for uncontrollable laughs.
23
SWEEPSTAKES
Older than fire and twice as hot, sweepstakes are still alive because they work. You can always take them one step ahead and ask for email subscriptions in exchange of entries, thus expanding your mailing list.
24
IDEAS FOR PROMOTING CONTESTS
GO TO DEALS AND OFFERS WEBSITES Tastes vary, but everyone loves free and cheap stuff. Those
who have a passion for deals often live in offer sites and forums, and you are guaranteed to find a sweepstake or contest forum where you can share your contest.The results are always impressive, with some contests getting upwards of 90% of their traffic from these sites. One may argue that the quality of these leads falls short, but if you are looking for quantity this is the place for you. Slickdeals is a great starting point, particularly if you are working with restaurants.
25
JOIN THE #HASHTAG REVOLUTION
Add a one-of-a-kind hashtag to your contest so you can
keep track of entries and make organising a little easier.
26
OPTIMISE SHARING
Make it easy for people to share your contests. If the contest is on your website, add a 'Share' button to it. If it's already on social medias, remind and encourage people to spread the word. Remember, more is more in marketing so get the word going.
27
REWARD THOSE WHO
SHARE Sharing out of good will is all fun and
games, but you need to encourage people sometimes. Adding prizes or bonuses of any kind will surely get people to spread the word better, and thankfully there are tools like Rafflecopter that make it easier to organise this – like adding extra entries for, say, joining your mailing list or sharing it on Twitter.
28
EMAIL ALL YOUR SUBSCRIBERS Because what's the point of having all these emails if you
don't use them to spread your news? These people love you enough to trust you with their mailing address. They
want to be messaged. Who are you to argue? The customer is always right!
29
CROSS-PLATFORM CAMPAIGNS
Marketing is about being out there. Use every single social media channel you have to spread the word about your contest. Leave no page behind to get maximum outreach for the awesome giveaway you're doing!
30
CONTENT MARKETING IDEAS
CONNECT WITH THE AUDIENCE Every word you publish must be geared towards the audience and the audience only. You need to know your customer, their problems, their pain points and their interests. Get them hooked, and they will do whatever you tell them to.
31
VISUALS MATTER
A killer article cannot change the human tendency to get bored of text quickly. If you want your readers to keep revisiting and checking your new content, use images to split paragraphs and beware of text walls. These are very, very hard to climb. If you need some visual guidance, this link has some ideas you can borrow.
32
INFOGRAPHICS
Speaking of visual content, the infographic is a tried and tested asset that goes down well with just about everyone. It is a sure-fire way to get a lot of information across while
remaining entertaining.
33
TEMPLATES ARE YOUR FRIENDS
These are easy and inexpensive ways to keep your client focused and establish a regular format that is easily recognisable. This visual framework lets users create a custom piece without having to spend time on the basics. Here is an example of a custom landing pace layout. It teaches the essentials without forcing the user to commit hours to designing it.
34
GRAPHS, CHARTS& PIES
All those years in school taught many people how to learn from all types of graphs and other visual representations. They aren't as
trendy or fancy as an infographic, but they have their value nonetheless. A great advantage to them is that graphs and charts
all follow a basic format that does not take that long to make and is easily recognisable. The simplicity can work on your favour if you
make the content worth it.
35
VIDEOS That cat video you watched is going viral for a reason. Retention
for video content usually averages at 65% compared to 10% for text. 6 and a half times, that's right. When you film something, this is the customer's opportunity to see the products or services live and in colours, making them much more confident in buying the product. For presentations, videos can also save you time and resources because they can be replayed ad eternum without you demonstrating all the 97 functions of your new Swiss army knife every time you display it.
36
NUMBERS, NUMBERS, STATISTICS
9 out of 10 customers like to drink milk. See how easy it is? While this number is not based on actual research, an easy way for you to keep customers entertained is to show them a mash-up of interesting numbers and metrics about things that both them and your business relate to. Statistics are simple to understand and fun to share too. Plus, a by-product of statistics is that you can use them yourself to market better or to improve your product.
37
PREDICTIONS Fortune tellers – real and bogus ones alike – have made
fortunes off their predictions, and you can join this bandwagon too. Nothing stirs the pot more than predicting the future trends in your industry. Whether people agree or disagree, they will share and they will chip in with their own ideas. They get to have their say, while you get your links to go around.
38
CONTROVERSY, DRAMA, INTRIGUE
Tabloid media runs strictly on controversial bombastic headlines. Follow their example, and try your hand at bringing in some attention by using controversy in marketing. This is a path for the cautious ones though – go too far and you may lose a lot of credibility. A safer way to start is to reply to larger industry controversy instead, with your own spin on it. As they say, pick your battles.
39
USE OTHER SOURCES
TO DIVERSIFY YOUR CONTENT
'Borrowing' content from elsewhere is surely easier than sending your own employee to Alaska to take quality photos of that thing your customers are dying to see. Share, do not steal, and use common sense when doing it. If you are looking for ideas, see our guide to the best SEO Reddit AMAs. A golden rule here is to ALWAYS credit the original creators, and anyone else you find deserving.
40
INTERVIEW TIME
Another great way to get quality content, albeit a hard one sometimes, is to interview an industry trendsetter or expert and make a blog post about it – like we did on the future of PageRank. All the professionals and enthusiasts will flock towards your blog to hear what's hot and what's not, and the more interviews you get the wider the variety of opinions and concepts you have. People love variety. Plus, if you are lucky the interviewee might share the interview with their own followers, giving you extra marketing points.
41
TOP 10
Everyone from your neighbour to MTV likes top 10 lists,
period.
42
LISTS, AND LISTS OF LISTS
Case in point: you are reading a list right now. See how popular and effective they are? Share it while you're at it, by the way!
43
PRODUCT COMPARISON GUIDES
Decision-making can be very hard, and people are always resorting to the internet to find out if their money will be well-spent. Help your readers out and point them in the right direction by putting your products in a comparable chart format outlining their features, prices and other things that ensure they make a confident choice. Alternatively, you can also compare your own product to the competitor's if you are confident enough (be objective here, and if the comparison is unfavourable it's better to stay out of it). Writing comparisons of related products can be good too – an example would be a game developer discussing which console or processor is better overall and in relation to their product.
44
SLIDESHARE Slideshows are not just for teachers and small business
presentations anymore. Jonathan Colman has some great tips on how to get good views on Slideshare. Remember, a familiar format makes selling and sharing easier. Always mind the customer's needs.
45
WEBINARS A free webinar by yourself or with
your partners (for twice the expertise and customer base) is a great knowledge giveaway. Use it wisely, and watch the results.
46
GOOGLE RELATED SEARCH
At the top and bottom of the SERP, you will find a goldmine. The
related searches are great starting points for ideas, and may provide you with the inspiration you need
for new content.
47
OPT-INS IN POP-UPS Nobody really likes a pop-up or an opt-in for that matter, but
the truth is they work! Perform A/B testing and see what works best and how they affect your newsletter subscriptions. In businesses where subscribers are worth their weight in gold, do what you must, but get them to sign up.
48
IF THE TEAM IS WINNING, DON'T
CHANGE IT
If you are ever in doubt about what to write, follow this recipe: go to your analytics of choice, and find out what is your top rated content. Note the subjects, the approach, the format and so on. Next, make new content that is a spin off the original. It can be a variation, an extension or else, if the formula worked before it is granted to work again.
49
EBOOKS Writing a comprehensive ebook on a pain point that most of your
audience can relate to is a way to strike gold and demonstrate your expertise with facts. Anyone can say they are the best in this or that, but this is your change to show that. If you don't know where to start or don't have the time to spit out a whole ebook, re-purpose existing content and create a landing page around it. This is an easy way to create an enormous ebook collection that is very accessible to the visitors.
50
101 GUIDES Everyone was a beginner once, and
beginners need help – lots of it. 101 guides are always current and useful.
51
CONTENT NEEDS PROMOTION
There is no way around it: no matter how good your content is, it won't sell itself unless you push it out there. Use your
email subscribers and social medias to get great exposure for the content you put
precious time and research to create. Don't let it sit dusting on your page.
52
POST INDUSTRY
HOT TOPICS People are interested in
hearing about the news and trends in your field. Demonstrating just how current and well-informed you are is a great way to attract customers.
53
GUEST
POSTING
Many experts question the value of guest posting, but when done right it can strike gold. A key to getting the best out of it is to focus on exposing your brand rather
than worrying about the links and SEO so much.
54
WHITEPAPERS
Like guides and ebooks, whitepapers show just how cool and well-informed you are in your field. That being said, while they are kind of the same thing this change in format can be refreshing, and gives you an opportunity to test them in the field to see what do your readers prefer.
55
METAPHORICALLY SHOW SOME SKIN
Your brand is ran by humans. While you don't forget that, customers and readers
may if you come across as robotic, lacking personality or too 'spammy'. Sometimes
you must loosen up a little and have some fun.
56
VIRTUAL MAGAZINES
A rather epic and thorough form of marketing is to have your very own magazine. Take Dark Rye for example, a stylish online mag by Whole Foods. Paper.li is a great way to start for its ease of use. Give it a go!
57
PODCASTS The real value of the podcast is that your audience can
download it then listen to it on the go, be it on the way home from work or while cooking dinner. Interviews and
hot industry topics are great concepts to introduce.
58
EVENT COVERAGE You don't have to go TMZ, but if you attend a conference,
festival or even an online gathering, take this chance to write a post about what you saw, what impressed you and so on. If the event has a hashtag, use it. Those who you
mention will surely take interest in your piece.
59
COLLABORATE
Two heads think better than one, and two brands work the same way. The outreach possibilities double, and the ways
you can use this are endless. Reach out!
60
MEMES They are fun, and easily
recognisable. Most of all, they are easy to make and people love
sharing a funny post on their social media page. Be sure to stay up to
date with the latest memes, otherwise you may look tacky.
61
You know when amusement parks sell you photos of you looking scared for your life in a haunted house or roller coaster? That. Nightmares Fear Factory did a great job by uploading photos of their customers in the thick of the action on their Flickr page. This proved tothe world that they really are as scary as they claimto be. The concept applies elsewhere – hairdressersposting photos of their customers, and so on.Think of ways to apply it to your business,there is bound to be one.
62
SOCIAL PROOF
DON'T EXHAUST THE CUSTOMERS
With everyone trying to get the audience's attention, it is your duty to control your output. Nobody likes spam, and there is a fine line between sharing excellent content and shoving it down people's throats more than they want.
63
CONTENT AUDITS
Evaluate your content every now and then to see what reaction is it causing, what is booming and what is falling on deaf ears. Of course you are afraid of finding out that your most precious post is a disaster or just underperforming, but it must be done. Don't be scared – this will help you use your time and opportunities better.
64
BRAND TOOLS
Solve people's problems while spreading your brand. There are many ways to do this, like using parts of the tool to push your products, but the main thing is to have your brand somewhere and above all deliver a high-end tool that people can use. This paints you as a friendly brand that cares about the reader's well-being too.
65
GO MOBILE EARLY
There is no running away from it, 79% of internet users are making their purchases from their mobile devices. Not being mobile friendly is marketing suicide these days. If you don't have one, go create a mobile version of your page ASAP. And no, this is not a good-to-have. It's a must, and you are missing out on most of the world by excluding it.
66
MAKE IT A GAME
Whose Line is it Anyway presents you with meaningless points, but the fun is still there, isn't it? People love getting points even if they don't go any beyond a number. Look at the effort people make to keep their Tripadvisor pages up-to-date so they can compare the number of places they visited to their friends. Belly and Foursquare also take it to the next level, together with Starbucks. Think about giving your customers some points. It's free, and they will come.
67
GET YOUR FRIENDS AND THEIR CONTENT
ONBOARD Sharing good content and pieces by others in the industry
shows you care about spreading the good material over selfishly pushing out your own stuff viciously. Find the right balance, and your readers will think of you as a good sport and a friendly brand.
68
COMICS Newspapers used to provide amazing funnies, but with
people buying less newspapers few have bothered to fill this ever-increasing gap. Content related to the crazy aspects of the industry is readable. Pixton and Strip Generator are great places to start.
69
LEARN FROM THE MASTERS This is basic, but people often forget about it. Take your time
to watch who is creating great content and getting a good response for it, and learn from their experiences. Likewise, see what doesn't work and steer away from it. Think about your audience's needs and interests and apply the lessons you've picked up from other brands' experiences to your own content. Buzzfeed and Upworthy have crazy numbers because of how shareable their clickbait articles are.
70
TITLES MATTER
Since we've touched Upworthy, take a look at how irresistible their titles are. Headlines are the make or break of any content, including newspaper headlines. No matter how good your content is, nobody will check it if you don't make the headline interesting enough. Sad? Yes. But the fix is easy: pay good attention to the titles, and make sure it answers the 5W1H – what, why, when, who, where and how.
71
4 - 1 - 1
72
NETWORK WITH POWER INFLUENCERS
Create a list of the 25 most influential people in your industry. These people could include high quality prospective clients or maybe influential introducers; introducers are people who can recommend you to lots of buyers. Then, put a plan together that will allow you to EARN their attention. This targeted approach takes time, but the rewards are enormous. If you do this correctly you could now pick up the phone and talk to the most influential people in your industry! It’s a game-changer.
73
You now have 73 effective ways to market your business, the next hardest thing is figuring out which one will have the biggest impact. At SpargoConnect we help business and start-ups answer this very question every day.
If you are serious about growth and want to partner up with a digital marketing team that has a proven track record and the certifications to match, contact us today! visit spargoconnect.com to learn more about our process.
Email: [email protected]: 808-797-2695
"Success breeds success let's make it contagious"
Fernando GomezCEO of SpargoConnect
