You will market your business more successfully if you have a well-defined and implemented strategy. However, there are lots of small things you can do which can make a huge difference to your marketing.
So, here are ten random, yet practical, marketing tips (all of which we have used ourselves, so we know they work) that you can start using today.
1. Repurposing your content
Writing content is hard work. So, you need to squeeze every ounce of value from it.
That’s where repurposing comes in.
Here’s an example…
We recently wrote an article called 7 scary pension mistakes to avoid this Halloween for Yardstick members (our blogging, newsletter and social media service). The blog will go on the adviser/planner’s website and be sent in their newsletter. They could also repurpose it by:
- Breaking it down into seven separate social media posts
- Putting the blog on LinkedIn as an article (assuming LinkedIn was important to them)
- Using their smartphone to record a short video using the blog as a script
- Using the blog as a basis for a webinar.
Start by understanding which articles are most popular, then think about ways you can repurpose them to squeeze even more value out.
2. Get more people to see your LinkedIn posts
Social media is a great way to drive traffic to your website.
We all know the process: write a compelling post, add a link and an image (more of that in a moment), hit send. Then analyse the results, understand what engages your audience and repeat.
If you’re doing that on LinkedIn you’ve got two places you can put the link to your website:
- In the post (link in post)
- In a comment (link in comments)
One works much better than the other.
Our research shows that posts with the link in the comments get significantly more engagement.
Here are two examples to prove the point:
By all means, run your own tests. But, it works!
3. Use the email that is (almost) guaranteed to stop people ignoring you
Marketing creates opportunities. Sales turn opportunities into clients.
We all have prospective clients who we’d love to work with but for some reason just can’t get over the line. Some may have even started to ignore your emails trying to move things forward.
We’ve got the answer. Actually, Chris Voss has the answer on page 92 of Never Split The Difference where he reveals an email which wakes up almost every sleeping prospect.
It’s incredibly simple, yet hugely effective; I’ve used it for over a year now and reckon it works 90% of the time. But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s a tweet we received yesterday from Alex Riley:
I won’t reveal the content of the email, but click here to buy the book (no, we aren’t on commission, just like sharing good ideas!) read it, and use the email.
You’ll be amazed at how often it works.
4. Import your connections to LinkedIn
We all want our social media posts to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. That includes existing clients, who will hopefully share them with their network.
It isn’t always easy to get into the habit of updating your LinkedIn connections. Doing so every so often in bulk is one answer. LinkedIn makes it pretty easy too:
- Click ‘My Network’
- On the right-hand side under ‘Add personal contacts’ click ‘More options’
- Then select whether you want to connect your LinkedIn account to your email system or upload a spreadsheet of contacts.
Once you’ve been through that process you will be presented with a screen of potential new contacts. You can then choose to send connection messages to them all or select them individually.
It’s a great way of quickly updating your connections. It’s only half the job though – you’ve then got to post content for them to engage with!
5. Always use images on your social media posts
This isn’t new, but we see some great posts failing to get the engagement they deserve because an image hasn’t been used.
Research shows that adding a photo to your post improves engagement. There are a couple of ways to do it:
- Add functionality to your website (technically known as Open Graph tags) which automatically pulls through the image you’ve used on your blog into the social media post
- Manually upload the image to the social media post (which you will have to do if you’re following tip #2)
It’ll take you a few minutes to find the right image, but the pay-off is greater engagement, which is the whole point of posting!
If you’re struggling to find images, try Unsplash. It’s a great resource for fantastic photography.
6. Sign up to the two directories you might have overlooked
Advisers and planners are reporting an uptick in the number of enquiries they get from two directories which are often overlooked:
Their market share is still small, but I suspect it’ll get larger.
If you haven’t got a profile on either of those sites, now’s the time to fix it. Click here to learn more.
7. Spot opportunities to get Google reviews
The results page after a Google search for you or your business is where many prospective clients first meet you. It’s vital you make a great first impression. Google reviews are one way to do that.
However, our research shows that only a handful of firms take Google reviews seriously.
Writing to clients and including review requests in your internal processes will help build your review numbers. However, there’s another opportunity to collect reviews which is often overlooked.
From time to time clients will call/email a member of your team to say thanks for your hard work or pay you a compliment. Rather than just saying “thank you” and moving on, politely ask them if they would say the same thing in a Google review. The chances are they will say “yes”, you can follow it up with an email containing the review link and, Bob’s your uncle, you’ve got yourself another review.
It’s something we’ve done regularly over the past four years and can confirm it works very well.
8. Work hard on your blog headlines
We often see great content let down by a poor headline. There’s no point spending hours writing, editing, and proofing your article if the headline doesn’t engage your reader.
Advertising genius David Ogilvy once said: “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”
Your headline should be as integral to the writing process as editing and proofing. Use numbers to engage your audience as well as these other tricks of the trade.
9. Sort out your social media banners
Social media is a key part of many marketing strategies. Naturally, most of the focus is on follower/connection numbers and engagement levels. That means there’s one thing which often gets overlooked; your social media banners.
The banner is the section at the top of your profile. Here’s mine from Twitter:
It’s prime online real estate; whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter everyone who visits your profiles will see it. So, let’s put it to work by including:
- Your logo
- Social proof
- Contact details
Remember, the sizes of the banners on each channel will be slightly different. So, while you will probably include similar information, they need to be the right size for each channel.
10. Appear on other people’s podcasts and webinars
Webinars and podcasts are a great way to communicate efficiently with a large audience.
If they are part of your marketing strategy your long-term aim should be to run your own. However, in the short-term, and if you’ve not run them before so need some experience, appearing as a guest on other people’s podcasts and webinars can help you reach a wider audience.
Start by building up a shortlist of organisations who run podcasts and webinars where you would like to appear. Then, listen in. Get to know the format and the people behind the production. Armed with that information, offer yourself as a guest. Some will ignore your approach, others will decline, but a handful will accept and your broadcasting career can commence!
Tried and tested ideas
We’ve used all these tips building The Yardstick Agency. So, we know they work.
Pick a couple, give them a go and let us know how you get on!
In the meantime, if you need our help email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300.
