The Social Fusion Group is proud to present part two of our series: simple subtleties and nuances that can dramatically improve your online marketing. If you haven’t read part one of our series, check out the post here.
In the first post, we shared that everyone who enters the online market strives to attain growth; however, the vast majority of small businesses often fail to achieve those expected results. Why is that so?
Online growth requires a thorough understanding of and the ability to execute upon, the various subtleties and nuances required for communicating with your audience.
The challenge is there is no neon sign blurting out which subtleties and nuances to focus on, yet missing even the tiniest of subtleties could considerably impede a business’s online growth!
Our goal with these two posts is to help you understand these subtleties so that you can increase your online effectiveness.
Knowing a Tactic is Not the Same Things as Knowing the Order to Implement It In
The one commonality of any social communication tool pursuing mass acceptance is to make it so simple to participate, that anyone can do it without much direction. How hard is it to post a tweet? Simply go on, add 140 characters and post. How much time does it take to post an image on Instagram? Mere seconds. Thus, while we may all be familiar with posting, because it is so easy, we are not all familiar with the process to generate results.
Let’s examine this by thinking in terms of a simple mathematical equation.
Clearly, this isn’t a difficult equation. Perhaps you might say it is as simple as posting a tweet. So, what is the correct answer?
If you guessed 7, you are correct! Here’s why:
When solving a mathematical equation, if you use the wrong order (process) you will get the wrong answer. The same is true in the online marketing world. If we miss the nuances and subtleties, following the wrong processes, we’re probably not going to get desirable results.
The Maxim
Our maxim is; “While online marketing may look easy, results are predicated on following a specific methodology and following the subtleties within that methodology.”
Think about this like you would an onion and its layers. Do you see the one onion or do you think in terms of the one onion’s many layers?
Consider this. Let’s assume that one of the tactics you will be using to satisfy an objective is a Facebook Ad. Initially, the process of running the ad seems straight forward and relatively easy. You are familiar with the social medium, the form of the ad is simple and easy to fill out, so why shouldn’t the ad be any different?
If you also follow this mentality, then unfortunately you are only seeing the “onion”, not its “layers.”
Just as with any other tactic you will be using, these ads require the user to follow a process and understand key elements (the layers) beyond just filling out the form. For instance:
- A campaign and goal will need to be established first.
- The appropriate audience will need to be determined and targeted.
- The creative elements of the ad will need to be formulated such as pictures and templates, along with effective copies for the landing page will have to be created.
- You’re going to have to track and test the processes for each element running simultaneously in the background.
Just seeing the “onion” may be tempting, however in order to be a successful digital marketer you must closely follow, comprehend, and prepare to address each and every “layer.”
Monitoring and Safeguarding your Online Reputation is Imperative
In terms of focusing on subtleties and nuances, in part 1 of this series, you successfully established your goals, and identified your audience. Moving forward to part two, we provided insight to help you focus on accurately refining each key element concerning your tactics. Now our final nuance is to focus on is your online reputation.
Our Maxim
“Ostrich marketing, the art of putting your head in the sand, is not effective marketing.”
We recently ran a survey asking about how the SMB focused on their online reputation. Almost 90% either are not monitoring or are checking their reputation from time to time.
Where do people go when they want to establish credibility about you and your business? Obviously, the web and they’re looking to see what others are saying about you.
It is imperative to monitor what results show up when users search for your business. Be warned, apart from the positive SERPs that can result from months of planning and hard work, you should also look out for potentially detrimental search returns, which can “show up” without notice.
Why? For any number of reasons from a dissatisfied prospect, customer, employee posting to a devious competitor trying to besmirch your reputation. Thus, at a minimum, it would be advisable to set up Google Alerts for your business in order to constantly monitor any communications regarding your business.
Let’s say that you find your business dealing with a negative issue online. These are always frustrating but generally can be dealt with. If such an instance does comes up, be sure to maintain transparency when dealing with the issue. Show understanding when responding to customer concerns and try to take the conversation offline in order to fix the problem. Do not allow the conversation to progress in the comments under any circumstance. Provide them with a phone number or an email address asking to personally discuss with them.
Practice this approach even in instances where complaints may seem erroneous as this will show the online world of potential prospects that you are actively engaging the community with an intent to provide the best customer experience possible.
Lastly, once the issue has been addresses and successfully fixed to the customer’s satisfaction, you could always politely ask if they would be willing make an update to their review.
Your Summary – Serendipity is Not a Valid Growth Strategy
You are now equipped with the knowledge required to run a successful digital marketing campaign and promote online growth for your business. Do not forget however, serendipity is not a valid growth strategy. Your biggest challenge as an online marketer is to keep these processes in the forefront of your mind whenever you are planning a strategy.
- Establish your objectives in the online world first!
- Determine the target audience you want to communicate with
- Understand the process required for your tactics to work effectively (think of the onion and the layers)
- Monitor your reputation online. One unmonitored “bad” comment could impact all of the work you’ve done.
- Remember, this process is not a one and done operation. It needs constant monitoring and refinement.
As John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing underlines “online marketing must become a habit that’s practiced daily.”
For more insight and reading on digital marketing, check out the links below
- 5 Steps to Make Influencer Marketing Work for You
- Tips and Tricks for Sourcing Your Content Creation
- Content Marketing - What Does It Really Mean?
- The Subtle Challenges In Building An Engaged Audience
