There is a reason that there are thousands of articles online that address ways to improve your company’s social media presence — Social media is fun to talk about, tough to implement and an even bigger challenge for companies to be creative and stay consistent.

The truth is there is no cut and dry answer to social media. It’s subjective, ever-changing and ideas must be adapted to fit your business and brand. Wait, what was that? Yes, adapted means you have to do some work. Perhaps this is why so many struggle with social media. We hear words like “strategy” and “content creation” and we automatically cringe at the thought of where we should start climbing this beast of a social media mountain.  It’s simply too much work. Your company is not that complex, Right? (These are probably some of the same people who said four years ago, “I don’t have time for social media” or “My customers don’t use Facebook.”) Think again.

“Shop the World, Steal from the Best.”

You do learn some things in school. An advertising professor at The University of Texas said the above quote and it holds true for many aspects of marketing in any industry. (Don’t take the word “steal” literally, please.) Shop around for strategy and tactic ideas like Instant Profits with Instagram . Check out all kinds of brands and companies across the board, on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Note what you love and what you don’t. Take a look at regional competitors in your space and similar companies in your industry across the country. See how they engage fans from contests, images, blogs and other creative ways like highlighting clients or staff. Save pages that impress you and that you would one day like to achieve. Even if you aren’t sure how to implement something immediately, put it on a wish list so it can be top-of-mind when planning.  Social media is an a la carte approach, shop away.

Think Big, Be Simple, Stay Fresh.

This section is key to implementation. (Where most of us drop off, me included.) Don’t be overwhelmed or discouraged after looking at brands like Coke or Chobani; adapt (ahem, work) their tactics into your own social strategy. Note: Be sure to share unique content on each social media platform, not everything on Twitter needs to be on Facebook and vice versa.  Remember no company is too small to utilize these ideas; you just have to make them your own and don’t over complicate the concepts. Below are some items to think about and examples on what to adopt and why.

• Relevancy:  This goes back to your audience. Take current industry news and re-write your own opinion in a short blog post or repost to your fans. You don’t always need to start from scratch or re-create the wheel.  If a story is timely, your followers will be more likely to engage.

• Consistency:  This is about expectations. If you are consistent with posts, fans will know what to expect.  One good tactic is posting specific content each day of the week; you can try utilizing weekly hashtags the community will look forward to and share, posting tips or advice on certain days — make it fun, be creative, but be consistent.

• Engagement: Remember, your job is to stimulate desire and action from your audience; how you do that is determined by your goals and creativity. Pictures and videos are one of the best ways to get instant engagement and can be an opportunity for fans to share among their friends.  Don’t constantly pitch your work , but this is a great way to do it, sparingly.  Offer a coupon, have a small contest or solicit feedback from your followers. Whatever combination you choose, offer value, be genuine and ask for engagement — your audience will respond.

• Quality of Posts/Credibility: The more cohesive your approach is, the more credibility you will have. Want to become a credible resource? Provide advice related to your industry, share industry events, community happenings, quotes from experts and of course your own words as well.  Make sure you provide value to your fans and loyalty will follow.

Don’t be Afraid to Flop.

Social media is a living breathing strategy. You aren’t always going to score a home run but you have to start somewhere.   Now is the time when you can come up with actionable items. When you make your own rules, you are more likely to abide and succeed. The goal to creating fresh content and injecting big brand ideas starts by reevaluating yours.

Have some success stories of your own? More ideas to share?  Comment and help other professionals stay creative when delivering social media content.

In nature, “nurturing” anti inflammatory supplements always implies a particular relationship between the nurturer and the nuturee: the party with more knowledge/experience/information/power shares those qualities with the party possessing less, with the goal of bringing about positive change. Appropriately, “lead nurturing” in the email marketing world refers to the educational relationship you create with subscribers, with the goal of persuading them to act. When you get it right, you’ll not only get more customers to say yes, you’ll also build a core of loyal clients who throw their business your way again and again.

Basics of Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing isn’t just sending emails once a week. It involves providing relevant, useful information to the subscriber about the offer you want him to accept. And it requires planning.

• Create a target audience persona. Your email list includes a variety of personality and customer types, but in order to create the most effective email campaign, you’ll need to choose one target persona to focus on. Create each email with that personality in mind. What motivates them? What information do they need? What questions do they want answered? Focus on building a relationship with your target audience in order to earn their loyalty.
• Determine a consistent email frequency and sequence. Every new lead on your list should receive the same emails in the same order and at the same frequency. Each new message should have a specific goal and call to action. Frequency should be no less than once a week; every five to six days works well in most cases.
• Create content. Each email should contain helpful, actionable, and educational content. Be creative. Try videos, FAQs, surveys, special reports and other formats to get the most important information about your company and your offer into the hands of your subscribers. Emails should build on each other, creating forward momentum and culminating with your ultimate call to action.
• Use offer-based opt-ins. Provide an incentive for opting in to your email list that is related to your ultimate offer. If you’re selling a weight loss e-book, for instance, your opt-in offer could be a free report detailing seven secrets to reducing the risk of Type II diabetes.
• Use autorepsonders. Autoresponders ensure that each new lead gets the same emails at the same frequency. It’s the smartest way to keep your email campaign ducks in a row.

Securing Action With Lead Nurturing

Once your campaign is up and running, keep a close eye on your analytics and your banner stands. Monitor which links are being clicked, how many subscribers convert, how many new leads you get, and where those leads are coming from. Tweak your campaign based on subscriber behavior.

Persuading your target audience to say yes begins with a strong lead nurturing campaign designed to educate and build relationships. Strong content, effective planning, and a solid approach to email creation and distribution will create a loyal audience that wants what you have to offer.

Luxury fashion brands are utilizing the digital world to attract, connect and build better relationships with customers. Premier fashion news resources like the JustLuxe.com Fashion Blog have taken notice of the shift among luxury retailers. Leaders in the industry like Macy’s with her free Macys coupon code know their affluent audience has high expectations and these insightful brands are leveraging like-minded bloggers, social media channels, email marketing and the latest trend of high-fashion videos to push out valuable content and new products to engage with and “wow” their clientele.

Who is leading in the digital revolution as of late? Louis Vuitton, GUESS, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana 14k signet ring.

Fashion Goes Digital:

Louis Vuitton and the Traveling Photog: To promote a Shanghai fashion show the French luxury label launched an all-digital initiative following an LV photographer from the brand’s home base in Paris all the way to the show’s set. The brand built buzz tracking the photographer on his travels and posting pictures and short clips along the journey.

GUESS Adopts its First Blogger: GUESS by Marciano makes history this week with the announcement of collaborating with renowned Swedish fashion blogger Elin Kling. The synergetic fashion partnership marks a “first” for the luxury brand, bringing best fragrances for women reviews
Kling on as the inaugural collaborator and blogger. GUESS identified Kling as an ideal partner not only for her writing style and engagement among followers, but for her character and fashion tastes highlighted in the HerBraveTaste posts. Kling represents the target market for the high-end brand and appeals to GUESS’ customer demographic with perfection.

Gucci’s Double G Spot: “Follow the Double G” is Gucci’s tagline for its new Fall/Winter 2012 interactive video highlighting men and women’s luxury accessories like belts, bags and shoes. The genius behind the clip is that consumers can shop and access product information by clicking the highly-identifiable Gucci brand icons throughout the film.

The Gabbana Boy: Dolce & Gabbana lets customers peak behind the curtain with their new slice-of-life storytelling campaign which highlights blogger Bryan Boy, now a new face and voice of the luxury brand. The viral videos were 30-second snippets of Boy which provided insight into a “day-in-the-life” and revealed the identity of the new voice for the brand.

Every industry is learning to adopt and revolutionize digital marketing in a way that appeals to their target audience. All the above campaigns and others have succeeded at creating engaging content, and pushing it out where their customers reside: on social media and in their email inboxes for a personal touch with their customers. Social media alone cannot create an effective ROI, but when all these tactics are integrated brands can see a true impact.

What can opportunities in the digital revolution do for your company?

Hyde Park Baptist Church, located deep in the heart of Austin, Texas, reached out to us with the need to create a stronger, more appealing way to communicate to its members.  With that in mind, we were able to assist HPBC by creating email templates that would allow them to send out customized weekly messages to a variety of groups.  The email templates provide a consistent and organized theme that allows for a variety of people to receive announcements and other information without the dread of reading, yet another, boring black and white email.

University Ministry Example

General Ministry Example

Do you want to improve your email strategy?  Just a simple change can bring great results.  Contact HMG Creative to get started.

We recently completed a website Flat roofing London redesign project for Reel Picture Productions, the Video Production Companies Singapore headquartered in Singapore.  Our efforts were aimed at creating a more functional and appealing website while keeping the overall theme intact.  The new website provided a quick link to the client portal, a rotating image display on the home page and a new layout for the main tabs.

Click here to view the redesigned website.

About Reel Picture

Established in 1997, Reel Picture Productions supplies DVD replication, DVD packaging, CD replication, CD packaging, and OEM packaging to software companies, Hollywood movie studios, video game companies, music companies, and various businesses.  Reel Picture began in a small 1,000 square foot space.  After quickly expanded, they are currently housed in their 50,000 square foot facility in Eastgate Mall.  They are proud to announce that their current initiative has been aimed towards creating a new and innovative Eco-friendly packaging product.

Screenshot of the OLD website

Screenshot of the NEW website

You have probably heard the overused term: “content is king.” But what does that mean, really?

Search, Social and Strategy

It started when relevant, fresh content became a key factor for search engine optimization, which also plays a huge role to position your company as an industry resource and expert.  Then social media emerged as a viable channel, increasing the need to push consistent communication to your (hopefully) engaged community.

Search and social initiatives are a necessity. You have to be seen and heard by your potential and current customers. If you aren’t driving your brand or company to compete with the thought-leaders or become one yourself, you will be obsolete in the marketplace. After all, if you aren’t talking to your customers, you can be sure someone else is.

What are the thought-leaders practicing? Content marketing strategy.

Content Marketing and PB&J

So what exactly is content marketing? Entrepreneur Magazine’s concise definition is: “The creation and publication of original content — including blog posts, case studies, white papers, videos and photos — for the purpose of generating leads, enhancing a brand’s visibility, and putting the company’s subject matter expertise on display.”

Simply, it is the way brands gain trust, credibility and ultimate loyalty from customers by communicating messages that represent something they care and want to know more about.

One online expert recently described content marketing by using the symbolism of my favorite childhood sandwich: PB&J.  (Stick with this, it’s good.) Imagine that search and social is peanut butter and jelly and content is the bread that holds it all together. So the content, the foundation of the strategy, must be something customers deem it valuable, want to consume and then want to pass on to family, friends and anyone in their social or off-line network.

There is No “I” in Content

Now, with the internet becoming increasingly personalized in our multi-polarized world, content marketing is more important than ever. Budgets are increasing to develop deeper, thought-provoking messaging and strategy (evolving from, “Look at us” and “Wow, our product and services are fantastic,” to a storytelling technique that taps into the customer experience).

So how do you go from, “What’s in it for us?” to “What’s in it for our audience?” Simply, tell a story and stop talking about yourself.  (Sales reps, gasp here. Remember, there is no “I” in content marketing – well there is, but it’s a little guy.)

Stop Informing and Start Storytelling

How do you do content marketing and storytelling well? Tell a story that is personable, approachable, tangible and memorable. For more info please visit homeinsurance-companies.com .

For example, The Hartford sponsors the Paralympics every year, and after following the online advice of Facebook marketing companies, the company decided to tell this story last year. They launched a media and video campaign through the medium of Facebook highlighting the athletes themselves. The result was a successful and emotional story connecting with people on an individual and very personal level.

Check out the introduction video here: http://goo.gl/e0XPA

Say What You Know, Not What You Sell

Customers are not looking to read your blog or micro-site to see what you sell, they can view that in a catalog or on the products and services tab on your site. They are interested in what you know and what you stand for. It’s time to start communicating as a trusted and relevant source and not as a sales script. Storytelling is the new content marketing.

See where your expertise and your customer’s interests overlap to tap into your niche. Tell a unique story and communicate in a way that no other competition can touch.

I recently came across this infographic by John Lanigan in which he highlights the shift to a more visual social experience across many of our favorite social networks. You see (no pun intended), since the beginning of time we have been forming pictures and drawings to tell stories and express our ideas; it’s as innate as blinking. Before a written language our ancestors would carve hieroglyphs into cave walls, we created visual maps to guide us across uncharted land and children today draw pictures before they can even utter a word.

“Brands that can rock visual media will find themselves market leaders.” -Ekaterina Walter

Presently in social media, we have witnessed the shift from 400-word blog posts to Facebook posts (roughly 200-300 characters) to 140-character tweets to the advent of Instagram, which hosts only pictures. This transition is proof that we are in a visual age and one of immediacy. We expect to get the information we seek as quickly, and as efficiently, as possible. There’s no better way to achieve this than through visuals that allow the audience to create their own unique caption, further resonating with each viewer. Not only is this a more captivating approach but also one that will remain in the viewer’s memory much longer.

Try introducing a few eye-catching visuals into your online marketing plan. You won’t regret it!

Most would agree that looking at streams of pictures is far more enjoyable than reading lines of text.  When Instagram launched in October 2010, the new app was perceived to be just another product whose popularity would quickly fade.  But little did they know, Instagram would become one of the most admired social media platforms and acquire over 100 million active users in the short two years the program has been active.

So, what is Instagram exactly?

As stated on their website, “Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures.”  The app is very similar to Twitter in the sense that the pictures posted by your followers are displayed in “feeds.”  But it also provides its users with the capability to “like” and comment on your favorite pics, a similar characteristic of Facebook.  BUT, not only can you post pictures in an instant, you also have the ability to choose from a variety of 17 different filters to make each photograph unique and eye-catching.

Can Instagram be used as a marketing tool for your Company?

Of course!  Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms today and is a perfect way to market your company. With the ability to link your photos to Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter or Pinterest, you are able to create a vast amount of reach without a whole lot of effort.  Instagram allows a company to display their culture, highlight their employees and advertise their work.  About 40% of the world’s top brands like MTV and Starbucks are dominating the app and about 25% of those brands are posting at least once a week.  In a study conducted by Facebook, it was found that photo posts received 50% more “likes” from viewers than text posts, so by using Instagram you are bound to gain more interest from customers.

Anything else you should know about Instagram?

Not only is Instagram enjoyable, but it provides an opportunity for your company to increase SEO.  But how, you ask?  By using alt tags, keywords and geo-tagging gives followers and those surfing the app an opportunity to come across your photos.  Are you interested in joining the Instagram phase?  All you have to do is download the app (which is free I might add), create an account, and start posting pictures.  With that said, start snappin’ some pics and join in the fun. But first, make sure to follow us on Instagram @hmgcreative!

“I can’t believe she asked me that.” “I spent three hours going over the details of the proposal with him, and then at the last minute he backed out!” “I thought she wanted us to install a new kitchen sink and now she wants an entire remodel. And she’s upset every time I give her a new price estimate!” Sound familiar? These are just a few of the comments you might hear around the water cooler at any business—you may have said something like them yourself. I know I have. It’s par for the course when you’re dealing with people who don’t really understand what you do, but want to retain a measure of control over the process. The good news is that you can turn these type of customers into model clients by educating them ahead of time.

1. Blog about what you do.

Blogs not only increase your readership and build customer loyalty; they also give you a chance to showcase your industry knowledge. When customers gain a better understanding of what you do and how well you do it, they’re less likely to question you and more likely to accept your suggestions and price quotes. Blogs also enable you to address common concerns and questions in a neutral venue.

2. Cater your website to your target audience.

Provide multiple ways to learn: written copy, videos, checklists, FAQ sheets, etc.. Make good use of your online real estate by not only pitching what you have, but also teaching clients about why it’s important and what it can do for them.

3. Answer questions before they ask.

Don’t wait until the client is panicking before you address his concerns. Give them plenty of opportunities to find answers to their questions across multiple platforms. You can use social media, white papers, email marketing and other media venues to get vital information to clients before problems arise.

4. Let them talk to a real person.

No matter how proactive you are, clients will always have questions they couldn’t find the answers to and they’ll want answers before you ask them to make a decision. Offer a free consultation or conduct an interview before sending a proposal in order to make sure the client feels comfortable taking the next step.

Proactively educating your clients can limit or all together prevent scenarios like the examples I provided above. Using your blog and website to your best advantage can help you address some of the most common questions before they become an issue. Then, by the time you get to the consultation stage, your clients will be ready to move forward.

A site with no visitors is not profitable at all. If your phone isn’t ringing from internet leads, you need to start doing something different to drive traffic to your online store front. One key strategy that targets potential customers during their decision-making process is Google Ad Words.

For those who have yet to discover this type of campaigning, Google AdWords is a pay-per-click advertising program by Google. With AdWords, businesses can promote their website’s products and services on Google’s search results in the “sponsored links” sections. As always, quality copy and relevant keyword buys will give you a competitive edge over your competitors. With AdWords, unlike traditional advertising, you can set your budgets and change your campaigns in real-time; there are no commitments or spending requirements of any kind.

The Benefits of Google Pay-Per-Click:

• Control your budget and overall costs. Set your daily budget and the amount you’re willing to pay for a click, and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
• Advertise where you want. Target your ads to potential customers around the world, or only to those in your town, region or country.
• No risk. There’s no minimum term or commitment and if you ever need to change the level of spending you can increase or decrease your budgets with peace of mind.
• Targeting. You choose your industry-specific keywords to target your customers and can know your exact ROI and how to better tailor your campaigns for the future.

Not sure how to start or manage a campaign? Let us do it for you.

We at HMG Creative keep a close eye on all our clients’ PPC campaigns to ensure their business is seen by all the right people; we will set up your account, keywords, regions, daily budgets and performance. Account management of your Google PPC is affordable and just makes “Adsense.”

AdWords Services:

• Research profitable keywords and compile exhaustive negative keyword lists
• Build campaigns with proper keyword structure and organization
• Develop and manage effective Display Network campaigns
• Optimize account settings based on budget, geo-targeting and account analysis
• Improve quality scores with click-through-rates, landing page and keywords bid management
• Eliminate wasted spending and work towards constant ROI improvements
• Write and manage ad copy and split testing
• Conversion tracking, reporting and analysis

So what’s it cost?

Due to the competitive, real-time nature of PPC, it’s necessary to monitor, strategize and make changes on an ongoing basis to achieve the best results. For this service, our pricing is month-to-month and varies depending on the complexity of the campaigns as you can view below:

Special Offers:

Commit to a full year and we will waive the Set Up Fee for your PPC campaign and receive your first $100 of ad spend is on us.

Commit to 6 months and we will include your first $100 of ad spend will be free.

Go ahead, attract new leads and get the phone ringing by picking up yours.

Amy Kauffman
858-255-0027