Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner... | Presented by |  |
It's National 🍪 Cookie Exchange Day, Alluser! What's your go-to? Snickerdoodle? Gingerbread people? Shortbread?
In today's edition:
-
Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for content strategy
-
⚖️ Testing trends for staying power
-
A two-step strategy for 🪝 selling on YouTube
-
A Facebook and Instagram 🙌 challenge strategy
-
✨ Find your video storytelling style
-
Google's new Chrome browser experiment: 🕵️♂️ Tracking Protection
-
New ❗️ YouTube Shorts creative features
-
📣 Additional industry news from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X/Twitter, and more…
Need to build a content marketing strategy? Wondering how to develop content that grows your business? Begin by identifying what expertise you can offer, pinpointing what your audience is struggling with, and making connections between the two.
On one side of a page, list your skills and expertise. On the other side of the page, write down the pain points of your audience. The intersection of these two lists will give you a good starting spot for stories you can tell that will mesh with your audience's needs.
Create a Content Mission Statement
Next, create a mission statement for your content. Start by identifying who your target audience is—the more niche, the better. If you believe your audience is composed of plant managers, that's probably not niche enough. It should be plant managers in the Pacific Northwest in companies of 10,000 or more that outsource to China or India. That's how specific you want to be.
Then, decide what kind of content you're going to deliver to your audience. Simple tips in writing? Podcast stories? YouTube videos?
Finally, establish the outcome for your audience.
If you offer photography courses, your content mission statement might be to offer simple videos to help amateur photographers get the most out of their cameras.
Today's tip is inspired by Joe Pulizzi, a featured speaker at Social Media Marketing World.
Only 58 Days Until the Conference!
Social Media Marketing World is a great place to learn the latest marketing strategies.
"We left with so many ideas… We are all fired up and ready to go!" attendees Rusty and Teresa Andrews said.
Committing to a better 2024 is easy:
1️⃣ Find at least 3 sessions that will help you achieve your goals.
2️⃣ Get your ticket. (Save over $500 now on All-Access tickets.)
3️⃣ Get ready for 2024 to be your best year yet.
Sign me up for new strategies!
Spotting True Trends
When is a trend REALLY a trend? How do you know when to go all-in on something new?
Let's explore the dangerous side of moving too quickly and the upside of moving very fast.
Sometimes, Moving too Early can be a Dangerous Distraction
Here's an important consideration when analyzing a trend: Who tells you something is important?
For example, on December 15, 2020—in the middle of lockdowns—I wrote an article about why Clubhouse might be the next major social platform. That article ranked in Google search and resulted in a lot of people trying out Clubhouse—a social audio experience.
Clubhouse certainly felt like it had all the trappings of a huge trend.
Here's the problem: it all started because a handful of people with large audiences evangelized this new online experience. But, there was no objective evidence of a lasting transformation or disruption.
Beware of so-called trends that light up the sky and fizzle out as fast. I call these magnesium trends.
The Massive Upside of True Trends
On November 30, 2022, Open AI released ChatGPT—a generative AI chatbot.
Because I saw the trappings of a real trend, I recruited a friend who's a true AI expert to come speak on my podcast early in the rise of ChatGPT. I also invited him to speak on the stage at Social Media Marketing World in March of 2023.
It was NUTS. We've never had that many people interested in a breakout session.
How to Filter True Trends From Magnesium Trends
Here are some critical questions to ask yourself.
Is it Disruptive? Does what you're considering fundamentally change how people operate in life or business? Generative AI almost instantly disrupted the writing industry. Nearly all my writer friends were panicking.
Are People Talking About It? As you would expect, a trend should be the talk of the town. According to Pew Research, in May of 2023, 58% of US Adults had heard of ChatGPT. Pause and process that. Some serious word-of-mouth virality was required to go from zero to more than half of America in only six months!
Is It Sticky? Once you experience it, it's sticky if you want to keep using it. Clubhouse was a novelty. ChatGPT is a utility. The sticking power of a true trend results in people abandoning their old ways and embracing the trend as the new normal.
Are People Willing to Pay for It? A good trend solves a problem you didn't even know existed. If you're willing to fork over hard-earned cash to get it, that's a good sign the trend has staying power.
Here's the fun part: When you're early to a real trend, you can benefit from it. For example, early movers on trends can quickly become recognized thought leaders.
Today's advice is provided by Michael Stelzner.
YouTube Strategy for Selling Products and Services
You work for a business and your job is to sell products or services for the business.
The YouTube algorithm's goal is to keep viewers on the platform by pairing them with the right content.
If you're constantly sending people off the platform to buy your products, the algorithm won't look favorably on your content and it won't be shown to as many
A 2-Part Strategy to Selling on YouTube
The keys to successful sales on YouTube are in how and when you sell.
Deliver a Soft Ask 80% of the Time
80% of your YouTube content should be about giving to your audience—teaching, helping, and providing value—which will help build your brand.
To do a soft pitch on YouTube, you might include an opt-in or freebie link on your About tab or in the video description.
This works because you're not sending people somewhere from within the video or disrupting the viewing session. They're deciding to dig deeper by going to the video description, your channel page, or your About tab.
Instead of pitching and sending people off of the platform, you could say something like, "While I'm talking about [topic], I have a link below in the description where you can go check that out."
Pro Tip: Don't pop the link across the screen or draw a ton of attention to it because that would send viewers off the video with an easy click.
Deliver a Hard Ask 20% of the Time
The other 20% of the time, you can ask your audience for something.
Start by making sure the topic of the video is going to do well on its own. Your YouTube analytics should give you a sense of what content will perform well with your audience. It needs to be a video you expect to do well because you're already stacking the deck against it by sending people off of the platform with a hard ask.
Next, create or choose an opt-in that's related to the topic of that video. Now you're ready to deliver your ask.
First, add the link in the video's description, and be sure to use a link card. It's also helpful to put the URL across the screen during the video and tell viewers that the link is in the description because mobile users might have a hard time clicking on the card or seeing the URL.
After your hook and intro, mention the freebie and where viewers can find the link. Be sure to reiterate these details in the last 20 seconds of your video. Instead of wrapping things up and asking viewers to subscribe, say: "Don't forget, check out (your opt-in)."
The Results
While 80% of your videos may not get people to download your freebie or buy your product, they prove to YouTube that your content can keep people on the platform. This mitigates the impact of the 20% of videos where you ask viewers for something.
Today's advice is provided with insights from Jessica Stansberry, a featured speaker at Social Media Marketing World.
The Challenge Strategy for Facebook and Instagram
Looking for a new way to sell your services? This strategy builds commitment and nurtures leads.
Run a 5-Day Challenge
5-day challenges work well for businesses with an educational component, like cooking, mindfulness, or business coaching. They also work for any company that can share expertise related to the benefits of their product or service. You need to get creative in finding an educational angle that relates to your business!
How to Run a 5-Day Challenge
First, create Facebook ads to attract signups for your 5-day challenge. Use lead generation ads focused on conversions and gather key information like name, email, and phone number from participants. Mention the private Facebook group where you will share challenge content in the ads. Be sure to highlight the benefits participants will gain so you start building excitement and laying the groundwork for future sales.
Starting right after someone signs up for the challenge, you need to communicate regularly. Send them signup reminders and invites to join the Facebook group where the challenge will take place. You should also begin upselling other paid offers like special challenge tiers or related products on Day 1. This provides additional value and helps justify the contact data you have collected.
During the 5 days of the challenge, you need to stay highly engaged with participants daily. Share new educational content each day of the challenge. Run live video streams in the Facebook group. Actively reply to comments and questions that come in to build relationships with your participants. Your goal is to turn them into passionate brand advocates by the end of the 5 days!
It is imperative that you as the business owner show up consistently throughout the challenge as the subject matter expert. This means you need to balance the automation with an authentic human touch as you interact with participants.
Key Benefits of 5-Day Challenges
5-day challenges are an effective way to both qualify and nurture leads by building commitment over the 5 days.
Plus, the educational content you create can be reused for future challenges, saving you work. After the initial setup, the entire process can also be largely automated through platforms like HighLevel.
Today's advice is provided with insights from Allie Bloyd.
Telling Stories to Connect With Customers
There are three traits that all successful video creators share. These are the characteristics that help them create relevant and valuable videos that connect with customers.
We all have the three traits to some degree but most of us favor one in particular. Take a second to think about which one appeals to you:
Authority: Authoritative storytellers create educational content that shows evidence of how they achieved their goals. Their videos talk about the problems their target audience has and exactly how to solve them. Over time, their viewers learn to connect the storyteller with success.
Entertainment: Social video should be fun. Otherwise, who's going to watch it? If you're not fun, you're forgettable. Being fun isn't the same thing as being funny. You don't have to come up with a tight 10 minutes of stand-up every time you film an Instagram Reel. But you do need to show your personality.
Connection: In addition to creating authoritative and entertaining content, you should tell heartfelt stories that allow you to show caring and compassion. Show that you're a real person who feels, understands, and cares. Position your viewers as the hero of the story and yourself or brand as the wise guide with an intriguing backstory.
Who you are as a storyteller is based on your personality.
Find Your Storytelling Style
If you don't feel like you can sum your style up in a few words, here are some steps that could help you find your identity as a storyteller:
-
Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses.
-
Make a list of hobbies and activities you enjoy. Do they point toward research and expert learning, being active and social, or taking time to reflect and intuit?
-
Notice what content you like to consume. For example, if you love Joanna Gaines' content, that might point you toward being an entertaining storyteller.
-
Take a personality test, such as the enneagram, which assigns you to one of nine personality types. Are you a Reformer, Helper, Achiever, Individualist, Investigator, Loyalist, Enthusiast, Challenger, or Peacemaker? The results might surprise you!
You don't have to forget the other two aspects of storytelling. Authoritative storytellers can still be entertaining and compassionate, for example. But the majority of your content should play to your natural strengths and personality.
Think of your storytelling as a triangle, with your dominant storyteller trait at the top. Let's say you're a "connection" type storyteller. You can fit a little bit of content into the two bottom corners; authority and entertainment, for example. But the majority of your content that fills up the rest of the triangle, will be about connection.
What Stories Should You Share?
Once you've found your style, you need to tell the right stories, over and over, to connect with your viewers. Start by thinking about what content they need.
Think through your own past and look for stories that match your viewers' fears and challenges. Then tell those stories from a perspective of learning. Talk about how you fixed the problem or faced that fear, and how you'll avoid a repeat of the situation in the future.
There's an important reason for this story structure.
When you relate to a viewer's troubles, that's the compassionate part of storytelling. When you explain how to fix or avoid a problem, that's authoritative. The entertainment comes in when you tell a real story about a real person, and put your unique spin on it.
Those are the kinds of stories that get viewers, followers, and sales. Those are the stories that connect.
Today's advice is provided with insights from Virginia Kerr.
Google Tracking Protection in Chrome: On January 4th, Google will begin testing a new Chrome browser feature called Tracking Protection, which will restrict third-party cookies by default for 1% of Chrome users globally. During the Tracking Protection test, randomly selected users will be notified when opening Chrome and third-party cookies will automatically be restricted as they browse. If a site breaks due to a lack of third-party cookie access, Chrome will detect issues like repeated refreshes and prompt the user to temporarily re-enable them for that particular site. Google aims to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome completely by the second half of 2024, pending approval from the United Kingdom's regulatory body overseeing competition concerns. Source: Google
X/Twitter Spaces Hosts to Control Anonymous User Access: X has introduced a new feature that provides more control to hosts of its social audio app Spaces regarding anonymous user participation. The "Allow Incognito" toggle lets hosts choose whether anonymous listeners can join their Spaces conversations or if participation should be limited to identified, logged-in users only. Source: Radu Oncescu via Threads
YouTube TV Ads: YouTube announced several updates to improve the streaming experience on connected TVs. First, they will have fewer, longer ad breaks during long-form content to reduce interruptions. Over half of test viewers had 29% longer sessions before an ad break with this change. Viewers will also see the time remaining in breaks. Second, Shorts video ads will now appear globally on connected TVs, with view growth over 100% this year. The ad experience mirrors mobile, with remote controls for skipping. Advertisers can now buy Shorts ads more easily. Finally, YouTube aims to provide an always-on, fresh library across screens. By listening to user preferences, they hope to build a more modern, seamless ad experience for viewers and advertisers on connected devices. The changes roll out soon. Source: YouTube
🗞 Instagram Profile Expansion Controls: Instagram has introduced a new privacy setting that allows users to prevent other people from expanding their profile picture. By restricting the expanded view, users can reduce the ability for impersonators to obtain clear, detailed copies that could facilitate account imitation. Source: Social Media Today
🗞 TikTok for Larger Screens: TikTok has optimized its platform for tablets and foldable devices, providing users with an enhanced viewing experience regardless of their device. This new update offers a complete upgrade to ensure TikTok is seamless and visually appealing across larger screens. Key features include a refined video feed for enhanced clarity, sleek top and bottom navigation bars for ease of access, and landscape and portrait orientation support. Users can now watch videos on bigger screens and smoothly navigate TikTok thanks to streamlined interface elements and flexibility in device positioning. As TikTok continues enhancing features like Topic Feeds for exploring content categories, the improvements pave the way for more immersive and customizable enjoyment of favorite videos in tablet and foldable formats. Source: TikTok
🗞 X/Twitter Media Grid Display: X has rolled out a new grid display format for the "Media" tab when viewing a profile over the last few weeks. Instead of displaying media posts in a list view, they are now shown in a grid of preview images and videos. The new feature is gradually rolling out and is not yet available on every profile, but X says all users can expect to see the updated display soon. Soon, new tools will enable filtering by specific media types like images or videos. An engagement filter option will also allow viewers to easily locate the most popular media items based on interaction metrics. Source: Andrea Conway via X/Twitter
🗞 Creating YouTube Shorts Layouts: YouTube has introduced new features to simplify converting long-form videos into Shorts. When using the YouTube mobile app to turn one of your own videos into a Short, you can now select from various split-screen video layouts. These options allow you to focus on certain sections of the screen using pan and zoom capabilities. Source: The Verge
Did You Know?
Magpies can distinguish between and remember individual human faces from up to four years earlier.
Michael Stelzner, Founder and CEO
P.S. Add
michael@socialmediaexaminer.com into your contacts list. Use Gmail?
Go here to add us as a contact.
We publish updates with links for our new posts and content from partners. Your information: Email:
tukangpostoemel@gmail.com Opted in on: 2021-09-06 17:20:47 UTC.
