Entrepreneurs and business owners are feeling the heat from social media!
Should we spend more time in LinkedIn since Facebook changed their rules?
Do we go after influences instead of taking the long road of producing content and hoping that Google picks it up?
How about Facebook Ads? Do they really work?
Is there is a way for me to get a simple blueprint, so I don’t waste more time doing things that won’t help my business to grow?
How do I calculate my ROI anyway?
These are some of the questions that I receive, over and over. Entrepreneurs and business owners have a common denominator: they have no time to waste. Especially, those of you who are wearing multiple hats.
Perhaps you have a full time job and you are working on your side-gig. Perhaps you are a full time entrepreneur but you’re also a parent so it’s not like you can work 20 hours a day and do nothing else. Perhaps you refuse to work more, period!
Regardless of your motives, there is no sin in wanting to earn more doing less. By the way, Earn More Do Less is actually a company. They are award winners in the Showroom Marketing arena. You should check them out!
Do we have to go back to meet people offline?
Should we open the phone books and call everyone?
Do we buy leads?
Do we hire a living banner?
Where is the sweet spot?
What types of online marketing efforts will result in higher ROI?
Offline marketing is not the NEW thing. It’s the ONLY thing.
You will be surprised that this statement is coming from someone whose friends call her “the social media guru”. I actually removed that from my marketing, because it was sort of misleading.
If you have my book, The 6 Golden Rules of Social Media, you might recall that I have always emphasized that social media is not any different than making real connections.
To recap, the 6 Golden Rules of Social Media are:
Golden Rule 1: Make real connections.
Golden Rule 2: It’s not about you!
Golden Rule 3: Be personal but not private.
Golden Rule 4: Offer value, not a sale.
Golden Rule 5: Be a storyteller.
Golden Rule 6: Engage and follow up to get your ROI.
Perhaps you haven’t read the book yet, but I assume that you don’t mind to get access to strategies to get more revenues. You can get the book here.
I hate to brag. All I want to tell you is that… when you use these rules to handle your social media, it works.
True Story: Happy Hour Event Hosts Hundreds of Successful Professionals & Business Owners in Austin Texas by Using #KeepNetworkingWeird
Last year, during the summertime, I was masterminding with a colleague about how to get more visibility. I remember that I had just celebrated my 40th birthday party at the Granduca Hotel. We had a great time. So I said to my friend, how about if, instead of us coming to people, we attract them? How about if we just do a Happy Hour, at the same Hotel Granduca where I had my party?
The idea turned into a reality. We had our first event and attracted about 60 people. This number has quadruple since then. Take a look at what we are doing here in Austin Texas. All because we leveraged social media to establish a real community where business owners and entrepreneurs show up (online and offline) to make real connections. It’s not about sharing a promo. It’s about leading with value.
When you offer value first, instead of a sale, you stand out more. It’s a Golden Rule. #keepnetworkingweird
This is a great example of how to put in practice The 6 Golden Rules of Social Media. Sounds like a commercial, but this is how it is.
Offline marketing is not the NEW thing. Is the ONLY one!
Where is the ROI in social media?
The effects of social media are often hard to quantify, and some marketers can have a hard time explaining exactly what they have achieved using digital channels. To add to this confusion, every platform brings their unique way to populate their metrics. Unless you are a systems freak, you won’t be able to decode the metrics to track your bank account.
This is why you need someone that can provide you a strategy that feels right for you.
How Would an Online Revenue Strategist Bring You ROI?
When I work with professionals and entrepreneurs, I do 3 things that create the most impact in their business:
Thing ONE: Replace vanity metrics for real metrics
Starting today, commit to never been obsessed with vanity metrics. Those likes, engagement, followers, and reach …
Vanity metrics make you feel as though you are succeeding when perhaps you’re not. Therefore, what counts as a vanity metric depends on what you define as success.
For example, if the goals of your social media campaign are to raise sales and revenue, the vastly increased numbers of “likes,” “shares,” and “follows” may not be enough. However, if your posts are receiving lots of “likes” and “shares,” and getting you many more followers, you may feel as though your campaign is effective—even if none of those likers, sharers, or followers purchase a single item.
Instead of focusing on vanity metrics, we want actionable steps to reach benchmarks.
For Facebook, here are some relevant benchmarks that you should reach, so you can see a reflection in your revenue, in case you haven’t reached them yet:
– [ ] Upgrade your personal profile to turn into a micro celebrity. A micro celebrity has 5,000 friends in Facebook.
– [ ] Run Facebook ads to get your business page to 5,000 likes with at least 15,000 people engaged – every week! Having a good ratio between likes and engagement keeps your edge rank healthy and your ad cost significantly low.
– [ ] Create a content library in your website and invite your followers to read it. Your first benchmark should be 1,000 visits a month. Follow those visitors with your Pixel.
To avoid overwhelming, simplify your processes.
– [ ] Separate a day during the week to focus in content for 1 Hour. If you can create 1-2 blog posts a month you’re in business.
– [ ] For social media, less is more. I’ve found that investing time and energy in running a show using Facebook live helps to concentrate the efforts in just ONE thing. Adding high value and get people to consume it.
– [ ] Organize your contacts. You will have to deal with lots of personal connections. Create a basic CRM – with a google spreadsheet! Don’t miss opportunities!
Since you won’t check those vanity metrics anymore, you want to have access to a report that tracks the actions that are relevant to your conversions.
Thing TWO: Design a unique conversion funnel
This is one the favorite things that I do. I feel that I blend my accountant hat, with the attorney hat, with the 15 years of entrepreneur hat! Some of the issues that we tackle during our strategy session:
– [ ] Am I attracting the right audience?
– [ ] Is my content relevant to my audience’s interests?
– [ ] Am I moving my pipeline to get new appointments?
– [ ] Which benchmarks do I want to achieve in the next 90 days/ 60 days/ 180 days?
– [ ] How do I feel about the core message of my brand? Are there other opportunities to grow my business by creating new offers or services?
Using actionable metrics will also give you a much clearer view of the role social media plays in your sales funnel. And by using high-level analysis tools, such as Google Analytics’ and Facebook Analytics advanced tools, you can see exactly what role social media is playing in the bigger picture. Putting your social media efforts into context in this way allows you to compare it with other marketing techniques, and prove its value.
A very common question that we address is: which social media platform will have higher ROI? A total legit concern. My answer is: depends which audience you want to attract. Right now, if you want access to demographics, and specific behavior, so you can reach the people who have the intention to buy from you, Facebook is the one. This doesn’t mean that you don’t use the others, but you might want to do some automation to have time to build real connections with the right audience. I’ll give you a hint: Facebook Groups!
Thing THREE: Combining Paid Techniques With Free
Bear in mind that, if you’re only using organic (or free) social media, you may not be seeing the ROI you want. In fact, you will not have access to advanced metrics that will indicate to you if you are driving in the correct route. It’s almost like taking a road trip without your GPS. Would you do that, knowing that you can use a GPS that will guide you all the time so you reach your destination? Heck no!
It is very common to see reluctant business owners. They believe that they only use referrals to grow their business. Refuse to pay someone to advertise. Some of them actually think that a “good” marketer should only get paid when they get sales. That’s a reluctant business owner. I can totally understand why. They just don’t understand the process.
That is the case with Facebook Ads and Google Adwords. You feel like you need a PHD to understand them. Well, I have a JD, which helps to understand the process and advocate on your behalf so you don’t feel like someone is taking your money and running away.
Without a doubt, when you combine paid marketing strategies with organic growth hacks, you will get more eyes on your most intriguing content and, therefore, more people onto your site. If you have worked with your conversion flow and understand which benchmarks you need to meet, you can quadruple your revenue in less than 12 months.
This is why I will insist, social media is about making real connections. At the end of the day, all you need is VISIBILITY so you can stand out from the crowd.
To your success, visibility, and beyond, we go!
Jess
About Jessica Campos
While interacting with so many cases over the years, I observed that strategy is the key to winning, as well as the key to most things needed for success. Marketing For Greatness is where I blend my 15+ years of experience as an attorney and online business developer, to get you the biggest wins you’ve ever had. Thanks for stopping here and I look forward to connecting with you!
