Reach All the Goals for Your Blog, Newsletter, & Social Media Today!
Social media is a great promotional tool for small businesses. You get to interact directly with potential customers, show the highlights of your business, and promote your products for FREE. You can promote yourself more with paid ads, but you don’t have to.
The diversity of social media is what allows every business to succeed. However, to succeed, you have to have a plan. This is something that guides your actions and enables you to have a successful, simple, and affordable social media presence. Keep reading to learn just how to create that plan today.
Step 1
Define the Goal of your Online Presence
Why does your business have a Facebook page, blog, or newsletter? Perhaps it’s to get your name out there. On the other hand, many people simply want more sales. The important thing is that you are specific.
Having a sale or giveaway, just to have a sale or giveaway, doesn’t help grow your business. Posting three times a week because you feel like you need to won’t lead to results. Take a moment to write down some goals social media, blogs, or newsletters can help with.
Step 2
Choose the Type of Promotion
After you have your list from above, think about the details of a promotion that would reach your objectives. This could be a giveaway, sale, product/collection launch, raffle, or coupon. Each has pros and cons that will affect your brand.
Free Giveaway - Great for getting your name out to masses of people. Attracts people who only value free things.
Ticket-Based Raffle - All the best of a giveaway without the downsides.
Sale/Coupon - Allows people to get in and get a lower price early. Could cheapen the brand perception.
Product Launch - Get attention without giving something away. However, it could stop those who haven’t been given a monetary reason.
Step 3
Choose a Holiday or Theme
With your goal and promotion in mind, the first step to successful monthly promotions is to choose a theme. Holidays are a great way to focus on promoting your business each month. Don’t see a holiday that fits your business? Make your own! Create an annual holiday your followers can enjoy celebrating with you.
Whatever you choose, make sure it fits your brand and voice. However, there are many other options available to you, so there’s no need to worry. Here’s a look at April’s options.
Easter
National Pet Month
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month
National Kindergarten Day - April 21st
Earth Day - April 22nd
National Arbor Day - April 24th
Step 4
Choose a Timeframe
The next step is choosing the time for your discount, giveaway, or product launch. This is the day, week, or month your customers will be active. If you can, it’s best to take a look at the analytics that your previous social media, email, or blog campaigns have produced. Look at when people are most active based on time of day, week, and month. Choose the highest time of activity for your launch.
Avoid the day of a major holiday (for example, Easter or Christmas.) Most people do not shop on holidays. Instead, plan your promotion timeframe to happen before and after the holiday.
Step 5
Outline Your Promotion
Now it’s time to get into the details; you need to make a set guide for what’s going to happen over the term of your promotion.
2 Weeks Before
Announce your event and invite everyone to attend! Growing up, I was always taught to invite guests with two weeks or greater notice. Less than two weeks isn’t enough for guests to plan. The same goes for promoting an event.
1 Week Before
A week has passed since your first announcement. Consider showing a sneak peek to spark curiosity or excitement for your promotion. Don’t forget to include the what, where, and when.
3 Days Before
Tag a friend. Invite someone. Share the news! Encourage your followers to spread the word about your event. Create engagement by asking them who they’ll share the prize with.
1 Day Before
Remind followers about the event that starts tomorrow, what you are offering, and how long the event will last. This is your final time to shine, so don’t pull back. Think about a final video to capture attention.
The Event
Post to social media a few times each day of your promotion. If your promotion is only one day, consider posting every few hours to maximize the chances of customers seeing your promotion.
After the Event
After your event, you can extend your promotion, thank customers for attending, and announce giveaway winners. Keep them engaged, so they turn into lasting customers.
Step 6
Write Your Content
Write all the content you’ll use for the promotion. This includes blog posts, newsletters, landing pages, and social media posts. Keep in mind everything you’ve decided over the past five steps for your best chances at success.
Blog Copy
Use your blog to talk about details, rules, and legal information. Keep it fun, but make sure they know everything they need to know. Use photos to show what you’re giving away and keep your brand voice in mind.
Social Media Copy
Share your blog post and let people know what’s going on through short and easy to process posts. This isn’t the place to talk details but rather to grab attention. Video and photo based posts are best as more people will pay attention.
Newsletter Copy
Let all your current customers know with a targeted newsletter as early as possible. Link back to the blog for more information but include the major details like the date, time, and other basics of the email itself.
Step 7
Create Your Graphics
Whether you are using photography, stock photos, illustrations, having a visual graphic is key to attracting customers for your promotion. We’ve talked about it before - photo and video do best. Create and gather all your visual materials for the promotion before your first announcement deadline.
Blog & Pinterest Graphics
Make sure you have high quality shareable and pinnable graphics to use as the front of your blog across the internet. Include a photo and the title to your visual for the best chances of success.
Instagram & Facebook Graphics
Think about your platform, and don’t forget to use the right image sizes. 1x1 still does best on Instagram and Facebook. Facebook’s exact dimensions change often. No matter their changes, a square image will show the whole image. However, if you'd like to follow their suggested size, Facebook recommends 940 x 788 pixels for posts while an ad should be 1200 x 628 pixels.
Newsletter Graphics
You might be able to reuse the above graphics on your newsletter. However, make sure everything fits into a theme with flowing colors and proportionate images that will look good on all screens. Also, keep in mind, images appear blank to spam filters. Keep a good balance between your words and images so your email isn't lost.
Step 8
Schedule Everything
Now that all your content is written and graphics are ready, it’s time to schedule all your posts & put your newsletter campaign in the queue. This is where it all comes together. Remember to follow your templates to ensure success!
Step 9
Interact with Your Customers
Now that all your content is publishing itself, you can focus on genuine conversations with your customers and audience. Personal & quick responses to comments or messages are very important when a customer is considering making a purchase. Try to check in a few times a day during the promotional period.
Step 10
Follow Through
Your promotion is over, but your work isn’t. Make sure you deliver everything you promised with your promotion. Give your customers an experience that will make them come back for more. In addition, think about how you can engage all the new customers your promotion attracted.
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Running a promotion is a great way to attract new customers and grow your brand online. By following this ten-step guide, you’ll be well on the way to reaching business goals and having hundreds (if not thousands) of new followers, blog readers, subscribers - and, of course - customers!
I'd love to work with you or help brainstorm ideas for your next promotion. Schedule a Free Consultation Call today.
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