2. Housekeeping
Bathrooms are in this room
Turn your phone on silent or vibrate please
Take calls outside
Things to Know
If you have thin skin this might not be the class for you. Our workshops are honest & meant to help you.
So that may mean that you face some constructive criticism meant to help you grow.
I am always happy to chat in person, via email or text with you about your marketing, as long you’re a
Chamber member. We can do free one-on-one appointments. These are also BRUTALLY honest. So if
you’re not looking for someone to literally tell you what you’re doing wrong (in my opinion) then it’s best
to skip one-on-one help. We would of course never belittle you, but sometimes people can’t take blunt
honesty so be real with yourself before booking!
5. It’s no secret that one of the biggest consumer trends is the rise of e-
commerce. More than three quarters of Americans go online daily, while 96% of
Americans shop online. (Pew Research Center)
Have you defined your target audience? If not that is absolutely step #1.
What age are they? Gender? Is ethnicity a factor? How much money do they
make? Are they married? Single? Have kids? Where are they located?
Who is your current customer?
Who is your potential customer?
Who would find your content useful or interesting?
6. If you don’t have a defined goal & strategy for your marketing you are doing it wrong.
Goal: What do you want your marketing to get for you? More paying customers?
More butts in seats? More people in the door? More website views? Write down
your goal.
Strategy: What is your strategy for marketing? Is Facebook your only platform/effort?
How often do you post? Do you have an email list? Is your strategy to reach your
goal? If not START OVER.
Is your strategy 1. effective 2. defined 3. attainable
If not it’s time to redefine that strategy & stick to it!
7. What is a creative strategy?
A creative strategy is an intentional and strategic approach that
we take in developing & implementing steps that will ensure and
support our long-term growth. Our creative strategy serves as a
call to action and provides the guiding principles for developing
content. Using this strategy we can solve problems, as well as
spark ideas that lead to our collective success. We will use data
to assess and improve progress. We should be answering the
questions: Are we doing the right things? AND Are we doing
those things right?
8. What is our creative strategy?
We want to create a relationship with people that will allow them to see
us as the resource for accurate and timely information about our
community.
We want to push as many people as possible to our website because then
we can begin converting them into paying customers (i.e. Chamber
members or visitors).
9. Do you have content pillars?
It sounds silly. But pillars are important. Whether you’ve been in
business/marketing for years or days, you need to know what makes your
customers tick, what your brand is and stick with that.
10. Our pillars
• African American Heritage
• People
• Events
• History
• Nature/Outdoors
• Shopping/Dining Opportunities
For us our pillars are the foundation of our marketing. If what we post, design or write about doesn’t fit in
these pillars it does not get used.
11. How to pillar….yeah I know that’s not a
verb.
For example:
-Coffee mug pic on
the front porch
w/caption, “Who likes
afternoon coffee?”
-National Sloth Day
-Divorce & a Real
Estate Company
12. Figure out what platform(s) work best for
you & use them to your advantage.
Don’t put too much effort into platforms that aren’t doing anything for
you. It’s a waste of time.
If you're new to social media, it's best to start small. Focus on one or two
platforms and build out your content based on audience insights as you
go.
FOR EXAMPLE:
1. If your target audience is Gen Y or Gen Z,
Instagram and TikTok will be the recommended
platform.
2. If your brand is more B2B, LinkedIn and YouTube
will both be great. But remember YouTube &
Facebook DO NOT like each other.
13. Use your analytics!
Analytics never lie. This is the easiest way to see what
works and what doesn’t!
Tracking keywords and trending topics on your social
media channels will help you stay ahead of the curve.
1. Instagram, Meta, TikTok and YouTube business
accounts all have their analytics built in – use these!
Do you know where to find them?
2. They help you monitor the latest trends to better
understand how to target your audience.
14. Set goals
Have a goal set for each platform.
That could be for 3 months, 6 months, a year. Make it
something challenging but realistic.
That could be click throughs, engagement, new email
subscribers, new followers, etc.
If you don’t meet those goals it’s time to adjust your
strategy and/or consider ditching the platform.
15. Reach your goals
Clarify your story
Human brains care about their own story, not yours. So, make your message about
something that helps them survive & make it simple and clear to understand. The
enemy of business is noise.
With your business, you should identify what your customer wants, define their
challenges, and offer a tool to overcome those challenges and get what they
want.
Navigate seasons & set expectations.
-totally stolen from Jay Owen
And here’s another great article on this topic.
16. Take time to learn about social media
management tools that are available to you.
These help you organize, manage and plan
campaigns/content.
Planning ahead & scheduling will help you not get
behind on posting and lose your audience.
Tools to help schedule/plan content:
1. Meta Business Suite for Facebook & Instagram.
2. Hootsuite, Zoho Social, Later and HubSpot: allow you
to manage all of your social media platforms in one
place.
17. Keep a close eye on your competition.
Knowing what your competition is doing on
their social media platforms is a great way to
ensure that you're one step ahead.
Get new content ideas from them! Especially
if you’re still growing.
18. Stay up to date!
With trends changing rapidly you'll want to make sure that you can switch
up your social media strategy when you need!
Sign up for emails from research organizations:
Social Media Today and Marketing Dive
These are great ways to get a quick rundown without spending a ton of
time. It’s their job to do this research & keep us up to date.
19. Stop participating in copycat trends &
create more original content.
In 2022, hopping on trends was a key strategy for growing on TikTok and Instagram.
This year solely using trending audio is on its way out.
In order to stand out, it is predicted that creators and brands will incorporate more
original content into their overall strategy.
FOR EXAMPLE:
1. Video content used to be longer-form vlogs & very uniform conversations on niche
topics. It is quickly shifting towards casual, off-the-cuff storytelling.
2. The challenge now is to make your video stand out in a sea of copycats.
20. Keyword Search & Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) are key.
Put effort into these things! They are crucial to your
web success.
Google searches are becoming outdated, because
searching for a topic on the internet has transformed.
1. Nearly half of Gen Z is using TikTok & Instagram for
search instead.
2. Users are looking for a more exploratory experience
with curated takes & personal experiences. Think…
TikTok storytelling & honest reviews.
TIP: When building out or revamping your social strategy, make a list of keywords you’d like
your brand to rank for & be sure to regularly create social content around them.
21. The biggest social media trends to watch in 2023:
1. User Generated Content
content & reviews from your consumers.
2. Micro-influencer marketing
a person who has between 1,000 and 100,000 social media followers
and uses their social media presence to promote products relevant
to their interests or expertise.
3. Short-form video content
Instagram Reels
TikTok
Remember, the best way to get ahead & stay ahead of your
competition is to monitor trends closely. Trends will come & go,
so it's important to stay in the know.
22. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
This is your image.
You want to display your brand in the best way possible.
Having the right tools is important and using them correctly is crucial for success.
23. Hashtags and Emojis
DON’T overuse them.
You don’t want the overuse to scare people
away.
They’re for your benefit.
They don’t work if you’re not using them
correctly. What does this mean??
Users click on a hashtag to explore similar
posts, so you want to be specific with your
choices.
Do you know how to find emojis on a
keyboard or just on your phone? Pro Tip:
Windows Key & Period pulls up your menu!
24. Sharing Posts
DON’T share others posts.
You want to create your own version of the post and
tag the original user (if needed).
Sharing other’s post does nothing for you. Making
your own version does.
Sharing content is often seen as an endorsement of
that content and of the person who posted it. Why
is this important??
Be careful what you share — it could become part of
your brand.
25. Only post GOOD, QUALITY PHOTOS!
If your photo is bad, people will not even read your post.
You want to be sure to choose photos that will draw an audience.
Photos that convey feelings.
How do I do this??
Photo credit is SO important.
Always give credit where it’s due. If you use someone else’s photo – give them credit.
This also encourages them to do it in the future.
26. Post Length
Short, sweet & to the point.
This is always the best route to take. Some posts do
need more words/explanation, so try to cut out the
extra & make it as short as possible.
Using your accolades at the bottom of each post is
really not necessary & not something that people
are going to read. Most users will only read what is
in the immediate window, they’re not clicking “read
more.” This would be more appropriate at the
bottom of a press release.
27. NO personal
content
DO NOT share any personal
opinions, views etc. on your
business account.
Use your platform to promote your
business/organization.
People are not following your page
because they want to see your
personal opinions.
Stick to your brand.
28. Fact Checking
DON’T: Share without
researching first.
Be sure to always fact check your
information before posting.
Always check the source of the information
to confirm it’s credible.
If you post a fact that could be
misconstrued – offer an explanation.
29. Be consistent
Post regularly, but DON’T spam.
Once a day, 7 days a week is the maximum
amount you’d want to post on Facebook.
3-5 posts per week is a good median for
most people on Facebook.
By posting consistently you create brand
awareness and recognition.
Content. If you do something once, make
sure you keep doing it consistently,
especially if you’re an entity representing
multiple entities.
30. Respond to comments
Being engaged is great for your page.
If someone asks a question you want to
answer them as promptly as possible.
If the comment isn’t something that needs a
response – like it or heart it.
Your followers want to feel the relationship.
Also know the rules for your entity. i.e. a
government entity CANNOT delete posts or
comments.
31. Make sure your content
matches your brand
For example – we wouldn’t post Chamber stuff on
the Explore Liberty page and vice versa.
Explore Liberty is tourism and the goal is to attract
potential visitors.
Chamber is more local and is there for members of
the community.
If you sell jewelry, you don’t need to be posting
about men's footwear. It’s not the content that
your audience signed up for.
And don’t share from a personal page as an
employee to a business page. You are not helping
your branded page at all. Download the Business
Manager app & learn how to use it.
32. Grammar, spelling & NO ALL CAPS
Using all capital letters makes people feel like they’re being
YELLED AT.
You don’t want to yell at a potential or consistent customer. Do
you?
SPELL CHECK (yes we’re yelling), because if someone messes up
a post on social media who knows what else they will mess up.
Main point… don’t make yourself or your business look dumb.
THIS IS YOUR BRAND.
PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING.
33. Tag/Mention as many other
places that can help you get
exposure but don’t be annoying.
Let others share YOUR post – not vice versa. When
you tag others and they share your post, it
increases your impressions.
Increased impressions is what brings new
followers, more engagement, etc.
34. What TO DO…..but the reason
that this post did so well?
Because people started chiming
in with their favorite wings that
WEREN’T on this list.
37. Be mindful
What you post is online forever, even if you delete it
someone has probably already taken a screenshot.
38. DON’T: Obsess about the numbers.
It’s important to remember that brand awareness and growing your network is a long-
term effort.
If your post only gets 10 likes, but 5000 people saw it you’re doing something right.
While having lots of followers can be good, it’s quality over quantity.
If you have 1,000 Twitter followers and half of them are spam accounts, your tweets
are being delivered to an audience that doesn’t truly exist. So stress less about your
follower count and concentrate on providing engaging content for your audience.