Effective SMO Starts with Engaging Content

Content marketing has been used by online businesses for many years; however, with the popularity of social media, this content marketing requires more than ever before. If you want to make a place for your brand or business on the various social media platforms, itâ€s essential that your content is something that others are going to want to share. Of course, this means that your content must be engaging, but it also has to be easy to share. Use great visuals, including pictures, video, SlideShare presentations and infographics for maximum effectiveness. You should also have clearly visible social media share buttons, and donâ€t be shy about asking visitors to share your content.

Know the Influencers in Your Niche

Many SMO marketers view the top influences in their niche as direct competition; and, to be fair, they might just well be your competition. However, that doesnâ€t mean you should avoid them. Find the top influencers in your niche and do some research. Do they follow and share other peopleâ€s content? Are they active? If you find an influential leader in your field, follow them on social media. Comment on content they post or even offer to write a guest blog post. Engaging with the leaders in your niche can pay off big-time, especially if that individual links to your content or makes a mention of you in their blog.

Content Should be Engaging While Also Offering Something Unique

Itâ€s important to keep up to date with changes within your niche. Always be on the cutting edge, offering new and informative information for your readers. When you become known as a reliable source that isnâ€t just copying what everyone else is putting out there, youâ€ll gain a reputation as an expert in your field.

Effective SMO Means You Need to be Social

Keeping up with content, managing social media pages and engaging with visitors can be a huge undertaking. Fortunately, a company like SolidCactus can provide the SMO you need to help grow our business. A company specializing in SMO can manage all aspects of your social media strategy, from identifying your target market to engaging with followers and creating content.

When you want to succeed in the highly competitive world of online marketing, knowing the ins and outs of SMO is essential. Todayâ€s consumers are not the same as those of even a few years ago. They expect online engagement with leading brands and businesses before they are ready to make a buying decision.

We’ve all seen them, but have we used them?

Use Bandit Signs to Promote Your Business

A few years back I wrote a similar blog post outlining what bandit signs are and how you should use them. You can see that post here, if you’d like. That post was primarily geared towards the home based business industry and included a few examples of what to put on your signs, where to place them and a few other suggestions to help you in your marketing campaign.

They work. There’s no doubt about that. If you are consistent at placing bandit signs in strategic places throughout your area, and your business is worth something, you will see results.

However, since writing the last post on bandit signs, I have a few updates for you on the ad copy.

Back in the day when I first started in the home business industry, some of the common copy for a bandit sign went something like this:

Tired of Your Job? 20K/mo Working From Home! 888-555-1234

30k/month Working From Home. Don’t believe, Don’t Call! 888-555-1234

All the newbies are going to be placing signs out with that kind of copy on them, which isn’t truly authentic. Hardly any of them have made anything close to those income claims, and the average ‘Joe’ with somewhat of a decent brain knows that.

For the most part, we’ve all seen those signs with similar wording. So here’s my revised, more experienced copy advice for you:

Be Authentic. For example:

Legitimate Opportunity Helps Father of 4 Quit Job! Call for info. 888-222-1234

Honestly, I Make 3-5K per Week with this Crappy Sign. 888-222-1234

Hated My Job. Started THIS Home Business. I Quite My Job. 888-222-1234

Do you see the difference? Rule of thumb in writing copy for a good bandit sign that will convert is, if you wouldn’t say it yourself then don’t put it on a sign.

As for other industries, such as real estate, lenders, windshield repair, lawyers and just about any industry I can think of, you can benefit from the use of bandit signs. As long as you’re straight forward and not too “salesy” in your copy, your business will benefit.

Heck, if you’re planning on selling your home, instead of going with a real estate agent right off, attempt selling it yourself by using bandit signs. Save yourself the commission you would have paid a realtor. Quick example….We had a home for sale right next door to us for months and months, which was listed with a realtor. But as soon as we placed bandit signs for the owner, it sold.

They work well.

A quick and easy resource to purchase or custom order your next bandit sign design, visit www.sign.com.

In conclusion and as always, I’d like to hear from you. What ad copy has worked well for you in your bandit sign campaigns?

So, how are you holding up to that?

In my opinion, that’s a general rule, a rule which will ensure a higher general success rate among companies around the world. It’s kind of like those rules that were made in high school because one kid ruined it for everyone else!

Some business models require very little marketing while others absolutely survive on it.

What that said, for those of you looking for marketing ideas, here are three of the top marketing tactics you can integrate into your companies marketing strategies today.

Three Marketing Tactics for Your Company

1. Promote your brand. Here in my small community, there are several people who rent out jumping castles for birthday parties and special events. However, only one of them is doing really well. The reason: They branded their last name. With almost “mayor-like” popularity, putting a popular name on a great company is one way in creating a great brand. Now, whenever someone thinks of their last name, they also think of Bezo’s Bounce House.The best way to expose your brand is to make as visible as possible wherever you go and in whatever you do. If you own a restaurant, add your brand to your table covers, setup exhibits and trade show booths. Learn more here.
2. Get Online. In today’s world, more and more people are turning to their mobile device to browse for products and services. If you’re not online with a mobile friendly website, you’re falling behind the curve.
3. Get into Video. We’ve heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Then how many words do you think a video is worth. One of the best tactics to use, especially as a small business owner, is to let people know who you are. It helps them learn how to trust you and gives potential customers an idea of who you are and what kind of a business you operate.

These are just three among many ways to promote your company. Whether or not that takes 20% of your business revenue is completely up to you.

How does person ‘A’ get so much interaction, no matter what they post as their Facebook status update, while person ‘B’ could post the same thing and get zero interaction?

What would the world be like if we all knew the answer to that question? It would probably cease to exist as we know it because everything revolves around Facebook status updates! Right?

Tips for writing compelling Facebook status updates which inspire interaction!

I may not know the exact answer to the person ‘A’ and person ‘B’ question, but I do have some tips which will help you write more compelling Facebook status updates which will inspire others to participate.

So here we go.

• Keep your status updates short, but not too short. In today’s fast paced lifestyle, most people use their mobile devices to check their Facebook accounts. Most people I interact with, which have a Facebook account, will use their mobile device 95% of the time. With that said, since most mobile device screens are much smaller than a computer screen, the short, to-the-point status updates will be more enticing and easier to read. Right around 200 to 250 characters would be a good range to be in.
• Share interesting stuff. I’ve read certain status updates that go something like this, “I’m living my life on purpose and am excited for what the future brings!” That’s all good, glad to know that, but does it inspire any sort of interaction? Is there a call to action, a question or an interesting fact that they can relate to? Not really. I approach my Facebook status updates the same way I approach blogging. Educate them, offend them, entertain them, insult them, make them laugh, heck, make them cry, but never, ever bore them.
• Increase your influence. If you’re writing compelling Facebook status updates which offer value, yet you’re still not getting much interaction, you may need to increase your influence by participating instead of just posting. People will be more likely to post, like and share your status updates if you are doing the same thing for theirs. It goes both ways! And don’t be too prideful to share theirs first!
• Make sure your status updates are “public.” A short while ago, I was posting some great updates, yet, they had no likes or comments at all. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I thought my profile had been ‘de-indexed’ or something. Then, I noticed that the updates I had posted were only shared with a few people and weren’t shared publicly. Make sure, when you share an update, that it reads “Public” in the bottom right corner.

I am a frequent reader of Niel Patel’s blog over at Quicksprout, and he shared some interesting facts about the type of content people respond to most. The graph expresses what I’ve always known to be true about conversions….stories sell. People love to hear personal experiences, real life situations. It makes it real for them, and believable.

So don’t be shy. Share personal experiences. People can relate to you that way. Without giving away your social security number, credit card details and detailed information as to where your stash of jewelry is, give your Facebook friends a piece of who you really are. It works!

Also, another helpful tip I learned from Niel, the best time to post a Facebook Status update is at noon on Saturday, eastern standard time. People are hitting their lunch breaks, checking their phones and have a little free time to browse around the ole FB. Might as well put what you’ve got to say right in front of them when they’re looking!

One last thing, Facebook is a gold mine for business owners. Seriously. It is the number one website on the internet, as far as traffic. With a home business, I have made tens of thousands of dollars through my interaction with friends and acquaintances on Facebook. Treat it like the tool it is, try to integrate a few of these tips and you’ll start to have greater success!

And of course, if there’s anything I missed which works for you, I’d be glad to hear it. Leave a comment, or two!

Optimize Contact Forms for Higher Conversions

In the beginning of my online marketing career, the first contact form I added to my website had at least six required fields. I wanted to know their first name, last name (separate fields), phone number, email address, desired income level, what they were currently doing for an income, how serious they were and where in the world they were from.

Even with all those fields, I still received leads. After realizing my error, I have since optimized my contact forms and have since received much higher conversion rates.

If you think about it, most people will follow the path of least resistance. The easier you make it for them to complete the form, the higher conversion rate you’ll receive.

In my business, all I require is a single field for their email address, which I use to send them helpful information regarding my opportunity. At most, I’ll include another field for their name. Anything more than that kills the conversion rate.

What I’ve also started doing is changing the “submit” button. I’ve found that submit buttons that are a bit larger, brighter, which contain something other than the word “submit,” tend to bring in more conversions as well. By simply adding “click here,” or “Register Now,” your traffic conversion will increase quite a bit.

I frequently read QuickSprout, which created an infographic which contains some great information about increasing the conversion rates of your contact forms.