By Kelsey Whitmeyer
Event, Digital & Account Associate
While nothing is surprising anymore in the most bizarre year we’ve ever seen, one thing remains true: DIGITAL MARKETING RULES THE WORLD! Honing in on your digital marketing strategy and leveraging the digital tools and trends circulating are imperative to your marketing success in these topsy-turvy times. Our team of digital marketing experts has compiled a few digital tools that will expand your digital footprint. Give a few of these a try … and, of course, we’d love to hear about your successes!
WHAT’S THE 4-1-1?
No, really … what is it? These days, no marketing strategy is complete without a social media strategy. Most companies finally see the point, but are they including a healthy mix of shared posts, new posts and sales promotions? Accurately distinguishing between serving, a soft sell and a hard sell? This is what we call structuring your social media content with the 4-1-1 Rule.
Relevant and engaging social content is paramount for social media success. 4-1-1 is a simple rule of thumb dividing your information into three post types:
- 4 pieces of curated content, which is created by other organizations, but shared by a brand because they believe it will be of interest to their audience. (SERVE)
- 1 piece of original content (SOFT SELL)
- 1 piece of promotional content (HARD SELL)
Serve
Sharing curated content shows your audience that you’re in touch with the industries and communities you are engaged. Whether a news article from World Oil; an ASME Virtual Classroom opportunity; or the latest price check on oil prices from the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association (LOGA), these all SERVE your followers, while boosting your presence and reputation online. Additionally, community-focused posts, holidays and well-wishes are all ways of serving your follower base, and should fall into your “4” segment.
Soft Sell
Once you’ve mastered curated content, you must provide value with relevant, original content. Inform your audience of updates and innovations to your products and services. Share your experience with your industry followers. Celebrating 40 years in business? Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn! Educate followers about your business by sharing downloadable information on your products and services. Share that new spec sheet or that project that just set an industry record! Your original content should speak for itself.
Hard Sell
We’ve now reached post type #3 … this is where you reel them in! By serving and soft-selling your way, you’ve positioned yourself as a thought leader and key player in the industry. The customer trusts that you have the knowledge and experience; now you need to nurture them toward a sale. Whether a “Set up a meeting with our team!”, “Give us a call today!” or general “Contact our sales team …”, you want them to commit to an engagement with your brand. If you’re a business heavily focused on events, a paid-event registration should be your goal!
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF LINKEDIN
Write Article
As always, content is KING! Creating LinkedIn articles through your personal profile can help to amplify your reach and engagement. It’s an opportunity to showcase your expertise and knowledge on a subject matter; and a great way to raise your company’s visibility on LinkedIn through resharing and commenting. News and industry updates make good topics to write about. Maybe one of your company page posts is getting a lot of comments and conversation. Turn this feedback into a great article; adding in your expertise, of course.
Jump right in … and be sure to re-share on your company page! We’re all competing to be recognized thought leaders and experts in this space, so it is critical to take full advantage of every avenue available!
A NEW TAKE ON EVENTS
LinkedIn Events
Most of us have seen or participated in Facebook events. Now there’s another player in the mix: LinkedIn Events. The LinkedIn Events feature provides members with an easy opportunity to create and join professional events that are of interest to them, such as meetups, online workshops, seminars and more.
Participating in a community service project as a company? Managing a donation drive in response to Hurricane Laura? Nearing your 40th anniversary as a company and want to celebrate? Hosting an industry webinar next week? These are all examples of when a LinkedIn Event might be the right fit for your company page!
Give it a try … and be sure to cross promote your event leading up to it the big day via LinkedIn re-shares, comments and reminder posts!
TRENDS ARE EVER CHANGING
As you can see, there is literally a new digital trend to be discovered and utilized every month, if not, every week. The opportunities are endless! At Foster Marketing, we get excited over the latest trends and tools and love to help our clients and friends in the industry succeed. And, that’s the 4-1-1!
BONUS TIP
A few tips from Forbes to adapt that in-person event into a social media event:
- Find a need
- Create event hashtags
- Create hype
- Set-up a live stream
- Generate real-time conversation
- Promote after the event
Let’s get started! Call us today at 281-448-3435, contact us online or connect with us on LinkedIn.