Content Strategy For Building An Audience

With organic reach down to 5% or lower, Facebook has become purely a pay-to-play platform for businesses. Facebook Groups are the exception, and may be one of the most powerful marketing tools available. Here’s my strategy for how to build and nurture an audience of super-fans.  Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Social media is a great starting point to drive awareness of your business, but let's face it – there's a ton of noise out there. One strategy that can help: Twitter Ads. If you haven’t tried ads yet as a part of your content strategy, here's a quick guide to getting started.  Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

There are no shortcuts in building a business. At least it’s not worth playing the odds of putting stuff out there and hoping to get lucky. Or looking for tricks to beat the system. Time and time again, I get people who come to me asking for quick hacks and work-arounds. “I need to build an audience – quick. Can you help me?” The answer is no. Building an audience requires honesty, patience, and a genuine desire to solve problems for others. And those things take time. Yes, a little luck along the way can help. But as I say all the time, "hope is not a marketing plan." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Medium is a "social blogging" platform run by the folks at Twitter that is focused on long-form content, and it is an often-overlooked platform for business. Medium has a ready-made audience, and delivers your content to your followers (and others via algorithm) via an e-mail feed. You can gain more a lot more potential exposure this way, which might help you boost your own blog. The downside is that it’s a lot of work to produce another set of long-form content separately from your blog. But can't you do both? Or is it bad for SEO? I believe that you can coordinate the two without succumbing to what’s called "digital sharecropping." Listen to the episode to hear me discuss the considerations from each side of the two potential strategies you might use. Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Running an ad serves only one purpose – awareness. People can't take the next step with your business if they're not aware of it. There are a number of ways to create awareness, but using an ad as a part of your overall content strategy can give you a chance to accelerate the process a little. Awareness doesn't guarantee attention, and it certainly doesn't guarantee that someone's going to care about what you do. That's where the principles of content marketing come in – providing real value to real people, over and over again, until they come to trust you enough to do business with you. Listen to the complete episode for how to do this, including some starter strategies if you're new to Facebook Ads.  Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Pinterest is still one of the most popular social media platforms, and it has been evolving into a great marketing tool for small businesses. Here's a "starter strategy" to get you up and running and taking advantage of their business-friendly features.   Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Instagram and Snapchat are each powerful social platforms that can help you construct a visual narrative around you or your business. But each have specific limitations as well. Here’s a quick comparison so you can make a decision for your business.  Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

"Should I be on Snapchat?" is one of the most frequent questions I get from small business owners.   Snapchat provides an opportunity for you to show a side of your business that's more personal – that there are real people in your company, doing real things. The flavor of it is different than the other platforms, though. By its very nature, it's not for hyper-produced content. It's for stuff that is more real or raw. But like anything in business, you want to do it with a strategy behind it.  In the episode, I highlighted a few examples of people making good use of Snapchat for business: Mark Suster (@msuster), Erica Blair (@theericablair), and Jay Acunzo (@jayacunzo). — Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

It’s fun to create and share images. So it’s easy to see why Instagram is one of the Web’s most popular platforms. But under Facebook’s ownership, Instagram is evolving quickly. What we’re seeing is a series of strategic moves to make the platform much more brand-friendly. Here's an overview of some of the key Instagram strategies for business: How to use Instagram as a storytelling device for your brand; How to set up a clear, direct, and optimized user profile; Two strategies for how to make the most out of Instagram’s one-link restriction; Setting up a business account in Instagram and why it’s important; Hashtagging etiquette for business accounts; The basics of creating a Facebook Business Manager account so you can run ads on Instagram. Here's my account should you wish to see some of my images: http://instagram.com/mboezi. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Good things happen when you respect your audience enough to let them come to a buying decision on their own. Are you willing to give up some control for a deeper relationship with your customers?  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mboezi/support

YouTube is still the king of video, despite powerful challenges from Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. In Part 5 of the Social Media Strategy Series, I talk about how YouTube might fit into your overall content strategy, including how to monetize the platform.    Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business –– SHOW NOTES Please note: As I mentioned in the last episode, Google Plus is officially shutting down as of April 2, 2019.  Here are the standout YouTube channels that I mentioned in this episode: Gary Vaynerchuk: Wine Library TV and The #AskGaryVee Show Marie Forleo: MarieTV Amy Schmittauer: Savvy Sexy Social Nick Jaffe: Just Nick Here's my channel: http://youtube.com/MichaelBoezi, and a couple of examples of how I use playlists to "chain" content together in one narrative: Content Strategy For Small Businesses Twitter Basics Series If you want to get into using YouTube Ads, here's a go

Google Plus is shutting down on April 2, 2019. Here's a quick overview of how (and why) to download all your data before it disappears forever. Google makes this easy, but you have act BEFORE April 2, 2019. And then I get into a few simple things to make sure your Google presence is optimized for SEO.  LINKS:  Google Takeout: Click this link and it will preload the four Google Plus properties to download: https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout/custom/circles,plus_one,plus_communities,stream?pli=1 SEO for Small Business Series: https://controlmousemedia.com/keywords/seo-for-small-business Content Marketing 201 Series: https://controlmousemedia.com/keywords/content-marketing-201 --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Just because today's Facebook is an advertising platform doesn't mean that it's the only method to get success out of the platform. Let's look at how Facebook's algorithm works and how to optimize for as much "organic reach" as you can get – without paying for ads.  Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Many people think of LinkedIn as an online resume, but it's so much more than that. Here’s how to use LinkedIn as a marketing tool for your business. In this episode, I cover: Why LinkedIn is more than just your online resume. Why it's my least favorite platform (in interface and UX), but is still my 2nd best channel. What the Microsoft acquisition of LinkedIn means for you, and how it might change your strategy. How Microsoft is doubling down on becoming the hub for professionals of all types. Should you maintain a LinkedIn business page or not? If so, what’s your strategy? Should you pay for upgrade to LinkedIn Premium Professional or not? Should LinkedIn Advertising be a part of your strategy or not? What is LinkedIn Pulse and is it a worthwhile strategy – or will simple Updates suffice? What is your overall strategy with original content vs. curated content? Some simple guidelines for using LinkedIn Groups. Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://c

Tons of people use Twitter as a marketing tool, but will it be effective for your business? Here are some considerations and strategies to help you decide. Yes, Twitter has its problems. But to me, it’s still the most effective channel for building an audience. Once you listen to the episode, I think you’ll understand why it’s my best channel, by far (see: @mboezi). In this episode, I cover: What are the benefits of using Twitter for audience-building, if you get it right. What are the potential pitfalls, including how to manage the "firehose" of posts. How to find the right blend between broadcast and bi-directional activity. How to find people to connect with – either directly or indirectly. How images and videos boost your click-through rate (CTR) – especially native images. Using lists to help keep you organized – and be strategic about audience-building. How you can do some clever automating with Twitter – if you're careful. A brief rant about auto-DMs. Spoiler alert: It's spam. Using Twitt

Social media marketing is an optimization problem. You want to focus on the right activities, in the right channels, to maximize your impact. But none of this will happen without the right content. There are three considerations in finding the balance between 1) what you can produce, and 2) what your audience wants.  – Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Getting the most out of your social media marketing efforts starts with channel selection. In this episode, let’s look at my four basic criteria for picking the right social channels for your particular business.  – Sign up for my online course Social Media Strategy for Business: https://controlmousemedia.com/social-media-strategy-for-business --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

Why do some businesses underinvest in their social media strategy? The time and effort are worth it – if you do it right. Here's a rubric that might help you.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

The promise of the Internet has been ruined by advertising. There is no article you can read, video you can view, or social feed you can scroll through without being interrupted by some advertiser’s desperate attempt to steal your attention. Every time I experience this, I feel like I’ve been Rickrolled. Another rant this week, folks... -- If you don’t know what a Rickroll is, let me Rickroll you right here (though it’s not Rickrolling if you know it’s coming). Or you can skip to 8:28 of this episode (after the music) and I’ll define it for you in 20 seconds. If you want to know more about how soft-touch, ethical marketing is not only more respectful to us as consumers, but more effective too, here’s an overview of The New Marketing and Sales: https://controlmousemedia.com/new-marketing-and-sales  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support

People don't mean to diminish your work, but that's exactly what they are doing when they use this one insidious little word. This word undervalues your expertise and experience by making it sound simple - as a way to sell you on doing something, paying you less than you're worth, or not paying you at all. Subscribe here for the new upcoming series I mention in the episode: https://controlmousemedia.com/subscribe/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mboezi/support