Tuesday Tip #11: How To Use The Customer Value Journey To Grow Your Small Business

Plotting out and understanding the Customer Value Journey can lead to big wins for your small business. For today’s Tuesday Tip, I’ll explain what the journey is all about and then provide you with some direction on putting it to work for your business.

First thing’s first. What exactly is the Customer Value Journey? Well, the idea behind it is actually common sense. I love the way our friends at IMPACT put it so I’ll share a quote from their blog:

“Just like it would be highly inappropriate to say hello to new acquaintances by touching their hair, you can’t assault your prospects with heavy sales pitches right off the bat. That’s why you need to make people feel comfortable around you (or your brand) before they’re ready to move to the next stage (in this case, making a purchase.)”

The goal of the value journey is to “build a universal framework for transforming strangers not just into customers, but into rabid buyers and raving super-fans.” (IMPACT)

Sounds great, right? So now let’s dive into the different stages of this journey and how you can be optimizing each one.

1. Aware

This is when a prospect realizes their need for something you can provide them with and discovers, or becomes aware of, your brand. They might have found you by means of a referral, on social media, or an online search. 

I’m going to illustrate with a real-life example.

When I moved out to the country in 2017, I experienced a bit of a culture shock (that’s putting it very mildly). I had been previously accustomed to driving very short distances to get to the places I needed to go. The mall being one of these places. Fear immediately set in over how this move would impact my wardrobe.

One day, I was hanging out with my sister-in-law (who just so happens to also live in the country) and complimented her on the top she was wearing. I then immediately began to express my concerns over living so far from White House Black Market. It was at this moment that she made me aware of a lovely little company called Stitch Fix. 

Marketing Ideas For This Phase:

• According to DigitalMarketer.com, you need freely available content at the top of the funnel (TOFU) that 1. Entertains 2. Educates or 3. Inspires. Curate a collection of little videos, photos or infographics to utilize during the Aware stage.
  

• Help make prospects aware of your brand by optimizing your website and running paid campaigns to drive traffic.

2. Engagement

Moving along to Engagement. This is the part of the journey when a prospect starts interacting with your content. Maybe they read a blog post on Fall Fashion that you’ve published. Maybe they visit your Facebook page and watch a how-to video you’ve posted. Either way, you’ve piqued their interest and got them to engage! Nicely played!

Going back to my own story, I immediately checked out Stitch Fix’s website and Facebook page after I got home from my sister-in-law’s house that night. I read through a couple of their recent blog posts on fashion trends and I was intrigued, to say the least. 

Marketing Ideas For This Phase:

• Take advantage of middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) content to help educate your prospects (quizzes/surveys, case studies, white papers).
  

• Set up a Facebook retargeting campaign based on page views on your website.

3. Subscribe

Now you’re getting warmer! During the Subscribe phase, the prospect actually shows a vested interest in your content. They are willing to provide some basic information (i.e. their email address, first name, location) in order to access it.

If a prospect subscribes to your blog or completes a form to download your recently published case study on personal shopping, they’ve entered the Subscribe phase of the value journey. 

Marketing Idea For This Phase:

• Create a library of gated content in order to better define exactly which products or services might be of interest to your prospects. In order to access this content, a prospect would be required to supply some basic contact information via a form on a landing page.

4. Convert

In the Convert phase, the prospect is getting even closer to becoming a customer. They’ve made a small investment (in either time or money) to learn more about your product or service. For example, they might have purchased a trial membership or watched a 30-minute webinar that explains the process of subscription-based online shopping. 

In my journey with Stitch Fix, I claimed an offer that saved me the $20 styling fee for trying out the service. 

Marketing Idea For This Phase:

• Offer a 30-minute webinar that’s related to the products or services you sell.

5. Excite

Put your game face on because things are getting serious! If you provided the prospect with a high-quality offer during the Convert phase, there’s an excellent chance they’re beginning to feel excitement about your brand. To ensure they’ve consumed the content offer and enjoyed their experience, set up a nurturing campaign to check-in with the prospect.

Staying in front of someone who is already excited about your brand is the key to turning them into a customer.

Marketing Ideas For This Phase:

• Utilize bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) content and offers to help persuade your prospect why they should do business with you. This could be in the form of a free trial, for example.
  

• Set up a nurturing email campaign to check in with the prospect to make sure they’ve enjoyed their first experience with your brand.

6. Ascend

I like to think of this stage as the perfect opportunity to cross-sell other relevant products or services you have to offer. You already have an enthusiastic buyer. Be sure to offer the right kind of add-ons so they can get the most value out of doing business with you.  

Marketing Idea For This Phase:

• Develop a plan for cross-selling other products and services you offer.

7. Advocate

At this stage of the value journey, the happy customer has been talking up your brand. So why not take advantage of this opportunity while their positive experience is still fresh in their mind? Don’t be shy. This is the moment when you ask them for a testimonial! 

Btw ... Stitch Fix didn’t ask me for a testimonial but, being the marketer I am, I gave them a 5-star Facebook review along with an amazing write-up detailing my first Fix. 

Marketing Idea For This Phase:

• Create an email marketing or social media campaign to acquire glowing testimonials.

8. Promote

Finally! You can kick your feet up and relax! When a customer reaches the Promote stage, they’ll actively promote your brand unsolicited. However, setting up a referral program is a fabulous idea if you don’t already have one. This will allow your happy promoters any easy way to entice their friends and family into checking you out. 

My Stitch Fix story is pure validation of the Promote phase. Since joining, I have recruited five more of my friends and family to the service!

Marketing Idea For This Phase:

Have a referral program in place.

Hope you enjoyed this week's tip! If you need help creating a marketing plan around your specific Customer Value Journey, you know who to call! ;-)

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

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Our Branding Shoot! + The 8 Things We Did To Make Our Session And Photos Totally Awesome

Earlier this summer, me and Katie decided to book a branding photoshoot. We were in need of fresh content for our website, blog, and social media channels so we thought, what better way to liven up our library?

Our friend Audra (of Audra Nicole Photography) did our shoot last month and we are beyond excited to finally share the pics with you! And speaking of sharing, we’ll also divulge eight things that we did to make our session and photos totally awesome!

1. Hire a professional.

Ok, so in our opinion, this is the most important piece of advice we can give someone who’s interested in doing a branding shoot. Hire a professional! It will make a world of difference. A professional photographer not only has the equipment, technology, and know-how for taking high quality pictures but they’ll also be able to guide you on styling, posing, and everything else that’s involved with capturing incredible images!

2. Listen to said professional.

A professional photographer will know how to stage the shoot and position you in ways that the camera will love. Listen to the photographer. When they tell you to “lean in” or “don’t fake smile” or “stand at an angle,” just do it. Don’t waste time questioning their approach. If you hired a professional who you trust, then trust in their process!

3. Be yourself.

I will be the first to admit … participating in a photo shoot can feel a bit awkward (maybe even a little intimidating) if you’re not used to doing it regularly. During your shoot, try to push those feelings aside and focus on just being YOU. If you’re nervous and begin to dwell on that nervousness, it WILL show in the photos. Take a breath (and perhaps a few sips of Prosecco) and just go with the flow. 

4. Flatter your features.

When picking out clothing for the photo shoot, opt for colors and fits that flatter your figure and make you feel comfortable. According to Audra, “Choosing flattering silhouettes and colors that complement your natural features is the best way to ensure you’ll love the way you look in your photos.”

5. Carefully consider your hair and makeup.

Hiring hair and makeup professionals is a spectacular idea if you’re scheduling a branding shoot. Due to time constraints, me and Katie did our own hair and makeup for this shoot. However, considering it was lightly misting the entire time, I suppose we saved some money because the humidity took its toll very quickly. Ugggghhh. (My hair was actually quite wavy when we began!)

6. Utilize props.

A branding photo shoot is all about expressing the personalities behind your small business in a fun and visually impactful way. Our shoot took place in the English garden behind LMG headquarters so we incorporated fresh cut flowers as a way to add additional color pops in the pictures. And OBVIOUSLY we worked in a pineapple, too! 

7. Pick the perfect location.

Again, your branding photos are meant to tell a story about your small business. The location you choose for the shoot should have meaning and accurately represent what you’re all about. If you don’t have an office or store-front, consider iconic spots in the town or city you do business in. For example, when we first launched LMG we did a photoshoot on the boardwalk in Middletown at sunset. The bridge served as a backdrop behind us, which spoke directly to our primary service area of Middlesex County.

8. Color coordinate.

If you’re going to have multiple people in your branding photos, coordinate your outfits in a way that will create visual interest in the pictures. Audra recommends dressing in lighter, muted tones. 

“The camera loves shades of soft pink and muted blues, mixed with sophisticated light neutrals like heather gray, creams, leather brown and white. That softer color palette fits into almost all natural outdoor environments.” 

Audra also suggests that each person in the photo “have their own dominant color while still incorporating a few touches of the other colors that will pull all the looks together.”

We hope we inspired and prepared you for a small business branding shoot! Now, without further adieu, here's a sampling of our favorite photos! 

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Tuesday Tip #10: How To Grow Your Social Media

You have so much to say and share with the world. You have incredible content full of relevant and captivating information. You need zero validation. You’ve got this. You post your content on Instagram and then grab the popcorn, anxiously awaiting to see your notifications light up like a Christmas tree … but then, nothing.

So, of course, the next logical move is to pay for ads and boosted content. You’ll see a spike in activity, assuming you’ve created an appropriate audience and have allotted a reasonable budget. However, is that spike in activity doing anything for you in the long run?

Let’s talk good old organic growth. This brings me back to the saying, “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a night but if you teach him how to fish he will eat for years to come.” I know we’re not talking about fish but hear me out. If you pay for ads as a quick way to grab attention, that’s great ... but are you grabbing those likes as new followers? Or was it a single like on a single post and that was the end of that?

Now, if you take the time to build a foundation and grow your base of followers through consistency, engagement, and mutual interest, you will have invested followers who will continuously see your content and potentially share it and/or engage with it. And your growth will continue.

Alright, so how does one accomplish this? There are so many ways, as Hubspot outlines in this article but one of the key tools is social media growth. Think of your Instagram account, for example, as a tiny sapling. I like magnolia trees so I’m going to use that for my vision. Ok, so you plant your brand new baby tree. You nurture it and feed it. If you continuously and consistently care for it, your little tree will grow, digging its roots deeper and blossoming into a beautiful, flowering adult.

Now let me translate. I’m going to provide you with three keys to social media growth, which involves nurturing your followers like a tiny sapling. And it’s so simple that you won’t believe it. However, being simple doesn’t mean effortless. Remember, watering your baby tree is easy but constant care and attention is what really matters. 

1. Follow other accounts.

The more people you follow, the higher the likelihood of them following you back. Take advantage of Instagram’s super handy list of recommendations on accounts to follow. Trying to obtain followers without following them first can be challenging. Think of it as a give and take relationship. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

2. Show interest. 

We have all fallen victim of the random bot comments under our posts. Example: You post a photo of a magnolia tree that you recently planted and you get the random comment of, “Wow, you look great.” Or possibly a one word comment like, “Cool.” For the most part, those are either comments from bots or they’re people being paid to grow an audience (and doing a crappy job at it). Generic irrelevant responses typically stick out like a sore thumb. Don’t be that account posting them. Like posts. Engage by commenting. And be sure your comments are specific and relevant!

3. Respond to comments left under your content. 

Show an interest in your followers and give gratitude for them showing interest in you! Again, the more your audience sees real-life engagement happening within your account, the more likely they’ll become invested in what you have to say. Comments, likes, and shares lead to GROWTH.

Remember, for as enormous as the world of social media is, it strangely is a small world at the same time. Take the time to nurture your audience and you'll reap the benefits of a healthy and steadily blooming magnolia tree for all to enjoy and aspire to have. 

Need a little help growing your small business social media accounts? Learn more about our Social Growth package! 
 

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

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Tuesday Tip #9: Establish Branding Guidelines

Brand style guide:

“A reference tool that helps maintain consistency by demonstrating what a brand looks, feels and sounds like.”

(99Designs.com)

Your brand represents the personality of your small business. In order for people to easily make the connection between your company and your marketing, there needs to be consistency. Just think about how the big brands do it. Take Starbucks for example. 

Starbucks’ mission:

“To inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”

If you’re a Starbucks fan like me, then you know they’re pros at delivering on this mission statement. No matter which Starbucks coffee shop you visit, the brand is expertly tied into the overall experience. You know what to expect. Funky music. Overpriced beverages that taste oh so good. Spots to plug in your electronic devices. Baristas who speak your lingo (Venti Iced Skinny Decaf Hazelnut Macchiato). Some may call it obnoxious. Others refer to it as pure bliss. Regardless, Starbucks has mastered the art of marrying their mission statement to their marketing and branding. 

“From the atmosphere in their stores, to their digital content, to their advertising, everything looks, sounds, and feels like Starbucks. Even the cups and tumblers you can buy in the store have a clean, modern design to them. The result? The experience you have with Starbucks always feels consistent, whether you’re reading a social post, waiting in line, watching a TV ad, or interacting with their brand in any way, anywhere.” (CoSchedule Blog)

So now let’s bring this back to YOU. How can you translate the Starbucks branding strategy to your own small business? It all begins with branding guidelines.

“Think of your brand identity as your company’s personality. It’s how the world recognizes you and begins to trust you. If you see someone change how they look and act all the time, you won’t feel like you know who they are, and you certainly wouldn’t trust them.” (99Designs.com)

Creating a branding guidelines document is really quite simple. Like Starbucks, you’ll want to build it around your mission statement. If you’re solid on the promise you’re making to your audience, the colors, messaging, and style will all flow from there. 

There are seven key components that you’ll want to consider including in your branding guidelines:

1. Your Story

Here’s where you can put your mission statement in writing. Have a vision? Include that as well. Your brand guidelines document should begin with a short story about who you are as a small business and what you represent. 

2. Target Audience

In the world of Inbound Marketing, we like to call these personas. Who are the audience members that you’re trying to reach in your marketing? Think about it and describe them in detail. (For help with this exercise, check out this blog post by HubSpot: How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business)

3. Logo

Your branding guidelines document should include a visual of your logo and every acceptable variation of it. For example, the Little Marketing Genius logo is black and pink. However, if we were printing it on a black tote bag, well, the black parts of the logo wouldn’t work so well. So in cases like this, we convert the text and pineapple leaves to white. All of this type of information needs to be outlined in the logo section of your branding guidelines document. 

4. Colors

What colors define your brand? Going back to our Starbucks example, green is a prominent color that’s used in pretty much all of their branding.

List out the colors that are not only used in your logo, but the colors you would use in general marketing and advertising as well. The Little Marketing Genius uses soft pastels. (You can check out our website to see how the palette gets incorporated throughout.)

When creating the Colors section of your brand guidelines, include swatches of each color along with their respective codes:

• Color match: PANTONE name and number

• Print color: CMYK

• Digital color: RGB and HEX codes

This will make referencing them much easier in the future. 

5. Fonts

Again, you’ll want to define the fonts used in your logo as well as the different fonts that are used in your marketing and advertising. Specify how and when fonts are to be used. For example, what’s the size and spacing standards for headlines and subheads? How about body copy? 

6. Imagery

Examples. Examples. Examples. Curate imagery in the form of a mood board! “Collect images that convey the feeling that you want people to get when they interact with your brand.” They will represent the appropriate styles of imagery that should be used in both printed and online marketing. (99Designs.com)

7. Voice

What tone does your messaging have? Witty? Casual? Extremely serious? By deeply understanding your target audience, you’ll know exactly what tone is appropriate to use. The next step will be to describe it within the Voice section of your branding guidelines. Provide examples of different words that you might use as well as some examples of words you would never use. Establishing your voice is key to creating consistency within your messaging and branding. 

Now to unveil an awesome surprise!

HubSpot has a free kit that you can download to help you create your branding guidelines. It has everything you need to go from same-old business to must-have brand! Click here to get the kit! 
 

We hope you found today’s Tuesday Tip helpful! For more marketing advice like this, be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page and subscribe to our blog! 

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

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Tuesday Tip #8: Let Your Personality Shine

Photo courtesy of Audra Nicole Photography

One of my favorite things about the LMG website is that it fully embodies who me and Katie are as people. Colorful, fun, witty, and real. I browse the Internet often and have stumbled across many websites that completely lack personality. Copy-heavy, overloaded with stock photography, and boastful … yet lacking true substance. Missing the kind of stuff that would make me want to do business with you because I already feel like I know you. 

Today’s Tuesday Tip: Let Your Personality Shine

Incorporating your personality into your website and other marketing materials is actually a fairly easy thing to do. And trust us when we say, it will pay dividends. People want to deal with real people. Not robots or those people depicted in stock photos who appear to be overly excited to be at work. If you’re selling products or services online, this is especially important. Personalizing your website will help visitors get to know and trust you. (For more tips on how to earn trust on your website, click here.)

Take a good look at your current website, social media platforms, and other marketing collateral. Do they speak to who you are? Do they give a prospective customer or client an accurate glimpse into what it will be like to do business with you? If not, here are four quick and easy ways to incorporate your personality into your marketing:

1. Utilize professional photos of you and your team.

Professional photography will make your marketing burst with personality. Candid pictures of you and your team at work. Light and bright head shots. Rich and vibrant close-ups of your top-selling products. Professional photos will make a dramatic impact on your marketing and truly help to tell the real story about your small business. Making an investment in creative photography will launch your marketing from the realm of mediocre into magnificent! 

Photo courtesy of Audra Nicole Photography

2. Blog.

If you follow LMG, then you know that me and Katie are big fans of blogging. And we practice what we preach! A blog not only benefits your website from an SEO perspective but it also provides you with a platform to speak to your customers in your own voice. We’ve had numerous clients express fears over blogging. “I’m not a writer!” “What do I talk about?” “I’m clueless when it comes to this stuff.” Let us reassure you: 1. You CAN write. You KNOW what to talk about. You’re NOT clueless. (Read our Small Business Resolutions For 2018 for more on getting your blog started. You can do this! We promise.)

Get Our Free Guide To Blogging

3. Don’t be afraid to record videos.

I’ll be quite frank. Facebook Live used to scare the shit out of me. The thought of pressing that record button and then completely freezing, not knowing what to say or do. However, when I realized how important videos were becoming in the world of social media, I knew I had to get over these fears. The success of our Instagram and Facebook accounts depended on it! However, I learned something else about videos. They allowed us to put a voice and personality with all of those photos we had been posting! Our website visitors and social media followers could now see us and hear us … making our connection even stronger!

The bottom line is, video is crucial these days. Get over your fears and start connecting with your audience on a much more personal level! (Need more evidence? Review Social Media Today’s infographic on The State Of Video Marketing In 2018. It’s incredibly compelling.) 

4. Feature a bio on your website.

About Us pages are not overrated. When I’m exploring a website, I always look for the About Us page to gain further insights on the company. How did they get started? What’s their backstory? Why are they in this line of business? For me, knowing more about the business owner gives me a level of comfort.

Featuring a bio on your website allows your visitors to connect with you. Tie that in with your professional photos and blog, well, that’s personalization at it’s finest! To get an idea of how to draft a bio, check out how me and Katie did ours! 

We hope you found today’s Tuesday Tip helpful! For more marketing advice like this, be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page and subscribe to our blog! 

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

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Tuesday Tip #7: Be Authentic

Over the weekend, my husband and I went out for Mexican food. I couldn’t help but laugh that the restaurant claimed to be serving authentic Mexican food. Being a frequent traveler to Mexico, this food was anything but authentic. This got me thinking about marketing, of course, and the importance of keeping it real.

Be authentic. B-E Authentic. (I dare ya to shake that little tune out of your head. #SorryNotSorry)

According to statistics highlighted at Vision Critical, authenticity is absolutely crucial if you want to see continued success. Of course, authenticity means different things to different people. However, a pretty solid relationship amongst all consumers is that they want to trust you and your brand. They will most definitely choose you over another company based on how you have presented yourself and how authentic you are. 

FUN FACT! Millennials officially make up the majority of the voting age population and the workforce and they’re close to making up the majority of entrepreneurs. (Pew Research Center)

Research has identified that Millennials (who will rule the world before you know it) simply don’t trust advertisements. By nature, they’re skeptical. (HuffPost Blog) They gravitate toward a company that offers a likable, relatable, and real presence over a company with an abrasive or sketchy approach. 

So what does that mean? It means you need to be real and offer a relatable product or service. You need to be active on social networks and build a relationship with your audience. Then you shall see that they’ll come to you, just like that. (I’m picturing the scene from Ace Ventura, “Come to me jungle friends!”)

I’m not a Millennial (or am I?) and I find myself shying away from companies that I find to be disingenuous. I prefer to support a local, small business with personality and flavor over a larger operation that has lost touch with its mission or morals. 

Going back to my Mexican restaurant experience over the weekend … Was it tasty? Yes. Authentic? No. (BTW ... Click here for a fun read if you're a foodie.) In this case, no harm was done as I am an eater of all tacos but I think you catch my drift. Don’t try to be something you’re not.

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

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Tuesday Tip #6: Responding To Reviews

Some things never change. People will always have an opinion. What has changed are the pedestals and platforms that have been provided for everyone to voice said opinion. The Internet and social media have completely transformed how we obtain information about different businesses. In a land before time, you would choose the restaurant, cleaning service, or retail shop based on the referrals of other people in your circle of friends. Now, you can look up a business with a few strokes of your keyboard and scour the reviews left by strangers to base your decision on where you are going to bring your business.

As a business owner, this can be amazing, devastating, or sometimes even a mix of both, for your business. One “off” experience can lead to scathing comments and warnings to potential customers or clients. It can be a very tough pill to swallow. Here are two key pointers on how to respond to reviews.

1. Respond to positive reviews!

Say 'thank you' and let the reviewer know that you appreciate them taking the time to write such kind words. If they offer a suggestion, thank them for their feedback and implement the improvements if they seem suitable. 

2. If you are going to respond to a negative review, do so carefully and with class.

Do not engage in a battle of keyboard warriors. Sometimes saying nothing is appropriate. Depending on the situation, you can certainly respond but do so in a professional manner. Do not take this opportunity to degrade the customer because you are simply painting an ugly picture of yourself. Sometimes even a simple “We are sorry you didn’t enjoy your experience. We hope you give us a second chance in the near future ... ” If you feel further information is needed in order to rectify a bad situation, be sure to attempt to take the conversation offline. 

For more sound advice on professionally handling negative online reviews, click here! 

Why does this matter? It matters because people are absolutely reading reviews and watching to see how you respond. Bad reviews are like a train wreck that people can’t help but watch. Good reviews give potential customers/clients a glimpse into the positive experience they, too, can enjoy by doing business with you someday. Reviews help people determine what type of business owner you are and if they want to do business with you. Always put your best foot … or keystroke ... forward. 

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

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Tuesday Tip #5: How To Use Instagram Stories For Small Business

So what’s up with the little bubbles at the top of your Instagram feed? They’re Instagram Stories! And considering there are an estimated 500 million monthly active users of the Instagram app, this is a feature you’ll want to start utilizing right away (if you’re not already).

The Gist Of Stories

“Instagram has always been the place to showcase the most beautifully edited version of your brand. But with Stories, the pressure is off. Content is quick-lived, unpolished, and even a little silly. Here, you don’t have to be picture-perfect.” (HubSpot)

With Instagram Stories, you can give your fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your small business. You can show your fun side. You can just be you. That’s what’s so perfect about it!

“Instagram Stories are a series of images and videos that appear at the top of a user’s feed. They live for 24 hours in chronological order, and give users the option to post as much as they want without cluttering up people’s feeds.” (HubSpot)

How To Use It

Creating a Story is super easy. You can get started in one of two ways:

1. Go to your Instagram home screen and click the little plus sign that’s next to your icon.

2. Go to your feed and simply swipe right.

Now the real fun begins! You have the option to:

• Take a photo

• Take a video

• Upload a photo/video from your camera roll

• Type a message

If you’re brave (which we know you are), you can even go live with your video! 

If you’re looking to create something funky, you have some cool video styles to choose from:

• BOOMERANG: takes a burst of photos and stitches them together into a high-quality mini video that plays forward and backward
  

• FOCUS: blurs the background while keeping someone's face sharp
  

• SUPERZOOM: zooms into someone’s face and adds audio
  

• REWIND: takes a video and plays it back in reverse
  

• HANDS-FREE: allows a single tap to start recording a video
  

• STOP-MOTION: takes individual photos and combines them to make a video

And of course, you can shoot just a Normal video as well! 

Once you’ve got your photo or video all set, you can now go ahead and jazz it up with some text, a doodle, or a few stickers. You can resize these objects by tapping and zooming out or in with your fingers. You can delete objects by clicking on them and dragging them down toward the bottom of the screen (a trash icon will appear when you do this). You can also add filters to your photo or video by swiping left or right. 

Featuring another brand or special guest in your Story? Use the text tool to @-tag them! 

After your masterpiece is complete, simply click the “+ Your Story” button at the bottom of the screen. Later on, you can check back on your Story and swipe up to see who has viewed it! 

Highlights

Remember how we said Stories stay live for 24 hours? Well, Instagram recently created a way to archive them with Highlights.

To add a Story to your Highlights, go to that Story by clicking your icon on the home screen. When the Story appears, click "Highlight" at the bottom of the screen. 

If you haven’t already created categories for your Highlights, now’s the time you can do that. (Think of categories as folders … a neat little way to organize all of your different Stories.) Click the “+New” button and simply type the name of a new category and the Story will be archived there. You can also add a Story to a pre-existing category by choosing the icon for that category in the pop-up menu that appears after selecting Highlight. Highlights will appear underneath your profile info on the home screen.

The Takeaway

Stories are meant to be fun! Use them in a playful and creative way to showcase the personality of your small business. Snapshots from office parties. #FoodPorn from the lunch room. Boomerang videos from Bring Your Dog To Work Day. The opportunities are endless. So go for it!

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

#LMGTuesdayTips

Tuesday Tip #4: Ideal Lengths For Your Social Media Posts

How long is long enough? Does less really equate to more? Believe it or not, when it comes to social media posts, there is a recipe for success regarding post length … and it varies by platform! 

Hootsuite recently published The Ideal Social Media Post Length: A Guide For Every Platform. In it, they share some pretty cool insights (which, of course, are backed by research) on the ideal post lengths for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

Here’s a recap of their findings!

FACEBOOK

• Organic Posts = 80 characters of less

• Paid Posts = A. Headline = 5 words B. Main Text = 14 words C. Description = 18 words

• Videos = 30-60 seconds

TWITTER

• Organic and Promoted Tweets = 71-100 characters

• Hashtags = 6 characters

INSTAGRAM

• Organic Posts = 138-150 characters

• Sponsored Posts = 125 characters or less

• Hashtags = 5 to 9 per post at less than 24 characters each

In Hootsuite’s guide, they also cover optimal post lengths for LinkedIn, Pinterest, and even YouTube. Be sure to read the full article here.

Happy posting, people! 

Every Tuesday we share easy and actionable advice you can take to refresh your current marketing plan. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more!  

#LMGTuesdayTips

5 Tips For Marketing Your New Small Business Online

Photo courtesy of Audra Nicole Photography

Our friend Audra recently launched a new photography business in Tampa, FL (Audra Nicole Photography). Using the know-how from her full-time marketing job, she was able to quickly build up a clientele and strong social media presence in just a few short months. We asked her to share some highlights from her success so we could, in turn, share them with you! So here they are … Audra’s five tips for marketing your new small business online.

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Guest Blog Post

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Being a small business owner is a delicate balancing act. As if it's not hard enough taking your passion and making it into something profitable, you also need to know where the people who want your product/service spend their leisure time online. Once you know them then, gosh! Then comes the website and the social marketing just to get a few leads. It's a lot of work and you start to say to yourself "I didn't go into (insert your business) to spend all of my time marketing."

I've personally found Little Marketing Genius (LMG) to be such a great resource. I do Marketing for a living but their wealth of knowledge has been an awesome reminder for me. For instance, circa 2013, Google Business Pages still hadn't come up with a solution for service-based business. It was a clunky process where you had to do this crazy work around to just get found. So, I put them on the back burner. It wasn't until LMG had an Instagram post about it that I was like, "Sweeetttt, way to go Google" and followed LMG's suggestions to set up my service-based Google business page.

So, other than reading LMG's blogs religiously, here are the five online marketing tips that have helped me with my new small business:

1. Design a good website.

My husband is always on me about not spending money until I'm making money. (Let's just say I've dabbled in a few online business adventures in my time.) I followed that principle for years but it just lead to long hours for me that I just didn't have as we kept adding more kids to our family. So, I bought a custom URL and I paid for a WordPress website template. I had coupon codes and it was worth it.

If you already have a website, I suggest screen grabbing it right now and saving it somewhere. It will be fun to look back at how far you've come as you start to tweak your brand. If you don't have a website or are looking for a change, I suggest going to Wix, buying a theme to add to WordPress, or using LMG. 

2. Girl, you need to blog!

Okay, so your website is set up. Now I suggest blogging. Like LMG says - blog at least twice a month but strive for even more! They have a blog post about why. 

At first, I started blogging about myself. I'm an introverted extrovert so I'm this blend of shy but personable. Who knew, right?! So, it was VERY hard for me to start blogging about myself. For one I thought, “Who is going to care?” and then, two, “Gosh, what do I even say?”

My market is saturated with photographers but there's only one me out there. I'm a wife, believer, Mom to three young kids, and have a full-time job on top of my business so I figured somewhere another woman out there would totally relate to me.

I'm not a copywriter and I don't stress myself out about it either. I am who I am and I do the best I can to make my high school English teachers proud! It takes awhile to start to get organic traffic from the blog posts so don't get discouraged. Just keep doing it!

Get Free Blogging Guide

3. Find Your Audience Online

Okay, so have I stressed you out yet? No?! Okay, cool. So next, find where the people who want your product/service spend their leisure time online. I serve women with my photography business and they're predominantly on Facebook and Instagram. I use the platforms differently. On Facebook I share my blog posts. On, Instagram I share my portfolio and quotes to inspire women because inspirational quotes have always been my "thing." You can ask any of my friends. I'm always their cheerleader pushing them to do more so I thought, hey, why not do it for perfect strangers, too?! 

4. Be Genuine On Instagram

Sharing:

Like the blogging, I try to be as genuine as possible. I share that I'm not a perfect Mom. I share when I make mistakes. No one is perfect and, again, I feel that somewhere out there another woman can relate to me. 

Commenting:

Back in high school I found my calling as a complimenter. I just see the best in people and I like sharing it with them. "Oh girl, I love your top." I'm totally genuine about it. So, I took that to social media. At first I thought, gosh, these women don't know me and they're going to think I'm a total weirdo. Then I thought, when someone comments on my photos on Instagram, first, it makes me feel good and, second, I totally check out their pages. Who is this person? Natural relationships just formed, which has lead to increased relationships and followers for me. 

5. Use Instagram Hashtags

Like Facebook, Instagram is always changing their algorithm. Right now, Instagram allows you to use 30 hashtags. However, I've been getting stuck around 15. After you share your photo, add a comment to your own post and place the 15-30 hashtags in there. That way it's not crammed in with your photo description but you'll still get found. Since I'm a photographer, I try to keep my hashtags local but sometimes I use broader ones, too.

So, there you have it! Those are my five tips for marketing your new small business online. I hope it helped you. Don't forget to follow me @audranicole_photography on Instagram so I can watch as you as you become #instafamous! 

xoxo
Audra