Becky Robinson's Blog, page 32

Influencer, What?

I currently subscribe to roughly 129 podcasts. That’s only a slight exaggeration. The podcasts are mostly about true crime, but also business, marketing, comedy, and news. I even subscribe to a podcast that is designed to help you fall asleep (Sleep With Me – I recommend it for all of us insomniacs).

Most of these podcasts do feature paid advertisements through sponsors. However, I’ve often often found myself paying attention when a podcast host mentions a movie they saw recently or a book they enjoyed. I’ve checked out products the hosts have mentioned, particularly if they didn’t mention it as part of a paid ad. Along the same lines, I’ve actually learned about most of the podcasts I listen to because a friend or another podcast recommended it, either on social media, in person, or on the air.

I’m not alone. A recent study shows that 61% of consumers rely on social media, friends, and influencers as the most important factor in making a decision about shopping or what media to consume. In 2017, Influencer Marketing Hub asked followers to rank their fastest-growing online customer-acquisition methods. 28% named influencer marketing as number one.

But what is influencer marketing? More importantly, what is an influencer?

Simply put, an influencer is anyone who has influence over what you purchase or consume. You may know this person (for example, a Facebook friend) or you may just know of them (for example, the podcast hosts I listen to.)

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on using key leaders to amplify your message. Rather than reaching out directly to audiences through their own social media and advertisements, companies are instead inspiring, recruiting, or paying influencers to spread their messages for them.

Research shows that consumers are more likely to trust their friends or connections than a company’s own advertisements. It makes sense, then, that businesses would want to capitalize on this trend and tap into new audiences through influencers. The influencers are already seen as key leaders and people already follow them. Influencer marketing allows brands to take advantage of the audiences of these influencers.

Brands began utilizing larger influencers several years ago to increase their sales; but in 2018, a new category of influencers arose. Nano- and micro-influencers became increasingly important. Nano-influencers have anywhere from 100-10,000 followers. While this may not seem like a lot compared to the millions of followers of some celebrities, nano-influencers have earned a level of trust and relationship with their followers that make them even more influential and valuable to brands. They are also usually more cost-effective than celebrity endorsements.

But what does all of this mean for your book launch or speaking engagements?

The rise of influencer marketing offers tremendous opportunities to help promote your book or your thought leadership. For instance, Weaving Influence’s Team Buzz Builder and network of media and podcast contacts were developed to help expand and amplify your message, even before influencer marketing was a household term!

By tapping into the audiences of Team Buzz Builder, Weaving Influence is able to help spread the message of your book, and is also positioned to reach out to other key influencers in order to raise awareness of your books and ideas.

As you think about marketing your book, be sure to consider what influencers you can reach out to. Weaving Influence is here to help!

LeaderSHOP: Advice From Today’s Top Thought Leaders

Henry Ford said anyone who stops learning is old, whether 20 or 80. And anyone who continues to learn is forever young. This week’s book launch is positioned to help you do just that. If you’ve ever wondered how to improve at learning, leading, serving, listening, planning, and practicing all the behaviors that make for better relationships, more productive work, more satisfying careers, and more fulfilling life . . . then read on!

LeaderSHOP

Do you wish you could eavesdrop on conversations with some of today’s smartest thought leaders? Here’s your chance.

LeaderSHOP provides candid talk from experts like Stephen M.R. Covey, Brian Tracy, Doug Conant, Sally Helgesen, David Ulrich, Bill George, Laura Vanderkam, Mark Sanborn, and dozens more.

Coach and bestselling author Dr. Rodger Dean Duncan asks these experts the questions most pertinent to your success at work and in life. Their responses will inspire, motivate, and possibly even surprise you. And one thing’s for certain: they’ll make you smarter and better prepared to perform at the next level.

With a foreword and additional commentary by Marshall Goldsmith, the world’s only two-time #1 Leadership Thinker, LeaderSHOP is sure to become a favorite item in your personal development toolkit.

Meet the Author
After an early career as an award-winning journalist and university professor, Dr. Rodger Dean Duncan founded Duncan Worldwide in 1972 to serve the needs of organizations seeking to boost performance. His client roster includes senior leaders at top companies in many industries as well as presidential cabinet officers in two White House administrations, and the company has affiliates around the globe.

A highly-sought-after speaker, trainer, and executive coach, Rodger is widely known for his expertise in the strategic management of change – for individuals as well as for organizations. He keynotes many industry conferences and workshops related to human performance and organizational effectiveness. In addition to his consulting practice, Rodger was advisor to cabinet officers in two White House administrations, and headed global communication for Campbell Soup Company, and was vice president of a global energy company. He’s also served on the faculties of three major universities, and been leadership coach to senior officers in more than 100 companies in multiple industries.

Rodger earned a PhD in communication and organizational dynamics at Purdue University. The Duncan Report, his blog on leadership and organizational effectiveness, now reaches opt-in business subscribers in more than 150 countries. Rodger is also a frequent contributor to Fast Company and Forbes magazines, and author of the internationally bestselling book CHANGE-Friendly Leadership and his newest title, LeaderSHOP.

Praise from Readers Like You

“When reading ‘LeaderSHOP’, I found answers to questions that I have been asking myself for years. I was able to find answers, through the questions asked by Dr. Duncan. Questions are asked in a way that it is easy for a person, on any level, can understand and learn from. “

— Renee D Heathman, 5-star Amazon review

“Each brief chapter and interview provided useful insights, sprinkled with humor, and actually gave readers an overview of actionable steps to take. The different interviews touched on such a broad range of topics – from trust and teamwork, to etiquette, to communication, and more. Most (if not all) of the chapters had lessons that can be applied in both a work and personal setting.”

— Katherine B, 5-star Amazon review

“Unlike so many other leadership books, this is NOT a cookbook with a recipe for leadership success. Instead it opens into a VAST spice cabinet of leadership essentials, each with its own distinct flavor, practically daring the reader to use it in one’s own personal leadership blend.”

— Galen McPherson, 5-star Amazon review

“Regardless of whether one is a junior or a well-seasoned veteran of the organization, this book will provide the opportunity to consider how one is fulfilling their leadership role, as well as tools, concepts, and highly relevant suggestions for learning and development.”

— Jacqueline, 5-star Amazon review

Learn More

Visit the website to take a free quiz, and download all sorts of helpful resources.
Buy a copy of the book, or leave a short review of it, on Amazon.

Book Marketing in 2018: What Worked (and What Didn’t)

As with social media, digital marketing tends to fluctuate with the change of the calendar each year. Here are the top marketing trends we saw in 2018 for what worked . . . and what didn’t . . . in the world of book marketing.

Instagram is a must.

Visual posts are growing in popularity and demand. We have been encouraging our authors to use Instagram, and to post personal photos to supplement book content or work-related posts. See, for instance, Cheryl Bachelder. Audiences love it! The key is to share what makes a difference to you, share your own unique voice, share engaging graphics that draw others in, and most of all, be yourself. Bonus points for trying out IGTV!

Launch groups are a bust.

Participation in these groups has waned over the past few years, and we’ve seen very little return on the time investment needed to manage these groups. Authors are less interested in keeping up with posting in them every day, and audiences would rather simply sign up elsewhere for a review copy and then follow the author’s public page.

What works instead?

Webinars. A 30-60 minute “live” discussion provides high exposure for your work and your book, plus it offers a more personal experience for your audience. Share the key message of your book, plan an interview to liven things up, and involve other people in the discussion as much as possible. Bonus points if you provide time for a Q&A!
Clear calls-to-action. How do you want people to support your or your book launch? Give them clear, personalized asks (i.e., not generic mass-emails) and easy ways to implement your requests. Provide a link to your book page on Amazon, and explain clearly how they can leave a review. Or request that they forward the email to someone in their organization with a note of their own.

Showing up is no longer optional.

Although not a new concept, authors who actively engage their own networks seem to have a higher impact launch. For instance, several of our authors have chosen to send out personal notes to key influencers with a gift and/or copy of the book. Others have focused on engaging their email networks with consistent, compelling messages. All of them have seen fantastic response in terms of continued audience engagement.

Another successful approach has been newsjacking — inserting authors’ expertise into conversations already happening in the news cycle, rather than simply pitching the news of a new book. New books come out everyday, that’s not what is novel — what’s novel is the content of your book. By highlighting the timeliness and relevance of a book, rather than simply announcing its existence, you highlight why your book matters to that audience at that moment.

Tell me something! What worked — or didn’t work — for YOUR book marketing this year?

Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry

All leaders seek to be resilient in their work and their lives, to withstand what organizations and life can throw at them, and to rise again from despair. But no one can predict what challenges, issues, and random events they will be called on to face. We need tools and practices in place before those situations arise, or we will fail to advance our resilience.

This week, we’re honored to launch a book that shares how to use Appreciative Inquiry as a tool to help navigate difficult situations in all aspects of life. It is a commentary on the journey towards resilience, and a guide for using appreciative inquiry to navigate the constantly evolving landscape of hope, despair, and forgiveness.

Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry

Leaders cannot predict the complex challenges they are called on to face. Veteran consultants Joan McArthur-Blair and Jeanie Cockell show that Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an invaluable tool to build resilience.

AI is a widely used change approach that emphasizes identifying what’s working well in a system. Leaders can use AI to increase their ability to weather the storms they’ll inevitably encounter and be resilient. A profound guide, this book features personal accounts from leaders across a variety of settings describing how they’ve practiced appreciative resilience in the ongoing cycle of hope, despair, and forgiveness.

Meet the Authors

Dr. Joan McArthur-Blair, co-president of Cockell McArthur-Blair Consulting and co-author of Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry, is an inspirational writer, speaker, and facilitator. Joan specializes in the use of Appreciative Inquiry to foster leadership, strategic planning, and innovative strategies for organizational development. She is a powerful speaker, writer, and facilitator who grounds her work in a deep passion for learning, change, and the possibilities of a positive future. She brings to her consulting work over 25 years in higher education, from faculty to president.

Dr. Jeanie Cockell, co-president of Cockell McArthur-Blair Consulting and co-author of Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry, is a dynamic facilitator known for her ability to get diverse groups to work collaboratively together. For twenty years, Jeanie has served as an educational and organizational consultant helping people, organizations, and communities build positive futures and respond effectively to change. Her background includes teaching and leadership roles in education.

Praise from Readers Like You

“The Resilience Model presented in the book provides hope in and of itself – a positive roadmap to resilience. The personal stories from the authors as well as others brought the concepts alive and deepened my understanding of the potential for this approach. . . . The authors have shared not only their personal perspectives from years of experience but have also shared the outcomes from their lifetime body of work so that we all can learn and benefit.”

— J. Hoyt, 5-star Amazon review

“Too often, in my opinion, leadership theory focuses only on being positive, hopeful and even charismatic. Those of us who have also found part of our journey as leaders to involve feelings of total despair wonder what we are doing wrong and if we have what it takes to lead. This book provides assurance that this is part of the journey and helps describe the opportunities to be forgiving and build resilience. “

— Patricia Bradshaw, 5-star Amazon review

“This book will be a go-to tool for me for many years to come. It is written and presented in a format that allows for note-taking, making reference points, and has very self-sufficient graphics. It will add to the culture of any organization.”

— Charlie Means, 5-star Amazon review

Learn More

Visit the website to learn more about the book and its authors.
Buy a copy of the book, or leave a short review of it, on Amazon.
Watch the recent webinar to hear directly from Joan and Jeanie.

Social Media in 2018: A Look Back

One of the most exciting things about social media is how quickly it changes. This time last year, we were excited about live streaming and its power to help build and grow thought leadership. What a difference a year makes! Now, live streaming is an important part of most social strategies, and our big focus this year has turned to how to protect user data and prevent manipulation of social media.

Highlights (and Lowlights) from 2018

The Cambridge Analytica scandal brought to light how little social platforms were doing to protect user data. In fact, it revealed that the platforms regularly shared and sold information. The scandal, plus a series of congressional hearings, kicked off an exodus of Facebook users. The platform saw its share price drop, too. Just recently, an investigative report on Facebook further demonstrated how poorly prepared the company’s leadership was to protect data and prevent mis-use by Russian misinformation specialists and others.

While Facebook continues to work on these issues, the European Union enacted the most important piece of legislation to protect users’ data — GDPR, or the General Data Protection Regulation. This law requires companies to ask for consumer permission to use, share, or sell their data. Social media platforms are international enterprises and they are all now GDPR compliant.

Data concerns and negative content fatigue has driven many people to step away partially or permanently from social media. Facebook and Twitter have suffered the most loses. Both have seen user numbers fall in 2018. That doesn’t mean these aren’t viable platforms, it just means their demographics are shifting.

Twitter launched a campaign this year to address misinformation and manipulation by removing bot and phony accounts. Instagram has taken a similar approach by going after fake followers.

Influencer marketing also became even more powerful this year and shows no signs of abating. Influencers are so powerful on social media, just one tweet from Kylie Jenner cost Snapchat $1.3 billion dollars after she complained about a site redesign.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom! There are some bright spots and cool things to try in what’s left 2018 and well into 2019.

Videos and live streaming are stronger than ever. If you aren’t using video content, it’s time to jump onboard. New statistics predict 80% of internet traffic will be made up of videos by 2020.
Ephemeral content is visual content only available for a short time, such as Facebook or Instagram stories. (Snapchat is all ephemeral content but has proven less valuable to thought leadership.) This type of content gets great engagement and is a way to create interest.
This is the perfect time to try a new platform or let go of one that’s just not working for you. YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat are the top platforms for people 18-30; while users over 30 are showing up on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  Twitter isn’t tops with any age group; neither is Pinterest. If you’ve been spending time there and getting little benefit, it might be time to walk away. Conversely, if you aren’t on Instagram, the time to create an account is now.

Going into 2019, we will continue to monitor data usage and misinformation campaigns on social media. Those issues are on-going. But on a lighter note, we’ll also be exploring more ephemeral content for our company and our clients. We’ve already created a weekly live stream, and will continue to explore other live opportunities.

What are you going to try on social media before the year ends?

Why I Keep Putting Off the Holiday Spirit

I’m an “anticrastinator.” What’s an anticrastinator? Well, it’s a word I made up — but I define it as someone who hates to procrastinate. If I have something I need to do, I can’t put it out of my head until it’s done. This has served me well, but has also been to my detriment. I completed many college term papers only to have the assignment changed on me, or finished projects only to have new information come in and alter the aim.

While this has been a lifelong habit, it ceases around the holidays. I fail to make plane tickets to visit family before prices go up and travel windows close. I drop the ball on buying gifts, so I am scrambling at the last minute. And, I’m slow to nail down plans, frustrating my loved ones.

After some reflection, I think I have figured out why I put off such duties. And, the reasons are not unlike reasons that lead others to procrastinate in the workplace.  Thankfully, I have the pleasure of working with many smart authors and thought leaders whose advice can help me over these hurdles during the holidays — and hopefully help you too, whether it’s wrapping gifts or wrapping up a work project.

Lack of Clarity

One reason why I fail to buy gifts or make plans is because I don’t know what people expect of me, so I freeze. How long does my family expect us to visit? Does my mother-in-law really want paper towels for Christmas, or is she kidding?

Karen Martin, author of Clarity First: How Smart Leaders and Organizations Achieve Outstanding Performance, pinpoints ambiguity as the root cause for most problems within organizations. And I have found her process of getting CLEAR, which explores how leaders and organizations can boost performance by operating with greater clarity, works in personal and individual contexts.

Here’s how it works:

C: Clarify and break down the problem. Walk through a set of questions to deeply understand what problem you are trying to solve.

L: Learn about the problem and what’s causing it. Dig deep and understand why the problem exists.

E: Experiment with countermeasures. Start looking for possible solutions to the problem.

A: Assess the results, and adapt or abandon. Take a step back and study what happened, and decide if it is the result you want.

R: Roll out and reflect. Investigate if you want to formally change the process with the countermeasure you decided to adopt.

Because of Karen’s CLEAR, I’ve realized I don’t know what to get my mother-in-law for Christmas because she doesn’t like “things” — so I’ll experiment with gifts that revolve around experiences and creating memories.

Conflict Avoidance

Yes, holidays are a time of togetherness. But that togetherness can also breed conflict and passive aggressiveness — underhanded comments, muttering under the breath, or flat-out screaming. It’s inevitable when you mix people together of various personalities and expectations.

But Nate Regier, author of Conflict without Casualties, says conflict isn’t a bad thing. It can actually be used to harness innovation and creativity. And he has especially good advice in how to handle passive-aggressive behavior, which he says is a gap between what someone wants and what they are getting.

“Instead of dealing directly and assertively with this conflict, some people avoid it, and then attempt to close the gap in other ways. This comes out in sarcasm, avoidance, mean-spirited comments, or behind-the-back gossip,” he explained.

What to do? Confront the passive aggressive person with openness, resourcefulness, and persistence.

Openness. You owe it to yourself and the other person to share how you are feeling. Do you feel angry? Confused? Embarrassed? Defensive? It may feel vulnerable, but it’s critical for creating a safe, open space to engage conflict directly. Avoid blaming the other person for your feelings and avoid using self-victimizing feelings like “attacked” or “demeaned.” Don’t give anyone else that much power over you. It only puts them on the defensive.

Resourcefulness. What questions do you have about what’s really going on? What did you miss? What might they know that you don’t? What do you want to know? What information are you missing? It’s OK to ask for information about what’s going on. And it’s OK for you to explain what you’ve observed. The better you can understand the gap that led to their passive aggressive behavior, the closer you get to a healthier solution.

Persistence. This is about boundaries and principles. What’s at stake here? Why is it important for you to confront what’s going on? What values or aspirations of yours are relevant here? It’s OK to share these as context for why you want to deal directly with conflict. Caution: don’t push your values, or criticize others for not living up to a higher standard.

Next time we hear a comment about how someone doesn’t get enough time with our kids, I know how to structure the conversation to meet the conflict head-on.

Fear of the Unknown

My husband and I used to travel a lot before we started a family. But now that we have kids, fear has often kept us homebound. Fear of plane delays, illness, and disrupted sleep schedules has definitely made me wary of making that holiday trip to Chicago every winter.

But Cheri Torres, co-author with Jackie Stavros of Conversations Worth Having, has excellent advice for how to prepare for the worst. She says it’s a matter of mindset, personal worldview, and personal beliefs/values.

“If your sense of worth and being OK is tied to everything going well, when the worst comes, it topples your life. If you — your being — is not attached to ‘the way things are’ then it frees you to ask creative and helpful questions if the worst happens,” she explained.

So, if our plane gets stuck on the tarmac for hours and our kids are tired and restless, instead of asking why this terrible thing happened to ME, I need to see the events in a much broader context. I can ask questions like:

I wonder what this is about?
What is there to learn or see in this situation that might be important?
What’s possible, now that THIS has happened?

Cheri says, when the worst befalls, it’s time to look at our strengths and values, and reassess what’s truly important and reflect. Good advice for any challenge we may face in life.

Thanks to these helpful insights, I’m ready to start shopping, planning, and securing flights. I hope they help you do the same — at work and at home.

Happy holidays!

5 Ways to Promote Your Book During the Holidays and Boost Sales

Books are one of the most popular Christmas gifts, and according to retailers, 41% of all books are sold during the Christmas holiday season. We’re deep in the holiday shopping season already — it starts as early as October — but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to put your promotion into high gear.

Here are 5 things we recommend doing this season.

Email your list. This is one of the easiest things you can do to promote your book during the holidays. The people on your email list are there because they are interested in your work. A gentle holiday email, with graphics and holiday language, will help them see your book as a great gift for someone on their list.

Share on social. I know, I know. You’re already posting regularly on social media. During the holiday season, keep up the good work, but add some holiday graphics or photos of your book in a holiday setting. Really drive home the message that your book would be a meaningful gift. (Find more holiday posting tips here.)

Throw a holiday party. Everyone loves a party! Consider a Facebook or Instagram live party, or do a Twitter chat. Promote the event in advance and offer prizes. This isn’t an event to directly pitch your book, but rather a way to thank those fans who’ve supported you all year long. It will also remind them of you and your work and will likely prompt increased sales, without you once saying “buy my book.”

Consider a BookBub or price reduction promotion. Lower the price? Yes, it might mean you receive less in royalties — but you could make up for that dip, in sales. A price reduction during the holiday season helps your book stand out from the crowd. Keep in mind, BookBub requires an application and they don’t accept all promotions, but it’s worth exploring.

Buy ads. Advertising is one of the best ways to get your book in front of prospective buyers. Amazon ads reach shoppers at the point of purchase and have the highest conversion rates for books. Note: a specific type of account is required to run Amazon ads. If you don’t have access, reach out to your publisher or a book launch partner, like Weaving Influence, for help. Facebook and LinkedIn ads also deliver strong results and are worth the investment.

Even implementing just one of these holiday tactics will help increase awareness of your book and lift sales!

Which tactic are you going to try?

Which Social Media Ads Should You Buy?

We rely on organic marketing efforts for the majority of our book launches, but during launch week, we like to pull out the stops and buy social ads. Advertising is a reliable way to increase awareness about your product and boost sales, but not all ads or ad platforms are created equal.  Some social platforms deliver consistent results, while others tend to disappoint, no matter the budget.

Here’s our guide to the different types, their pros and cons, and what we’d recommend.

Facebook & Instagram

Facebook/Instagram ads are consistent performers and our go-to for clients launching books.

Pros:

Low point of entry. Ads can be purchased for as little as $20.
Great targeting. You can get very granular in targeting to find your niche audience.
Strong reporting. Facebook ads have easy to read metrics to let you know if your ad is doing well or not.
Conversions are solid. If you create a good ad, with strong language to connect with your audience, you’ll see solid conversions . . . meaning more people are buying your book.

Cons:

You need to have a personal profile to purchase ads, but you must also have a brand page in order to run ads.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn ads do very well for business and leadership authors, and we often recommend them to clients with a healthy ad budget.

Pros:

Ads for business and leadership authors are placed in a professional environment. Even without targeting, ads are in front of a generally interested audience.
LinkedIn’s targeting is not as robust as Facebook’s but it does allow targeting around job titles, duties, and companies.
Conversion rates are strong.

Cons:

The price of ads is much higher on LinkedIn than on Facebook, and ads reach fewer people per ad dollar spent. Basically, you’ll pay more to reach the LinkedIn audience.

Twitter

Twitter ads are not ones we recommend to clients, because ads on other platforms just perform better.

Pros:

Ads can be purchased for as low as $20.
Twitter offers a monthly plan that boosts every tweet up to 100 per month for just $99.

Cons:

Conversion rates are lower than other platforms. We don’t consider these ads worth the investment.

Google

Google ads can deliver exceptional results, yet we never use them for book launches.  These ads are terrific for businesses and events, but we’ve found they don’t do a great job selling books. It’s like using a blowtorch when a match would do.

Pros:

Keyword targeting allows you to get your ad in front of interested people in mid-search for just what you offer.
Strong conversion rates as long as your keyword game is on target.
Great for businesses, events, and other resources.

Cons:

These ads can get expensive FAST.

Overall, we have great success with Facebook and LinkedIn ads, and often use them in concert to drive interest and sales. Every product is different, as is every book. If you are interested in ads, experiment with small budgets to find the platform that works best for you. Even a monthly boosted post can help raise your profile, grow your audience, and sell your books.

Happy advertising!

How to Create Seasonal Social Media Content

Halloween is over and American Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and social media is overflowing with seasonal tweets and posts. Every business owner and book author is marketing their content and products. But should you jump on the bandwagon?

The Benefit of Seasonal Relevance

While it might be easy to schedule posts ahead of time with tools like this one, there’s a tendency to forget about the holidays and seasonal changes when you do things weeks or months in advance. And there’s definitely something to be said for producing lots of evergreen content.

But people will be more tuned in to the timely, seasonal messages around fall or Christmas or summer break. Everyone and their cousin will be thinking about that major holiday or seasonal rhythm, and you don’t want your voice to be the one they ignore simply because it doesn’t highlight that particular theme.

Another benefit to creating seasonal content is that you can re-use it down the road. Save those tweets and posts to your content library and have quick access to ready-made content a year or two later.

How to Create Seasonal Content

You may be sitting there, shaking your head at how much you still have to do this season, and wondering how to add one more social media task to your list. But it doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Here’s three simple steps to adding to your seasonal content library.

1. Create a list of major events and holidays.

Take 10 minutes to Google search for major days that fit within your field (such as World Book Day, Author Day, Boss’ Day, etc), and write them down in a single column. Next, add all the major holidays and seasonal events that you or your audience recognize (such as Valentine’s Day, summer break, back to school, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, New Year’s, etc.). Be sure to include the dates!

2. Add topics that coincide with your field.

Next to each event or holiday, add a few relevant topics you could focus on that relate to both the special day as well as your field of expertise. For instance, next to World Book Day you could write topics like: book recommendations (yours!), your own favorite books (to be more personal), or related reading suggestions (to further your expertise on a given topic).

3. Write 5-10 posts for each topic idea.

Finally, pull up your content library spreadsheet and start typing up some posts and tweets that you can schedule for each particular season. They don’t need to be fancy or profound . . . they just need to be you (more on that here). For instance: “Need a reading recommendation to celebrate World Book Day? Check out my book on topic XYZ, available here: [link].” Or: “In the spirit of World Book Day, here are my top 3 book recommendations on topic XYZ [include links and tag the authors of each book].”

While you may not have time to do all of this in one sitting, if you break it down into smaller time-frames (such as “January holidays” or “spring events”), you can easily create a year’s worth of seasonal content just 15 minutes at a time.

It will be worth it when that season comes, and you don’t have to scramble to figure out what to post. You’ll already have it ready to share!

Do you include seasonal content in your digital marketing? Why or why not?

 

Don’t have time to do all that? Our Content Library Automator tool now includes 100 seasonal tweets! Learn more.

Should You Be Buying Social Media Ads?

Community managers spend hours writing and creating content to grow social media organically — or without ad dollars. Organic content is the backbone of most successful content marketing plans, but it’s not the only tactic successful brands and thought leaders use. Advertising on social media helps augment an organic strategy.

Should you be buying social ads? The answer is yes, if you like growth. Here’s why . . .

1. Social ads help you reach more people. Every social platform has a unique algorithm that determines who gets to see the content you post. If you want more people to see the content you’ve spent hours creating, ads are the way around the algorithm. Ads can also help fledgling accounts find a solid, dedicated following.

2. Targeting allows you to reach specific people. Social advertising allows you to target your audience very specifically. If you have a niche personal brand, you can target ads to reach people in your niche. You can target by location, interests, job title, age, and sex. For instance, if you have a children’s book, you can target parents, teachers, and librarians, and provide each group with a unique message only they will see, without cluttering your newsfeed.

3. You don’t have to spend much to get results. On social media, you can pay as little as $20 and see results. Boosting a top-performing organic post can help grow your reach, engagement, and fan count, giving you a larger audience to market to next time. For example, we have a client who has strategically boosted one Facebook post each month. He’s seen the reach of his non-boosted content increase and he grew his fans from around 500 to over 10,000.

4. You can sell more books or products. By creating targeted ads, you can get your book or product in front of the people who would be interested in it, people who might not otherwise know anything about your book. You can market events, webinars, and courses — anything you have for sale can be promoted on social media. We’ve seen a direct correlation between book ads and sales and regularly recommend book ads for our clients.

We believe in the power of social advertising—and so do most brands and thought leaders. Many large consumer brands spend tens of thousands of dollars each month advertising their products on social media. You don’t have to have their budgets to be successful! The key is to be laser-focused on your goals, and only buy ads that help support those goals.

Even a $20 per month investment can help you achieve new levels of success.

Let us know if you’ve tried social advertising!