Get to grips with Digital Marketing

Now you have watched the first lesson, how can you apply this to your small business? 

Tactic 1: Map your customer journey. Have a go at mapping out the customer journey for your business. If you are struggling, re-watch from 10:50 onwards for hints. 

Tactic 2: Create shareable content. Write a piece of content for your website or social media page and share with your audience. 

Tactic 3: Focus on organic social media. Write a social media post asking your follows to reply to a question. Reply to each comment you receive to boost your engagement.

Tactic 4: Host value packed webinars. Practice filming yourself talking about your business or one of your products on your mobile phone, post this to your social feed and reply to the comments. Once you feel confident, try holding a Facebook Live event (don't forget to tell your followers first!)

Tactic 5: Conversion focused web design. Ask a friend or family member to take a look at your website (or social media channel) and give you honest feedback. See if you can find a way to improve from their feedback. 

Now you have watched the video, take the following steps to apply your learning. 

Give your profile a polish or create one if you don't already have one: 

• Use a clear photo, ideally where your head fills 60% of the space. 
• Add a strap line telling people what you do
• Add your website URL and social media handles 
• Write a headline for your profile. Tell people why you are and what you offer - try to use keywords relevant to your industry and make it engaging! 

Complete Rik's daily checklist for LinkedIn:

• Post an update 
• Like at least three updates from your newsfeed
• Add to someone's post by commenting
• Selectively reach out to 3 - 5 people 
• Join a group and answer 3 questions
• Search LinkedIn posts and answer 3 more questions 

And finally... 

Write an article for your industry demonstrating your knowledge and skill in your field. Set a reminder to do this once a month. 

Now you have watched the video, take the following steps to apply your learning.

Before you start - if you don't have a Facebook Group for your product or service, set one up now. If you need a reminder of how to do this watch the video again from 45:25.

Manage your own Facebook Group.

Tactic 1: Provide extra value for your customers. Each week plan a post or video for your Facebook page explaining a concept or top tips on using your product or service. Why not film a Q&A session using questions asked by your customers? 

Tactic 2: Create a sense of community. Design posts for your page which encourage people to post a reply. Challenge your customers to take photographs of your product in their homes or post innovative ways they are using it. Post a quiz featuring questions about your product or service and offer a prize to the winner. 

Tactic 3: Create a sense of exclusiveness. Making your group secret means your customers can only join if you invite them via a link, this is useful if your product is an ongoing service. Making your group private means that people can search for it but you have to approve their request to join. Being part of a group fosters community and allows Facebook to send notifications when you post to the group. 

Tactic 4: Beat the Facebook algorithm. Facebook prioritises posts from friends, families and groups over other items on a user's newsfeed and also sends notifications to alert users of new posts. Encourage people to visit your group for the first time by posting a welcome message to them (check the video from 36:25 for a reminder of how to do this)

Get involved in other Facebook Groups 

Look for groups in your area and in your sector that you can join. Remember to look at the number of posts per day to make sure the group is active and lively. Once you have joined, introduce yourself with a post about who you are and what you do. Find some questions to answer and be helpful and courteous. For a reminder of how Rik did this, watch the video from 9:28. Remember, joining and spamming the group with posts promoting your business is likely to get you banished to the naughty step. Visit the group regularly and engage in other people's posts until you learn the rules of the group. 

Now you have watched the video, take the following steps to apply your learning.

Before you start - if you don't have a Twitter account head on over to Twitter or download the app, and set one up. Remember the tips from lesson two on profile pictures and bio information.

Start posting content

Consistency is key. It takes five to seven impressions (the times someone views your content) before they begin to recognise your brand. Try creating five simple posts using each of the hashtags below -if you get stuck, click each hashtag for some #Inspo. 

#MondayMotivation
#TipTuesday
#WednesdayWisdom
#ThrowbackThursday
#FeatureFriday

Get to grips with Tweetdeck

For those just starting out with Twitter, Tweetdeck provides everything you need to manage your account for free. Add columns to monitor different accounts, hashtags, influencers or competitors. If you need a reminder on how to do this, watch the video from 18:20 onwards. Try making a list to create a custom feed from your community, competitors or even just people who inspire you! 

Schedule some content

Tweetdeck has a built-in scheduler, allowing you to create content ahead of time and schedule it for a time that suits you. This means if you are struck with #MondayMotivation to create some #FeatureFriday posts, you can create them all and schedule the content for publication on the correct day (watch from 28:45 if you need a reminder)

Now you have got to grips with Twitter, start to plan some posts for your channel. The hashtags above are a great start, but consider other types of posts as well: 

• Marketing post: A post about your products or services, for example a special offer or a new release.
• Reactionary post: This might be a retweet of a post you find interesting or funny, or a post about you or your business. Remember to add a comment to the post instead of just clicking retweet.
• Communications post: The type of post with the greatest scope. Tell people about a blog you have written, a publication you appear in or an award you have won, give your followers a glimpse behind the scenes, introduce your team or even your office dog! These types of post are great for helping your account stay interesting and engaging. 

Remember to take a look at what is trending on Twitter and see if you can use this hashtag or provide a spin on this. A great example from the video was the Oreo Twitter account: "You can still dunk in the dark"  Think of how you could use hashtags to raise your profile. 

Now you have watched the video, take the following steps to apply your learning.

Before you start - if you don't have an Instagram Business account set one up, if you are using a personal account convert this to a business account so that you can make use of Instagrams metrics and data. If you need a reminder on how to do this, watch the video from 5:12 onwards. 

Make the most of your account.

Plan, plan, plan! Think about who your audience is, how old they are, where to they eat, and where they shop. Before you can create content, you need to know who you are creating content for. Use this to set your (SMART) objectives for Instagram. Remember the stages of the customer journey: awareness, engagement, amplification, conversion and customer. For a recap of these, watch from 13:45 onwards.  

1. Optimise your profile: Your Instagram bio is 150 characters long, so make them count!
   
   🔗 Links and hashtags are clickable in your bio - curate user generated content with a branded hashtag and signpost people to your website
   😄 Show your personality with emojis
   👀 Breaks and spaces make your profile easier to read
   
   Your profile image should be you or your brand and consistent with your other platforms, and your name, handle and category should clearly show who you are and what you do.
2. Set up your calls to action: These allow users to perform actions such as book appointments, make reservations or buy tickets directly from your profile. You can set these up from your profile, however some do require third party sites that you will need to set up. 
3. Create your content: Make your content interesting and give it a brand identity to make it uniquely yours. Sites such as Canva offer free tools and templates to help you create posts with consistent themes and colours, as well as Instagram Story templates. Although Instagram is primarily a visual platform, don't forget to add captions, use hashtags and ask questions to help people find and engage with your content. Once you feel comfortable posting, try using IGTV to record and upload videos to your account - these could be product reveals, offers, quick tips or behind the scenes peeks at your business. 
4. Grow your audience: Once your account is set up and you are regularly posting, you can start to reach out to find more people interested in your brand. Remember to use the strategies mentioned in the video to find potential followers. 
5. Promote, promote, promote: Tell the world about your Instagram! Put on your website, emails, packaging wherever you can think of! Don't forget to post on your other social media accounts to let people know you are on Instagram!