Archives for January 2016

January 20, 2016 by RonTester Leave a Comment

Improving Facebook Engagement

Twelve Types of Facebook Posts That Are Guaranteed to Engage People

Facebook is the social media giant. Without a doubt it’s the most popular social networking site in the world, and in the past ten years it’s managed to get billions of people hooked on the platform. Yes, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat are all big players, but Facebook dominates social media and drives a huge percentage of traffic on the web. Facebook’s dominance can help boost your business if you can engage your audience, but how do you do that? There are many different kinds of Facebook posts but here we’re going to look at Facebook posts that will engage people. The good news is that these tips will also work for many of the other social media platforms mentioned above.

Social networking is all about interacting and if you can’t get people to interact with your posts, you’re probably not doing it right. Let’s take a look at twelve types of Facebook posts that are virtually guaranteed to get people involved.

1. Like or Comment
Facebook is a very visual social network and one way to get people to engage is to post a picture. The next step would be to put two pictures together either side by side or one on top of the other and ask people to “like” if they prefer the option in one picture or “comment” if they prefer the other option.

2. Name Your Favorite
Open-ended questions are one of the easiest ways to drive engagement on Facebook. Asking people what their favorite movie, band or website is could generate a lot of engagement depending on how many people are willing to answer.

3. Caption Contest
Finding a picture that looks like it’s trying to say something funny is always a great time to hold a caption contest. Simply post the picture, ask people to add a caption in the comments and if the picture is good enough you should be getting massive amounts of comments in no time.

4. Looking for Advice
Reaching out for help is a great way to get people to engage with your Facebook page. Asking people what the best way to complete a task such as cooking a food item, building something, training a pet or any other situation that would require input from other people is a great way to drive traffic.

5. Like If You Do This
This post is almost too easy. Facebook users love pictures, so posting a picture of an activity or something people commonly enjoy and asking them to “like” the post if they enjoy it as well will certainly help you. A great example is posting a picture of ice cream and asking people to “like” the picture if they enjoy ice cream too. Honestly, though, who doesn’t love ice cream?

6. Nostalgia Posts
Every generation is different and making people feel nostalgic is a great way to engage users. Questions such as “remember when you had to rewind a video tape to watch a movie?” could be a big hit with the right crowd.

7. What Would You Do?
We as people like to think about what we would do in different situations. Asking people what they would do in certain situations is a great way to get some answers. Questions such as, “What would you do if you had 40 million dollars?” could end up getting you a lot of answers.

8. Fill in the Blank
Fill in the blank posts are also a pretty easy way to get people engaged. Asking someone to fill in the blank in sentences such as “my favorite food is (blank)” is another great way to get people to interact.

9. Post a Picture
It can’t be emphasized enough that Facebook users love photos. A great way to get people involved is to have them post a photo of their own. Post a status asking people to post a picture of their favorite vacation spot in the comments and watch how many responses you get.

10. Recommendations
Need a new website to visit? How about a new book to read or movie to watch? A great way to get people involved is to ask for recommendations and you might actually end up finding something you like.

11. Name Something without the Letter (Blank) in It
Surely you’ve seen these types of posts before. Someone posts a status or picture asking you to name a fruit or vegetable without the letter “a” in its name. This is a fun way to keep people involved and almost always gets the type of reaction you’re looking for.

12. Yes or No?
It might seem simple but yes or no questions are an easy way to get people talking. Even the simplest question such as asking people if they like pizza and telling them to respond with yes or no could work like a charm.

As you can see by the examples above, Facebook is a highly interactive website. You need to constantly engage people to keep them interested in your page and if you use some of the examples above you should get plenty of people talking. What are you waiting for? Go give a few of these a try.

For more easy ways to improve your social media engagement, please subscribe to my newsletter.

January 18, 2016 by RonTester Leave a Comment

How to Get Testimonials that Work

Your audience believes what other people say about you more than what you say about you.

I recommend that people and businesses start getting testimonials as soon as possible. That’s something I had to learn the hard way. One of the reasons I had a hard time is that I didn’t know how to get testimonials. I didn’t know how to ask and I didn’t know what made up a really effective testimonial. Then I heard Jeff Moore speak at a Michael Port event and the light bulb went on.

Have you started using testimonials for your business yet? Testimonials are recommendations about your business or product from a satisfied customer and are one of the strongest marketing tools you can have for your business. Let’s take a look at how you can get testimonials and how to structure an effective testimonial.

How do you get testimonials? ASK! Have you successfully just solved a client’s problem? Ask them for a recommendation based on your solution. Your client just thanked you profusely for your help. So what do you do? Ask for a review of your service. Did you provide excellent service in a timely manner? Go ahead and ask your client for that recommendation. It may take time as your clients are as busy as you are, but don’t forget to ask. If you want to learn from the master, listen to Jeff Herring. If someone says something nice or writes something nice about the good work he does, he asks right on the spot if he can use it. He doesn’t wait, he doesn’t apologize. It’s the most natural thing in the world for him.

Maybe you’re thinking, “I’m not sure what to say.” The word testimonial may have your customers envisioning their name and picture plastered on your website with their stellar review of your service and product. Even though they are pretty much the same thing, in certain situations it might sometimes best to ask for feedback or a review instead of a testimonial. On the other hand, I believe that it’s best to ask directly. The fact is you do want their name (and picture when possible) on your website, Facebook page, etc. And if you have done them a good service and they’re happy with it, it’s a reasonable expression of their gratitude to give you a testimonial or recommendation. At least it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Asking your clients for a recommendation isn’t the only way to get a testimonial. If your business has a Facebook or LinkedIn page, that’s a great place to get results. Other places,such as Google, Yahoo!, and Yelp, offer a place for customers to leave their feedback. Just remember, if you receive negative feedback, be sure to address it in a professional manner. When you pick a fight on the internet, you always lose. Share the facts and try to make things right. Hopefully though, you’ll be flooded with excellent testimonials from raving fans and you won’t have to deal with too many naysayers.

There are some very important laws regarding testimonials or recommendations. Due to FTC laws, it’s important to get recommendations that represent the typical results of your business or product. This law isn’t just for US based companies, but covers any company that sells to US customers. Ignoring this law can result in a steep fine of $11,000 per incident. Ouch! The FTC’s webpage on recommendations also encourages you to get new testimonials if your product has changed in any way. We’ve all seen the “I took Acme Diet Supplement and lost 100 pounds in 9 days” testimonials. Even though they put up “results not typical” disclaimers, there’s a better reason not to share that sort of testimonial: savvy customers tune them out. If things sound too good to be true, smart consumers will think you’re being dishonest and only the gullible consumer is likely to buy. I would not recommend you try to build your business by targeting gullible consumers. Is it possible to do? Of course. Is it the right thing to do? Of course not.

What makes up a good testimonial? What you don’t want is a testimonial that says, “I love Stan’s Gutter Cleaning.” It’s nice to hear, but it doesn’t tell why they love you. Is it because you provide a great service? Your prices are really good? You wear a nice cologne? Here’s how a testimonial should work:

Identify the problem. “I had a serious problem with clogged gutters.”

Explain why that is a problem. “As a result of my clogged gutters, water pooled up around my fascia boards, causing them to rot and need replacing.”

Identify your company name. “I met with Stan’s Gutter Cleaning and heard their solution. I wasn’t sure if it would work for me, but I tried it anyway.”

Exclaim your customer’s satisfaction. “The solution was amazing and I am so happy I found Stan’s Gutter Cleaning. Now, I recommend Stan’s Gutter Cleaning whenever I hear someone has a problem with clogged gutters.”

Add a picture and your customer’s name. By adding your customer’s picture and their name (at least their first name and last initial), will give your testimonial a personal touch.

Are you ready to add a testimonial page to your businesses website? If you have tips about writing testimonials, please share them in the comments below.

January 16, 2016 by RonTester Leave a Comment

Content Strategy to Help Build Your Business

Developing a Content Strategy Can Help You Make Money

Recently I’ve written a lot about blogging to improve SEO, blogging to help your potential customers know, like and trust you, etc. As valuable as it is, though, blogging is just a part of marketing your business with online content. You can use articles, newsletters, blog posts, social media updates, FAQs and more to help bring traffic, but there are ways to do it so that you can grow your business the right way. Remember: having a lot of followers isn’t indicative of success. Earning money is. So, if you want to grow your business effectively you have to know which resources to leverage. The best way to do that is to have a content strategy.

Content Is Still King

Sharing information with your audience so they will get to know, like and trust you is vital to growing your business. Everything revolves around content and content is needed for every aspect of your business. Whether you sell products or services, you need to be producing content in order to educate, engage, and encourage your audience to buy from you.

Forms of Content

There are many different forms of content that you can use, such as blog posts on your website, guest posts and articles on other websites, articles in print publications and online newsletters. Content can be text (articles, tweets, Facebook posts), audio (podcasts, internet radio, audiobooks), or visual in nature (YouTube, Wistia, Vimeo, Instagram, Pinterest). Having a combination of different forms of content will help you reach more of your audience.

Have a Plan of Action

The other key to ensuring that you are leveraging the right resources is to have a plan of action. Don’t just create or have content created without a point of view, voice, and the goals for the content in mind. One way to begin this process is to create a Core Content Strategy Statement which encapsulates your business goals, your target audience and your audience’s needs. You can find out more by reading here.

Create an Editorial Calendar

When you know what content you want to create, it’s important to spell it out in an editorial calendar (sometimes called a publication calendar) so that you will do first things first. For instance, if you are launching a new product in three months, you can start whetting the appetite of your list now. I’ve recently written an article about creating an editorial calendar which you can read here.

The Email List Is the Most Important

They say the money is in the list, and that’s as true today as it was five years ago. Social media marketing hasn’t replaced email marketing; it has created another way to lead people to your email lists. Leverage your content, your blog, your social media posts, your videos, and everything else you do to build your list.

Develop Incentives to Collect More Email Addresses

The point of your blog posts, social media updates, and even webinars is to share your message with your audience and then collect information from your target audience so that you can build your relationship with email. Host webinars, ask for sign-ups on social media, and incentivize lists with free give-aways or low-cost entry products and services.

You may be wondering if email still works as a marketing tool. The short answer is YES! While it’s not as easy to engage your audience as it was when email was a big deal (I remember being excited when I heard AOL say, “You’ve Got Mail!”), email is one of the most cost-effective ways to build and engage your audience. These people are sharing their email addresses with you because they are hoping you can educate them, entertain them, solve their problems, make their lives better. And if you do that, email marketing will work for you.

All Content Should Work Together

Starting with the product, service or event that you want to promote, work your way back to today to decide the different types of content that you will use to get more email subscribers to whom you can market and promote your business. Decide what type of content they need to become educated and informed about your products and services so that they will 1) know, like and trust you, 2) purchase from you when it’s the right thing to do, and 3) recommend you to others who might need what you have to offer.

Consider Drawing a Workflow

Looking at how all your content works together to bring in buyers, as well as encourage the purchase, may help you identify gaps in your content needs. Your content workflow might look like this: Email Subscription Incentive > 7-Day eCourse > Webinar > Short Report > Long Report > EBook > Coaching > etc. — Seeing it written out should help you decide what you need.

By knowing what your goals are for the content that you create, you’ll be able to use it more efficiently to grow your business far beyond what you thought possible.

If you have more suggestions or questions about creating a content strategy that meets your audience’s needs, please comment and share them below.