Back to School

One of the greatest mistakes one can do is ask a copywriter – or any kind of writer for that matter –  to speak.

But hey, since we are living in abnormal times, I did a little bit of speaking recently in my capacity as a copywriter and content creator.

Content Marketing Training

Close to a hundred participants got my take on Content Marketing for 8 hours a day for two full days, across 4 separate sessions. That’s 64 hours of speaking, facilitating, transferring knowledge and of course reminding participants to keep their video feed on.

And in the end, it was my audiences that re-schooled me of a fundamental marketing premise that is constantly taken for granted:

Great Content is Nothing,
If it’s for the Wrong Audience

Yes, I did speak about content marketing, but it wasn’t for an audience that was very interested in the subject matter. Let me skip the whys and hows of this predicament and get to the matter at hand.

I spent days perfecting the PowerPoint; making it as informative, engaging and structured as possible for beginners to grasp. Do note that my knowledge is a clutter of unstructured information I have amassed over the years that needed to be organised, tweaked and moulded into a presentable form – this was my first time conducting an official training mind you.

Ultimately, I was quite happy with the deck, and thought with my (ahem!) wit and charm can sail through.

And for the most part, I did deliver a solid first performance. All was well.

Then, the second batch came aboard a week later. I could not for the life of me get through to them. Participation was almost nil and they all looked like they rather be watching yet another pandemic PSA.

Same content, different set of audience – but completely different results.

Based on the first session, I knew the training content works. So, it was still the right message, but to a wrong audience.

And we all know that getting the right message to the right audience is the key to effective communication. Somehow, I completely misjudged this and assumed that my content alone would be enough to see me through no matter who is in the audience.

But I did manage to somehow salvage the situation by way of changing tactic. After the morning break I versioned the delivery of the content and not stick to the script.

Needless to say, I was more prepared for the following two sessions by varying the presentation and delivery, yet it was the same deck I prepared initially.

Good Content Wrong Audience

Same content, different points-of-emphasis and delivery based on the audience at hand helped to ensure consistent results.

And this same premise can and should be applied to all marketing communications.

Gone are the days when we used to force the same message across all channels in a campaign. Understanding the target audience, and thereafter customising the message – while keeping the essence – is imperative to engage and compel.

A much-needed reminder in this day and age of long-tail audiences and multi-faceted channels.

Here are 5 tips on how to ensure your main communication message appeals to varying target audiences:

  1. Fail First
    Like how I failed with my second batch of training audience, it was a necessary step for me to analyse the audience I was speaking to, hence forcing a re-evaluation and re-thinking of message delivery.
  1. Test Often

Split and A/B testing is much needed to help fine-tune messages, so it speaks directly to the intended audience. This is also a necessary step that provides valuable insights to identify the characteristics of varying target segments.

  1. Guesswork Out

There’s only so much analysis, studying and tweaking you can do. Nothing is certain until you put your content out there and use the feedback to make versions that target different sub-segments.

  1. Pin-Point Pain Points

Nothing works better in marketing communications than being able to identify the pain points of your audiences. Best part? Each pain point allows for versioning of the message for added appeal.

  1. Be Flexible

There will always be a new sub target segment that you didn’t know existed. That’s lost opportunities by ignoring a potentially profitable subset of the market. Always test new variations to seek out such audiences.

Social Media Marketing Essentials

So everyone’s trying to get on the social media marketing action.

It’s only natural; times are rough and incomes need to be supplemented – for a lot of us it’s about making ends meet.

Truth be told, even I have been dabbling with social media marketing quite extensively for the past few months. Like helping clients strengthen their social media presence to assisting friends to build pages for their home-bases businesses.

One thing I have learned is that this social media rabbit hole is so deep that even the Mariana trench doesn’t stand a chance.

The other thing I’ve learned is that there is only so much reading and researching you can do. You got to get started, tweak and find your voice as you go along.

Otherwise you will be stuck in the rabbit hole with a severe case of analysis paralysis. Done is surely better than perfect when it comes to the social media game.

To ease the pain and get you going, here are 5 essential must-haves to start your social media selling foray on a budget:

  1. Make a Good Logo

Social Logo

A no-brainer perhaps, but I have seen far too many social profiles with scratched-up, Powerpoint-like logos. Branding intricacies aside, a good logo gives your brand (or voice) an identity and acts as a point of differentiation. And make sure your logo is optimised for social media use, meaning having it in hi-res JPEGs and most importantly transparent PNGs for easier overlays onto visuals.

TIP: Use platforms such as fiverr.com or freelancer.com to get your logo done. A lot of upstart graphic designers in these platforms can get your logo done on the cheap and fully optimised. Remember to always ask for the source file, so you can make changes in future.

  1. Have a Daily Theme

Daily Theme

The most common frustration among social media marketing professionals is having to consistently generate content to post. As an admin for 7 social media pages, I often have my pening moments too. One way to ease this process is to have a theme for each day of the week you intend to post. This helps because it focuses your thoughts on developing content based on themes, rather than thinking in general, which can lead to wandering and analysis paralysis.

TIP: List 20 themes you would like to focus on. Let’s say you intend to post 5 days a week, pick 5 themes for each day. And if you run out of content ideas for a particular theme, you still have 15 more themes to fall back on.

  1. Build Your Asset

Social Assets

While some people can get away with posting engaging content on-the-fly, it doesn’t really work that way for the rest of us. Don’t think you will post when an idea pops-up – surely this is a formula for failure. Work on creating your visual assets – be it video or images – so you have a stream of content ready, avoiding last-minute shoots or scrambling for free stock images.

TIP: If you are selling a physical product, photograph your products in every imaginable angle and setting. For service-related sellers, explore platforms such as upsplash.com for a decent selection images that you can use for free, without copyright issues.

  1. Use a Design Tool

Social Design

Between all the sizes, formats, resolutions, watermarks, layouts and optimisation are pains-in-the-ass. And using a designer for every visual you create is going to leave you with a funds-related heartache. Fortunately, there are countless online tools that you can use for free that makes design work pretty darn simple for the average design-handicapped person.

TIP: Check imageonline.com for super easy editing of your images with great functionality for beginners. For even more pro-looking visuals, you can start with a free account at Canva, Crello or Adobe Spark. Paid accounts can be expensive, but lookout for lifetime deals and you could snag a bargain.

  1. Set Aside Some Ad Budget

Ad Budget

Only up to 3% of your page followers will see any of your posts organically. Means if you don’t sometimes promote or boost your posts – especially those that show potential with good organic engagement – that’s a lot of effort wasted. It has become a necessary evil to boost posts – enabling better reach, more exposure and higher engagement.

TIP: Pick a post that shows the best organic engagement and boost it. Start small, Facebook ads start from USD5 (roughly RM25) that can get your post seen by approximately 1,000 new sets of eyes, depending on your targeting. Make sure anything you boost has a clear call-to-action, so people are compelled to click-through.

This post could have been much longer if I went into every nitty-gritty detail of each of the must-haves. But I didn’t, because the key here is to start and fine-tune as you get into it.

I know, it’s a jungle out there and there are new social media marketing trends, shortcuts, cheat-sheets, all-knowing guides popping up almost everyday.

But these fundamentals but will set you on the right direction. Then add your own common sense, ingenuity and authenticity to make social selling second nature.