In a digital world where business is open 24/7, appearing calm and collected from the outside isn’t always simple. These marketing apps can reduce time and stress almost instantly, to keep your brand sharp around the clock. The added upside is that almost all of them are free! 1. Buffer for social media scheduling. If you juggle multiple social media accounts, jumping into each individual one to post can take all day. Buffer lets you schedule posts in every account like Facebook and Twitter. This means you can set and forget, and analyse their performance in a single clear snapshot. Social media marketing or management is a sizeable area you can automate each month to save hours. And thanks to apps like Buffer, you will never miss what your social interactions look like. Just like Google Analytics lets you track and report website traffic, it’s vital to have a way to effectively track social media. 2. Slack for communication. The last thing you want is extra emails! Slack lets you direct message your team, send and receive files and arrange and set away conversations. The beauty of Slack is it keeps work separate from your social messaging apps, making it easier to shut off at the end of the day (especially if you switch notifications off). Slack is excellent at keeping everyone in the loop so your team can collaborate without missing a thing. 3. Skype for video chat. Skype is one of several tools our content marketing agency uses to communicate with clients who aren’t local, or are temporarily overseas. 4. Lightroom CC for a cohesive Instagram feed....
Want to know how to build an email marketing list, and why you should? Successful marketing is a mix of so many things combined, but if your email list isn’t way up there in terms of priority, you should reconsider. What is an email marketing list? An email list, or an electronic mailing list, is a database of subscribers who’ve signed up to receive email content from you. Under the Spam Act 2003, there are three rules which email marketers must stick to: Consent from the recipient to opt-in, Identification of the sender; and A clearly visible option to unsubscribe in each email. Advantages of email marketing As Facebook’s organic reach has steadily declined, email continues to be a direct line to subscribers without the noise, or the clutter, of social media. While posts attracting comments and interaction are more likely to show up in followers’ feeds, the catch is that fewer followers seeing posts equals less visibility and interaction. The fact is, it’s more difficult for brands to reach their market on social media, which is why they shouldn’t only focus there. Asking followers to continue the conversation on email can let you control your message and its reach. Email marketing list building strategies These six strategies can help you build your email marketing list. Ask existing contacts to join you. Email existing contacts and explain why you want to stay in touch and what they can expect to receive from you – whether it’s industry insight, tips or personal experience. Customise every email to each recipient, and include a link to subscribe. Make it easy subscribe. Add the...
What separates the brands you love from the rest? It’s a personality that you want to buy from, which is why you shouldn’t ever keep your brand all business. In this blog, we’ll look at how small businesses can create a strong brand with heart, and why it matters. But first, I want to preface the blog with my own experience of a brand. Brand lessons from the east I live on the Gold Coast, but have travelled to India several times. Every time I visit India, I see the Indian guru Baba Ramdev plastered on every billboard and shop selling everything from flour to shampoo. Baba Ramdev has a mass following in India that began in yoga, and evolved into an all-encompassing consumer brand. He looks every inch the guru – wears the classic orange robe, has the long hair, is pictured in yoga poses and everything he touches turns to sales. To bolster his credentials, his brand sponsors everything from Indian news to sports events. I found it funny at first; of course a yoga guru is the face of rice in India. Every poster of the smiling yogi next to hair care looked contrived to me. ‘Do Indians really fall for this?’ I asked. Then, faster than I realised, I started caving in to the image. It started one day when I went to buy oats. When several options were placed in front of me, I instantly picked Baba Ramdev’s brand. Who else could I trust for breakfast? Even as a foreigner outside of Baba Ramdev’s market, where 90% of the brand message is lost in...
We’ve all experienced the feeling of being pulled in every direction and accomplishing what feels like zero. Being stuck in that place isn’t just uncreative and uninspiring, it’s purely reactive and incessantly exhausting. If you’re switching tasks faster than switching off the light at night, it’s time to clean up your schedule and start compartmentalising. One way to get out of this frustrating place is by dropping the tasks that aren’t crucial and prioritising the rest. Maybe it’s stepping away from a partnership that isn’t serving your core market. Or taking the focus off PR while you put essential building blocks in place (like a strategy around engaging followers). The second is outsourcing and automating so you can focus on creating the exceptional brand you set out to create. Consider tasks that repeatedly take up the most time, then figure out if you can outsource or automate them. In a saturated market, every moment spent on tasks that aren’t serving your niche or developing your brand is revenue lost. From batch tasks to de-cluttering your inbox, these automation tips can free up time – and focus! Categorise and batch tasks It takes less than two minutes to lose sight of a task when you have a million things on your plate, and a lot longer to reclaim focus when you switch from job to job. The premise of batching tasks is blocking out time for things where you need similar focus – whether it’s blog writing, strategy or design. Batch work lets you turn off distractions, create flow and complete tasks faster. Tame your inbox Don’t sweat time crafting...
As 2019 gets into full swing, it’s time to refocus your content marketing efforts in order to expand your brand reach. Sure, you’re probably aware of the basic digital marketing techniques – and perhaps you’ve even mastered them. But that doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. Rather, you need to investigate what’s new in the digital world and use those innovative tools to speak to new audiences. Getting the basics right If you’re just starting out or need a refresher on how to market your business in the digital age, it’s important to master the basics first. Luckily you don’t have to go it alone – there are lots of free marketing tools that can make your life easier. That being said, you will need to understand the essentials in order to take full advantage of online marketing. For starters, get acquainted with: Search engine optimisation (SEO) Content creation Inbound and social media marketing Google AdWords Automation tools Press releases Digital launches These are just a handful of the most common marketing tools and tactics. So rather than taking a scatter gun approach, test a range of different methods, find what works best for your brand, and build your expertise in a few different areas. Here are five to consider. Tip #1 – Schedule Instagram Stories Every business worth its salt should be tapping into social media. These communication hubs are no longer just places where people upload photos and catch up with old friends – they are an absolute goldmine for businesses with the marketing nous to capture their audience’s attention. Instagram’s popularity has skyrocketed in...
