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This Article May Save Your Life

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What if I told you that by the end of this article, I would give you the single most important piece of information for your small business?  If nothing else, I’d say between the overly dramatic title of this article and that opening sentence, I at least have your attention, don’t I?  And that, my friends, is what we’re talking about today … the branding of your business and how to convey it to your audience with a sense of URGENCY.

I hosted a morning radio show for 20 years, and it was widely understood that you had approximately seven seconds to capture the audience’s attention before they changed the channel.  Seven seconds!  So if you thought it was a good idea to start your segment with, “Hi .. good morning … my name is Zack … this is my co-host … how are you today?” BUZZER!  Wrong answer! They’re gone.  They’re bored and moved on.

But if I started out by saying, “I’m going to tell you about a slice of pizza I ate last night that was so delicious it changed my life,” well now you wanna hear about this magical triangle of destiny and you’re going to hang with me until the end of the story. (Unless you’re some kind of monster that doesn’t want to hear about a life-changing pizza, in which case I don’t want you as my audience anyway.)

I help out once a month at a get-together for small business owners in Roanoke (it’s free and fun, email me if interested), and recently we were talking about the “elevator pitches” of our company.  After hearing “Hi my name is blah blah and I own a company called blah blah,” a few times I knew it was time to talk about how we promote our brand and the sense of urgency necessary to capture our audience.

When we try to reach our audience, we are in a constant battle for their attention between competitors in our field and pretty much any other distraction … Netflix, Candy Crush, annoying TikTok videos, or whatever else.  So it is absolutely VITAL to get our message across as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The good news is, once you have their attention, then you can take the time to explain your brand or your services and show them why you’re so dang awesome.  But if you waste that first seven seconds?  BUZZER! Wrong answer! They’re gone.

OK … now that we’re at the end, this article may not ACTUALLY have saved your life, but I do think this piece of advice is crucial for the success of your business, so it’s definitely saving SOMETHING!

Don’t Go to Jail!

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Ahhh jail.  I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid I was always afraid I’d end up “in jail.”  I didn’t have any plans to commit big heists or anything, but I think TV had it ingrained in my head that you could simply end up “in jail” for a crime you didn’t even commit.  I mean, have you SEEN “Shawshank Redemption?”  That’s some pretty bad jail right there!

And guess what everybody?  Jail is back and better than ever!

OK … you’re not going to be shivved in the yard by a rival gang, but “digital jail” is something you could easily end up in (or already have).  “Digital jail” is when our social media robot overlords decide your content has somehow violated one of their 6,523,222 unspoken regulations and you are summarily sentenced with little to no chance to argue your case.  Huzzah!

If I tried to list ALL the ways to avoid digital jail, the finished product would be the size of one of those giant old books on “Game of Thrones,” but here’s some of the most popular ones …

  • DON’T: Run contests asking for likes, shares, and tags

We’ve all done this one (and probably gotten away with it), but Meta is very clear that this one is against the rules.  Additionally it just kinda looks sleazy and desperate.  What you CAN do instead is run a giveaway and ask people to contribute with relevant comments.  Example:  An outdoor store could offer a $25 gift card and ask, “What’s your favorite winter outdoor activity?”  That’s totally fine, and in many cases will actually help boost page engagement as more people comment on the post.

  • DON’T: Use banned hashtags

Explicit and defamatory hashtags are obvious, but what you may not know is Instagram has an unpublished list of “shadowbanned” hashtags.  These are seemingly normal tags that have been hijacked by spam accounts, so IG starts hiding posts that use it.  Example: #adulting is currently shadowbanned (who knew?) and will get your post crushed by the algorithm. Use Google to find more.

  • DON’T: Share other people’s stuff without permission

In some ways this is silly where a person enters YOUR business, takes a picture of YOUR stuff, and tags you in the post and yet it’s still totally against the rules to repost without permission. Even though 99% of people don’t care, take the extra minute to shoot them a DM and ask if it’s OK to repost.  All it takes is that 1% to decide to complain and you’re in trouble. 

OK friends … that’s all we have time for today.  Good luck staying out of jail!

The JPG Top 3: SEO isn’t as hard as they make you think it is, the suckitude of organic reach and more

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We comb the interwebs to bring you the top 3 stories for small business social media marketing, branding, and engagement. Get it even sooner by subscribing to our FREE Top 3 email. Subscribe now

#3 SEO isn’t as hard as they make you think it is

Ahhh … good ol’ SEO.  First and foremost, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.”  The digital marketing world LOVES to throw out goofy acronyms all the time to sound smart like SEO, KPI, RFP, HIJKLMNOP … you name it and there’s an abbreviation for it.

When I first started in this industry I was someone who didn’t have a fancy marketing degree or whatever.  I just happened to be a person who knew how to tell a story and reach an audience.  Then all of a sudden I saw all these acronyms and thought, “OH MY GOD I AM SOOOO DUMB AND THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL WAY SMARTER THAN ME!!!”  I was totally intimidated by all the terms being tossed around and wondered if I was making a huge mistake trying to get into this business.

Then I actually sat down and looked at everything and realized that a lot of these terms and metrics that sounded hard were actually very basic.  So then I thought to myself, “Well why the hell did they have to make it sound so hard?” 

The reason?  So YOU will be super intimidated and will just fork over ungodly amounts of money to pay an “expert” to handle it for you.  We don’t roll that way at the JPG Agency.  Our goal is to actually empower YOU with the information.  Sure … we can help you (for a reasonable price) but we also want you to understand the HOW and the WHY behind everything.

So today here’s a great read that helps simplify SEO in a way that is much easier to process

#2 Privacy changes and your ads

Things continue to evolve after Apple’s iOS privacy changes, and one is a decreased ROI (oh crap … one of those acronyms again!) on your digital ad spend.  Now let’s be super clear, there are still a TON of ways to target specific audiences this way, but it has gotten a little more harder to figure out.  Additionally, many are heralding this as the rise of influencer marketing as a way to combat these privacy changes.

We are on board for influencer marketing as an effective way to reach your audience, and we also encourage you to think SMALL when it comes to your strategy.  You don’t need to shell out millions of dollars to get Mr. Beast to promote your product.  Simply find members of your industry or local community and utilize the passionate and engaged followers that they have (and for way less money).

And just a further reminder that the single BEST way to reach your audience is to OWN YOUR AUDIENCE.  We say it here all the time.  When you control the engagement point, you control everything.  You also don’t have to rely on somebody else’s algorthims and motives, which leads us to …

#1 The continued slow death of organic reach

Social media marketing is a beast for many many reasons.  It is absolutely necessary to tell the story and create the voice of your brand, but is also an endless grind of frustration. Not to mention the constantly changing landscape where you’re seemingly at the mercy of a bunch of robots and their algorithms (side note: you are). 

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “it sure does feel like my post performance stinks and nobody is seeing it.” I’m here to let you know there’s a really good reason for why you feel that way … because it IS that way.  Organic growth continues to get crushed by both Facebook and Instagram, and here’s a great analysis that highlights exactly that.

So what the heck do we do about it?  First and foremost, you need to shed the concerns about any of the vanity metrics given to you by these platforms.  Ultimately, what does it really matter how many likes or comments a post gets?  What truly matters is your business being successful and making MONEY.  So start thinking of your content with that filter … does this post tell the story of my brand and invite my audience take action?  If the answer is yes, then you’ve done the right thing regardless of what some algorithm tells you.

Second, it comes back yet again to the OWN YOUR AUDIENCE mindset.  Don’t sit there and rely on Instagram to arbitrarily decide how many people will see your post.  Instead, figure out ways to collect direct contact information of your audience and use it to your advantage.  Take control of your information!

The JPG Top 3: How to post Reels content without totally losing your mind

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We comb the interwebs to bring you the top 3 stories for small business social media marketing, branding, and engagement. Get it even sooner by subscribing to our FREE Top 3 email. Subscribe now

#3 How do I get to be a “recommended post” on Instagram?

You know all those “recommended posts” Instagram likes to clog your feed with?  While you may shake your fist at them and wish they would go away, Instagram execs have made it clear they absolutely aren’t going anywhere (if anything, you’re going to see even MORE of them).  Instagram’s real goal is to make these recommendations just so darn awesome and perfect for your interests that you’re going to be happy to see them (and stay scrolling on their app longer and longer). 

So instead of trying to fight the impossible, we encourage you to embrace the inevitable and learn how the Instagram algorithm selects recommended posts.  These posts are going to be present whether you like it or not, so you might as well have it be YOU who’s being recommended, right?

#2 Email ain’t dead!

We see it all the time … we recommend email marketing to a prospective client and they roll their eyes and say, “Does that even work anymore?”  

The answer?

Yes.

Actually let me say that more emphatically … YES!!!!!

96% of consumers check their email every day, 81% of online shoppers are likely to make additional purchases because of email, and 60% say they prefer email communication from brands versus any other method.  Oh and it is free (or relatively cheap) to send them an email. (Thank you EmailIsNotDead for the factoids.)

Our clients see great results from email marketing as a way to sell products and events, but also simply as a way to stay top of mind with their customers and we HIGHLY recommend it as a tool in your marketing arsenal.  Still not convinced?  Read this … and if you do and still think email marketing sucks, well then we can’t help you and you should probably just delete us.

#1 An easy way to post some Reels content without losing your mind

Welp … here we are talking about Reels again.  If this makes you want to chug from the nearest bottle of tequila and pray to the Internet Gods that Instagram will change their minds, let’s run down some simple facts …

FACT #1:  Everybody is mad at Instagram.  

And yes, “everybody” is an over-exaggeration, but when you see articles like “Why Instagram Sucks Now” and top influencers are bagging on the platform, it’s pretty obvious that people are annoyed.  That said …

FACT #2: Instagram ain’t going anywhere.

Even if they “suck” and “everybody” hates them, Instagram is still a multi-billion dollar company that is owned by a megalomaniac who seems hellbent on world domination (or at least virtual world domination).  You would have to roll the cold dead corpse of metaverse overlord Darth Zuckerberg away before he would give up on Instagram or have it “lose” to TikTok.

What we’re getting at here is you can be rest assured that IG will be part of your social media plans for quite some time and that means it is important to incorporate best practices for the platform, and right now that’s with Reels.  It remains the single best (and free) way to have your brand reach new eyeballs.  But here’s one more fact …

FACT #3: Reels are a pain!

Posting a cute picture with a fun description is SO much less time consuming than a dang Reel!  Buuuut … if you really want to up the reach and engagement of your brand, you gotta suck it up and do ’em.  Doing Reels from scratch takes a lot of time and a little bit of skill (we’re happy to help if you need it BTW), but there’s also a way to balance that with something that is super easy … repurposing old Stories and turning them into Reels.  Meta has just added the ability to easily do this from your archives, and it is a great way to breathe life into some old content and post some Reels without going insane.  Is this the best practice for ALL Reels for your brand?  Probably not, but it’s at least something you can use to supplement your content.

Also, in other great news, you will soon be able to schedule Reels directly through the Instagram platform (as well as any third-party resources you may use), which is incredibly helpful if you’re someone who likes to stockpile and schedule content in one session versus having to develop it on the fly.  It’s still the added effort of creating Reels, but it’s at least a helpful way to schedule them out.

The JPG Top 3: The Ultimate Guide to Reels, LinkedIn Content That Works, and Who Owns YOU?

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We comb the interwebs to bring you the top 3 stories for small business social media marketing, branding, and engagement. Get it even sooner by subscribing to our FREE Top 3 email. Subscribe now

#3 Do You Know Who Owns You?

This story is an interesting one about what happens to sponsorship deals when an influencer couple breaks up (Yup … we’re at that point in the world where we’re talking about). But the reason we bring this up is to ask the question … do you know who owns YOU?

We see it time and time again when we work with a small business who has absolutely no clue who actually owns their digital assets. Their Facebook page was started by an employee 7 years ago who no longer works there (if they can even remember who it is at all), their website is hosted somewhere and they forget where or which email set up the account, and they have no clue what their Instagram password is because “it’s just saved on my phone.” (Any of these sound familiar?)

Would you treat your banking information like this? Of course not! So why are you treating your digital assets this way? Owning and controlling this information is absolutely vital. Without it you are unable to make certain growth decisions for your business, and you also run the serious risk of having your information deleted by someone who no longer cares about it. We HIGHLY recommend taking a look at all of your assets, making sure you control them all, and trimming access to only the most trusted members of your team.

#2 The Best Content to Post On LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a powerful weapon in your digital arsenal. While other platforms make people slap each other in the face with tortillas just to get noticed, LinkedIn presents itself as more of a professional hub for both your brand and personal image. This becomes an opportunity to share your opinions and experiences as a business owner while networking with others in your industry and beyond. To be honest, it’s kind of a refreshing change from the grind of Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

So the question becomes … What kind of content works best on LinkedIn? The Top 5 Content Types That Work Best on LinkedIn

#1 The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Reels

Like it or not, Reels are here to stay and they are a HUGE part of what’s working right now on Instagram. Gone are the days (for now) of just posting a quick picture and watching the engagement roll in courtesy of a few well-placed hashtags. And yes, photo content is still an important part of showcasing your brand’s voice, but to grow your presence beyond your current followers, Reels is the way it’s going to happen.

It’s pretty simple … Instagram is currently getting their butts kicked by TikTok, so they are pushing Reels HARD as a way to get people to stay on their platform as much as possible. As a result, you stand a MUCH better chance of having your brand reach new eyeballs when you play the game and do what the Instagram robots want you to. A real life example … We posted a Reel recently for a client that reached FIVE TIMES as many accounts as their current follower base. Needless to say, this video helped grow their brand to new people who otherwise would never see a single thing they post.

There’s a lot that goes into building successful Reels … video length, hashtag use, collaboration tags, etc … so we recommend this Ultimate Reels Guide as a good starting point. Good luck!