Festive posting

Some of my clients have questioned whether they should continue to post business tips over the festive season.  Their rationale is that people will not be in business 'mode', but will be busy partying and taking a break.

This is true, but often when we are less pressurised we have more time to browse around.  I guarantee there will be plenty of people visiting their Twitter feed, updating their Facebook profiles and taking the time out to bring their LinkedIn profile up to date.  Simply because they are relaxed people are more likely to read more and take on board good value information.

It's probably not the time to sell your stuff or launch a new offer (although New Year is a good time for special deals) - but is a great time to remind people of your knowledge-based blogs and to give away 'How to ...' documents and free ebooks, when people have a bit more time to actually look at what they download.

A 12 days of Christmas tips series with a bit of a festive slant will attract attention or a countdown to 2014 for the last 10 days of December with a thought for each day will get people looking for the next one (so make sure they all go somewhere they're easy to find - like your Facebook Page).

If you're writing a blog focus on the issues that businesses are faced with around the holiday season and share your knowledge to help others.  The occasional Christmas anecdote to demonstrate your point will encourage reading - we all love stories.

So the answer to whether to post or not over the festive season is - yes, do post, but make sure the content of everything you post is appropriate to the season and save those tempting offers for the New Year.

Reaching the right people

When you're marketing online it's easy to think that simply putting a lot of information out will make you highly visible and bring lots of eager customers to your door.  Unfortunately, that's not true.

It IS important to be visible, but if you're not visible in the places where your target audience are looking, you might as well not bother.

In the days before the world wide web, people depended on advertising in the press and direct mail.  You wouldn't waste time sending direct mail for products that therapists would be interested in to car manufacturing companies; nor would you expect to get results from advertising in an industry journal for personnel managers if you were trying to reach plumbers.

The same applies online.  Just because there are lots of platforms where people are active, doesn't mean that they are all the right forums.  Some of them may be, but you need to do your homework and find out who is looking in each place before investing time and effort in promoting yourself.

For instance, if you're selling direct to consumers you might find Facebook a good place to be active, whereas if you're targeting the corporate market LinkedIn may be a better bet.  If you're selling products to consumers having them on Pinterest with quirky comments could also be an excellent place to put your items.

However, just posting on any of these platforms isn't enough.  You'll need a Facebook Page and will need to work hard getting people to come along and Like it.  The power of LinkedIn is in the groups and you can't just go in and sell, you'll need to spend time getting known and demonstrating your expertise.  Even though Pinterest may appear to be a big online pinboard, you do need to keep your boards fresh and organise them well.

Instead of going for quantity, aim for quality - talking to just a few perfect customers means you'll follow a much more direct route to getting new clients.  This means you can invest your time in marketing with complete focus.

So who exactly are you trying to attract?  Where do you find them?  What are their problems and how can you solve them?

One size does NOT fit all

Social media sites are many - and you could spend all day, every day trying to keep up with all the opportunities they offer you to present your business profile.  So how do you choose where to direct your efforts?

There's a really simple answer - find out where your ideal client hangs out and make yourself visible there.

Now, that seems pretty easy and logical, but in reality you're going to have to do some serious work.

Here is your checklist to help you to pick your platform:

1. Decide what your ideal client looks like.  Not just a general description - 'Lawyers', but very specific details of the client 'Lawyers between 30-45 who specialise in company law and are either a partner in their firm or are likely to become so shortly.'  You can take this further by describing the size of the firm they work for, their annual fee-earning level, the type of car they drive, the type of client they work for, etc.
2. Be very clear about what you can do for these people that will make a difference to them - and how.
3. Find out which groups, forums, social media platforms, institutions and associations they are active in.
4. Join the groups and forums they are active in, offer to speak at their institution or association events to share your expert knowledge.  This is NOT about selling your services, but about sharing your insights and helping people as much as possible with advice, tips and suggestions.

If you are targeting people who are selling to consumers you'll often find them on their Facebook Page and they will appreciate you joining their community and contributing to it to help them to keep it live.

If you are targeting business-to-business organisations you are probably going to find them on LinkedIn - and will need to do some research into which groups they are most likely to be in.  If you can join the group, respond on threads and offer advice you'll soon get noticed.

If you are trying to reach creative people you may find them on Pinterest and can repin their designs and choices to make them aware of you, as well as connecting with them elsewhere.

There are many activities that you could engage in - but the key to everything is to really know who you are trying to connect to inside out, it will make finding them much easier!