Well… 2020 is almost coming to an end and with it changes abound for content marketing planning.
Which frankly I think is good. We need lots of changes these days. It helps fight the “Groundhog” day feeling that 2020 has brought about.
I am not sure about you, but I often find myself looking to do things a little differently these days in order to keep groundhog day from overwhelming me. With all the restrictions in place to help stave off Covid and keep us healthy, it is a hard battle when a lot of what we do is the same as we did the day before and the day before that etc.
Change helps fight it all… at least for me it does. This weekend, we made a huge change in how we ‘do’ our Christmas lights.
For starters we put them up this weekend – at least 2 weeks earlier than the norm. Then we did it very differently and we decorated our back deck and the yard too. Never have we done this before, and MAN! I will always do it in the future! It is so nice to look out in the backyard and see the lights. Plus we (well, that means Marco 🙂 ) put one of our firepits back up and a couple chairs and I PLAN to relax a little this winter all bundled up with a hot drink of sorts!
This past month as I have been planning my courses, trainings and marketing for 2021, I made a big decision to make a change. A change in something I have taught for years.
This change is in how I teach my content marketing planning and strategy and mixing up the content you publish on your social media channels.
Now, this – like my Christmas lights change – is HUGE. I have been teaching this success formula for over 10 years, but like all things in life … nothing stays the same and change is often needed in order to keep moving forward and change with the times.
And the time for this change is now.
So… what is different?
Well, let’s back up a little.
Here is what I define as the 3 types of marketing content you need:
Business. Sales and Persona.
All the marketing content for your social media needs to be a mix of content. This keeps a variety of content on your social media channels so that you do not end up making the biggest mistake some business owners do with their marketing content.
Having one-sided content. Unbalanced content.
Generally what happens if you do not have the mix of content, in my experience, is one of two things:
Either you never market yourself and your programs or services OR all you do is sell, sell, sell. Neither one is a win-win for you. And both will mean you are probably wasting your time with your marketing.
Let’s dive into these 3 types of content:
Business content would focus on a mix of tips and content that supports what you offer your clients. Things you teach your clients, or if you have programs and courses, your students. This can also be quotes/short tips from you, and quotes from industry leaders. It can be sharing links to articles online that are relevant and helpful to your ideal client. It is also sharing links to your own blogs on your website. These come across as sharing info of value to your community.
Sales content is the type that is focused on having a link back to your website and wanting the reader to click the link and take action. You would use links to lead magnets, and visiting your website to get more information, news, events, webinars, workshops, special offers, etc. These should all get posted with a link to your website. But, be sure that you do not over promote these. Focus on the lead magnets more than anything else, then small priced products and sell larger investments through your email list that you build from these posts
Persona Content needs to come direct from the business (YOU) – primarily it is networking and talking to other people on each social media channel. You can also share other good pieces of information, i.e. sharing about events you take part in or pics of you with clients. Now these are probably on zoom calls but you can take selfies like this one, behind the scenes as you prepare for events or launches, how you run your day and your business, etc. Building community and engaging with people is the most important part of this content… connecting, talking and networking with people online. It can also come across in the form of FB Live Videos, and Stories and Reels on Instagram.
In the past my recommendation looked like this – 50% business content, then 20-30% sales and 20-30% persona.
So, what’s changing about this strategy you might wonder?
How often you post each type of content is what I am shifting in this strategy.
I typically have recommended a certain % mix of each type of content and due to the changing nature of social media and how people use it, that means we also need to change how we mix this content up.
In the past I recommended a mix of 50-30-20 but these days I am shifting this to a mix of 30-30-40.
(Now keep in mind this mix is a strategy for service-based business owners. For business owners who are the “Face” of the business. When people buy “you” and the expertise you offer them as part of your service. It does not necessarily work for other types of businesses.)
Here is what the NEW mix looks like:
- 30% Business
- 30% Sales
- 40% Persona
Yes, Persona is up more and Business is down a lot! Why? Well, primarily because in this day and age of social media, you need more YOU to make it all work. It was always the case in the past, but many biz owners did not want to take the time to get online. Well, that has changed. And you will need to up your Persona type content to make your marketing work!
The best method you can use to tell if you are mixing up your content in an effective way is to check the last 10 posts you made, and see how many in each category you have. Then pivot, as needed, with your content marketing planning and scheduling to make sure you fit the mix better.
This strategy is part of what I will be teaching in my ACE your Content Marketing Planning for 2021 Workshop on December 9th and I invite you to join in!
Not only will you learn more in depth about this change and the shift you need to make with your marketing content, you will also learn how to take your goals for the year and convert them into Marketing Action steps and what kind of content you will need to achieve those goals.
This workshop will involve a 90 minute session on Wednesday December 9th at 12pm EST and an open Q & A session on Tuesday December 15th at 12pm EST to cover any follow up questions you might have.
Get all the details here: pepperitmarketing.com/workshop and kickstart your marketing plans for 2021!
Remember, get online … Be Real. Be You, and you will Get Clients!
Stop Struggling and Start Thriving! My passion is helping to guide people just like you, private practice and service-based business owners, who are often frustrated with all their wasted time spent on marketing that gets you nowhere. You can learn strategies to attract a steady flow of clients and build a thriving and profitable practice. Get started with some of the free resources on my Pepper It Marketing website, especially this Guide to Streamline your Marketing. I also offer several self-study training programs to help you attract more clients so you can Build a rewarding and profitable private practice and still have time to LIVE your LIFE!