Speaker 1: So listen, the rumors are true. There is a proven and profitable way to turn your social media accounts into a sales-generating machine for your business, transforming your existing social media strategy from a time-wasting activity into one of the fastest and most effective ways to start generating more leads, more clients, and more sales. And in this video, I'm gonna show you seven of the most effective social media marketing strategies that are working right now, so you can just follow these steps and avoid all of the mistakes that lead most people to failure. So with that said, let's dive straight in to one of the most important strategies of all, something I call the Marketing Master Plan. Also, a big thank you to HubSpot for sponsoring this video, but more on that later. The Marketing Master Plan is my secret weapon when it comes to creating effective, high-converting, and ultra-profitable social media marketing strategies, whether I'm creating a marketing campaign for Meta, Google, Amazon, or a smaller agency client like a plumber, roofer, or dentist. First off, you need to make sure that you're doing the right things in the right place for the right people at the right time. And this is why the first step in the Marketing Master Plan is the model. The model is all about the what, as in, what am I gonna offer my market? Or in other words, what is it that you're selling? The key here is to define and clarify exactly what you do, and make sure to choose an offer that's going to help you maximize your enjoyment and profitability all at the same time. By keeping your focus squarely on your most important, most relevant, and highest-value offer, you avoid confusing and overwhelming people. The fact is that confused customers and confused clients don't buy. So keep the focus on a single offer, one at a time, and keep it clean, clear, and as simple as possible. Okay, next up, market. The market is all about the who, as in, who is my ideal customer avatar or ideal client avatar, my perfect target market, the kinds of people that are the best fit for what I have to sell. The fact is you can't sell to everyone, and the more clear and specific you are, the more desirable your offer and your messaging are going to be. More on this later, though. Then, once you've got that done, it's time to move on to the next step, the message. The message is all about the why, as in, why are they going to care? What problem is my offer helping them solve? And why would they wanna work with me instead of my competitors? Now, if you've never thought of this before, these are some tough questions to answer. But fortunately for you, you've already done the hard work of identifying your model and your market. So now all you really need to do is kind of bridge the gap between the two. First, identify what I call your ideal client's miracles and miseries. Their miracles are all of their wants and needs and dreams and goals and desires. Their miseries, on the other hand, are all of their pains and problems and fears and frustrations. Your offer's job, the model in this case, is to help them move away from their miseries and towards their miracles. And your message is how you're going to help communicate how you do that. Okay, next up, media. Media is all about the where and when, as in where is your market present and active online and offline, what media types and platforms do they prefer, and how are you going to reach them? For example, through text or audio or video, not to mention when and how often you're gonna post or create content there, which is all about your content frequency and schedule. Now, most people mistakenly start here first, hearing about how TikTok is the place to be or how Instagram Reels are getting an extra push from the algorithm or how YouTube is perhaps the single greatest marketing opportunity of our entire generation. And as true as these things are objectively, they may not be true, or at least they may not be the best fit for you, your business, and your audience. After all, as great as YouTube is, if the thought of creating long-form videos just doesn't work with you right now, then you're gonna wanna pass. Or if your business happens to serve an older demographic, then TikTok probably isn't the best place for you. If you serve mostly men, then you can probably safely ignore Pinterest, at least for now. And if you serve an international audience, there's even more considerations with different social media sites being blocked or banned or limited in different countries. The point is you've gotta find out where your ideal target market is active and present, and then go there, ignoring everything else. Now, being in the right place at the right time is a good start, but it's not enough to create profitable campaigns. For that, you also need a machine. So let me walk you through that next. The machine is all about the how, as in how will I guide my target market through the process to becoming a paying customer or client. In marketing, we call this a marketing funnel or a sales funnel or a customer journey. But the machine is a really important topic. So I'm gonna walk you through it in more detail later in this video. The next thing then that we need to talk about before that is the social media algorithms. But first, I wanna tell you about this report right here. You see, HubSpot recently came out with their value-packed and completely free social media trends report to help you create a winning social media strategy by giving you an exclusive look into how people engage across social, both personally and professionally. For example, if you're curious about how AI is disrupting marketing, then you'll be interested to hear that 71% of social media marketers are now using AI tools and how that 87% of marketers believe that using AI tools is crucial to a successful social media strategy this year. Another popular topic and trend taking over right now is community building. And 86% of social media marketers say building an active online community is crucial to a successful social media strategy now that customers and consumers are expecting more engagement and support on social media than ever before. There's also insights on the increased use of social for research, the impact of social media shopping, and an expert panel with insights from other social media thought leaders. And the best part is, it's completely free. So make sure to click the link down in the descriptions below this video to download your free copy of HubSpot's social media trends report today. Now, let's dive into the algorithms and how to use them to your advantage. As fancy and complicated as the social media algorithms might sound, well, they're actually pretty straightforward. So if your social media accounts and following aren't growing as fast as you were hoping or your content isn't getting the reach you expected, it's usually just because the algorithm is having a hard time doing its job of matching your content up with the right audience. But don't worry, because once you know what the algorithm is looking for, you can simply follow the rest of the tips that I'm giving you here in this video in order to make the algorithm work for you. In order to make the algorithms work to your advantage. You see, the algorithm only has two jobs. Number one, to find content for people that they might enjoy. And then number two, to show them as much of this enjoyable content as possible so that they stay on the platform forever. So the secret then is to help the algorithm by being crystal clear about who your account is for and then optimizing your content for your fans, your followers, and your audience. Because if they like it, and so will the algorithm. But we'll talk more about attracting your ideal audience shortly. Another cliffhanger there for you. For now, what's important to know is that when it comes to content types, there is still one kind of social media content that reigns supreme. And that will get you more reach, more views, more clicks than pretty much any other kind of content, video. So let's talk about that now. It's no longer a secret that your clients, your customers, and your audience want more video content. The social media platforms all want more video. And most of the content online is now video based. Yes, text still works. Blogs are still a thing. And yes, podcasting still works, maybe even better now than ever before as it's become more mainstream and popular. But none of those come close to video in regards to both popularity and effectiveness. After all, video allows you to see and to hear someone. And with the right kind of captions, you can keep people engaged by allowing them to read parts of what you're saying as well. And as for building trust and becoming an authority in your industry, video is still the next best thing to being in-person face-to-face. And it builds trust like nothing else out there, allowing you to communicate a ton of value very quickly. Now, when it comes to video, there's a ton of different things that you can do, depending on your experience and your comfort level and your budget of both time and money. The easiest way to get started is to just grab your phone and shoot a quick 15 or 30 second or so story and post it on Instagram. It's fast, it's simple, it's low barrier to entry. And it's a great way to show your more personal side without needing to edit or put in any kind of post-production. In fact, inside our Agency Accelerator program, where we help people start and scale successful marketing agencies, one of the first kind of content that we have our students create is short 30 second stories, which provide one of the biggest bangs for your marketing buck in regards to the effort versus reward and ability to generate new leads, new clients and new sales. To take it to the next level, creating a slightly more polished Facebook or Instagram reel, a TikTok or a YouTube short is gonna be worth your time. Of course, this then leads us to the next piece of the puzzle. What kind of video is best? Short form, long form? One of the biggest questions that people are asking right now is all about the pros and cons of long form content versus short form content. To keep things simple, we're gonna call short form content any kind of vertical content that's one to three minutes or less. Something like a short, a story or a reel. And we'll call a long form content any kind of horizontal content that's five to 10 minutes or longer. Think of a regular length YouTube video, a podcast, maybe even a long form blog post. Now, I'm just gonna come right out and say it. For most people, most of the time, long form content is a better and more profitable bet to make. First off, let's talk about the depth you can achieve with long form content. Because when you're creating longer pieces, longer videos or longer form articles of a thousand words or more, well, you've got space to really dig into a topic, which means you can provide more insights and data and analysis. The kind of stuff that short form just can't match. Not only does this help inform your audience, but it also positions you as an authority in your field. And when people find your content informative and valuable, guess what? They start trusting you more and coming back for more. Longer form content also tends to rank higher in the search engines as they usually include more keywords and backlinks and social shares. Plus, longer content keeps readers or viewers on your page or video longer, reducing bounce rates and increasing dwell time. All these fancy nerdy marketer words that basically just send positive signals to the search engines, boosting your site or your video's visibility and helping drive more traffic. Plus, long form content tends to get more shares on social media. When viewers or readers find your content valuable and engaging, they're more likely to share it with their networks. This not only increases your reach, but also enhances your brand's visibility and credibility. And more shares mean more eyes on your content. That's a win-win. Let's not forget about user experience. Providing a thorough, well-researched piece of content means you're answering your audience's questions and addressing their pain points at a much deeper level. When users find all of the info that they need in one place, they're more satisfied, more likely to return. And from a business perspective, long form content can be an absolute powerhouse for lead generation. Whether you're making detailed guides or white papers, long form videos or webinars, well, they often require your audience to provide their contact information in order to access the content. This helps to build your email list and identifies potential leads who are genuinely interested in your offers. Plus, long form content can nurture these leads by providing them with valuable information that moves them through the sales funnel, further boosting conversion rates even higher. Finally, as if this wasn't enough already, one of my favorite benefits of long form content is its longevity. Essentially, by focusing on creating evergreen content, stuff that remains relevant over time, can keep attracting traffic and generating leads long after it's published. Plus, you can also repurpose long form content into various other formats like blog posts and social media updates and videos and podcasts and infographics. All of this helps to maximize your content marketing efforts and helps you reach a bigger audience at a deeper level. Long story short, bit of a pun there for you, while short form content is quick and easy to consume, the benefits of long form content far outweigh the extra time and energy required for this strategy to pay off big time. That said, the next question we need to answer then is when it comes to making this content, what's more important, quality or quantity? If you've ever read a blog post or listened to a podcast or seen a video on content marketing, then I know you've come across the age old advice to publish high quality content on a consistent basis. Everyone says this, even me, and they're not wrong. Quality content on a consistent basis is one of the biggest keys to success in marketing, but it's the end point, not the start. Quality content isn't something that just happens right out of the gate. It takes practice, engaging with your audience and slowly building up your content creation skills. And so the advice to focus on creating the highest quality content you possibly can often causes people to give up before they even really get going, to agonize over their content and to judge it way too harshly. And in the end, well, this basically just leads to them never doing anything for fear of how they or their content might be perceived. But the reality is that in this hyper-competitive market, more is better, different is better, and better may not actually be better because quality is subjective. So what looks terrible to you might look amazing to someone else and probably does. So if you're currently putting out one video a month, try to make it weekly. If you're sending out a weekly marketing email, try three times a week, try to make it daily. And if you're putting out daily Instagram content, well, could you try it twice a day? I bet you could. You see, it's competitive out there, my friend. So the key is to do your best and do it as often as you can without going crazy in the process. That's the game, that's the fun. Ultimately, the best kind of content to post is the kind that's going to give your audience the most value, which is what this next point is all about. As we already covered when we talked about the marketing master plan, one of the very first steps in any marketing campaign is first identifying and clarifying exactly who it is and what kind of client, lead or prospect you wanna generate. Because the truth is that anyone can generate leads, thousands, even millions of them. For example, if I wanted to generate a thousand new leads right now, I could run a sweepstakes or a draw, just give away a free iPad. If I wanted to generate a million new leads, I could give away a car. But all that's going to do is get me a ton of leads that are probably never gonna buy anything and are really just here for the free iPad or free car. So the best way to do this is to take a look at your current client list and then do a simple 80-20 analysis on them. In other words, taking all 100% of your clients, current and former, and then identifying who the top 20% of them are. Typically, you'll wanna rank them in regards to revenue, but you could also factor in other things like how enjoyable these clients are to work with, how many referrals they send you, how easy is it for you to make them happy and deliver your products or services. If on the other hand, you're launching a brand new offer or starting a brand new business and you don't have any previous customers to look through, you're gonna need to get a little more creative and start having conversations with potential clients and potential buyers who you think would be a good fit in order to get the following information. Information that falls into three different categories. The first category you wanna define is their demographic details. These are things like their age and gender, income and occupation. Next is their geographic details, like what city, state, province, or country they live in. And then lastly is their psychographic details, like what are their interests, their lifestyles, their hobbies, any groups or organizations or affiliations they're a part of, what are their behaviors, things like that. In marketing, when you put these all together, you get what's often referred to as an ICA or ideal customer avatar. And knowing this and truly trying to understand your customers and your clients better than they even know themselves is what separates the amateur marketers from the pros. That and having a really solid funnel. So let's talk about that now. When it comes to marketing funnels, there are a ton of different shapes and sizes out there, but the one I wanna share with you today is the one I use pretty much 90% of the time and I call it the CASE funnel. The CASE funnel is a marketing funnel designed to take your prospect from having no idea who you are all the way through to becoming a lifelong loyal paying client. And it's perfect if you sell your services through a sales call. And the CASE stands for coaches and consultants, agencies, service professionals, and experts. The funnel helps to pre-qualify clients, overcome objections in advance, and really just makes the entire client acquisition and sales process faster, easier, and more efficient. And it looks like this. So let me walk you through it now, starting with traffic. Every marketing funnel starts with some kind of traffic. This could be a social media post, a blog, a podcast, a video, an ad, doesn't matter. The key here though, is to drive the traffic to the next step of the funnel, which is the opt-in page. If you're dealing with cold traffic, meaning the people that you're marketing to have never heard of you before, then it's important to guide them through the rest of the steps in the order they're presented. On the other hand, if you're receiving a warm lead, something like a referral, well, then you can safely bypass these first few steps and move them straight to the application page. So I'll talk more about that in just a second. For now, assuming your lead came from cold traffic, well, like I said, the next step is that opt-in page. The opt-in page exists for one reason and one reason alone, to get someone to opt in. Yeah, it's pretty profound, I know. So typically what you wanna do here is offer them something of value, like a free downloadable training, a checklist, a video, or some kind of cheat sheet in exchange for your prospect's name and email address. Then once they enter their details and hit submit, they're immediately taken to the next stage of the funnel, the authority amplifier. It's here in the authority amplifier stage that you wanna provide value and establish your credibility and expertise. What works best here is to provide a short training video that helps your prospect with a problem that they have. Now, you don't have to give everything away, but try to provide a quick win and then follow it up with an invitation to apply to your services by clicking a link somewhere on the page. Once they click the link to apply, well, they're then directed to an application form, which is the next step of the funnel. Having an application form for your services is one of the most valuable things that you can do in that it not only helps you get more information on your potential clients and how you might possibly be able to help them, but it also sets the frame and shows that you are an expert and you're not necessarily willing to work with just anyone who pays you. This is important for both cold traffic and warm traffic. Yes, even your best referrals who come from your best clients should still be requested to fill out an application prior to a call. As it again helps to collect valuable information and also sets the tone that you're not willing to work with just anybody who comes your way. Now, you can review each application manually or you can leverage automation as most online form software allows you to redirect them to the next page automatically if the application looks good or redirect them somewhere else if it looks not so good. And the next page is the calendar booking page. Here in the calendar booking stage, you can allow your prospect to choose from one of your available times in order to have a quick call with you to go over their application, to discuss their goals and decide together on whether or not you're a good fit to work together. So that's the case funnel. And if you're looking for even more strategies, well, I've got a video linked up right here with 10 more proven and profitable marketing strategies that are guaranteed to grow any business. So make sure to tap or click that now and I'll see you in there in just a second.