Social Media Marketing – Content Marketing Masterclass

Introduction To The Social Media Marketing Section

Explore the fundamentals of marketing and the buyer journey, cover social media platforms, seo, community based marketing, create social media post, and craft a marketing plan and mission statement.

Mastering Social Media Marketing

How do I create a digital marketing plan? Well the first thing we have to do is we have to concentrate on finding Bob. The very first thing we have to do is we have to figure out who our Bob is what does our ideal client look like. What do they take interest in? Where do they hang out? What music do they listen to, how old are they? We have to understand Bob's world view, how Bob views the world. Once we have a clear buyer persona we can start marketing to Bob, we can build our plan. In this discussion we're going to be looking at building a plan for a fashion brand for instance, we're going to use a fashion brand but then we can extrapolate that to any type of brand. So how do I build a marketing plan? When we build a marketing plan we are essentially creating a marketing funnel. So to simplify things we will build an AIDA funnel and the same technique can be applied to any marketing campaign or long term strategy for any product or service. What is an AIDA funnel? It is basically a marketing strategy that matches a biased decision making process. So we take that decision making process and we break it down into four simple steps that we can match our marketing to. Then we market to Bob in four simple steps in line with that buying process. The four steps: So what are those four steps? Well the first step is ATTENTION which is content that gets Bob's attention. Then we have INTEREST content that generates Bob's interest. Then we have DESIRE content that feeds Bob's desire. Then we have ACTION content that Bob can act on. We create marketing content for each of those specific steps and lead our buyer to the purchase of our product. Where do I start? So where do I start? What action do I want Bob to take? The real secret to getting an AIDA marketing funnel working for you is to build it in reverse. So we will need to decide what action it is that we want our buyer to take, when they get to the end of the marketing funnel, and we need to decide that at the very beginning. So we just want Bob to buy our stuff right, buy my stuff that's the action we want Bob to take? Or is Bob more valuable to you, if he buys a product off of you once or if he buys many products off of you over many months or even years? Maybe Bob is more valuable as a brand advocate, someone who likes to recommend your product because he likes it so much? Deciding what action specific action you want Bob to take is extremely important. So what action do I want Bob to take? Let's say you want Bob to buy many things from you. Your main goal would be to get him to sign up to a membership scheme that gives huge benefits to Bob where you can communicate offerings to him on a regular basis. Amazon Prime is an example of this. In that case your end action is not to get a sale but to get a subscription to your membership scheme. That's the action we want Bob to take. The desire phase: So what about this next phase this DESIRE phase? Desire is where you create an emotional commitment to your product. This is usually in the form of regular communication through something like an email list. We need to build Bob's desire for products over time. Now sometimes people will buy a product straightaway but oftentimes we have to develop desire for a product. So if we get him on our email list we can market to Bob continuously. But the thing about email list is that Bob does not want you to sell stuff to him. Bob will only join your email list if he get something useful. So for a fashion brand we could create a fashion tips newsletter where the main focus is on giving Bob fashion tips that he will find useful and relevant. Then at the end of every email message, right at the end, we give the option for them to take advantage of an offer, a call to action, which in this case might be the membership scheme sign up. So we use our list to send him useful relevant free information, but all the time we're trying to push him towards that sign up where we can push him special offers, discounts, maybe end of line stock. But the important thing to understand here is we have to create desire for continuous communication. And if Bob gives us an email he has given us the opportunity to talk to him on an ongoing basis. And that's why email lists are probably the most valuable resource you can create, when it comes to online marketing. Interest content: So how do we get them on the list? How do I create INTEREST type content? Before someone will give you the email they'll need to know that what they are going to get from the email meets their needs. So we need to create 'free to access' content and email content is not free to access, as the transaction cost is Bob surrendering his email address. This can be in the form of videos, articles, podcasts and in the case of a fashion brand again we would go with fashion tips. We would create visually pleasing set of blog posts or articles and then encourage them to get something for free by signing up to our email list. So at this stage we're working on the INTEREST, so we're gonna do some videos we do some blogs and articles and we're going to ask him to sign up to our email list. Attention content: How do I get them to my articles? How do I get their attention in the first place? I need to go from ATTENTION to INTEREST to DESIRE to ACTION. The ATTENTION phase, this is where social media marketing comes in. We would pick the social channels where we feel Bob hangs out and we would create interesting content there that Bob will engage with and share. So in this instance we would look at using Pinterest and Instagram, as this is where very visual products like fashion do extremely well, in terms of creating a viral presence where your content gets reshared. 1. So we'll create a post on social media, that links to our article. 2. Then our article will have an email sign up, and then we get him on our newsletter list 3. In our newsletter we can ask them to join our membership scheme. 4. Then we can sell product to them on a regular basis. The social campaign: So what type of content would I create for my social media campaign? Well photos of the clothing would be the obvious content type to create. So investing in the photography side of your marketing is going to be key. If you're a fashion brand maybe someone in the business needs to be trained in photography, your product has to look good has to appeal to Bob, has to resonate with him or her. Good quality images of your product both catalogue style, shot in a fashion setting or even showing normal people wearing the clothes to get Bob's attention. We could even do a campaign where we ask people who are wearing their clothes to share those clothes and hashtag them on Instagram or share them on Pinterest so that we can create user generated content. And if you can do that then Bob will buy from you using your AIDA marketing funnel. We have a plan? Yes we do, we've built the marketing plan in reverse. Let's flip it back and look at it from Bob's perspective. Step 1 ATTENTION: Bob finds you on Pinterest Step 2 INTEREST: Bob read your article on your website which was linked from Pinterest, on how to choose a shirt. Step 3 DESIRE: Bob signs up for your free PDF guide on how to buy a shirt that fits properly and joined your email list. Step 4 ACTION: He then receives your newsletter on a regular basis which gives more fashion tips and then subscribes to your membership scheme where he gets a clothing discount and regular offers. Step 5 Bonus: Bob shares the information you give him with others who might have the same fashion sense as him. Bob has now travelled down your marketing funnel. You have a marketing flow. Watch the full course

The Social Media Marketing Monster

Train your social media marketing monster to work on a schedule and a system, then harness it to capture traffic and transfer visitors to your website with useful content.

Free Vs Paid Traffic

Explore the trade-off between free and paid traffic, weighing time and budget commitments, and learn how to balance social media marketing with paid ads to build a long-term brand presence.

What Is Marketing?

Contrast push marketing as interruption advertising with pull or magnetic marketing that uses content and search to attract customers, establish expertise and authority, and drive traffic to your website.

What Is Media?

Media is the content we produce for social platforms, including blogs, videos, podcasts, and infographics; make it useful, relevant, and focused on wiifm, avoiding cat-pic sharing.

What Is Social?

Explore how social proof drives social media marketing by turning comments, reshares, followers, and endorsements into credible validation of your brand.

Local Vs International

Compare local versus international social media marketing by identifying audience location and online presence, assessing viability amid competition, building an online community through blogs and YouTube to gather social proof.

Activities To Complete

Evaluate interruption-based Facebook ads, noticing what prompts clicks and their effectiveness, then distinguish push from pull marketing and note three desired types of social proof for online campaigns.

Introduction To Posting On Social Media Platforms

Explore the golden rules of posting on social media platforms, balancing curation and creation, choosing content types, and applying automation for efficiency.

The Golden Rules

Follow the three golden rules of content creation—what's in it for me, is it relevant, and is it useful—to ensure social media posts deliver value and solve problems.

Curation Vs Creation Of Content

Master curation vs creation to build a valuable social media resource. Apply the 1-to-4 rule to create, share, and comment to grow authority and connections in your industry.

What Types Of Content Should I Create?

Select content types that fit your strengths for a 12–18 month campaign, from written content and photography to video, infographics, and podcasting, with attention to engagement and time fillers.

Written Content

written content offers a low resource and low time cost on a budget, but engagement drops when readers skim. design to enable scanning, recognizing that audiences read then scan.

Photography Content

Learn to shoot simple, compelling images with an iPhone, mastering light—see the light, control the light, capture the light, and process the light—and protect your marketing with rights and licenses.

Infographics Content

Podcast Content

Podcast content taps into a huge, smartphone-connected audience by delivering regular, engaging audio with a good mic. Assess your voice and resources before launching to ensure you can sustain value.

Video Content

Build a budget mini studio to ensure clear audio and lighting for video content. Distinguish informational video articles from streaming videos while keeping messages concise for engagement.

Automation Best Practices

Use automation to disseminate content across multiple platforms and schedule posts, while avoiding spam. Engage with your audience by responding individually and monitoring feedback.

Activities To Complete

Identify your preferred content type and commit to a 12–18 month social media marketing campaign by writing it down. Observe two business posts to analyze time spent and why.