I can't believe it's February already!
Hopefully you're moving forward nicely with your goals for this year.
Here are some nuggets I found this week I think might help you on the journey.
Let's dive into them...
1. FBM EXPERT TIP: HOW TO USE THE NEWS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS
As you know, capturing the attention of potential customers is a constant challenge.
Coming up with new content, angles, and stories can feel like an endless slog.
However, marketing expert, Aiman, provided a little bit of gold that may not only make coming up with content 10x easier, it may also make it 10x more effective...
A strategy some are successfully using to enhance visibility is called newsjacking.
Newsjacking is the art of using trending news to promote your business.
It can work incredibly well because people are actively searching them out, they already have a lot of attention on them.
How to Use News Stories Effectively
1. To find potential stories to leverage, use tools like Google Alerts, Twitter Trends, and RSS feeds to regularly monitor news outlets, social media, and industry-specific publications.
2. Choose news stories that have a clear and logical connection to your business, products, or services. The link between the news story and your business should be relatively seamless but doesn't have to be perfect.
For example, news broke yesterday that F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is moving from Mercedes to Ferrari.
If you're in marketing, you can discuss the impact of having someone like Hamilton join your brand.
If you're in health and nutrition, you can talk about how he has maintained his body to perform longer than most.
If you have a Funnel Builder Marketplace, you can share one of his business funnels.
3. Act quickly. The faster you can respond to a news story, the more likely you are to benefit from its relevance and audience interest.
4. Offer unique insights, solutions, or perspectives that contribute to the conversation.
5. Be sensitive about the news stories you use, many involve sensitive topics.
If you would like Aiman to come up with an ad strategy for you, he's just launched an offer in which he will create a strategy for you for just $7!
You can sign up for that right now here.
But, I'd be quick. Aiman has over 80 5-star reviews for his marketing services so at $7 he's going to book up very quickly!
Click here and get in while you can.
2. MARKETING TIP: HOW TO USE THE POWER OF STORYTELLING TO CONNECT DEEPLY WITH CUSTOMERS
During the pandemic, when countless businesses faced huge challenges, one restaurant, RPG (Restaurant, Pub & Games), opted to try a new strategy to engage with customers: storytelling.
Instead of the usual posts of food, customers, and offers, they decided to try posting stories of how they were handling the pandemic, the origins of some of their most popular dishes, and the stories of different customers.
They hoped a change in content would keep their follower numbers from dropping. What they experienced was a significant increase across the board.
One of the stories they told was how a customer approached one of the owners one day and started crying.
The father told the owner, his son, who was 17 years old, had autism. But, here he was playing Dungeons and Dragons with a group of strangers and opening up in ways his father had never seen.
The father was so genuinely grateful that the restaurant existed because it was a place where his son felt comfortable.
These stories created genuine connections with their customers, They didn't just see RPG as another dining option; they viewed it as a community. They shared the stories with friends and before they knew it, the RPG community was growing faster than ever before.
You know better than most how powerful stories are for building a genuine connection with your audience.
But, are you using them?
If you feel like there is room for improvement, here are 4 stories you can post that will be sure to connect with your audience:
The Transformation Journey:
Share a story about how your business or a particular product/service has transformed a customer's life.
Behind the Scenes:
Give your audience a peek behind the curtain. Tell the story of how a product or lesson was created, including the inspiration, the trial and error, and the final breakthrough.
The Founding Story:
Share the origin story of your business. What motivated you to start? Were there any significant obstacles or serendipitous events that shaped the journey?
Customer Spotlight:
Spotlight stories of customers who have had unique, positive experiences using your product or service.
3. COMMUNITY MEMBER TOP TIP: IS BUILDING A SMALL NETWORK THE KEY TO BUSINESS SUCCESS?
If you asked 1000 business people,
'What do you think contributes the most to career or business success?'
A. Intelligence
B. Creativity
C. Hard work
D. Your network
Many would answer D. Particularly the size of your network.
However, research by Professor Rob Cross from the University of Virginia has found that amongst the top 20% of high achievers, this is not true at all.
Having a large network was negatively correlated with success.
The research found that while the top high achievers still network, what set them apart was how they do it. Here's what sets them apart:
1. They build ties outside their speciality or field
Instead of limiting their network to people within their industry or area of interest, they branch out. Research shows that people who build open networks earn higher salaries and get promoted more rapidly.
2. They have connections across the board
They connect with a wide variety of people from CEOs, to administrators, to tech experts. As a result, they learn things others might not and have better insight on all levels of business.
3. They create high-quality connections
They make an effort to create quality connections. Five meaningful connections are far more powerful than 500 surface-level connections.
This is great news for anyone who doesn't like the idea of networking.
You probably have a few great connections in your network already too.
If you haven't reached out to these people in a while, why not take this opportunity to send them a quick message to see how they're doing and deepen the connection?
It could make a significant difference to your business!
4. FUNNEL OF THE WEEK:
Given Aiman's piece of gold, I figured I would include one of Lewis Hamilton's funnels so I can potentially newsjack his move to Ferrari (it'll be interesting to see if the email subject does anything for open rates. As a side note, when ChatGPT was first blowing up, any newsletter with ChatGPT in the subject got a solid 10-15% higher than usual open rate).
I'll be honest, before digging into this site a little, I had absolutely no idea what the purpose of it was.
Take a look at the site here and think, if you were brought in to run it, knowing what you know about marketing, what elements would you add?
5. FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
"We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories."
- Jonathan Gottschall
That's it for this week my friend! Have a great weekend and I'll see you back here next Friday.
Lee
_01HNMZKM2Z3TB1J8X7Z5TB3Y8V.png)
Happy Groundhog Day!
Fingers crossed there's
no shadow!