“The 5 Pillars of Digital Success for Small Businesses”
with Dan Grech
Last week I led a 90-minute training on “The 5 Pillars of Digital Success for Small Businesses.” I’ve charged $150 for this workshop, but I decided to give it as a gift to the BizHack community for all of the amazing support we have been receiving these past three months.
During this #BizHackLive I used Facebook as a platform to help us get to bigger ideas in digital marketing. The lessons learned during this webinar can be applied to any campaign – organic or paid, Google or Facebook – that a business owner will do digitally.
Recap of “The 5 Pillars of Digital Success for Small Businesses” with Dan Grech
Important Takeaways:
- How to use 5 Pillars to communicate effectively (and profitably) with current and future customers.
- How marketing has changed (permanently) due to the pandemic, and how you can adapt
- Case studies of small businesses running digital campaigns to attract new customers.
How Marketing Has Changed with COVID-19
[share Industries Most Impacted by COVID-19 slide] – to find out more here
Social media and messaging have exploded
- Time spent on Facebook is up 70%
- Instagram engagement (likes, shares, comments) is up 76%
- Messaging on FB, IG, WhatsApp is up 50%om Facebook is up 50%
- Traffic to websites directly fr
- Advertising on social media has plunged (=cheaper ad rates)
- Email open rates have spiked 5%
- B2B companies and businesses that rely on nose-to-nose networking are turning more aggressively to digital marketing
If you have something to advertise, you can do so now at a cheaper rate than you were able to do before and probably will be able to do as the economy opens.
Let’s give you a couple of places where you can begin to leverage the 5 Pillars of Digital Success:
- The Campaign Objective
- Target Audience
- Irresistible Offer
- Strong Visual
- Compelling Message
Don’t Boost. Run Ads.
Have you noticed your reach on Facebook and Instagram going down?
This is happening intentionally because Facebook is changing the algorithm to make it harder for you to reach people organically and forcing you to pay for what you used to get for free.
Tip: Facebook Business Manager gives you access to create Facebook and Instagram ads.
Now’s not the time to stay silent
“When times are good you should advertise, when times are bad you must advertise.” – Bruce Barton, Author and Ad Executive (b. 1886 – d. 1967)
Advertising right now is down dramatically, that’s silence. The key is to not be silent, but to add value.
Pillar #1: The Campaign Objective
As a small business your goal has to be to generate profitable leads and sales for your business. When you post, you must have a purpose.
Ex: If you serve Moms, on Mother’s Day, post to give her a gift that will help you make money and will also help her. Don’t just say Happy Mother’s Day.
- Don’t try to get married on the first date. You need a campaign customer journey, work your way to making a sale.
- The key to knowing if an ad worked is being clear with what your campaign objective was.
BizHack’s recommended Campaign Objectives:
- Traffic (link clicks)
- Video Views (thruplays)
- Lead Generation (form fills)
- Messages (conversations)
Pillar #2: Target Audience
The first step in that process is breaking down your likely customers into groups. That process is called segmentation.
The 4 ways to sub-divide (or “segment”) your audience
- Where (geographic)
- Who (demographic)
- What (behavioural)
- Why (psychographic)
Focus on the pleasure and hyper-serve the IDEAL customers (easiest to serve, most profitable, etc.)
Pro Tip: If you define a segment but have no way of finding them (online) it’s worthless to you.
- 80% of people online are on Facebook
- The average person visits Facebook 8 times a day while only visiting LinkedIn 2 times a week.
The Goldilocks Principle
There is an art and a science when it comes to finding your ideal audience on Facebook.
- Not too broad (too many false positives)
- Not too small (there are no eyeballs to reach)
- Just right: What interests would you target for your business?
Ex: If you own a golf retail store, don’t target those who show interest in Tiger Woods (too broad), instead go with Bubbah Watson. A golf enthusiast would know who Bubbah Watson is, but no one else would.
The “But No One Else Would” Trick
A [your industry] enthusiast will know what [superfan term] is but no one else would.
Tip: Use Audience Insights inside Facebook Business Manager to test and play with who your Bubbah Watson is.
Pillar #3: Irresistible Offer
1. You need to identify what your business’s irresistible offer is. Your overall customer value proposition.
Ex: BizHack’s irresistible offer is that people who take our 5-week course, pay for the tuition of the course through incremental revenue within 6 months of taking it. It is a course that pays for itself.
2. You must start with a Free Irresistible Offer that you know people will pay for. The purpose is to motivate someone to give you their contact information (name, email address, phone number) – We call this a lead.
Ex: This webinar is based on “The 5 Pillars of Digital Success for Small Businesses” workshop that I’ve charged $150.
Pillar #4: Strong Visual
Always use video
- Make it “Thumb-Stopping”
- Facebook even has its own built-in “Video Creation Kit”
- Creative Hub is another great free tool Facebook offers
Pillar #5: Compelling Message
The message is the words that accompany the offer, the CTA, and the video.
Focus on your Unique Selling Proposition
Simply answer: How are you solving a customer’s pain?
5 Reasons a Business Owner Must Master Digital
- It’s quickly becoming the only way to “sell to strangers”
- Digital is more scalable than nose-to-nose networking
- Don’t outsource your growth engine: Know how to set a strategy, hire a team and evaluate their results
- Every business needs a multi-channel approach to survive
- A business owner knows best which audience and offer will work
BONUS: 3 Marketing Tips for Reopening
- Customer behavior has changed fundamentally (and forever). Your marketing must too!
- Tell your “We are open” story
- Now is the moment to build up your digital presence.
Pro Tip: Ask any of your current software providers about their COVID-19 discount programs.
