This is a chapter from our Marketing Calendar Blueprint product (which I’ll also be talking about at the SMAC event you see above in the blog header). The Marketing Calendar Blueprint teaches you how to strategically plan your year so you always be providing to your audience what they are looking for.
The idea is simple . . . and so is the execution. One of the chapters is about deciding which social media site to work on. . . there are so many, aren’t there? Here’s a sneak peek:
Where do I put it?
Each of the social media sites has a function – the key is to maximize the use of that function so you can:And don’t forget about emails, press releases, podcasts, infographics, Flickr, articles, guest blog posts, etc. . . the list is really endless.
- Create a community
- Drive traffic to a property you own
That’s really the most important part. I don’t say that lightly because where would 10,000 fans on MySpace get you today? If you’re in the Music Niche – maybe you become a rock star – but for the rest of us MySpace is just another AOL.
A Seamstress Case Study
So let’s talk about leveraging the different tools. How about we use the example of a seamstress? Seriously, if I can show you how a seamstress could use all the tools – you’ve got to know that you can figure it out for yourself.
Pinterest: Create boards for topics you can monetize. For that matter create Boards that mirror the categories on your site. May and October are big wedding months, right? What about posting to your social media outlets and emailing your list links to table centerpieces (all made with fabric), corset patterns, easy veil designs. . . the list goes on and on. Make sure to pin some of the pages on your website as well.
Youtube: For Christmas or to support a product launch, do a series of How To Videos. Title them with the right keywords, include links to your website and fill out the description. How to Sew Christmas Ornaments, How to Sew Christmas Stockings. . . . etc. . . Post links to the videos on sewing blogs, craft sites and other places where people are openly asking how to do things.
[stextbox id=”alert”] *Important: take those same videos and load them up to your Facebook Page. Don’t link to them from YouTube. If you load them directly to Facebook, a “subscribe” button will show up and you can create new fans.[/stextbox]
Flickr: Join Flickr groups and comment on their designs. Post pictures of your work and include links to the “how to” videos. Make sure your profile also talks about what you do and includes links to your products or sites.
Forums: Search for “Seamstress Forum” on Google add “forum” to any of your keywords to find those for your niche and become an active member. Contribute and the members will be open to hearing about your blog posts.
Email: Send out an email to your audience on Wednesday with links to the things you created earlier that week. If you’ve parsed your email list then you know your Christmas list will love it.
Twitter: Twitter is a great place to drive traffic to the content you created. With search.twitter.com – you can also find people who are talking about your keywords. Using Google Alerts, you could find people who are asking about Holiday Stockings and send them a link to your How-To-Video.
WikiAnswers: This is a place where people come just to ask questions. Become the expert here. Keep track of questions and answer them as they come in. You’ll soon be the expert and people will check out your profile (that has your links).
Let’s say this seamstress is going to do a series on Christmas Tree Skirting. And in so doing some of the keywords she’s researched that support the main theme are the following:
- Personalized Christmas Tree Skirt
- Christmas Tree Skirt Pattern
- Silver Christmas Tree Skirt
- Christmas Tree Skirt and Stockings
- Christmas Tree Skirt Ideas
- Burlap Christmas Tree Skirt
There are many more . . . that’s just an idea. It’s November 1st and you need to put these in action. So we know what we’re creating content around these keywords – the question is where do we put that content:
Topic Where How do we use it?
|
Personalized Christmas Tree Skirt
|
Blog Post with photos and directions as you make it | Drive traffic to it with SEO and through Links. Sell a pattern. |
| Christmas Tree Skirt Pattern | Make a printable, and pin it on Pinterest | Drive traffic from SEO – promote the Pinterest Board – upsell more patterns |
| Silver Christmas Tree Skirt | Photos on Flickr, pin on Pinterest, Stumble on StumbleUpon and Digg | Post links to them on Facebook and Twitter, use the image in another blog post – with a link to the pattern. |
| Christmas Tree Skirt and Stockings | Create an ebook filled with ideas, patterns, pictures. Post links to it everywhere | Sell more patterns, get the audience excited about your next offering. |
| Christmas Tree Skirt Ideas | This would be the Pinterest board that you iFrame on your website. | Include a link to subscribe to the Pinterest board as well as links to the ebook. |
| Burlap Christmas Tree Skirt | Great idea to make a sell on Etsy.com, or ebay. Would make a great video for Instructables.com – that you also embed in your site. | Send an email to your list with a story about burlap and links to your etsy listing or products on Amazon |
| Any Previous post | Stumble it, Digg it, Tweet it, Post it on Facebook, use Ping.fm to send it to other networks – or turn them into audios and make it a podcast. | Some easy backlinks to your site, faster indexing of your content and more exposure |
There’s no real magic to figuring this out, but from a micro-content standpoint, you may want to be break up your content so that you can at least make a post on each of your main sites each week. To do that you might want to create a table like this for your micro-calendar:
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
| x | x | x | x | x | |||
| x | x | x | x | ||||
| x | |||||||
| Other | x | x |
So does that make it easier or harder? There are tons of sites out that specialize in different things. Use them to support each other. Don’t be daunted by them. If you’re entire audience is on Facebook – then create content in the other places and link to them on Facebook.
Got a crazy fun strategy you’ve used? Would love to hear it.
If you’d like to know when the Marketing Calendar Blueprint will be available, let us borrow your email address for a while and we’ll send you the info: