Do This, Not That When Automating Blog Posts, Social Media and Email Marketing

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One of the great digital marketing debates is on whether or not you should use automation.  It has been debated ad nauseam and I am going to add my voice and opinion to the mix.  As long as digital marketing strategies exist, this debate will continue to exist.  I believe that to be true because a part of the advances in technology, have been to make life easier in some way.  Automating tasks related to digital marketing strategies makes life easier.

I believe automation to be a great asset when used properly.  The problem is that a lot of people do not use it properly and take a set it and forget it approach.

Automating Blog Postings

Why it’s Great:  You can write at times when it is more convenient for you and schedule the blogs to post at times when it is more convenient for your audience.  If you are the sole author of your blog or the content editor, scheduling blogs to posts allows you to go on vacation without missing a beat with your blog.

When it’s Bad:  If the content you have previously scheduled to post becomes irrelevant prior to its post date, that would be bad.  If you write tips on Google’s algorithm, set it to post 2 months in the future and Google releases an update a month prior; you will be disseminating bad information and risk looking like a non-authority on the topic.

Automating Social Media Postings

Why it’s Great:  It’s a lot of work to find, read and share great content with your audience.  Add to that the time it takes to monitor campaigns, respond to commenters and participate in discussions.  It’s a lot of work and we have limited time.  It’s the one thing we cannot create more of; we can only free some of it up by maximizing our productivity.  Scheduling allows you to use time that might not be ideal to post, to find and craft your messages.  You can then schedule them to go out when it is convenient for your audience.

When it’s Bad:  Just like with blog postings, it is bad if you schedule more than you can remember, content wise.  It is also bad if you only schedule and you are not monitoring and engaging with your audience.  Periodically check to see what you have scheduled and review it.  Not only will it help you remember what you have scheduled to go out, but it will also ensure that future postings are still relevant.

Automating Email Marketing

Why it’s Great:  Many of the email marketing providers have ways that you can aggregate RSS feeds into your email campaigns.  Do you post daily deals to your site?  Use an RSS feed to trigger an email to go out with the information to your list.  Using RSS feeds and scheduling emails to go out similar to what you do with blog postings can save you a ton of time.

When it’s Bad:  Again, it’s just like blog postings and social media postings in that you do not want to set it and forget it.  You need to review your reports to make sure that what you’re sending is something that your list wants to receive, open and read.  If you are getting a lot of unsubscribes for a particular campaign, you need to review it.  It does not make sense to keep auto-generating something that no one wants.

Did you notice a theme with when it’s bad?  Setting it and forgetting about it.  Use automation to plan ahead, increase your productivity and ease the strain of doing everything in real time.  However, stay present and on top of what is going out.  If you cannot keep up with and remember what you scheduled to go out 2 months ago, then you should not schedule that far out.  You want to be able to engage with people through your digital channels.  You can end up spending more time trying to remember or re-read something that is being commented on by your audience if you schedule too far out.

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Writers Block Tips

What To Do When You Have Nothing To Write About

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They say every great writer experiences writer’s block…well; I’m not a great writer.  I enjoy writing and I see it as a creative outlet for my brain to dump out its contents.  However, sometimes it’s content is empty and I cannot think of anything to write about.  That is my writer’s block.  It seems to happen more often when I am feeling stressed or approaching a potential burn out.  I have to admit that I place a bit of added anxiety on myself by stressing about not having anything to write about.  Today has been one of those days and I decided to turn to my favorite source for inspiration, motivation and ideas:  the Internet.

Here are some helpful tips to get past writer’s block that I found from around the web:

“7 Ways To Overcome Writer’s Block”, by Chuck Sambuchino
Notable tip:  Write while you are sleeping by using your mind’s night activity to problem solve a writing solution.

“Writing Tips:  Strategies for Overcoming Writer’s Block,” The University of Illinois – The Center for Writing Studies
Notable tip:  Try freewriting, a method of writing everything about your topic that comes to your brain for a specified period of time.  Try doing this for 10 minutes.

“How to Get Past the 10 Most Debilitating Sources of Writer’s Block,” by Corey Eridon
Notable tip:  If you are not in the mood to write, try creating a bit of competition for yourself with the laptop trick.  Unplug and move into a room free of distractions with just the laptop and its battery pack.  Your challenge is to finish writing your post before your battery runs out.

I thought that these three articles had some great tips on working past my writer’s block.  It would help if I could get myself to relax a bit more and release some of this stress, but I’m working on that element.  In the meantime, it gave me some great fodder to write this post and excellent strategies to use when I sit down again to write. 🙂

 

Writers Block Tips

Writing to 10th Graders

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Over the weekend I had a conversation about marketing and writing with my mother.  A client of mine had written a scholarly paper and wanted to use it as the basis for an ebook.  The intent with the ebook was to get people to sign up for a mailing list (they would receive a free copy) and to establish credibility with the content contained within the ebook.  Although I am an avid reader, it took me a full day to read the paper.  It was very scholarly and a bit heavy in terms of leisure reading material.

I was telling my mother about the paper and how it would need to be reworked and written to speak to the layman and more specifically the intended audience.  I thought there was great information contained within the paper, but it was a difficult read just for fun.  My mother mentioned that “back when she was in school,” she had learned in a communications class, to write as if you were writing to a 10th grader.  The thought behind this was that at that level it was simple enough for everyone to grasp the meaning of the content without being too simple and insulting.

I don’t know if this specific concept is still being taught, but I must have been absent the day that was discussed when I was in college.  It was new to me, but a very good way to think about it and one of the tips I will be giving my client for rewriting the paper.  Another tip I plan to give is to write to the audience instead of at them.  I saw a marked difference in my own blog engagement when I stopped writing as if I were being graded.  For me, writing the way I speak and as if I am holding a conversation (albeit one sided) has worked wonders.

The client’s intended audience is not looking for a scholarly read.  They are just regular every day people with busy lives.  The information may be helpful to them, but they will not be interested in reading a research paper.

Do you have any tips for presenting a scholarly/research or scientific document to the layman?

 

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Image Diversity in Advertising

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I recently received an email from a stock photography site that I use with the title, “Real Imagery of Modern Moms and Dads.”  The email highlighted a collection of images they had pulled together that showed diversity in what today’s families look like.  Visuals have always been an important part of marketing, but even more so today within the digital marketing landscape.  I was glad to see a stock photography company catering to the need for more diverse images.

Sometimes I find it difficult to find imagery that is representative of my clients and their audience.  It’s good to see not just a stock photography company recognizing the need, but also photographers recognizing the need and setting up more diverse photoshoots.  Kudos to them both and in case you were wondering, this particular email and below screenshot, came from istochphoto.com.

 

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Are You Being Left Behind?

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I’m going to answer the title of this post’s question for you; no you are not being left behind.  At least not left behind in the way that many small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs are.  The fact that you are reading this post tells me that.  You at least know how to use the internet, a computer or a mobile device and perhaps social media well enough that you found this post.  You are at least trying not to be left behind.

It boggles my mind that people still put such low stock into the power of digital marketing.  At this point, it just does not make sense to me that people still do not see the value in mobile media, social media, content creation (infographics, blogs, etc) and other forms of digital marketing.  I feel it’s more of a stubbornness to take the time to investigate and learn or just a fear of “the unknown,” like outer space.  It brings to mind the stories you hear about how Steve Job’s personal computer was scoffed at or how people didn’t want to give up typewriters and learn how to use a computer.

The technology train is ever moving and finding new routes.  If you do not get on the train, you will get left behind and there may not be any more stops left to board.  Even large brands are wholeheartedly embracing digital marketing and helping to expand the scope and possibilities of that marketing sphere.  If you want to compete, you cannot stay stuck in old traditional methods.  I’m not saying that they do not work or have any value, but learn to adapt and apply them to fit today’s techniques and platforms.

Being stubborn and not attempting to learn and try, is doing you a disservice.  Yes, you may be making money and doing ok, but why not do better?  If there were a way to broaden your scope, reach more people, and bring in more revenue, just by learning something new; why wouldn’t you do it?  Do you want to settle for mediocre, or be great?  Give your business the best chance possible to succeed and get on the train before it’s too late.  Typewriters…

 

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