Improving and promoting your brand

Social media can seem overwhelming, especially when you consider that there are so many different platforms.

The platforms that I do recommend considering are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram, [but] you don’t need to be on all of them. There will be certainly some that you gravitate towards – if you love taking photos, Instagram is probably the one for you. If you are very social or are on Facebook already, then that makes sense as the one to be on, and definitely LinkedIn is where the action is at.

As subject matter experts, business owners or advisers, it is really important to focus on the stuff that only you can do. Lots of stuff can be delegated, automated and eliminated. So, connect with people and release content and expertise that’s in your head and get other people to help with the rest. Basically, when you have a new piece of content [whether that be a] blog article, podcast, video or flagship piece of content, it is actually helpful to let people know it exists. And the way to do that is through promoting it. Quite simply, email it to your subscribers, email it to people mentioned in the blog post, or if you have interviewed someone maybe let them know because maybe they will share it with their subscribers. But also, go through the social platforms – go through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and if you want to schedule a few posts you can.

I have spoken to some people who have tried blogging and social media but haven’t gotten the results or the traction [they wanted]. One of the pitfalls in the early days is publishing too much content on your own site. It is a bit counter-intuitive because you think you need to publish all this content, but people then publish it all on their own website. You definitely should be publishing on your own website, but if it is a ghost town then no one is going to see it. What I did when I started blogging, and what I recommend you start doing, is doing guest blogs for people who have a group that has the same audience and that you are looking to market to – groups that are non-competing or you have a referral partnership with, like an accounting group. Sometimes, publishing content on these other websites is a way to get that traction and then once people know about you and you have that readership, then you can start doing more on your own website.

If you don’t find that you are getting results with your social media, or your digital marketing, chances are you are not being proactive enough in hunting for opportunities. You may only need an extra one client a month or 10 clients a month to get going. But you can increase your chances of meeting new clients by proactively reaching out to these people, adding value and connecting with them as opposed to just putting information on LinkedIn and hoping people find it. There is really no barrier to connecting with these people on LinkedIn. One of the best things to do with social media in terms of prospecting is to get a relationship off LinkedIn as soon as possible. There is a contact information section, and once you have connected with someone – and depending on what people have populated their profile with – it will typically contain their email address and phone number. So you can move that relationship over to personal email.

The above is a snapshot of a presentation Mr Franklin made during a Digital Marketing Boot Camp hosted by Risk Adviser's sister publication, Adviser Innovation.