People love a good scandal – and while we’re barely two weeks into 2018, it seems as though the internet is INTENT this week on scaring everyone into thinking their start-up is doomed thanks to a certain hoody-wearing billionaire entrepreneur.

Spoiler alert: we’re pretty sure Mark Zuckerberg is not out to ruin your business.

But let’s start from the beginning…

Hold the Line, Caller

We’ve been fielding a lot of enquiries about the impact of Facebook’s newsfeed changes – not only from our existing clients, but also from small business owners who have always managed their own pages but want to stay ahead of the game in the face of this change.

Smart move, peeps! We’re digging that so many of you are being proactive!

In many ways this type of change has been a long time coming – and while the knee-jerk response of most has been to bemoan the fall of Facebook for business, we actually think the opposite is true…

Facebook is actually going to become a better tool.

Hear us out.

What Change?

For those of you who have just arrived back into the office today after an extended break without wifi – welcome back! Here’s the skinny:

Late last week, Facebook announced a plan to emphasize more “meaningful” interactions over viral or news content.

Zuckerberg explains:

One of our big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent.

We built Facebook to help people stay connected and bring us closer together with the people that matter to us. That's why we've always put friends and family at the core of the experience. Research shows that strengthening our relationships improves our well-being and happiness.

But recently we've gotten feedback from our community that public content -- posts from businesses, brands and media -- is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other…

Based on this… I'm changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions…

As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people…

By focusing on bringing people closer together -- whether it's with family and friends, or around important moments in the world -- we can help make sure that Facebook is time well spent.

Why the Change?

The Zuck has stated that the changes are to create a better experience and, therefore, greater user satisfaction by putting the focus on ‘real’ and ‘meaningful’ engagement with friends and family. Social media commentators have a different theory, though – that the change is actually designed to combat what everyone is referring to as “context collapse”.

So what is context collapse? Basically, because users are sharing less personal information and updates on the network, Facebook has less useful data to help advertisers target customers. In many ways, Facebook is working to correct a problem they created (by previously placing an emphasis on viral content and video etc), in an effort to get back to ‘the good old days’ (when people revealed far more about themselves online) so that data can be mined and used by companies to reach buyers.

This explanation may read a little cynical, but when boiled down, that’s really what the change is about – and it’s by no means a bad thing! Particularly for businesses just like yours.

The Verdict

First and foremost, let’s move past any grumblings that Zuckerberg is being a greedy evil genius, hiding behind good intentions. It’s important to remember that Facebook – like all social media – is a rented platform. You don’t ‘own’ your Facebook page in the same way you do your website. Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s other shareholders own Facebook.

Whatever the Facebook team’s motivations for implementing this change, Facebook is a business – just like your business is a business! – which means (positive experience or not) it’s designed to generate profit.

We get it – it can be hard to begin paying for something when you’ve enjoyed it cost-free for a substantial number of years.

So, let’s shift our focus to being thankful for having had all that lovely free promotion and engagement up to this point – and figuring out the best way to evolve with the social giant and employ the best strategy to keep reaching and selling to your audience and customers.

The Market My Company team is currently redeveloping our Facebook for business products and packages to best align with the changes and ensure our clients continue to see great results on this platform. While we’re taking some time to get the feedback of our customers and test a range of options, we can confirm that, moving forward, all of our Facebook management and advertising services will include a paid promotions investment. The majority of our current clients employ this model already with great success – and we’re confident that anyone yet to try paid ads and promotions on Facebook will be satisfied with its benefits.

While in the short-term there may be a slight settling period as business owners get used to the idea of paying for promotion and exposure, long-term the change is going to ensure that users are more active and engaged, and that any money you do spend on Facebook advertising gets the best possible return on investment.

Better targeting typically means a higher rate of conversions – which could mean that those of you who have tried Facebook advertising in the past may actually get better results for a smaller investment in future.

There are 13 business days left until Christmas. THIRTEEN! We don’t know how it happened, either – but the holidays are well and truly right around the corner!

Planning on putting your feet up over the silly season? There’s still time to get a few easy automated systems in place to ensure your marketing and communication ticks along while you’re sipping imported beer or chilled champagne in the sun!

Basic: Schedule Your Facebook Posts

Taking time off over Christmas? There’s no reason for your Facebook business page to go silent just because you’re taking a well-deserved break with family or lounging on a beach somewhere!

Many of your fans and followers will still be active on social media over the holidays (in fact, many of them will be more active than usual!) so be sure to keep your presence active with a few scheduled posts. This is particularly important if your business offers an online shopping component and you want to keep sales rolling in – and a little pre-holiday organisation can go a long way in keeping your online presence alive and active.

If you’re new to scheduling posts, the process is simple:

Add an image (or video) and copy as you normally would when posting to Facebook – either via your desktop, or using the Facebook Pages app – and then choose to schedule your posts instead of publishing immediately. You can choose the date and time for each post to be made live, and schedule your posts days, weeks or even months in advance.

Note that, on occasion, errors can occur when scheduling a large quantity of posts well in advance. If you plan on doing this, keep an eye on your Facebook page from time to time during your break to check that those posts are being published as planned.

Bonus Points: Set Up a Facebook Messenger Chat Bot

Chat bots for Messenger have really taken off in the past few months, and some have dismissed them as a flash-in-the-pan marketing mechanism, they can offer real value when it comes to maintaining engagement with Facebook users (your potential customers) and providing a better social experience.

In the same way that scheduled posts keep your Facebook page alive, and email autoresponders help manage the expectations of clients and prospects who reach out over the holidays, chat bots can help ease the burden of needing to reply to Facebook direct enquiries immediately while responding to users for you.

There are a number of services out there (we’ve used ManyChat and Chatfuel with success), with free and paid options available – depending on how comprehensive you require your bot to be. With most services you can set rules for customised responses to be sent when a particular word or enquiry is triggered. Alternatively, you can opt for the simplest solution and have one key message sent in response to each enquiry you receive via Facebook Messenger during the break. This is what we would recommend for most businesses.

Check out the likes of ManyChat and Chatfuel to see which bot will best meet your needs, and contact our team if you need assistance with the set up.

Basic: Set Up Your Email Autoresponder

If you’re planning on unplugging entirely (or even almost entirely) over the break, setting up an auto-responder on your inbox is vital. By having a simple automated message reply to enquiries while you’re away, you avoid existing or prospective clients and customers feeling their enquiry has been ignored, while giving them an indication of when they can expect a reply from you in the New Year. It’s an easy way to manage people’s expectations – and provide them with an alternative contact (or means or getting in touch with you) in the case of a real emergency.

How you set up your email autoresponder will depend on the email client/ service/ system you use. We’ve gathered some quick-and-easy tutorials from around the web for most of the main services:

Keep your autoresponder short and sweet – being sure to include your return to work data and an alternative contact (if available) in the case of an emergency.

Bonus Points: Automate Your EDM Campaigns

Christmas may be the busiest shopping season of the year, but many people continue making purchases well into January while enjoying their break. Don’t miss an opportunity to cash in on their holiday spending!

Keep your brand active and in front of those on your existing customer list by scheduling email campaigns and setting up automated messages. It may be a New Year promo code or a simple holiday message – or it could be an automated email set up to help convert shoppers with abandoned carts.

Mailchimp is a great service that provides scheduling and email automation under its free service offering, with plans comprehensive enough to meet the needs of most SMEs. If you need help designing your email campaign template, scheduling EDMs or setting up automated email rules, let us know and we can get your sorted before the break!

Need help? and we’ll do our best to slot you in before the break!

We’re about to say something that may seem to go against everything a marketing agency with a focus on digital and social should say. Are you sitting down? Because here goes…

Market My Company is – gasp – quitting Twitter. Like, properly quitting. We’re not taking a break and leaving the door open for some on-again-off-again scenario a few months down the track when we’re feeling nostalgic. We’re out. For good.

Here’s why…

3 Reasons Twitter Isn’t The Best Platform for Kiwi Companies

Twitter is fast-paced, which also means it’s time-intensive. Unless you’re tweeting multiple times a day, your profile there will be blink-and-you’ll-miss-it.Twitter lacks real engagement for business. Unlike Facebook, people generally don’t go on Twitter to engage with brands unless they want to complain about something. It’s also full of spam, auto responders and bots.Twitter isn’t particularly local-friendly. You need to be marketing nationally to get real results, and the percentage of Kiwis using Twitter is simply too small to make it worthwhile for small businesses.

Don’t get me wrong. For some companies, Twitter yields some great engagement. But in most cases, unless you’re Air New Zealand – or you have a lot of time to invest in building real relationships with Tweeters in your niche – you’re not going to see the same results as you would on other platforms. Hell… even the official Twitter account for New Zealand Rugby (hello – NZ’s national pastime!) has less than 4000 followers. How much luck is the local salon or plumber or accountant going to have connecting with their target market, and then converting those connections into sales? It’s tough, but true.

What We Learned from Our Foray into Twitter

We joined Twitter a little over a year ago, and to date, we have followed 243 users, posted 89 Tweets, and have gained 55 followers. That’s a woeful effort, if we do say so ourselves. So why didn’t Twitter work for us? Because we broke the cardinal rule of social media marketing:

Don’t bother having a presence on a platform if (a) your target market doesn’t live there, and (b) if you’re not going to make the time to engage there.

We tell business owners this time and time again, but as a marketing agency, we’re in a unique position of needing to be across all different types of platforms so we can provide the best advice to our clients. This can be tricky when – as a small business – our team is so busy making sure our clients do all the right things on social, that our own social presence can slip down the priority list.

It’s time for us to practice what we preach, and we’re not sorry. And neither should you be, if you decide a certain platform just isn’t right for you.

How to Quit a Social Platform the Right Way

We’re not the only ones quitting Twitter without a backwards glance. While the company has been shrugging off a decline in share price and a drop off in new users for some time now, the platform’s active community has continued to shrink steadily.

If you’re thinking about leaving a social network you’ve previously used for marketing or community engagement, there’s a right and a wrong way to go about it.

DON’T just forget about the account and let it stagnate. If people do arrive there, it’s not a good look. Instead…

Either delete the account entirely Or publish one last post, tweet, comment, video or image that lets people know where they should contact you online.

Like this:

Review and Revise Your SM Presence

Social media evolves rapidly, and it’s crucial to keep up. If something isn’t working for you, quit flogging that dead horse. Find something that does work, and invest your time there.

For some of our clients it’s Instagram. For some, it’s LinkedIn. But for most, and undoubtedly for us, it’s Facebook. See you there.

Facebook for business is a no-brainer – but getting all the wizardry behind Facebook Advertising right can still prove a bit overwhelming (or intimidating) to the uninitiated!

We’ve had two new clients express confusion about the Facebook Pixel this week, so here’s the skinny.

What IS this Sorcery?!

While Facebook newbies could be forgiven for assuming the site’s ads to be powered by some kind of witchcraft, there isn’t actually anything magic going on here. The Facebook Pixel is simply a snippet of code that’s unique to your Facebook Ad Account.

This code is designed to help you measure the effectiveness of your advertising, understand the actions people are taking on your website, and reach targeted audiences. Science!

Who’s it For?

The Facebook Pixel is for anyone running Facebook ads. If you currently spend money promoting your products or services on Facebook and you don’t have the Facebook Pixel installed, you should definitely make it a priority to ensure you’re getting the best bang for your buck!

What Does it DO?

The Facebook Pixel has three key functions:

It tracks conversionsIt optimises your ads for conversionsIt allows you to retarget specific audiences

In the case of retargeting – also known as remarketing – the Facebook Pixel enables you to retarget people based on specific actions they took on your website, such as subscribing, adding a product to a wishlist or cart, or searching for a specific product. This means that if, for example, someone adds a product to their cart then abandons their purchase, Facebook can give them a nudge to buy by displaying that product to them in ads. Clever!

How Do You Set It Up?

Facebook provides you with your short piece of unique code – you just add it to your website (or ask an expert to do it for you). While you don’t need to be a developer or know code to install and use your pixel, inserting it correcting is crucial.

If you want to set up your Pixel yourself, just go to your Facebook advertising account, and from the top tab click on Pixel, then activate it. To set it up on your website, simply add the snippet of code between the HEAD tags of your website pages.

If in doubt, give our head honcho Fleur a call on 021 045 6275, or ! We can sort out your Facebook Pixel, your paid advertising, your Facebook management and content, and a whole lot more to help your business to Facebook like a bawse.

The world of digital has opened up a wealth of possibilities in marketing – but believe us: print is not dead! Actually, having a good quality brochure to promote your business may now be more important than ever.

Seriously?! YES. Let’s discuss…

It’s Real World

In a world where most of us are connected to some form of technology 12+ hours a day, people are embracing opportunities to unplug and get their hands on something tactile. Now that online has become the norm, OFFLINE has become unique and different. When you hand someone a great looking brochure, it captures their attention and piques their curiosity.

Creates a Dialogue

Whether you’re handing them out at meetings, trade shows or in-store, a brochure is a great way to open up conversation with clients and prospects face-to-face. Rather than sending someone away to look at your website for more info, a brochure allows you to get that information directly into their hands, on the spot, while also acting as an icebreaker.

A Takeaway Elevator Pitch

Every business owner knows the importance of nailing their elevator pitch. Well, your brochure is like an elevator pitch someone can take away with them – beautifully presented in a professional and appealing package. Your brochure concisely conveys the who, what and why – and encourages your prospects to take the next step by visiting your website or setting up a meeting for more information.

ZERO Bounces!

Unlike a website, which at any given moment is competing with millions of other websites for attention, a brochure can hold the attention of a captive audience. While prospects may bounce away from your website in a matter of seconds, physically holding your brochure gives them a reason to pause, flip and scan. With a brochure, your prospect has to at least hold the paper in their hands prior to disposal.

Touch Tactile

A brochure allows you to connect with your target audience in a way that digital simply can’t – by tapping in the sense of touch. Research suggests that a company can establish a stronger brand identity within the mind of a consumer when they are able to literally hold your brand in their hands.

The Psychology of Note-Taking

A brochure is a tangible item that potential clients and customers can flip through and, importantly, make notes on. When you leave a space for clients to add a note or appointment time etc, they’re far more likely to keep your brochure and refer back to it later. It’s human nature.

Showcases Professionalism

A good brochure in business is like a firm handshake. One that’s well designed and printed on good quality stock can make a great first impression, convey professionalism and confidence, and help to build trust in your brand right off the bat.

You know the drill! and the team at Market My Company today to discuss your brochure and print media needs or request a quote.

You’re on social media to promote your business, right? Of course you are! Facebook is FREE and has the potential to get your brand in front of thousands- even millions – of people already looking for your products and services.

Here’s the thing. Facebook may be free to use, but they sure as hell want your money. So much so that the powers that be actually penalise pages that post (what Facebook deems to be) overly promotional organic content.

How does Facebook do this? By reducing the organic reach of those pages that post “overly promotional” content. Reduced reach, means reduced brand exposure, means reduced return on investment. So what can you do about it?

In short, if you want to reach as much or your fan base as possible you’ll need to consider investing some budget in paid Facebook advertising. If you want to ensure you maximise your FREE organic reach as much as possible, you’ll need to play by Zuckerberg’s rules.

Proceed with Caution when Adding Links

Facebook wants its users to stay on Facebook to consume content, rather than navigate away to different websites. This means pages sharing outbound links can be penalised – which can be a huge bummer for businesses who want to direct prospects to a product page.

The fix: Avoid ending every post with a link to your website. Where possible, share your link in the first comment of your post, rather than within the post itself.

Limit those Calls to Action

Calls to action are like red flags to Facebook – so if you’re including phrases like “call now”, “buy now” or “visit our website” in your organic posts, your content may be being marked as overly promotional. Similarly, Facebook may reduce the organic reach of pages who ask people to “like, share and comment” to enter competitions.

The fix: Get creative with your phrasing, and try to limit the number of calls to action you mix among relevant, content-focused posts.

Where You Schedule Matters

While tools like Buffer can be great for sending content out across multiple platforms (and saving you a bunch of time in the process), Facebook will penalize you for that too. Why? Because (a) they don’t really want to share you with competitors like Twitter, and (b) they know from experience that businesses who schedule a ton of posts via those third party tools are often publishing posts that are super promotional in nature.

The fix: Schedule your posts directly from within Facebook’s own admin. Easy as that!

It’s not all bad news

Facebook wants its platform to provide the best social experience possible for users – and that means cracking down on spammy posts that could irritate rather than engage. While the rules Zuck and the team implement to achieve this can feel like hurdle jumping for business page managers, there is a plus side. By ensuring their users are engaged, Facebook is creating an online community where people who do see your posts are more likely to respond. And that’s a win for businesses using social.

If you haven’t already heard, there’s a revolution afoot!

The team at Black Sheep Trading are making the best quality electric bikes, scooters and hoverboards accessible and affordable right here in New Zealand.

Their products are pretty damn rad (as Fleur can attest to, given she pinches her son’s shiny new hoverboard every chance she gets!), so they came to Market My Company in need of a slick new website to reflect their brand.

The brief was simple. Black Sheep Trading director Luke wanted a responsive side that was aesthetically clean, easy to navigate, put their products up front and centre, and made the purchase process a breeze.

We’ve created a new website that displays beautifully on all devices, and ensures an easy user experience from start to finish, to encourage buyers through the sales funnel. We also refined their brand and logo, crafted new copy to align with Black Sheep’s brand personality and values, and added a social media stream to encourage engagement off-site.

"Market My Company was recommended to me by a friend that was very happy with their service," says Luke. "They made me an awesome website and helped me set up and market my business. They are a great friendly team to work with and I’m very happy with the final product. I will always recommend them to others and will keep using their services in the future as my business grows."

Check out the Black Sheep Trading website now, and Like them on Facebook for updates.

If you’re doing Facebook for business, you may as well be doing it right! In this 10-part blog series, we’ll be looking at quick and easy things YOU can do TODAY to improve your business Facebook page. YAS!

Step 1… Update and Optimise Your FB Profile Image

Your company profile image is important AF. Why? Because it’s the key image that represents your brand right across Facebook – and it will often be the first impression you make with new prospects.

Your profile image appears on:

your Facebook page (duh)the news feed of your followersposts on your page's Timelinereplies in commentscomments and posts you make on other pages while using your page

Your profile image appears everywhere your brand engages on Facebook, so it’s important that it creates a strong impression.

For the vast majority of businesses it’s important to use a logo, and to minimise or reduce any additional text. When your profile appears next to your comments it’s going to display much smaller, so you want to ensure your branding is still clean and clear in that format.

The Technical Stuff

When viewed on a desktop or laptop, your Page's profile picture displays at 170 x 170 pixels in size. On a smartphone, it will display at just 128 x 128 pixels.

Your profile image will be cropped to fit a square, so it’s best to get the layout and proportions right before uploading it to avoid a hasty crop within Facebook itself.

The image you upload must have minimum measurements of 180 x 180 pixels. We recommend saving your profile image as a PGN file to ensure a higher-quality display.

Market My Company uses Adobe InDesign to create impeccable profile images, but if you’re going the DIY route you can use a simple free program such as PicMonkey to create your image.

Create a Facebook Profile Image in 10 Simple Steps

Create a free account with PicMonkey.Select PicMonkey’s Design option and set your canvas to at least 180 x 180 pixels.Choose your canvas colour (don’t worry – you can change this later).Select the Overlay option and then choose to Add Your Own.Upload your logo from your computer. If you have a file with a transparent background you can then set your canvas colour to whatever hue you like.Adjust the size and position of your logo to best fit the frame of your square profile image.If you want to erase any additional text such a taglines, you can select the Eraser option on your Overlay.If you’re not using a logo with a transparent background, make sure your canvas colour – which will be the background colour of your profile image – perfectly matches the background colour of your logo. You can do this using one of PicMonkey’s colour picker tools.Save your image as a PNG file, which will ensure your image remains a high quality once you’ve uploaded it to Facebook.Upload your beautiful DIY profile image!

Pro tip!

When you save your Facebook profile image, choose a relevant file name that’s optimised for search! Facebook images are frequently ranked in Google Image search results, so optimise your file name with your business name or relevant keywords you’d love to rank well in. Every little bit of SEO helps!

Want to leave it to the professionals? Our team of marketing whiz kids can optimise your Facebook page with professional profile and cover image design, about and page info copywriting, custom tabs, and much more. to enquire, or to book a free consultation to talk about your Facebook marketing goals!

Christchurch Wellness Centre has built a loyal customer base since the launch of their business – and their holistic approach to providing the best care means client engagement is high on their priority list.

Because social media is all about building brand recognition, trust and loyalty, Market My Company recommended Christchurch Wellness Centre focus their day-to-day marketing efforts around their Facebook page, to add value for existing customers while continuing to grow their client base.

Since starting management of Christchurch Wellness Centre’s Facebook page…

Likes have increased by over 120%,Engaged users have increased by almost 1500%*Daily total reach has increased by more than 21,000%**

These stats highlight three key successes:

That more potential clients are being exposed to the Christchurch Wellness Centre brandThat more people are Liking Christchurch Wellness Centre on FacebookThat those people who do like Christchurch Wellness Centre on Facebook are engaging more with the content

The best part of the results we’ve seen so far is how happy Christchurch Wellness Centre owner, Mary, is with our services.

"Fleur and her team are truly amazing! Fleur comes up with wonderful design and works at lightening speed to make it all happen and nothing is ever a problem for her. I look forward to growing my new Business, The Christchurch Wellness Centre, Chiropractic and Health with the power of Fleur's talent. Thanks so very much Fleur!"

~ Dr Mary Patterson, via Facebook.

To learn more about Christchurch Wellness Centre head to www.chchwellness.co.nz.

Want to learn more about how Facebook can work for your brand? Contact our team on 021 045 6275, or by emailing help@marketmycompany.co.nz.

*Based on Daily Engaged Users, comparing September and December 2016

**Based on Daily Total Reach, comparing September and December 2016

Think blogging is dead? Yeah, nah!

There are around 152 blogs – and counting – in the world to date. That’s a whole lot of content! And the simple fact is, those blogs wouldn’t exist if people didn’t read them.

Of course, when many people think of blogs they imagine introspective journals and homages to memes and LOLcats. Yes, those crazy and comical corners of the web do exist – but some of the most savvy and inspiring brands out there are using blogs to their full potential, and reaping the rewards.

Almost every Kiwi business can benefit from featuring a blog on their website. Here’s why:

1. You’ll Provide Added Value

The more value you can offer your customers, the happier they’ll be – and a blog can add value in screeds. People LOVE free information. Provide your audience/ clients/ prospects with information they want and find useful and they’ll leave feeling happy, and with a great impression of your brand.

2. Blogging is Great for SEO

Search engine bots LOVE fresh content, because it indicates that a website is ‘alive’, and up to date. The likes of Google and Bing take notice of websites that regularly add new content and pages. Since each blog post is considered by bots to be a new ‘page’, websites with regularly updated blogs (featuring quality content – Google can distinguish that too!) are often viewed more favourably… and in turn, given a higher search result ranking.

3. A Blog Can Build Brand Trust

Kiwis want to purchase products and services from companies they trust, and – along with an effective social media presence and kickass, professional-quality website – business blogging is a great way to build that trust. A blog highlights the human element of your business or organisation, reminding customers that there are real people – other New Zealanders just like them – behind your brand.

4. Your Blog Positions You as an Expert

The old saying, “show, don’t tell”, is vital in convincing people to choose your services or products over your competitors. You can tell people that you’re an expert in your field – but they’re far more likely to believe you if you can prove it, and show them through your blog content. When you share your knowledge for free through your blog, you’re demonstrating that you know your stuff, while adding value and building trust.

5. A Blog Gives Your Customers a Reason to Keep Coming Back

Your customers may not buy something every single week, but if you have a blog that offers content they’re truly interested in, they’re far more likely to return to your website (and browse around) between purchases. The more you can bring people back to your site, the more you increase your chances of converting them to sales and increasing repeat business.

6. Brand Personality

Businesses convey brand personality through all forms of communication – from the look and feel of your logo and website, to the content on your site and your social media posts. Your blog is another channel to showcase your winning personality, which in turn can increase your ‘likeability’, which can build trust, and convert readers into customers.

7. Blog Content is Sticky

Sticky content is great. It encourages users to return to a website (see above), and spend longer periods of time on that site while they’re there. The more time people spend on your site, the more they engage with your brand. The more they engage with your brand, the more likely they are to commit to making a purchase. Simple.

8. Blog Content is Sharable

If you provide people with quality information they find useful and enjoy reading, there’s a good chance they’ll share it with their friends. This is great news, because the more people who share your content with their friends, the more you expand your network and brand exposure. Make it easy for them by adding social sharing buttons to your blog posts, and by posting your blog content to your Facebook page and other social media accounts.

9. Opens Lines of Communication

You may or may not choose to feature comments on your blog. It’s not right for every business. But for those that have the time and inclination to moderate blog comments, opening up another channel for communication can be a great way to grow your online community, build even more trust, and drive conversions.

10. Blogs Drive Sales and Enquiries

All of the above points boil down to one thing – increasing website conversions and driving sales. According to Neil Patel (New York Times bestselling author, co-founder of Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics, and all-round respected web guru), companies with blogs typically receive 97% more leads than companies without blogs. That’s a pretty compelling statistic… so what are you waiting for?

Funnily enough, Market My Company writes awesome blog content for Kiwi businesses – and we currently have a special offer for new clients! For a limited time only, you can score 3 blog posts for the price of 2! Check out the offer via Facebook for more deets.

We’ve been working on a range of marketing initiatives for Top That since the company’s launch back in October, and one of the key services we’ve provided has been the management of their Facebook page.

The Top That team understood the importance of social for their target market from day one, and tasked our team with helping them build an engaged online community of users, while increasing their brand reach, recognition and loyalty through social sharing.

Since Top That’s official launch Facebook page Likes have increased by over 1000%, and impressions have totalled more than 360,000*. In addition, 100,000+ unique users have been organically exposed to the Top That brand** – and that doesn’t even include exposure via any paid promotions or boosted posts.

We wrote about a Top That post gaining hugely successful organic (non-paid) reach last month, so be sure to check it out for a great example of what can be achieved when you build an engaged fan base.

Want great deals from Christchurch and Canterbury businesses? Head to www.topthat.co.nz.

Want to learn more about how Facebook can work for your brand? Contact our team on 021 045 6275, or by emailing help@marketmycompany.co.nz.

*Based on Daily Total Impressions

**Based on daily Organic reach

Here it is! A brand new year, all shiny and new and full of promise. Ready to make 2017 your b*tch?! NOW’s the time to sit down with a cuppa (or bottle of wine – no judgment here!) and work on your marketing goals and wish list for the year ahead. BOOM.

Think Big Picture

Before you get down to brass tacks, consider what it is you want to achieve this year, or this quarter, or this month. Is it to build trust? Attract new prospects? Increase your online conversions? Expand your network? Improve your rankings in search engines?

Make a list of marketing goals for 2017 that are realistic and measurable, and that align well with the key goals for your business.

Build a Wish List

Your wish list is all about identifying the tools that are going to help you achieve your 2017 marketing goals. It might be nice to kick the year off with a new business card, or finally begin building a community of fans on Facebook… but if those things aren’t going to help you achieve your key goals and objectives* your budget will be better spent elsewhere.

(*Struggling to nail down what these are? We can help with that!)

Here’s a small sample of things you may want to consider adding to your 2017 Marketing Wish List.

A marketing strategy can help you…

Define your marketing goals and objectivesSelect the right marketing tools and tacticsMeasure your marketing efficiency

A new website can help you…

Expand your reachBuild trustSell products and services onlineIncrease conversions

Refreshed branding can help you…

Convey professionalismBuild trustBetter appeal to your target market

Signage can help you…

Increase brand awarenessIncrease enquiriesDrive website traffic

A social media presence can help you…

Build trust and customer loyaltyStay in regular contact with your existing customersDrive sales and traffic to your website

Email marketing can help you…

Increase repeat businessIncrease customer loyaltyDrive sales

A copy overhaul can help you…

Convey professionalism and build trustIncrease your rankings in search enginesDrives sales and conversions

Adwords can help you…

Expand your reach and target new prospectsIncrease online conversionsIncrease brand awareness

Analytics can help you…

Understand your website resultsDetermine your marketing return on investment

As your homegrown outsourced marketing department, our trusty team of experts can help you with all of it. Contact Fleur now to book a FREE consultation: 021 045 6275.

Thank you to all of our clients, friends and blog readers for making 2016 so great!

While some of the fantastic MMC team are taking a break, I will be working through the Christmas period so please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or exciting ideas you need brought to life heading into 2017!

Stay safe, enjoy time with your loved ones, and have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fleur

Want to reach 20,000+ prospective customers on Facebook without spending a dime on advertising or boosted content?! It might sound impossible, but that’s exactly what Top That did in just 24 hours!

Here’s the post that has caused all the commotion:

We’ve been working with Top That on their marketing and Facebook content since the hot new brand’s pre-launch in October, so there have been high-fives all round both Market My Company and Top That headquarters as we’ve eagerly kept an eye on their Facebook insights.

The Top That team is pretty damn rad, so they’ve agreed to let us share the insights on this mega post to show just how effective social media marketing can be when you find your tribe and give ‘em what they want!

Here’s the skinny:

In just 24 hours, Top That’s ‘WIN AN AUDI’ post

Reached 22,681 peopleDrove around 150 new Page LikesWas shared around 360 timesWas Liked 252 timesWas Loved 20 timesWas clicked 1149 timesand had 174 people comment

Phew! That’s one helluva successful post, given they chose to spend exactly zilch on promoting it. That's a digital marketer's definition of living the dream!

What Top That’s success demonstrates is that you CAN expand your network on social and increase your brand exposure and awareness when you build an engaged community and offer something that’s truly of interest to your target audience.

Congratulations to Charlotte and the Top That team! We can’t wait to see what happens next.

To get your mitts on great deals and discounts from Christchurch businesses you know and love, head to www.topthat.co.nz.

Are you engaging your tribe? Do you even have a tribe? What the heck is this tribe thing all about?!

Call it what you will – your community, your fan base, your target audience, your ‘right people’, your tribe. Whatever the buzzword of the day, business and brands are all looking to connect with and engage their tribes and target customers – online and in the real world.

Why Tribes?

As inherently social creatures, people have craved a sense of belonging for thousands of years – a craving which led us to instinctively seek out tribes and communities and likeminded groups since we first started sharing stories, etched onto cave walls.

We have family tribes and friend tribes and social tribes – but it’s really only been since the social media boom that brands and businesses have begun to recognise consumers as tribes, rather than individual cash cows to be sold to. From its earliest iteration, Facebook quickly taught brands the value in cultivating tribes, and engaging with community members in a reciprocal way. Today, nurturing these communities has become a vital element in contemporary marketing and relationship building for business.

Tribal Marketing 101

The concept of ‘tribes’ in marketing was popularised by thought-leader and author Seth Godin in his groundbreaking 2008 book, Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. Add it to your reading list if you’re so inclined, but in the meantime check out Godin’s TED Talk presentation on The Tribes We Lead – where he explains that the real focus in business now is on leadership, finding something worth changing, challenging the status quo, and discovering your true fans. Your tribe. Because these are the people who are going to carry your message to the world until it becomes a movement.