4 Marketing Tips When a Crisis Strikes

We are living in some interesting times. Our plans for our business may be put it on hold, our kids are home because schools are closed, places that we usually go to aren't open right now. And we are living day by day, and we're all in this together.

I'm here to talk about 4 tips for your business when it comes to marketing and social media during a crisis, or interesting times, like what was we're going through with COVID-19.

I'm a positive person so I'm trying to find the good in the things that I've had planned in my business. I was going to have a video made this summer. My Tip Tuesdays were going to be professionally done, I'm still home doing them myself, in my office. And so I'm kind of mourning the loss of things that were going to happen in my business.

But out of that has come some good things. And so I'm here to talk to you about what to do when a crisis strikes. I have 4 tips for you. These are going to be tried and trued through anything your business, crisis-wise, is going to experience.

Do not go dark … show up!
The number one thing is, do not go dark with your marketing. This is something I'm seeing a lot of folks doing right now, and you do not want to go dark right now. You want to show up, you want to tell the story of what's going on, maybe precautions you're taking because we are going through a worldwide pandemic. And so you want to show what your business is doing to take measures, to stay clean. Just show up, show up. Even if your doors are closed, show up and show what your business is doing, or what you're retooling, or what you're thinking, because you want to stay top of mind. Top of mind is key here. Showing up, so don't go dark.

What does your audience want?
You want to second, focus on your audience. What does your audience want to hear and see from you right now? Maybe you take a poll, send an email out, go into some Facebook groups, and see maybe how you can adjust and pivot what you're doing right now.

Embrace the uncertainty, but don't spread fear
You want to be honest with that, you want to be authentic, and you want to just really show how you're feeling. It's okay to feel uncertain, it's okay to adjust during interesting times, but if you've closed your doors and you can't work right now or do the things you love to do, show what you're doing instead. Keep yourself top of mind, embrace the uncertainty, but don't spread the fear.

Get on video — LIVE!
And four is something I'm seeing a lot of you do, and a lot of you not do that you should be doing. You should be going live. This is the easiest way to do video. Now you can go live. You don't have to have fancy lights or microphone, but you can go alive whenever you want. And you can show what's happening in your business, you can show the behind the scenes and you can answer those questions and build a community around what you do.

Bottomline: Staying top of mind is key
The main points here are show up, stay on top of mind, don't bury your head in the sand, don't go dark, and focus on your audience and what you can do for them right now.

If you are struggling with your marketing, especially during these interesting times, I have an amazing Facebook group that you can join called The Simplify Tribe.

3 ways to jumpstart your content marketing strategy

You are ready to start adding content to your website, but you don't even know where to start or what topics you should cover. So this week I'm going to give you three tips on getting started on your content strategy. I

Today we're going to talk about three tips to getting you started when it comes to content strategy. And the main reason why you're developing a content strategy is to become known for what you do, be the authority or the go-to in that area.

Frequently asked questions
The first thing you want to do is take an audit of what people are frequently asking you. So the things that people are frequently asking you are things that you should cover in your blogs, your videos, and your podcasts. So if you have an active FAQ, frequently asked questions, start there.

Ask
Ask your ideal clients, ask on social media, ask in Facebook groups, ask just anywhere you can ask. If you're out networking, go ask there. Ask, ask, ask. That is the most overlooked thing when it comes to content strategy is asking people. How do you think I got all these lovely ideas? I asked my audience.

Repurpose what’s on your website for social media
The third one is to maybe go to your website and repurpose parts of it into blog posts. That's another thing that people don't often do is talk about what they do, and incorporate maybe some testimonials or success stories about services or products that you offer. That is one way to really get your content strategy going.

ACTION STEP: Go and write down 10 FAQs, things people ask you, things on your website, and start developing a plan for your content strategy.

3 types of content to add to your website on a consistent basis

We've been talking about your website and things you need on your website and one of the biggest things that people don't add to their website is content on a consistent basis. So I'm going to talk to you about three types of content you could be adding to your website on a consistent basis.

We're talking about adding content to your website consistently and there are three types that I teach my clients and my coaching students that they should be always trying to add on a consistent basis. And first off, I want to say consistent basis is really up to you. Some people add one thing a month, some people add two things a month. Some people like me add things weekly to their website. When you add content to your website on a consistent basis, this helps you become the go to or the authority in what you want to be known for.

The first one is blog posts. This is the easiest one for anybody to do. Basically you're writing content that's keyword rich and putting it on your website and these are things that people are searching for or have asked you and blogs are one of the easiest things to add.

The second one that is a little more technical is, you can probably guess because it's my main content, videos. So I record videos on a consistent basis and add them weekly to my website and my social channels. You're watching this probably on a social channel, but this also goes on my website. It also goes on YouTube. It goes in my newsletter, so I'm creating main pillar content that is added to my website every week.

Now with these videos, one thing that I will say is if you have a little extra cash, it doesn't cost very much, three to $5. Get them transcribed and add that wording to your website. Google loves that stuff, just so you know. Your keywords most likely are in there and add that to your website and it will really, really help the keyword search.

The third one is a little bit more technical. Podcasting is a great way to make consistent content on a regular basis. You might be doing this weekly, you might be doing this monthly. You might be wondering how to start that, and there's great tutorials and great programs out there to start a podcast, but podcasts are what we call main content. They could be, or pillar content. It could be put on your website, transcribed for the lovely Google tracking, and then you can also repurpose it for social.

3 reasons why content strategy is important

So you have your website up, yay. It's up and running, but it's just sitting there, you have not added much to it. A static website is the worst thing you can do for your online and digital marketing strategies.

Here are three reasons why you need to develop a consistent web strategy.

The first one is you need to get information out there about what you do. So, basically, when you do that, when you put information about what you do consistently, you're telling the search engines about your website and it crawls it and ranks it and it shows up on Google. So it's kind of twofold, you're putting information about what you do and it's also searchable by the lovely search engines out there.

The second one is keywords. When you use keywords that people might be searching for, this also creates Google rank love as well. And number three, when you're adding consistent web content on a regular basis, this makes you the go to and the authority for whatever you're trying to be known for.

So those are just three tips for why you need to develop a consistent strategy and I think the biggest takeaway from this is Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google.

So information about you that Google is searching and that people are also learning about you, putting your keywords up, that is helping Google know what you do and rank you, and then the third one is basically helping you become the authority in what you want to be known for.

5 website mistakes to fix now

Each week I am auditing websites for current clients, my coaching clients, and potential clients. I have come across five mistakes that everybody just needs to stop doing on their website and ways to correct them.

First one, stop using stock images on your website. It's great in the beginning for placeholders until you get pictures taken, but here's why you need to do this. There's really two reasons why. One is people who are coming to your website are hiring you, okay? If you don't put yourself on that homepage, they aren't really knowing who they're hiring. If you are a company, put your staff on the homepage. If it's just you, put you on the homepage. If you're a product or even a service, put yourself with the product you're selling. Personal brand right now is one of the most important things out there that's happening marketing trend wise. Even if you are just a brand, making it a little more personal will really help.

Here's a quick little story. Last year I was asked to apply for a request for proposal against some big companies. What they told me, the reason why they hired me, is they went to my homepage and they knew exactly who they were working with. They went to my competitor's homepage and there were stock images. It wasn't really clear who they'd be working with, and so I got hired because of that reason. That is actually one of the biggest tips I tell people. Put yourself, or you somehow, or your team on your homepage. The other part of this is you really want to be authentic, so if it's just you that they're going to be working with, put you on there. Don't make it look like some big company. People want to hire you.


The second trick here is don't use tricky terminology. A lot of times when I talk to people, I talk about SEO and I've really dumbed it down to say something like searchable content because people understand what that means. They don't understand what SEO means. If you're using tricky terminology to explain what you're doing, try to dumb it down because that just loses people some times.

The third thing that I see people I'm not doing, they're not collecting email addresses. I know we all hate popups, but they're actually the most effective way to build your email list. Put a pop up or some way on the top fold of your website to collect email addresses.


The fourth mistake I'm saying is people just build a website and don't do anything with it after that. All right? Their website is static and a static website is to hurt you, especially when it comes to search. In few weeks we're going to talk about content ideas, but figure out a way to add content on a regular basis to your website, at least once or twice a month.

The fifth mistake that I see people making is not including their website in their marketing plan. When you do this, you kind of get in this consistent habit of updating your website. Make sure you're adding your website to your marketing plan.

The most important marketing tool is your website

One of my most asked questions is, "I need a website. I think I'm going to use Facebook for now, or Instagram or YouTube," and I usually give this face because please don't do that, okay? Please don't do that. Your website is your most important online marketing tool, so this is something you actually want to invest some time, possibly money into getting up and running.

You need a website and you want to use your social channels. Please don't do that. As I said before, your website is your most important marketing tool, so it's really important to invest time and/or money on this. There are great tools out there that will build you websites in a matter of a couple of questions; I think Wix or Weebly do that. You answer a few questions and it will build you a website. They're pretty affordable and you can do it on your own. There's also Squarespace out there where you can build your own website, as well.

If you need to do this on your own because you don't have the money, the best thing to do is watch tutorials online and invest the time into learning how to work with these tools and build it yourself. If you can afford hire out, great. Talk with somebody and get them onboard to help you build your website. Since this is your most important online marketing tool, you want to have it on your own platform because you own it. Frankly, you don't own Facebook, you don't own Instagram and you don't own the other social channels. One reason why is it's checkable great. You're going to want to add on analytics reporting, Google search console, ways to track conversions if you're selling something online. So you have a better idea where traffic is coming from, where your leads are coming from and things like that.

It's also a searchable. We're going to talk a little bit more in the next coming weeks about the importance of your website being searchable, but it's searchable. Some aspects of Facebook and social media sites are searchable, but when I tried to Google, "simplified tribe Facebook group," nothing came up, guys. Just so you know, things like groups aren't searchable. Your business page is searchable, but that's really it when it comes to social channels. So you will have control of searchable aspects on your website, content that puts on your page, keywords, the page titles, URLs. When you have your website, you can have a lot more control than you do on the channels.

Take your videos to the next level

Shannon:
You've been consistent and posting your videos and leveling up so you're like, "What can I do next to just enhance my videos a little bit?" So, I'm here to talk about just a few things you can do on your own. It's Shannon with Shannon Lee Strategy. I help small business owners and entrepreneurs become less overwhelmed when it comes to their online marketing. I do this through strategy and coaching. If you need any of those, hit me up.

All right, so as you know my video journey has been a process over the last two years. I went from recording these simple videos to adding things here and there. So, one of the things I encourage people in the beginning to do is use a PopSocket and record like this. I don't have a phone to show you this today so just imagine there's a phone here on a PopSocket and most of you know what a PopSocket is, right?

You'll want to level up to a tripod next, and there's plenty of them on Amazon you can buy. Some of them have lights on them. Some of them are adjustable, some of them clip on things and clamp. There are plenty to choose from. You won't go wrong with any of them. The next thing that I did to level up my videos is I bought a Purple Panda mic. I will link in the notes below to it so you can purchase the Purple Panda. It's, I think, $29.00? $29.00? So yeah, I actually added the mic just recently. This year was the first year I added a mic.

Lights. I have a good window right here, but I also have another light. You can actually buy tripods with lights on them. Look for that. That's what I have. You'll be good to go. I also encourage you to, if you're going to batch record your videos, do some outfit changes. Outfit changes just make the difference. Nobody will know you recorded all the videos in one day, and honestly nobody will know you recorded the videos all day even if you do have an outfit change because who pays attention to that? No one, right?

And then, if you need a better video editor other than iMovie or your phone in-app editor, I suggest something like Promo or Wave.Video. I actually use Wave.Video. I find it super simple and easy to use. They have great tutorials, and it will also let you slice and dice them for the appropriate social network, too. So, you can record one video and make them appropriate for the appropriate network.

All right. Do you have a favorite tool when it comes to editing? I want to know. Comment below. I will say the next stage for me to level up would be actually hiring somebody to help me, and I've been toying with that so when I get there, I'll let you know. But for right now, it's all me, only me, doing the videos and this is how I've evolved over time.

Where do I promote my videos?

Your videos are recorded, edited and now it's go time to put your video out into the world. This video includes some simple steps to getting views on it.

Want more tips like these? I offer fantastic value inside my FREE Facebook Community, The Simplify Tribe! Won't you join us⁣
https://www.facebook.com/groups/simplifysocial

How do I learn to edit videos

You've recorded your videos, but now you're like, "Oh, editing. I don't know how to edit. What do I do?" Well, I'm here to give you a couple of tips and some tricks, and to motivate you and keep you going. All right, guys. So Shannon with Shannon Lee Strategy, I help small business owners and entrepreneurs become less overwhelmed with their online marketing. If you ever need anything, let me know. I'm your gal. All right. So it's time to edit, but you have no idea how to do this.


This is a question that often stops people in their tracks, and so I'm here to give you a few tips and tricks to keep going. Okay. One thing I do is I actually record all my videos in one shot and I actually edit them on my iPhone using the in-app video tool on my phone. So anything I'm going to give you today is going to be free. And if it's not free, I will tell you if it's not.


All right. So start playing around with the native apps on your phone. If you're on an iPhone, that's what I use. I don't know much about Google or Samsung. I'm sure they have editing within the camera app itself, but I actually shoot my stuff in one shot. If I do mess up and have to do some editing, I actually use iMovie. And the best way to get good at iMovie or using your in-app camera is to just play around with it. That's just the only way around it. Just play around with it. Spend more than five minutes on it, guys. It may take you an hour, but play around with the in-app things on your phone that are free. The camera app that I'm using right now, or iMovie. If you get stuck still, head over to your computer or watch some YouTube videos or some YouTube tutorials to get there.


That is just kind of the best way to learn how to do it on your own when your budget is tight. Now when you get the hang of things and you've been recording videos for a year or maybe six months, look into Wave.video. It is not free, but it has some amazing tools in there that you can use that are pretty intuitive and they have a great tutorial base. I'll put the link below for Wave so you can go there and look at it. Not now, but eventually, because I think that if you are overwhelmed with editing, Wave's going to make you, even more, overwhelmed, if that makes sense.


Just know that it takes time to master this. And if your content is good, nobody is going to care about the backgrounds or the things that come across. They're going to care about you and the content that you're giving.

Where should I post my videos?

Congratulations, your video is ready to go, but you need to get eyeballs on it and you have no idea where you should be posting it or sharing. Today's video is about where you should post and share your videos to get people seeing it and visible. It's Shannon with Shannon Lee Strategy. I help busy entrepreneurs and small business owners become less overwhelmed with their online marketing, and yeah, get more consistent and making money.


We're talking about the appropriate places to post your videos, and there's really no wrong answers with this, but I'm going to give you some simple steps and some simple ideas to get some views on your videos. More than likely, you've created a video for a specific social network. You've spent the time doing it and now you're just like, "Ugh, where should I go?" More than likely, you produced this video for Instagram or Facebook, or maybe just LinkedIn, or maybe YouTube, so post it on the appropriate networks. All right? I always take this approach to video is your main content, so it should live on your website and it should go everywhere. It should go everywhere. There's really no wrong answer to this.


The one place that people miss out on the most is sharing on their personal Facebook page. This is a gold mine. This keeps your friends remembering that you do what you do and that you're the go-to to whatever you're the go-to to. That's a lot of to's, right? I know. Make sure you definitely posted to the appropriate social networks, but also posted to your Facebook personal timeline. If there are groups out there that love information like yours on Facebook, post them in that group. Just make sure it's appropriate and it's not against the group's rules. I've made that mistake when I'm part of a group where they changed the rules. I didn't realize that and I was posting videos and I was really embarrassed. Okay. Video should be your main content. Get that on your website. You may have to post that to YouTube to embed it, but its main content. This is content that people will consume. All right?


Then if you have an email list, send it there. The last thing I will say is don't worry about the aspect ratio. We've talked about that. If your content is amazing, they'll consume it any which way, and they won't care which way you recorded it

Want more tips like these? I offer fantastic value inside my FREE Facebook Community, The Simplify Tribe! Won't you join us⁣
https://www.facebook.com/groups/simplifysocial