In today’s episode of the podcast I talk all about marketing your business without using social media. After some recent changes to Instagram, Facebook and Apple, it is more important than ever that we do not put all our eggs in one basket and look at alternatives to social media marketing for our businesses.
KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST
- Instagram has changed it’s terms of service – by using the platform you agree to these. They can change their terms and conditions without asking you at any point.
- Instagram can delete, amend or block your account if you are doing something that is not appropriate or in line with their brand.
- If you are using direct message pods or bots, Instagram are cracking down on this more.
- When you upload content to Instagram, you own that content but they have the right to use your content as they wish.
- Apple have announced they have changed their app tracking transparency framework – going to limit the information that can be exchanged with 3rd This is good from a personal level but from a marketing perspective this means we won’t be able to know as much about them as we previously have (e.g. Targeted ads).
- Getting in front of other people’s audiences can really help to grow your own audience.
- Guest blog, interview on a podcast, speak at an event. Where are your customers hanging out?
- If you are a local business, you could try a flyer drop in your local area.
- #journorequest on Twitter – journalists who are looking for specific types of people use this for you to find opportunities.
- Submit features to publications.
- Ask if you can do a guest blog on a popular website.
- Having great content and keywords on your website will ultimately increase traffic and the amount of people who find your website.
- What content are you putting out regularly – e.g. blog post, podcast etc.
- Branded merchandise can be a great way to get your message and voice out there – make sure it fits with your business and doesn’t cost too much.
- Google ads are great for finding customers who are in the market to buy.
- Google ads are more expensive and more difficult but the people being targeted are actually searching for that term.
- Google My Business – set this up.
- You could sponsor an event, podcast, sports team.
- A sponsorship is usually paid whereas a collaboration is usually mutually beneficial.
- Collaborate with someone who has the same customer profile as you – event, content, virtual event.
- Ask your existing audience to promote your content on their social media or leave a review.
- Use a third party system for reviews – more trusted.
- You can offer affiliate schemes to existing customers who love you the most to expand your audience.
- Offer a referral scheme to your customers to get new customers.
- YouTube is a search engine – different to other social media platforms. You can put content out and grow your audience on YouTube.
- Try to be on one social media platform of some sort but also look at other options too.
THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and focus all your attention on one marketing platform/technique – if something went wrong with your chosen one it could be detrimental to your business.
HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN’T MISS
- Why we shouldn’t rely on social media to market our businesses 04:02
- Getting in front of other people’s audiences 10:47
- Building your email list 12:05
- Printed flyers 13:27
- PR 15:55
- Content creation and SEO 17:49
- Branded merchandise 19:02
- Google Ads 20:43
- Google My Business 21:40
- Sponsorships, Collaborations and Competitions 22:02
- Asking your audience 23:39
- Business directories 25:12
- Affiliates and referrals 25:55
- YouTube for business 27:45
LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE
Last Chance to join me for my follow along email list building course!
Getting in front of other people’s audiences podcast
Transcript below
Hello, welcome to the first podcast episode of the year. Happy new year. Okay. People we are in 2021, which means surely life is now going to change immediately overnight, just because we're in a different year.
Uh, and therefore we can put the horrors of 2020 behind us. But we can still learn so much from it and make sure that we do the best we can this year and have the best year we can. Cause I'm sure there are many more trials and tribulations coming, but we are tough and resilient and tenacious. That's a great word for a Monday morning, uh, so that we can just keep going and do amazing things.
Okay. Today I've got a really good solo episode for you, real practical. I think you're going to love it. And basically we're talking about how can you market your business without yes. You heard me right, without social media. I'm going to tell you why I want to do this episode in a minute, but before I do, I want to remind you one more time, because by the time the next Monday, episode will come out, we would be starting next Monday, Monday, the 11th of January, we are starting the 10 day follow me along live course on how to build your email list. You start with nothing or with a little bit or with something, but we end after the 10 days with your email list created and you adding people to it using a lead magnet. I'm going to cover everything. I've got everything for you. It's going to be amazing. I'm very excited and I want to get as many as you on as possible because this episode of what I'm going to talk about is really going to inspire you. That if you've not quite understood me go on and on and on before about why you need an email list. Some of the things I might say today will really hopefully summon that in. And now it's not that I think an email list is a be all and end all not at all.
It's one of the many tools that you can use, but the important thing is it's a really important tool and you should, should, should be building your email list. The other thing you need to know about this course is it's currently on for $290. The next time this course goes live, it's going to be $490. You know, when, like I've said to this far on the podcast, I planned it before, or I kind of guessed it a price before I realized what went into it.
And it's it's I do a lot for you. I create a lot of stuff, so you don't have to. So it's a really good value if you get on it now. So to join me and other amazing entrepreneurs, build a list. You need to head over to teresaheathwareing.com/buildmylist. That's where you sign up and I will see you in the private Facebook group.
And we will get started on a Monday, the 11th of January. Okay. Let's get on to today's episode. So why have I decided to speak to you today about doing your marketing without using social media? Because obviously I'm a big fan. I'm a huge advocate for it. It's a great tool for businesses to use. It's a great tool to find your audience, to engage with them, to build a community.
There are lots of many positive things about social media. That is really good for small business owners. So I'm not saying in this episode, don't use it. But a couple of things have come up recently that I want to bring your attention to. If you're not on my email list, then you might not have seen this.
A couple of things that come up that made me think, do you know what? Maybe we're a wee bit too reliant on social media. So, let me tell you the first things. The first thing was that Instagram has changed its terms of service, which basically means it's terms and conditions. And what they've done is they've added and taken away and changed a few things, which obviously they have the right to do.
And basically they say that by using the platform, you agree to these terms of service. So. It's kind of a case of they can change it when I asking you if they can change it, which they've done. The things that kind of really stuck out. Cause obviously there's quite a few changes and I've read them and I've looked through various things and watched people's reviews of them.
And that sort of thing. But the stuff that really sort of sticks out that I wanted to mention was the fact that they've made a point of, they can delete amend or block your accounts. So if they feel that you're doing something that isn't in line with them in their brand, then basically they can just make that decision.
Now, the truth is they've always had that decision, obviously, especially when it comes to content, that's not appropriate. But it they've made more of a point of it, which has made people worry about the chances of it happening. Another thing that they've highlighted is the strictness of their community guidelines.
Now, in one way, this isn't a bad thing, because basically they're saying if you're using bots or direct message pods, basically, they're just kind of like people that get together and go, “Hey, when I post something, would you like it? And will you comment on it?” And that sort of thing. But basically if you're trying to cheat the system in any way, then that is reason again, for them to have your account removed.
So if you're not doing those things, then I wouldn't worry about it, but I wouldn't recommend you did it. If you are doing it, I'd probably stop. Not just because of the terms of conditions, but they do appear to be getting stricter. And then the other thing that people are getting very concerned about is how much access they have to us and our information. Now they've confirmed, which again, meant that it was already in there in terms of conditions that when you upload content, they basically have the right to use it as they wish.
Now you still own that content. However, you're basically given them license to do whatever they want with it. Now let's be honest. They're not going to be like putting it necessarily in an advert or using pictures of your children or something. It's not like that. It's basically just saying though they could, if they wanted to. The other thing that people are concerned about, but I went through the terms and conditions and I didn't see it as, as kind of strictly as maybe people have been concerned about is how much they have access to our phones. Now I do know that TikTok has now got quite a reputation for basically putting like it kind of spies on your phone and what you do on it. So I don't have TikTok on my phone. Whereas Instagram never really did as much as they're now saying it might be.
So obviously it has to have access to your cameras. It has to have access to your photos. It has access to your audio because when you do videos and it's wondering how much of that content it's really getting access to, and also things like your contacts and other things that you're doing on your phone itself.
So, so like I said, that's a bit of a concern and people are getting nervous about it. So that's the first thing that came up. And then within the same week, Apple have announced that they have changed their app tracking transparency framework, get my tongue right in that. And they're going to limit the information that can be exchanged with third parties, such as Facebook. Now as a personal user, then great. That's a good thing because they don't share as much as my data and information as they have been. However, as a marketer and a small business owner. That's not great because it basically means that anybody on Apple, we're not going to know as much information about them as we have done. So if you are doing Facebook ads, you might find that if someone is on an Apple device, which obviously that's a huge percentage of people that are, that we're not going to be able to target them as closely as we have been previously.
So your ads might not be as effective as they have been in the past. So these two things together kind of just got me a little bit. I don't know I wouldn't say worried actually, but it just made me remind myself that we cannot rely on social media solely. And I have many examples, which I've shared on the podcast before about businesses that have had really good social media followings, and then someone hacked into their account and wipe their entire Instagram. Someone who broke a term and condition for Facebook, and they got blocked from their own account. Somebody tried to cheat it and go around the system. And basically again, couldn't access their accounts. So. I'm not saying this is going to happen. I'm just saying I would be really careful about putting all your eggs in one basket.
And I was having a conversation with one of my dear friends who is also a business owner the other day. And she was like, “Surely, we've got to, we've got to find out the ways in which we can market our small businesses without being so reliant and heavily reliant on social media.” So I had a bit of a think and I thought I've been in marketing 16 years.
I did a degree in it. And when I did my degree and I started marketing, there was no social media. Like there wasn't even people really had websites back then. God it makes me sound very old. But you know, there's obviously loads of different ways we can market ourselves. And at the moment we are so dominated by social media.
That's what we talk about. But in this episode today, I want to talk to you about other ways in which you can market your business, that doesn't include social media or you having to do social media. Now I'm not saying it doesn't include social media at all. I'm just saying other options that you can use.
Okay. Now I've written down loads of different ideas. So this is really going to be a kind of fly by the seat of your pants type episode, as I throw a load of stuff at you. But also the other thing I want you to remember is this isn't a, you should be doing all these things. Not at all. This is a, here is a buffet of ideas and you can go along and pick the ones that suit you and suit your audience best.
And then try those things out. But, but my main aim and my main focus of this podcast episode is that please don't put all your eggs in one basket. Please don't focus all your efforts on one thing and one place only, and then have something go wrong with that place or something happened. You just don't know.
So if you're spreading it across the place, which I know it hasn't always been the, hasn't always been the focus, you know, in terms of go deep, not wide is good. But yeah, just a warning to kind of like, there is other options out there and you should maybe look at including a couple. Okay. So let's get going.
Now, the one I'm going to start with, and I've done a whole episode on this. I can't remember what the number is, but I'm going to link it in the show notes. It's other people's audiences. This is a really good place to go. And build your audience from. Now, the beauty of other people's audiences is they have kind of done the hard work and they have already created the audience.
So they have created people who are, you know like-minded have a similar interest of whatever that interest might be. And therefore it's a great place for you to go out and find potential customers. Now, when I talk about other people's audiences and not social media, what I'm talking about is maybe go and see if you can guest blog on someone's blog.
Maybe ask if you can be interviewed on someone's podcast. Or maybe speak at someone's event. Basically where are your customers hanging out? What events they're going to, what blogs do they read? What podcasts do they listen to? What videos are they watching on YouTube. And is there any way that you can be part of that content?
Is there any way that you can get in front of them? Now I'm not going to hang about on this this bit too long, because I have done a whole episode to it. So you can go and find that in the show notes, like I said, um, the link will be in there, but that's a great first place to, to think about. Okay.
Obviously I can't do this episode without talking and me iterating again, but I'll keep it brief about building your email list. Do go check out teresaheathwareing.com/buildmylist to see what's involved in that course, because this really is a time where we need to make sure that our lists are being built and not just now, actually it should be all the time.
We should constantly be building our list. Which I do in my business, but I wish I'd started sooner. And I wish I'd put more effort into it in those early days. So it's definitely something that is never going to be a waste of your time or money. But obviously I'm not going to go into it because we I've talked about building lists many, many times. But obviously that is another thing you should be doing.
If we don't look at social media. Okay, next thing. Now I'm going to go all old school. And if you have ever seen them, do it on my husband. He he's got this running joke that he thinks that he gives me all my marketing ideas, FYI. He has no marketing experience or degree or anything. And he constantly jokes about, we should do fax campaigns and flyers and posters, and like basically all the old school stuff.
So the fact that I'm now going to mention flyers on this podcast, he would literally love it now he doesn't listen to the podcast cause he gets to listen to me rub it on 24/7. Anyway, I think that would be very unhealthy if he listened to my podcast. Um, but yeah, he would just absolutely laugh up saying I stole his idea, but I haven't.
So why am I talking to you about flyers? Well, you know what, in some businesses, in some cases, this is an option. Now, I'm not saying any of these are amazing or terrible or anything. I'm just saying, here are our options. If you are a local business that covers a local area, then why not try? Why not do a leaflet drop or a leaflet business drop or personal, whatever it might be. You just don't know. So if you are a gardener or you're a personal trainer, or you have a gym or a cookery school close by or whatever it might be. Then who's to say that that doing a leaflet drop and you know what, if you, you could create a designing canvas. Now I'm not saying always that's the best option, but if money is an option, you know, concern, then you can do something in Canva.
You want to make sure you've got a good eye for it though, because sometimes these things don't always come as we think. And then to get them printed at something like hello print or what's the other one I use sometimes. Oh come Oh, solo press is, I think it's solo press. I'll put links to both of those in the show notes. But you can order sort of flyers online and then not expensive.
So that's an option. Like I said, you know, you might sort of be sat there and go “Teresa are you really telling us to do flyers, but it is an option. If you are not a local business, is there an event that has a goodie bag now, granted, I know we are still in COVID world and we are not having online events, but just someone do a goodie box or a, you know how like I get wind flyers, it might just be me.
Um, but you know, I order an ink for my printer and there's a naked wine voucher in there because they team up with another company that seems to work well with them and they get sort of the vouchers in, in the pack. Although it's got nothing to do with the product I bought. So again, is this someone that you could team up with that sends like books for instance, or sends out swag or sends out whatever that happens to be to your audience that you can say, “Can I include something?”
And sometimes they'll charge you a fee for this. Sometimes they might just let you do it, whatever, you know, they're, they're kind of dealers. But like I said, I just don't want you to rule it out. Okay, next one. I want you to think about is PR. Now you might not want to use social media from a business point of view or, or likes that you might just be looking at other options, but PR is a great one.
And actually one of the ways in which you can find out if anyone is looking for any small business PR as in, they're looking for businesses as examples. Then go and search the hashtag journo request. So #journorequest on Twitter, and what happens is journalists who are looking for specific types of people.
They tend to put requests on there using that hashtag. So for instance, coming up to Christmas that had been lots of we're looking for an organic. You know, I dunno, whatever gift that's good for five-year olds to go and our gift guide, or it might be, we're writing an article on single parents starting business and, you know, are you one of those?
So, and, and in fact, one of my 90 day students had some great PR. So she's someone on a radio program. Local radio had ask the question. Did anybody start their business in COVID and she did start her business during COVID. So she got a interview on a radio station, local to where she was, which again is great.
Really, really good. So I would consider the PR, like I said, you can find general requests. You can just submit stuff to publications to not just local publications, but specialists, industry specialist publications. Also a little bit like the other people's audience thing. So for instance, take a website like social media examiner.
They're putting a blog post out every single day. So they need good content. So go to them and say, “How, can I write for you? How can I give you something?” It's always worth asking the question. Okay. Next one is a little bit kind of the same thing, but we're going to just sort of mention content creation and SEO.
Now I am not an SEO queen, you know that. I did bring some lovely ladies on to talk about SEO. And again, we'll link to that in the show notes, but having your website and having lots of great content on your website with all of those rich keywords on there, all of those words that people might search for when they're on the internet has got to be a way to help people find you. So again, I, I could go down a complete rabbit hole with this, and the idea of this is not necessarily to go into each of these in depth because we just seriously don't have the time. It's a bit long episode ever. But I will link up to other podcast episodes. Where appropriate. So, like I said, the SEO one, we did a whole episode on that.
So if you wanted any more by that check that out. But again, the content thing. So what content are you putting out regularly? Have you got something that appears on your site and gets changed every single week? So for instance, we have the podcast every single week, a new episode goes out and gets put on my website.
So. It's constantly, hopefully when people are searching things, they might find it and bearing in mind, I'm in a really massive industry. So if you do something much more niche or specific, then great. People are going to start to find you. Okay. What else have I got on my list? So this is again old school, but it's might be worth a try. Sending out things like branded swag or having, like, I remember the days, cause I'm from corporate marketing. So we used to have all the pens. We have the mice maps. We have the rulers, we have then went to USB drives, then it was, I can't even remember. And a lot of it. Yeah, it was absolute rubbish, to be honest. However, there is something about having something on your desk or having a pen or having it, whatever that sometimes that really works.
I know one of my members has a, um, membership to do with nutrition and cooking and she has aprons and shopping bags. With her branding on. So stuff like that can actually be a really good way to get your message and voice out there. Especially if you've got someone who is using your shopping bag in, you know, an area where there might be other customers.
Do you know what I mean? So definitely, definitely have a look. Is there something that kind of matches what you do and that fits really well with your business and that maybe doesn't cost to you to get printed or send out whatever it is. Okay. Oh, another one that I should have mentioned together, actually, along with the website was there's a few things on Google that you need to keep an eye on. One obviously you got your SEO, which is. The search engine optimization, which means that people are looking for things that relate to you or your business. And hopefully your website comes up because you've got lots of keywords on that, that say that. You've also got Google ads and things like YouTube ads.
Now I have done these in the past. In fact, I did my Google exams and was passing them and still didn't feel like I knew it was talking about. So I actually just stopped. But Google ads, I mean, it could just be me. Maybe I need to bring a Google ads specialists on, I think I've had one have I? But they are quite hard.
So I dunno, it's a tricky one, but if you're good at them and know in them, well, and you know someone that it's definitely worth having a go because when someone types something into Google, they're in a very different buying position. To when they are on Facebook. So on Facebook, we try and profile the audience go, “Hey, we think you might like this.”
We don't know whether they're in the market to buy. We just know that they might like it based on what they've been searching on or who they are as a person. Whereas Google ads, they are more expensive than more difficult. They tend to be more expensive. They tend to be more difficult than Facebook ads.
However, the, the propensity to buy is higher because they are searching for that term. So, and some terms, if they're very niche, they might not be that expensive. So again, it might be worth a look. At the other ones to think about is Google my business. So have you got Google, your business all set up? Have you got the location?
Have you got photos, have you got all the details in there. If someone searched your business name, are they going to find you? So that's what you want to have a look at as well. Okay. What else have I got my list. Sponsorship? That's a really good one. And it could be sponsorship of an event. It could be a sponsorship of, of a podcast.
It could be sponsoring a local magazine, could be sponsoring a sports team and event. Anything. So again, think about that. And it is a bit old school and it did seem like it was one of those things that only for big businesses, but actually depending on the staff, you could probably pick up some nice bunches and not a lot of money.
Uh, what else have I got. Collaborations, kind of similar to sponsorships, but in the sense of a collaborate. Oh, I can't even say it. Collaboration isn't normally paid. So a sponsorship, you normally pay them in order to put your name and brand everywhere. A collaboration is a, this is a mutually beneficial thing for both of you.
So are there other people who are either in your industry or serve the same people as you. So that's the most ideal that they compliment you, but both your customers are the same. So it benefits both of you to do something together. And you might come together to create some content. You might come together to put on a live event to do something virtually whatever it is having both of you do it.
And both of you talk about it is really, really helpful because it means, again, you get in front of each other's audiences. The other thing that you can do is maybe competitions. So you could collaborate with someone else and both bring together your audiences and run a competition for both of you. Lots and lots of options again.
I'm sorry. I'm flying through these, but this really, the aim of this really is just to give you options. Okay. You could ask your audience. Now. I know that sounds a little bit crazy, but let's say for instance, you're struggling with your reach on social media or you don't wanna use social media. What about your list that you've got currently?
What about your email list? What about asking them to share stuff? What about asking them to promote stuff on your social media? What if you emailed them saying if you love this podcast, like I do all the time, actually, if you love this episode, if you like what I do, then please go ahead and share it on your social media.
Because obviously that then helps me get seen by other people. It helps me get put in front of your audience who might be similar and like-minded people and think actually if that person likes this podcast. I might like this podcast. You can also run competitions. I have been known to do this and I probably will do it again in, Oh, this year. Funny cause I'm recording this in 2020, but in 2021, in order to help promotion for the podcast. So competitions can be really good. If you're asking your audience to do something, I promote you. You really ought to give them an incentive. So competitions can be great for that. Uh, Oh, I should've said it with the Google one as well.
You can tell, I just brainstormed this list, Google reviews. That's the other thing I would put with all the Google stuff that you can do. I mean, reviews in general, a great, but obviously I'm avoiding the social media stuff just for this episode. Um, but you know, I got Facebook reviews. I didn't say that, but you know what I mean?
Let's say Google reviews, reviews on your website. I daily reviews on a third party system rather than necessarily just being sent to you and you put them on your website. Because they're more believable, more trusted. So something like trustpilot would be good as well as things like Google reviews.
Okay. Next one. Business directories. Are there any directories. Now again, I'm talking some old school stuff here cause I remember doing this years and years and years ago. But are there any directories that you should be in or you should be seen? So for instance, like. Uh, gosh, they used to be loads for marketing agencies and you have to be on this directory or that directory. And then not as popular now because there's no need for them as such, because obviously you've got the internet and we can just search things. But it's not to say that it isn't worth a try.
It's not to say that your name should be somewhere that it maybe hasn't been or whatever. So maybe think about, um, if there's any directories you can be part of and make, get your name in. Affiliates. This is another really good one. So again, there's a whole subject about affiliates and maybe I should put that down as an episode. But how can you use your current customers or your current audience to better expand and increase your, your reach and your awareness?
Because they're your best people. They'd be love you the most. You listening to my episodes every single week. You're the people who you hopefully love what I do and enjoy it and therefore would be happy to share and get that message out there. And the difference with an affiliate is they get a kickback.
I'm an affiliate for lots of different programs that I use only for stuff that I use and love. And therefore, if you go and click on a link, um, I normally would not normally I do tell you if it's an affiliate link, um, then what happens is I get a bit of money for referring you because I've used my audience to talk about something.
So affiliates are great. And other ones similar to affiliates are referrals. So this is where if you, if you have clients, if you have a small number of people and you tend to do a lot of one-to-one stuff, rather than like me sell online then rather than affiliates, you would do referrals. And things can be things like emailing out to all your existing customers saying, “Hey, I am open to getting some new customers and therefore, is there anybody you could recommend?
Do you know anybody?” You could incentivize them again? You know, you could give them some kind of money kickback. You could give them some kind of gift every time they refer someone, whatever it might be. But I would definitely look at your existing customers and say, is there anybody else that you think would be perfect for this?
Definitely, definitely want to use and help grow your, uh, your audience. Okay. Last one I've got a think is YouTube. And I've kind of left this the last, because you might think, well, hang on. It's kind of the same as the social media is. And it is a little bit. But it's different in the sense of it's more of a search engine and it's more of a, a different tool. They want the content, they want people on there. And I know that obviously set of Facebook and Instagram and all those others, but YouTube is a bit different. And therefore I would consider that as a platform on its own. And think about what if you started building your audience via YouTube and putting content out via YouTube.
And how might that look and how might that work for your business. Okay. I fired so many different things that you and there are so many more things that you can do. I'm sure of it. I just wanted to get as many things down in this half an hour as possible, give you some options and ideas around. What could you do if for instance, you decided that you didn't want to put all your eggs in one basket with social media or you get to the point where you're just like, I can't do it. And do you know it is tricky. And I think I would recommend that you are on some social media of some sort. Some way or another, but I do think putting all your efforts into one thing would be a dangerous and risky strategy. I do think you need various other things out there in order for people to find you. Okay. Hopefully that's helped. Hopefully you've got some good ideas from that. I'd love to hear what you're doing. If it's something different. Obviously we've been having some really great feedback on the small business superstar stuff and what they'd been doing.
So some of those things aren't social media related. So that's cool. Have a lovely first week back at work, if you are back at work, which I'm assuming most people probably are this Monday. If you haven't signed up to the build your list course, or build my list course, then please do so. It's going to be so good and I promise you you'll get so much value.
So head along to teresaheathwareing.com/buildmylist. All right guys, have a great week. We'll be back on Thursday with another small business superstar and I will see you next Monday. Take care.
