What's going to help your business stand out online in 2019

blog 2018
Written By Andrew Ford

When I speak at conferences the most often asked question I get is "how do I stand out in social media". Not an easy one to answer in the ever changing world of Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Social media moves fast, remember Vine, Pinterest or Google plus? You invest in one platform and suddenly it's not useful anymore and you have to completely change tact. Even blogging on LinkedIn isn't what it use to be for reach, now we need videos!

The challenge for professionals running their own businesses, solo-preneurs and corporate escapees is that your core product is your brand. People buy you. So your marketing plan is based on your thoughts and ideas so you can capture referrals and more genuine leads from wanting a skilled professional in your space. So with social media changing so fast, how can you effectively get that message to market?

My answer is that it's all about the message, not the mediumthat counts, and I believe that in 2019 the clarity of your message will be your key differentiator next year do to one key factor...digital fatigue.

A major trend this year was the amount of people getting off social media. The biggest social media platform in the world is Facebook which is loosing young users at a staggering rate as mentioned in this Recode article earlier this year.

The number of U.S. Facebook users in the 12- to 17-year-old demographic declined by 9.9 percent in 2017, eMarketer found, or about 1.4 million total users. That’s almost three times the decline expected. 

Facebook just isn't that cool anymore. But the trend isn't just Facebook. Community organisations and entrepreneurs alike are sprouting Digital Detox groups and events to bring awareness to the issues caused by too much social media. Here is one from Beyond Blue if you need a hand. 

If people are reducing their social media consumption, how do we reach them? Well the truth is, people still have problems and needs. They want to buy things and have services provided. They just don't want to be sold to. Customers want to choose themselves. So instead of listening to all the noise on social media, they will ask friends and get advice from their small and trusted communities and most of that advice will be online.

If you take these three trends together: speed of change in social media; reduction in time spent on social and customers tuning out of marketing messages, there will be a return to good old fashioned referrals. The difference is that referrals are now online.

Therefore, the answer to how to stand out in 2019 is to have a super niche and clear message and provide that to only your tight nit community so you are the go-to person for that service in your area. Your marketing then transforms from pushing your marketing message to thousands of people to find a few clients, to providing helpful advice to hundreds of fans to have a few clients find you. e-ttraction my friend, digital attraction.

For my clients I advise them to start with how many clients do they really need. It's normally a relatively small number. Then work back to how many fans we need and how do we communicate with them authentically. Create useful content that genuinely helps them on their journey and share it on all mediums - LinkedIn (articles, posts and video!), Facebook (personal sites & pages with a little boost) and shared to all other social sites. Create once, share many times.

I produced a simple yet extremely effective worksheet for my coaching clients that helps them to calculate the number of clients required at each stage of the buying journey and also what content to produce - you can get a copy here for free. 

For all the small businesses out there I hope this helps your marketing planning for 2019 and happy to have a chat and give you my other tips for next year, just send me a message and I will reply with next steps.

All the best,

Andrew

P.S. For anyone in Melbourne, the Brand event on Wednesday 14th November, is now sold out, but you can register for the waiting list here. Or come along to my Pitch Workshop Wednesday 28th November to get razor clarify for your message.

Andrew Ford
Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.
http://www.andrewford.com.au/
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