Monika Jansen

Content Marketing

MONIKA JANSEN | March 13, 2021

A human approach to content marketing begins and ends with being vulnerable. No, it is not the same thing as being weak. As Brene Brown says: "Vulnerability is the core, the heart, the center of meaningful human experiences…. What most of us fail to understand...is that vulnerability is also the cradle of the emotions and experiences that we crave. Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity." This is why being vulnerable is important to your content marketing: it helps create a connection. (If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need to be connected to other people. And we need to wash our hands more.) If the thought of being vulnerable totally freaks you out, remember that no one is perfect. No one. Here’s how to weave that human approach into your content marketing. Share your struggles People who don’t know me well probably think I float through life on rainbows and sprinkles. If only. When I graduated from college, I had zero resilience and was struggling with severe anxiety. Unfortunately, I had very little self-awareness, so I had no idea. My first “real” job was with a truly wonderful company, and of course I had the dragon-lady-boss-from-hell. I lasted five miserable months, during which time my anxiety went through the roof and I developed bulimia. I recovered from bulimia after four years, but I didn’t get my anxiety under control until I fell down a hole into depression when I was 37 years old. Here’s how bad it was: If I was out running errands and noticed my car needed gas, I could not stop at a gas station unless I had already planned to. Spontaneously changing the “plan” was mission impossible. Didn’t matter if I drove past six gas stations. I couldn’t do it. Eight years later, I am still on anti-depressants. I doubt I’ll ever go off, because it makes life manageable. (If I hadn’t been medicated during the early days of the pandemic, I probably would have ended up in the looney bin.) Anyway, my point is that we grow the most as humans when we survive and overcome challenging times. My struggles have certainly helped me become the person I was meant to be. Sharing our personal stories – especially the thorny, dark ones – make us human and relatable. If you are on anti-depressants, you and I are now connected by that shared experience. Own your failures I have failed as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and business owner. I am sure I have failed complete strangers as well. Here’s a short list of my failures as a business owner: Doing work for free Not charging enough Failing to fire bad clients quickly Ignoring the financials (profit and loss, balance sheet, expenses, etc.) Hiring the wrong people Working without a contract Not getting a security deposit I own every single failure, which is easy to do when you use the experience to learn and grow. A few years ago, we created a social media marketing strategy for a small clothing brand, even though we didn’t have a contract in place. When we sent the invoice, they refused to pay it. Without a contract, we were SOL. I was furious at myself, but I am comforted knowing that karma is a total bitch. When money is on the line, I tend to learn the lesson very quickly. Recently, I had a discovery call scheduled with someone who had not yet signed the contract. When I called her, I simply said, “We can’t proceed until you sign the contract.” She apologized profusely. We jumped off the phone, she read through it, signed it and called me when she was done. No muss, no fuss. Be YOU An authentic, human approach to content marketing is being you. A client once fired us because I sent an email that was “too direct.” He said he found it offensive. Was I upset? Not at all. I laughed. Then I read the email again. I scratched my head. I had someone on my team read the email. They scratched their head. In near unison, we said, “Dodged a bullet!” You can’t be everything to everyone, and frankly, I don’t want to be. I am known for saying it like it is and making you laugh at the same time. Not everyone appreciates my style, and that’s cool. We are all different. And that is the beauty of using a human approach. You have no choice but to be you. As a result, you’ll only work with the people who get you. Would you have it any other way? The next time you’re writing a blog, social post or email, I want you to do something for me. Read it and ask yourself, “Would my best friend recognize that I wrote this?” If the answer is yes, congrats: you are using a human approach to content marketing.

Content Marketing

MONIKA JANSEN | March 13, 2021

A lot of our clients want to create a “strong brand” – a very vague term that gets tossed around a lot. What is a brand anyway? I like Seth Godin’s definition: A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer's decision to choose one product or service over another. I also like my definition: Your company’s brand is what people say about it when you’re not there. If a majority of your company’s clients come from word of mouth, I guarantee you have a strong brand. So, what does it take to create a strong brand? Time (and effort) You cannot create a strong brand overnight – even if you’re a Kardashian. It takes time and effort to build awareness and a reputation. When I first launched my company, I networked constantly. I met some of my best clients that way, but my god, I had to endure a lot of ridiculousness. I was once cornered by two government contractors who decided to play “define that acronym” – their idea of a fun game. I went to countless one-on-one meetings at Starbucks that turned into sales pitches and sat in rush hour traffic (there’s a reason I work from home). After a couple of years, the word-of-mouth referrals started rolling in. And I stopped going to networking events. An interesting personality As the business owner, you are the face – and personality – of the brand. This is not the time to be timid. Own who you are and let your freak flag fly. People will remember you – and that’s a critical element of a strong brand. Worried you’ll scare people away? Don’t be. If people like you, they will work with you. If they don’t, you don’t want to work with them anyway. People remember me because I tell it like it is while making them laugh at the same time. What do people remember you for? (Go ahead and ask your favorite people if you don’t know.) A community (preferably in person) In our digital world, it is hard to build a community – but it is doable. The trick? Make it easy for people to participate. Ask them questions and allow them to share their ideas. If you use Facebook for marketing, host Facebook Live chats or create a Facebook Group. But my favorite way to create community? Host regular meetups with hand-selected people once it’s safely to meet in person again. There is NO substitute for interacting face to face. (Yes, I know I just finished telling you how much I hate networking. This is different, as it’s much more selective; you more or less control who’s there. Invite the people you like and ask them to invite the people they like.) A phenomenal experience A great experience doesn’t mean showering your clients (or customers) with confetti and handing out free Champagne. It means making every interaction with you, your team and your products/services a delight. It means people love you so much that they will talk about you every chance they get. It also means you … Do what you say you’re going to do How many times have you been disappointed by a company’s product/service or your interaction with them? From useless customer service reps, to dirty bathrooms, to products that don’t work as advertised, we tend to have really low expectations.  When you keep promises, you will stand out as a hero. All you have to do is keep communication open, stick to the budget, meet deadlines and actually deliver what say you will. Stick to your message When people ask, “So, what does your company do?”, how do you respond? Do you have the same answer every time? Is it clear and concise? Sticking to one message – generally, your value proposition – makes it easy for people to talk about you. Repeat it enough, and they’ll learn your message and be able to recite it. Maybe not word-for-word, but close to it. Be consistent Consistency is so important for a strong brand: consistent quality, consistent experiences, consistent customer service, consistent marketing. Consistency means you are dependable and trustworthy. It means people are confident you will do what you say you will. Imagine getting an email from a new-to-you-brand. You like what you see in the email, so you click over to their website – and you have no idea where you are. The look and feel are completely different. You start doubting this company. Are they also inconsistent in the quality of their work? Do they even know what they’re doing? If you are inconsistent, you will sow doubt in the minds of your potential customers and tarnish your reputation. Don’t take the chance! Here’s some homework for you: Think about your favorite brands. What do you like most about them? How can your brand emulate them? Creating a strong brand is work – but the payoff is worth it.

Content Marketing

MONIKA JANSEN | March 13, 2021

Marketing is all about experimenting to see what works and what doesn’t. This can be frustrating for someone (ahem, me) who wants quick results. Unfortunately, you don’t know until you try. Like a good marketer, I’ve different marketing campaigns and tactics over the years. Five completely failed: Doing live video (trolls suck), answering queries on HARO (zero results), offering free audits (note to self: people run from the word “audit”), advertising on LinkedIn (no need if you’re active on the platform) and using a social media dashboard (total time-suck). Could those tactics work for you? Sure. But they didn’t work for me. Marketing campaigns that have been successful Marketing is a short-term expense and a long-term investment. You’ll know if a marketing campaign is working if you see a steady increase in results over six months. If you get to the six-month mark with nothing to show for your efforts, it’s OK to pull the plug and try something new. On the other hand, something could work great for months or years – and then fall off a cliff (looking at you, Twitter chats). It’s so disappointing when that happens, but it happens – to all of us. Video marketing Around five years ago, my friend Nicole Krug floated the idea of creating videos together. We worked together all the time, got along famously and were (are) comfortable in front of the camera. “Why not?” I thought. “This could be fun.” It still is, which you can clearly see when you watch any of our videos. Five Business Rules is still a rather small YouTube channel, but man, the people who watch the videos LOVE them. And yes, it has brought us clients. (This proves that you don’t need to have a huge audience on social media. You only need to have an engaged audience.) Actively using LinkedIn My marketing agency is B2B, which makes LinkedIn the best social media channel for me. It’s where my current and potential clients hang out and, importantly, want to learn more about business-related topics. Are they on Facebook and Instagram, too? Probably. But they don’t want to hear my thoughts on, say, how to measure your blog’s success when they’d rather watch a video of their cousin’s new baby or gape at over-styled charcuterie boards. The key to LinkedIn marketing success is being social. At least once a week, I scroll through my feed. I react to or comment on what people are posting. I usually read other comments, and I might respond to what someone else posted. If I really like what I read, I share it with my network. When someone comments on my latest article or post, I thank them. I get a fair number of direct messages, and I always respond – even if the opportunity is not right for me. It’s just the polite thing to do, and it only takes five seconds. I also use LinkedIn to grow my network. Whenever I reach out to someone, I include a note reminding them how we met or explaining why I’d like to connect. And yes, it’s a great lead generation tool for me. Sending a monthly email newsletter A relevant, interesting and short email newsletter remains one of the best ways to stay in front of your audience. Even if someone doesn’t have time to read it this month, they’ll see your email and be reminded that you exist. Since I’ve been emailing a newsletter for years, I have the process down. At the beginning of every month, I put together a newsletter that includes four things: Two recent blog posts (title and short introduction only) A recent Five Business Rules video (see above) A funny meme (it usually involves wine) The blog posts and video include links so if you’re interested, you can read the full post or watch the video. My open and click rates average 30% and 4.3%, respectively, which is head and shoulders above the industry average (13.3% for opens and 1.7% for clicks). I attribute this success to three factors: 1. A/B testing subject lines 2. Writing eye-catching subject lines (last month, it was “Yes, alcohol can make you a better writer”) 3. Consistently delivering interesting, and oftentimes, entertaining content Creating downloadable content One of the best ways to generate leads is with a free giveaway. Your target market gives you their name and email in exchange for something valuable. For me, that’s in the form of downloadable guides: two ebooks, one checklist and two one-pagers of tips. When someone opts-in to receive one of these free resources, an automated email campaign is triggered. The emails are short and customized and each one offers something new of value. Once they complete the campaign, we add them to our main newsletter list. I don’t believe I’ve gotten a client directly from one of these resources, but they have definitely helped me grow my email list. Marketing is a long-term game, and I’m good with that. Your turn: What marketing campaigns have been most successful for your business?

Marketing Strategy

MONIKA JANSEN | March 11, 2021

Depending on what industry you’re in, you might suddenly find yourself with a little more time on your hands than usual. Time for some DIY marketing? Sure, why not? I’ve been talking to a lot of companies who are focusing on marketing right now. Yes, really. When we get back to “real life” – or whatever the new “real life” is going to look like – they want to be ready to hit the ground running. Smart. Not all marketing projects are suitable for DIY, though. DIY marketing: 4 projects better left to the pros Let’s make sure you don’t waste time or money (definitely not money!) on these four projects. Call a professional for help. Search engine optimization (SEO) There are two kinds of SEO – SEO lite and SEO for realz. I’ve written about SEO lite before, though I haven’t called it that. You can do very basic keyword research for your blog to understand what keywords people are searching for. SEO for realz is much deeper than that. “Real” SEO optimizes your entire website for search based on the best keywords for your company. It is based on many factors, such as what your current ranking is; what keywords you are ranking well for; what keywords are competitive versus less competitive; etc. Once all that research is done – using special tools that I couldn’t even name without Googling it – each page of your website is optimized. It’s a whole process. Depending on how big your website is, it can take a long time. Needless to say, proper SEO that actually helps you rank for the keywords you want to be found for requires an expert. And not just someone who says they’re an expert, but someone who has a track record. Google AdWords I have mentioned Google AdWords exactly once in all of my blog posts, and when I did mention it, this is what I said: “This is not an area of expertise for us, so my advice is to work with a company that specializes in it (and has proven results).” Google AdWords is nothing like social ads. It’s about as far from a DIY marketing project as you can get. First, it is an auction. Instead of bidding on a painting or lamp, you bid on keywords. Cost and placement depend on the competitiveness of the keywords you're bidding for. Here’s how bidding works (courtesy of Wordstream): The actual position of your ad is determined by your ad rank (Maximum Bid times Quality Score). The highest ad rank gets the 1st ad position. Your actual CPC (cost per click) will be determined by the ad rank of the next highest ad below you divided by your Quality Score. The only exception of this rule is when you are the only bidder or the lowest bid in the Google Ads auction; then you pay your maximum bid per click! AdWords bidding heavily penalizes advertisers who bid with low quality scores. Conversely, those with high Quality Scores get higher ad ranks and lower CPC. Are your eyes glazed over? Yeah, me too. As you read above, you also need to meet certain Quality Scores for this to work. Second, you need keywords that are relevant to your company. If the best keywords are too expensive, you might be tempted to bid on less relevant keywords, which could be a waste of money. Third, writing ad copy that converts is the hardest type of copywriting out there. Trust me. Web design and development SquareSpace, WIX and other web builders are DIY marketing dream tools for small businesses that just need a basic, no-nonsense website. These platforms are built specifically for non-web designers and developers, and therefore they are pretty easy to use. A custom website that includes a lot of functionality is not a DIY project. What do I mean by “a lot” of functionality? Think about a membership site or online learning site. Those require a member portal, dashboard, chat function, resource library that supports videos or audio, learning modules, module tracking/grading, etc. Then there are companies who want a custom design, not necessarily custom functionality. These sites use unique fonts, scripts, graphics and art. They’re the ones that make you stop in your track (OK, maybe that only happens to me, but believe me – these are the sites you notice). Anyway, my point is: a custom website is NOT a DIY marketing project. Lead generation strategy A lead generation strategy requires you to hunt down new opportunities in new places. How can you be expected to spot a lizard in the jungle when you’ve only ever looked for ants in a desert? A great lead generation strategy requires an outside, objective perspective. Heck, I don’t even do my own lead generation strategy – I hire someone (Nicole at SocialLight) to do it for me. When a pro does the strategy for you, he or she might uncover: Completely new audiences – or new segments within existing audiences Messages, offers, products or services that will better resonate with your target markets Different communication channels to use Topics that your target market cares about most When to reach your target market (and how often to reach out) You can’t be expected to uncover all of this, and you won’t be able to do it as quickly as an expert. So remember: when in doubt, turn to an expert – especially for these four projects.

Content Marketing

MONIKA JANSEN | March 11, 2021

When you’re an expert in something, you forget that not everyone else is. Because website content, user experience and design best practices are like second nature to me, I now realize I was wrong about DIY websites. They are not a good idea. Unless you are in marketing, don’t do it. You’ll make a mess. This year, I’ve worked with a few companies who insisted on updating their websites with the new copy I created for them. These are brilliant companies lead by brilliant people who are leaders in their field. They are phenomenal clients, and I respect them tremendously. But their websites are just … wow. And not in a good way. Why DIY websites are a bad idea Would you do your own dental work? Install and landscape a pool? Replace your home’s wiring and bring it up to code? Now, some smart asses out there would say yes. Dentists, professional pool installers and electricians would say yes. But you get the idea. The crux of my argument is: Leave it to the experts. And yes, I do realize that there are some amazing DIY website platforms out there. They were specifically created to help non-experts build a web presence. But these platforms don’t let you color outside the lines, so to speak. Once you start changing the design of the theme or template, you are headed into wow-not-in-a-good-way territory. The most common mistakes DIYers make The biggest mistakes fall into three categories: content, user experience and design. Content mistakes The number one content mistake I see is what I refer to as “inward-facing” copy. It’s about the company, not the client. Instead of speaking directly to the clients’ needs and saying, “We do this for you,” it’s more like, “We do this.” It’s very me, me, me and we, we, we. Which is a big no, no, no. Your clients don’t care what you do. They care what you can do for them. A lot of companies also write way too much, bunching words in dense paragraphs that no one is going to slog through. And because it’s so hard to write about yourself, messaging tends to be fuzzy. Essential elements, like calls-to-action, are often missing as well. The list goes on, but if you add up just the above, you are left with a website that doesn’t make a good impression. And that leads me to user experience. User experience mistakes User experience, also known as UX, is an important niche within web design. Without a good UX, your bounce rate (how quickly people leave your website) will be very high. (And yes, I know I’m a copywriter, but I have to understand UX to write good web copy.) Most UX mistakes that DIYers make have to do with navigation. For example, I see content broken out into too many pages. Instead of grouping a company’s history, approach, mission and values on one page, each of these topics get their own page. I don’t know of anyone who will patiently click through four pages of a website to learn this essential company information. Good UX also ensures each page is a “closed loop,” aka, web visitors never hit a dead end. They can always navigate to another page from the page they’re on, whether it’s a contact form, a case study or a blog post. This ensures they always have more to do (and it keeps them on your website, which is a good thing). Web design mistakes Even though I was super into art when I was young, I never in a million years would attempt to design a website. It’s an art and a science. Good web design uses different (but corresponding) fonts, colors and sizes to vary the texture of the copy. It also sizes and aligns images just right, adds contrasting blocks to signal you’re in a new section of content and keeps your eyes engaged and the brand visually coherent. This is a tough balancing act that requires excellent graphic design skills. As I alluded to above, I don’t mess around with it. If I did, my website would look like a first grader designed it. And that’s not exactly the vibe I want to give off. So now what? If you’re now thinking, “Oh crap, I wonder if my website is a POS,” I suggest hiring a marketing agency to do a website audit of your front end (what web visitors see) and back end (the configuration and apps that are running your site). You might find out that your website only needs a few tweaks to. Or, you might find out it needs a full overhaul. Either way, you’ll end up with a more functional website that better serves your clients. At the end of the day, it’s all about them anyway.

Marketing Strategy

MONIKA JANSEN | March 11, 2021

Want to brush up on your business skillset? Mastering these 10 basic marketing skills can pay off with better brand awareness and a boost in leads and sales. The 10 basic marketing skills everyone needs to master Imagine you’re on a first date. You’ve heard a lot about him from your friend who set you up. He’s sharply dressed, has a smile that could light up the night and smells good (I hug people – that’s how I know he smells good). Expectations are high for an amazing date. Fifteen minutes into the date, you are mapping out a swift exit. What happened? He won’t stop talking about himself. You are being sidelined by a monologue. Any chance for an engaging conversation has faded. You could switch the above scenario out for a business lunch meeting. Why on earth would I want to work with you if you seem to only care about yourself rather than me or my needs? (I don’t care how good you smell. Also, I’m married, so this date is pure imagination.) Marketing is like dating. The goal of your first interaction (date) is not to close a sale (get married). It’s to get to know each other. If you both like what you see/hear/learn, your relationship will progress. Creating client-centric messages Anytime you sit down to write, whether it’s a social media post or an article, make sure you are talking to your audience, not at them. Your main messaging and copy should not be about you. Don’t lead the conversation with “I am an expert at …” and “We offer …”. No one cares. It needs to be about what you can do for them. Your messages should lead with “You need …” or “You deserve …”. Once you talk to them, you can slip in, “That’s exactly what we provide!” Writing an email subject line So many people get this completely wrong. Luckily, the fix is easy. You want to write email subject lines that are interesting, creative, focused on the reader, and provide a sneak peek at what is in the email. Here at Jansen Communications, questions work really well. Please do not every use “ABC Company June Newsletter” or “What’s new at ABC Company” as your email subject line. I have no idea if the email is relevant or not, and I’m not going to bother opening it to find out. Delete. Segmenting lists Segmenting your email list allows you to send out the most relevant information to each subset of your audience. It’s totally worth doing, because when you segment your lists, you will see a significant improvement in your open and click-through rates. On average, segmenting a list results in a 14% higher open rate and a 100% higher click-through rate.  You can segment your list by any number of criteria: gender, location, industry, purchase behavior, monthly spend, age, lifestyle, interests, job title, etc. Setting up an automated email campaign An automated email campaign is also known as a drip campaign. It’s simply a series of emails that start sending once they are triggered by an event, like downloading a free ebook. They are super easy to create and set up. Every email marketing platform offers this service, and they walk you through the process. Once you write the email subject lines, compelling copy and the call-to-action, watch the results. The open and click-through rates will let you know immediately if the campaign is working or not. Using hashtags Hashtags aren’t just for Twitter, Instagram or celebrity influencers. They are relevant on LinkedIn as well. In fact, LinkedIn suggests hashtags to use when you publish an article or update. Why bother adding them? Hashtags make it easy for people to find content they are interested in. Use them if you want to be more findable online. Creating custom graphics in Canva Canva is a free online graphic design tool for non-graphic designers. It’s easy to use, and it comes pre-populated with numerous templates you can quickly customize. A word of warning: it can be easy to go down a rabbit hole on Canva, so I suggest customizing (or creating from scratch) one template to use consistently. This is a time-saver AND it ensures your “look” on social media stays the same. Once you have a template, start creating bite-size content to share on social media: Quick tips Favorite quotes (your own are OK, too) Testimonials Statistics Questions (people LOVE to share) Spying on competitors Seriously – get good at spying on competitors. Don’t you want to know what they are doing – and what is working for them? This isn’t as awful as it sounds. Just look up their websites and social media feeds. Take a look at their offerings, the topics they are writing about and any trends that appear to be taking off. Better to be in the know than be left wondering. Optimizing blog posts for search Want your blog post to get found in the sea of content out there? You need to optimize your blog post so search engines can “read” and index it. That way, when someone is looking for content on that topic, you are more likely to appear in search results. I highly recommend installing Yoast for SEO on your WordPress website. You can also optimize blog posts on a DIY platform, like Squarespace or Shopify. Choose one keyword for each blog post and make sure it appears in: Your blog post title (preferably at the beginning) First paragraph of your copy A couple of more times in your post (but not too often, or you’ll get penalized!) In your meta description In the alt text of your image Using categories and tags Categories and tags organize content (blog posts) on your website. Categories are the main topics you write about; you shouldn’t have more than five for your blog. Tags allow you to get more specific about the main topic. Think of these in terms of a grocery store: categories are grocery departments: produce, dairy, meats, bakery, and so on. Tags are subcategories. In the produce department, you’ll find bananas, kumquats, Romaine lettuce and tomatoes. Understanding Google Analytics Google Analytics was created by engineers for technical people. I am neither, but I can still glean a lot of useful information from the main dashboard (home) and various reports. Let’s just stick with what you can find on the home page. You can learn a lot just by looking at: Number of users and sessions – is traffic to your website increasing or decreasing? User acquisition by source – where are website visitors coming from? Pages users visit – what are people reading/interacting with once they get on the website? If you don’t know whether or not you have Google Analytics connected to your website, ask your website developer. Did I miss anything? What basic marketing skills do you think are most important to master?