Beau Ushay

How to choose the best social media marketing expert for your small business?

There's two things you want from any external marketing support - fresh ideas and knowledge of your industry. Knowing how the social media systems work is important, but creating content which is effective for them changes *constantly*, so it's more about keeping up with those changes and being adaptable than knowing the intricacies of optimisation.Knowledge of your industry - do the experts understand the motivations of your customers? What problems the customers are experiencing which motivates them to come to you for help? Anyone who is promoting your business should have an understanding of this before anything else, then be able to provide messages which convince those wallets to open up.Fresh ideas - if you do what everyone else is doing, you'll get mediocre results. So if they know the motivations of why the customers would spend, how are they going to influence those motivations? What are they doing differently to inspire confidence, trust and support that your solution is the best?Once you have these two questions answered, you should have a good indication of whether they're the right match for you. Oh and beware the retainer - you should avoid paying an ongoing fee from the start. Think about what you're trying to achieve and set a goal aligned with that, to a fixed time frame - launching a new venue over three months, bringing out a new product. Then once you get a feel for each other you'll know whether it's a relationship you want to keep investing in.

What are smart and low-cost PR strategies for a startup?

A tough question as PR relies so much on the relationship between the publicist and media outlet, which is what you pay for - access to leverage that relationship to tell your story. However, PR is an excellent way to promote a business, so the payoff can be worth it. While replacing a dedicated professional can be tough, there are a number of new services out there which cater to the smaller end of the market.One of the newer ones is Story Match, an app which connects your brand with relevant members of the media.https://storymatch.com.auJust remember, before you start putting resources into driving media attention, make sure your own assets, such as your website, are optimised to convert so that when those eyeballs find you, you're doing everything possible to turn them into paying customers.

How to know a marketing agency or expert is right for you?

Think of hiring an agency as you would hiring anyone to join your team. Skills are important, absolutely, but how will their people fit with your business objectives, your way of working, your culture?It's hard to determine this from the outset, so we always offer a 3 month probation or trial period so both sides can get a better feel for the relationship. Don't expect results in this time, it's not always that simple, but you'll at least have a better idea if that partner is right for you.

How do marketing agencies charge for their services?

I know it may not sound overly helpful, but it really does vary by agency.Ultimately, to get the best results, have a really clear understanding of the outcomes you're looking for. If you know what you're looking to achieve, who you're trying to reach and the problems your business is trying to solve, most agencies will tailor their costs and offering to help you achieve those outcomes. The cost itself is usually then determined by the assumed number of hours it will take to achieve the outcomes. The functions being executed will have different costs, as will the experience and seniority of the professionals working on your problem. So if you're building a new website, it would look something like:Designer: 20hrs @ $xxxx per hour = $xxxxDeveloper: 15hrs @ $xxxx per hour = $xxxx....And so on.There's also been a shift of late to performance based compensation, which is an appealing prospect as it ties objectives to compensation, but not commonly used:https://www.contractingbusiness.com/service/performance-based-compensationIt's essentially the process of paying the agency for a specific outcome or paying extra for work that goes above and beyond the normal call of duty.

When is traditional marketing better than online marketing?

The key is to not think of them as disparate practices. The words 'online', 'digital' or 'traditional' are redundant if you're focused on the meaning of the operative part of the practice - marketing.Focus on finding who your best customers are, why they buy and why they should buy from you. Once you have a clear idea of the answers to these questions, you'll be well placed to start looking for where they spend their time and how you can influence their behaviour.

Is it better to outsource your marketing or keep it in-house?

This is an important question and one which is asked by businesses of all sizes, with pros and cons for both sides of the argument.When bringing on an agency, it is usually to plug a skills gap within a business. Outside expertise used to solve a problem identified as a hurdle to the next stage of growth. Agencies exist to provide this expertise, we spend our time honing our craft and learning the advantages, efficiencies and how to navigate different problems within any particular discipline. Working with a variety of company sizes and industries, we get to experience a wide breadth of knowledge and bring that into your business.However, like any business, agencies are still there to make money for their owners and staff, so it's important that they're incentivised correctly, in a way which is aligned to your business goals.With internal marketing functions, you can have far more confidence that their goals and your business' are aligned, all pulling in the same direction. However, by focusing on a more narrow grouping of problems, in-house teams aren't exposed to the broad array of problems across all the disciplines in your marketing mix. They simply can't be. It's also much easier to fire an underperforming agency than it is an employee.At the end of the day, agencies are great solutions to plug gaps in your business and bring expertise which is lacking. Ideas which will help boost you to the next stage of growth. As long as the roles and responsibilities are clear and everyone is working towards a clear strategic vision, each business will find the mix which is right for them.

What's the cost to develop a small business brand?

A loaded question and one not easily answered in a thousand words or less.. Your brand is your identity, who you are, what you stand for and why people buy from you.However, if you're looking at brand assets, that's a different question. There are a heap of excellent online resources such as 99Designs (http://99designs.com.au/) and even Fiverr (http://fiverr.com/) who can create logos and other visual brand identities at a fairly cost effective price. There's a range of options in both and price guides to match most budgets. Though remember, you get what you pay for..These will be great options for a lot of small businesses looking for simple solutions, however keep in mind if you want to grow your company and your brand, it's best to have a partner who understands your business to help position your offering to beat your competition. There are a lot of fantastic designers and visual artists on this very platform who can help bring your business' personality to life. Someone you can talk to, get down in the trenches with you and be available when your business hits the next stage of growth (so you dont' have to go through the whole education process again).I would advise, before a brand engages anyone to help with this though, to have a really good long think about what you want. Have a clear idea of:- The problem your business solves for its customers (NOT what solution you provide)- The solution your business provides for that problem- What makes you different from your competitors- Who is the best customer you are trying to reach and what they look like (age, location, socioeconomic status - known in fancy marketing terms as your Buyer Persona)You don't have to have a really sophisticated answer to each of the above, but having a good understanding of how your business fits into each will put you in good stead to get the most out of your brand partner from a value point of view.

How to use affiliate marketing for your small business?

Affiliate marketing can be a great way to generate attention for your business. When used correctly, you are tapping into an audience who are already in market for a product or service you offer. A warm lead, if you will.The question is, what would you pay for that lead? Even then, how qualified of a lead are they? There's no guarantee they'll actually buy from you. That's why Savvy SME's look to optimise their own assets and landing pages first, so that when you're ready to start spending money to attract people to your business, you're using those funds in the most efficient way possible. This will put your business in the best position to capitalise and convert that traffic into paying, loyal customers. 

What questions should you ask when choosing a social media agency?

"What does a successful social campaign look like to you?"Too often social media agencies get caught up in vanity metrics and 'virality' and not focusing on the goals and outcomes for your business. SME's need to know their dollars are going towards driving real world outcomes for you, driving sales, foot traffic, bookings and sign ups. So before you tell them what you're trying to achieve, ask the above. If they show you posts with thousands of impressions, heaps of Likes and Comments but don't ask what's important to you...Run.

What can SEO companies or agencies do for you?

Just looking at SEO in isolation is not the best way to manage your digital presence. Ultimately, businesses should get an understanding of their owned assets first, run a data audit, have a look at your analytics and work out what you're doing well and where you need to improve. Where is your inbound traffic coming from? What are the most important pages on your site and how can you optimise them?Rather than looking at just search and an agency which can work on your rankings, talk to a customer experience (CX) agency and have a look at your web assets and customer touchpoints as a whole. Look at your strategy and work out what's going to affect your business most, like if you need to attract more eyeballs (which is what SEO will help with) or whether you need to convert better on the traffic that's already there.If you do decide SEO is the right place to commit your resources, remember Google have said that even the most technically optimised site won't rank without good, regular content. 

Why should your small business outsource SEO?

The reason for outsourcing SEO is the same as to why you would outsource any service. Sure, you can do it yourself but as with graphic design or even fixing a sink, if you want it to be done right, get someone in who has spent years honing their craft and building their expertise in driving the best results. An agency has the time to examine trends and changes in the search algorithms, will understand how to best maximise results and how your business can best take advantage. And SEO is a constantly evolving beast. If you can't dedicate the time to stay on top of the changes and implement the new best practice to your digital assets, get in an expert.

What's your trick to increase click though rate from your landing pages?

This question approaches the customer experience question in the wrong way. Businesses should focus on optimising what you can control first - Owned assets, such as your website and landing page, then work outwards to attract eyeballs/traffic via Earned, Paid then Shared Media. In that order.To make your owned assets attractive to customers and hence, encourage them to click through beyond your landing page, businesses need to provide something of value. Know your customers, what drives their actions and motivates their decisions, then create an environment which speaks to those motivations.