Tag : business marketing

Why You Need a Social Media Scheduler and How to Find One

By Christopher Tompkins

Why You Need a Social Media Scheduler and How to Find One

27Feb

Like everyone else marketing on social media, you’re probably looking for a way to simplify the process. If you’re not already using a scheduler, then you’re making the entire process of social media marketing so much harder on yourself.

I hate to see people wasting their time like this, so keep reading for a total explanation of why you need one of these tools and how to find the right one for your needs!

Why You Should Already Have a Social Media Scheduler
It’s a Huge Time Saver
Consistency is a must-have if you want your business to build a loyal following. And while sure, maybe you’re free at 3:00pm (or whenever) to regularly share your posts, you then have to remember this every single day on top of keeping your schedule clear for such a simple task. All in all, it’s a colossal waste of time and energy.

Using a scheduler allows you to write all of your content at once, add the visual elements, then schedule it for posting. So you’re doing the same amount of work, but blocking out a specific amount of time to handle social media content each week is infinitely easier than keeping a time slot open every day for posting.

It Makes Your Content Better
Beyond the simple fact that it’s faster, a scheduling tool can help you produce better content. How? When you’re looking at everything laid out on a calendar, it’s easier to identify the trends in your updates. You can look at the big picture to see if you’re sticking to your planned content mix!

It also helps make sure you’re not repeating anything too often. If you’re writing a new update every day, it’s probably going to be challenging to remember what services you have and haven’t covered this week. But a scheduler makes it easy to line up content so that it’s varied and interesting for your audience!

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Popular Social Media Schedulers
1. Onlypult: If you’re looking for a great Instagram scheduling tool, you can stop the search. Onlypult will post automatically so you don’t have to worry about it and, even more impressively, it stores your hashtags! Copying and pasting hashtags is a huge pain, so there’s a reason this tool is so popular. Add in some analytic capabilities, and it’s no surprise that Onlypult is one of the leading Instagram schedulers!

2. Later: Another great Instagram scheduler, Later features analytics tools to help you track the success of your social media posts. It also offers nominal support for Facebook and Twitter, so it might serve you well if you’re not doing anything particularly fancy on those sites. But for Later, their Instagram scheduling is definitely the main attraction!

3. Hootsuite: If your business is on a lot of social media channels, Hootsuite is the place to be. They’ve got support for every site you could want to be on, along with a nice little analytics package. The add-ons can put a bit of a strain on your wallet, but if you’ve got the budget and want a one-stop-shop for scheduling social media posts, Hootsuite is a serious contender.

4. Buffer: Buffer is a bit friendlier to smaller budgets and still offers support for just about every site you could think of. That said, some users report that Buffer isn’t always optimal for visual platforms like Pinterest or Instagram. And while you will get the occasional complaint of lagging, on the whole this scheduler is simple, easy-to-use, and doesn’t break the bank!

5. Sprout Social: One of its best features is Sprout Social’s smart inbox, which allows you to respond to comments and messages from one central hub. While the main site offers a nice analytics suite, it’s worth noting that these features aren’t available from the app. If you want to create and manage your social media campaigns in one place, Sprout Social is worth looking into!

Find a Match for You
There isn’t an objective “best” scheduling tool—that’s going to depend on your budget, what sites your business is on, and what sort of analytical support your campaign needs. Consider each of these tools and see what makes the most sense for your business. Once you do, you’ll be amazed at how much simpler everything becomes!

Would you like a little extra guidance on managing your social media pages? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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How to Make a Blog That People Will Actually Read

By Christopher Tompkins

How to Make a Blog That People Will Actually Read

25Feb

Contrary to popular belief, more goes into writing a blog than banging on a keyboard for 45 minutes every couple of days. It’s a lot of work and effort, but these are mandatory sacrifices for having a quality blog that your audience enjoys!

I’ve never been a fan of vague advice, so I’m going to walk you through the specific things and people you’ll need to have a great blog. Let’s get started!

1. Research
Nobody is interested in your surface-level analysis. If you’re not doing real research on your topic, then your audience has probably heard the same tired take a thousand times before. Really dive in! That extra effort will pay off when you’re able to offer nuanced perspectives that are actually valuable to your audience!

It’s also going to save you time in the long run since it’ll be easier to write once you have a lot of ideas floating around in your head. You can’t bleed a stone, and you can’t write a blog if you don’t have a comprehensive understanding of the topic!

2. Edit
When you’ve gotten the first draft of the blog written, it’s tempting to breathe a sigh of relief and step away from the keyboard. And that’s fine, provided you come back to the draft with a critical eye. No matter how well-written or well-researched you think the blog is, there are certainly going to be edits that need to be made.

I always suggest giving yourself a minute to breathe then going back and editing the draft yourself. Consider whether or not the information is presented in the most logical order, make sure there aren’t any awkward sentences, and overall just polish it as much as you can.

Then hand it over to an editor.

No matter how well you think you’ve edited your draft, I promise you you’ve missed something. And it’s not your fault! You wrote the draft, so it’s naturally harder to notice issues because your brain fills in the gaps that you might have forgotten to write down. Having another editor ensures that the blog makes sense to more people than just you, so I’d strongly advise you to never publish anything that hasn’t gone through editing (preferably multiple rounds)!

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3. Visuals
A good blog goes beyond just having great text. Without visuals, your blog isn’t going to be half as appealing. After all, who’s inspired to learn more by a wall of text? Nobody! I recommend having at least one image at the top of each blog post; something related to the topic that clues your reader into what you’ll be talking about while making the page more aesthetically pleasing.

If you plan on sharing your blog on social media (which you absolutely should), you’ll need visuals to accompany the post! Plain text is less likely to get clicks, so having an accompanying visual for your post is key to getting people reading your blog.

Where do you find these images? There are several free sites with stock photos, and some of my favorites are Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels. These are all great resources for finding visuals, but if you want to make them unique to your brand, they’re going to need some editing. I highly recommend that you delegate that task to a graphic designer who will be able to match your brand’s style!

Blog Away
Creating a blog is a pretty big deal, but now you know everything you need to be successful with it. If you want your audience to take you seriously, a blog is a must-have. Use this advice to make sure your new blog is successful and adds value for both your business and your audience!

Do you still have questions about how you can get a blog up and running? Schedule your consultation with The Go! Agency and we’ll talk about it!

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Why You Need a Blog

By Christopher Tompkins

Why You Need a Blog

20Feb

If you’re reading this, then you already know that blogs are great! They spread useful information and act as industry-specific news sources. Just because you like blogs, though, doesn’t mean you understand why your business needs one, specifically.

That’s why I’m here! I personally know how great a blog can be for a business, so I’ll explain some of the advantages of blogging that you’re missing out on!

Establishes Expertise
A blog is a platform in which you can show your audience how much you know. Sure, I can go on Twitter and tell you that I’m a great marketer, but why would you believe me without some proof?

Hence, a blog! I delve into topics related to my industry and get to show my audience that I know what I’m talking about. This way, it’s harder to write me off as another internet blowhard, and you’re more likely to take me seriously.

This isn’t exclusive to me, though—virtually every business’ blog works this way. If you’re going to claim to be an expert in your field, you’ll need to show some industry know-how and insight! A blog is the perfect platform, since you can tailor it to your business’ unique interests and voice!

Gives You Content to Share
If you’re really trying to promote your business, you might not want to link to outside sources like news articles. After all, you worked hard for those clicks, and you want them to go to your site. If this sounds familiar, setting up a blog is a great idea!

Your audience gets the news they need, and you get to keep them on your website. This makes it more likely that they’ll look around your website, which in turn means better odds of converting your visitors into customers! You’ll find that this strategy is far more preferable than just inundating your audience with endless promotions!

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Keeps Your Readers Engaged
Whatever your online marketing strategy is, it can’t be entirely comprised of promotions for your business. Your audience needs something to keep their interest, and blogs are a great tool for that. Since you’re presumably marketing to people who are interested in relevant topics in your industry, writing timely blogs is a great way to create value for your audience by offering them your unique insight on these issues!

Balancing out your promotions with valuable blog posts is a great way to make sure your audience isn’t just tuning out your posts. And on sites like Facebook, the more attention they’re giving to your interesting blogs, the more likely they are to have your promotions appear organically on their newsfeeds!

Helps You Stick With Your Marketing Schedule
As a professional marketer, you should have a set marketing schedule. For example, what you share in April should build on what you shared during March, and all of it should come together to make a cohesive buyer’s journey for your audience.

Blogging is a great way to develop topics for your schedule! When your social media updates and blog content are all presenting a cohesive message, it makes it much easier to get your point across to your readers. Having more places for your audience to see the message of your content marketing strategy is never a bad thing!

It’s Worth the Time
I hear a lot that people are too busy to blog, and I can’t help but wonder how busy you’d have to be to give your digital marketing strategy less than 100%. If you want to have digital marketing support your business’ goals, then having a blog really is non-negotiable. Blogs are a lot of time and work, sure, but there’s no denying that they’ll help your business!

Are you interested in discussing how a blog can help your business? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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How to Create Quality Online Videos

By Christopher Tompkins

How to Create Quality Online Videos

18Feb

It’s hard to deny that video production is the future of online marketing. Once you’ve accepted that, though, what steps can you take to get your business working with this exciting new medium?

The good news is that there’s a pretty simple list of what you need to be successful! I’ll walk you through the kind of equipment and setup you’ll need to create videos that give you a good return on your investment!

Buy a Good Microphone and Camera
You need reliable, high quality shooting material to make a good video. It should go without saying, but I’ve seen enough static-y, grainy videos in my life to know that it doesn’t. I can respect pinching a penny or two, but only up until it affects the quality of the product.

Plain and simple: If your audience can’t hear you, you’ve failed. So don’t skimp on a microphone! You don’t need to buy a gold-plated recording device made for people like Adele, but you also probably shouldn’t go for the $20 camera on Amazon with two reviews.

Set Up Good Lighting
The hottest camera on the market isn’t going to make up for you sitting under a single, half-dead lightbulb. You need to make sure that you’re being illuminated from the front, and the light is being diffused so there isn’t a single beam of white on your face and nowhere else. Just make sure to check the video before you start recording so you’re not too dim or getting washed out!

Dress the Set
If you’re making this video for a medical supply company, it’s probably safe to say that the area should look clean and professional. Alternatively, a brewery might go with a more relaxed and less corporate setting for their video. It’s not about having a sterile environment; it’s more about matching your brand’s image.

That said, no video should look messy or disorganized unless you’re working it into a bit for the video. Even a relaxed, casual-feeling business should clear away clutter before shooting. Nobody wants to see carpet stains or messy desks while you tell them to buy from you!

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Invest in Video Editing Programs
When shooting any sort of video, you are going to mess up. A lot. And that’s fine, provided you have a way to edit the footage so there aren’t obnoxious, jarring cuts every 15 seconds.

Anyone who makes videos professionally will tell you that editing is by far the most time-consuming part of the process. There isn’t much to be done about that, but you can cut down on editing time by choosing reliable, intuitive editing programs. I’ve found that iMovie and Adobe After Effects both work well for our clients!

Write Out a Script
I cannot stress this enough—NEVER go in front of a camera without an idea of what you want to say. Even if it’s a pre-recorded video, that’s just going to make it harder to edit down the line and lower the overall production value of your video.

How much you need to prepare depends entirely on you. I’ve found that I work best when I have a written plan of the areas I want to discuss, but not necessarily a word-for-word dictation of what I need to say. That said, I’ve known plenty of successful people who need that specific script, and that’s fine. Play with it a little, see what works for you, and never go in under-prepared!

Make the Investment
It seldom feels good to spend this kind of money, but if you put the effort into producing quality videos, you’ll find that it’s well worth the investment. You don’t have to buy all of these today, but start researching so you can make an informed choice and release great video content!

Do you have any lingering questions about producing video content? Set up your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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Why You Need Video Production in Online Marketing

By Christopher Tompkins

Why You Need Video Production in Online Marketing

13Feb

The future of marketing is video! It’s a claim you’ve probably heard before, but what are you doing to get ready for that future? If you’re not working video production into your online marketing strategy, you’re falling behind!

Before we get too far into this, let’s clear out the air of skepticism. 82% of Twitter users are watching video content, 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week, and 87% of online marketers use video content. Are we all on the same page? Great.

Now, I’m going to show you exactly why you need to start pumping out video content if you want to stay relevant in digital marketing!

Video Grows Brand Recognition and Trust
Trust is the foundation of all good marketing. If your audience doesn’t trust you, there’s no way they’re going to work with you. Video can place a human face on your brand’s message, which makes you infinitely easier for your audience to relate to and find common ground with.

It’s why popular YouTubers are now celebrities in every meaningful sense of the word, and news outlets are emphasizing video content. Even promotional content, which consumers fear above all else, is 57% more likely to result in a sale when presented as a video!

Video Content Increases Sales
Don’t just think of videos as online ads, though—consider how they can directly make an interested user buy your products or services. Oftentimes, the thing that holds back a potential customer is uncertainty with what they’re getting.

Sharing a product video on your landing page or releasing how-to content that shows viewers exactly what they can get from your business, which makes them more likely to buy from you. For businesses working in the electronics or jewelry industries, these tactics are particularly effective since you’re selling higher-price items!

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Video Can Improve Your SEO Ranking
SEO is a complicated and ever-changing creature, but there are a few constants among the algorithm changes, one of which is that video content consistently boosts rankings. Why? The longer that visitors stay on your page, the higher your SEO ranking, and a video guarantees that they’ll be on your page for at least the length of the video (provided it’s well-made)!

Of course, quality does play a role in how much a video boosts your SEO. But if you have an interesting title and description and link back to your website, you’re in good shape to improve your ranking with video content!

Video Makes Explanations Simpler
Are changes underway at your company, or are you offering a new product/service? Then video offers you a unique way to share information with your audience in a way that’s conversational and easy for them to understand. 98% of users have watched explanation videos to learn about new offerings from a business!

If you’re trying to inform your audience about an issue in your industry, producing a video is your best bet. Complicated ideas can be easily muddled via text, but they’re much easier to understand when presented in natural-sounding conversation. So rather than write a 2,000-word blog about your complicated topic of choice, make a five-minute video that people will actually watch!

Start Recording
There’s really no question about whether or not video is essential for good marketing; the only question is whether or not your business will use this tool. Text and photos have their place in online marketing too, but skipping video simply isn’t an option anymore! You’ve got plenty of information and statistics here, so there’s no excuse not to join the 21st century in marketing!

Would you like to talk about what video can do for your business? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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How to Stick With Your Social Media Goals

By Christopher Tompkins

How to Stick With Your Social Media Goals

11Feb

Now that you’re determined to keep up with your social media goals, how do you actually do that? Deciding to stick with social media is a great first step, but it doesn’t necessarily position you to meet your goals.

That’s why I’m going to explain how, exactly, you can make sure that you’re reaching your social media goals. With these tips, you’ll be able to work toward your social media goals and track your progress along the way!

Identify a Specific Goal
The best way to stick with your goals is see how you’re progressing toward them. Sure, it’s frustrating that you aren’t raking in the dough yet, but you can keep your motivation high by seeing how you’re advancing toward that goal!

You may have more than one social media goal, so be sure to take them one at a time. Additionally, you want to be specific. “I want to make more money” isn’t a social media goal, but “I want more people to visit my business’ product pages” is. Below, I’ll list the most common social media goals and how you can track them!

Goal 1: Generate New Leads
If you’re looking to get people started down your sales funnel, then this is the goal you should be pursuing. But how do you track your success?

Google Analytics is a great tool for tracking lead generation. Once you’ve set your goal (say, 100 leads through Facebook), you can set up pixels that track users going from your social media to your website. Some alternative methods to track are how many people gave personal information via social media (e.g. by signing up for your emails), clicked on your lead-generating posts, or downloaded content from social media that required them to give you personal information.

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Goal 2: Drive Website Traffic
Looking for more clicks to your site? Then you want to track web traffic from social media.

Once again, Google Analytics is a great tool here. By displaying how many clicks you’re getting from social media to your website, it tells you a few things. First, the base number of how many people you’re attracting from social media, which can give you valuable insight into how your content mix is working.

Beyond that, you can also see what percentage of your overall web traffic comes from social media. So if you wanted a lot more traffic than you’re getting, but social media is still accounting for 80% of your clicks, then you know that your social media efforts are on the right track!

You’ll also be able to track bounce rates, meaning you’ll know if someone clicked then immediately left or actually spent time on your site!

Goal 3: Grow Revenue
The one that everyone cares about: revenue! If you’ve got a shorter sales process, you can directly track how much social media is contributing to your sales.

Using Google Analytics you can track how much revenue comes from each of your social media sales, both by dollar amount and number of sales. This way, your sales from social media aren’t being confused with overall sales, and it’s much easier to see how social media is directly impacting your bottom line. This ensures that if you notice more sales than usual, you’ll be able to directly track how social media played a role in that number!

Give Them Time
Just because your week-old social media campaign hasn’t paid back in dividends doesn’t mean that social media isn’t worth your time; just be patient. You can look into changing practices as you go, but I find that most people just need to let the campaign play itself out. Track your goals and you’ll find that it’s much easier to stick with them when you know that progress is being made!

Do you want to discuss your social media goals and how to make them happen even faster? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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Why You Need to Stick With Your Social Media Goals

By Christopher Tompkins

Why You Need to Stick With Your Social Media Goals

6Feb

Was January your big month of social media? You were trying new things, posting consistently, but the results just weren’t what you were hoping for. Your messages aren’t blowing up on Facebook, and nobody has contacted you to compliment you on your witty status updates. It’s frustrating; I get it.

But it isn’t license to throw in the towel! A little persistence can go a long way with social media marketing. Instead of letting you give up, I’m going to break down why social media is worth your continued investment.

It’s Way Too Early
Social media isn’t the same as a vending machine; you don’t put in some cash and your reward falls out a few seconds later. Instead, you put in the time and resources and trust that, if you’re being responsible and doing things correctly, you’ll see great results in the long run.

For an example, say you own a bank and want to promote your fantastic rates on social media. Before you started taking social media seriously, you posted intermittently, maybe once a week. You’re starting off with a small handful of followers who aren’t particularly engaged with your brand.

Of course there’s going to be a slow start! You’re trying to build something from almost nothing, so it’s going to take time to build up an audience, get them interested in your brand, and then start convincing them to work with you. It’s about building up credibility in the beginning. That might not be as exciting as profits that skyrocket as soon as you post a status update, but it’s a vital part of creating long-term success for your business.

I generally advise people to give social media at least a few months before they make any major changes. That’s the only way to get an accurate baseline on what you’re dealing with.

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You Can Make Improvements
If you’ve been actively posting on social media for a while now and you’re not seeing the results you want, that doesn’t mean that you should toss it aside, either. Just because you’re not seeing results doesn’t mean that social media is a wash—you may just need to switch up your tactics.

What posts are getting engagement? What doesn’t seem to resonate with your audience? Have posting times affected how successful posts are? Are you putting enough money into your advertisements?

Asking yourself these questions is a great way to identify potential problem areas. It also gives you a path to move forward. If your ads are getting a few clicks with just a few dollars behind them, then see what happens when you put real money into them! If your audience doesn’t care for your updates that give advice, then see what you can replace it with. Just be careful about changing things up too often. Just like you want to stick to social media for a few months before you make major changes, give your new changes that same timeframe to see how they perform.

Whatever you find, I can promise you that social media can work for your business, provided you give it the time and attention that it needs.

Stick to It
Just because something isn’t working right now doesn’t mean it will never work for you. It’s just a matter of identifying the problem and fixing it. Whether you’re new to social media marketing or just need to switch up tactics, there is definitely a way for you to succeed on social media!

Do you want to talk more about your social media future? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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What a Graphic Designer Can Do for Your Business

By Christopher Tompkins

What a Graphic Designer Can Do for Your Business

4Feb

You need a graphic designer—no ifs, ands, or buts. But what do you have them do once they’re hired on? Before you start sending job offer letters, it’s best if you figure out what your new employee will be doing.

Since you don’t want to hire someone without having work for them to do, I’m going to show you exactly what projects your new graphic designer should start with. Let’s talk (photo)shop!

Create a Branded Style Guide
Graphic design is so much easier when everyone is working off the same page. For this reason, you should have your new hire create a branded style guide that breaks down exactly what your visuals and graphics will look like going forward. This way, you can approve the style and make sure it’s conveying the message that you want for your brand, and your graphic designer will know what they need to deliver to make you happy!

Create a Logo
If you don’t already have a logo (or you have one you made yourself), then this should be where your graphic designer starts. Your logo is going to be prominently displayed on your website and across all social channels, so it’s important that you’re presenting something appealing for your audience! This also helps establish your branding color palette moving forward.

Create Email Signatures
You might not believe it, but email signatures go a long way in making sure that correspondences with your business are more professional and respectable. A professional will make sure that the signature is aligned with your business’ color palette, font, and overall style! Your emails will also be a lot more impactful once you have a professional signature!

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Create Ebooks
By working with your copywriter, your graphic designer will be able to combine great content with visuals that keep your readers moving through the ebook. Mixing text and visual materials is not only a great way to make sure your reader understands your points, but it breaks up the ebook and makes it easier to read!

Create Videos
Whether you want an animation or just a high quality video to showcase your business, this is all in the realm of graphic design. Video content is more popular than ever, so start pushing out some video content! Don’t overdo it, but it would certainly be worth your time to have your graphic designer create a few short videos and see how they perform on your social media channels.

Create Building Branding Elements
Whether you’re a brick and mortar store or an office, you’re going to have clients/customers stopping by eventually. Make sure that your location looks like it belongs to your brand! Your graphic designer can make room tags, signs, and other materials that will bring your brand’s identity into your physical location.

Create Name Tags
Never underestimate the power of a good name tag! Your name tags should follow your brand’s color palette and feature some sort of visual—preferably your brand’s logo. This way, when you’re interacting with clients or customers, they know that they’re dealing with a professional and are more likely to take you seriously!

Don’t Wait to Get Started
We’re still early in the year, so take this opportunity to try something new for your business. It might be a little pricy, but paying now is better than investing in subpar social media and branding work! You know why you need a graphic designer, and now you’ve got a list of tasks for them, so there’s no reason not to dive in and make this investment for your business!

Do you want to discuss what you can expect from your new graphic designer? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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5 Reasons Why You Need a Graphic Designer

By Christopher Tompkins

5 Reasons Why You Need a Graphic Designer

30Jan

Visuals are a vital part of social media marketing. As humans, we’re not just lazy and refuse to read—our brains are hardwired to better retain visual information. So while we’ve established that you need a writer and even given a few suggestions about work you should have them do, none of that is going to take you very far without a competent graphic designer!

You want to get a great return on your investment into digital marketing, and I’m here to make sure that happens. Here are five reasons you need a graphic designer right now!

1. First Impressions Matter
Before you’ve fully formed an opinion about something, your first impression has already been decided. The instant you see a site without a consistent color palette or a blog post without accompanying visuals, you’ve already decided that what you’re looking at is amateurish and probably not worth your time.

A graphic designer changes that entire experience. The homepage is crisp, clean, and comes together to create a visual narrative. The blog comes with a relevant image that helps you understand the sort of content you can expect when you click the link. In short, your work stops looking shoddy and lazy and instead appears well-crafted and professional!

2. Your Brand Needs an Identity
Your copywriter will help you develop a unique voice for your brand, but that voice needs to extend to your visuals, too. Acting on your own, your visuals will probably lack the consistency that develops your brand identity, and your audience will be unsure of who you are or what your business’ angle is.

Conversely, a good graphic designer can keep certain elements the same in visuals, which will build your brand’s voice. If you’re operating a brewery, your graphic designer would probably use photos of people in their 20s and 30s rather than images of people 60+. This tells your audience that your brand is youthful without you ever saying a word!

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3. Grab Attention
Let’s be honest—people are rarely paying attention to what they see when they’re scrolling through social media. Great copy is informative and draws the reader in, but only if they stop to actually read it. Visuals are better for grabbing attention!

Visuals give information in an instant rather than the few seconds it takes to read. If you see a man picking up a can of soda, you’ll understand what’s happening much faster than if you read my description of what he’s doing. Saving that time is key to getting your message across before a social media user swipes past your post!

4. Vary Your Content Mix
There are certain kinds of content that really only work with visuals. Quotes are a great example! An inspirational quote is very shareable content that showcases your brand’s values, but it’s pretty dull without an accompanying graphic. Once you add in a visual, though, it instantly becomes a viable way of encouraging your audience to engage with your brand!

Graphic designers also allow you to post videos, graphs, and a host of other content that would be impossible without a professional graphic designer on staff. If you notice that your competitors’ social media pages are looking a little bland or stagnant, this is a great way to get ahead of them!

5. Things Look Clean
I’m sure that there’s at least one person reading this who’s sure that they could handle all of this graphic design work even though they have little to no experience. To that person, I respect the confidence, but the reality is a little different.

Good graphic design means monitoring visuals for consistency with brand image, kerning, spacing, style, color palettes, and a thousand other things that nobody but a professional has the time or experience for. So sure, you could probably post a stock image of a woman laughing, but that’s not nearly the same as having a professional on staff creating quality, compelling visuals for your brand.

Find the Right Professional
It’s tempting to cut corners on things like this, but that’s only going to hurt your business’ social media in the long run. If you want to manage your own social media, then there’s nothing to do but bite the bullet and hire a professional. You’ll be glad you did when your page has consistent, polished visuals going out!

Do you want to discuss the realities of hiring a graphic designer? Schedule your free consultation with The Go! Agency!

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6 Tools You Need for Your Podcast

By Christopher Tompkins

6 Tools You Need for Your Podcast

28Jan

It’s one thing to decide that a podcast is right for your brand, but it’s another to actually start recording. I’ve already covered why you need a podcast. Now I want to get you creating relevant, well-produced content!

Let’s review the six tools you’ll need to create a successful podcast!

1. Sound Proofing
I don’t care if your office is a library staffed exclusively with church mice—as soon as you start recording, there is going to be an obnoxious noise, I promise you. Since you can’t prevent it, the next best thing is going to be canceling it out while you’re recording.

Establishing a sound-proofed space to record is crucial. Even mild noises like chatter is going to worsen your audio quality and lower your production value. If you want a clean, professional-sounding podcast, the only thing your listeners should be hearing is whoever’s speaking into the mic! Which reminds me…

2. A Good Microphone
No, your laptop’s microphone isn’t good enough and yes, that’s still true even if you have your brand’s latest model. You need a device dedicated to recording clear audio, plain and simple. Anything else is going to let you down and give you scratchy, rough recordings.

If you don’t want to break the bank, go for something without all the extra bells and whistles. All you need is clear audio, so don’t feel pressured to buy the most expensive mic when you’re just starting out.

3. A Pop Filter
Even with a great mic, you’re going to notice in post that your b’s and p’s sound uncomfortably loud. A pop filter will remove any concern about that, and they’re pretty cheap, too! It might sound like an unnecessary expense, but I promise you, you’ll feel differently when you’re listening to your podcast and realize how awkward your b’s and p’s sound.

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4. Headphones
You’ll need a pair of quality headphones (not ear buds) to make sure you can hear yourself. This is doubly important if you’ll be video chatting with guests—nobody wants to listen to a podcast host shouting “WHAT” at their guest every few minutes.

Don’t go crazy with it, but treat purchasing a set of headphones like investing in your business. Expensive isn’t always better, but going as cheap as possible is usually a bad call.

5. Audio Software
You can be a master public speaker with the best equipment in the world—you’ll still need to edit your audio. This could be cutting out awkward stumbles or just mastering the audio when the sound quality is a little off. Regardless, invest in a quality product with a lot of positive reviews, because your podcast can only be as good as your editing!

6. Design Software
You probably didn’t think of this one, but graphic design plays a role in podcasting, too. If you want to post your podcast on iTunes (which you absolutely should), you’ll need a nice logo to draw in potential listeners. If you’re thinking of skipping this one, just ask yourself the last time you listened to a podcast without a logo, then go download a nice graphic design software!

Invest In Your Brand
Podcasts are great ways to develop your brand and reach your audience. I’ve given you all the tools you need to get started, so the only thing left to do is dive in and do the work.

If this all sounds like a little much, don’t be overwhelmed. Set up your free consultation with The Go! Agency and we’ll talk about your podcasting options!

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