Authenticity in Marketing: What is the Benefit?

Posted on November 29, 2023November 30, 2023 by Julia Genoves

How to Achieve Authenticity in Marketing

You have probably heard about authenticity in marketing, and it’s importance, especially if you are running your own business and are looking for ways to increase your revenue.

But what on earth do people mean when they talk about marketing “Authenticity?” Isn’t that just being honest about your product?

Well, yes and no. In the wild jungle of today’s marketing landscape (which is getting wilder but the minute), authenticity isn’t just nice to have; it’s an absolute must.

We live in the era of savvy and perceptive consumers, users who want to create real connections and who can smell a phony sales pitch from a mile away.

Authenticity is the golden thing that separates the brands that are just ‘meh’ from the brands that make customers spend their money!

If you are struggling to find the right strategy to create authentic and engaging content for your marketing, we have the answers you have been looking for.

Buckle up; because we are about to take you for a ride into the fascinating world of authenticity content marketing.

How long should a podcast be_ Grow Your Business

The Importance of Authenticity in Marketing Now

Some marketing experts talk and do authenticity like an artificial thing, like an “authenticity” metric to give to your audience to keep them happy. This is NOT the way you want to approach it.

Sure, authentic content marketing is a strategy, but it’s also about truly engaging deeply with audiences, building connections that feel personal, and making customers feel heard.

This must be one of your main concerns when building your marketing strategy. If you are being true to who you are as a brand and making sure your messaging aligns with the reality of your products and values, you have almost figured it out.

The Pandemic Effects: Reaching 2024

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the world came to an unprecedented halt. You already know this story: In-person events were canceled, and our usual ways of communication were abruptly taken away from us.

As a result, people started seeking new ways to connect and make meaning in the middle of a new and unknown reality – so we turned to the internet.

Brands that were authentic (that showed their real selves and built meaningful connections) had a higher chance of thriving in this new normal.

These brands had what the audience was now looking for personal connection.

Consumers were no longer just looking for functional products or services; they were looking for brands that they could relate to, brands that offered more than just a transactional relationship.

Even now, after a few years, with the end of lockdown, authenticity is still one of the most important factors for customers; we still want their favorite brand to feel like trusted friends.

Let’s see some examples of brands that thrive even during the pandemic, thanks to their authentic nature.

Rare Beauty

Rare Beauty is all about embracing and celebrating what makes you unique. They emphasize airy, breathable formulas that are easy to apply, blend, and build, which encourages users to enhance their natural beauty rather than hide it.

The authenticity of Rare Beauty goes beyond their products. A significant part of their mission is to support mental health, with 1% of all sales going towards this cause.

Patagonia

This outdoor clothing company has always been about more than just selling clothes. They’re passionate about the environment and aren’t afraid to show it.

Their marketing campaigns often focus on environmental issues, aligning with their brand values and resonating deeply with their environmentally conscious customer base.

The Benefits of Authenticity in Marketing: A Closer Look

We have established by now that one thing is for sure: Authenticity should be a central part of your marketing strategy.

Having authentic content marketing will not only make you connect better with your audience, but in a world where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements every day, authenticity can be the key differentiator that sets us apart.

What are the tangible benefits of authenticity in marketing? Let’s dive deeper into it.

Enhanced Trust and Loyalty

Authenticity earns trust. When brands are honest and transparent in their communication, customers feel more comfortable engaging with them.

This trust, in turn, cultivates loyalty. A loyal customer base is invaluable; this can guarantee consistent revenue.

Also, local customers can easily become brand ambassadors, spreading positive word-of-mouth about the brand and helping your local results.

Increased Customer Engagement

Authenticity encourages dialogue. Brands that communicate authentically often see higher levels of customer engagement.

Whether it’s through social media comments, blog post responses, or product reviews, engaged customers are more likely to interact with the brand and participate in its community.

Improved Brand Reputation and Relevancy

How do you stay relevant in an era of rapid change where news goes as fast as it comes? The answer is simple: reputation and relevancy.

Maintaining a good reputation is crucial for any brand. Companies that are known for being authentic are viewed more favorably by consumers.

They are seen as reliable and responsible, thus enhancing their image in the market and staying as a referent for authenticity, being on top of people’s minds for that exact quality.

Higher Conversion Rates and Sales

Authenticity can also boost conversions. Consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand they perceive as authentic.

By aligning marketing messages with the actual consumer experience, brands can increase conversion rates and drive sales without spending extra money since they are already a step closer to their true and reliable nature.

The Essence of Authenticity in Marketing: True Valuable Content

We know what you might be thinking: are all those benefits really possible to achieve just by being authentic?

It might be hard to believe that one little change can improve your overall marketing strategy, but it’s true! We swear; however, true doesn’t always mean easy.

Having authentic marketing takes time, research, and a thought-out strategy. So, how do you start? What is it that you need to do to create authentic marketing?

Ok, it all boils down to your content marketing and the way you present it.

Tips for Creating Authentic and Untapped Content

Understanding Your Audience: Explain the importance of knowing your audience’s needs, preferences, and behaviors in creating authentic content.

Storytelling: Discuss how sharing real stories about your brand or customer experiences can create authentic content.

Transparency: Talk about the benefits of being open and honest in your content, including admitting mistakes or discussing challenges.

Consistency: Highlight the need for consistency in messaging across all platforms to maintain authenticity.

User-Generated Content: Encouraging user-generated content can lead to producing more authentic material.

Authentic Content

Authentic content isn’t just a one-off tactic; it’s an ongoing strategy that should permeate every aspect of your business. From your social media presence to customer service, from the products you offer to the way you interact with your customers.

At its heart, a content strategy should be designed with the customer in mind. Ask yourself: How are you making their lives better? How is your content helping them? What unique value do you bring to the table?

Your content should not merely be about promoting your products or services. Instead, it should solve real problems and answer genuine questions that your customers have.

Whether it’s through a video, blog post, podcast, or downloadable PDF, your content needs to provide tangible benefits to the customer.

Tips for Marketing Authenticity

With all this knowledge, we are sure you are more than ready to start creating some valuable, authentic, and helpful content for your audience, but before you start, take these tips into consideration.

Video and Audio Content

Videos are the most real way to show your audience who you are and what you offer, to listen to your brand’s real voice.

Also, with today’s fast-paced lifestyle, consumers appreciate content that’s easy to consume. Videos and podcasts are engaging mediums that allow you to convey a message that will come across as genuine.

By leveraging these formats, you can enhance the user experience and make your content more accessible.

The Power of Storytelling

Is there anything more real than a true-life story?

Real stories have the power to connect with people on an emotional level. Sharing genuine stories about your brand or customer experiences can create authentic content that resonates with your audience and makes them feel identified with what you have gone through.

Whether it’s an inspiring success story, a behind-the-scenes look at your operations, or a candid discussion about challenges you’ve faced, storytelling can add a layer of authenticity to your content.

Be Transparent

Never lie to your customers, don’t hide things, and try to be as true as you can. Sure, they don’t need to know everything, but transparency is crucial in building trust.

Being open and honest in your content, including admitting mistakes or discussing challenges, can go a long way in establishing credibility.

It shows your audience that you value honesty and are not afraid to show your human side.

Maintain Consistency

Consistency will help to reinforce your brand image and make your brand more recognizable, basically letting your audience remember you.

Consistent content also ensures that your audience receives the same core message of your values and what you bring to the table.

Engage with Your Audience

One of the best ways to create authentic content is to address the actual questions and concerns of your followers. Engaging with your audience and responding to their queries not only provides value but also shows that you care about their opinions and needs.

This two-way interaction can foster a deeper connection between your brand and its audience.

Case Study of Authenticity in Marketing

Two Brothers started as a small idea. Over time, we evolved into a full-fledged content marketing powerhouse in Nebraska. Our secret? Creating authentic content that resonates with the audience.

We have made a name for ourselves by being original, creative, funny, and a very beautiful group of supermodels (well, maybe the last one is a reach.)

We have developed a simple content marketing system that leverages a podcast and video to deliver affordable, effective, and authentic marketing solutions.

With this system, we have helped many other businesses achieve their marketing goals. Are you ready to be part of the authenticity revolution?

If you want to elevate your brand, connect with your audience, and drive conversions with authentic content, then it’s time to get in touch with Two Brothers Creative.

The Easy Box

Don’t have the time for long recording hours and meetings. Don’t Worry! With the Easy Box, you give us only 30 minutes of your time, and we give you 30 days’ worth of content.

Forget all about ungenuine marketing companies and fake plastic content; this is marketing made easy.

How to Market Yourself on LinkedIn: Don’t Miss Out

Posted on November 28, 2023November 28, 2023 by Julia Genoves

How to Market Yourself on LinkedIn the Right Way

How can you market yourself on LinkedIn, and what are the benefits of doing so effectively?

If you are a business owner, you probably already have an Instagram, Facebook, or even TikTok profile for your company, so why would you bother to have a LinkedIn as well? Aren’t most people in more mainstream social media?

Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re a business-to-business (B2B) company without a LinkedIn profile, you are missing out on a huge opportunity!

On this Midwest Mindset episode, Matt, Benn, and Austin discuss the potential that LinkedIn holds for your company and how to start effectively.

How to Market Yourself on LinkedIn_ Don’t Miss Out on this Opportunity

Why LinkedIn for B2B?

LinkedIn is known as the go-to platform for seeking jobs, posting jobs, networking, and showing off your professional headshot.

Sure, sounds like a great platform for any business, the same way Instagram or Pinterest are; it’s good to be there, but how can we make it great?

Read the full transcript.

For businesses doing business with other businesses (yes, we did just say “business” three times in one sentence), LinkedIn is the place to be, but we also need to be strategic in the way we do content to make our online presence effective.

Market Yourself on LinkedIn: The Magic of Good Marketing

So, to create a good Linkedin marketing strategy, we first need to understand why it works so well for B2B.

Connect With Your Audience

First off, LinkedIn is less saturated than other social media platforms. This means that the engagement rate isn’t so high, but this focused environment makes it easier for you to find your audience and connect with them in a meaningful way.

Remember: while engagement is important, we want to connect with people who are actually interested in our brand, service, and product.

Visibility

Also, on LinkedIn, your content isn’t playing hide and seek with your followers, unlike other platforms where your posts might get lost in the algorithm maze or, worse, get shadowbanned.

LinkedIn ensures that your content is visible to all your followers in their feeds, making your content more effective.

Also, according to LinkedIn, their platform generates a higher return on ad spend than other social media platforms.

Market Yourself on LinkedIn the Right Way

So, with all this new knowledge that you have, how do you market yourself on linkedin the right way and make sure to make the best content and generate a profit?

Here are our must-do to create an effective LinkedIn marketing campaign.

Market Yourself on linkedin With Storytelling

In the digital age, every platform is essentially a video platform. LinkedIn is no exception.

However, compared to other platforms, video storytelling on LinkedIn is still an untapped strategy that has tons of potential.

This presents a unique opportunity for you to stand out. Share your brand’s story, showcase product features, or share customer testimonials.

Storytelling can evoke emotions and build a stronger connection with your audience.

Pro Tip: Use widescreen videos instead of vertical videos.

Have a Clear Intention

Every piece of content you create should have a clear intention. Whether it’s a post, an article, or a video, make sure it serves a specific purpose.

It could be to educate your audience, promote a new product or service, or simply to engage with your community.

A well-defined intention will guide your content creation process and ensure consistency in your messaging.

Repurpose Your Content

Don’t let your valuable content go to waste after just one use. Instead, repurpose it into different formats.

For instance, key points from your videos can be turned into engaging blog posts, inspiring quotes, or colorful infographics.

This strategy not only maximizes your content’s reach but also caters to different audience preferences.

Market Yourself on LinkedIn by Promoting Your Website

LinkedIn is a great platform to drive traffic to your website. You can do this by sharing special offers, deals, or free lead generators.

But remember, your promotions should offer value and align with your audience’s needs; this way, they have a real intention to go to your website.

Use Your Personal LinkedIn

While a company page is important, your personal LinkedIn profile can often be more relatable and authentic.

People connect with people. So, use your personal profile to share insights, engage in discussions, and build meaningful relationships.

This human aspect can greatly enhance your brand’s credibility and trustworthiness.

Trust Two Brothers Creative with Your Marketing

We’re here to help you. Our goal is to help you create the best unique and original content for LinkedIn and social media that delivers actual results.

If you want to learn more about how to grow and build your marketing strategy, download our free 6-step Marketing Plan pdf.

The Easy Box

On a budget? Don’t Worry! With the Easy Box, you give us only 30 minutes of your time, and we give you 30 days’ worth of content.

Forget all about long hours and marketing failure; this is marketing made easy.

The 3 Stages of a Buyer’s Journey: Is Love Like Business?

Posted on November 20, 2023November 20, 2023 by Julia Genoves

Relationships and Business: The Stages of a Buyer’s Journey

What do the three stages of a buyer’s journey and your love life have in common? It’s probably more than you think.

Having loyal and recurring customers takes time, energy, and investment, kind of like having a long-life partner, right?

In this Midwest Mindset episode, the Two Brothers Creative crew is together again to share their love life secrets and explain why our dating life relates to the buyer’s journey.

stages of a buyer's journey TBC Midwest Mindset

The Three Stages of a Buyer’s Journey

Let’s start from the beginning; what are the stages of the buyer’s journey, and how can they help your business succeed?

This journey describes the process your customers go through before making a purchase and how they decide to buy from your business.

Read the full transcript.

Stage 1: Awareness

This is the initial stage where potential customers recognize your business and begin to search for solutions to their problems.

Stage 2: Enlightenment

Customers begin exploring different options, educating themselves about possible remedies, and weighing the pros and cons of each.

By providing valuable information, demonstrating your expertise, and showcasing how your offering meets their needs, you can guide your potential customers toward choosing your business over others.

Stage 3: Decision

The final stage involves the customer deciding to make a purchase. It’s crucial your business ensures a smooth transaction process and aims for customer satisfaction to keep that customer.

Love and Business

Now that you understand the three main steps on the buyer’s journey, you might be wondering: what does that even have to do with my love life?

Think of your business relationships with customers as a budding lasting romance.

You don’t just rush in and ask someone out the first time that you see them; that’s not how that works. In the first stage, it’s all about catching their eye, making your presence known, and presenting yourself as an attractive prospect.

You subtly show your interest, gradually getting closer to the person you fancy until you ask them to date you. Well, the same thing happens in the business. It’s important to create a solid relationship before asking for a purchase.

How to Pick Curiosity the Right Way

When Ben first met his future wife, he didn’t know he had to pique her interest; fortunately for him, he didn’t have to. There was this video of himself drawing a not-so-flattering self-portrait on his profile.

It was quirky, it was funny, and it worked. She was intrigued; they started chatting, and the rest is history.

Did we mention that they met on a dating app? They were both already matched, thanks to their shared interests, values, hobbies, and dreams.

Sure, there are no dating apps for businesses and customers (yet), but there’s a target audience out there searching for your product or service.

Your job is to find them, grab their attention, and keep them engaged.

Just as in love, showcasing your unique qualities can help attract the right people to your business.

First Impressions Last Forever

Remember, first impressions truly do last forever. They’re imprinted on people’s minds, shaping their views and opinions about you and your business for a long time.

Make this first impression last by being interesting, connecting authentically, showing appreciation, and communicating effectively.

Enlightenment Stage

Once you already picked your audience’s curiosity, you can now move to the enlightenment stage. But how do you achieve this?

Enlightening your audience is all about showcasing your values and demonstrating that you genuinely care about them. Just like spending quality time with your partner to understand their likes, dreams, and passions, you should strive to understand and cater to your audience’s needs and interests.

There are a few strategies that will help enlighten your audience: By delivering valuable content that resonates with them. This could be in the form of a free PDF guide, an informative video, or an insightful podcast episode.

Note: The key is not to sell immediately but to provide value first. Don’t scare them away.

Dating isn’t just about presenting your physical appearance; you also show off your personality traits. So, demonstrate to your audience that you’re more than just another business with a pretty logo. You have something unique and useful to offer.

Know Who You Are

You can’t really provide value and enlighten your audience if you don’t know how you are; Similarly, you won’t be able to find a long-time partner if you aren’t sure of what you´re looking for. Do you want to have kids? Do you want to get married?

Many businesses struggle because they’re not clear about their core principles, goals, and values.

To establish a deep and meaningful connection with your audience, you first need to understand who you are as a business and what your ideal audience looks like.

Ask yourself: What makes your business unique? What values do you stand for? What are your long-term goals?

These answers will help shape your business identity and guide you in attracting the right audience.

Be Patient

Don’t commit the mistake of hurrying into selling your product or service.

People usually aren’t ready to commit right away; they need time to trust and understand the value you bring. So, patience is key here.

Commitment: The Winning Stages of a Buyer’s Journey

Finally comes the decision stage of a buyer’s journey. This is the stage where your audience decides you are the right fit for them and makes a purchase, expecting to get a long-term solution to their problem, like saying “yes” to a marriage proposal.

One effective way to do this is by having a clear and compelling Call to Action (CTA) for your customers to click on whenever they are ready.

A CTA is your final nudge to the audience, urging them to make a move. This could be pegasus like “buy now,” “don’t miss this amazing deal,” or “schedule a discovery call.”

However, remember this golden rule: the decision to commit should always be theirs, not yours. It’s essential to make your audience feel comfortable and in control of their decisions.

By following the tips provided in each stage of a buyer’s journey, you will be on your way to love and business success!

The Stages of a Buyer’s Journey: Leave it to Us

We’re here to help. Our goal is to help you create the best marketing strategy to make your audience commit to your business. We’re experts on peaking interest with authentic, engaging, and memorable content.

If you want to learn more about how to grow and build your marketing strategy, download our free 6-step Marketing Plan pdf.

The Easy Box

On a Budget? Don’t Worry! With the Easy Box, you give us only 30 minutes of your time, and we give you 30 days’ worth of content.

Forget all about long hours and marketing failure; this is marketing made easy.

Midwest Mindset: How To Make Money On Youtube

Posted on August 5, 2023August 7, 2023 by Julia Genoves

How Your Business Can Make Money On YouTube

This is a written Transcription for the episode: How Your Business Can Make Money On YouTube

Transcript

Full Written Transcript of The Episode

How Your Business Can Make Money On YouTube

Matt Tompkins: Let me ask you a question. Why aren’t you making money from your YouTube channel? Why is it every business making money monetizing their YouTube channel? Many businesses overlook or dismiss YouTube entirely. That is a mistake because YouTube is the number one social media platform on planet Earth. It regularly falls only behind Google as the top visited website globally.

The reason most business owners aren’t using YouTube to grow their business is simple. They just don’t know how. Today we’re going to change that. We have our returning champions, the masters of monetization Murphy and Walt of Wmbc Media back on the podcast. Youtube has become an essential tool for growing your small business. And today you’re going to find out how your business can make money on YouTube.

Hello and welcome back to Midwest Mindset, the podcast that makes marketing easy to understand and simple to do. I’m your host, Matt Tompkins of two brothers Creative, where we passionately believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.

There have been a select handful of gifts from the marketing gods, if you will, over especially recent years. I mean, social media being probably a big one there and many, many different ways.

I think the advent of TikTok, which changed the algorithm and changed the network based social media platform, the way things have been done that led to the current state of of Instagram and Facebook reels and YouTube shorts where your video as a business owner, your video is placed in front of new people who don’t already like and follow you.

It is an incredible opportunity today for small businesses who are looking to market and grow their their company and have little to no budget. It really is more realistic and doable.

It’s more feasible today, I think, than ever before. And so I’m always surprised, yet excited At the same time, I’m surprised to see more businesses have refused to embrace or even use in the slightest degree their YouTube channel. But it’s also exciting because there is nothing but potential and I know it can happen.

We’ve seen what can happen in the first 30 days of implementing a strategy where you simply post one vertical video short per day for 30 days.

Matt Tompkins: Do it on YouTube shorts. We’ve done it on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. The results are astounding. You can actually click on the link in the show notes. We put this case study together featuring three of our clients and us first 30 days of implementing this strategy.

The results are so outrageously good across the board. In every instance where we have done this and implemented this strategy, it’s kind of hard to believe. I don’t want to say it’s a guarantee. There are no guarantees in life, but this is as close to a sure thing as you can get in the digital world. There are so many benefits YouTube brings to your business.

Boosting your organic SEO. Establishing you as an authority in video format, reaching tens of thousands of new people who weren’t already familiar with you. Following you subscribe to your channel, who will discover you and your business simply by using those YouTube shorts? One of the highest valued assets there is today for your marketing. So it all sounds great, right? But how do we do it? Well, that’s what today’s episode is all about. So the first thing I had to ask the monetization maestros why aren’t businesses making money from their YouTube channel?

Walt Sanders: It takes a long time and a lot of consistency to really monetize a YouTube channel and it takes a dedicated effort and a lot of companies are scared of a long term investment that they honestly don’t know if it’s going to like. You don’t know if it’s going to work or not. Well, there’s.

Michael Murphy: Too many sure things in their pocket. You know, they’re able to rely on that 0.5% click through rate on the email campaigns. They’re running right. Or their Google ads are performing at a 1% click through rate. And they know if they spend ten grand, they make 12 grand. So there’s a lot of consistent things out there that they think are performing well enough, but they haven’t seen what we’ve seen. We haven’t they haven’t seen, you know, the behind the scenes analytics that kind of show like, look, a company can grow their brand awareness very well through YouTube.

Matt Tompkins: Way back in 2008, my brother Ben and I, we did this comedy video, this music video called You Can’t Say College World Series Today. And it went viral locally. Now, this was in 2008 when to go viral locally, you only needed about 5000 views on YouTube. Obviously, that’s not the case today. The audience has gotten bigger and YouTube has adapted. It’s not just videos. There are a lot of other tools and resources you can use to build your tribe, your community on YouTube today.

Michael Murphy: Something I think a lot of companies or just people in general don’t realize is along with having a YouTube channel, it gives you the opportunity to have a community wall where you’re able to post just like you would on Facebook. You can you can post a poll. So now you have an audience that you know is interested in your industry and you can directly poll them on like, what do you like better this t shirt or that t shirt and get the direct feedback and make better business decisions. So just like you said, I love that it is like the stepchild of social media. Nobody considers it in that same realm, but it’s the second most used search.

Matt Tompkins: Site on the planet. Yeah, I think one of the main things that YouTube has over its social media competitors is SEO search engine optimization. Youtube is owned by Google. Everybody’s competing on Google to show up on page one organically. Just naturally let people find us.

That’s how we’re going to grow. And if you’re a business, you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend every month on a pay per click Google ads campaign. Then you need organic SEO growth. Youtube is a secret weapon. It is a lightning bolt. Use the same principles for SEO that you use for a blog article and apply them to a video on YouTube and you will see that video leapfrogged to the top of the search results. Because most businesses are not thinking this way. They’re not thinking of applying SEO blog tactics to a video on YouTube. They’re not even doing videos in the first place.

Michael Murphy: If you’re paying for SEO, you’d be better off paying for having a YouTube channel. Yeah. So to be honest, because these shorts that you can be putting out on a consistent basis are the new blog article that bumps up SEO. We have one specific client that does no SEO. They don’t write any blog articles. We’ve been posting for 60 days for them on YouTube shorts. If you search that a loosely specific term about what they do, they’re now number one on the Google rankings.

Matt Tompkins: Hosting a daily YouTube short and posting at least 2 to 3 widescreen format, you know, 2 to 5 minute ish videos on YouTube applying the same principles you apply to the written word for SEO to the videos on YouTube is going to see incredible results. It really is. It’s organic. It’s going to take time.

You’re going to have to stick to it and be consistent, but it will pay off far more than any paid advertising you could do. In fact, they released a report that organic SEO, which these YouTube videos fall into 38% higher ROI than pay per click and Google ads. It’s just nobody wants to do it because it takes longer. You got to commit to it. You got to have patience, right? That’s just a couple tips that we got into with with Walt and Murphy of Wjmk. Let’s get to Walt’s number one tip on how to grow your YouTube channel.

Walt Sanders: I think the number one tip and trick that we found now is like creating with a group of other content creators and mapping out. So we have a group of four content creators who every week we get together map out. Our shoots. So we’re all helping shoot each other’s contents and everybody has their shorts for the week and we have long form content that we post together and both individually, um, having that kind of ecosystem for accountability, but also for help and critique and just knowing like, okay, maybe, maybe you shouldn’t post this one because the font looks like trash or like you should, like you have that group of people that you can can bounce off of. And as each channel blows up, like then it’s almost like it gives access to the other channels.

So you have the ability to stand up multiple monetized channels at once. If you do it with that group kind of approach, kind of.

Matt Tompkins: Rising, Tide lifts all the boats and.

Michael Murphy: Then and then you need to start and take very seriously what you’re going to name your channel, what the branding of the channel is going to be on that cover page and what the profile photo is going to look like, and then also be laser focused on what it is your channel is going to be putting out. So it’s like, okay, I’m going to be a gamer, right? So my main content is me playing video games.

And then the second piece of content is a montage of me playing video games. And then the third one could just be me being a talking head, talking about, Hey, did you hear about the latest releases that are coming out? So you want to have multiple prongs that are pushing that same that same message all the way through.

Matt Tompkins: One of the most daunting aspects of starting maintaining a YouTube channel is that we think, I couldn’t do this. Where am I going to come up with all these ideas? How am I have to learn how to edit? I have to learn this, I have to write scripts. I got to learn special effects. I don’t have time to do this. Keep it simple, stupid.

Michael Murphy: Why doesn’t a business have a YouTube channel and why isn’t it monetized? You got to look at your your business partners too. Yeah. So now as a business, you’re going to have your own YouTube channel. What better way to thank a partner than to feature them? Yeah, we’re working with a funeral home. We went to their preferred partner in a florist and featured their florist talking about different flower arrangements and what their what a rose means. That’s white and pink and what these different meanings are. So now you’re shining the light on your partnerships, strengthening relationships that are very important and vital to your business while building new relationships with potential customers. So it is a you’re winning in all areas. It’s a win win situation.

Matt Tompkins: Yeah. Another tip is try not to get hung up on the view count. If it’s a podcast, don’t get hung up on how many downloads you have. Okay. Your podcast downloads are like your bench press. You’re the only one who knows how much you can bench and you’re the only one who cares.

Trust me, it is purely ego driven. So set that aside and focus on how you can leverage a podcast or a video or a show on YouTube for your business. And one of the ways that we do this is we have our clients.

They will reach out to those those partners, those collaborators, that that dream client that you would otherwise have no chance of ever being in the same room with. And invite them to be a guest on your YouTube show, on your video podcast. They’re going to say yes and think about the impression you’re going to leave that first impression with that ideal dream client that you’ve always wanted to do business with. So we got into some more tips and the biggest differentiators which Walt talks about here between those YouTube channels that make it and those that don’t.

Walt Sanders: What actually is the differentiator between a channel that makes it and a channel that doesn’t?

Matt Tompkins: That’s a good question.

Walt Sanders: For me, it’s that are you providing are you giving more than you’re taking to the ecosystem? What are you giving? Because if you have content that’s focused on I’m going to teach you something, I’m going to give you something, I’m going to provide a platform for my partners. I’m going to make this incubator for everybody else to benefit, including, you know, it always benefits the whole group. What if you ended up just making selfish content? What happens in that? Like if you just make self-centered and the only thing you’re doing is saying, Hey, come buy this? Yeah, nobody’s going to follow that. Like, give.

Matt Tompkins: People something of true.

Walt Sanders: Value. Yeah. What are you actually giving? Authentic.

Matt Tompkins: Authentic value. Always be striving to give people something of true value. It’s kind of like our Midwest mindset here, helping other people without expecting anything in return. Ironically, in business, it ends up having the highest return of all. We’re going to get to WMC’s secret sauce to success on YouTube here in a minute. But first we talked about. The biggest fails. The biggest mistakes that they see other YouTube channels make. That you definitely want to avoid directly.

Michael Murphy: Just thinking of it as constantly being a commercial or a sales pitch. You got to give value outside of just talking about your own company. I mean, that goes back to the selfish thing. I would say also starting and stopping and starting and stopping, you’re.

Matt Tompkins: Basically starting from scratch.

Walt Sanders: So as you gain five followers, you lose seven. Yeah, yeah.

Matt Tompkins: Yeah, exactly.

Walt Sanders: Yeah.

Matt Tompkins: And last but certainly not least, WMC’s secret sauce to YouTube success.

Walt Sanders: Secret Sauce Alert. Secret sauce alert. Hey. All right. Hey, we are in America right now. Okay. We have access to a small percentage of the world’s population. There is an entire world of people that love to watch us react to their culture. Like, I swear to God, if you if you go on there and you. You react to, like, look for different stuff in other cultures and just watch their videos and film yourself reacting to it. Yeah. Secret sauce, Secret sauce. Go blow your channel up. Watch it. Watch it happen. Be authentic. Yeah.

Michael Murphy: Don’t fake your reaction. Yeah, yeah. If you didn’t like what you just saw, say it.

Walt Sanders: Yeah, for.

Michael Murphy: Sure. Get some hate.

Matt Tompkins: But also, you can’t have the woke filter going on.

Walt Sanders: You got to be authentic. Yeah, you.

Matt Tompkins: Got to be authentic.

Walt Sanders: Correct? Yeah, because they’ll see through that shit. They’ll be able to see like, Oh, this guy’s just on here trying to make some money. They want you to actually engage with their culture. Yeah, but.

Michael Murphy: The first thing you want to do to start growing it fast is be consistent. And if you can afford to do it post 6 to 8 times a day, 6 to 8 times on shorts.

Matt Tompkins: On shorts. This is one that’s hard, I think, for a lot of people to kind of wrap their heads around. And I understand why we’re so used to the old school linear timeline model for social media platforms, reels, TikTok, YouTube shorts, stories. They’re all self-contained in their own little categories. And you can’t over post. Now there are techniques and strategies that Murphy’s going to share here in just a second on what you should do, but you could post 6 to 8 times a day. Like you said, we’ve posted as many as ten at once and reached wildly different audiences with every single video because they are now tailored to who is best suited to be engaged with each video based on its content.

Michael Murphy: Never within an hour of each other. Okay. And two sweet spots that exist for all channels is 3:11 a.m. and 3 a.m. no matter the time zone, 11.

Walt Sanders: A.m. and 3 p.m.. 11 a.m., 3.

Michael Murphy: P.m., 11 a.m., 3 p.m. No matter what time zone you’re in, make yourself do that.

Matt Tompkins: One last tip is to maintain that attention through the entire video.

Michael Murphy: Just try to tease people all the way through the first 10s of the video. And I mean that from the beginning. When you’re thinking of the title, tease them. When you’re thinking of the thumbnail, tease them like build curiosity in their mind in some form or fashion. And then right at the beginning of the video, get on the verge of answering the question that you built Curiosity about, cut it off and say you got to stick to the end of the video to watch it. Yeah, do your whole video.

Matt Tompkins: That drives me nuts when I watch those. Because you do you get sucked in? Yeah, Yeah. It’s like, come on, get.

Michael Murphy: That’s the funniest thing about studying the way that we all three do. Yeah. Is that like, it gets to a point where you think you’re studying, but really, you’re just the. You know what I mean? Like, you’re the they got you.

Matt Tompkins: It’s like on social media, you are the study because you’re the product.

Walt Sanders: It’s like it’s like.

Michael Murphy: Yeah, I clicked on one video and six hours later I’m there with a bag of popcorn and a hangover.

Walt Sanders: Like, Yeah.

Michael Murphy: Just watch.

Matt Tompkins: What happened in my life.

Michael Murphy: Got me from one thumbnail.

Walt Sanders: Yeah, Authenticity is still king and interpersonal relationships. So when you’re when you’re posting this stuff, you’re talking to real people and like, connecting with that audience and giving them something tangible, whether it’s, you know, some a feeling, a good feeling you gave them during the day or just some imprint their emotions through your through your channel, whatever that is. Youtube, Instagram. Now this the other tip is YouTube is king. Like if you’re going to pick one, pick one social media, do YouTube double down. We’ve doubled down our entire business on YouTube and.

Michael Murphy: I would keep an eye on Twitter.

Walt Sanders: Yeah, Twitter.

Michael Murphy: Elon is going Elon is already said he’s going to make a monetized version of for content creators just like you like YouTube but.

Walt Sanders: Better so and you can have up to like an hour you can post up to an hour right.

Michael Murphy: Like right now you can. But like he’s going to create a Twitter partner program like the YouTube partner program so that when ads are run and you’re even going to be able to run ads on comment replies, I don’t know if you know this, but on Twitter, like the best way to get traction is to be in the comments. Yeah, like if you’re starting off. Yeah. So starting to just so have your reply ready. Be like oh no on this topic. Actually this is my opinion on it. Post it in there and you’ll be able to monetize that.

Matt Tompkins: That’s a huge thanks to Walt and Murphy of for coming back on the podcast here today. I know we’ll have them on again and again. Just because I love nerding out about this stuff. I could talk about it for hours. I honestly just think it is so cool that there is a free tool called YouTube. It doesn’t cost you anything. That you can set up along with another free tool, your Google business profile and the many others Google gives you.

But you can use YouTube and your Google business profile and you can take these free tools with all of this free knowledge that we have just given you here today on this episode and in so many past episodes and in so many other books and podcasts and resources you can find on. I don’t know, say, YouTube. Y

ou can take the free knowledge with the free tool and you can make money. You can grow your business. You can organically grow your business. You can do your own digital marketing. It is organic. It takes time. It takes commitment, but it’s not going to cost you a dollar. It’s only going to make you dollars.

All it takes at this point is time, commitment and effort. If you want to check out that link to the case, studies that I mentioned earlier show you those incredible results. After just the first 30 days of implementing this daily YouTube shorts strategy. The link is in the show notes. Also got the details on how to get Ahold of them. If you want help with your YouTube channel. They are the pros. Who knows? I don’t know.

Starting to rhyme something there. It didn’t really flow well, so they know what they’re doing. I’m not going to. That’s the last time I try ending this podcast with a rhyme. I am not a rhinoceros. On that note, thank you so much for joining us here today on Midwest Mindset. My name is Matt Tompkins and we’ll see you on the next episode.

Speaker4: And that’s a wrap.

Omaha Content Strategy: How To Create Killer Content

Posted on June 1, 2023August 30, 2023 by Julia Genoves

How to Create an Omaha Content Strategy for Your Business

If you don´t have an Omaha Content Strategy tailored to your local business, you’ve likely experienced some frustration as you navigate the ever-growing world of digital marketing.

But don’t worry; with a little planning, creativity, and knowledge on how to craft killer content, your products or services will surely stand out in no time!

In this blog post, I will share my experience and expertise as a successful small business professional in creating high-quality content for success online.

How to Create Killer Omha Content Strategy

Creating captivating content that captures potential customers’ attention isn’t easy — especially since so much competition has saturated the internet.

I remember when I first started my own small business in Omaha, Nebraska. I was excited and eager to get the word out about my products and services.

But despite all my enthusiasm, I quickly realized that creating quality content to engage my audience was no walk in the park.

That’s when I embarked on a journey to master content marketing, and today, I want to share with you some of the strategies that have helped me along the way.

Why a Quality Omha Content Strategy Matters

The digital landscape is a crowded place, and to stand out, you need to create killer content that speaks to your target audience.

The right pieces of content not only boost brand awareness but also build trust and credibility. It’s essential to understand your buyer persona and create content tailored to their needs and interests.

I once wrote a blog post that I thought was going to be a huge hit. I spent a long time on it, pouring over every word. But when I published it, the response was… underwhelming.

That’s when I realized that understanding my audience was more important than crafting perfect sentences.

Types of Content to Consider

When planning your content marketing strategies, it’s vital to diversify the types of content you produce.

Blog posts, long-form articles, case studies, videos, and podcasts are just a few examples of the formats you can explore.

In my experience, Video podcasting has been instrumental in helping me reach a wider audience because it offers a convenient and engaging way to consume content.

Unlike other forms of content, such as written articles or blog posts, video podcasts provide a more immersive experience that allows viewers to feel like they’re part of the conversation.

Creating a Content Strategy that Resonates

To create killer content that resonates with your audience, start by developing a clear understanding of their needs, preferences, and pain points.

Use tools like Google Analytics and social media channels to gather insights and fine-tune your content.

I remember when I first started using Google Analytics, I was amazed at the wealth of information it provided. It quickly became an invaluable resource in my content marketing efforts, helping me tailor my content to better meet the needs of my audience.

Developing a Consistent Content Strategy

A successful content marketing strategy requires consistency.

You can’t just publish a few blog posts and expect to see immediate results. It takes time, effort, and patience to build a loyal following and see a return on your content marketing investment.

Back when I first started, I would get discouraged when I didn’t see immediate results. But I’ve learned that consistency is key, and over time, my content marketing efforts have paid off in spades.

The Power of Storytelling in Your Content Strategy

Weaving storytelling elements into your content is a powerful way to connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Sharing personal experiences and anecdotes helps humanize your brand, making it more relatable and memorable.

When I started incorporating stories into my content, I noticed a significant increase in engagement. It turns out that people love hearing about the challenges and triumphs of others, and it made my content feel more authentic and genuine.

Utilizing Social Media Channels

Once you´ve created your high-quality content, it´s time to share it with the world. Social media channels offer a cost-effective way to reach your target audience and amplify your message.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a well-crafted piece of content go viral on social media, generating buzz and interest in a brand.

Be sure to use the right platforms for your audience, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different formats and approaches to find what works best for your business.

Optimizing Content Strategy for SEO

To ensure your content reaches your target audience, it’s essential to optimize it for search engines.

SEO keywords play a critical role in making your content discoverable, so be sure to include relevant terms throughout your pieces of content.

When I first started paying attention to SEO, I was surprised by how much of a difference it made in my content’s visibility.

By strategically incorporating keywords like “content marketing strategies” and “boost brand awareness,” I was able to attract more visitors and grow my audience organically.

Omha Content Strategy Secret: Google Analytics

Google Analytics can be your best friend when it comes to understanding your audience and making data-driven decisions for your content marketing campaigns. It provides valuable information on user behavior, demographics, and content performance.

As I mentioned earlier, Google Analytics has been a game-changer for me.

By regularly monitoring the data, I’ve been able to refine my content strategy and make informed decisions about what types of content resonate most with my audience.

Using Long-Form Content to Showcase Expertise

Long-form content, such as video podcasts, is an excellent way to showcase your expertise and provide value to your readers. Long-form content allows you to dive deeper into a topic, demonstrating your knowledge and helping your audience solve problems or learn new skills.

In addition, video podcasting has allowed me to showcase my personality and brand in a way that written content simply can’t match. By putting a face and voice to my content, I’ve been able to create a stronger connection with my audience, which has helped me to build trust and establish myself as an authority in my industry.

The Importance of Consistent Branding in Content Marketing

Consistency in branding is crucial when creating content for your small business.

Your content should reflect your brand’s voice, tone, and visual identity, ensuring a cohesive experience for your audience across all touchpoints.

When I first started, I didn’t pay much attention to branding. But as my business grew, I realized the importance of having a consistent brand image. It has helped me create a memorable experience for my audience and build a strong reputation in my niche.

Repurposing Content for Maximum Impact

One of the most effective content marketing strategies I’ve discovered is repurposing content.

By transforming your existing content into different formats, you can extend its reach and get more value from your content marketing efforts.

For example, I once turned a popular blog post into an infographic, which I then shared on social media. The response was incredible, and it helped me reach a whole new audience who may not have discovered my content otherwise.

Engaging Your Audience through Interactive Content

Interactive content, such as quizzes, polls, and surveys, can be a powerful way to engage your audience and gather valuable insights.

By inviting your readers to participate and share their thoughts with a clear Call to Action (CTA), you can create a sense of community and foster loyalty.

I’ve found that interactive content not only boosts engagement but also provides valuable data that can help shape future content marketing campaigns. It’s a win-win situation for both your audience and your business.

Measuring Content Marketing Success

Lastly, it’s crucial to measure the success of your content marketing efforts.

Keep track of key performance indicators (KPIs) like website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates to gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns and make adjustments as needed.

Over the years, I’ve learned the importance of tracking my content marketing KPIs. By monitoring my progress and making data-driven decisions, I’ve been able to optimize my campaigns and achieve better results.

The Value of User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful way to boost your content marketing efforts and build trust with your audience.

Encourage your customers to share their experiences, reviews, and testimonials, and feature their stories in your content.

I’ve found that UGC not only saves me time in creating content but also adds authenticity to my brand. People trust the opinions of their peers more than advertisements, and showcasing real-life experiences can be incredibly persuasive.

Collaborating with Influencers and Industry Experts

Partnering with influencers and industry experts can help you reach a wider audience and enhance your credibility. Consider guest blogging, hosting podcasts, or conducting interviews with experts to create informative and engaging content for your audience.

One of the most successful collaborations I’ve had was when I invited a well-known expert in my field to write a guest blog post. Their insights and unique perspective brought in new readers and generated a lot of buzz around my brand.

Keeping an Eye on Competitors and Industry Trends

Stay informed about your competitors’ content marketing strategies and the latest industry trends to ensure you’re always one step ahead. By being proactive and innovative, you’ll stand out in the crowded digital landscape and continue to attract and engage your audience.

Over the years, I’ve learned that keeping up with industry trends and competitor analysis is essential for staying relevant and successful in content marketing. It’s helped me adapt my strategies and stay ahead of the curve.

Investing in High-Quality Visuals and Design

Last but not least, never underestimate the power of high-quality visuals and design in your content marketing campaigns.

Engaging imagery, eye-catching graphics, and professional design can significantly impact your content’s appeal and effectiveness.

I once invested in a professional designer to create custom visuals for my blog, and the difference was astounding. The improved aesthetics not only made my content more appealing but also helped increase engagement and shareability.

Final Thoughts

Creating killer content for your small business might seem like a daunting task, but with patience, dedication, and the right strategies, you can make a significant impact on your brand’s growth and success.

Remember to focus on quality content that resonates with your target audience, experiment with different types of content, and optimize your content for search engines and social media channels.

As someone who has been through the ups and downs of content marketing, I can tell you that the rewards are worth the effort. By consistently producing valuable content that speaks to your audience, you’ll build trust, credibility, and a loyal following that will support your business for a long time.

Now it’s time to put these tips into action and start creating killer content for your small business!

Good luck, and remember: with hard work, persistence, and the right content marketing strategies, you can achieve incredible results.

Content Marketing in the Age of the Algorithm

Two Brothers Creative is here to help. As experienced content marketers ourselves, we understand the challenges of selecting channels, preparing creatives, and then effectively promoting your content across multiple touchpoints. Our team is prepared to help you with the process.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the demands of content marketing? Are you struggling to create content that effectively conveys your brand’s value proposition while engaging your audience?

Two Brothers Creative: Content in a Box

Together we’ll identify actionable steps you need to take, from selecting channels that best capture your audience’s attention to creating memorable storylines that keep them engaged. Say goodbye to confusion, wasted time, and financial underperformance with Two Brothers Creative.

How Marketing Accountability Is The Key To Success

Posted on May 29, 2023June 7, 2023 by Julia Genoves

Marketing Accountability: The Key to Success

Marketing accountability is the key to creating a more fun, productive, and profitable business. Most marketing businesses struggling with productivity and profit are missing one important thing: accountability. With accountability, you can make sure to improve your business results.

In this Midwest Mindset (The Omaha Podcast) episode, we were joined by Tracy Winkler, a professional Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) implementer and CEO of Elevate Growth Solutions, to delve into all the secrets to having a professional and well-structured plan to building an accountable and successful business.

Marketing Accountability_ The Key to Success

What is Marketing Accountability?

Read the full transcript.

To succeed, you need to be professional, which means having a plan and following through with it, not just having it on paper. Tracy guides us into the step of building a roadmap to being a professional business person.

To really understand how to implement an EOS and have a profitable business, we first need to understand what accountability is and why it is so important.

In simple terms, accountability is the responsibility or obligation to complete tasks, meet expectations, and own the consequences of one’s actions. In the context of a marketing business, accountability plays a vital role in ensuring that each team member delivers on their commitments and contributes to the company’s overall success.

Team members are more likely to stay focused and work diligently to meet deadlines when they are held accountable for their tasks and responsibilities.

What is EOS and Why is It Important for Accountability?

As Tracy puts it: EOS, or the Entrepreneurial Operating System, is a comprehensive set of tools and concepts designed to help businesses establish strong organizational systems for improved efficiency and success.

These tools are pretty simple, but that doesn´t mean they are easy to implement. Implementing them effectively requires dedication, discipline, and a lot of accountability to follow up on goals and tasks.

By incorporating EOS into your business operations, you can streamline processes, enhance communication, and promote accountability among team members, ultimately leading to a well-organized, high-performing organization.

EOS Core Values for Accountability

EOS has six core values that every team member must follow to reach top productivity and performance. Having this in mind will help your team reach their goals faster and in a more effective manner.

Vision

A clear and cohesive vision is essential for any business to thrive. EOS emphasizes the importance of not only defining your company’s vision but also sharing it with all team members. This enables everyone to work collectively towards common objectives.

People

The right people are the backbone of any successful business. EOS focuses on attracting, retaining, and nurturing the best talent that aligns with your marketing company. Happy people make an accountable and successful business.

Data

Data-driven decision-making is crucial for businesses to stay ahead in today’s competitive landscape. EOS encourages organizations to leverage data to track performance, identify trends, and uncover potential issues. Use clear metrics to ensure that your EOS is working.

Issues

Addressing issues head-on is paramount to maintaining a healthy organization. EOS promotes a proactive approach to identifying, discussing, and resolving problems before they escalate. Try to ask your team regularly if they feel uneasy or find any problems and how you can help.

Process

Streamlined and efficient processes are the foundation of any well-functioning business. EOS helps companies identify, document, and refine their core processes to eliminate bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Companies can improve productivity and ensure consistent delivery of high-quality products or services by continuously optimizing processes.

Traction

Traction is the ability to execute your vision effectively and consistently. EOS strongly emphasizes setting realistic goals and implementing actionable steps to achieve them. By regularly monitoring progress and adjusting strategies as needed, businesses can build steadily advance towards their objectives.

How to Implement EOS for Marketing Accountability

Know that you know all of Tracy´s secrets and about EOS; how do you implement it in your business? Where do you start?

The first step is having clear goals and writing down a plan. Start with a 3-year vision of where you want to be. Then brake it down into a year plan; what do you want to accomplish in this first year that gets you closer to your 3-year vision goal?

Then, focus on the right metrics. These metrics, scorecards, or KPS, will depend on your business’s online presence and goals. It can be things like leads, engagement, likes, shares, etc.

The next set will be to create rocks; these are quarterly goals, usually between 3 to 7 rocks, so that you can brake your yearly plan into smaller steps. Each team member needs to have their own rocks.

Know it is time to create an issues list, what is bothering all the team, and what they feel can be improved, or that is slowing down their productivity. Having this list will help you solve this problem one by one.

Lastly starts with the vision traction and organizer. Think of this as a checklist to see that everybody’s efforts are working as expected.

Remember that having clear goals and expectations for everyone will help your team to stay accountable for their work.

The Key to Accountability: Keep It Interesting

To finish talking about accountability, it’s essential to remember that working with people that you like and believe in makes all the difference for you as a leader and for your employees as a team.

Having a group of people that likes their work is the easiest way to reach a responsible team and have a better workflow.

If your clients or team is not a good fit for your company, then maybe it is time to let them go since this can limit the potential growth for both parties,

Start Your Content Marketing Today

Most business owners struggle with marketing because they don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to manage it all themselves. If you need help with your marketing, we are here for you.

From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset for Marketing, to professional coaching and consulting, to having us do all of the work for you at Two Brothers, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.

Content Marketing: The Way to Success in the Digital Age

Posted on May 4, 2023May 6, 2023 by Julia Genoves

Content Marketing is Everything For Success in the Digital Age

In today’s digital age, content marketing is more important than ever. With so much information at our fingertips, it can be difficult for businesses to stand out.

Content marketing is a process used to attract and retain a specific audience.

Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content. Ultimately, it aims to drive profitable customer action.

What Are Your Content Marketing Goals?

Your digital marketing goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound like increasing website traffic by 10% in the next six months. Another specific goal could be to generate 100 new leads per month.

When setting your marketing goals, it is very important to only compare your results to yourself. Don’t compare your success to the marketing efforts of big companies or even your local competitors because neither are accurate measurements for your success.

Start with a baseline for one quarter and then set goals to increase from there. All success is relative, and you should only focus on what you’re doing and where you’re succeeding.

When done correctly, content marketing can help businesses achieve several goals, including:

Increase brand awareness
Generate leads
Drive traffic to your website
Boost sales
Improve customer loyalty

How to Set and Measure Your Marketing Goals

Once you know your goals, you need to develop a plan for how you will achieve them. This plan should include a detailed timeline of when tasks should be completed, a list of resources needed to complete the tasks, and a clear list of action items and goals that will help you measure progress.

Additionally, the plan should include a strategy for handling obstacles and setbacks and a way to track your progress so that you can adjust your plan as needed. Every individual marketing campaign needs to have three components: Tarket Market, Message, and Media. Who is your target customer, what is your message for them, and how will your message be delivered to them?

Defining Your Marketing Objectives

Content marketing objectives are the specific goals you want to achieve with your content marketing efforts. Objectives can focus on many areas, such as:

Increasing website traffic
Generating leads
Boosting sales
Increasing brand awareness
Building relationships with customers
Improving customer engagement
Establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry
Driving conversions

Each objective should be tailored to your unique business needs and measurable, attainable, and realistic. Additionally, your content marketing objectives should fit into your overall marketing strategy and be tracked and adjusted as needed.

How to Develop a Content Marketing Strategy

The first step in developing a content marketing strategy is to define your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your content? Once you know your target audience, you can begin creating relevant and engaging content for them. This content can be found through search engines and social media marketing.

The next step is to create a content calendar. This is a schedule of the content that you plan to create and publish each piece of content each month. Your content calendar should be based on your target audience and marketing goals.

The third step is to develop a content distribution strategy. This is a plan for getting your content in front of your target audience. There are several ways to distribute content, including social media, email marketing, and paid advertising.

The fourth step is to develop a content measurement plan. This is a way to track the results of your content marketing efforts. There are several different metrics that you can follow, such as website traffic, lead generation, and sales.

The future of content marketing is bright. Consumption of content online is increasing rapidly. Businesses that can create and distribute valuable content will gain a significant advantage over their competitors.

The Different Types of Content You Can Create

An effective content marketing strategy is tailored to your target audience and marketing goals. It should include various content formats, such as blog posts, articles, infographics, videos, and social media posts.

Maximize the reach of your content by distributing it through various channels. These channels include your website, social media platforms, and email marketing campaigns. This will help broaden the reach of your content to potential customers. You can also track how each channel performs so that you can optimize your content for future campaigns.

Additionally, distributing your content across multiple channels will help to increase brand awareness and build relationships with your customers and prospects. Don’t try to take on too many social media channels at once, though. Select only social channels that your target audience is actually spending time on.

Start with one single channel and then build from there, adding new channels one by one. It is very common for businesses to try and be “everything, everywhere, all at once” on social media and fail out of frustration because it is not realistic to manage so many channels at once.

Content marketing is essential because it creates a steady stream of leads, interest, and sales for the long term, which compliments and supports sales in ways that are crucial to elevating the success of your business.

The Core Elements of Your Content Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy is a roadmap to success. It serves as a blueprint for your business, outlining the specific goals and objectives you wish to achieve. It also identifies your target audience, details the content you will create and distribute, and outlines a plan for measuring the success of your efforts.

Taking the time to develop a detailed marketing strategy will help ensure that your business reaches its full potential. The core elements of a digital marketing strategy include the following:

A target audience
A content calendar
A content distribution strategy
A content measurement plan

Content Is Everything

Content marketing is an essential part of any business strategy because it helps build customer relationships. By creating engaging, helpful, and interesting content tailored to your target audience, you gain their trust and establish your credibility.

Positively affecting sales, customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth marketing can result in customers being more likely to recommend your business. This recommendation can come from friends and family. Content marketing can also help to boost brand recognition and expand your reach to new audiences.

If you’re not already using content marketing, now is the time to start.

We Make Content Marketing Easy

Most business owners struggle with marketing because they don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to manage it all themselves. If you need help with your marketing, we are here for you, and you can get started for free with a free marketing audit report that we will review with you.

From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset, to professional coaching and consulting, to having us do all of the work for you at Two Brothers, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.

Become an Email Marketing Specialist: How To Make Engaging Content

Posted on May 4, 2023July 24, 2023 by Julia Genoves

Email Marketing Mastery: How To Make Engaging Content

Is it worth it to become an Email Marketing Specialist? Well, there are many ways to reach your audience, but to this day, email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to grab your target audience’s attention and drive conversions because people use email daily for personal and work-related reasons.

In this blog, we will explore some of the expert tips to create compelling email content that generates conversions and new leads and reaches your desired goals.

Become A Email Marketing Specialist_ How To Make Engaging Content

What is Email Content?

You have probably already heard about email marketing: this is the overall strategy of an email campaign; however, email content refers specifically to the inside of your mail, which contains all the text, images, and videos that you use to fill your emails.

Email content is the foundation of your email marketing strategy, and it’s what will ultimately determine whether or not your emails get opened, read, and acted upon.

With inboxes flooded daily with countless spam, it is easy for our emails to end up in the unwanted folder; that is why creating a good email content strategy that will stand out and engage your audience is essential.

So how do you write email content that converts? How do you really attract your desired audience and make them click on your mail? Here are a few tips:

1. Start With A Strong Subject Line

The subject line is the first thing your subscribers will see, so it’s important to make it attention-grabbing and relevant to your content. By crafting an irresistible subject line, you can improve your open rates, boost engagement, and drive conversions.

A poorly crafted or spammy subject line can harm your credibility, decrease open rates, and ultimately hurt your chances of converting subscribers into customers.

Avoid using all caps, exclamation points, or spammy language. Instead, focus on writing a clear and concise subject line that will make users want to open and see your email content.

2. Keep Your Email Marketing Content Short and Sweet

Like most people in the US, let alone Nebraska, your consumers are busy, so they don’t have time to read long, rambling emails. Therefore, it’s necessary to get straight to the point and ensure that your email content is easy to scan.

Make sure your content is easy to read and go over; to achieve this, you can use bullet points, numbered lists, and images to break up your text and make it more visually appealing.

A lot of crumbled-up text all together without any numbering, images, or spaces will seem unappealing, difficult to read, and confusing.

3. Use Strong Calls to Action

A Call to Action (CTA) is the action that you want your target audience to take afterward consuming your content.

For email content marketing, you’ll want to tell your reader what you want them to do; for example, if you’re promoting a product, encourage your subscribers to visit your website or make a purchase. If you’re promoting a service, invite them to schedule a consultation or sign up for a free trial.

While your email content may be informative and engaging, without a clear CTA is less likely that your audience will keep scrolling on disregard the message.

CTA TIP:

Your Call to Action should be clear, concise, and easy to follow. Avoid using generic phrases like “click here” or “learn more,” and use more action-oriented language that motivates users to take action, like “Shop now” or “Book your session.” Also, ensure that your CTA stands out visually so it’s easily identifiable in your email.

4. Personalize Your Emails.

When you personalize your emails, you’re showing your subscribers that you care about them and that you’re not just sending out mass emails.

Use their names, interests, and purchase history to personalize your content and make it more relevant to them.

People tend to trust and buy from brands and businesses that feel more personalized and connected to them. You can even go a step further and use emotional marketing to convey a feeling that will make them feel more related to your brand.

5. Track Your Email Marketing Results

The easiest thing to do will be to send a bunch of great content emails and call it a day, but in reality, it takes a bit more effort than that.

You need to make sure that your emails are working, so once you start sending out emails, it’s essential to track your results and make adjustments as needed. Use email analytics tools to track open rates, click-through rates, and other metrics. This will help you see what’s working and what’s not so you can improve your email marketing strategy moving forward.

By following these tips, you can write email content that converts and helps you achieve your marketing goals.

Email Marketing is Everything. We Make it Easy.

Most business owners struggle with marketing because they don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to manage it all themselves. If you need help with your marketing, we are here! And you can get started with a free marketing audit report that we will review with you.

From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset, to professional coaching and consulting, to having us do all the work for you at Two Brothers, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective marketing.

Radio Advertising: The Best Tips for Saving Money

Posted on May 1, 2023February 5, 2024 by Julia Genoves

How to Save Money with Radio Advertising

Radio advertising can be an excellent way to reach a large audience, but for small business owners, spending money wisely and thinking before investing is essential, and since the radio industry has changed so much in recent years, entrepreneurs need to consider a few things before investing in radio ads.

In this Midwest Mindset (The Omaha Podcast) episode, Matt Tompkins takes us through all the essential tips to conquer your radio advertising strategy without losing money in the process and getting the best results possible.

Don’t Let Nostalgia Influence Your Decision

Read the Full Transcript

Nostalgia is a powerful thing and can often cloud our judgment. For small businesses working with a tight budget, radio advertising can seem like a nostalgic and cost-effective way to reach a broad audience.

However, we must acknowledge that radio has evolved significantly over the years and is not the powerful tool it once was. So let’s not get carried away by the “good old times”; instead, let’s focus on how radio advertising can fit in today’s digital world and improve our content marketing efforts.

Reset the Way You See Radio Advertising

Radio has been a reliable source of entertainment and information for decades. However, it has become clear that we need to change the way we view radio when it comes to marketing and analytics.

For starters, ratings are a crucial part of radio, yet the way this business calculates ratings leaves much to be desired. Traditional radio ratings are determined based on the number of people who listen and the queue or volume of people. However, the accuracy of these ratings is not ideal because users are asked to fill out forms estimating how much time they spend listening to a particular channel.

The self-reported nature of radio makes it impossible for small business to track their progress. What your business need for success is hard data that accurately show what is working and what is not.

So don’t waste your time on traditional media advertising that plays over the air and doesn’t produce accurate analytics; instead, use media that give you solid results.

And let’s face it: everybody hates listening to commercials; that’s why streaming subscriptions are so popular; they take away the hazard of having to listen to ad after ad.

So if conventional radio advertising is so unclear, why should we invest in it? Is there a way to make it work?

Radio Streaming Stations: Affordable and Metric-based

Streaming Signals ads are cheaper than normal radio ads and produce data that you can actually use for your business growth, like knowing how many people listen to your ads, the demographics, time spent listening, and much more.

In Rdio streaming Signals, 70% of people listen to the ads (the same way as podcast listeners do) because ad blocks are shorter and users don’t log out of a streaming service every time an ad comes up, so it’s more likely people will actually listen to your commercial.

Pre-Roll Ads

Pre-roll ads have become a popular way for businesses to get discovered. These ads are the ones that appear before the primary content starts streaming, like the ones on Youtube or Spotify. As such, pre-roll ads are ideal for gaining attention.

Another significant advantage of pre-roll, compared to traditional radio ads, is that pre-roll can and does use hard data to segment the audience. Pre-roll ads are shown based on various criteria, such as geographic location, demographic characteristics, and user behavior data. For instance, you can target your ad toward a specific age group or interest.

Use Local Talent for Radio Advertising

Another way to have an effective Radio Marketing Strategy is to use local talent for your commercials. Local radio talent tends to be an affordable way to get your message out: the average cost for a 60-second read of a commercial in Nebraska by a local radio personality can be as little as $100 per day, All day!

Another key advantage of using local radio talent is that it creates a sense of authenticity; it basically brings life to your message. Listeners feel a deeper personal connection to the radio host than they do a pre-recorded ad.

Do Your Radio Advertising Research: Market, Message, Media

Before you spend any money on radio ads, you first need to research your listener persona and target market; this will ensure that your messaging resonates with your audience.

Additionally, find the media station with the highest listener loyalty and the audiences that can afford your product or services; this will make them most likely to trust your ad.

Finally, remember: if there is no way for a radio station to give you solid data, then don’t waste your money there! Use streaming services or platforms that can provide you with reliable results.

Content Is Everything. We Make It Easy

Most business owners struggle with marketing and radio because they don’t have the time, budget, or expertise to manage it all themselves. If you find yourself in this situation, we are here for you! Get started for free with a marketing audit report that we will review with you.

From free weekly marketing resources on our podcast, Midwest Mindset For Marketing, to professional coaching and consulting, at Two Brothers, we believe every business deserves affordable and effective digital marketing.

Video Podcasts: The Benefits for Businesses in Omaha

Posted on April 26, 2023April 27, 2023 by klarinc

The Benefits Of Video Podcasts For Businesses in Omaha

With inflation taking a swing at large and small businesses, many business owners are looking for new and creative ways to market their businesses. If your marketing mainly consisted of posting on social media up until now, you have more effective options.

If you already run a marketing strategy that takes a multipronged approach, your Omaha business can find itself without a lot of options. One area that most businesses haven’t taken advantage of yet is a video podcast.

If you’re not clear about what a video podcast is or its benefits, keep reading for a quick look at video podcasting and what it can do for you.

Matt and Ben from Two Brothers Creative recording an episode for video podcasts.

What Is a Video Podcast?

When most people hear the term podcast, they almost automatically think of the pure audio productions they hear through primary audio streaming services or dedicated podcast apps. These audio podcasts typically cover a specific topic or, in the case of narrative podcasts, tell a story through a series of episodes.

A video podcast takes the same basic approach; it simply makes use of a different medium.

Rather than strictly audio podcast production, video podcasts marry that audio with video.

There are a handful of approaches to this.

Static Image Recording

Static image recording is a bit of a misnomer, but it gets the basic idea across. You essentially take the audio from a traditional recording and import it into video production software.

Then, you use a single, static image as the visual for the video. The same image shows for the entire duration of the video.

In-Studio Recording

For those with the space or access to a professional recording studio, you set up a video camera in the recording space. You conduct and record the episode as you always would, but with the video camera running.

Then, you can splice together the higher-quality audio recording with the video from the camera.

Remote Recording

One of the more common approaches for capturing podcast videos is remote recording. Again, you conduct and record that audio as you usually would. For the video element, you can employ video conferencing software that includes a recording option.

Any or all of these approaches can work for your Omaha video podcast.

Starting a Video Podcast

Starting a video podcast isn’t substantially different from starting a traditional podcast. It begins by choosing a general topic. For businesses, it’s typically something closely related to either the specific company or industry.

For example, an accountant could start a personal taxes podcast or a business taxes podcast. Once you zero in on the topic you want to cover, you must decide on a format.

While there are a lot of different podcast formats out there, most business podcasts will take one of the following formats:

Interview
Solo
Co-host/Conversational

Remember that while you can stick with just one of these formats, you can mix things up by having someone on to interview with a typically solo podcast.

Video Podcasting Gear

If you choose to launch a video podcast, there is some essential gear that you’ll need. The most common equipment includes:

USB condenser microphone
Pop filter
Decent computer
Video recorder
Tripod

There is a lot of other gear that you may want at some point, but those are the bare minimum essentials. You’ll also need some audio and video editing software.

Gearing up and learning how to use that gear is often a steeper learning curve than many people want to deal with. In those cases, outsourcing your video podcast production is often best.

With those video podcasted essentials out of the way, let’s dig into the benefits that video podcasting can bring you.

Branding

Video podcasting is an excellent branding opportunity for you. For one, it lets you get the name of your business out there regularly. It also enables you to work on the logo of your company.

It’s also an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your core brand values. For example, let’s say that you’ve built your brand around friendliness. Your podcast should lean into that value by treating guests with much cordiality.

Returning to the accounting business example above, you might embrace professionalism as a core value if you focus on business taxes and accounting. In that case, you’d want to uphold professional standards on your podcast. For example, you’d probably avoid folksy sayings or foul language.

Expanded Reach

Another critical benefit of video podcasting is expanding your reach and building a bigger audience. While it might not be a significant consideration initially, developing a big enough audience on YouTube can turn the platform into a revenue stream for you.

Videos or just video clips are also very versatile. You can post them everywhere on social media, whether Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or even Twitter.

Your video podcast is often a source of ready-made content that can reduce the burden of creating all-new content for multiple social media profiles.

Let’s say that you had a fascinating interview on your podcast. The odds are good that you can pull anywhere from 10 to 30 clips from that video. That’s a lot of easy posts for your social media profiles.

SEO

Any business conducting marketing online these days, meaning just about 100 percent of them, must consider search engine marketing. In particular, you must think about SEO for Google, which controls over 90 percent of the search engine market share and effectively writes the rules of SEO.

While it’s probably an oversimplification to say that Google’s algorithms love video, it’s not much of one. Creating a multimedia podcasting strategy that includes video will generally net you better results regarding page rank results.

Of course, this works best when you create an overall marketing strategy. For example, when picking your particular podcast episode topics, you’ll want them to align or dovetail with other marketing content like blog post topics.

Videos often see higher levels of engagement on social media platforms as well. After all, how often do people you know to share a video over a link to something like a blog post? How often have you shared videos?

Build Trust

Building trust with your audience or customer base isn’t an overnight thing, but video can help with that—human beings like seeing other human beings’ faces. True or not, many believe they can evaluate someone else’s character by watching their faces.

How often have you heard people say, “I need to look them in the eye.” That’s just a variation on the theme of wanting to see someone’s face when they, for example, claim the kind of business they run.

Video podcasting also lets people see you interacting with other human beings. If you seem genuinely interested and empathetic toward someone else, it’ll make you seem like someone that most people want to do business with at some point.

If nothing else, you can tip the scale in your direction by letting people see you carrying out your podcasting.

Enhanced Nuance

If you took a speech class or communication class somewhere along the line, you probably heard that a lot of communication is nonverbal communication. Upwards of 80 percent of what we communicate may happen non-verbally.

While a very expressive voice can overcome some of that gap, it can’t overcome all of it. That means that your average, audio-only podcast loses the majority of meaning that the host and any guests might convey.

Let’s say you use many big hand gestures when you talk, even when you speak in the studio. Capturing all of that on video lets your audience interpret your meanings far more clearly and accurately than simply hearing you talk about something.

The video also lets your audience see the facial expressions of everyone involved. While practiced hosts and interviewers will often develop good control over their expressions, that’s generally less true about guests on a podcast.

An excellent facial expression can add layers of nuance to someone’s statements.

A Video Podcast for Your Business

The benefits of video podcasting are extensive, but you may not have the time or expertise to produce it all yourself, making this daunting and overwhelming.

We are ready to help you no matter how big or small your needs may be. From tips and techniques to equipment recommendations, editing, production, coaching and development, we are here to help – whether you hire us or not.

Most business owners struggle to become more visible because they don’t have the time or money to market themselves. Our turnkey video podcast marketing system will help you generate new leads and bring home new revenue.

Book a FREE strategy call today, and let’s talk!

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The Importance of Authenticity in Marketing Now

The Pandemic Effects: Reaching 2024

Rare Beauty

Patagonia

The Benefits of Authenticity in Marketing: A Closer Look

Enhanced Trust and Loyalty

Increased Customer Engagement

Improved Brand Reputation and Relevancy

Higher Conversion Rates and Sales

The Essence of Authenticity in Marketing: True Valuable Content

Tips for Creating Authentic and Untapped Content

Authentic Content

Tips for Marketing Authenticity

Video and Audio Content

The Power of Storytelling

Be Transparent

Maintain Consistency

Engage with Your Audience

Case Study of Authenticity in Marketing

The Easy Box

How to Market Yourself on LinkedIn the Right Way

Why LinkedIn for B2B?

Market Yourself on LinkedIn: The Magic of Good Marketing

Connect With Your Audience

Visibility

Market Yourself on LinkedIn the Right Way

Market Yourself on linkedin With Storytelling

Have a Clear Intention

Repurpose Your Content

Market Yourself on LinkedIn by Promoting Your Website

Use Your Personal LinkedIn

Trust Two Brothers Creative with Your Marketing

The Easy Box

Relationships and Business: The Stages of a Buyer’s Journey

The Three Stages of a Buyer’s Journey

Stage 1: Awareness

Stage 2: Enlightenment

Stage 3: Decision

Love and Business

How to Pick Curiosity the Right Way

First Impressions Last Forever

Enlightenment Stage

Know Who You Are

Be Patient

Commitment: The Winning Stages of a Buyer’s Journey

The Stages of a Buyer’s Journey: Leave it to Us

The Easy Box

How Your Business Can Make Money On YouTube

Full Written Transcript of The Episode

How Your Business Can Make Money On YouTube

How to Create an Omaha Content Strategy for Your Business

How to Create Killer Omha Content Strategy

Why a Quality Omha Content Strategy Matters

Types of Content to Consider

Creating a Content Strategy that Resonates

Developing a Consistent Content Strategy

The Power of Storytelling in Your Content Strategy

Utilizing Social Media Channels

Optimizing Content Strategy for SEO

Omha Content Strategy Secret: Google Analytics

Using Long-Form Content to Showcase Expertise

The Importance of Consistent Branding in Content Marketing

Repurposing Content for Maximum Impact

Engaging Your Audience through Interactive Content

Measuring Content Marketing Success

The Value of User-Generated Content

Collaborating with Influencers and Industry Experts

Keeping an Eye on Competitors and Industry Trends

Investing in High-Quality Visuals and Design

Final Thoughts

Content Marketing in the Age of the Algorithm

Two Brothers Creative: Content in a Box

Marketing Accountability: The Key to Success

What is Marketing Accountability?

What is EOS and Why is It Important for Accountability?

Top Business Problems That Marketing Accountability Can Fix

Underperformers

Streamline Processes

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