Peg Fitzpatrick is a social media strategist for many big names. Plus she has over 1.3million followers of her own.
With a background in traditional marketing, she started out with old-school emails, brochures, and pamphlets.
But she dove into the world of social media marketing without any experience. And now, you can’t get her off it.
Peg loves social media and her enthusiasm for it is clear for all to see.
Click here to grab the Peg Fitzpatrick interview transcript >>>
It’s got her every word
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She tries and tests new techniques on her own profiles before using it in her work.
She isn’t one of these social media marketers who doesn’t practice what she preaches. So her profiles speak for how good she is.
She is also one of the Top 10 Social Media Blogs of 2016 according to Social Media Examiner.
So make the most of this opportunity to take advice from the social media guru that is Peg Fitzpatrick.
Peg Fitzpatrick Shares Her Social Media Secrets
Get Social And Start Learning
Being a social person is very helpful for being a success on social media. And that’s where Peg’s enthusiasm really comes in useful.
But that doesn’t mean introverts can’t be successful. Guy Kawasaki and Richard Branson are proof that it’s a skill you can still master, regardless.
Of course, being on social media can be overwhelming. It can be a lot to talk and engage with everyone all over the world. However, you can dip in and out, so when you’ve had enough, you can step away and do something else.
After all, when it comes to marketing your business, there are a lot of other things which need your attention.
The key is to engage and build relationships with customers and influencers alike. And often, that’s a lot easier when you’re not in the same room anyway.
Peg now knows a lot of people, and that’s because of a Twitter book club she hosted. It’s the perfect opportunity for everyone, especially herself, to get to know the author.
Her first guest was Guy Kawasaki, and they ended up writing a book together called The Art of Social Media.
But you can meet people outside of social media in the real world too. Conferences are a great example.
You should be taking every opportunity possible to meet someone new. And when you find people who know what they’re talking about, you should learn from them.
There are many people out there to learn from. So many people do social media marketing and want to share what they know. So with this abundance of choice, pick the right people to learn from.
Peg used the teachings of Mari Smith to help her out when starting out.
Strategies And Tools
You need to have an effective social media strategy. Otherwise, you’re just shouting randomly into the abyss and you’ll never know what you’re trying to achieve.
The key is to stay organized. It doesn’t matter if you’re creating the content yourself or outsourcing it to an agency.
Peg uses the free online to-do list Trello. It enables her to plan what she wants to say, and when. With it, she can respond to what’s happening when live-Tweeting, without forgetting to share the important information.
There are lots of social media tools around. If you use them all, you’ll be bankrupt within a month. So instead, you should pick one or maybe two, and then dive in and use them.
Sprout Social and HootSuite are Peg’s tools of choice. She uses the first tool to schedule posts, measure their performance and analyze her efforts.
Whereas the latter enables her to better interact with her audience and monitor trends.
But your strategy will consist of many elements. Who are you targeting and for what purpose? What is it all your efforts are striving towards? And how will you be doing that?
Mixing Business With Personality
A great way to connect with your audience on a personal level is to inject some personality into your brand. It turns a faceless business into a real person. Companies are about people.
Social media makes it easy to have a direct relationship with your customers. And that’s the case for local businesses and global brands alike.
Sharing personal stuff is what helps you to achieve all of that. It’s what connects people with you.
And you can’t opt to keep your business and personal accounts separate in the hope of being able to say what you like. Google puts all your accounts together so you’ll never get away with it.
Instead, you should inject some of your personal life into your business life. But before you start, you should draw a line on how much you want to say.
Take a leaf out of Richard Branson’s book. He does this by giving his audience a sneak peek into his life. He never reveals too much, but still gives enough.
He may share pictures of his charity work, him at work, or on holiday. And he’s not afraid of sharing personal opinions.
He’s the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world, and a lot of that is because people can get behind his story. His customers feel they have a connection with him.
It looks like he’s sharing personal things, but it’s actually all in keeping with a strategy he and his marketers would have created.
Get People Spreading Your Good Name
People use social media to tell people about the good (and bad) experiences they have. That can then have an influence on the purchasing choices of their friends and followers.
And it’s great if you can get a market leader to say how brilliant they think your products are.
That’s why many brands pay bloggers and vloggers alike to be an ambassador for their brands. Getting a fashion blogger to talk to their audience about your new make-up range is the ideal scenario.
However, it’s dishonest if at some point they don’t reveal to their audience that they have been paid to say so. In fact, in some parts of the world, it is illegal.
But it is still a great way of getting your product in front of an interested audience.
And it isn’t just a tactic which the big names can use. A small business can still use this method with a community influencer. That’s someone local who has a big following.
The influencer you use doesn’t have to be famous. But they should talk about topics which are similar to your brand. Otherwise, it just isn’t going to work.
BuzzSumo is a good tool for finding out who the big influencers are on your topics with a big audience. But you can also use it to see what they’re talking about, and what maybe you should too.
You won’t build a network of influencers if you are always asking them to do stuff for you, such as a podcast interview.
If someone is looking at your stuff and enjoying it, they’ll want to share it with their audience. They know the deal and it can be insulting to ask them to do it.
Do things without expectation. Peg shares things and finds that people will naturally reciprocate. People are more appreciative when things are done without asking, and it looks far more honest and authentic to everyone else.
Where Should Your Small Business Be Now And In The Future?
There is never a simple answer to this question. And with social media constantly changing, the answer often changes also. But you should be wherever your demographic happens to be.
And that’s something you may have to find out.
But most businesses should be on LinkedIn. This can be the social media base where people can professional connect with you.
With 1.3billion people on Facebook, it’s an obvious destination. But if you’re starting from scratch, it is hard to grow your Facebook page without a budget.
Otherwise, you won’t get seen. It’s no longer a free marketing tool for businesses.
For just $25 a year, you can advertise on Facebook and Instagram. This will get your page seen by the right people.
And it is probably the case that it gets better results for your money advertising with Facebook than a local magazine or newspaper.
Instagram is growing up to be a very strong and popular social media network. It has high levels of engagement from its users and a great way of connecting.
And regardless of the recent changes, which Peg isn’t a fan of, you should still be on Twitter. It’s a great way of connecting with your customers on a one-to-one basis.
So that’s everywhere you need to be. But where you spend the majority of your time and effort is up to your customers and the products you’re selling.
Get to know your demographic, and then ensure you take it into account when putting together your social media strategy.
And Finally
Stop by Peg Fitzpatrick’s website to check out her regularly updated blog and keep up to date with what you should be doing with your social media.
From there, you can make the most of the resources she has to offer and her webinars. They’ll help you to tackle Instagram and Pinterest to grow your business.
And remember, that everything she teaches is tried and tested by herself first.
Click here to grab the Peg Fitzpatrick interview transcript >>>
It’s got her every word
You should also purchase and read the book which Peg wrote with Guy Kawasaki called The Art of Social Media. It’s one of the best books for learning how to use social media effectively.
Connect with Peg Fitzpatrick
