Set & Forget: A Dangerous Marketing Myth for Authors & Bloggers

One of the most dangerous marketing myths is the checklist mindset; sometimes you’ll find yourself paying for this type of service.

It goes something like this:

For $1997, we’ll secure 150 high-quality backlinks, a dynamite social media presence on 4 of the hottest channels, and a top-tier guest posting campaign. Afterward, you can kick back and watch the traffic and sales roll in—all on autopilot.

Don’t you love the word autopilot? Who knew it had so many applications!

This marketing guy might not be a bad egg; he may even operate his business with this mindset.

But he’s forgetting something crucial about human nature.

Think about famous people for a moment, all those actors, politicians, and musicians running amok in the media. Ever wonder why they say so many ridiculous things, why they commit their time to pitiful reality shows, why they can’t resist making an ass of themselves during important interviews?

They understand marketing.

If they fall off the radar, the world forgets about them. Guaranteed.

Ever find yourself trying to remember the name of an actor from a five-year-old blockbuster movie, an actor you haven’t seen since?

Enough said.

So how do we avoid anonymity without spending a fortune in time and money?

How do we keep ourselves relevant to our target audience?

We commit to a consistent presence in three key areas:

• social media,
• influencer real estate,
• and the marketplace.

Let’s break it down.

How to Stay Relevant on Social Media Channels

Social media success requires a consistent presence: a DAILY presence.

I can see you cringing.

Any time-strapped marketer can afford to schedule a week’s worth of updates in advance. If you’re smart about it, you can keep yourself in the loop with as little as ten minutes per day.

Remember: People need multiple exposures to you and your message before they’ll remember you or your product. If they see you posting daily, they’re much more likely to become curious.

It’s also a numbers game. You’ll need more than a hundred followers to build a viable tribe. My Twitter account received little engagement until I’d managed 10K in followers.

Follow new people; they’ll check out your profile and your website. While you’re at it, make sure you have an email capture system in place.

Share something every day.

Test the best engagement times for posting; they’re not always the high-traffic times.

Take the easy route by creating a Google alert for your industry keywords. Scan your morning emails for suitable content to share.

Unless you’re a celebrity, avoid selfies and pictures from breakfast. Make yourself useful. Better yet, make yourself indispensable. Become the go to content guru in your genre.

Engage with your followers by asking them questions, by answering their inquiries. You never know where your next conversation will lead.

How to Keep Your Brand in Circulation

Like it or not, we live in a monkey-see-monkey-do reality show. If Beyonce, Lady Gaga, or a Kardashian publishes a Twitter update wearing BoBo Brand sunglasses, you can guess which company’s stock price is going up this week. Scientists call it The Bandwagon Effect.

Celebrities have influence. Popular brands have influence.

For better or worse, we follow the leader.

We read scores of reviews before buying a new book. We read testimonials before buying a new product. We have bestseller lists and top forty countdowns to help us with our decisions. These lists persist because they work.

Keep a list of influencers in your niche: bloggers, brands, and personalities with large audiences.

Visit their pages, and join the conversation. One of my old websites used to receive more than a hundred visitors per month from a single comment on a popular post. Try to be one of the first few commenters, and reap the rewards.

Find the crowd, and put in your two cents.

Reach out to influencers. Retweet their content. Mention them in your articles. Find ways to blend your marketing efforts. Every time you share an influencer’s post with your followers, you gain credibility as a reliable source for insider information.

Over time, you’ll become an influencer yourself.

How to Stay Fresh in the Marketplace

When was the last time you launched something new?

Take a look at your blog or website. How old is the opt-in bribe in your sidebar? When was the last time you released a product, a white paper, or an eBook? When was the last time you guest posted on a popular blog?

Does your design need an overhaul? Could you tweak the layout, change your font scheme, or outsource a new header?

It’s like giving your home a fresh coat of paint.

Suddenly, that drive-by yawn of a house has curb appeal. Neighbors start to wonder what you did to look so fresh and new. They’re suddenly noticing the architecture, the landscaping, the potted topiaries flanking the front door.

Think about your own internet travels. What happens when you visit a website with dated, stale material? You lose a little faith, don’t you? The brand’s value takes a hit, doesn’t it?

It happens to big, powerful brands as well. That’s why we have new and improved laundry detergents, toothpastes with advanced whitening crystals, and Gluten-free meats in the deli counter.  

New will always be new.

If you’re pressed for time, revise some old blog posts. Release them as new content. Update your blog with a new theme or a fresh, new cover for the same old opt-in bribe.

Get to work on a new book, and place a coming soon banner in your header location. Create interest, urgency, curiosity with a pre-launch campaign.

Release a new poll or questionnaire. Ask your followers what they need, what they crave, what they struggle with.

People love to share their opinions. Begin soliciting them, and publish the results on your blog. Better yet, create a premium report that users can read when they join your mailing list.

So revamp your checklist. Construct daily and weekly versions to keep you active in the communities.

How do you keep your marketing fresh? Share your comments below.