People have been commenting to me a lot recently on the ‘innovation’ of moving off of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social platforms and publishing exclusively on Propel’s site. But I’ve found myself explaining Propel’s email marketing, blogging, and social approach more and more. So today, I’m breaking down the how and why’s of it…
What is Content Marketing?
First, it’s important for you to understand the what and why’s of content marketing, which is to have visibility and stay in front of your networks, prospects, business circles, followers, and more. This is usually done in the form of blogging, social media posting, email marketing, and advertising.
The difference of what and where to show up depends on your business and your industry. Doing a little research and creating a Communication Plan is the first step in identifying the best frequency, location and content to deliver – and when.
For Propel, we send an e-newsletter out semi-regularly, and also have a microblog-to-email subscription that delivers the Propel Social blog category with subscribers each week.
Here’s the rundown…
About Our E-Newsletter: ‘From the Propeller’s Desk’
Since 2010 Propel has consistently showed up in my client’s, team members, and subscribers inboxes in the form of an e-newsletter and regular blog. Some years my email marketing strategy includes a monthly e-newsletter, and other years I may have sent it out every two months. This year, it’s going out roughly every 6 weeks.
My approach to the Propel e-newsletter is to keep in touch with everyone Propel has served, who I have spoken to, or who has signed-up to stay current with what Propel is doing, learning, and sharing. It usually includes a personal message from me along with carefully curated content in the form of recent blogs that have published on our site including timely or useful insight into today’s marketing techniques, or small business tips and encouragement. At times I’ve also included helpful resources or network promotions from my trusted associates.
I always strive to make this resource valuable to the reader and be a positive influence in the world of business, so I won’t send unless I have something helpful to say and useful to share.
About Propel’s Social: ‘Getting Social with the Propeller’
[First of all, if you haven’t been following along, don’t worry. You can catch up on ‘Why I *Really* Escaped Traditional Social Media’ here and then subscribe below to get Propel’s social right in your inbox each week, too.]
The difference in this weekly email and the monthly e-newsletter is that the weekly posts I call ‘Propel’s Social‘ is a microblog which is connected to Propel’s very own email marketing platform Simply Mail. Each Friday, when I publish a new Propel Social microblog post, the RSS email template in Simply Mail automatically pulls the recent post from this category, triggering an email to go out to those who subscribe.
Why?
The funny thing is, although we have known that each social media platform is essentially a microblog site, it took me years to conclude that the content I was publishing on and “giving over to” the Facebook and Instagram platforms could be boosting my own website’s SEO (search engine optimization). Instead of publishing my intellectual property, my thoughts, words and images to boost Zuckerberg’s platforms, I’m now focusing that same effort to improve my site’s visibility – and it is exclusively for people who really want it.
PLUS – I own the content 100% without fear that my profile on some other site will just disappear someday and I’ll not only lose my content but all of my followers.
Setting up an RSS feed to email subscribers is the way my Propel Social microblog stays in front of people. Of course that means I have to first convert my Instagram and Facebook followers into subscribers, but if I’m successful at that, I then own my own subscriber list, too! Win. Win. Win!
If you have additional questions about this strategy, I encourage you to reach out. If there is something else I need to add to this post, I’m happy to update it with that information so the strategy is clear and makes sense.
Cheers to making continuous improvements that keep your business unique!
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