Color Outside The Lines Vol. I: The Real Way to Get Conversions From Social Media.

Don’t follow trends be trend-adjacent:

Whoa… what does that even mean??

Well, we’re trying to “think unorthodox”. Thinking unorthodox doesn't mean going against best practices but each project deserves a unique approach. You SHOULD follow trends but push to set new ones as you perceive the flow of contemporary culture, design functionality, and modern consumer psychology.

Think unorthodox

For example, videos have been at the forefront of content strategy for years. But, now many marketers are strongly focused on audio-based brand communication. Statistics have shown us that users appreciate quality creative advertising but it doesn’t necessarily lead to purchase behavior. So creating that super expensive video ad for your luxury sports apparel may sway users' attention but it won’t guarantee an ROI. Meanwhile, audio-based advertising or programmatic audio ads are cost-effective and have been shown to garner a different level of behavioral cognition.

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Forget the science... I'll give you three solid ways to get leads from any social platform:

1. Passion is power:

Do you ever say to yourself?

"Wow, that felt like such an ad."

Yea... because it was. I'm sure you're wondering how to avoid those types of shallow responses.

The difference is simple. Passion. If you don't love the product and love talking about the product, well why should anyone else?

Look at what your competitors are doing. Do they look like they're just dropping a static image on Instagram with a simple thoughtless caption?

"Jim's coffee beans, $19.99 a bag."

Instead, try reaching into that passion you have. What got you into coffee in the first place? Why should I buy coffee from you and not another company? Let's add some spice and love with a personal story:

"Do you remember the first time you tried coffee? I do, I was very young, maybe too young but I'll never forget. I was running late for school and beyond exhausted. I begged my mother to stay home. Instead, she offered me a few sips of coffee. My first sip... was life-changing. I was shocked...

My mother grew up in La Guajira, Columbia. Where the clouds wrap themselves around the mountainsides like a blanket of cold mist. This created the perfect conditions for the beans that my mother would eventually introduce me to. The perfectly bold and flavorful arabica beans. From that point on, I knew one day I would want to share that experience with the world."

I know it's lengthy but it's also meaningful and it connects customers to the brand on a personal level.

2. Keep it up champ:

You screwed up. You didn't post this week.

Look, I get it. You're a busy person. You didn't have time to make content with Stephanie's wedding and Charlie's baptism... oh there was that appointment with the dermatologist you couldn't miss.

Okay, those are all valid excuses. But what now?

Are you going to quit? Is that it? You're just going to throw your dream of being the number one antique button maker in the world in the garbage???

Absolutely not! You've got to keep fighting the good fight. Post every day, maybe you got only 2 likes or maybe you got no likes on that last post. Well, you know what? That ain't gonna stop you. Because the more you post the better you get at it. Then you'll see more people respond to your posting.

And then... That fateful day comes when you check your account and see: 20K followers.

You did it. Because you stuck to it. You.... are.... a... CHAMPION!! RAWR!!!

3. Love thy Micro-Influencer

Here's some super scalable advice. If an influencer has 2M followers your chances of them charging you anything less than $20,000 for a shoutout.... is pretty much zero. Trust me, it's not that the macro-influencer doesn't want to help... It's just a tremendous risk to their reputation and the financial incentive is super low. Not to mention their audience more than likely cares very little about their promoted content.

Find smaller influencers or just real people. Ask someone with 13,000 followers for a shout-out or to collaborate with you. You can give them one of your products as an incentive and their audience is much more likely to engage with them and you as a brand. Your ROI is much higher and your risk is much lower.

These smaller influencers have communities around them that trust them. Because if you're following someone at that early stage in their influencer career, you more than likely feel personally connected with that person. They are people not HUGE brands. And the transparency is there.

Try to connect with as many micro influencers as possible through platforms like https://heartbeat.com/ or just simply DM them.

Thanks for reading folks, I love you all. If you want to keep in touch, have any questions, or you just like reading my blog: drop a follow and send me a message.

Or don't either way thank you for getting to the bottom of the page <3