Chris Vaughn's presentation for Design Bloggers Conference.

1. 21 Useful Tips for
Digital Content
Marketing to Build
Your Business and
Personal Brand
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2. Chris Vaughn
Lynda Simonton
Director of Marketing
DigitalSherpa
@ChrisHVaughn
Online and Market Editor
New England Home
Lynda Simonton
@LyndaSimonton
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3. Follow Along At:
http://slideshare.net/DigitalSherpa
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4. 365 Posts: 10 lessons
learned
One Year. One Website.
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5. Tip 1: Always Be
Analyzing
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6. The Lightbulb
Problem
The blog post with
over 1,000 visitors
but no readers
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7. While Exploring Google
Analytics…
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8. No Shares? No Comments?!?
http://garden-bloggers-conference.com
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9. “Light Bulb” Related Keyword
Visits in Google Analytics
http://garden-bloggers-conference.com
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10. http://garden-bloggers-conference.com
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11. Tip 2: - Be Thorough

13. Tip 3: Think About Conversion

16. Tip 4: Measure Your
Results

18. Tip 5: Test, Test and
Then Test Some More

19. Call To Action

21. Tip 6: Take Advantage Of
Free Online Tools

23. Google analytics

24. Google keyword planner

25. Tip 7: Never Stop
Optimizing

27. Measure All Visitors and Leads

28. Tip 8: Using Content To
Target Specific Markets

29. GEO-TARGETED CONTENT
• Create content geo-targeted to your key
markets that will help prospects in that area
• Find key prospects asking questions or seeking
help in the markets you’ve targeted
• Create conversion opportunities by send blog
or website readers to that market’s listing
page from within your geo-targeted content

32. Tip 9: Analyze Opportunity
#multifamilysms2014

33. OPPORTUNITY
• Over 100,000 people seek help or express design
frustrations on social media networks a month
• 4 of 5 consumer inquiries on social networks go
unanswered (As of October 2013)
• This is more pronounced in Real Estate, where only
15% of consumer inquiries are answered, with an
average response time of 13 hours*
*Statistics courtesy of Sprout
Social

34. Tip 10: Get In The Mix
#multifamilysms2014

36. ENGAGEMENT TIPS
• DO ask leading and help-oriented questions like
“How can we help” or “What city are you looking
for an apartment in?”
• DON’T spam with a link immediately. Social
consumers are SMART and will tune you out
• DO show personality and have fun. Social
consumers like to know they are dealing with real
people

38. ENGAGEMENT TIPS
• DO have resources for the consumer ready quickly
when they engage. Social users have short
attention spans
• DON’T reply without a link to content or a listing.
This conversation is now in a selling stage
• DO ask a follow-up question with the link you
provide such as “What are your requirements for
the perfect apartment?”

41. ENGAGEMENT TIPS
• DO follow up with the consumer after an
appropriate amount of time to close the service
loop
• DON’T keep sending them messages until they
reply.
• DO use success stories like this as case studies to
show consumers how much easier your brand can
make the process of apartment hunting

43. Visual storytelling 101
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44. Tip 11: Define Your Voice &
Visuals
• What does your brand sound like?
• “Tone” and personality
• Key messages
• What does your brand look like?
• Logos, colors, etc.
• Optimize your profile for each social network
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45. Visual Branding: The Home
Depot
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46. Visual Branding: The Home
Depot
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47. Tip 12: Images > Words
• Create a visual content strategy
• Share photos that are relevant to
your brand
• Use images to tell your stories
• Photograph your work
Image via iStockphoto, AleksandarNakic
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48. Images Engage on Facebook
• Photo posts get 39%
more interaction
• 93% of the most
engaging posts on FB
• 53% more likes
• 104% more comments
• 84% more clickthroughs
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49. Tip 13: Think Themes
• Before & After
• How-To
• Inspiration Boards
• Behind the Scenes
• Holidays / Seasons
• Pop Culture
Images via Lifescape Associates and Digital Sherpa
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50. Tip 14: Repurpose Content
• Cascade content across
platforms
• Shoot once, use thrice
• Create photo collages
• Tools: Pic Stitch, Diptic,
Pixlr
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51. Tip 15: Take Advantage of
Video
• Video marketing is a powerful way to communicate
with your audience
– Share brand culture/values
– Showcase products/services
– Share DIY/how-to tips
– Highlight happy customers
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52. Tip 16: Leverage Analytics
• Track engagement
• Demographics
• Popular content
• Best times to post
• Tools:
• Facebook Insights
• BlitzMetrics
• Google Analytics
Screenshot via BlitzMetrics
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53. Putting it all into action
Ready? Let’s Do This!
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54. Over 2,000,000 photos have been uploaded to Houzz and there are
over 14,000,000 users every month.
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55. Tip 17: Change the
Conversation
Thomas Pheasant
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56. Client’s Serene Bedroom
Betsy Johnson
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57. Listen and Learn
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58. Tip 18: Raise Your Ranking
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59. Get Reviews
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60. Under the Hood: Houzz
Optimization
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61. Pinterest generates more referral traffic to business websites
than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn COMBINED!
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62. Tip 19: Create a Business
Account
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63. Under the Hood: Pinterest
Analytics
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64. 130 million people enjoy this photo sharing app
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65. Tip 20: Share a Variety of
Content or Stick to a Clear
Theme
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66. Tip 21: Tag People You Know
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67. Bonus Tip: Be a Good Community
Member
• Share valuable information
• Interact and help
• Give credit where credit is due!
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68. • Pick up the DigitalSherpa Houzz eBook in the Blog
Clinic
• Download our presentation here:
http://slideshare.net/DigitalSherpa
• Connect with us!
• Chris Vaughn – chris@digitalsherpa.com
• Lynda Simonton – lsimonton@nehomemag.com
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