Social Media Win: Haltom Home Team

And what a win it was! The Haltom Home Team had the most viral video in Jackson (probably) ever. The Haltoms brought in Austin and Colin from That’s Classic Media, to create the “Relaxin in Jackson” video that went viral in fall of 2017. Check it out:

Though not super familiar with their careers, Austin and Colin are clearly super talented with both video production and music. I thought these guys looked familiar and then I realized they hit it big with a Nashville themed song a few years ago.

When I say it went viral, it has at least 406,000 views on Facebook. That excludes any dark posts that might have gone with advertising. More than 3,000 likes and reactions and more than 6 thousand shares! Those are unheard of statistics in Jackson.

What can we learn from this?

  1. Investing in content is smart. The Haltoms knew if they wanted to make an impact they were going to need to hire help. They found a great team to work with. Now, I am sure they also paid handsomely for this video, but to bring in experts, it costs money!
  2. The content they used was not necessarily reality based but their jobs are easier when people are excited about the territory where they are selling property.
  3. This should give them a great start in increasing name recognition. Not only did all those people just see the Haltoms name and see the team on camera, they interacted with a video from their page. This is a great opportunity to follow up with retargeting advertising based on that video interaction. They started to create a warm market and they have an opportunity to increase that brand recognition for a lower dollar amount by targeting folks who watched a portion of that video.
  4. Social Media Content goes quickly: The video went viral which is amazing. The next level of that is to continue to put out high-quality content. It would have been great to have a behind the scenes video to release on the back end of this video to target folks with. Social Media content is not just a one-time investment, it is a reoccurring investment.

Way to go Haltom’s and Austin and Colin!

Customer Spotlight: Care Center

We love nonprofits at Adelsberger Marketing. My (Kevin) background is from nonprofits. It’s even better when that nonprofit does work to expand the work of the kingdom of God! The Care Center fills a very specific and important niche in Jackson and West Tennessee. We had the pleasure to work with Nathan Young, Director of the Care Center and his board members to create a new website and two videos for their Christmas Banquet.

You can check out the website here: https://www.carecenterofjackson.org/  (Photography provided by www.leleandbeane.com)

You can watch one of the videos here:

If you are interested in getting more involved with the Care Center, check out the “Ways to Help” page on their website.

Our Values: Doing the Right Thing

Blog #4 in 4 Part Series. Read the series from the beginning.

Doing the right thing is always the right thing. Enough said. Right? But our human brains start spinning when it comes to actually doing the right thing. Because doing the right thing isn’t necessarily always the easiest thing. Doing the right thing isn’t always the fun thing. Or the most efficient, cost-effective, or even the most impressive thing.

But doing the right thing is always the right thing – especially when no one is watching. We all mess up so we let’s go ahead and put it out there. We as individuals and as a company are not perfect. We’ve made mistakes along the way. Being able to own your mistakes is vital.

In the world of social media and digital marketing, it could be easy to tell the customers what they want to hear instead of doing the thing that is best for their business. We strive to always put into action the plan that is right for the client, even if it’s not what’s best or easiest for us. Ultimately, if it’s bad for our customer, it will end up being bad for us also. We strive to be a reputable company that you trust with your business.

So that means we’ve taken some financial hits along the way. We may not do this every time, but there have been times when a client has approved an item for print. Once printed, they noticed a mistake and we have covered the cost and labor of reprinting.

It also means that we’ve turned clients away or referred them to other services. Our social media plan may not align with what’s best for your needs at this moment. And that’s fine. We’ll do what we can to get you pointed in the right direction rather than force you into a contract with us.

So even when the right thing is difficult, we hope it’s the choice that we make. Not every company would be willing to say that they strive to do the right thing. But who wants to do business with those guys? Not me. I want to do business with people and brands that I trust. That’s why I strive daily to build a reliable business as well.

Our Values: Relationships

Blog #3 in 4 Part Series
Click here to read from the beginning.

 

We love everything about small businesses! We love learning their history, getting to know the owners, and helping them grow. We love small business so much that we started this one!

We know that the key to business is relationships. We believe that once you are an Adelsberger Marketing customer, you are in the family (though occasionally you might be the that awkward uncle that doesn’t come to Christmas parties anymore because of what happened in ’98.)

For example, I know WAY too much about pet cremation. That’s because Turner Pet Cremation was one of my first customers. In order to tell the story of their business to their customers, I needed to learn everything about them. I learned how they operated, how they handled their products, and what the owners valued. They, in turn, opened up their lives and their business to me. We built a relationship through working together.

Whoever coined the phrase “business isn’t personal” must not have owned, operated, or founded a business. One of the foundations of business is relationships. Your relationships with your customers, employees, competition, office suite neighbors, and vendors. Each one of these relationships is a personal relationship that we don’t take lightly. You are trusting us with one of the most personal possessions you have – your business. And we will work hard to build a relationship with you so that everyone’s business will succeed.

Our Values: Speed

To start this blog, I thought I would google the definition of “speed” to see what Webster had to say about the word. And my internet spun and spun without loading the page. I found myself increasingly irritated that I was still waiting for an answer.

I wanted speed.We value speed and have to come to expect a “faster speed” than even our parents’ generations ever imagined possible.

Which is why “speed” is one of the tenets of our company. There are two ways that speed applies to us. The first is the way we help you communicate and work with your clients. The second is the way that we communicate and work with you.

First, we know your customers also expect you to communicate and do business with them in a speedy fashion. We’re a society that wants updates and news instantly. We don’t go online to see what deals have already happened. We rarely even go online to see what deals are happening next week. We want to know what’s happening right now. We expect social media to tell update us instantly without making us wait.

With expectations that high from your customers, it’s difficult for a busy business owner to run the day-to-day operations as well as communicate to current and future customers well. We are here to help you communicate regularly and effectively to your client base so that you stay on the forefront of their mind.

For example, we have one customer who is a chef at a local restaurant. They make their weekend features on Thursday for us to photograph and record. We then spend Thursday evening editing, preparing, and posting because those features need to be posted before lunchtime on Friday.

Second, we want to complete your project in a speedy fashion. That doesn’t mean we rush through it haphazardly. We budget enough time to complete it well. From the beginning of a project, we do our best to communicate to you the realistic amount of time it will take to complete your project. Most of the time, a project requires your input. So we rely on you to return us the same favor of speed.

That also means we don’t let our emails sit unread or unanswered. Our phones get answered and our voicemails are returned. We value and respect your time. We know that you’re a busy business owner; so are we! In our relationship with you, we expect that we will respect each other’s time. That includes keeping you up-to-date on the progress of your project along the way. When we work together, your customers stay informed and in the know about you and your products.

Our Values: Fun Professionalism

This is the second blog in a five-blog series. To start from the beginning, click here.

Our team at Adelsberger Marketing are professionals first. We understand that your business is important and, in the case of many small businesses, intertwined into every aspect of your family’s life. We are thankful for you as a customer and will work diligently to complete the job to the best of our abilities.

At the same time, we are not robots. We like to have fun. When responding to an email or text, you will probably receive a gif at some point in the conversation. (For those who don’t know what a gif is: a gif is a short animation, often with a caption. Many gifs come from pop culture references and include celebrities) Oh, and we pronounce “gif” with a hard “g” rather than a “j” – because it’s not “jiff” like the peanut butter.

But don’t think for a second that we are not serious about your business. Helping your business succeed is how our business succeeds. We literally would not be here without you. We love getting to know you, your services, products, and passions. We then make it our passion to communicate your passion to your clients.

That’s what’s so fun about being in the world of creative content. Social media is a way to communicate creatively to your customers. It’s okay to have fun along the way. We laugh and joke but we take your project seriously.

Adding Value: from Ticket Stubs to Car Mechanics

“Value.” That’s one of those often overused words that companies throw at their consumers in an attempt to make them feel better about opening their wallet.

Fast food chains used to have the “Dollar Menu.” Everywhere you went, you could find a backlit panel offering smaller hamburgers and small fries, each for $1. But it’s been replaced by the “Value Menu.” But what qualifies $1.49 instead of a $1.00 as a “good value?”

What does “value” mean to you as a consumer and to us as a business owner? By definition, “value” is “the regard that something is held to deserve” or “the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.”

We can assign value to anything from a rare coin to a ticket stub that was from a special night.

At Adelsberger Marketing, our team strives to add value to your company. After all, it’s not worth hiring us if we don’t provide value.

There are several areas in my life in particular that I assign value to hiring a professional. When it comes to my vehicle, I could spend an entire weekend watching YouTube videos in order to diagnose the squeaking sound from a belt. I could even drive around town and find the part. And, with enough sweat-effort, I might even be able to put on the new belt. But it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience. Fixing cars is not on the list of things I do well. Therefore, a trusted car mechanic is extremely valuable to me. I want my vehicle to run reliably so I depend on them to keep me on the road. They are experts which means they can diagnose and repair my car quicker, easier, and better than I could.

The same idea is true when it comes to how you communicate with your clients. You could put any old website together so that you can say you have a “web presence.” You could even create a Facebook page. But, when not properly utilized, neither are of much “value” to you. That’s where we come in. We take the tools you already have and improve on your business’ strengths.

We seek to bring value whether we are speaking at your event, designing a business card for you, or helping you launch something for the first time. If we provide you value, we know you will come back and you will tell your friends about us.

Over the next four blogs, we’re going to share four of our “tenets” of how we do business each day. It’s our hope that, through these four ideals, we will be able to better communicate to you how our team can add value to your business.

I Lost a Client

I lost a client this month.

Usually, that’s one of the most challenging realities of a business owner. Losing a client can be discouraging.

But in this case, it was a victory! No, it’s not for the reason you think – they weren’t a difficult or overly demanding client. They didn’t leave me for a competing firm or suddenly stop paying bills or replying to messages.

Instead – they were successful.

That’s right. Successful. Our past year of taking intentional photos of their products, strategically targeting their social media audience, and even taking advantage of Facebook algorithms led to so much success that they decided to hire a full-time employee dedicated to 24/7 digital marketing.

Is there a better way to lose a client? Probably not. It was an honor to serve their business and help them better communicate with their clients. Our efforts were rewarded in a very tangible way.

So many businesses are still struggling to invest correctly in digital marketing. Many business owners don’t understand why it’s such a powerful influencer. Or they may see it working for their competitor but they haven’t invested enough time for it to work for their own business.

In just one year, we were able to help one of these businesses learn the value of using social media strategically. One of my goals is to see other businesses succeed. Even if that means helping train my own replacement once they’ve expanded to the point of hiring full-time employees. That’s quite the testimony of success!

Majoring in the Minors

When you’re starting a business, it’s incredibly easy to get caught up in what I call “majoring in the minors.” What I mean by that is, you get so focused on the minor details of the business that you neglect the most crucial element for success – does this business concept work?

Don’t misunderstand me, “minor” details have an important place in business. Successful companies get every last detail fine tuned. But at the start, your energy needs to be focused on the viability of your product or service. Ask yourself questions like, “How will the market respond to this?” or “What will cause people to buy this product?” before you ask yourself, “Should I be an LLC or sole proprietor?”

Responsibilities such as filing your business license are not your first step. After all, what good is a business license if no one wants what you’re offering? There will be time later to buy your super expensive website. The most important resource for your energy to flow into is making your business viable. Don’t be afraid to change or tweak your business model to match what consumers want or need.

 I’ve personally witnessed more than one business that I thought had tremendous potential for success. But instead of the idea person hustling on the idea and starting to sell it, they got bogged down in the minors. They were good details, but not the best details. Important later – but not crucial at the start. And the opportunity slipped right past them. Rather than continuing to build on their momentum and craft a terrific company, they ended up paying lots of bills for websites, edits, logos, and samples that never got to market. They exerted a tremendous amount of time and energy on the minors before nailing down the majors.

So my advice to you is: if you’re thinking about starting a business, prioritize your steps and stages of growth. Don’t abandon the minor details but keep them on the back burner until it’s their time to shine. What’s important is to make certain your business concept works. If your business concept doesn’t work, there’s no point in doing the rest.

Start your business. Sell a product or a service. Find a customer base. Once that gets going, then start thinking about the infrastructure around it getting built. Obviously there are some exceptions to this. But largely I think people would be better served using their initial energy to make certain their idea is viable and that people will pay them for their product.

How the Best Self Journal used social to make me a customer

This month’s social media win goes to the Best Self Journal. The Best Self Journal is a product that I would normally not buy, however, their social media marketing convinced me.

Let’s go back a few weeks. If you don’t know me well, you might not know that I try to squeeze every second out of most days. My days start at 4:30 in the morning so I can accomplish all the things I want to each day. Every day I go to bed and wake up at the same time, 4:30, even on Saturdays and Sundays. I draw attention to that because it points to my desire to optimize myself. If you wake up and go to bed at the same time every day, it actually makes waking up at 4:30 natural and not a problem. I know if I do that, not only do I gain time on the weekend, but I also make Monday morning easier.

I started seeing ads for the Best Self Journal a few weeks ago. I wish I had a screen shot now, but it was a pretty simple ad talking about making the best of life and working toward goals. (Social Media Move #1: They targeted me based on interests, probably liking Entrepreneurs and Gary Vee) The thing that caught my eye was that I had one friend who liked the page. That friend is a high achiever and works for one of my favorite companies in America. (Social Media Move #2. They targeted friends of people who like their page, adding social credibility to the product.)

When I saw this ad, it told me I could accomplish more and that my high achieving friend, whom I have lots of respect for, also liked their page. So I ventured in. They had a good website, but I was still not sold.

So I left. And I forgot about it.

Then this ad came through my feed:

This ad was targeted to me because I had visited their website or interacted with their page. I had expressed interest and they were reminding me of that. (Social Media Move #3: Retargeting based on interaction)

Best Self Co. also makes available their entire book, the product they sell, for free. In a printable PDF format. I was impressed by their belief in the product. What they are saying with this is that they are so convinced it will work, we will want to pay for it if we try it. (Social Media Move #4: Give something away, building rapport with customers.)

I started looking again and reading reviews and decided it was worth a try. (Social Media Move #5: Don’t give up after showing your ad once to someone. It takes time to sell someone.) I convinced my wife to join in as well and we ordered two books. Today was the first day of us trying them out. So this post is not a recommendation yet, but an impressive look at an effective social media sales funnel.