Digital Marketing Services: How to be Authentic, Creative, and Strategic with Meredith Kallaher

The new normal has stressed the importance of digital marketing — now more than ever. People now go online for almost everything. It is no wonder that more and more businesses need to utilize digital marketing services to get traction.

In this episode, Meredith Kallaher shares her expertise on using social media channels and their digital marketing services to expand your brand's reach and drive more sales. She thoroughly discusses the importance of engaging with your audience online. Meredith also talks about her shift from a CPA at her "dream job" to building her digital advertising agency. 

If you want to know how to utilize digital marketing services to engage your audience, expand your reach, and drive sales, this episode is for you!

3 Reasons To Listen:

1. Discover how Meredith made the big move from CPA to owning her digital advertising agency
2. Learn the importance of engaging with your audience in social media
3. Know the best ways to use digital marketing services to expand your reach and drive sales

Resources

• The Only 5 Content Topics a Business Needs to Post on Instagram for Account Growth in 2022 by Meredith Kallaher
• How To Write Your Business's Brand Story by Meredith Kallaher
• Email Copywriting Tips to Convert Subscribers to Customers by Meredith Kallaher
• Read Meredith Kallaher’s other articles in her blog.
• Episode Details

Episode Highlights

[02:41] Knowing Your Audience

• You are allowed to sell your product to whoever and wherever you want.  
• Identifying your niche market or your audience is for marketing purposes only.
• Knowing your target audience helps create more authentic content.
• It’s good to start with one specific target audience and then build your niche audience.

[07:17] Building Your Campaign

• Do not build your business on one organic social campaign.
• A diversified marketing plan is the best move. 
• Try other platforms (i.e., email lists).

[09:41] Meredith’s Journey In Digital Marketing

• Meredith started with a locally-owned magazine franchise, Scout Guide Miami, where she began learning about marketing on Facebook and Instagram. 
• Afterward, she partnered with a woman on an online course, “Instagram Strategy for Busy Doctors,” which she sold through webinars and masterclasses. 
• Meredith decided to launch her business after the local stint. 
• She took classes and got certified as a Facebook and Instagram Ad Manager.

[12:21] “And I saw the power to run [a] digital ad campaign on any platform. You really want to analyze the results and all your numbers and that number component plus the creativity and just the magic of Facebook and Instagram ads launched me. I decided to launch my own business. - Click Here to Tweet This

[14:23] Redefining Success: From CPA to Digital Marketer

• Meredith used to be a CPA and worked at her dream job at PricewaterhouseCoopers for six years. 
• Our natural progression is to go where we excel in school. Meredith, however, decided to leave and pursue what made her happy. 
• The move came from the drive to create value.
• People either make a concerted effort to change, or something external pushes them.

[23:25] Authenticity in Social Media

• You don’t have to be on social media if you don’t want to. You’re under no obligation to share anything.
• Business owners do not have to be on social media to operate a business. 
• Social media is a great tool to optimize your brand. Put your pages on your website and give them ways to contact you. 
• B2C companies benefit significantly from using social media digital marketing services. It helps to get personal. Treat it as business media. 
• B2C companies need first to create relationships and instill community with their audience.

[24:53] “No one has to be on social media if they don't want to, and they don't have to share anything that they don't want to share. Now, if you are a business owner, you still don't have to be on social media.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[29:03] Optimizing Social Media for Business

• Customers undergo a journey through awareness, engagement, subscription, conversion, ending with a sale.
• It's best to use social media in the early and end stages of the journey.
• Be consistent in marketing. Consistency wins in the digital marketing services game. 

[33:00] “You have to commit to consistency, to showing up, to people knowing that you're going to be there when you say you're going to be there. Promise yourself that you'll be consistent, and you'll engage with people. As they start following you, then you will win as far as building your community.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[34:25] Meredith’s Favorite Social Media Platform

• The best platform for you depends on your niche audience. 
• Post across platforms and see where your target audience engages with you. 
• Instagram is great for engagement. Instagram stories can make your audience feel like you’re talking to them individually. 
• LinkedIn is good for business to business.

[38:31] Engaging through Facebook and Instagram

• The best way to utilize digital marketing services is through hashtags because they make your posts searchable. 
• Block out four to five hours once a month, and create a month’s worth of content. Batch, create captions, and schedule. 
• Allot 15 to 30 minutes a day to engage with your ideal audience. Find a hashtag that potential clients use, or engage directly with your following through comments.
• Make sure to engage in their accounts.

[42:31] Growing your Account using the Big Five Strategy

• The five content topics that every business needs to post are: education, lifestyle, a villain, personal details, and product service protocol description. 
• Come up with at least four posts for each of the five. 
• Make sure to have a balance between different content topics. 

[45:11] Building Your Brand Story

• Every business must start with building the brand story. 
• Know your villain by filling in the blank: “If my customer didn’t have to deal with _____, their lives would be easier.”
• You do not have to talk negatively all the time, but a villain is a great way to connect. 
• You can also make sales pitches, but not every day. Around once a week is sufficient.

[45:49] “You don't want to talk about negatives all the time. But it is a way to connect.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[48:00] Expanding Reach using Digital Platforms

• Digital marketing services are expensive, and the price is increasing.
• Facebook and Instagram are one of the least expensive places to advertise. 
• Facebook provides detailed targeting but only warm or cold-ish leads. Use Facebook to identify the audience's characteristics who are likely to buy your product. 
• Facebook and Instagram aren’t the best places to make a sale. Use them to grow your community by gaining followers and building awareness.
• Google, Pinterest, and YouTube are search engines. You pay for hotlinks, which is why they are more expensive than Facebook and Instagram.

[54:53] Deriving Sales through Digital Marketing Services

• Ensure that you have a product and offer before investing in digital advertising. 
• Do not directly send digital ads and invite people to buy your product. 
• You can run a digital advertisement for a freebie or a piece of free content and ask for the customer’s email address. Make an offer through email afterward. 
• Pay for the traffic that goes to the freebie. 
• When choosing a freebie, think about one of your products worth five dollars. Instead of making a customer pay for it, ask for their email address.

[01:02:04] “Digital ads are an amazing tool. They can really work to enhance your business, reach new people, and make some sales. And you know what, when you have a good offer, and organically people are buying it, we really can use digital ads to explode your sales.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[01:02:50] Optimizing Digital Advertising 

• Digital advertisements are good tools that can enhance your business’ reach.
• Use digital advertising to reach new people, make sales, bring more offers, and explode sales.

About Meredith

Meredith Kallaher is a Facebook and Instagram ad and strategy management expert. She describes her work as creative, strategic, authentic digital advertising to help businesses connect with their ideal customers and exceed their sales goals.

Before building her marketing agency, Meredith had experience in Big 6 accounting and small business ownership. She'd been advertising for locally-owned Miami businesses through her local magazine – The Scout Guide Miami.

If you'd like to reach out to Meredith, you can contact her through her website or book a discovery call. You can also reach her through Instagram and Linkedin.

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