ads Archives - TJE Communications

3 Things to Do Before Outsourcing Marketing

May 5, 2020Tonnisha J. English

TJE Communications has officially turn 6 years old and as a company, we have experienced some ups and downs when it comes to business and clients. I say “we” because I’ve had my fair share of interns and strategic partnerships who have helped me move the needle along the way.

I took another look at my target customer as I was preparing to step into full-time entrepreneurship, and I realized some of the clients I had worked with were truly not ready to outsource their marketing services. Which ultimately contributed to some of those partnerships ending; on a good note for the most part.

Before you decide to outsource your marketing efforts, here are three things you should try first:

1. Try to DIY — One (of the many) mistakes I have made in business is not asking a prospective client if they’ve tried to handle their digital marketing on their own or with another marketer in the past. If I were to ask you this question, would you say “yes” – or would you say something like, “I would, but I don’t know how.” If the answer is the latter, you should not outsource marketing. What you should do instead is invest in gaining marketing knowledge through webinars, conferences, seminars, and trainings. Then, try to do it yourself. Once you’ve done this for a minimum of 6-12 months, if you still feel like you need help….check out steps 2 & 3.

I’m sure you’re thinking…”why does it matter if I’ve tried it myself?” What I’ve learned over the last 6 years is that until you have tried it yourself, or had someone else before me, you truly will not understand or value having a marketing consultant on your team.

Digital marketing is more than just posting aesthetically pleasing photos to Instagram. It takes consistency, strategy, and advertising dollars to build real campaigns to drive revenue for your business. On top of that, digital marketing does not equal social media marketing. Digital marketing also encompasses email, content, vlogging, and so much more.

2. Ensure you can pay for marketing services for at least 3 months — If you’re planning to outsource marketing services, make sure you can pay for them even when business is down. Most marketers require a retainer and a contract where you are committing to pay for their services for an agreed upon time. Just because business is down for you, doesn’t mean you get to forgo your contracts.

I get it, if business is down, you can’t take care of your family. But guess what…marketing professionals have a family to take care of, too! When you pay your invoices late, or not at all (both have happen to me), it is a poor reflection of business.

To avoid this issue, make sure your money is in order so that you can be certain you can fulfill your contract before signing on the dotted line.

**Also keep in mind if you do have issues paying your invoices, just communicate! Most people are willing to be somewhat flexible when life happens.

3. Have a clear understanding of your business goals — You can’t bring someone in to help you promote your business if you don’t understand your business either. When you bring in a marketing professional, we’re there to help you take your brand to the next level. But if you don’t have the foundational pieces in place, then we don’t have a solid ground to stand on.

Yes, the marketing consultant you hire can help you with the foundational aspects of your business. However, you must keep in mind that by doing this, you are taking time away from them doing actual digital marketing strategy. So you can’t fault them if you’re “seeing no results.”

If you’re unsure if you have your business goals and messaging in place, instead of hiring someone to help you with digital marketing, hire someone to help you with business strategy and then try implementing some DIY digital marketing strategies. Or, if you can get your business strategist and marketing professional to work hand-in-hand, that’s even better! Both of these people are equally important and need each other to produce great work!

Now that you’ve read through this, do you still think you’re ready to outsource your marketing efforts? If yes, then go for it! Having a skilled digital marketing professional on your team can help grow your brand tremendously – especially if you’re willing to spend a few dollars on ads.

If you read this and realized you’re not quite ready, that is awesome! It is better to know now than to get yourself caught up.

Need help deciding either way? Schedule a FREE 15-minute call with me today. Click here to schedule.

Why You Need to Know Your Target Audience

May 12, 2019May 13, 2019Tonnisha J. English

Can we agree that wasting money is not fun? If you don’t know who your target audience is, that is exactly what you’re doing; wasting money.

There are so many reasons why having a clear understanding of your ideal customer is important. Here are my top 3 reasons that have personally impacted my business.

Attract the right clients – I started by business in 2014 without a clear vision into the services I would offer or who I would offer them to. Once I was able to nail down my offerings, I was able to create a strategy to bring in the right clientele.
Offer the right products and services – When you know who your audience is, you understand what your customer needs. Which is amazing because you’ll know exactly what to offer them! In the beginning I had WAY too many offerings which can be confusing for a customer. Sliming down my offerings and creating sub-categories on an as needed basis has been extremely beneficial for my business.
Intentional marketing – Once you know the customer, you probably know where to find them! This has helped me to be intentional in all of my marketing efforts online and offline. Which has allowed me to make a profit and go into my business full time.

I’m currently in the process of identifying new potential clients and I’m excited to hit my next ‘aha’ moment. If you feel like you’re hitting a brick-wall in your business, it may be time to re-identify your target audience.

Join me for an interactive webinar to learn how to truly understand your customer. Take advantage of the webinar + consult ticket to get the webinar for FREE and a 30-minute business consultation where we can talk more in depth about your business goals.

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How to Set Up Facebook Ads

November 16, 2018November 15, 2018Tonnisha J. English

We’re knees deep in the season of holidays sales, deals, and promotions. It’s easy for your customers to become overwhelmed with the overload of emails and mailers coming to their door. If you’re looking to standout, aside from having great content and products to promote, you should consider running Facebook Ads this holiday season. Never done it before? Here’s a step by step guide to creating your first advertisement.
1. Determine the type of ad you want to create

Facebook breaks their ads down into three main categories:

Awareness
Consideration
Conversion

You need to have a clear understanding of your objective with this advertisement before you get started. Having a solidified goal in place will ensure you set up your ad correctly, and receive the best results when the campaign is over. The campaign you create can be new, or you can use a past or existing campaign to run your new ad with.

2. Create your audience

Once you have your campaign objectives in place, you need to create your audience. The audience is THE most important part of your campaign. Targeting the wrong person for your ads is a sure way to lose money and have a poor ad performance.

It is important to not be too specific, or too vague. If you do not have a clear understanding of your target audience, think back to your campaign objectives. What is the end goal of your campaign and what would intrigue the ideal customer to engage with your ad? Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Where do they live?
Where do they shop?
What is their annual income?
Are they married?
Do they have children?
What are their hobbies?
Do they have disposable income?
How old are they?
What are their political views?

Understanding your target audience is crucial to your business and the advertisement you are producing. If you’re unsure, I would recommend taking a step back and performing some market research to get to know your ideal customer.

3. Determine your budget and schedule

If you’re doing ads on Facebook for the first time, I recommend setting a budget of a dollar amount you aren’t afraid to lose or are willing to invest into this campaign. You can set up a daily budget or a lifetime budget. The more money you are willing to spend, the more people you will reach. However, I do recommend if it is your first campaign, you should set a lifetime budget or an end date to be safe.
4. Create your ad

When it comes to creating your ad, you can also decide if you want to start from scratch, or use an existing post. If you decide to use an existing post, please keep in mind that once the ad goes live, you cannot make edits to that post again. Even after the campaign has ended, changes cannot be made. I would recommend creating a new ad that is unique to the campaign you are working on to avoid any issues.
5. Review your ad

Before you confirm, carefully review your campaign set up. Double check the audience you’ve selected, be sure the budget you set matches with your marketing plan, and confirm the “end date” of the campaign aligns with the product or service you are launching. You should also be sure things are spelled correctly and are grammatically correct.
6. Review performance

Once the campaign has ended, your work is far from done! You should review the performance of your ad to see if your original objectives were met. If they were, the next time you create an ad you may want to increase your budget.

If your goal was not met, you should take a deep dive into your results to determine what went wrong and create a plan to improve for next time.

Do you plan on running ads during the holidays? They’re not as expensive as you think. You can set a daily budget of $5 or $500+! I encourage you all to set aside a budget for ads in 2019 if you haven’t already. If you want to learn more about Facebook ads for your business, schedule a 30 minute business consultation today!