We reached out to our entire list to see what online marketing challenges were keeping them up at night. The overwhelming response motivated us to answer the most common question in a live webinar. View the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_3fIkVmrXc

1. Online Marketing AMA:
Presented by DigitalSherpa
Justin Fishaw | Marketing Director
Sarah Mincher | Content Manager
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2. Today’s Agenda:
Present & answer the most common
marketing challenges voiced by our
audience of SMB owners & marketers
Topics will include:
Social media marketing, content marketing &
blogging, local search marketing, and website
design & branding.
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3. Today’s Format:
Each topic will be addressed with most
common basic & advanced question.
Each answer will include a breakdown
of the question & topic, plus an answer
that includes best practices & real life
examples.
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4. But first…introductions:
Justin Fishaw | Marketing Director
Manage & and execute the inbound lead
generation program that fuels the growth of
DigitalSherpa.
More interesting facts include:
•Born and raised in the Metro Detroit area
•Own and operate an apparel company,
SMPLFD, for 10+ years
•Have a Boston Terrier named Uncle Jesse
•When I’m not working, you can find me
exploring the streets of Atlanta with my pup &
beautiful wife, Serena
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5. Sarah Mincher I
Content Marketing Manager
Responsible for DigitalSherpa’s
Content & Social Media Marketing
Strategy.
Some super fun facts about me:
•Raised in Seattle, and yes I am a
coffee snob.
•Has a horse named John Lennon and
spend my free time competing in show
jumping.
•2x winner of Creative Loafings “Best
Twitter of Atlanta” award.

6. DigitalSherpa exists to: Social
Media
Marketin
g

7. Question #1:
How do I start & implement social
media (marketing) for my business?
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8. What is Social Media
Marketing?
Social media marketing refers to use of
social media websites like Facebook,
Twitter, Google+ and other social networks
to connect with customers & prospects; to
build a community.
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9. Start with the basics.
Website +
Strategy +
Content +
Social Media Networks
__________________________
Foundation for social media
Marketing success.
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10. Social Media Marketing Best practices
• Post content 1-2x per day
• Answer & respond to all comments,
questions & messages
• Keep your posts short & succinct
• Include questions & other CTA copy to
encourage engagement
• Use analytics & insights to determine
future strategies
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11. Tweet along #SherpaAMA

12. Question #2:
How do I increase my business’s
Facebook presence?
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13. The common Facebook challenge:
How can I reach all of my ‘fans’
without having to pay to promote?
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14. You can’t.
But you can increase reach with a
few strategic moves.

15. Increase your Facebook Presence:
1. Understand your audience
2. Entertain & educate them accordingly
•Shaq Rule (yes, that Shaq): 80/15/5
•Copy + formatting = engagement increase
•Stay up-to-date w/ best practices
•Pay to play
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16. Tweet along #SherpaAMA

17. Increase your Facebook Presence:
1. Understand your audience
2. Entertain & educate them accordingly
•Shaq Rule: 80/15/5
•Copy + formatting = engagement increase
•Stay up-to-date w/ best practices
•Pay to play
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18. Boost your 5 percent – make it count.
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19. $175 spend = $1381 in sales

20. Content Marketing & Blogging

21. Question #3 & #4:
What the heck is content marketing
exactly? And what goes into a
successful content marketing plan?
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22. What is Content Marketing?
Content Marketing is the thoughtful creation of
content designed for a specific audience to
inspire a particular outcome.
It is often mapped to the information needs of
a target audience segment during the customer
journey from Awareness, to Purchase to
Advocacy.
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23. Real Life SMB Example:
Local Pool Company:
•Prospective buyers (research phase)
• Types of pools, pros & cons of each, local
events, etc.
•Buyers
• Best local pool companies, pool pricing,
types of pool financing, Guide to buying the
right pool (ebook),etc.
•Customers
• Pool maintenance, DIY tips, latest trends,
etc.
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24. Content Marketing examples:
•blog posts
•social media posts
•press releases
•articles,
•webinars
•videos,
•infographics
•local business listings
•and much more!
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25. Harsh reality: creating content is hard!
Getting real results is even harder.

26. What are the key ingredients in a
successful content marketing strategy?
Content Marketing is the thoughtful creation
of content designed for a specific audience
to inspire a particular outcome. It is often
mapped to the information needs of a target
audience segment during the customer
journey from Awareness, to Purchase to
Advocacy.
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27. The Key Ingredients:
• Creating customer & buyer personas
• Map your customer journey
• Content for each persona along every step
of the journey
• Editorial calendars & content planning
management (Excel / Trello)
• Content distribution (Social Media &
Outbrain / Taboola & Stumbleupon / Digg /
Reddit)
• Measurement & analytics software
(Google Analytics, FB Insights, etc.)
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28. Small Business Success Stories:
• Lauren Luke
• GORUCK.com
• BirchBox
• Dollar Shave Club
• DigitalSherpa
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29. Local
Search
Marketin
g

30. Question #5:
How do I get my business listed in all
of the online business directories?
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31. What are online business directories?
Websites that properly categorize
businesses in a searchable directory
that enhances your website’s visibility
and creates relevant inbound links
back to you website.
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32. Getting your business listed:
Two options:
1.Business directory submission service
• Localeze / listmybizlocally.com
1.Manual DIY approach
• Google & Bing Places for Business
• Yahoo! Local Listing / Yelp / Merchant Circle
• YP.com / YellowBook / White Pages /
Superpages / Citysearch / Facebook Page

33. Question #6:
How do I use social media to reach
local customers & businesses?
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34. Local Social Basics
Start targeting your local audience by
joining and being active in local
Linkedin, Yelp and Facebook groups.
You can also target specific local
Facebook users using the promoted
post option.

35. Social Media can be Local Media
Sites like Facebook and Twitter have
built-in features that allow you to
search and target locally.
There are also many affordable third-party
platforms like Hootsuite or
SproutSocial that make this very easy.
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37. Website Design & Branding

38. Question #7:
How often should I update my
website?
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39. Do you have
‘Build it and Forget it’
syndrome?
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40. Question #8:
What 10 things should
every website have?
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41. 10 Core Components of an Optimized Website
• Branding that matches your products or services
• Responsive design
• Up-to-date design & fonts
• Excellent copy
• Blog & other content
• CTA’s & Forms to capture leads
• Social Media Integration
• Logical Navigation
• Crucial business information
• Personalization
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42. THANK YOU! Questions?
All registrants will receive an email with a link to the
recorded webinar & the slides.
If we don’t get to your question today, feel free to Tweet us
your questions & comments  @digitalsherpas.
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