Jeff Bullas is a consultant, coach, mentor and speaker. He works with companies and executives to optimize their online presence and brand with digital marketing and social media. He has a degree in Commerce and Economics. His career focus has been primarily on Information Technologies, Telecommunications and the Web Industry.
Jeff’s blog is about all things to do with social media and online marketing. The blog’s focus is to how to make your company successful in a digital world.
Branding and Social Media for New Businesses
Jeff Bullas, social media strategist and blogger, knows a thing or two about success online. His blog receives over 4 million page views per year. It’s read in 190 countries worldwide. It’s about social media, content marketing, and digital marketing. Everything from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn to search engine optimization (SEO), blogging, and email marketing.
Years of social media success landed him at #11 on Forbes.com “Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers” 2013 list.
It’s an impressive track record. The success hasn’t clouded Jeff’s memories of starting as an entrepreneur. “I started with Facebook and reading. I first read Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week and David Meerman Scott’s The New Rules of Marketing and PR,” he says during our Skype video conference from his place in Sydney, Australia. “I read HubSpot blogs and started blogging.”
Today, Jeff is on the board of Shuttlerock, a visual content marketing platform that was started two and a half years ago in New Zealand by Jonny Hendriksen. It’s an enterprise class platform made to build brand awareness. He’s also a brand ambassador for many companies.
Jeff says entrepreneurs often lose their way in online marketing plans because they make the plan too complicated. Start with a simple plan and adapt to the changing online landscape. He says, “Be nimble. You have to consider the major social media tools—Twitter and Facebook—but essentially use the ones that your audience uses. If you’re in an industry that’s very visual, like food or fashion, then you obviously would need to be on Pinterest.”
Not all social media tools are useful, he explains. You would not use LinkedIn for a consumer brand, for example.
Another important factor is defining your target audience which Jeff advises is best done by understanding your industry and niche. “Create content and distribute it through social media. It’s a bit of a journey and educative guess, I suppose, in the beginning. Listen to your target market online as they engage with you through social media to find what works and what doesn’t. Keep refining your content and how you actually engage with them.”
When it comes to the online marketing techniques of competitors, Jeff believes it’s good to be aware of what they’re doing, but not to become distracted. It’s important to focus on your own marketing plan. “Seeing what they are doing is good if you can use that to refine your plan,” he says.
Asked about what the key elements of a marketing plan are, Jeff seems pensive. “A brand or business who wants to build an online presence needs to have their own content platform; a blog or website,” he says. “You own the content platform, create your content, and then use social media channels to engage with your potential customers, customers, and to use as a distribution point for your content.”
Social networks and social media channels are your brand ambassadors, advocates and where fans engage. Social media is a tool for distribution, engagement, and crowd source marketing. “Crowd source the marketing and distribution of your content—that’s very powerful. That’s the real power of social media,” Jeff says.
Jeff recommends these three steps to start building your online assets today:
1. Create your own website and blog.
2. Content is really important for search ranking and engaging. It can position you as an expert or thought leader in your industry or niche.
3. Don’t rely on paid media for online branding. Grow your followers on social networks so you have access to online distribution. Build great content on your platforms and distribute the content through your social network followers, which amplifies your content.
We hope this interview provides social media and web marketing tips that inspire you to start an online marketing plan today.
Thanks so much to Jeff for sharing his expert advice!
If you’re looking for more guides and information to help you start and promote your new business, be sure to check out Jeff’s blog and our own online incorporation knowledge center.