Chad Hobot (Social Media MN)

Chad Hobot is the founder of Social Media MN. They’re a full-service social media marketing agency that offers marketing services in the Twin Cities area. After decades in the digital marketing field, his business has evolved alongside the social media landscape.

Chad has been immersed in internet technology since graduating from the University of St. Thomas, where he majored in History and Japanese Studies. Chad then lived in Japan for 5 years and saw the cutting edge of digital technology.

When he returned in 1999, he started selling real estate at his uncle’s agency. That’s where he discovered online marketing in 2002. Chad began building digital real estate in addition to selling physical real estate.

“And I told my uncle, ‘You know, we got to get one of those websites for our business because that’s where my generation is going to get information. We’re not using books to look for homes. We’re going online. But it was a small fortune back then to build the website,” Chad recalls.

Chad began by learning how to build websites for his real estate clients. Back then, building a website was a difficult and technical task. It became much easier once WordPress started gaining traction in 2005. His first websites weren’t great, but they improved with practice.

His marketing skills started to get results for his clients and his real estate business was booming. He built a website called chadsellslakeshore.com and stenciled the name on his boat to promote the website.

“I created a website called Chad Sells Lakeshore and I branded it with Edina Realty colors, red and white. I had a boat that was red and white and I put my website on the boat. In big white letters over the red, it said chadsellslakeshore.com. It was a big hit,” Chad remembers.

Later, he hired a programmer to connect his website with home listings online. He had one of the first websites where clients could browse real estate listings and scroll through them all on one page.

Those were the early days of internet marketing and he got incredible results. His real estate listings were showing up on Google searches. He started posting them on social media, too. His client listings were getting a lot of attention.

Chad grew his real estate agency to the point where he had 7 agents working for him. They were doing the sales and he was running the marketing for their properties. The money was great, but his workload felt overwhelming. 

Then, in 2008, the real estate market crashed during the Great Recession. Chad decided to go a different route with his career. 

He started working in online advertising, helping companies sell ad space online. That gave him a more balanced life and helped him learn about internet marketing.

In his online marketing job, he instructed the company about everything they needed to do. He realized that he could start an agency doing the same work. He’d make more money and have more freedom with his own business. That’s how Social Media MN began.

“They said ‘Hey, we want you to sell internet marketing services to our radio customers.’ And I did that for a couple of years. Then one day I just realized that I could just run my own agency because I’m telling them everything that needs to be done because I just spent so much time on it,” Chad shares.

His strategy has evolved with the market. He began making regular social media posts, then focused on image posts for Instagram. When short-form video became popular, he started creating videos for TikTok and Reels. His business has consistently evolved to stay with the times, because social media changes quickly.

Chad describes, “We started seeing that engagement with picture ads was not as strong anymore. And we took a deep dive into what was going on there. And it was pretty simple, videos were becoming popular. People wanted to get the information they are looking for on social media but they wanted it to have some entertainment value.”

Eventually, his video ads became so popular that his clients wanted to put them on streaming TV services. Streaming services were just starting to offer ads, and he put his clients’ ads on streaming TV for a tenth of what regular TV ads would cost. 

Another way his customers get results is by topping the search results for their local area. For example, a plumber in Elk River doesn’t need someone in Hawaii to visit their website. So Chad focused on making sure that plumber shows up at the top of the search results for people in Elk River. 

He successfully gets client websites to the top of the search results in their local business area. They’ve been number one in the results every time. 

However, he won’t take on two clients competing in the same market. He’s willing to make that tradeoff to ensure that his customers always reach the top of the search results.

Customers often need the most work done initially to get them to the top spot on Google Search. After that’s achieved, their marketing plan is moved to a maintenance phase to keep them at the top.

Chad offers plans and services that provide a win/win scenario for him and his clients. That’s why he strives to provide the best possible service for his clients while not selling them a higher-level service than they need. As a result, 98% of his clients have stayed with his business.

Here’s what Social Media MN does for their clients:

• Digital Ads – They target your ads to reach your ideal audience no matter where they are.
• Social Media – They create, target, and manage social media video ad campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
• Search Engine Optimization – They use SEO techniques to get your website ranking at the top of Google Search.
• Video Production – They create digital videos that connect with your target audience.
• Google Ads – They run Google AdWords campaigns to get your message in front of your ideal customer.
• Email Marketing – Their email marketing expertise keeps your business top of mind with your current and prospective clients.
• Website Design – They design and build websites to grow your business online.
• Blog Writing – They create original content for SEO, educating and engaging your customers.

Contact Social Media MN today and learn what they can do for your business. You can call, submit their contact form, or schedule a meeting with Chad on their website.

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