3 Social Media Marketing Tips For Finally Getting Started

Getting started with social media marketing shouldn't be confusing or difficult. It's all about how you approach it, how much work and time you are willing to put into it, and what your final goal is. These tips will help you gain control of your social media profiles and amp up your engagement.

Have a plan. Nobody walks into a challenge without a plan. If you have your own business, more than likely you drew out a business plan to outline exactly what your goals are and where you want to end up. It's the same with social media. While each platform is different in their own way, you'll still need a good strategy to pull in potential leads.

Know your audience. This ties into the previous tip; based on your goals, who is your audience? For example, if you own a salon or spa, gear your services towards those who are interested in the beauty industry.  Make sure that your social media platforms are advertised properly for whatever industry you are in; do research and pay attention to what people want.  

Once you begin building that relationship with other people, your audience will grow and eventually you will get leads.

Choose your main platform. Most businesses have more than one social media platform, but it's always wise to use one as your main strategy. The most popular one is Facebook; you can create a page for your business or website, go live to talk about what's happening, and you can create engagement by sharing your posts on other feeds.

Choosing your platform will again depend on your specific goals and final outcome. Local and large businesses tend to use Facebook and LinkedIn. Twitter and Instagram are great if you're just starting out and want to test the waters.

If you need help building a social media strategy, feel free to contact us today.

3 Tips on Getting The Most Out of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is typically thought of as a social media network where job seekers and employers come together. While that's certainly one of the purposes the site was designed for, it's also quite useful as a marketing tool. However, LinkedIn has its own set of rules, and its own way of doing things. So, before you decide to start splashing around and hoping to get results, keep the following tips in mind.

Tip #1: Make It Visually Pop

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the old saying goes, and this is more true than ever before in the social media age. If you're going to put up content on LinkedIn, then that content needs to be truly eye-catching. The best way to do that is to include lots of visual elements, according to Social Media Examiner. Rich photos, attention-grabbing video, charts, etc. can all work... just make sure that it draws the eye, and makes viewers want to know more.

Tip #2: Use The Advanced Applications

If you go to your LinkedIn profile page, you'll see an option labeled applications. Click it, and look around at all the options you have. Not all of them will apply to you and your marketing needs, but they represent a wide variety of tools you might be able to make use of, as Lewis Howes points out. Anything that get your message in front of your potential audience is a tool you can't afford to overlook.

Tip #3: Optimize Your Company Page (To Show Up In More Searches)

You might be the best there is in the business, but people still need to be able to find you. That's why LinkedIn recommends you make your page as search-friendly as possible. That means you should have appropriate keywords in your descriptions and titles, that you regularly post content targeted to your industry, and most importantly that you have all your contact information front and center (including a link to your business's home page). The louder you declare who you are and what you do, the more likely you are to be approached.

These are just a few, simple things you can do to increase your results from LinkedIn. For more social media advice, simply contact us today!

How to Grow your Modern Auto Dealership

I was talking today with one of my most progressive dealers and talking about the future.   We talked about how we can grow using the customers data and having someone that would be in-house that could really maximize that data for their customers to close the missing gaps, and bottom line… make more MONEY!

I thought to myself that this is the future of the modern dealership… using social media, digital ads, and traditional ads to get them into the dealership and then capitalizing on the data of our visitors as well as truly focusing on our current customers data to move them along through the process.

It’s about to get interested 😉

How Social Media Marketing Can Increase Sales

Whether you love or hate it, social media is here to stay and it's on the rise. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are just a few of the more popular social media platforms that have changed the way we communicate and connect with people everywhere. Although social media has been around for years now, businesses still are just beginning to fully grasp the power of it and realize how much these platforms could potentially help them grow and connect with potential customers unlike ever before.

Even if you don't have a Facebook account or you've never watched a YouTube video, you're most likely aware of what each platform is about. For anyone who isn't aware, social media is a method of networking and sharing content (videos, photos, etc) on the internet. Anyone can set up an account, complete their profile, add a picture and start connecting with old friends (or new ones) just with the click of a mouse. Since millions of people continue to connect on these platforms, businesses have followed suit and continue to create and maintain a presence where their customers are, utilizing various social media marketing tactics. Business and marketing both have forever changed due to this increasing trend.

SOCIAL MEDIA BASICS

You can separate the different types of social media into categories based on the different characteristics of how each platform is used and the types of content shared on each. Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr tend to be used for sharing somewhat more personal content, similar to blogs, although each can also be used for business marketing purposes. YouTube and Vimeo are used to store and distribute video content directly or shared to other social platforms with a link back. Pinterest and Instagram mainly focus on sharing visuals/photos and can also be a great way to link to other social platforms. LinkedIn is unique in that it specifically is geared towards career and business-related content.

There are new types and platforms of social media introduced every day, while at the same time once popular platforms lose popularity with the public. Regardless of the platform, the overall concept of social media marketing can change the game for you and your business if effectively executed.

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

For those just starting out with social media marketing, you will be shocked at how it can cost nothing to execute while simultaneously effectively boosting your traffic and sales metrics. Using social media is a very simple way to get people talking about your business and what it is you do. Word of mouth advertising and buzz can happen in a matter of seconds without costing a dime or taking weeks and weeks. As a result, social media can drastically improve your ROI and build your business and brand awareness much faster than more traditional marketing methods.

These changes in marketing within the area of social media have made it much easier to keep customers engaged and updated regularly. Where print media formats sent through the mail used to take weeks and require a heavy monetary investment to distribute, social marketing material can be dispersed in seconds and cost pennies on the dollar to produce! Social media has changed the way businesses engage with their customers and resolve an issue that used to take days to fix. Now, they can be addressed within minutes on platforms like Twitter with 120 characters or less.

For entrepreneurs and new businesses, social media marketing can have tremendous results because you no longer need a ton of financial investments to get your name out to the public. You can build up a fan base with a minimal budget and have total control over the whole process. Getting your products and services out to your customers can be simple, due to the ease of distribution digitally.

Hopefully, you can now see the potential benefits in social media for your business's marketing strategy. The next step for you will be to dive into the specifics of each platform and find the one(s) best suited for your needs. Check out more social media strategy tips here.

Influencer Marketing And Becoming A Trusted Expert

Establishing yourself as an expert within your business's niche has always been an important part of achieving lasting success. Public relations, or PR, was once considered a type of black art that required the assistance of a seasoned professional to be done right. Now, influencer marketing is taking over, and you are more than capable of handling the task yourself. Read on....

A Social Sphere

Social media has changed the way we conduct business and engage in all types of relationship building online. Influencer marketing takes advantage of the vast audience we can reach using social platforms, and customers and associates alike expect you to be an active contributor within online communities. The power you hold within your hands is stronger than ever, and if you use it correctly, your reputation amongst consumers and peers will be solid and help you to achieve success.

How Do You Know What To Do?

Achieving results from influence marketing takes a steady hand. You must understand your own strengths and weaknesses before asserting yourself as an expert, and you will need to understand what types of things your audience is looking for from professionals in your arena.

Take the time to reflect on what makes you unique in your specific niche, and then find all of the content you already have that offers value to your market, and study it! You can use existing content to generate interesting spins on topics; sometimes you already have information that can help you to establish yourself as an expert.

Once you begin to utilize all of your existing information in an influential way, you will naturally discover other topics to focus on, and you'll be able to generate additional content. Influencing your audience becomes second nature once you receive feedback from the people paying attention, and you'll be on your way to impressing your existing crowds, while gaining additional fans.

Q&A

Being able to assist people is what it all boils down to. When people know that they can look to you for answers to important questions, you are on the right path.

Believing in your power is important, but all things take time. If you want to master influencer marketing, you will need to dedicate yourself to the task of becoming influential. Taking a humble approach to asserting your power is the best way that you can teach, while being taught.

We hope that we've got your mind stirred and exited, contact us and we'll dig deeper into the topic of influencer marketing.

Pinterest: A Different Way to Utilize Social Media Marketing

Known as the underdog in social media behind Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is gaining muscle in the world of social media marketing.

Coming on to the scene in 2009, Pinterest is a photo sharing website that allows users to create pinboards to organize their photos based on specific themes such as food, clothing and do-it-yourself activities.

With the right tools, Pinterest can be an extremely useful and profitable marketing tool for businesses as a lot of referral traffic can be obtained through the site.

The Selling Point of Pinterest

People are visual creatures and they like to see beautiful and interesting photos. People will post photos of things they find interesting and will share these images with their friends via pinboards. They key with this is to share captivating photos and allow them to be shared by many people very often. Each photo is a link to the source of the image -- i.e. the business website thus leading potential customers directly to the site.

Build A Following & Keep Them Coming Back

Again, people enjoy attractive images. The first step in gaining followers on Pinterest is to create an attractive account. People tend to be more inclined to follow an individual versus a business as an individual tends to be more believable unless the brand is well-known.

Create unique board names such as "Tomato Gardens" "Strawberry Gardens" and "Lettuce Gardens" as opposed to just "Gardens." When someone is searching for information in relation to a specific type of garden, the more specific information will populate thus leading to more pins and traffic to the business website.

Quality Matters

Using only high quality photos is vital to capturing customers. The image should appear professional with lighting to highlight the subject in the photo. The size of the image is also important because the image needs to be easily accessible by potential customers. Keep the resolution around 800 x 1000 pixels.

With millions of users on Pinterest every day, it is not that difficult to get a business name out there despite the high volume of pinned images. Keep in mind that people are on Pinterest to discover and learn new things. Take advantage of this and make this wonderful marketing tool work for your business.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you with your social media marketing campaign.

Three Tips For Small Business SEO And Social Media Marketing

As a small business owner, keeping up with the rapid changes in SEO and social media marketing can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, if you don't keep up with it, your company is likely to lose footing in a heavily saturated social media environment. Here are a few of the things that you should be aware of as you start to shift your marketing focus to the social media platform.

Maximize Your Mobile Efforts

With the intense schedules and busy lifestyles that most consumers lead now, mobile access has become the primary way that many people find businesses and products. Mobile sites are key for research, and social media platforms have become the go-to means for many consumers to stay in touch with their favorite brands and businesses. As a result, it is essential that your company's website is optimized for mobile access, or you have a site that's designed specifically for mobile users. Incorporating an app for smartphone users is also hugely beneficial for marketing. Further, make sure that anything you share on social media, including your photos and videos, is optimized for mobile users.

Use Social Media For Marketing

Living in a social media society means focusing some of your marketing efforts to those platforms. With so much consumer data being mined and stored by social media platforms, you have the ability to refine and target your ad campaigns to the precise customer base that you want to reach.

To do this successfully, start by assessing the demographics of your existing customer base, including those that interact with your social media profile. Use the business tools provided by each platform to determine what your target consumers are looking for. Then, you can build targeted advertisements for each sector of the audience.

Test New Campaigns Before They Launch

Avoid launching any marketing campaigns without testing them thoroughly. Few things cause greater frustration than responding to an ad campaign and finding out that the link the company used is no good.

In addition, thorough evaluation and testing will also help you catch any potentially overlooked problems with wording or perception in the images. Remember that viral social media posts are great for business, but not if they are going viral for the wrong reasons. Make sure everything is evaluated by an in-house team of multiple people before things go live.

For more help with your social media marketing and SEO efforts, contact us today.

Influencer Marketing Trends To Watch In 2018

As more companies turn to influencers to reach more customers on social media and grow their sales, you need to find ways of getting the most from them. Also, you need to appreciate the fact that past strategies may not work in 2018.

Therefore, adapting to changes in the current business environment can give you insight on how you can harness the potential of influencer marketing in 2018. Here are some of the trends that will promote influencer marketing success this year.

Focusing On Other Social Media Channels As much as Instagram is the leading platform for influencers, it is wrong to assume that this is where you should draw all your attention. In fact, it is not surprising to discover that some of these experts are not on Instagram.

Hence, as you check Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Twitter, you will realize that they are active on these channels as well. The fact that most influencers are on Instagram means that you expect to pay more for their services. On the contrary, those using other channels may have cheaper rates, which can yield your firm a better return on investment.

Therefore, in addition to accessing better conversions, you stand a better chance in 2018 by working with influencers who are not on Instagram.

Leveraging Useful Content Using photos of an influencer holding your product as they explain how much they love it is no longer the in thing. These are generics ads that will do little to propel your business forward in 2018.

Most buyers are looking for content that educates, entertains, and what invokes some emotion. Therefore, you need to shift from such ads to content marketing to achieve your goal. Backing your influencer marketing campaigns with the right content will help you convey the right message to your audience for the achievement of desirable results.

Establishing Long-term Relationships In most cases, the relationship between business operators and influencers is purely transactional. The implication is that when such entrepreneurs access the services they require for a particular amount, it marks the end of interactions between the two.

Unfortunately, such influencers tend to act as short-term contractees who may not satisfy your expectations. As a result, your audience may not connect to your brand once they capture that from an influencer. The solution, in that case, is seeking to build lasting relationships with your influencer to promote enthusiasm and earn their loyalty to your brand.

If you need more information on influencer marketing trends for 2018, contact us today!

New Instagram Hashtag Feature Increases Followers and User Engagement for Businesses

Many business owners' Instagram marketing strategies have come to a halt when considering the caution from Instagram shadow-bans in the previous year's algorithm releases, paired with the recent hashtag risks.

Regardless of the Instagram algorithm changes, a seemingly favorable dispersant in filtering spam and irrelevant hashtags for users, business-marketing managers have a superior advantage in gaining endless Instagram followers and increasing social media engagement for business owners with potential consumers.

Use the Hashtag Follow Feature and Algorithm Changes to Your Advantage

This year, Instagram introduced the new 'follow' feature, exclusively for hashtags. Last year's algorithm changes along with the 2018 'follow' feature now collect data for the user to complement requested searches, placing the most relevant and latest posts at the top of their feed.

Therefore, copying and pasting the same hashtags repeatedly will now lead to increased spam filtering against business posts that may have been appropriate.

With the latest influence for users to follow hashtags, inbound marketing strategies now necessitate new methods concerning hashtags research and the proper insertion of tags into single posts.

As a business owner, enable the Instagram algorithm process to support your inbound marketing initiatives by:

• Ending the repetitive use of identical hashtags for every post.

• Researching the most relevant hashtags using the 'follow' feature data.

Additionally, obtaining real-time suggestions from Instagram's algorithm data for individual posts lowers the opportunity of plunging into the shadow-ban algorithm as spam or inappropriate to users.

Add Hashtags Directly to Business Profiles

The new release comes with the ability to add relevant hashtags directly into the Instagram business profile, in addition to the posts.

Instagram explains in a 2018 press release, " We have introduced the ability to follow hashtags, giving users new ways to stay connected with the interests, hobbies, passions, and communities they care about. With hashtag and profile links in your bio, you can express yourself and your interests right in your profile."

Prospective new followers will now have updated feeds reflecting business owner posts, old and new, along with algorithm recommendations leading to the best-related business profiles.

Hashtag profile implementation provides opportunities for business owners to:

• Receive the latest tag suggestions directly from Instagram algorithms with a much higher relevance than previous years analytics.

• Insert Hashtags directly into the business profile and posts, based on new analytics extracted from the highest probable followers for your industry.

For further assistance with integrating Instagram and other social media profiles with the latest applicable updates, gain support towards elevated social media solutions with an expert inbound marketing specialist.

How To Accurately Measure Facebook VR Ad Engagements

The rapidly growing consumer interest in virtual reality makes it critical for forward-thinking marketers to seriously consider the technology today. According to Statista, the year 2018 should see the number of virtual reality users exceed 170 million globally. However, the failure to track VR performance using proper analytics may mean that brands incorporating the technology in their social media marketing campaigns are engaging in a wild goose chase, wasting their effort, time, and budget.

So, if you're using Facebook 360 to give your audience an immersive, interactive VR experience, it's imperative that you assess whether you're achieving your marketing objectives. Here are critical ways and tools you may use to track and evaluate your VR marketing efforts:

Heat Maps

Facebook introduced heat maps to enable creators to track how their 360-degree video content is being viewed. You can use the analytics tool to see the video frames receiving the most user attention. A heat map will show the parts of your proposed solution that are most engaging, helping identify areas that require improvement. With the accurate analysis, your social media marketing team may then dedicate more efforts and content to VR aspects that most users relate to well.

Tracking the Angle of View

The primary objective of deploying 360-degree videos in Facebook marketing is to let users look all around the content. In a VR ad, for example, you want to measure the degrees viewed, and to ascertain where your audience looked. Thankfully, the heat map feature helps track a specific user's scope of vision based on factors such as the angle of elevation or vision. It is possible to use the analysis and create an improved VR experience for your audience.

User Feedback

Do not forget to find out what your audience thinks about the 360-degree videos you publish on Facebook. Engage users and ask them about their favorite experiences with your promotions. You could send them questionnaires via email or SMS and learn more about their likes and dislikes. Feedback collection is a reliable way to measure engagement and gather consumer insights. Based on the feedback, you may create effective VR experiences, accurately target potential buyers, and track return on investment.

Facebook 360-degree videos are an ideal way for advertisers to offer potential customers a more engaging and immersive experience. However, it is imperative to use VR analytics and assess the quality of the user engagement created. Contact us today to learn more about the effective deployment of such social media marketing strategies.