Grow Your Social Media

Grow Your Social Media with these 5 Key Steps

Social media is enormous! So enormous in fact it accounts to 40% of all time spent online. Social media has created a new way for consumers to discover brands and for marketers to reach out further to potential customers. Incredibly 93% of marketers today say that they use social media for business growth. Last year (2013) saw a outpouring in popularity for platforms including Pinterest, Instagram and Vine. This year we’re expecting even more sites to pick up traction including Google’s own Google+ which is becoming an essential part of people’s daily lives.

However, to make the most of this incredible marketing channel, here are five essential steps you should adopt for successful social media marketing.

Plan your strategy
A clear digital strategy is essential for successfully driving sales and leads from social media. 25% of small businesses do not have any strategy in place for their social media marketing. Appreciate that each social network has its own audience demographic and that you should make your choice as to which platforms best suit your business based on their target customers.
Here are some demographic differences between some of the leading networks.

  • Facebook is the leading social media network, with 67% of people online using it.
  • 60% of these Facebook users are female.
  • A 28 years old female is the average user on Twitter.
  • 18–29 year olds tend to be the primary user of Instagram.
  • Pinterest is heavily used by the female gender, with 80% of users being female and those, which have higher education and higher earnings.

With these in mind, you need to take the time to research your customer. What is their personality type? What is their lifestyle? What value can you add for them online?

Having selected the appropriate channels, monitor what your competition is doing. What is working for them? Start creating a social content calendar, as this will help you to organize, plan ahead and remain consistent with a social content schedule.

Quality content is vital
There is no denying that audience engagement is vastly improved with quality content. This can make the difference between your content being shared across multiple platforms and helps to generate more interest in a brand. Quality content also makes a difference when it comes to your organic SEO.
So what exactly do we mean by quality content?

  • Informative
  • Sharable
  • Actionable
  • Relevance to your target audience

To write like a master you need to embrace humor but also promote authoritative knowledge of the subject, your industry and your audience. With content being so crucial to social success, you, as a social media marketer, should experiment to see what works best for you, even if they are successes or failures.

Visuals engage
A study by the University of Harvard shows that 70% of all Facebook activity revolves around the posting of images and that 44% of all users are more likely to interact with brands if they use pictures in their posts. On top of that 121% more shares were generated when using professional quality photos with an average of 90.64 shares per post.

Because of this love for visuals, social networks like Vine, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram are becoming increasingly more popular. You need to think ahead and create your strategy incorporating images at every opportunity.

Don’t forget, when scrolling down a Facebook newsfeed, it is the images, which secure the most feed space, increasing brand visibility, and decreasing the chances it is missed. This is especially true on mobile devices, as images greatly increase the visibility of a post. Furthermore, studies have shown that people are more likely to remember the contents of a post when accompanied with a striking image.

Don’t forget to be active and responsive
When your customers flock to your business’ social platforms to post comments, don’t forget, they are going to expect you to be social as well. Microsoft and Xbox are two excellent examples (among many businesses), which openly embrace Twitter for customer relations and support.
Boasting an impressive 1.3 million tweets, the Xbox support profile is one of the most active and responsive brand feeds on Twitter. It even goes so far as to call itself “the most responsive brand on Twitter”.

With an average of just 42 minutes per response to feed mentions, the Microsoft Support Twitter feed is lightening fast when compared to traditional customer service outlets.

With this in mind you need to remember that simply responding is not enough. If you are too automated with your responses it could get you into trouble through inappropriate responses. Responding with a generic reply could inadvertently promote negative attention and you could be seen to be uncaring. Public perception is a big deal when it comes to social media, as customers want to feel that they’re interacting with a human instead of an automated response robot.

Get your ruler out and measure those metrics
Although there are hundreds of millions of social media interactions every day and the majority of businesses embrace the power of social media marketing, incredibly 25% have no strategy in place to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.
I can bet that through the time and money you spend on social media marketing, you’ll want to see a return on your investment. Measuring metrics is one the best ways to measure activity and to see where it can be improved.
A few metrics which you should definitely keep track of are:

  • Click through rates from posts onto your business profile
  • The number of shares you receive across various networks
  • Conversion rates
  • Website traffic generated from social channels. (You may even find activity coming from platforms you don’t even use)

As with traditional marketing, one of the main goals of social media marketing is to increase sales. On the same hand maintaining brand awareness is just as important. By monitoring these key metrics you can adjust your social media tactics to increase efficiency and return on investment. Which let’s be honest, is the bottom line for determining whether any marketing strategy is effective.

Conclusion
Social media must be employed if you want to be successful in business. By failing to plan and measure results, you’re setting yourself up for a fall. Listen to what your audience is saying and engage at every opportunity.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and gained some insights into making the most out of your social presence.

Source: www.pinterest.com
 

16 Instagram Tips for Business

Instagram is a powerful branding tool for businesses of all types. This mobile social media platform has been having a huge growth of users lately and has surpassed 200 Million users making it presently the fastest growing network. Some businesses have a hard time initially with Instagram but with these Instagram tips for businesses, you’re sure to grow your brand while avoiding any consequences.

  1. Make your profile public – If you’re trying to use Instagram for business, your profile better be set to being PUBLIC. I knew one woman with a small business that changed her personal Instagram account to her business account and didn’t understand why she wasn’t seeing results. She has initially set her account to private and forgot. Make sure everything is public.
  2. Make the most of your bio – Your bio is one of the most important elements on Instagram if you are going to use it for business. Use a reliable image for your picture that matches others you’ve used on social media. If possible, use the same username as you do on Twitter and Facebook. This will make you easier to find, tag and mention.
  3. Bio URL – The URL in your bio is the ONLY outbound link possible on Instagram, so make sure you are making the most of it. One thing to remember is that you can change it as frequently as you’d like, so do so as needed. You can make it go to your homepage, blog, landing page and more.
  4. Blend videos with your photos – Most companies never post videos, they might get a bit less engagement (photos are 1.5X more) but they tend to have a greater brand impact. Only 6% of brands post videos, I say stand out from the pack. Don’t be a stat chaser and post some videos!
  5. Remember to use #hashtags – Hashtags are the best way to be discovered by new users, make sure to use them. Unlike Twitter, people tend to use more hashtags on Instagram. My rule of thumb is to use as many relevant hashtags as you’d like but don’t go crazy (over 7 and you’re starting to look spammy.) Relevancy is the key when using hashtags, don’t just newsjack hashtags.
  6. Variety is the spice of life – You ever meet someone that only talks about themselves? Chances are if they’re your friends, they might not stay that way for long. Same thing goes for social media. Talk about topical events, share other people’s posts, and mix things up. Remember to try and entertain people first. Don’t ever be too promotional.
  7. Take better photos & use less filters – There are some basic rules to photography you can follow for better pictures. Think about your composition for a few seconds before you take a shot. Try and avoid leaning on filters every time to correct bad photographs. I like filters just don’t overdo it.
  8. Respond to comments – If someone takes the time out of their day to cooperate with you, respond accordingly. Thank them for any praise and answer any questions they might have. Remember, social media is about engaging with others and establishing relationships.
  9. Follow your followers back – Everyone likes to grow their following, try and follow back your new followers; this goes especially for when you feel that they are a good fit for you.
  10. Showcase your employees – People love to get a behind the scene look from companies. It’s also a great way to show appreciation for your workers. If it’s someone’s birthday and they are blowing out candles, post it on Instagram.
  11. Feature Instagram channel on Facebook – Did you know Facebook provides a way to feature your Instagram photos on your page? Just click here to add a tab to your Facebook page.
  12. Show appreciation to your followers – If your followers take a great picture of your product or service, ask them if you would be allowed to share it. Give them a little shout out and share their picture on Instagram or even your other social channels.
  13. Embed photos on your website – Instagram now allows you to embed photos from both your fans and your own account. This is another way to show your application to people.
  14. Show your brands story – Try and convey a true sense of your brand to your followers. If your company has a long history, look to the past for inspiration. Get creative and be authentic.
  15. Work with other brands – Even if you’re a local nail boutique, you can reach out to other brands (you don’t need to be a multinational.) Try your vendors that supply your nail polish, if you do work for a local events company reach out to them. Cross marketing is free and helps everyone involved.
  16. Ask questions – Questions always have the highest engagement. Interact with your customers within your comments section by asking them questions such as, how they use your products. Ask questions about their lifestyles to engage with them!

Instagram is a great social media platform for brands. Using some of these tips will sure to grow and improve your exposure.

Do you have any tips of your own? Post them below. We would love to hear about your experience.

     

    Evolution of Facebook Audience Targeting

    Facebook is revolutionizing digital ad targeting through what they are coining “Audiences” as the umbrella term with a variety of technical ways to target people, not cookies based on digital behaviors. The “move fast, break things” culture that Facebook embodies could not be more true in terms of the advancements made to the array of targeting features introduced to their ad platform this year.

    This Infographic by Opnia, a social advertising and mobile app dev agency,provides a detailed overview of the evolution of Facebook audience targeting. As you can see the targeting opportunities to splice and dice your messages to a highly relevant audience are endless. And now with Facebook’s improved analytics tool “audience insights” advertisers can upload email data to garner social insights about their customers. This tool can be used in a variety of ways for research and content marketing, but main focus is to improve targeting through Facebook advertising.

    Benefits of Social Media Marketing

    Once considered “new media,” social media has been around for over a decade. In fact, Facebook recently turned 10. No longer “new,” social media marketing appears to be here to stay. After all, users continue to flock to social networks, and so do marketers. What’s in it for your business? Check out these benefits of Social Media Marketing

    • Traffic and exposure - Social media marketing allows you to reach a much wider potential audience as your followers interact with your social profiles. In addition, many businesses periodically and strategically link to their blogs, websites, and landing pages from their social media pages which further drives traffic. In addition, you can keep the majority of your status updates social and informative and then encourage users to opt into an email campaign where you have the opportunity to guide them toward a buying decision.
    • Loyal fans and brand advocates - Engaging users on social networks breeds loyalty. In addition, many of your most satisfied customers will share their enthusiasm for your products and services with their own networks.
    • Leads, leads, and more leads - You can also use social media to generate leads. For example, you might offer a special report, ebook, or whitepaper on your blog or Facebook page in exchange for an email address.
    • Marketplace insights - Some social networking sites such as Facebook also provide you with detailed analytics. For example, you can quickly see the demographic makeup of your Facebook followers. In addition, you can target specific demographics through Facebook ads.
    • Improved rankings in search engines - Search engines want to serve up relevant results to their users. Having an active social presence with a great deal of engagement, likes, shares, and comments can signal to search engines that your website is highly topical and authoritative.
    • Increased sales - Who doesn’t want to increase sales? Social media with its ability to deliver additional traffic, loyal fans, and leads can positively impact your bottom line by driving sales.
    • Lower marketing costs - Social media marketing is not free, but it’s also not overly expensive. For example, you can sign up for Facebook and Twitter for free and then interact with followers without any upfront costs. That said, your time has value, so don’t forget to factor that in. In addition, you’ll need someone to write quality content for your blog, email newsletters, content marketing campaigns, and so on, and you may want to invest in targeted ads to attract the right following. According to HubSpot, inbound leads cost 61 percent less than outbound ones (social media is a form of inbound marketing).
    • Business partnership opportunities - Finally, social media is a fantastic place to network with other business professionals in your industry as well as potential partners. Start by joining LinkedIn or Facebook groups and becoming an active contributor.


    These are but a few of the many benefits you can expect from social media marketing. Your customers, prospects, and potential business partners are using social media. This means that you should, too!

    Source: www.grosocial.com