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Advantages of Online Video Advertising

BIMS_12.6_14In the hopes of being successful in the world of online marketing, companies and organizations utilize different strategies. Video marketing is one of them.

Today, online videos are considered to be one of the most popular forms of advertising. In fact, a lot of businesses are using online videos as a part of their promotional strategies in order to stay ahead of the competition and keep up with the fast paced trend.

Still not convinced? Here are 4 reasons why you should advertise with videos online.

People love videos

People are getting more into viewing and sharing videos via Youtube, Facebook and other social networking sites. They just can’t look away.

Everybody is watching videos. Youtube alone has more than 4 million views per day. That said, you need to make promos, ads or video blogs, whatever format best reaches your target audience.

Feature your product’s functionality

Videos are an effective form of advertising as you can vividly show your audience, not just how your product looks like, but also how it performs.

Through this format, you can easily instruct and educate your current and potential customers about your products or services.

Stay ahead of the competition

Most people don’t have time or are too lazy to go through lengthy articles. They would rather spend a couple of minutes watching a video just to get the answers they need.

Users like to see something new and different, and videos can help you deliver. If you wish to stand out from your competitors, you need to create curiosity and offer information in a different way.

Capture interest of users

Videos are a great story-teller. By creating an engaging and compelling video, you can get people to cry, laugh, get mad or excited. This enhances user experience, making them want to come back for more.

 

 

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Choosing the Right Channels to Reach the Right Market

BIMS

Choosing the right channels to reach your target market is a crucial decision. It is important that you know where your prospects and customers are spending their time online.

With Twitter, Instagram and Facebook leading the pack, most businesses are tempted to use more channels and to have a presence on multiple social media platforms. Of course, the more social media sites you use, the more customers you can reach. But it also increases cost. If building presence in multiple channels does not bring about extra sales, then you’ll end up spending more for little or no benefit.

Here’s a quick set of considerations as you select the right social networks to reach the right market.

Twitter

You should use this channel if are looking to reach younger men and women. Since Twitter appeals to information junkies, it is also a great choice if your business lends itself to the provision of timely insights or topic-based news.  It is also a two-way platform wherein you can engage and interact with your followers.

LinkedIn

If you are seeking to make business connections or are in B2B and you wish to provide useful insights to people thinking about their work, then LinkedIn is right for you.

It is optimal for industry-specific information and peer networking since most users are in work mode on LinkedIn. Given the educational levels and high income of the average LinkedIn users, this channel offers a distinct audience worth targeting.

Facebook

If you are looking to reach as broad a network as possible or wish to build a community presence, then Facebook is right for you.

Despite the introduction of new social media sites, Facebook is still one of the most popular sites, with more than 70% of online adults actively participating. However, since most people use this platform to connect with their family and friends, it may not be the best channel to reach your target market.

Instagram

If you have a visual aspect to what you do and what your customers are interested in, then Instagram is the right channel for you. Given its popularity among urbanites and its appeal to specific ethnic segments, Instagram can also be a good choice for certain market targets.

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Choosing the Right Cover Photo for Your Business Page

COver Photo

In social media, first impression means everything. Your cover photo provides a great opportunity for your business to connect with prospective customers. Within seconds, clients and customers will decide if they do have a good feeling about your company or brand, based on these images.

Being the focal point of your Facebook page, it is extremely important to choose an image that would best represent your brand. Create a stellar first impression by following the tips below and use them as an inspiration as you redesign your cover photo.

Promotional

Your cover photo is considered as a space to showcase an area of your business. So, use it well to attract your fans to learn more about your business.

Use it to advertise new products, talk about a contest you’re holding or promote upcoming events. Remember, this is the first thing your fans will see. So, if you are promoting something, get the message across through your cover photo. The best part is you can swap out the photo as often as you want.

Call to action

Facebook has a 20% text rule, and we suggest that you take advantage of it. If you want people to visit your website, purchase a product or like your page, go ahead and add it as a call to action. Make the most out of the 20% text rule and let your audience know exactly what you want them to do.

Show it off

If a potential customer visits your page for the first time, draw them in with an impressive cover display. If you have recently received an award, feel free to put it on display. After all, you have every reason to boast about it.

User submitted photo

This is a great choice for service oriented business. Customer recommendations have the biggest impact on a person’s buying decision. So, go ahead and place a photo that showcases just how much your customers enjoy your business. Plus, it encourages user engagement by featuring photos from real customers.

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Secrets to Growing Your Business Using Social Media

GrowingwithSM

Social media has been so popular nowadays that is has entered the rare stratosphere of recognition and fame that is usually reserved for Presidents and rock stars. Ironically, rock stars of this generation bow to the power of social media.

You’ve probably heard that social media provides business owners an amazing opportunity to market and grow their business. So, how can you use its dominance on the world scene to grow your business? Here are a few tips.

Keep it short

Unlike the text written on your web page, your social media posts must be kept short. Considering that most social media sites allow users to type only 140 characters, you should strive to be concise with every post. Remember, your customers are more likely to remember short and focused messages as compared to long and incoherent ones.

Instead of trying to say everything at once, you should focus on one key message per post. Also, it would be a good idea to schedule your posts over the course of a day or a week.

Keep it fresh

With a continuous stream of new content, old posts rapidly recede. To make your posts stand out, you should post timely and eye-catching content and post regularly. Use videos and images whenever possible.

By creating fresh content, there’s a great chance that your followers will visit your page or site, purchase your products or avail your services.

It requires dedication

If you believe that a few random status updates, blog posts and a healthy number of likes and followers are enough to grow your business, you are wrong!

Social media marketing requires planning and dedication. In order to harness the power of social media, you need to listen to your audience, come up with high quality content and encourage others to share your content.

Whether you’re small or large business owner, social media marketing can be least expensive and most powerful marketing tool in your arsenal that will help you build authority and trust. Ultimately, it can help you grow your business exponentially.

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Hashtag Strategies That Will Benefit Your Business

Hastags are everywhere these days. We see them on Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and
Facebook. But do you know how to use them strategically?

Hashtags can improve you SEO, get your content found, target your market, amplify your brand and
expand your content reach. That being said, it is important that you know how to implement them
properly in order to fully enjoy all these benefits.

In this article, we’ll give you some of the most important hashtag strategies that you should take note
of. Read on to know more about it.

Create your own hashtags

Brand and campaign hashtags are the ones you make for your own business. Create a brand hashtag
that is unique to your business and make sure that it defines your business. Use it as your signature tag
and use it on all of your social media accounts. Encourage others to use it as well.

You’ll want people to remember your tag. So, keep it short and make sure it’s easy to spell.

Include a relevant yet specific hashtag

By using the right hashtag, people will come across your content even if they are not following you.

When we say relevant, it means that you should either use a hashtag that has already been searched for
frequently or something that was already been designated for a certain event. However, be sure to
make them as specific as possible so your message won’t get buried.

Trending hashtags

You have probably heard some of your friends talking about what’s trending now. They’re referring to a
hashtag topic that has become very popular and or the most talked about topic as of the moment.

If you come across a trend that relates to your business, take advantage of it by using the tag in your
content update. In a way, you can think of this hashtag strategy as a way of getting your “15 seconds of
fame.” This is beneficial as it will help you get your message to a massive audience.

Be careful not to spam trending hashtags, though, especially if they are not related to your business.

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Reasons Why Facebook Likes are Important

Most people believe that being popular is not really important, but being popular does have a few advantages, especially if you are a business owner who uses social media to gain exposure, build relationships and engages with its target audience.

In this article, we’ll give you a list of some of the reasons why Facebook likes matter. Checkout the list below and see how important a Facebook like really is.

Raise your visibility

When a person likes your Facebook page, it won’t be long until some of his/her friends see it. This is advantageous as people in his/her network will be able to checkout your page.

This may also be seen as a subtle recommendation. If you are trying to decide where to dine out this weekend, a certain restaurant may cross your mind since one of your friends liked their page and you saw it in the newsfeeds.

Expression of intent to subscribe

When a user likes your Facebook page, they are expressing their intent to subscribe to your updates and see what you have to post on your timeline. Through this simple gesture, you can clearly see that he/she is interested in your business and what you have to offer.

Now that they are subscribed to your page, you have the opportunity to let them know what’s going on with the business, especially if you have new products coming out. With thousands of fans subscribed to your page, you don’t have to spend a huge sum of money on advertisements.

Builds trust

Forrester research has recently conducted a study about why Facebook likes, comments and shares are so important. In the said study, they have discovered that about 70% of customers trust recommendations from their family and friends, while only 10% of the respondents trust brand advertising.

Loyal fans

Once you develop a relationship with these people and they start trusting you, they may eventually become loyal customers. Keep your customers interested by posting interesting and informative contents. Also, keep them posted about any events like contests and promotions that they can take part of.

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Reasons Why People Unfollow You on Twitter

No matter how experienced we are, there are still a lot of things that remain a mystery. Most of these things are focused on why people choose to do what they do.

If you are running a business, you may get frustrated over people who unfollow you. You try to modify your tweeting style in an effort to make them happy and pay attention to your follower count in order to make sure that that it does not go down. Yet, your followers seem to reduce in number over time. Why?

In an attempt to help you answer this question, we have compiled a number of reasons why people unfollow you on Twitter. Read on and curb these annoying Twitter habits.

You forgot the “social”

No one would be interested to follow someone who is excessively promotional. There is nothing wrong in tweeting something about yourself or your company. But if every single tweet revolves about your products or service, then you are not being social.

You don’t have much to say

Twitter is a very noisy platform. A lot of users browser their timelines regularly. However, if you are not tweeting on a regular basis, your followers will most likely lose interest in you.

Space your tweets evenly throughout the day. Try to tweet a few times in a day and make sure to tweet your most important updates at different times so as not to lose your follower’s interest.

You disappear for days/weeks

It is important to check in regularly and respond to retweets, direct messages and mentions. Blasting out tweets and not engaging with your followers is definitely not cool.

Engage with your followers and make an effort to respond to them every single day, including weekends. Don’t allow your profile to look like a ghost town.

You have anger management issues

Nobody would be interested to follow someone who can’t seem to control his/her temper. Too much negativity is one of the major reasons to unfollow someone. Go outside and calm down.

You are a flood tweeter

You’re excited about something and you want everyone to know about it, we get that. However, you don’t have to tweet several times in order to get the message across. Learn to space your tweets.

 

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Generating Leads through Social Media

If you are considering starting a lead generation campaign, social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+ may be the best place to start. However, please keep in mind that it takes knowledge and practice to pull leads from the conversations that occur on these platforms.

In this article, we’ll give you a few ways on how to use social media in generating leads for your business. Read on and learn how to incorporate these steps into your marketing campaign.

Share useful and informative content

If you have a blog, feel free to share your content to different social media platforms. Make sure that the contents you share are valuable and informative as this will help increase your chances of getting more leads. Also, consider writing contents that your audience will appreciate and may find interesting.

Engage with your audience

Engaging with your audiences on a regular basis will help you create a great impression among your potential leads. By interacting with your audience, you will build a lasting relationship that could eventually result to more leads and sales.

Don’t wait for leads, look for them

In some cases, people use social networking sites to search for products or services they need. This is especially true for B2B, where a business may require the services of other company. In search for the best candidate, they use their social media connections and ask around.

Feel free to check on groups and communities from time to time and use certain keywords to find anyone who might be interested in your products or services.

Advertise on social media

Social media could help you reach lots of potential leads. Take advantage of Facebook’s Promoted Post feature. Use this to advertise your posts and watch as it drives traffic to your site, which could lead to conversions.

Regular advertising may also be of helpful. If you have a special offer that is ongoing, feel free to advertise it through social media.

 

 

 

 

 

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