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5 Social Media Goals To Get You Started

Is 2018 your year to tackle social media and create campaigns that your business benefits from it?  If you answered YES!, this blog post is for you!  We will review common mistakes businesses make as they craft social media campaigns, tips to use as you are defining your goals, and 5 measurable goals you can use to determine whether or not your social media campaigns are effective.

A Common Mistake Businesses Make…

Jumping into social media without identifying goals or measuring successes is a common mistake many businesses make and it leads to a very frustrating social media experience.  Many who jump into social media for business without a goal or without a plan tend to throw up their hands and give up stating that they threw away their money and social media just doesn’t work!  Don’t let this happen to you!  Read on…In this article, we will explore 5 of the most common goals people measure when using social media.  

“What gets measured, it what gets done”

Measurement is the key to anything you do!  If you can measure your social media progress and outcome, you will know the strategies and tactics to put in place

Here are some tips and things to think about before setting goals for your social media campaigns:

  • Make sure your social media campaign goals are in line with your overall business goals
  • Select different goals for different social platforms – not all platforms will yield the same results
  • Select goals that make sense for the social media platform you are using
  • Choose goals that are measurable
  • Track your progress

What Should Your Goals Be For Social Media?

5 sound goals you should set and strive and how to measure them are listed below:

  1. Brand Awareness – Brand awareness can be measured in terms of:
    1. Fan followers.  Create a stair-step approach when it comes to tracking brand awareness.  A common goal to start with is to gain your first 100 followers and build from there.
    2. Reach – how many people did your message reach (a popular Facebook statistic)
    3. Mentions – how many times is your brand tagged or talked about in other social media posts
    4. Shares – how many times were your posts shared
  2. Website Traffic – Make sure your web designer has installed Google Analytics on your website.  This will help you track how much traffic is coming from social media platforms and channels.  Monitor the progress on a consistent basis and set goals based on the traffic trends you see.
  3. Website Loyalty – How loyal are your customers?  Do they review what you are talking about on social media and then click through to your website to get more?  Google Analytics can help you measure repeat visitors.
  4. Brand Engagement – This is a popular social media result that many measure.  Based on the comments, likes, and interactions your brand receives you will be able to understand how your brand is perceived, the level of brand loyalty your company has, and the community your brand is building.
  5. Conversions – How many people saw your social media posts and then converted into paying customers.  Again, this will be measured by Google Analytics, letting you know how many sales were a result of your social media campaigns.

There are many more things you can measure through social media.  It all depends on why you are there.  It could be anything from “How many times did my phone ring?” to “How many people clicked through to my lead generation form?”  Take the time to really think about why you want to be on social media.  Once you determine why you want to be there, build your campaigns around the reason.

Need help tracking your results?  Download our tracker by clicking HERE.

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Boosted Posts vs. Facebook Ads

boosted posts vs. facebook ads

Scratching your head about whether to ‘boost’ a post on Facebook or to utilize the power of Facebook ads?  Boosting a post is sometimes ‘simple’ but not always the best answer to get to the folks that really matter to your brand!  Remember, Facebook is not a spray and pray proposition. Getting into the newsfeeds is getting harder and harder for ranking capability.  Soooo…get ready to dig into your pocketbook, whether boosting or using Facebook ads.

Boosting a post on Facebook, let’s face it, is easy-peasy, as opposed to going behind the scenes and utilizing the awesome tools on Facebook Manager. All you have to do is hit the ‘boost post’ button and off you go, right?  WRONG. Hang on ‘pardner…

In the past, boosting did not have many of the attributes that Facebook Ads Manager had, but now the Boost post button might not be such a bad strategy after all.  You can now actually re-target and optimize your boosts to actually drive traffic for developing your brand followers!  

There are some key factors that come into play when boosting your posts.  You must consider:

  1. What is the goal for the boost?
  2. DO NOT boost a post that does not benefit you, such as a resource post that does not lead back to your website, as an example.
  3. Again, boosting is not a ‘spray and pray’ proposition.  Make sure that you are targeting your demographic for the post.
  4. It’s all about the Facebook Pixel!!!!  In order to get the best traction, make sure that you have installed the Facebook Pixel (it’s FREE) on your website so you can get your tracking enabled.

So why is Facebook Manager a greater preference for ads?  Let’s be frank, candid and honest…Facebook Ads Manager does have a learning curve…no doubt…but it does have the ability for in-depth targeting, which is a HUGE coup! AND AND AND…if you are an organizational freak, the only way to keep completely organized with your ad spend is to create campaigns within Facebook Ads Manager.  You don’t have that ability with boosting posts.

For example, if you want to stay organized on Ads Manager for ‘campaigns,’ you can organize your campaigns strategically:

  • App installs
  • Engagement
  • Brand Awareness
  • Reach
  • Traffic
  • Video Views
  • LeadGen
  • Messages
  • Conversions
  • Product Catalog Sales
  • Store Visits

If you are merely ‘boosting’ a post, you do not have the ability to categorize your ‘boosted posts’ into strategic campaigns on Facebook to examine analytics per campaign goals.

So, to wrap it up quick and easy…boosted posts will help you develop a fan base and reach, and ads can actually help you transition your brand’s presence into tangible brand outcomes!

Stay tuned for more info…lots to share!

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Twitter Tactics

How can you get the most out of Twitter for your business?  We get that question A LOT!  Twitter can be confusing and some may be stumped on how to use Twitter.  When getting started with Twitter, it’s best to take baby steps and then grow from there.  Once you get your feet wet and splash around a little you can’t help but take a swim in the deep end.

Starting Out…

When first with Twitter, use it for two things:

  1. Gather information
  2. Share information

Gathering Information:

Twitter can be extremely valuable for gathering information on a number of topics.  To do this effectively you will want to follow these steps:

  • Follow credible sources who deliver valuable content about the topic you are interested in.  Topics can range anywhere from sports scores, business trends, world news, marketing tactics, etc.
  • As you identify the sources you want to follow, add them to lists in order to sort the feeds by category or topic.  Using lists will help you keep all of the topics you want to follow organized
  • To create a list, follow these steps:
    • Visit your “Lists” section of Twitter by clicking the gear icon drop-down menu or by clicking Lists on your profile page.
    • Click Create List.
    • Name the List & create a description.
    • Mark the List as Public or Private.
    • Save the List.
  • Now that you have your list created, you can easily add sources to the list by:
    • Click on a Twitter user’s profile
    • Click on the person icon drop-down menu on the profile.
    • Choose add or remove from Lists.
    • Choose the List you would like to add the person to or uncheck the List the person was already a member of.
  • Add as many people to your various lists as you would like
  • Check your lists often to get the latest news from your trusted sources

Sharing Information:

Twitter is a great way for you to position yourself as an authority on a certain topic, field or industry.  The trick is to share “tweet-able” information, share it often and on a consistent basis.  A good rule of thumb is to share 21-70 Tweets a week.  That is a minimum of 3 Tweets a day or a maximum of 10 Tweets.  It seems like a lot, but there are a couple of things to remember:  

  1. You are Tweeting sound bites of information that link back to a bigger story (your website, blog, landing page, or another social platform that has more detailed info).
  2. There is only room to Tweet up to 280 characters which is not a very large amount of content.
  3. If you do not maintain a constant flow of information, a single message will get lost in the Twitter-sphere minimizing your opportunity to be found by others.

So What’s “Tweetable?”

We are glad you asked!  Below is a list of some generic ideas to get you started:

  • Industry trends
  • Tips
  • Events
  • Statistics
  • Recommendations
  • Best tools for your industry
  • Links to your blog post
  • Pose questions (this is a great way to encourage engagement)
  • Attention-grabbing graphics
  • Video
  • Quote
  • Poll
  • Follow appreciation post
  • Short and sweet “how-to”
  • Data
  • Something funny

Now that you get the idea of what types of things you should post, it’s time to put a plan into action.  An efficient way of releasing multiple Tweets a day is to use a bulk scheduler like Hootsuite or Buffer.  Visit this blog post to get more information about bulk schedulers.

Happy Tweeting!

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Personal Brand or Personal Image. What’s The Difference?

Many times people use the terms personal brand and personal image interchangeably but, they shouldn’t.  There is a BIG difference between the two!  Once you understand the difference between them, it will make a difference in your business.

Let’s dive in…

Personal Image:  

Everyone has one!  It what helps people form a mental picture of you.  Here are some characteristics of a Personal Image:

  • Sense of humor
  • How you talk, the language you use, the accent you have
  • Sense of style
  • Favorite color
  • Your overall preferences of what you like and what you do not like

Personal Brand:  

A personal brand is how people perceive you and it sets the expectation of how you will conduct business with another professional.  Your personal brand:

  • Sets you apart from others in your industry
  • Broadcasts your skill set
  • Describes your work ethic is
  • Provides insight into your character and values
  • Illustrates the expected level value you provide

Think of your personal brand as your professional reputation on steroids.  Your personal brand is the emotion, thought and an idea that is conjured up each and every time your name and business name are mentioned in your target market.   What do you want that thought or idea to be for you and your business?

Now that you know how important your personal brand is, you must protect it at all costs by delivering a consistent message each and every time you interact with your target market whether it be on social media, through a marketing program, during a meeting, consultation or a deliverable product.

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How to Leverage User-Generated Content in Your Marketing Strategy

User Generated Content

Users today are bombarded with ads. We see them on TV, on our way to work, even on social media. Because of this, people learn to tune out these advertisements. What they value, however, are the opinion and feedback shared by your clients and customers.

People who had great experience with your company are likely to share this with their family and friends. People value these feedbacks. In fact, they can affect the buying decision of prospective customers. If you are looking to attract potential customers and increase your sales, we recommend that you use user-generated content to your advantage.

Here are some tips on how to leverage user-generated content in your marketing strategy.

Run a contest

Running a contest is one of the easiest ways to capture the attention of your target audience. This encourages people to share their story or upload a photo of themselves. In return, you get free endorsements from previous customers.

Through a contest, you can gather some valuable insights from your customers while building a relationship with them. This increases brand visibility and can help you build trust with potential customers.

Advertise with reviews

Instead of flooding your social media accounts with advertisements and company blurbs, why don’t you just share photos or screen shots of customer reviews. This is a great way to show people who happy your customers are with your products. Plus, customers trust customer reviews more than branded content because they come across as honest and reliable.

Encourage engagement

To build a relationship with your target audience, encourage them to share user-generated content. Starbucks had one of the most successful user-generated content campaigns.

A few years back, Starbucks encouraged its customers to decorate their iconic white cup. As expected, people came up with their own unique designs and shared them on social media. They received over 4,000 entries in just 3 weeks.  The coffee chain used the winning design on their reusable cups.

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You created your social media accounts, now what?

You created your social media accounts, now what-

A lot of people are so excited to get started on social media, they set up their social media accounts and this just sit back and wait for the magic to happen. Well, I hate to tell you that is not really how social media works, all networks won’t work for every business, so it’s important to do your homework first! In this blog we will help you put together that strategy for a good social media marketing outcome!

First, you need to define your goals to accurately understand what “work” means for you.  

We start this off with what we call a Social Media Audit:

  • Set Your Goals – SMART
  • Understand your Customers and Competitors
  • How Utilize Social Media
  • Where is your audience active at

Where is my audience active & where are they searching:

Every minute, people are conducting millions of queries on Google, Twitter, and Facebook. If you are active on these social media platforms, then you have a chance at appearing in social media search results.

Any Niche sites? Just because 1 business gets leads from a site, doesn’t mean you will.

4 Questions to ask Yourself:

1.Where is my audience?

2.Where is my audience active?

3.Where is my audience searching?

4.What niche social media sites are right for me?

Second, we will look at the profiles you have had for awhile or the ones you have just set up. This will help determine where you need to spend your time, remember not every social media platform works the same for each business.

Examine your social media profiles

  • Locate and document all your social media profiles, official and unofficial
  • “Why are we using this social account?”
  • “Why do we want to use it?”
  • “What are our goals for this social media platform?”
  • “Are our target markets using it?”
  • If you no longer have a good reason to use the account or you find that your target market is elsewhere, don’t hesitate to cut ties and focus your effort where it is better spent.
  • Check for completion of all details on these profiles and for consistency in imagery and message

Third, now that you have your social media audit done and you have examined your own social media platforms, now we get to take a look at your competition and see what they are doing. In this case, we don’t look at them as competition, but more of industry leaders.

Examine those who do it well

Find 4 to 8 niche influencers and examine how they manage their brand on social media Observe imagery and branding on each of their profiles. 

Measure key metrics like followers and engagement:

  • Branding: How does their overall look promote the brand? Can visitors get an accurate sense of their personality or culture? How have they chosen to use images in header and avatar?
  • Popularity: How many followers/likes does the page have?
  • Frequency: How often do they post? What do they do on weekends?
  • Engagement: What is the number of people talking about the brand compared to the number of fans?
  • Types of posts: What topics do they frequently discuss? What types of posts do they use: photos, questions, videos, chats, text? What is engagement like for each of these post types?

Make an action plan for improvements and goals for your profiles

Fourth, now we will need to put in place the correct tools to measure your ROI (Return on investment). This can be a little tricky with social media, and is one of the more frequently asked questions that we get!

When measuring your ROI there are a few things to think of that mean social media are working for you:

  • Monitoring the insights that the social media platforms give you
  • Have custom coupon codes for social media platforms
  • Increasing repeat customers
  • Create a custom phone number through Facebook to monitor how many people are calling you through Facebook
  • General branding or exposure – are your brand follower numbers increasing? Facebook likes, Twitter and Instagram followers?
  • Increased organic traffic (SEO) – Monitoring Google Analytics, are you getting more people to your site from social media?

Some tips about the Social Media Platforms:

Facebook

  • One of the largest social media networks
  • Nearly ½ of all users are active each day & connected to 80 pages, groups, or events.
  • Don’t expect sales right away
  • Sponsored ads actually work
  • Share content from other pages

Twitter

  • 85% of Twitter users “feel more connected” to a business after they follow them
  • Not necessarily a lead generation platform
  • Post Often (as in multiple times per day)
  • Use # (Hashtags) and @ (Mentions)
  • Follow the Followers of like-minded companies

Pinterest

  • More popular content-sharing platform than email
  • Highest revenue per click than any other social sharing network
  • Post pins your target market with enjoy
  • Add custom images to your blogs
  • Join as a business & use Rich Pins

LinkedIn

  • User base of professionals
  • Typically most suited for B2B marketing
  • Complete Your Profile and Your Company Profile
  • Build your connections
  • Participate in posting to your profile, company page and groups

Instagram

  • All photos and videos
  • Powerful for promoting both one’s personal brand and a business
  • Post Often and give value
  • Comment and engage on others pages
  • Use Hashtags and Mentions

Google Plus

  • Integrated with Google Search results, the world’s dominant search engine.
  • Complete business brand profile
  • Link to YouTube and add your other social media links
  • Solicit Reviews

YouTube

  • The second largest search engine in the world and reaches more U.S. adults than ANY cable network
  • Create both instructional and fun videos
  • Have clean videos that look professional and authentic
  • Consider Overlay-Ads on videos

Tools (FREE!)

Buffer.com

Hootsuite.com

Feedly.com

Canva.com

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The Numbers Say “Embrace Social Media”

If the social media numbers and statistics that we are seeing already for 2016 are a glimpse into the future for 2017, you are going to want to get in the game!  It’s time to take the Social Media landscape seriously and apply it to your business for maximum growth and exposure.

Check out these numbers from SmallBizTrends.com

General Social Media Use

  • 97% of online adults aged 16-64 say they have visited or used a social network within the last month.
  • Internet users have average of 7 social media accounts.  This is a HUGE jump from 2012 where most people reported having only 3 social media accounts.
  • 8 out of 10 internet users visit and/or use social media from their mobile devices.
  • Users spend a minimum of an hour on social media per day (I think this number is too low!)

These numbers tell us that Social Media is not only increasing in popularity but it also tells us users are finding tremendous value in it.  What does this mean for businesses of any size?  It means we need to embrace social media and start using it effectively.

Which Social Media Platform Should Businesses Concentrate On

create-865017_960_720Many industry professionals will tell you two things when it comes to where you should be spending your time as a business when it comes to Social Media.  They will tell you:

  • Go where your target customer spends their time
  • Focus on 1 Social Media platform and get comfortable with it before you add more

While I agree with what other industry professionals advise, I also believe this is one Social Media powerhouse we cannot ignore.  Facebook.  Have you noticed, slowly but surely Facebook is adding all the most popular features each of the major Social Media players.  Here is what I mean:

  • Live video was huge when Periscope came on the scene.  Facebook saw the value and created Facebook Live for its users.
  • Simple, to the point text is what Twitter is all about.  Facebook now amplifies short text with a larger font size so it stands out in your news feed.
  • Instagram is wildly popular with its highly visual platform.  Facebook purchased Instagram.  Now Facebook advertisers can promote posts from Facebook to Instagram without even having an Instagram account!
  • SnapChat is highly popular with its disappearing posts.  Instagram (owned by Facebook) has embraced the same technology through Instagram Stories

Plan Of Action

computer-768696__180Over the last 2 years or so, Facebook has added an incredible amount of features and nuances to its platform.  For most, it is hard to keep up with all the changes.  It seems once you have it down, Facebook amps up its game, forcing you to learn more.  Many times, your focus is taken off your business and craft to learn the next Facebook marketing technique.  Learning the new features of Facebook is a necessary evil if you are the person in charge of maintaining the social media footprint of your business.  While being in charge of executing your business’s social media content seems like a good plan, it can backfire.  More often than not, businesses who manage their own social media accounts are:

  • Inconsistent with their presence and message
  • Tend to be overly pitchy or “sales-y”
  • Misuse the functions of the social media platform
  • Often post just for the sake of posting in order to have some sort of presence

The best defense to social media marketing is to spend the time to craft an annual social media plan complete with a budget and measurable goals.  Once you have the plan designed, outsource the work.  The people you outsource your social media plan to can generally do it faster and with better results, freeing you up to do what you originally got into business to do in the first place!

So You Think You Can Get Along In Business Without Social Media

office-620817_640Think again!  Before social media hit the scene, to gain credibility in the marketplace, you had to have a website.  Today, it is extremely important to have a website PLUS have presence on social media.  Here’s why:

  • Studies show consumers check out social media first before even going to a company website. 
  • Consumers engage in “social listening” watching and reading how people react to a company or product
  • Social Media gives consumers the opportunity to quickly engage and build a relationship with their favorite brand or product
  • Potential customers can get real time, personalized responses from companies through social media

What will your social media plan look like in 2017.  It is not too late to start thinking about it now.

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Best Tools to Manage Social Media Posts

Aside from your website, social media provides an effective way to increase your web presence. It provides a way to generate PR for your company, build your brand and drive traffic to your website. You need to be active on social media if you are serious about achieving these goals. After all, you can’t expect any results if your page is inactive. The problem is that, social media marketing takes time.

If you are a business owner, you can’t afford to spend all day hopping from network to network, managing your social media accounts, planning future posts and checking analytics.

Are you looking for a better way to manage your social media posts? Here are 4 social media tools to add to your arsenal.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the most robust social media management tools around, and social media managers swear by it. The tool has a feature called Autoschedule. If you have multiple accounts, you can use this feature to manage your posts and make sure that they don’t appear on different channels all at the same time. It also shares your updates at the best possible time of the day to give them the greatest chance of being seen. Hootsuite also allows you to monitor and analyze your performance on your main social networks.

Buffer

Buffer allows you to easily distribute your content across multiple accounts. Just drop your updates to your Buffer queue and you don’t have to worry about when it will be posted. These posts will be posted for you well spaced out throughout the day.

Buffer also allows users to schedule up to 10 updates at once. The paid version, on the other hand, allows unlimited scheduling.

SocialOomph

Twitter has become one of the must-have marketing channels for any business. If you are interested in automating your Twitter marketing, SocialOomph is the best tool for you. It has a feature called Twitter unlimited, which allows you to manage your Twitter followers and direct messages box from within the app. The free level also allows you to work on up to 5 Twitter accounts. It helps you track keywords and schedule tweets.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social allows you to manage all your relationships, interactions and customer support from a single dashboard. This tool also analyzes your audience to determine the optimal times to deliver content. Because it’s not free, this is recommended for larger businesses that are looking for an all-in-one solution to manage their social media presence.

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Things You Can Do to Improve Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social media is big and continues to grow and evolve. According to Fast Company, 93% of marketers use social media to promote their business and reach their business goals. Converting followers into paying customers is the ultimate goal of every business. To achieve that goal, you need to have a good social media strategy in place.

If you are a marketing professional in charge of your business, read on. Here are some tactics you can implement to help you get started.

Choose your image wisely

Visual is king in digital marketing. Thanks to the availability of camera phones and social networks emphasizing visual elements, the ease of taking and uploading photos has increased dramatically.

Marketers who use visual content get more followers, more leads and more customer engagement. But to get that attention, you need to connect with the person on the other side of the screen. Choose images that appeal to your target audience, but make sure that it also fits your brand’s voice, style and mood.

Focus on platforms where your customers are

Just like everyone else, most small business owners are pressured to have a presence on every social media platform. The problem is that a hot, new social media tool hits the scene almost every few months, making it extremely difficult to manage all those social accounts.

To make the most out of your social media marketing efforts, you need to focus on platforms where your customers are. Fish where the fishes are. Don’t waste your time, energy and resources fishing in an empty pond.

Get the attention of influencers

An influencer is someone who carries influence over others. In the new world of digital relationships, people are receptive of recommendations from people they trust and respect. In fact, one study revealed that 40% of consumers had made a purchase because of an influencer’s recommendation; while 49% seek purchase guidance from an influencer.

One of the easiest ways to get an influencer’s attention is to share their content. Go ahead and share those contents without asking anything in return. Link out shamelessly and unceasingly. When you do, they are likely to take notice.

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4 Ways to Inject Holiday Spirit into Your Social Media Campaign

4-ways-to-inject-holiday-spirit-into-your-social-media-campaignThe holiday season is an exciting time for online marketers. With more and more people realizing the comfort of online shopping, online retail sales increase during the holiday season. All those online shoppers are ready to splurge.  Your business could be missing out on a lot of business opportunities if your company isn’t getting into the spirit yet.

Create a social media campaign that reflects the holiday season and it will definitely lead to marketing success that will make your holiday merry. Here are 4 ways to inject holiday spirit into your social media campaign.

Show the magic of giving

Christmas is a time when everyone’s thoughts turn to giving. This holiday season, let people know that you’ll be donating a portion of your sales to charity. Clients love to see this good will passed on and will definitely be supporting your program. Helping those in need will not only help you build a positive image; you’ll also feel good about yourself.

Create a very merry Christmas offer

The holidays are a time for gift giving. Most people go on a shopping spree during this time of the year to buy great gifts for their family and friends. Instead of visiting their favorite shopping destinations, more and more people are turning to their mobile phones to look for the best deals.

Get your audience in the holiday spirit and trigger Christmas shopping by offering Christmas vouchers, special festive discounts, buy one get one free or one-day sales. Christmas countdown sales are also a great idea because they create a sense of urgency, encouraging customers to buy on impulse.

Give freebies

People love free stuff. Since people are likely to buy more this holiday season, you might want to offer some freebies as a way of saying thank you. You don’t have to give a gift to every customer, though. Let customers know that they’ll be receiving a free gift for a minimum purchase. This will encourage them to buy more than what they have originally planned.

Sparkle up your cover photo

While it’s good to add some Christmas sparkle into your cover photo, it doesn’t necessarily have to be about Christmas gifts, red and green decorations or Christmas trees. Rather, it should showcase some special holiday products or some special holiday deals your followers and fans would be interested to know about. Try to think of your cover photo as your billboard.

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