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BIMS Social Media _12.23.14

Social media marketing is essential for small businesses, but is considered as a double-edged sword. Use it the right way and you can attract potential clients and grow your business. Use it the wrong way, and it will definitely hurt your business and could easily wind up alienating much of your audience.

If you are running an active campaign for your company on social media, make sure you never do these things.

Yelping back at customers

Every single feedback given by your customers can be of value to your company’s growth and development. If a customer gave you a negative review, you need to deal with it in a professional manner and learn from it.

Of course, it is natural that you want to defend yourself, but make sure to do it calmly. Also, say sorry and admit that you have done something wrong. There has to be some reason why the complaint was made in the first place. Yelping back at customers is definitely a no-no.

Sharing political views

What you share on social media is a reflection of who you are and your business. So, you have to be very careful what you share.

While a bit of controversy may be beneficial for your business, sharing your political views on your company’s profile is a recipe for disaster. Politics tend to stir up controversy rather than discussion.

Borrowing other people’s content

Blogging is a great way to drive traffic to your site, but writing your own content may take time. So you have decided to copy and paste articles from another site.

Search engines know that you have copied someone else’s content, and this can get you in trouble.

Angry statuses or comments

It is never a good idea to write an angry comment or status about someone else. As much as you think that you are entitled to say whatever you want on your own page, remember that people are watching what you write on social media. This can spark a backlash that will surely melt your reputation to a sticky puddle.

 

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The number of tasks a social media manager is expected to do can be quite overwhelming. Not only are they expected to engage with current and new followers, they also update several social media profiles everyday, monitor the effectiveness of their social media campaign and more.

While every social media manager would approach his or her job differently, successful social media managers share a few habits. Focus on these habits to reach new levels of social media success.

Reciprocate

Genuinely strive to help others succeed on social media. This attitude will help you build camaraderie, it will also help you stay on top of the game.

When you like or follow someone, they are more likely to reciprocate the gesture and like or follow you back as well. Alternatively, when someone shares your content, do the same for them.

Work with your team

As much as you would like to handle things on your own, you can’t do it alone. Do yourself a favor and build a team consisting of loyal and trustworthy people.

Collaborate with your team and harness a relationship that encourages partnership. This will help you build a strong social media presence and reach your business goals.

Prioritize

Prioritize your week’s plan based on priority rather than urgency.

Every business needs leads, traffic and sales in order to thrive. While having thousands of twitter followers can be beneficial to your brand, it would be a good idea to start by creating a webpage where you can create leads and connect it with your social media account.

Quick on your feet

A lot of things are happening on social media. Most of the time, it is happening pretty fast. Here, you have to be quick on your feet as you are not always given the luxury to take your time.

Negative comments, for instance, requires some quick, critical thinking. You should act quickly and know how to address the issue in order to avoid any negative repercussions.

Unplug

Some social media managers run ragged in an attempt to keep up with the “always on” medium. That said, you need to give your mind a break from time to time.

This may sound counterintuitive, considering that you don’t want to be inactive on your accounts for too long. However, unplugging at least once a week can help you recharge your social media spirit.

 

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YouTube might try to wow you with the latest statistics by revealing that 48 hours worth of video are being uploaded every minute. By the time you finish reading this article, we’re guessing 3 days’ worth of videos have been uploaded on the site.

With the competition getting tougher, you’re probably thinking if someone would be interested enough to watch your videos. If you are doing this to capture the attention of your target audience, you have to make sure that your videos standout from the rest and focus on conversion.

Here are a few tips to help you get the most from your Youtube marketing campaign.

Keep it short

Whether it’s in TV or the Internet, no one is interested to watch ads anymore.

Most Youtube ads allow users to skip the ad after 5 seconds. Majority of the users would take advantage of this option and click on the “skip ad” button immediately and proceed to watch the video they came to Youtube for.     That being said, you only have 5 seconds to capture the attention of your target audience and get your message across. Otherwise, it’ll be out of the picture. Make sure to keep your ads short and watchable. Don’t go beyond the 60-second mark.

Selecting the right keywords

Youtube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world. And the fact that Google owns Youtube cannot be overlooked.

Videos appear on search engines. To make your video more findable, you have to make sure that it lands on top of the search results page. To do that, you need to select the right keywords and use them in the first few words of your title, description and tags.

Create compelling videos

When individuals are searching online, they are looking for quick information. That said, each one of your videos should be relevant, valuable and educational to your prospective and current clients. Create content that addresses your audience’s needs.

 

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The holidays are just around the corner. With the Halloween rapidly approaching and Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, this means marketers are solidifying their holiday campaign for the most wonderful time of the year.

The holidays are the busiest time of the year. And you might find it difficult to stand out in the marketing frenzy if you don’t plan ahead. Since most people start shopping for Christmas presents after Halloween, it would be a good idea to start hanging the social media ornaments as early as now.

Incorporate these tips into your social media campaigns and make sure that your holiday campaign gets noticed.

Strategize early

The holiday season is slowly creeping up on us and will be there sooner than you think. The key is to plan ahead and get creative. Use social media to create a buzz around your brand leading up to the festive season.

Stand out from the competition

With the holiday season comes a horde of advertisers desperately vying for your attention. Think outside of the box. Remember, majority of marketers are planning to use some sort of promotional offers to capture the attention of their target market. Differentiate yourself from the competition and think of something that would get the public interested and excited to engage with your brand.

Offer coupons

Studies suggest that consumer spending increase by 11% during the holidays. Since it’s the most wonderful time of the year, give your customers a reason to shop by offering discounts or coupons.

Share holiday tips and tricks

Increase your social media engagement by throwing a bunch of informative and interesting content into your social marketing mix. With so many brands flooding the market with discounts and deals, sharing information about DIY home decorating projects or winter recipes for baking desserts will help you get noticed.

You can also ask questions to get people talking about their activities during the holiday, purchases and traditions.

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While a lot of people believe that blogging is just about creating unique and interesting content, the truth of the matter is that you need to promote your content in order to ensure that each blog post reach its widest possible audience.

When it comes to driving traffic and building an audience, bloggers are turning to social media with record results. To get more clicks and promote their brands, successful bloggers know that need to develop a following on key social networks. It is ideal for accomplishing this goal since social media feeds on a never-ending stream of content.

Follow these tips and your blog will blossom in this new era.

Be on social media

You have done almost everything, yet you’re still not driving traffic. This can be quite frustrating, but you also have to consider all the links you have seen, but didn’t click on.

Spend some time on social media platforms. This way, you can find inspiration for that next blog post, keep up on industry news and build relationship with your followers and fellow bloggers.

Add social media sharing buttons on your blog

Make it as simple as possible for your readers to share your content by adding social media sharing buttons at the top and bottom of your blog. Reduce reader’s hurdles. If they have to hunt around just to share your content, then you’re hurting your content’s sharability.

Join blogger groups on Facebook

Participate on social media beyond sharing your own content. Join some active blogger groups on Facebook and become part of the community. Help others by answering their questions or sharing a link to a relevant blog post.

Once people get to know you, they are more likely to share your content.

Share other blogger’s content

Feel free to check out what other bloggers are posting and give them a repin, share or tweet whenever you can.

Be generous to your fellow bloggers by sharing their content. Hopefully, they’ll return the favor and share your content, too.

 

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.

Studies revealed that a huge percentage of American adults spend most of their online activity in social media sites, topping time spent on Google and email. Having this knowledge, marketers have decided to chase online users and focused their attention on social media. In fact, one study revealed that 97% of marketers use social media to promote their business.

If you have not yet taken advantage of the power of social media, then you might be missing a large chunk of your target consumers. Here are a few social media strategies that would allow you to take control over your social channels.

Create a game plan

Without an execution strategy, your content may begin to fall through the cracks. Set a limit on the number of tweets and Facebook posts you have to publish each day. If you are just starting out, you might want to check how often industry leaders are posting and take note of the ideal amount of content that should be published each day. You want to be active, but not overly active.

Treat each channel as an individual entity

Each social media channel should be treated as a separate entity. Make sure that the contents you share on each channel would appeal to the audience. LinkedIn caters to business-focused audience. So, you’ll have to provide them with educational contents. Instagram users, on the other hand, are in search for engaging visual contents.

Go above and beyond in customer service

Social media users today are expecting fast response from you. If someone posts on your Facebook page and they do not receive a response, the dissatisfied client may turn to your competitor and seek answer to their questions.

Taking time to respond to a personal inquiry is of great importance as it builds your authority. When you deliver a thoughtful and timely response, this will have a positive impact on your brand.