"Use videos to show your brand is backed by real humans. So many times people hide behind stock photography. People do business with people. Being open shows you are real and vulnerable. Buyers like that transparency."
"I think customer testimonials are a powerful way to use short videos. We have a number on our website and add them to the bottom of our emails. We recently recorded a testimonial where a client improved their ACT to a perfect score after using our service."
"We create a lot of Vines (quick six-second videos) to express how we're feeling and explain something really well. These little videos get embedded into our content to give an even more powerful version of what we're trying to convey. It's also fun thinking up things and keeps us active in areas where we normally wouldn't be active."
"Regardless of the category of FAQs (sales, marketing, customer service, customer onboarding, etc.), you're being presented with content that's perfect for video. Take your top 7-10 FAQs in each department and create a short video answering the question. This will not only provide you with a deep library of very search-friendly content, but it will also reduce time spent on answering questions."
"Use video to engage your audience. Create interactive content such as a "game/promotion" video. By giving your audience snippets of videos in a contest format, you promote users to participate and socialize, allowing you to generate traffic and create virality within your community. It gives your audience the opportunity to participate in your brand while becoming an ambassador for your business."
"It amazes me how many businesses miss this. They could have an amazing product, but instead of showing how it actually works, they just list all the features it has, how it's priced and a few testimonials. Don't tell me -- show me. Short video showing an actual usage of the product will do wonders in terms of how fast the viewer "gets it" in regards to what your product can do for them."
"There are great sites that connect you with quality outsourcers who can create a 60-second professional looking and sounding animation for only a few hundred dollars. Shooting "real" footage and using lifelike images is very hard to produce and get to look professional without spending mega dollars. Find someone with a decent portfolio and let them work their magic."
"Short, consistent videos that show your personality and purpose with viewers are a powerful way to drive a content marketing strategy. Bring a face to your company or your mission. Let people in on how you think about the problem you're trying to solve. Keep the flow consistent, giving viewers a reason to follow or subscribe to your feed."
"The biggest mistake I see with native advertising is actually the most common online marketing mistake I see in general: Brands decide their message based on how they see their product and where they want to publish. That's perfectly backwards. Content needs to be carefully customized to fit a specific, narrow audience and medium or it's going to be unwelcome, causing the campaign to fail."
"Native advertising has three goals: Establish the business or individual as the authority, expert or celebrity; identify the target market and problem to help self-select the audience; build social proof. It is not to sell. This should only be the first step in a layered campaign. To run one effectively, the follow-up ads and campaigns should be thought through and set up ahead of time."
"Native advertising fails when it doesn't match the tone and environment of where it's being placed. I think it's very important that you bring the owners into the discussion when creating native advertising for their sites. They know what their users expect, and they know when your attempt to advertise might come across as tone deaf. If they're willing to help, you should take their advice."
"Maximizing page views on native sponsored posts is a challenge that many publishers experience when working with advertisers. Leveraging content discovery platforms like Outbrain or Taboola in marketing strategies is an effective way to amplify content, increase engagement, and drive more visitors to an advertiser’s site."
"The primary challenge with native advertising is having too many channels and different types of ads. This makes it really hard to scale. The only way to curtail the overwhelm is to determine your focus. If you're advertising off-site, carefully select the businesses you want to partner up with. If you're accepting native advertising, choose the formats you accept, and make sure advertisers know."
"Each social platform has specific formatting challenges that your native ads must comply with, and this makes for a lot of work when trying to accommodate each individual formatting request. Try to automate or systematize how you compile native ads as much as possible. This will give you an edge when creating several like native ads across different platforms."
"Problems can arise with native advertising if your content doesn't clearly point to your brand because you are trying to blend into the publication and avoid sales pitches. Remember, you're not in business to promote your industry, you're in business to promote your brand. Adding a defined call to action will ensure readers only find and connect with your company and not with a competitor."
"You want to make sure you’re posting enough relevant content that your followers are noticing, but not posting too often. It can get spammy and lead followers to hit that "unlike" or "unfollow" button. I know I have unfollowed brands before that simply posted too much. "
"Many businesses make the mistake of using social media purely as a megaphone. Companies should use social media to listen to their followers, fans and customers. Get feedback and engage in conversations or questions that result in constructive dialogue. Make it personal. Seeing larger organizations respond to individuals on social media in a meaningful way is a powerful message."
"You should never outsource your social media strategy to someone outside your own country. I even like to have it be someone within my own state. This keeps the language, tone and overall vision of the company on the same page, especially when communicating with the outside world."
"Broadcasting your awesomeness is lame. Ever been on a coffee date when all the other person did was share their awesomeness? Did you want to go to dinner and drinks? Of course not. Instead, use social media to amplify the heart and soul of your organization and celebrate your customers' victories."
"All of the most popular social channels are visual platforms. Ignoring the importance of high-quality graphics and images will derail your strategy before it even begins. Roll your visual strategy into your overall social media planning discussions, as it's often more important than any text or words you write on social. Visuals must grab attention, then quickly align with your overall strategy."
"Follower counts look good, but they're rarely a useful indication of the success of a social media strategy. Like all marketing efforts, the aim of social media is to ultimately make sales. You can have 100,000 followers, but if none of them convert, you're wasting money. Social media sharing should leverage marketing personas and targeted content to build a valuable audience, not just any audience."
"Never allow your social media strategy to be linear across all platforms. Different users, demographics and strategies must be used for every social platform separately. Do not allow the same content to be shared on all platforms in the same manner. Hire people who understand how to manage each, rather than one person to run all of them. "
"Your social media schedule should not be completely pre-determined. A few anchor items and an overarching theme are great, but your strategy should be based on producing quality content based on how your brand can add value to what's going on at the time. The best strategy for social media is to listen and adapt."
"When creating a social media strategy, many companies flood their audiences with promotional content that is designed to sell. This can be overwhelming for some users who casually use social media. Always remember to mix in creative and informative content with your hard-sell content for the best results. Businesses that post informative content generally reach a much larger audience."
As with so many other online ventures, though, there’s a right way — and a wrong way — to promote your business on Instagram. If you violate unwritten rules concerning Instagram etiquette, you could do more harm than good. Here’s how you can ensure that every post is perfect:
A solid Instagram campaign begins like many other aspects of business: with a goal. Why are you on Instagram? What do you hope to accomplish by promoting your business on an app that’s popular with millennials?
Be sure to get specific on your goals as well: For example, don’t just say that you want more clicks on your website as a result of Instagram marketing. Instead, quantify that goal with a percentage increase in clicks you’d like to see.
Once you’ve established your goal, make sure to take the time to create personas (models of your potential customers) to experiment with targeting the right audience. For example, when working with one of our larger clients, we created three ideal personas of people who might be interested in its products. That really helped when we dove into creative.
If you want to present a positive image of your brand online, you’re probably going to have to fork over some cash for professional photography. Yes, it’s an expense, but keep in mind that you’re displaying yourself prominently on a network that reaches hundreds of millions of users. If you present a good image to even a fraction of that many people, that’s going to be great news for your reputation. On the other hand, if your photo looks unprofessional, people will immediately get the impression that your business isn’t to be taken seriously.
This advice is especially valuable if you’re in the fashion industry (also fitness, beauty products, etc.), which is well-suited for Instagram marketing. Hire a professional photographer to capture images of your clothing and accessories in a way that will appeal to people in your target market.
If you don’t have the money for professional photos, check out Canva. It’s an inexpensive option that works well. With our smaller budget clients, we have seen success using this platform. However, you need to make sure you also have great captions that speak to volumes about your products to your audience.
Let others know that there are actual people behind your brand with candid, humorous, and maybe even quirky posts of you and your employees from time to time. Avoid using Instagram solely as a space to promote products, however. You’ll come across as a salesperson instead of someone who’s contributing value to the community.
Based on our research, we have seen that many consumers appreciate Instagram because it allows them to see the personal side of figureheads and brands. Make sure you appeal to this.
When it comes to social media marketing, hashtags can be some of your best friends.
That’s why you should post your photos and videos with hashtags. It’s often the case that you’ll pick up a few extra followers from people who were just browsing through posts tagged with a hashtag that you added — and those people can turn into lifelong loyal customers.
There are a couple of rules to keep in mind about hashtags, though: For starters, only use hashtags relevant to your niche and your post. Otherwise, your content could be considered “spammy” and will not be hitting your demographic. Finally, use the most popular hashtags relevant to your brand. You might have to do some digging to find the tags that are used most frequently, but it’s worth the effort.
For example, on my Instagram, I use the following hashtags: #business, #news, #entrepreneur, #marketing, #socialmedia, #data #tech and #technology. This results in my posts getting hundreds of likes. If I don’t use these hashtags, the likes diminish substantially. If you’re unclear about how to find the hottest tags, use the help of an app like Tags For Likes, or visit Tagboard.
Here’s the scenario: You have 32 new items to add to your product line, and your photographer takes fabulous, high-quality photos of each of them. Now it’s time to post all of those photos to Instagram, right? Wrong. If you post 32 photos at once, you’re basically encouraging loyal fans to unfollow you.
Instead, space the timing of posting your photos out so your followers aren’t swamped with multiple sales pitches at once. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools to help you automate the publishing process: Take a look at HootSuite and Buffer as a starting point.
In one case, we tried increasing a client’s posts from one per day, to five times daily. The result? We saw an increase in unfollows of 29 percent. The lesson here is not to overshare.
When you post on Instagram, you’ll almost always need some sort of caption.
But you’ll want to keep your captions short. Remember, people are busy. So as a best practice, write two or fewer sentences as a caption, and fewer than 15 words in the post itself.
The perfect Instagram campaign requires a series of flawless Instagram posts. Fortunately, with the right know-how and a little bit of experience, you can be well on your way to capturing more leads by unlocking the power of Instagram marketing.
]]>One of the things I frequently tell clients is that they don’t have to think of SMS as a replacement for their other marketing activities. In fact, some of the best results I’ve seen are from businesses that incorporate SMS into their overall marketing strategy. Text marketing can complement other strategies such as SEO, social media and email marketing.
Nowadays, smartphones and mobile devices have become an increasingly popular way to access the internet. People use them not only for phone calls, but also to access social media sites, check email and, of course, to send and receive text messages.
Because phones are now such a ubiquitous part of modern culture, they can be integrated with your other marketing efforts. SMS marketing offers many apps and services that make it easy to connect text marketing with other platforms, such as:
As I mentioned, SMS marketing has changed quite a bit in recent years. When I first entered the field, SMS was a new concept and involved lots of experimentation. Early text marketing suffered some of the same flaws as early email marketing, such as sending messages without permission, or creating lists that were not well targeted.
We are now entering what I see as the second wave of SMS marketing. Here are some of the characteristics of this new and more powerful wave.
While SMS marketing is no longer new, you still have plenty of time to benefit from this industry’s new wave. There are now more ways than ever to make text marketing a powerful component of your marketing mix.
]]>"Dedicate a few people from your team to start taping customer testimonials. Throw those testimonials on YouTube and share them on social media. From there, dedicate time every week to developing a short (5-10 minutes) video episode for internal use where you interview employees and offer company updates. This way, your employee engagement will go through the roof."
"Video can often be one-way. A brand tells its fans what the company is up to, or gives them a behind-the-scenes look at the business. Crowdcast is a startup that provides dead-simple webinars. You can use their platforms to actually have a dialogue with your fans. Best of all, you can capture all of the live content and save it on your site for future visitors!"
"Snapchat isn't content with simply offering videos through its "Discover" feature. It wants to give users a reason to keep coming back. If they plan to let users subscribe to Discover channels, you want your company to be the first mover. Snapchat is poised to record a huge growth this year."
"Short, live video platforms like Vine are great for showing off something that doesn't come across well in just images. Mixing videos with products pages, such that buyers can see them being handled and used live, is something I expect to see a lot more of very soon."
"We've found great success by facilitating an industry panel of experts. Pick a current trend or controversial topic to be discussed. With nine people on the panel and one moderator, each participant will share their own views, which makes for an educational session full of lively discussion. Upload a copy to YouTube for those who missed the live recording."
"Ask the experts in your industry about certain topics on a weekly basis, and use their answers to create a video. The expert doesn't have to be present -- just an individual reading off advice and shouting out the expert's name, company, Twitter handle and more. This is a great way to boost connections, views and shares, and will be very appreciated by those who take part!"
"The dream of live streaming from your mobile phone is finally here, and companies can now give a firsthand look at what's happening behind the scenes. Media and entertainment companies can capitalize on this by Periscoping from events and giving personality to the brand in real time. Our travel company builds community through Periscope all the time."
"Not only does this help standardize what new employees and existing staff hear about the company and its culture, but it also helps create a more efficient and engaging process for the organization and those involved in getting this information. Typically, these processes are paper-based and boring, but video adds interest and offers a way to make the information stick."
"More people than ever are using their smartphones to do research and shopping, and they love to watch videos. It makes sense to include a visually engaging platform in your mobile marketing strategy. You can include videos on social media marketing sites, your website and in mobile ads, since video ad campaigns or insightful product or service videos are shared more than other content."
"I'd love to see a sales staff on live video helping customers who can't make it to the store. Some service work can also be done with video connections. There are millions of "How I did this simple task" videos on YouTube. I'm waiting for more companies to take advantage of video to provide real value to customers, rather than bleep out more negligible marketing clips."
What’s the best way to use the Instagram Story tool for your brand? The most important thing is to just dive in and give it a try. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? It disappears in 24 hours, right?
Here are a few pointers to get you started. Always remember that every brand and account is different. Analyze your own data (views and clicks) to see what content resonates with your audience the most, and adjust your digital strategy accordingly.
Instagram Stories have already proven to be such an incredible tool for our clients, and this is only the beginning. Imagine where it will be in the next few months! I’m highly anticipating what tools are going to be released next, as each one will inspire us all with an endless list of new ideas on how to better connect with and monetize a digital audience.
]]>Facebook advertising has come a long way since its inception. There are so many different ways to get in front of your ideal clientele. You can target audiences based on a variety of categories, including:
As a result of Facebook partnering with data companies, advertisers are now able to display products or services on consumers’ newsfeeds that they might be interested in. In addition to marketing based on the categories aforementioned, as a business owner, you can utilize the following methods:
Lookalike audiences are a way to reach new people based on current or existing markets. You can create an audience that mirrors the same demographics, interests and behaviors of people who currently “like” your Facebook business page, or you can create a lookalike audience to mirror those who have visited your website, or even purchased your products/services.
You can set up your lookalike audience in Facebook Ads Manager or Power Editor. Under Ad Manager, click Audiences > Create Audience > Lookalike Audience.
Next, choose the source: This could be people who visited your website, “liked” your business page or even downloaded your app. Then, choose a country where you would like to find a similar set of people. Once that’s set, decide how big you want your audience to be. The smaller the audience, the more similar they are to your existing ones. Keep in mind, however, that it can take up to 24 hours for Facebook to develop an audience. Once it’s formed, you can use this audience as another means of acquiring new business.
Custom audiences allow you to upload a document of emails or phones numbers into Facebook. Facebook then links that information to actual Facebook accounts. Now, you’re able to show up in your audience’s news feeds. One way you can use this to your advantage is to upload your prospects’ email addresses into Facebook. Then, generate helpful and educational industry-related content that you can place right in front of your prospects. It’s a subliminal, easy way to stay in front of potential business.
To set up a custom audience, you need to be on Facebook Ads Manager. Go to Audiences once again. Click Create Audience > Custom Audience > Customer File.
From here, you can upload based on two options: Your first option is choosing a .CSV or TXT file that contains up to 14 identifiers. This can be an email address, phone number, first and last name, zip code and more. The more identifiers you have on your .CSV or TXT file, the more likely Facebook can find that particular consumer. Simply click “next” and follow the simple steps to upload the document.
It may take up to 30 minutes for your custom audience to upload to Facebook. You will be notified as soon as the upload is complete.
As you create these new lookalike and custom audiences, you may have noticed a myriad of other ways to develop new audiences. My biggest advice? Take baby steps. Learn how to optimize your current lists, and continue to add as you move forward.
]]>In a word: everything. Professional social media management is a serious game for both agencies and clients, and clients should beware of the pitfalls that come with poor choices. We’ve seen countless examples of prospects who come to us too late — when what they really need is crisis management, not social media management. Almost always, if the client or its agency had prepared for situations that arise when you open your brand up to public conversation on social networks, the issue could have been prevented. With that in mind, here are four crucial ways to secure your social media marketing and defend against both cyber security and brand integrity dangers:
One unfortunate phrase we hear from prospects is, “We don’t want to be on social media because people can say negative things about us for everyone to see.” The truth is, people are going to say negative things about you and your brand, anyway: You may as well be there to guide the conversation with a competent and effective social media marketing team. Ultimately, social media marketing and native advertising are vital parts of any comprehensive marketing strategy today, and there are still opportunities to be a first-mover in many industries. Plan carefully, and be sure to participate in the conversation.
]]>"Everyone seems driven by the idea that their page should be filled with hilarious content to drive visitors. While I’m on a company’s Facebook page most of the time, I go there because I want to know more about the company and its practices. The right way to do it would be to use your Facebook page to show the personal side of your company. Work-in-progress pics are a great addition."
"I never leave my political views on my business or personal Facebook page. I think it's is a big mistake if you do. It can upset your friends, employees or clients. Social media is for personal fun or building brand -- not for your political views. Also, a word of caution: Many apps and companies have access to your Facebook data who can then misuse it. Stay apolitical on Facebook."
"Your company's Facebook page is not an outlet to simply make announcements. You have the opportunity to engage your community by asking questions and learning more about your customers and fans. This extends beyond just answering comments or messages. Go further. Ask happy users how they're using your product. Ask unhappy users what you can do better. People will see that you care."
"I'm still surprised to see many businesses and organizations creating a text post without an accompanying photo or video. Your company page must experiment with and include various types of photos and videos to improve reach and engagement on your Facebook page. In particular, Facebook native video receives higher reach than photos."
"On your personal page, you're sharing too much of who you are as an individual. The minute you opened for business, social sites became a platform for your business, and injecting personal views into your posts became off-limits. It may be a sad truth to deal with, but you cannot simply be yourself anymore -- not if you want to be successful and attract a wide range of consumers."
"The worst thing you can do is neglect the activity of others on your company page. Set a response time for comments on your posts, whether positive or negative. A quick response time has been shown to increase general trustworthiness. It adds an element of accessibility which translates to comfort with your company."
"While Google is more of a shopping mall, and Facebook a cocktail party, posting still needs to have an end goal of making the sale. Plan your content to offer value, but be focused on what you are eventually going to sell by using posts to identify problems, strategies for solutions, celebrations of customers, and special offers to those who are engaged on your page."
"Make sure your website, phone number or email is easily accessible on your Facebook page so prospects can find you. Pro tip: Include it in the banner image on your page -- don't just bury it in your description or hope that customers will Google you, because they won't."
"Keep your personal Facebook page separate from your company page. A company Facebook page should be dedicated solely to your business, and only relevant and promotional content should be posted. Make your company page easy for clients to navigate by keeping personal posts to a minimum."