11 Social Media Trends to Follow in 2021

social media trends

Social media services aren’t just about online personal interactions anymore. 

These days, a brand or business is sunk if it doesn’t follow the latest social media trends. There are many reasons for this, including the simple fact that most brand discovery now takes place on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and even LinkedIn and Twitter. 

But there’s so much more to it. A proper social media presence allows companies to communicate with their customers, developing a greater degree of loyalty and engagement that translates to greater sales and more conversions. 

People are craving more personal interactions these days, and this is where a good social media management strategy comes in. Keep reading to learn about eleven social media trends every business should be following. 

1. Text-Based Instagram Posts

Instagram is famous for its grid of photos. 

That’s where everything began for this social media service, and it’s still a great way for businesses to display their brands and spread awareness. But since the like count is now invisible on this site, photo posting shouldn’t be the only option. 

One of the newer social media trends on Instagram is the prevalence of text-based posts. These are simpler posts, often inspired by Twitter’s layout or even the Google search function. 

These posts can help elevate a brand’s social media presence. With text-focused layouts, posts like this provoke greater engagement with multiple comments, saves, and shares. 

2. Games and Puzzles

Among the more popular 2021 social media trends are incorporating games in social media postings. 

This has become particularly common in this age of social distancing and “staying at home.” Typically, these posts come in the form of games—such as quizzes and puzzles—that really encourage greater engagement. 

The whole idea here is to get followers to interact with more content. The more interaction, the more likely to convert into actual sales and promote heightened brand awareness. 

So don’t be afraid to experiment with game content in 2021. There’s a plethora of games and puzzles to choose from—including bingo games, “choose your own adventure” puzzles, and various quizzes. 

3. Facebook Groups

The social media company Facebook introduced Facebook groups as a major long-term focus. 

In 2020, amidst the ongoing fallout from the pandemic, this feature became a major way for people to communicate with each other. The popularity of Facebook groups has since skyrocketed. 

At the same time, companies are turning to Facebook groups as part of their social media management strategy. With greater regularity, businesses are establishing online communities on these groups to increase brand awareness and engagement. 

The beauty of this social media trend is that it is much more likely to target those who are engaged with a company’s brand and what it’s selling. So rather than wasting money on a useless ad campaign, Facebook groups let businesses find the right audience. 

4. Live Streaming

Among the big social media trends in 2021 is live streaming. 

It seems like everyone’s doing it these days. Instagram, Facebook, and even LinkedIn are all gearing their platforms toward the increased use of live feeds and streams. 

Of course, this is a great feature for brands and companies that are looking to increase engagement with their audience. It’s a fact that live streaming attracts more audience interaction, and companies that include live events will generate much greater levels of engagement. 

The bottom line is that live streaming is yet another great tool that companies can use to talk to their audience. 

5. Instagram Stickers

Businesses have taken to using stickers on Instagram to boost reach and engagement. 

So just what are Instagram stickers? They’re interactive elements that encourage viewers of Instagram Stories to interact with different posts. They usually let people take quizzes, polls, participate in countdowns and charity events, and answer Q&As. 

Basically, it’s a great way for an audience to interact with a company’s brand and to get engaged. There are a great deal of additional features that social media sites like Instagram have that many businesses have yet to leverage. 

Staying on top of these social media trends is a good way for companies to make the most of their social media management strategy. 

6. Augmented Reality Story Filters

A new social media trend for 2021 is augmented reality (AR) story filters, something that’s especially popular on Instagram. 

AR story filters let companies layer on different designs and visual elements over videos and photos—enhancing reality, as it were. So much more than being a mere gimmick or idle amusement, AR filters have the power to boost brand visibility like few things can. 

The beauty of this feature is that a company can design and upload a filter that can be accessed from the filter library by anyone who wants it. And that means free advertising courtesy of whoever chooses to use a company’s AR filter! 

7. Don’t Neglect Pinterest

Pinterest is a popular social media service that has experienced something of a resurgence of late. 

Pinterest has been around for quite some time. And though it may not have quite the same name recognition as Facebook or Instagram, it still ranks as the 14th largest social network in the world. 

And in 2020, Pinterest added more than 100 million monthly active users. So it seems that the enforced idleness of the pandemic led to a considerable rise in the social media platform’s fortunes. 

That means that Pinterest is one of the 2021 social media trends that every business should join. The site is great for discovering and saving new brands and products, so for companies looking to increase reach and visibility, Pinterest is a potent tool. 

8. Personal Interactions

The advertising world is changing. 

The old, impersonal methods of advertisement no longer cut it. People crave connection and meaning in our cold, homogenized, impersonal world. And now the technology exists to enable companies to reach out and connect with their potential customers like never before. 

One of the newest social media trends is direct conversations and personal interactions. It amounts to companies using new methods, such as DMing and text messaging, to communicate with their customers in a more personal way. 

This is a good way for businesses and brands to keep engaging with their audience. 

9. TikTok Cross-Posting

Inexplicably, TikTok is a worldwide phenomenon. 

And that means that if a company is not leveraging the social media platform to its advantage, it’s really missing out. But that doesn’t mean it’s necessary to build a gigantic social media following from scratch on the new platform. 

Instead, companies are re-sharing and cross-posting TikTok videos on a variety of different platforms in order to expand their reach. The importance of TikTok is that it allows for the creation of short, attention-grabbing videos. 

But many brands are happy to share their TikTok content across a number of platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. TikTok video marketing should be an important part of every brand’s social media strategy. 

10. Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are allowing for more flexibility and creativity. 

And this is likely to be one of the more popular social media trends for 2021. Some of the ways that businesses can leverage this flexibility are in the creation of new forms of advertisements. 

For instance, the incorporation of GIFs into Facebook ads is a new way to attract attention. GIFs have proven to be incredibly popular for a long time, and that means they’ll continue to achieve advertising success. 

Another way to boost your reach with Facebook ads is to employ user-generated content (UGC). Oftentimes, the best content comes from a company’s own customers. Rather than spending money on fancy content, businesses can let their customers do the advertising for them. 

11. Instagram Reels

As we mentioned above concerning TikTok, short video content is at the leading edge of online marketing. 

Instagram is still one of the major social media platforms for posting not only photos and text-based posts, but also short-form video content. And right now Instagram Reels is shaping up to be one of the major social media trends for 2021. 

These short, concise videos of 15-30 seconds in length allow a company to spread its brand awareness and engage with its core audience. It’s even a great way for a business to answer questions received through text messages or Direct Messaging. 

Follow These Social Media Trends

These are just a few of the big social media trends that will make waves in 2021. By keeping up to date with these popular fads, a business can be sure to stay relevant and make waves in the world of online marketing. 

If you’d like more great marketing tips and advice, please contact us today to see how we can help. 

7 Social Media Advertising Secrets For Business You May Not Know

social media advertising

According to Digital 2019 Reports, the internet receives more than a million new users every day. Social media alone has more than 2.3 billion active users worldwide. Many of these people use social media to find the services and products they’re looking for.

Do you know what this means for your business? Your potential clients are online, and you need to follow them there. The best way to reach these people and leverage the number is through social media advertising.

But wait! Advertising on social media isn’t that easy. It’s not about putting together a few Facebook posts and images, then staying behind to watch the reaction of your followers.

Social media advertising needs successful planning and execution for it to work out no matter the kind of business you run. You need to have a plan, do your research, and carry out some competitor analysis.

Well, apart from using the right strategies, there are also secrets you must unveil to succeed with your social media marketing. Here are seven of those secrets that will help with your social media marketing.

1. Start By Defining Your Target Audience

With the huge number of social media users, your ads will hit a dead-end if you don’t properly define your target audience. One of the best strategies to succeed is to know the kind of people you’re targeting and tailor your marketing message specifically to them.

Let’s say, for instance, you’re in the fashion industry selling streetwear. You must know the age group that will get interested in this kind of fashion. Once you know the audience, you also need to understand when to get them online and the right channels they use.

Are they on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?

Streetwear mostly targets the younger generation between the ages of 17 to 27. These people are mostly found on Instagram, Snapchat, etc. and that’s where you should focus your advertising message. Understand your audience personas to understand various social media marketing trends that will work for the specific segment.

2. Identify the Right Social Media Advertising Platforms

There are many social media platforms to use, but not all of them will work for your business. Many social media marketers run to Facebook because it’s the biggest platform with up to 2 billion monthly users. However, not everyone is active on Facebook, and it’s becoming oversaturated.

If you’re targeting the older generation, Facebook marketing will work best. However, younger people are more active on sites like  Instagram, which is also the most growing social media platform. Also, consider your target group’s social status and their professions to know the platforms they’re likely to use.

If you’re in B2B business, LinkedIn might turn out to be the best platform. E-commerce businesses and other retailers might leverage the power of Pinterest for their success.

When choosing a platform, you need to understand your audience and find out where they are, even though some may be all over. Consider your type of business and the kind of people it’s likely to attract.

Try doing a simple competitor analysis to figure out what other businesses of your kind are using and see if you can follow suit. Only do this if the platform seems to be working perfectly for your competitor.

3. Forget About Free Social Media Advertising

Many people rush to social media ads because it promises free marketing. One thing they don’t understand is that the best social media marketing will never be free of charge. Of course, you don’t need to spend to fill up your business’s social media profile or put up posts.

But one thing you must know is that free marketing won’t cost you anything of monetary value but will take a lot of your time. It takes time, commitment, and energy to build an active social media presence. One wrong move and all that effort you’ve put up building yourself on social media go down the drain.

You’ll spend a lot of time, and you know what they say, ‘time is money.’ You might consider spending a few bucks on finding a professional social media marketer or working with an influencer for faster results.

4. Influencers Work Magic

Business advertising social media have work wonders through influencer power. Influencers have helped businesses drive engagement, generate conversations, and improve sales. These are the people who create the desire among your audience and get them to use your products.

Indeed influencers are the real gem when it comes to social media for business.

But is your business leveraging the power of influencers yet? If not, this might be why you’re still stuck with your social media advertising while your competitors are gaining a lot.

Take a look at this data. Reports have it that more than half a million millennials will try a brand because their favorite YouTuber suggested it. Influencers have worked wonders to control consumer behavior and see brands succeed.

However, influencer marketing can be challenging if you don’t approach it with caution. Influencer fraud is on the rise, and you must take time to know that your ideal choice has a genuine following. Find an influencer with a quality audience and liaise with them to see your brand grow the levels you desire.

5. Don’t Get Personal

Social media is one of those marketing platforms that you can use the way you deem fit. There is freedom of communication, and you can create a deep connection with your audience the best way. However, when it’s a business account, let it be solemnly for business purposes.

Don’t post personal photos or information in your business accounts. This is where your customers are going to find your brand, and you must maintain professional standards. A report from manifest shows that 74% of customers follow businesses on social media, and 96% maintain active interactions with the businesses they follow.

If you go personal with your posts, you might scare away customers who do not agree with your opinion. You should also be careful with what you post on your personal social media accounts because some customers may follow you there. Anything contrary will see you lose a potential customer.

6. There Is Great Power in Facebook Groups

One way to get a huge audience and reach out to your customers is through Facebook groups. Facebook groups have a wider reach than any business or personal account. People interact easily in groups and engage better.

As an entrepreneur, you need to create a group and find people in your niche to join. Make sure you stick to a niche that aligns with your audience and your products. Once you bring people on board, create killer content, and work on ways to drive engagement.

Try to connect with your audience in several ways. Ask them questions, and encourage participation, go live to chat directly with your audience. You can also make videos to market your business using the latest marketing trends.

One thing you must know is that bringing people onboard those groups is not going to be easy. Take this as one of the long-term social media advertisement projects.

Don’t push them as you can easily lose their trust. Marketing is not about being pushy but about creating a relationship. Work on building a community where everyone feels important, but not there because you want to use them to make sales.

7. Don’t Forget to Track Your Success

Of course, there are various strategies that are going to work for you and a host of others that will fail. It’s encouraging to know that the advertising methods you’re using are working, and you’re soon going to start reaping benefits. But then don’t get discouraged by those other strategies that will seem not to work out.

Track those posts that are performing well and find out why they did perform. Check out those other posts that didn’t drive any engagement and figure out what you did wrong.

Knowing those advertising techniques that worked and those that flopped will help you make better decisions in the future. You will know where to focus more efforts, where to pull up your socks, and which ones to drop. Generating a monthly and annual social media report can help you track your success.

You Can Make Everything Simple

Social media advertising may seem simple, but that’s not the case. There are strategies, secrets, and tactics that you must use to reach out to your audience and maintain a strong relationship. When you understand all these and implement them the right way, you will see how powerful this platform will ensure your business’s success.

So, are you ready to advertise your business on social media and see your business succeed? Well, you must consider these secrets but go slow on each of them. Your success lies in how disciplined, determined, and patient you will be.

If you feel stuck and need someone to hold your hand, we will be there for you. We’re all about helping businesses succeed and with our expert tips and advice. Fill out our contact form to get a quote.

Hashtags and Digital Marketing

Social media is an important part of our world. Utilizing the platform in your business is also an important task. But how do you use the hashtag in digital marketing? We first have to start with what a hashtag is. Hashtag is the name for the pound sign (#) in the social media world. It began being used as a “hashtag” by Chris Messina in 2007 on twitter. Its purpose is to group posts and other content into easily accessible pathways for users. It is called a “hashtag” rather than “pound sign” because “pound sign” in the UK refers to “£” rather than “#” which is called “hash,” “gate,” and sometimes “octothorpe.”

Today the hashtag is almost ubiquitous with social media, being embraced on almost every platform ranging from Twitter to Instagram to Facebook. The hashtag has entered the cultural zeitgeist, it’s been embraced, it’s been parodied, and it’s been used in everything from disaster relief to weddings to advertising. This means that the hashtag is incredibly useful for online advertising and social media engagement, but how do you use it? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out; here are some tips to utilizing hashtags in your digital marketing.

1. Find the right words for your brand

A Hashtag is a word or set of words that can easily group things. They act as a keyword that people can use to search for tweets and posts related to whatever it is they’re interested in. That means that the words you choose as your hashtag are vitally important to its response from social media. Using big words, more than a couple, or difficult to spell words could hamper engagement and response.

Picking a word related to your brand, product, or service is also important. Some companies have it easier here than others. For example, all Coca-Cola need to do is throw a #coke at the end of a tweet and they have an instant engagement platform. It’s simple, and it’s synonymous with their product to the point that any tweet containing it will immediately hearken back to Coca-Cola.

2. Engage with Trending topics

Engaging with the topics and trends that are popular at the moment is a great way to find expand your brand influence. Find a trending hashtag that relates to your brand or service and engages with it. Using these trending topics are a great way of spreading your brand to more customers. These topics are relevant to people’s lives at that moment, so if you can engage in a way that is also relevant or promote your product when they are thinking about the problem it solves, you can leave a lasting impact on them.

3. Keep it simple.

As stated above, keep your hashtag short, the more words, the harder it is to read. With multiple words, capitalizing each new word is a good way of signifying the breaks between words. This makes your hashtag easier to read and less confusing for the consumer. Keeping it simple also means limiting the number of hashtags in each post. One or two, maybe three, but the fewer number of hashtags in a post the better and more sharable it is. #Putting #a #hashtag #before #every #word #is #annoying #to #read, and will put consumers off. The simpler the hashtag and the post, the easier it is for people to share.

4. Incentivize.

Use your hashtags to promote a deal or giveaway your doing. Give people a reason to use your hashtag, and thus do your advertising for you. A solid discount on a service or a product for using the hashtag or engaging with your social media can a long way in getting a response.

5. Engage with your audience.

A hashtag gives you a way to connect with people talking about the same thing, so actually, talk with them. Listen to what they’re saying, respond and craft your next campaign to utilize the feedback you’re given here. Coming up with a hashtag and making a post is an easy part, now you get to do the leg work and respond to it. They’ll engage with you for a reason, maybe it’s just as simple as saying they like your product. Maybe they’ll tell you something you can do better. Be open and willing to adapt and you can go a long way.

Conclusion

Social media is a platform that grows by the day. It has its customs and language. Being able to utilize those things are an important part of making the most out of social media. Nothing is more ubiquitous with social media than the #hashtag. The hashtag is a part of modern culture and knowing how to use it to its fullest potential can give you a leg up in expanding your business and brand. Keep these things in mind the next time you start a social media campaign. If you have any questions, contact us here!

Radio vs Digital Marketing

Pros and cons of Radio and Digital Marketing

What is the most effective form of marketing for your company? Digital marketing vs Radio marketing? Well that’s really a question only you can answer, but here I will break down some pros and cons of each medium to make that decision easier.

Radio vs Digital Marketing

Pros:

Radio:
  • A proof advertising on radio is that you can target a specific audience with your ad. Radio stations often have a specific demographic that it caters to. If your target demographic matches the one a radio station serves to, then you can easily reach by purchasing ad spots on the station.
  • With the right timing, radio advertising can be relatively cheap. If you know the demographics your targeting and what station cater to it, advertising during off times can be cheap and effective.
  • A radio ad is more personal than an internet banner ad. With radio, you can tell stories, personally talk to the listener, which makes you more memorable and favorably received.
  • Advertisements can be easily made. Radio ads can be as simple as a 30-second copy you pay the radio station to read for you. The more produced your ad is, the better returns you’ll find, but simple is still effective.
  • Since radio ads are relatively easy to produce, the turnover time on ads can be quick. Going from idea to finished ad on air can be a short process if it’s not overly complicated of an ad.
Digital:
  • Digital marketing can reach a massive audience. The internet is a global infrastructure, and buying ad space on the web can reach a global audience.
  • When you advertise online, you have faster response rates to your service. When someone sees an ad that his helpful to them, they’ll often go immediately to that website. If you answer their problem, then you’ll have their business rather quickly.
  • Helps you expand your customer service. If you advertise or have a presence through social media then you can interact with customers at a near-instantaneous rate. Answer a customer concern, posting an update on your page, or responding to a comment builds a relationship with customers and brings you into a favorable light in their minds. Relationships mean repeat business and brand loyalty which can drive future sales.
  • Online marketing is fast. It doesn’t always have to be a banner ad or a side ad designed professionally. Sometimes just posting a promotion on your social media is enough to get people talking about your company. Just Chipotle tweeting something like “free burritos today” or something of that sort, will see interactions with their brand rise exponentially for that day

 

Cons:

Radio:
  • Radio spots during peak hours can be expensive because stations know they reach the most people. There is a reason for the price, as these spots are the most effective ones and where you’ll see the most return on your money, but they’re expensive nonetheless.
  • Not every product will thrive on the radio. Certain products and services either can’t be sold on audio alone. Services that answer problems listeners might be facing on their drive home from work do the best with radio advertising. This is especially true for places like restaurants that answer the question “What’s for dinner?” Keep in mind that when you decide to advertise on radio
  • Some radio listeners block out the radio or change the channel when ads come on. This is hardly surprising, people use the radio as background noise, or only want to listen to music, no matter the music. When the ads come on they’re either not listening or they change the channel and don’t even hear your ad. Repetition is one way to fight this, and is essential for any successful radio campaign, read this post to learn more about it!
Digital:
  • Digital marketing is going to take up a lot of your time to keep up with it. Staying on top of all the comments and questions, and making sure your social media is up to date and engaging with your customer base can be a time drain. It may not be expensive to start a digital campaign, but it can sure take up your time during the day.
  • You lose some control. When you advertise on digital platforms, and especially on social media platforms, you’re at the mercy of those platforms. Algorithms can bury your ad if it doesn’t create enough interaction (or if you didn’t pay enough) which creates a negative feedback loop, just pushing it down. If a site or platform goes down for whatever reason, then you no longer have it to advertise on, and if you lose internet service or power for a day, then you’re no longer able to engage with your customer base.
  • First impressions matter more here than in some other places. You have mere seconds to leave a favorable impression on someone online, if you fail then they’ll move on and forget about you. You have to be captivating and enjoyable in those first few instances, which can be difficult to get right.
  • There can also be some negative reactions online. Some people can be annoyed with your ads, sometimes they might feel wronged by you for whatever reason, or they can just be there to mess with you. This is a fact of working on the internet, and can sometimes have a negative impact on your perception online if not handled properly.

Conclusion: Radio vs Digital Marketing?

There are a lot of pros and cons to both sides of this argument. Ultimately, both forms of marketing have their advantages, and thus their place in any marketing campaign. Which one you do is entirely dependent on your company, your product or service, and what you can afford to do. Both can be successful, and both can fail, making sure you understand the pros and cons of both will help you avoid the later. For more information or help with either form of marketing, contact us here!

4 Facebook Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

facebook marketing

Facebook Marketing

Facebook marketing has become essential for any business to have a strong social media presence in the digital world. With over 2 billion monthly active users, there’s no reason to leave this section of your audience potential untapped.

To get started, here are 4 of our favorite tips for your small business to succeed on Facebook.

Post to Facebook at non-peak times

Every time someone visits Facebook, they could have on average 1,500 potential stories to see from friends, people they follow, and Pages. A majority of these posts published during the day with peak times between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET.

Engage your fans by asking questions

One of the most popular post types on Facebook? Questions.

It’s one of the recommended strategies by Post Planner, and anecdotally it makes a lot of sense for getting more comments, likes, and interactions from the community. The thinking goes that as Facebook notices people engaging with your content, future content stands a better chance of reaching more people.

Facebook Advertising

Social networks aren’t always the first thing companies think while building local marketing strategies, but Facebook advertising is an exception.

It’s an inexpensive way to advertise your business to the target audience. Like Google, Facebook also knows to buy and click patterns of all their one billion-plus users. They are experts in putting the ads in front of a relevant local audience.

Visual Content is King

Facebook marketing has turned into a very visual realm. Pictures and especially video are gaining more reach on average than text-based posts.

As humans, we are much better at remembering pictures than words. When you post a text-heavy post, your customers will only remember 10% after a couple days. But if you add in a picture, they’ll remember 65%. Your posts will have much more impact if you included a relevant image or graphic with it.

Have any questions about Facebook marketing or your strategies on other social platforms? Contact us here!

What Instagram In-App Payments Could Mean for Business

Instagram In-App Payments

An Instagram in-app payments feature was just added early this month.

This new feature allows social media users to make purchases on Instagram. How? Users can add a credit/debit card to their account, with a pin for security. After they set-up and verify the accounts, users can make purchases through their Instagram account.

Instagram hasn’t stated when it plans to roll out this service.

Weaving commerce more deeply into social media apps offers potentially huge rewards for companies behind the apps, as well as those with products to sell.

Instagram says that more than 80 percent of its 800 million-plus users follow a business on the social network. With numbers like that, the Facebook-owned company will be keen to build out its shopping services to draw in more advertisers and boost revenue even further.

What does this mean for businesses?

You’re able to show your product and store where your customers already are.

One of the biggest challenges businesses face is getting your customer to your store and check out.

While Instagram already offers shopping opportunities via tagged items shown in an image, making a purchase currently involves navigating a pop-out page and completing various steps, including entering payment details for each new merchant.

Instagram in-app payments are now erasing that hurdle for businesses. Your customers won’t even need to leave Instagram to purchase the product you’re showing on your feed. The more steps involved in the buying process, the more likely a customer is going to fall out of the funnel.

It might not seem like Instagram is the place for businesses to communicate with their audience, but Instagram reports that over 200 million Instagrammers actively visit a business profile every day.

How will Instagram in-app payments work?

One of the first equipped is a dinner reservation app Resy. Some of its clients’ Instagram Pages now offer this native payment for the booking. And in the future, Instagram says you can expect direct payments for things like movie tickets through the app.

A tap through to the terms of service reveals that Instagram Payments are backed by Facebook’s Payments rules.

With its polished pictures and a plethora of brands, shopping through Instagram could prove popular and give businesses a big new reason to advertise on the app. If they can get higher conversion rates because people don’t quit in the middle of checkout as they fill in their payment info, brands might prefer to push people to buy via Instagram.

The whole point of Instagram not allowing links in captions is to keep you in a smooth, uninterrupted browsing flow. Getting booted out to the web to buy something broke that. Instagram Payments could make impulse buys much quicker, enticing more businesses to get on board. Even if Instagram takes no cut of the revenue, brands are likely to boost ad spend to get their shoppable posts seen by more people if the native payments mean more of them actually complete a purchase.

How can businesses utilize Instagram in-app payments?

Whenever a new trend or update comes to social accounts, your first thought should always be “How can this benefit my account?”?

Once Instagram opens up the payment option to the general public, you’ll be able to enable your audience with the ability to purchase your products and services directly on Instagram.

Until then, there are things you can do to prepare for the upcoming update.

Make sure you have an Instagram Business account

Business accounts provide businesses a lot more flexibility when it comes to managing your account and presence on Instagram.

They allow you to have an office location and hours in a separate section from a regular Instagram bio. Business accounts also have access to helpful analytics and promotional tools.

You’re also able to boost specific posts that will help you reach a wider audience.

Make sure your site is mobile-optimized.

Since you’re wanting to drive your audience to purchase from you online, the first step is to drive them to your site and store. Instagram is a mobile app, so visitors will be accessing your site from their phone or another mobile device.

Giving them a poor first impression will seriously hurt your chances of ever nurturing them into a customer.

Looking to the Future

Overall, the Instagram in-app payments update is very exciting for businesses and customers alike. Instagram is helping streamline the buyer’s journey through their app, and we’re excited to see how this will pan out.

Do you have any questions about marketing on Instagram or other social sites? Contact us here!

3 Brands with Killer Social Media Strategies

social media

There are hundreds of social media platforms out there. Among the most common are Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  People view advertisements and engage with content on these outlets daily.  Because of this, it’s important that brands make sure their content is memorable and unique with social media strategies.

Below is a list of a few popular brands that demonstrate successful social media strategies. Check out the list below to see what you or your brand can learn about social media from them!

  1. Wendy’s

In 2017, Wendy’s was recognized by its followers for their use of humorous sass on their Twitter account. In one example, a follower tweeted at Wendy’s, asking, “If the beef is never frozen, then how do you guys keep it fresh?” Wendy’s reply was smart and sassy: “R E F R I G E R A T O R S”.

Another instance where they clapped back happened when a user tweeted at them, “@Wendy’s How much does a Big Mac cost?” Wendy’s responded, “Your dignity”.

These examples show that Wendy’s social media strategy is different from other brands in that it is quirky and unforgettable. They also target other competing restaurants, like McDonald’s in this case. The whole point of their tweets was to get people talking. Clearly, it worked.

  1. Airbnb

Another brand that uses its content in a crafty, strategical way as Airbnb. Their Instagram is filled with beautiful images of different places around the world. They engage their audience by creating captions that catch their attention. For example, one photo states, “Forever is how long you’ll want to stay in the infinity pool at Lebah Villa. But – trust us – you’ll want to dry off and take the short walk to Ubud village, soaking in the Bali rice paddy view.” Each photo includes a storytelling aspect to it, which lets the viewer imagine that they are in that location.

In addition, Airbnb started a campaign using the hashtag #WeAccept. With this, the brand intended to show their audience that they support all types of people and backgrounds. This was an effective social media strategy to engage users and promote diversity.

  1. GoPro

Instagram has proved to be a successful social media platform, as it includes contests and other user-generated content. GoPro, a technology company that designs cameras for sports, activities, and travel, maintains an inspiring Instagram account for this reason. Each day, they run two contests called “Photo of the day” and “Video of the day”. Users from around the world can upload their personal photos or videos, and GoPro picks the best ones. Not only does this literally engage followers, but it promotes a lifestyle of adventure and fun for prospective customers. In a way, this is better than simply showcasing a certain product. This allows viewers to picture what their life would be like if they had that specific product.

 

These three brands are role models that anyone can look up to for social media tips and ideas. If you or your company is out of ideas for your social media strategies, we can also help!

Videos and Your Content Strategy

videos

People decide whether or not they are interested in something within the first 10 seconds of viewing it. In advertising, that leaves no time for anything else. The 30-second to 1-minute commercials we see on TV and the Internet are rarely watched all the way through. Fortunately, there is a solution for catching your audience’s attention: ultra-short videos.

What They Are:

Short-form videos last about 10 seconds or less. They try to get a message across to its viewers, whether it be an advertisement or just a simple story that encourages a certain behavior, thought, or feeling.

Why Videos are Important:

In the marketing and advertising world, content is key. Video has recently become one of the most prevalent ways to pique an audience’s interest. Therefore, it’s only fitting to create something that immediately appeals to consumers.

Since the average attention span is decreasing rapidly, it’s crucial to keep all forms of content short, sweet, and to the point. The shorter the content, the easier it is for people to remember it.

Short-form content has the power to get right down to the point, which first catches viewers’ attention, and ultimately leaves them wanting more.

Another perk of the short-form video is that smaller file sizes are easier to upload. In the end, that saves you time!

How to Create Them:

Reevio, a web-based video-making platform, allows you to create and edit professional-quality animations. It has the largest library of templates of any online video software. Additionally, Promo by Slidely lets you create customized marketing videos that include music and logos.

All in all, short videos are the best way to grab attention online. The best part? Shorter equal less work for you!

Have any questions? Contact us here! 

Benefits of Using Google My Business

Woman working on laptop

Google My Business is a free tool that helps businesses and organizations manage their online presence on Google. It helps customers find your company’s information, such as hours, recent updates, photos, etc. Also, it allows you to respond to reviews, update information, and add posts.

Why use it?

Having a Google My Business sidebar appear after someone searches for your business makes it appear more professional. It can also improve its local rankings. Additionally, it provides viewers with quick and short information so that they don’t have to dig too deep to find what they are looking for.

Advantages

With the new Posts feature, users can create and update more information on the business sidebar. For example, posting about sales, promotions, or upcoming events is a good way to attract customers.

Recently, Google added a Q&A feature, which displays frequently asked questions to viewers right away. This makes it easier for them to decide if they are interested or not. In addition to Posts and Q&A’s, Google has created a real-time chat mode with customers and businesses. This allows for more client engagement and increases brand loyalty.

In short, Google My Business is a great way to keep your small business or organization at the forefront of peoples’ minds.

Want to find out more about best practices on Google? Ask us!

3 External Communications Apps for Your Business

communications

External communications are as important as internal communication. It’s about sending messages to your audience. Such as your clients, investors, suppliers, members of the community, or others.

Certain software can aid in effective communication with people outside of your business. Here’s a list of 3 helpful applications that can benefit your business’ external communications.

Buffer

If you’re looking for a way to create and update social media content on multiple platforms at a time, try Buffer. It’s the easiest option for communicating information to prospective or current clients. When using the application, you can schedule posts to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.

Canva

Canva, a free graphic design website, is a valuable marketing application. It lets you create marketing and advertising materials such as posters, flyers, invitations, etc. Additionally, the best thing about Canva is that even non-designers find it simple to use. Providing the user with premade templates makes it easier on those who aren’t very artsy.

Facebook Pages Manager App

Finally, this app from Facebook allows you to oversee up to 50 of your Facebook pages from your smartphone or tablet. Therefore, it proves to be an efficient social media platform for managing your company’s external communications. You can check activity and keep up-to-date with the page insights.

Overall, if you’re searching for the right communication to reach your intended audience, we recommend you try one of these. If you have questions, let us know! Contact us.

Social Media Marketing Trends for 2018

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing

Trends, like seasons, are constantly changing. Fashion trends, for example, are only popular for a few months or years at a time. The same circumstance applies to social media marketing and the digital world.

Since inventions in technology are endless, it’s important to keep up with modern trends and ideas. Below are some social media tips to help keep you up-to-date in 2018.

Video

According to Forbes, more than 80% of marketing consumers would rather watch a live video than read social media updates. The creation of live video streaming on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook allows marketers to reach people in a more modern way. Businesses can post 24-hour video “stories” to their profile, or opt to the live-stream material to their audience. Video is a useful marketing tool that catches the attention of younger audiences, as well as visual learners.

Engagement

Social media marketing is the quickest and most efficient way to reach customers. It’s important to take advantage of this by engaging with them directly. Outlets such as Twitter and Facebook make it easy to keep up with customers by responding directly to their complaints or praises. It’s commonly mistaken that gaining new followers is more important than engaging with existent customers or clients. Social media interaction with followers yields more brand loyalty and gives your business more of a personality.

Have any questions about social media? Don’t hesitate to contact us here! 

 

Must Have Social Media Tools for Small Businesses

social media tools

Must have Social Media Tools for Small Businesses

Here are some must-have social media tools for small businesses

Twitter

You can use Twitter to build connections with a relevant audience. These connections can lead to actions across a network of loyal customers for your business. As a local business, you can use Twitter to promote special promotions, deals and or coupons to your followers and audience. There are a lot of different strategies to use for this.

Facebook

Facebook is a great opportunity for a company to make online sales, get a following around the brand, and create a platform where customers can discuss products. Marketing on Facebook has become essential for any business to have a strong social media presence in the digital world. Therefore, with over 2 billion monthly active users, there’s no reason to leave this section of your audience potential untapped.

Instagram

Instagram’s highly curated and personal environment is more likely to inspire action. The content is seen as trustworthy, authentic and relevant. Additionally, over the past couple of years, Instagram has become a powerhouse in the realm of social media. With over 700 million monthly active users, the platform has become a great place to share content with your audience.

Tumblr

Tumblr is the best place for creators to find an audience for their content. There are over 200 million blogs publishing 80 million posts per day. Therefore, it’s a great way to get your content seen by a large number of users.

Pinterest

Finally, Pinterest is an online tool for collecting and organizing images. The platform has become important for some people to find inspiration and new ideas, particularly designers.

Have any questions? Contact us today! 

Facebook Marketing Do’s and Don’ts

Facebook Marketing

facebook marketing dos and donts

Facebook Marketing Do’s & Don’ts

Facebook marketing has become essential for any business to have a strong social media presence in the digital world. Therefore, with over 2 billion monthly active users, there’s no reason to leave this section of your audience potential untapped.

Here is a list of do’s and don’ts

Do’s

Keep It Short

Fewer words get more engagement, think of Twitter.

Post Frequently

Keep your Facebook audience informed by posting photos, promotions, and special offers. Also, provide relevant links.

Be Genuine

Connect with your user in a non-robotic way. Also, talk in a conversational way.

Get Feedback

Listen to your users, it will help you develop new products and improve on the existing ones

Respond

Don’t get tired of answering questions and responding to feedback on Facebook. Also, never forget to say thank you.

Don’ts

Always Sell

Use the 80/20 rule, 80% content, 20% product

Spam Your Audience

Don’t overpost and annoy your Facebook audience. Also, avoid oversharing or ranting about employees or customers

Talk Politics

You may lose potential customers whose opinions differ from yours

Go Dormant

Fewer posts, less value for future posts from Facebook’s algorithm. Users will also forget about you.

Ignore

Finally, ignoring may only add fuel to the fire, respond with your email and settle the matter privately

Have any questions about Facebook Marketing? Contact us today!

4 Holiday Marketing Ideas for 2017

Holiday Elements

Are you ready to cash in on the holiday shopping craze? If so, you need to create a few holiday marketing campaigns to attract customers to your store. But, creating marketing campaigns takes time, and who has extra time during the holidays?

To take the hassle out of the holidays, we’ve put together a list of four holiday marketing ideas that every business can and should use during the holidays.

Run a Social Holiday Marketing Giveaway

Speaking of Instagram, another great way to utilize the platform is by running a social media holiday giveaway. We’d recommend running a social campaign across all the major platforms your business uses to get more and more eyes on your business.

And who doesn’t like free stuff, especially during the holidays? Whether it be a big discount, a free add-on with an order or just something completely for free, get into the holiday spirit of giving. Typically, asking followers to comment, share, like, etc. are great tactics to get even more engagement with your giveaway.

Make Seasonal Emails

If you’re not incorporating the holidays into your email marketing campaigns, you’re making a big mistake! Holidays instill powerful memories into your shoppers’ minds, so enticing them with fun seasonal emails is a great way to connect in their inboxes.

Pull at their Heart Strings

While holidays may not be loved by all, most people have an emotional tie to them. And we all know that emotions drive action, so now is the time to get emotional with your marketing.

Emotional doesn’t mean you need to make every one of your audience members cry – even using humor in your messaging can go a long way during the holiday season.

Build Customer Loyalty with Personalized Gifts

Lastly, don’t forget about marketing to your customers.

Small acts of personalized kindness towards your customers make a huge impact and can strengthen the relationship, turning a happy customer into a brand advocate.

Use these tips to make all of your holiday marketing dreams come true!

Have any questions on how to increase the reach of your holiday marketing? Contact us here!

 

6 Instagram Marketing Tips for Businesses

instagram

Over the past couple of years, Instagram has become a power house in the realm of social media. With over 700 million monthly active users, the platform has become a great place to share content with your audience.

Whether your strategy needs an update or you’re a newcomer to this social media network, you can use these 6 tips to help your improve your Instagram marketing. 

1. Your profile is key

As a company, don’t get too caught up in fitting all of what you do in 150 characters. Focus on your most important description or your next big thing – be it an event, promotion or product launch. Since the only clickable link is in your Bio section, make a habit of updating it frequently. Think about promoting more than your website. You can include the link to event registrations, app downloads or even purchases links.

2. Get Creative

Focus on the solution you provide to your audience, not the products you sell. On Instagram, it’s necessary to show value to your customers and look great while you do it. Never underestimate the fact that the most important asset on this social media network is visual content.

3. Stop, collaborate and listen

Instagram is one of the strongest social media channels for highlighting collaborators and sharing customer success stories. Take into account that not everyone is monitoring hashtags on social media, so tagging an account is usually a better choice if you want to get noticed.

4. Analyze your Instagram ventures

Without taking a step back and analyzing what worked and didn’t, marketing becomes a guessing game. Make sure to regularly measure your follower count, engagement, and clicks, all to refine and improve your strategy.

5. Show them the business behind the curtain

Customers have a natural curiosity about where their products/services come from, and you can use Instagram to show them the whole lifecycle.

If nothing comes to mind, you can share something that everyone has – sketches, notes, and filled whiteboards or blackboards. You may find that it’s best to try out different post types until you strike gold with the one that will engage the audience.

6. Use hashtags wisely

Use hashtags to expand your reach. These can be campaign specific or general – all that’s important is that they are relevant. This makes it easier for people to find content related to you as well as your main account. It’s best practice to use between three to five hashtags and consider how you add hashtags. Whether they’re added at the end of the post, in a comment or in the actual post.

Have any more questions about Instagram marketing or about any other social media? Contact us here!

Twitter Best Practices for Local Businesses

twitter

As a little fish in the big pond of industry, it’s important to strategize and market yourself correctly to help your business stay afloat. Fully understanding how to communicate on Twitter is essential to fully utilize it.

Consistency is Key

Setting up a social strategy, and posting consistently is one of the best practices you can do as a business.

Twitter is about short, frequent, click-worthy or read-worthy updates.

Use Images and Videos

Visual content is king. Adding images and videos to your tweets will lead to big increases in your engagement and retweets.

#Hashtag Sparingly

Be careful with how many hashtags you insert into your tweets.

Using too many hashtags will make your tweets hard to read. Though, adding a couple will help increase the scope of your tweet and engagement.

Keep Conversations Going

It’s important to keep conversations open with your audience. Make sure to stay on top of comments, mentions or replies.

If you show that you are responsive, people will be more likely to engage with you in the future.

Promotions

As a local business, you can use Twitter to promote special promotions, deals and or coupons to your followers and audience.

There are a lot of different strategies to use for promoting deals or coupons on Twitter.

You can use it promote the daily drink special or highlight a coupon you’re running that week on pest control.

Each industry and business will use this tip in a different way.

Cross-marketing

For smaller business especially, it’s important to promote your Twitter profiles on your other social channels.

This will not only help you boost the visibility of your profile but can lead to more engagement from your audience.

Have any question about marketing on Twitter or any other Social Media? Don’t hesitate to contact us!

3 Insights to Improve Your Social Media Marketing

social media

In today’s market, you can’t go to any marketing blog without them telling you the importance of having social media, and using it for marketing. How do you get the most from your social media? Sure, it’s great to have it, but you’ll lose money if you’re not using it correctly.

Today we’re talking about 3 main insights on how to use social correctly.

Visual Content is Key

One major point of your social focus should be in visual content.

As humans, we are much better at remembering pictures than words. When you post a text-heavy post, your customers will only remember 10% after a couple days. But if you add in a picture, they’ll remember 65%. Your posts will have much more impact if you included a relevant image or graphic with it.

Keep it Consistent

As with most things, consistency is key with social media marketing. Having a consistent and quality strategy will keep your current customers more engaged, and help you attain new followers, leads and customers through your social media pages. People will be less likely to follow your page if you go weeks without updates, and then bombard your audience with updates. If you infrequently post on your page, it’s shown that people will likely lose enthusiasm for your page, and could even unlike it. This is the same effect that posting too frequently could have.

Strategy and Analysis

One of the most important tasks to do on your social media is to always have a strategy, set goals and analyze your pages to see if you’ve hit those goals. One the best things about developing a strategy are that it gives you direction. It’ll help you define your goals and objectives you want to achieve using your social presence.

You should set SMART goals in your strategy. These are goals that are:  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based. Setting goals will help you intelligently use your social media to its full potential.

If you’d like more insights or need help developing a strategy for your social media, don’t hesitate to contact us.

3 Common Myths About Social Media Marketing

social media marketing

If we look back 20 or 30 years ago, marketing was pretty simplistic. One would mail out millions of flyers, design an eye-catching billboard, and develop a memorable television advertisement. Today, your customers have moved to the digital world. Unfortunately, many companies try to apply old-school marketing techniques to social media. The results are marketing campaigns that fall far short of expectation.

Much of what companies believe about social media is just plain wrong. There are many misconceptions about how marketing can drive sales. However, these are myths that even some marketers have held onto. This is because marketing is an ever-changing landscape, and staying up to date is extremely difficult. Nonetheless, we are here to tackle some of the most common myths about it.

Common Myths About Social Media Marketing

1. My customers don’t use it

This is unlikely. Statista, a leading statistics company, reports that 72 percent of all U.S. internet users are on Facebook. Moreover, Facebook users share 684,478 pieces of content every minute. This doesn’t even touch Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tumblr, and a whole host of other platforms.

2. If a post doesn’t go viral, it is a waste of time and money.

Untrue. Going viral tends to be the exception, not the rule. Social media is about the long game. Therefore, not everything is going to be a home run. Social media marketing is about growing your audience and building relationships. The question you should always ask yourself is, “Would I share this on my personal social media account?”

3. It’s only for attracting new customers.

Wrong. Finally, social media is also about nurturing customer relationships and building brand loyalty. Actually, One study found that 74 percent of customers providing feedback expect a response within 30 to 60 minutes. Therefore, your customers need to know the conversation is not one-sided.

What haven’t we covered yet that is important to you? If you would like to talk more about the common myths about social media marketing, or need more information, please contact us.

Social Media Management by Killer Spots Creates Time

Social Media Like

What does your social media audience want? How do you get them to tell you what they want? These used to be hard questions for businesses to get reliable real-time answers to. That just isn’t the case anymore. In fact, they will tell you more than you ever wanted to know if you let them. Too Much Information or TMI is a thing, after all. Today the question is how do you get the information you want and skip the pictures of what they burned for dinner last night? The answer is social media management.

Social Media Management

It is about what you share and how they respond. Whether they are your friends, your customers. Or hopefully both, they need to see your best face. If they are going to buy your products or believe the things you tell them. Therefore, they need to see you have standards and that you aim for reliability and good business practices.

They also need to know you care. That means reading their comments and responding to their posts appropriately, even the negative ones. If you are running a business or have your own content to produce this can take a chunk of time from your day you may not have to give, as much as we all want to hang out on social media hitting the like button for new ideas and defending our own positions from the occasional troll.

Social media management can take the reins of your online presence while you get some work done, building relationships with your customers and your industry as a whole. The people at Killer Spots have the time and the technical prowess to handle all of that for you, and to improve your position on top of that. Contact Killer Spots to learn more about social media management.

Design for the Non-Graphic Designer

design

Social Media is all about the images. No one has time to stop and read about your day or what’s hot and exciting in the world. They just want to see it. So how can you keep up if you aren’t a graphic designer and can’t afford to hire one? Here’s our list of 5 simple and easy-to-learn online programs that you can use to create stunning graphics without the need for an art degree. Don’t worry, Adobe won’t be involved in this relationship so you can put away your wallet.

#1. PicMonkey

picmonkey

PicMonkey is photo-editing made easy. But they’ve also added features for design and touch-up as well. Their site is primarily free to use with a minimal upgrade fee for certain “Royale” features. With PicMonkey you can crop, add effects, touch up, add text, make collages or even add fun shapes, stickers and themed details to your photos. If you don’t have a photo you want to start from, no worries. Just click the “Design” button on the homepage and create something totally from scratch.

Everything is very easy to find and set up to be completely user-friendly. But you will want to play around with it a bit at first, just to get used to all the features. This site is great for editing your photos before posting them to social media. Or adding a quick block of text to a flyer. Creating a great graphic for your next blog post.

#2 Pixabay

pixabay

Perhaps you’re thinking…. but I don’t have any photos that I need to edit. I just need to access free, non-copyright photos to use for my business. Pixabay is perfect for just that. They have a staggering collection of over 420,000 quality images that won’t come back to bite you in the legal ass.  

They of course also have the option of upgrading to some paid royalty-free photos. But almost always you can find what you’re looking for without needing to do that. They rely heavily on donations so after downloading multiple quality images; you might feel inclined to “buy them coffee”—but it’s never required.

#3 Canva

canva

Canva is a newer platform that was beautifully designed to create stunning graphics with minimal effort. They have hundreds of “templates” organized into various categories such as, “Social Media, Documents, Marketing Materials, Email Headers, Blogging and Books” and more. Each template is sized properly for the platform is was created so no worrying about sizing issues. There are usually about 3 free templates per category that you can use or pay an upgrade fee to use all the features.

Canva is similar to PicMonkey in that they have many of the same editing features but Canva’s templates are a time-saver for sure and also highly beneficial if you aren’t “layout-inclined”. You can also save your pieces publicly or privately if you choose. Publicly allows you to share your work with others in the community and also see what else is being created. It’s a great place for inspiration, or just to ask questions if you aren’t sure how to improve your work.

#4 Dropbox

dropbox

While Dropbox might not seem like a graphically-inclined site to choose, it’s actually invaluable if you take a great deal of photos using your phone or want to quickly exchange graphics between desktop and mobile. The app and desktop icon interact with each other. So if you set your photos taken on mobile to auto-upload to Dropbox, the next time you open your desktop, they’ll all be there—ready to use.

The same applies for editing. If you use one of the great platforms listed above to say, create a stunning graphic for your next Instagram post, the only way to upload it to Instagram is on your mobile device. No problem! Just save that graphic to Dropbox, and it will also be on your phone. Then you can easily open it, save it to your phone, and share to your heart’s content. Plus Dropbox gives you 2GB for free. If you find you need more than that, upgrading to 1TB of space will cost you just $9.99/mo. Incredibly simple, not to mention a great back up system in case you deleted something from your phone or desktop you weren’t quite finished with. And you can access all your photos/files anywhere you are.

#5 Afterlight

After-Light

What if you just want an amazing app for mobile use for those on-the-fly times when you can’t sit down at your desktop and create the perfect image and take lots of time doing it? Afterlight is the app for just that! It has 74 of the most beautiful filters. 78 natural textures and 128 frames for you to create just the right look.

It’s awesome if you hate the “perfect square” shape of Instagram photos and want to add more character to those images. Afterlight is very easy to use and once you’ve created the perfect look— sharing is simple with the “save & share ” feature. Here are some shots edited with Afterlight.

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Contact Killerspots Creative Team for any design needs you may have. http://killerspots.com/