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Video Marketing Strategies for 2020 by @DONNAAMOS

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video marketing 2020

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

The video revolution has completely transformed how we consume content. Now, information is delivered in a visual, entertaining, and even interactive manner that engages users better than any other medium. Video is also a natural storytelling medium, making it both compelling and persuasive. These combined elements are why video advertising is so successful.

Let’s look at some facts:

  • According to a Hubspot study, 96% of consumers between the ages of 18-34 watch videos several times throughout the week, and 75% of millennials watch at least one daily video.
  • 64% of consumers claim that marketing videos have had an impact on their purchasing decision.
  • 45% of people watch more than an hour of video on Facebook and YouTube each week.
  • 90% of video viewers say that product videos are helpful in the decision-making process.
  • Videos are shared on social media 1200% more than images and text combined.
  • 85% of Facebook users watch videos with the sound turned off.
  • Videos in Instagram get twice the engagement of videos on other social platforms.

Statistics are from this link.

Using Video Marketing for Your Company

Of course, to be successful using video marketing, you will need to perform some preliminary work. Just creating and posting random videos will not bring leads pouring in. Use the following steps and linked resources to craft an overall approach to video marketing for your company.

  1. Research your target audience. Who is your target audience? What type of video content to they prefer? What social platform do they use most to consume video content? When are they most likely to be watching online video? What are the most effective types of video for reaching this demographic?

Resources:

  1. Outline a Plan for Sharing Video. What types of video will you use? What social platforms will you use to share your company videos? Will you need to craft specific videos for each platform? When is the best time to share video on these platforms? How often should you share video content? How often should you repeat the same video content? How much budget is available for paid video ads and promotion?
  2. Determine Who Will Create Your Videos. Do you need a professional media company? What types of video can your marketing team produce in-house? What do they need to produce quality videos? How much budget is available for creating custom videos? What is the best balance of video types for your company?

Popular Video Strategies for the Coming Year

As you formulate a plan for using video content in your company marketing, consider these types of video and how they fit into your overall plan. We give just a brief overview of each type.

Live Streaming

Live streaming on social platforms is a free, no-frills, personal method of promoting your company messages. Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and YouTube Live all help users feel like they are being spoken to directly. This feeling of intimacy encourages engagement since they know that their questions or comments can be answered in real time.

You can use live videos to promote practically anything, including:

  • New products
  • Announcements
  • Product demos
  • Webinars
  • Question and answer sessions, FAQs and SAQs (Should-Ask Questions)
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Tips
  • Testimonials

These are a great way to start because they require no editing, special studios, or preproduction efforts or costs. Just go live with your phone and create great content.

Video Podcasts

A video podcast, or videocast, is simply just an audio podcast that you record on video. As popular as podcasts are today, an occasional videocast will allow viewers to see who they regularly hear, and observe the behind-the-scenes goings on while the podcast is being recorded. It’s a great way to make users feel more connected with your company spokespeople or podcast host.

Video Tutorials

Tutorials and explanatory videos are highly sought-after content (remember the stats from above). Many consumers search for how-to videos for DIY projects or using certain products. You should have a video tutorial for each of your products. Even if you only provide serves, some video tutorials explaining how you provide those services, especially in certain situations or for particular needs, can be great tools for users. These can be professionally produced, created in your own setting, or done over Live Streaming video.

IGTV and Vertical Videos

Users spend more time consuming video on smartphones than over tablets or desktop computers. This has led to the rise of vertically formatted videos and IGTV, Instagram’s TV-like channel for users and brands. Now, vertical videos can be viewed on Facebook and YouTube. Vertical videos are easier to watch on mobile devices, meaning that your video is more likely to be watched and remembered.

Shoppable Videos

Shoppable videos allow consumers a direct way to make purchases and be redirected to product pages. On shoppable videos, users click on a hyperlink and go directly to the online shopping process. Every social media video should contain a shoppable link.

Testimonials

Testimonial videos are one of the strongest types of videos. They show past or current satisfied customers talking about their positive experience using your product or service. Honest personal feedback from a customer is stronger than anything you could say about your own company. Customer testimonials are usually between 30 seconds and two minutes long and can focus on one happy customer or several.

What kinds of video do you use in your company marketing? What level of success have you enjoyed through video marketing? Share your thoughts and insights with our readers in the comments below.

Gig – Sharing – Youpreneur – [Ec]onomy by @SBSLEducSoltns

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by SJ Barakony | Featured Contributor 

 

‘Lean in … it’s growing daily.’

 

As this blog goes live, we find ourselves on a chronological cusp; it’s not just A New Year’s Eve/Day:  it marks an entirely new decade!

The 2020’s will bring us untold innovation which’ll make us do double-takes; one trend, though, that we can better understand since it’s been growing since ~ 2008 ?

 

A > It has multiple monikers:  Gig / Sharing / Youpreneur. 

 

All = synonyms for an independent workforce which’ll continue to improve day to day life, so long as we don’t stoke fear, assume, become too comfortable, or let corporate entities dictate the narrative.

Here’s a fundamental Q:

 

How can we entrepreneurs be trailblazers for our peer generation, those older, and, yes, younger, for this economic paradigm?

 

Gigs are Great

We’ve likely heard, or know someone who’s a ‘side’ hustler; this person’s also a side ‘gigger’.  She’s pursuing gig economy income, driven not by trading units of time for currency/dollars & cents; rather, via representing a product/s, service/s, &/or sharing her specialized knowledge in/to the marketplace, earning $$ in return.

This infographic offers a flyover, showing how many ‘gigs’ are available, just via smartphone apps.

Yet, there is far more at ‘work’ here: Entire new business models have, and will continue to be formed. One recent example?  Click here.

The back to back [ ‘blue’ & ‘white’ collar ] industrial ages shall continue to be supplanted by gigs, although it will necessitate re framing, challenging 20th century assumptions, & being willing to exchange calculated risk for more time & financial flexibility.

 

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars . . . the house . . . the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

 

― Diane Mulcahy, The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want .”

 

Sharing = Collaborative = Interdependent   

‘Share & share alike ..’ – weren’t we told this by a doting parent(s), or maybe a primary school teacher at some point?

However, as we aged into adulthood, and started our business(es), we might’ve forgotten this sage advice. We either learned how to be dependent ( ‘employ’[ee] – to be used (utilized)) , and/or that we had to be a cowgirl, & do entrepreneurship all by ourselves, as an in-dependent.

Not so fast!  Sharing economic models enable us to rebuild trust with our peers, be inter-dependent, and find/leverage ways to collaborate & partner with others.

This visual is worth many words.

 

Multisided Platforms / ‘Matchmaker’ Economics

This new economic era is restoring and flat out creating new sparks of creativity that were lost in the very linear, centralized, & hierarchical industrial ages preceding it.

This terrific post will make you think; next time you grab your smartphone & search for an AirBnB, you’ll look at this research in a fresh way.

Matchmaker (‘ing) is worth trillions – it squeezes inefficiencies out of conventional producer/seller→ consumer/buyer bilateral relationships & builds bridges. It is beyond intriguing & sits squarely in this new [ec]-onomy.

 

What’s a “You” Preneur, anyway?!  

YOU ‘re worth far more than a rigid, pre-defined wage, salary, or compensation package. Shouldn’t your pay be aligned with the absolute value you deliver to your clientele, & not based on the usage of space & time ( = occupar / occupation ) ?

Most, if not all, entrepreneurial minded people reading this would say ‘absolutely!’

Thus, we’ve 2 words fused together, creating a combo which richly reflects the spirit, heart, & mindset of this new economic model:  YOU + [entre] preneur.

 

Overcoming …   

There are 5 (‘for the hand’) root issues which stand in the way of ‘giggers’ & ‘youpreneurs’ ‘sharing’ more & building a stronger entrepreneurial edifice in the 2020’s:

 

  • Our 125+ year old schooling ( not truly education ) tracks, ‘K-12’
  • Fear ( cynicism, unhealthy skepticism, & negativity )
  • A completely broken political system
  • The incumbent hierarchies

&

  • Comfort/familiarity

 

We can hurdle over the first by focusing on self-directing our education & loosening the grip of credentialed degree signaling ( esp if we have staff ); next, we can win out over fear by being faithful & focused; thirdly, how about turning towards local elections to drive grassroots transformation upwards to state/provincial &/or national/federal offices?

Fourth, be wise to what the ‘status quo’ says, and especially does. Often times, they’ll attempt to buy influence through the deeply flawed politics of today. Don’t let them; put your trust in your own small business & those of your peers. Lastly, don’t rest on your laurels or read your own press clippings. Always strive to sit in a learning zone.

 

Future = Free: IF we Choose

Many step up to ‘be their own boss’ ; yet, the promises heralded in transition tend to be lost in the haze of working harder, not smarter.

Freedom is such an overused word; for the purposes of this post, let’s frame it this way: It’s having many conscious choices always available to match with our  most irreplaceable asset, time.

The ultra flex & portability available in the gig/sharing economy is there for the taking. Lean into it!

 

Twitter ‘To-Do’s 

Youpreneur

Sharing Economy

Future Workforce

VisualCap

Suitcasepreneur

 

Let’s ‘future’ proof …

… your business(es).

Be unique & willing to unlearn what you were taught in a conventional classroom about economics & entrepreneurship.

 

A dozen things I’ve learned about …

6 Ghosts of Fear

 

… Multisided Markets

The Matchmakers 

 

Mutual Aid Societies & the Gig Economy

Rise of the Youpreneur

 

Read to Lead

25 Ideas …

 

Summing up … 

  • A major milestone is upon us!
  • A fundamental question …
  • Multiple monikers
  • Multisided & matchmaker
  • 5 challenges
  • “Free”dom
  • ‘Future’ proofing

 

Thank YOU for reading!

____________________________________________

Decoding the Concept of Influencer Activation by @shane_barker

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Decoding the Concept of Influencer Activation

Social media has become an indispensable part of our lives. People are spending more time than ever on their favorite social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and others.

With increased user activity on social channels, marketers are trying new ways to reach audiences on social media.

One of the easiest ways to do that is by using social media advertisements. However, people are no longer responsive to brands that blatantly promote their products without actually offering value.

So social ads alone aren’t enough to reach new prospects. That’s why influencer activation is becoming increasingly popular, with more brands using influencers to gain attention and trust.

What is Influencer Activation?

Influencer activation is a marketing initiative that leverages the power of social media influencers to endorse the products or services offered by a business.

Influencers are real people who have a loyal following of niche audiences. A recommendation from an influencer is a great way to build brand trust, engagement, and sales.

How to Start Doing Influencer Activation

Influencer activation helps you gain more exposure as a brand. Follow the below tips to start doing influencer activation:

  • Define and document the type of influencers that your business should hire and why.
  • Define your audience personas and select the right influencers who match the personas of your target audience. You can search for influencers on the world’s largest influencer marketing community, influence.co using your defined criteria.
  • Set clear terms and conditions in your agreement.
  • Your business values must match the ideals of the influencer.
  • Understand that every influencer is different. Avoid unrealistic goals.
  • Use proper tracking tools to measure the ROI from influencer activation campaigns.

Advantages of Influencer Activation

Influencer activation sets your brand in motion and helps to build authentic relationships with your prospects as well as existing customers. The advantages of influencer activation are:

1. Builds Authenticity, Trust, and Value

Influencer activation is one of the quickest ways to build brand awareness.

People trust the words of influencers more than ads. They take recommendations from influencers seriously. Influencers can also help to build positive sentiments about your brand and add more value to your business.

When you connect with influencers, you are actually connecting with their communities.

Advantages of Influencer Activation

Source

2. Generates Leads

With influencer activation, you reach niche audiences who are already looking for a service or product similar to yours. All you need is a positive recommendation from an influencer and people will start taking your brand more seriously. This will then result in an increase in the number of leads.

3. Increases Engagement

Brand publicity is not just about direct leads. You also need to improve overall engagement because engagement helps people to remember your brand. A business that stays in the minds of their customer sells more.

When influencers create and share content on your brand’s behalf, then people start to respond to it. Better engagement leads to more sharing and it expands the overall reach of your business.

4. Retains Your Customer Base

Always remember that your competitors are not sitting idle. They are always thinking of new and improved strategies to take your customers away. Working with relevant influencers helps ensure that you retain your existing customer base.

When people see that the person they follow is associated with your brand, they may feel less inclined to leave your for your competition.

5. Saves Money

Influencer activation is not as expensive as you might think. The best part of influencer marketing is that you can reach a niche audience at a fraction of the cost of regular social advertising.

Even smaller businesses or startups on a fixed budget can start working with micro-influencers. They normally charge less as compared to macro-influencers.

Advantages of Influencer Activation

Source

6. Fosters Innovation

Every influencer thinks differently. When you start working with one, you are actually fostering innovation. The influencer works with your content or sales team to produce innovative content and presents it before a niche audience.

Innovation is a great way to differentiate your business from your competitors and influencer activation does that for you.

7. Boosts SEO

Influencer marketing boosts your SEO efforts. Search engines take into account the popularity of a business while ranking sites. If your business is popular on social media,then it is an indirect signal to the search engines that your business is trusted by the people.

What’s Next?

Now that you understand the concept of influencer activation, start using the power of influencers in an innovative manner to reach your target audience.

Influencers not only attract customers but also help to convert them. They can help drive consumers further down your sales funnel.

They can also help you build long-lasting relationships with your customers. So, what are you waiting for? Get started and find influencers, collaborate with them, and reach your business goals now.

3 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Pinterest Traffic by @victoriahock

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by Victoria Hockaday | Featured Contributor 

If you haven’t noticed there’s A LOT of information online about how to grow your Pinterest traffic.

(Okay, who are we kidding, you totally noticed).

So, if you’re wondering “what are the most essential strategies to grow your Pinterest traffic?” I’ve got you covered!

Here’s 3 surefire ways to grow your Pinterest traffic fast, so you can grow your blog traffic and email list.

Ready to rock and roll?

pinterest traffic

1. Niche Down Your Profile

Pinterest will try to do everything it can to determine what your Pinterest niche is based on your profile and your behaviour.

For example, the pins that you pin to your boards inform Pinterest about the type of pinner you are. Similarly, the names of the boards that you include on your Pinterest profile will let Pinterest know the types of content you’re creating.

But to give Pinterest more information about your profile, you want to niche down to blow up.

Here’s how to start: Think about what your ideal audience and what they want to learn from you. What topics do you love to talk about? What results have you created for you or others? Pick 2-4 blog categories that you’re going to write about and create a Pinterest profile with your ideal customer in mind.

2. Research Keywords

Most people believe that Pinterest is a social media site where women look at recipes or interior design.

But Pinterest is more of a search engine than it is a social platform. And over the last few years it has become a marketing powerhouse for bloggers small business owners to grow their website traffic and make money blogging.

Here’s how to start: Use the Keyword research tool to find the keywords that your ideal audience is typing into the search bar. For example, if your niche is website design, then this is likely to be one of your brand keywords. When you’re onboard with your keywords use them throughout your bio, pin descriptions and board descriptions.

3. Create Fresh Content

I found out the hard way that Pinterest isn’t as simple as creating an account and sporadically adding pins to it when I felt like it.

Instead, I learned that to be considered as a “high-quality pinner” on Pinterest I have to add fresh content to Pinterest. So, I made it my number on priority to create fresh content on my blog and update Pinterest with my blog posts.

Here’s how to start: Commit to writing at least one blog post per week (or at least bi-weekly). Once you get into a groove of creating content and publishing it on Pinterest, you’ll see a spike in Pinterest traffic before you know it.

10 Qualities to Look For When Hiring a Marketing Manager by @lucyrk78

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by Lucy Render-Kaplan | Featured Contributor 

In an industry where the only constant is evolution, how do you know what to look for when hiring a Marketing Manager? If you were looking for an accountant, you would know to look for someone with accounting skills and who went to school specifically aiming to work in accounting, but very rare are marketing managers who possess an actual degree in marketing. And that’s ok! Because I believe that if people have these 10 traits, they will be just as good (and usually better) than someone that spent four years or more studying what I have been focused on learning for the past 16.

  1. Boundless Enthusiasm: Great marketers have passion for what they do oozing out of them. You never doubt they love this field, and you will never hear them say “God. Work is SO boring.”
  2. Creativity: Great marketers don’t do things “the way it’s always been done.” It isn’t that we’re trying to reinvent the wheel, but I’d argue that we’re always trying to look at that wheel in a way that no one else ever has before. And we can make you look at it that way, too. Great marketers are willing to take risks with what some may call a “crazy idea.” They aren’t afraid to fail because the WIN feels so good when those ideas connect. I’m willing to bet these people have notebooks full of ideas scribbled down, and at the ready wherever they are and ideas might come.
  3. Loyalty: I might not drink the beverage that I worked on when starting my marketing career, and in fact, I actually drink their main competitor daily, but I go on auto-pilot if I hear someone say something about that first brand that isn’t true. Great marketers don’t just work for a brand, they live that brand. That brand’s products or services are part of their daily lives.
  4. Know Their Audience: I always think of the line “I’ve made a living out of reading people’s faces…” when I think about what I do. You generally only have a couple of seconds to grab someone’s attention, and great marketers need to be able to tailor their message (I hate the word ‘pitch’) to differnet people so it makes sense to THEM. For example, I’m not going to try to sell someone in their 80s on the benefits of coconut water for strenuous workouts, nor am I going to talk about why a mental focus supplement is great for students, to a mom with 2 kids in her grocery cart and a very pregnant belly.
  5. Adaptable: No matter how much you plan, or how good you are, problems arise. Plans change. New legalities pop up. A great marketer can pivot and adapt and switch their entire focus at any point in any project. They don’t get too tied into one plan.
  6. They are Great Listeners: If you marketers are anything like me, you love to watch people. Find out what they like, where they go, what they do. What their habits are, what makes them NEED a product…We know what questions to ask to help draw people out and allow us to get to them, when we begin as total strangers.
  7. They’re Great Sales People: It might be a cliché, but it’s repeated so often for a reason. Great marketers CAN truly “sell ice to an Eskimo.” And they can get that sale before the Eskimo even realizes he needs ice. If you ever come across someone in marketing that hasn’t made sales, or thinks they don’t or won’t need to, move along! If sales puts items on a shelf, it’s the marketers that take it off, and that is because they know how to communicate clearly and show people WHY they need your product or service.
  8. See The Big Picture: It’s so easy to get bogged down in details, who needs to go where, looking at analytics, becoming overly focused on wanting to attach the brand to a specific event…it can be hard to take a step back, but we need to. The overall goals of the company must always be top of mind, and our first thought when deciding what to get involved with, what can wait, and what we can pass on.
  9. Storytellling: You definitely want someone that can tell great stories that not only draw people in, but are able to relate to. To get people excited about and choose your company over any others in the same category, you need someone that can get people to FEEL deeply and emotionally connect with the stories you are telling. You want someone that can get people to see themselves already using your brand in their lives, not just thinking it might be fun to try once. You want consumers, both potential and existing, to see themselves in the brand stories you’re marketing manager is telling.
  10. Team Player: Great marketers know they don’t work alone. Marketers best work is not born out of a boardroom or silo. Sales, Finance, Logistics…marketing is dependent and must work well with all of the employees in these various divisions. Teamwork is KEY to great marketing, and great marketers are humble enough to realize this.

I wish Top 10 Lists went to 11. There are so many other qualities that great marketers possess. What are some you don’t see on this list? Tweet me @lucyrk78 and let me know!

Mompreneurs Educating Kids by @SBSLEducSoltns

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So, you’re a mom with a business …  

… & you want them to understand your why . 

 

Aspirations

 

You’re already the CEO, COO, & CFO of your household. Yet, you desire to create a legacy, being remembered as more than just a mom-preneur who provides a product/s, service/s, or specialized knowledge to the marketplace.

So you resume the role of primary educator; you’re on a mission to educate your kids on why you don’t have to go to “work” like their friends’ moms do.

Yet, the school that you’ve entrusted to prepare them for adulthood isn’t cutting it when it comes to discussing business principles & your value system; so, what should you do?

 

Values & principles 

 

How would you answer?

“What values and principles led you to become a mom-preneur?”

 

  • Autonomy ( I like to make my own hours, pick my own clients )

  • Mastery ( my prior experience in “Y” industry is enough to be confident in my abilities )

  • Purpose ( I am driven to be a difference maker on “Z” ; I am ‘called’ to serve “X” )

  • Maximizer ( I’m not paid enough by a 3rd party to do all that my family wants  )

  • Independent ( my personality & social style align with owning a business )

  • Quality time ( I needed to spend more hours w/ family )

 

Family Culture 

As someone who embraces entrepreneurship & leadership/professional development, you might be familiar with the late Peter Drucker’s attributed quote about culture.

Having defined culture, you can better explain your decision to be an entrepreneur as not only best for yourself, but one made in the best interests of the family; including your child(ren) will enable them to buy in 

Congratulations!! You’ve taken a huge step in ensuring that they will better understand if a client calls on you at an inopportune time or if you have to adjust the family’s budget due to ups & downs in your income.

 

Family Vision

Many entrepreneurs choose to start a business based on where they see themselves going after leaving the nest of an employer = a wise step!

While Stephen R. Covey has passed, the shadow left by his legacy is so large, he’ll always be remembered for his 8 habits

 

Of them, Habit 2 [ ‘Begin with the End in Mind’ ] is foundational.

 

“Covey says that all things are created twice: first, the mental conceptualization & visualization and a second physical, actual creation.

Becoming your own creator means to plan & visualize what you’re going to do and what you’re setting out to accomplish & then go out and creating it.”

 

Apply this truth to your household; then answer these Success Law questions …

 

Why are you in business?

Do you have multiple income streams?

What dreams have you put on the shelf due to a previous decision to trade time for money from an employer?

 

Insightful Infographic 

 

How mompreneurs balance …

–  h/t to @99designs for this –

 

Visuals tell more of a story than words alone, so your impressions gleaned after studying this one will further aid in self-educating your kids.

 

School falls Short

I often advise mompreneurs of this fact; it’s a somewhat inconvenient truth:

When you send you kid(s) to a conventional school, private (secular or faith based), or public (default option), the curricula, testing, mindset, & counseling offered for ‘careers’ almost always fails to include entrepreneurship.

 

Fill in the [Swiss Cheese] Holes

Think of a “C.A.R” when it comes to addressing the above …

 

C = Complement

 

Find mentor(s), online curricula, &/or teach your kids from your own experience about business to parallel what schooling doesn’t include.

 

A = Add on

 

If your kids are in their late teens & about to/or have graduated from HS, please discuss all 12 options besides college with them.

Or, if you truly want her to get a degree, ask pointed questions of the university re: if they teach about the “E” pathway

 

Bypass the holes; find or carve a clear path

The final letter in the acronym is a bypass …

 

R = Replace

 

Creating an end-around to conventional school can be done through a co-op w/ other parents ( your own school startup ) , or personalizing your kid(s) education by home schooling.

Both of these offer far more flex to include business concepts rarely, if ever, taught in default classrooms.

 

Dealing with Doubters

 

As Rocky passionately shared, the world [of entrepreneurship] certainly isn’t all ‘sunshine & rainbows’ …

… so for those fellow moms in your neighborhood who still “go to work” for a paycheck, for a spouse who isn’t quite on board with your business, or maybe you haven’t yet ‘closed the deal’ with your kid/s …

What do you do to quell cynics & critics?

There are many answers; I’d first encourage you, as someone who has built thousands of business relationships, to be the best version of yourself.

Simplistic? Yes, however, true leadership isn’t complex; it begins w/self.  Remind yourself of this by reading the inscription on the tomb of the Bishop at Westminster Abbey.

 

Suggested Follows 

 

The MomPreneur

 

majestapatterson

 

Mompreneurs in Heels

 

Mompreneur Show

 

Inspiring Mompreneurs

 

Top 40 Mompreneurs

 

In the pursuit of knowledge 

I encourage you to review the additional resources below. A blog of this length leaves the door slightly ajar; please empower yourself to kick it wide open!

 

10 Mompreneurs Who Are Crushing It

 

Mompreneur Magazine

 

The 25 Best Business Ideas …

 

Mompreneur $

 

10 Inspiring Tips …

 

Mompreneur Media

 

In short

  • Moms with businesses & kids are trailblazers
  • Your values & principles
  • Culture into Vision
  • School needs supplements …
  • … or choose a parallel path
  • Staying the course
  • Add’t resources for you, Mrs. Mom-Preneur

 

Thank YOU for reading!

____________________________________________

Why Data Privacy in Social Media is Much Ado About Nothing by @the_mom_store

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Photo by malcolm garret from Pexels

by Surbhi Bhatia | Featured Contributor

I am sure many eyebrows are raised while reading this title, to the extent, it can draw strong negative reactions from advocates of data privacy. However, I truly believe, social media is a tool people use in full awareness to share their views, experiences, opinions, pictures, family updates, career updates and most importantly to network with those who they would not necessarily pick up the phone and call. It bridges the hesitation one would have in reaching out to a friend who they haven’t spoken to in years, or an ex-colleague they want to catch up with.

Here are 6 key reasons why data privacy is a not such a massive issue as it is being played out today:

People are fully aware of what they are sharing on social media and want to be appreciated for it

There are two kinds of people on social media- the ‘Content Creators’ and the ‘Content Consumers’. The first group are typically the content creators, they are extremely active in sharing updates about their personal or professional lives, sharing and re-sharing content and actively engaging on other’s posts. The second group are the content consumers, the passive ‘consumers’ who like to scroll through their feeds and understand what is happening in other’s lives, consuming all the content created by the first group. They comment or ‘engage’ when their interest is piqued, but mostly remain silent spectators. In the first group, people want to have the maximum likes, comments and appreciation, the ones with the most engagement become ‘Influencers’, while the second group derives information, ideas from the first, and mostly become the ‘Followers’. Both these groups are on social media with active accounts with one reason – sharing and consumption of content, and are fully aware that they are either sharing their personal details or are aware that they know the nitty gritties of practically a stranger’s personal life.

Networking on Social Media Helps People Grow Personally and Professionally

Social media is another great refuge when people need help both personally and professionally. Whether it is community support groups for alcoholism, or fighting cancer, or battling depression, people are sharing personal information and experiences to help others in their journey while having an impact through similar stories which people may otherwise may have been deprived of in their close knit family and friends. Similarly, there are professional groups  for seeking opportunities, networking with similar entrepreneurs or sharing interests such as travelling, hiking and diving. Community groups on social media are thriving with information sharing and support for like minded individuals. Here too, personal data is being shared to help others in their respective journeys, while being fully aware of the details that the other person may have access to.

Social Media uses Analytics to Target Relevant Campaigns for Products and Brands You are Otherwise Searching For

This is one issue which a lot of detractors talk about- how social media companies are using personal data to help brands target their ads towards them. First of all, lets step back and think what is wrong with it? Here is a consumer who is active on social media and is looking for interesting products and brands. On the other side is a brand, who is looking for early adopters, smart consumers and is willing to shell out money to aid the discovery process of its brand and products. Once again, people who click on ads and make purchase are not being forced to do so, they are again fully aware of the purchase they are making. In turn, young and old brands alike, benefit from reaching the masses by engaging with the customers. We at, The Mom Store, have also aggressively used social media to engage with our customers on a daily basis, and they are always more than happy to respond.

Every Social Media Tool has Privacy Settings that People Can Choose According to Their Preference

Everyone on social media today has the reins in their account and privacy settings to share as much as they like and consume as much as they need. They can choose to make a Public post, or they can choose to remain within friends or closed groups. If even within their friends group, they want to alienate certain groups or people, they have the ability to do so. Considering all social media platforms ask for a declaration that the user may be above 18 years of age, people who consent to it are adults and are aware of the extent of information they are sharing and are choosing to accept friends, who they know would have access to.

Anyone Can Report Content which is Violent, Profane, Political, or Communal towards any community

It is true that in a large platform with billions of users, content which is religious, political, violent or profane gets shared with the intent to inflict harm on a group of people or communities. All social media portals today have built safeguards to prevent this from happening, whether it is in the form of keywords, blocking certain incendiary profiles and constantly consuming feedback from other consumers who routinely ‘Report’ such content to the tools.

Fear of Third Party Apps Using Information Available on Social Media without Consent

There have been incidents where third party apps have gained access to private information and shared or monetized it without consent of the people. Yes, this can happen, and individuals can be profiled for political or social reasons, but this access has been granted to the third party apps, intentionally or unintentionally by the individual themselves. Every app download requests access to Gallery, to Camera, to Contacts, to Location, to any other information on a user’s personal profile or device and is usually mindlessly ‘Allowed’ due to lack of understanding of the impact it may have. People often sign into third party sites using ‘Social Logins’ providing a plethora of unguarded personal information instead of creating an account which will actually limit information to just an email id and name. Thus, awareness of the fine print, and repercussions of providing personal data so readily is also something that people need to be careful about. At some point, they themselves had unwittingly consented their data to be shared. Social media can create more warnings before people are about to sign in, or share profiles, but finally it is upto them to consent.

Any platform has givers and takers which form the equilibrium of information sharing. If indeed, people wanted to be so private and not share information, they would not be on social media in the first place. The success of the platforms and their consumers that run into billions of people, are proof enough that people find this useful. They want to hear and be heard, they want to like and be liked, and they want to notice and be noticed. Today, the world is small thanks to social media, hardly anyone is a click away, they can choose to connect or respond, or they can decline. The choice is theirs. So, Let’s Keep Calm and Carry On!

5 Secrets For Creating More Shareable Content by @lucyrk78

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Photo by Designecologist from Pexels

by Lucy Render-Kaplan | Featured Contributor 

Social media has already done more for marketers and sales teams than traditional marketing can do, and in less than half the time. Not only can social drive people to your website (or any landing page you’d like them to visit, really!) but it exposes you to people around the world who would never have found your company. Sounds amazing, right? We know! But it also requires new skills for marketers. With hundreds of thousands of articles, videos, photos and other methods of content shared to social media platforms every minute, how do you actually break through and GET those people around the world to even see what you’re putting out?

We’re here to share the secret: the key to getting noticed on social media and gain the attention of your target audience is to create shareable posts.

Here are just a few of our tips to get you started:

  1. Create content with a specific audience in mind.

Marketers used to have to create nameless personas of their target audience. Today, we can use real, breathing people and not constructs! All it takes is a bit of social listening to learn the pain points your business solves. You will also want to employ Google Analytics. There, you can learn more about your audience like demographics, content preferences, what platforms they spend the most time on, etc.

Keep in mind: if ALL you post is information about your company, you are going to have a hard time building and nurturing relationships with your current and potential consumers. You don’t want to talk AT these consumers, you want to engage WITH them.

That’s not to say you that you can never talk about and promote your business. You have to do that. Just make sure you’re posting about other things as well, and are sharing posts from people within your target audience (when relevant). People aren’t interested in a sales pitch article all the time. Instead, we urge you to become a member of your target audience. What would YOU want to read or learn more about? Write that. Write something that helps people and your audience is more apt to share that useful post with their other communities.

  1. User Generated Content (UGC)

Getting customers involved in creating content is one of the best ways to ensure your content will be shared. Not only will you get photos and videos and testimonials to use and repurpose, this type of content increases authenticity almost immediately.

A company can tell someone how great their products are, but when a friend tells you how great a company’s products are, you are way more apt to trust them and even purchase from that same brand.

According to Adweek, user-generated content results in 29% higher web conversions and 92% of consumers turn to people they know for referrals above any other source. Hard to deny that UGC doesn’t guide people ready to make final purchasing decisions!

  1. Add Social Media Buttons & A Call-To-Action

Don’t you find that the most obvious answers are often the most overlooked?! A super easy way of making your posts shareable is by ensuring it’s relevant to your target audience. This will motivate them to share the people in their communities, on their social platforms and with their family and friends.

Make it easy for them to share. Always add social media buttons to the original piece of content. It doesn’t matter the medium – blog, podcast, video…the buttons should be easily found to anyone looking at the content can find them immediately.

You can add these buttons alongside your content, at the top of the article or at the very bottom. You can even design these buttons in a way that as readers scroll down the page, the button follows them dynamically.

Along the same line, you can simply ask your reader to share the content! You already know that content needs a call-to-action. Create a CTA to drive the reader to share your content. The easiest place to do this is at the end of the post. These CTAs can be clever phrases, or simply a “Book now.” If readers like what they have just read or watched, they’ll share. Especially with a tiny nudge.

  1. Tie Into Emotion

If you’re like us, you’ve definitely sent a tweet saying “I’m not crying. You’re crying.” With a hashtag to reference a commercial that just aired. Or a blog post. Or a tweet. The most successful marketing sparks strong emotional reactions within your communities. The more we research, the more we see that emotions like happiness, sadness or anger tend to engage the most people leading them to share a piece of content.

  1. Create Incentives for Sharing Your Content

People like free stuff. And they like to win things and be acknowledged as having won. So create super easy contests, encouraging social shares. Don’t overthink these – a content like this can be as simple as a Tweet with a photo that relates to your business and says, “We will pick a random person at 2pm Thursday, CST that has followed these TWO steps to win one month free at ____! 1. Follow (@yourbusiness) 2. Retweet this tweet.” For Twitter, it’s relatively easy to track shares because all you have to do is count retweets.

 

What types of content do YOU find works best for your business?

 

How to Digital Market your Start-up to Success by @the_mom_store

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by Surbhi Bhatia | Featured Contributor

Planning to start-up a new business but not sure how to market it and acquire your first customers? While the initial few months can be challenging to build customer trust, brand value and go operational, social media can be a great tool to help you jumpstart your initial customer acquisition journey.

 

Go Live on Social Media Even Before the Launch

I love to call this ‘Product-less Marketing’ because you start subtle marketing even before the launch and this can be a real game changer. Set up your Instagram handle and start doing ‘Teaser’ posts. Give hints on what your product/service is about and introduce a few guessing games to increase interaction and build suspense. Have a countdown to the launch to get people excited. Also, start following influencers from your TG (target group). Understand their behavior, interaction and engagement tools they use as well as start following their followers. By the time you reach your launch date, you would have a solid set of followers who would be following and eager for your launch

 

Be Close to your First Customers and Get Them to Share their Stories on Social Media

After your launch, personally interact with your first customers, and incentivise them with gift cards and freebies to share their social media stories through their personal handles. This will have a double impact- they would come back to buy from your store again with the gift card or share it with a friend or relative which would lead to a subsequent purchase. In addition, the stories shared by them will attract their followers, and can easily be reposted by you to share positive testimonials. You could also post these testimonials on your website and request customers to write a blog to review the product too!

 

Try Out Network Marketing

Many great companies have used this tried and tested technique to gain more customers. Simply reach out to your existing customers and ask them to refer 10 (or any number appropriate) more customers using a customized discount link or coupon code that would get them store credits for every conversion. Many businesses like Uber, Yelp, Avon etc. have acquired customers through such referrals. This will also let you know who your biggest cheerleaders are!

 

Get Some Influencers on Board

Start with Influencers in the range of 10k-30k followers on Facebook, Instagram and similar portals who are willing to do a post for you in return for a ‘barter collaboration’. This basically means that they will promote for your product for free on their feeds, do a story and a post listing out its features. This is a very popular method to gain eyeballs today and ‘Influencing’ is a full time job for many social media enthusiasts who have garnered thousands of followers through continuous engagement and activity.

 

Be Present Everywhere on Social Media Channels

Create your profile on every leading social media channel- Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest and Youtube. However, ensure that the users on each of these platforms differ distinctly and even consume the information differently. Hence, make sure that you are adding unique, differentiated and relevant content on each of these channels.

 

Do SEO right from Day 1

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is critical to start ranking on search engines and increase the organic traffic to your website. While this will take painstaking efforts and time to develop, make sure you make your website SEO friendly from day 1. Use Alt-texts for all images, create good and useful content, market your website through blogs etc. Usually companies start focusing on it after a few months when they exhaust the initial marketing capital, but getting it right from day 1 can be a real game changer and show results when you need them!

 

Social Media Ads and Promotions

The best way to build brand awareness digitally is running sponsored ads on social media portals like Facebook. Since Facebook now owns Instagram, just one sponsored ad on Facebook can have your product placement across channels- Facebook Story, Facebook Feed, Facebook Messenger, Instagram posts and Instagram Stories. This can be a very useful brand building exercise introducing customers to your brand and getting them familiar as well as draw traffic to your website which could result in potential sale. One thing to be very careful while running these ads is to choose your audience carefully. Facebook allows you to not just choose the demographics, but also interests, and thus you should be aware of what interests your TG are likely to have to run a successful ads campaign.

 

When I started out my entrepreneurial journey at The Mom Store, we were able to acquire customers quickly through an aggressive presence on social media (both paid and organic) and our continuous efforts to provide a great experience to our customers. Even today, one year on, 50% of our website traffic comes through social media of which 70% is organic traffic leading from our posts about our products or our customer stories!

5 Ways Brands Can Make the Most Out of Instagram Stories by @lucyrk78

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by Lucy Render-Kaplan | Featured Contributor 

Instagram stories can be gold for marketers looking to reach a higher number of people on one of the fastest-growing social platforms. Stories keep viewers on the platform longer, meaning that brands have the opportunity to keep a captive audience on their page longer. Not only that, but Stories beat the dreaded Instagram algorithm! This is because they appear on feeds in chronological order. Engagement rates are higher and are seen by more people than photos and videos posted to your Instagram feed, so you’re missing out if you’re not already creating Stories.

Here are some of our tips on how to best take advantage of Instagram Stories:

  1. Polls

Users can add interactive polls to their Stories. This is a great way to get your audience more engaged and hear their thoughts on any topic. Do you want to launch a new product? Or are you looking at choosing between two possible flavors for an existing product? Throw up a poll and get your target audience to weigh in.

  1. Instagram Takeovers

These are great for growing your following quickly. You can either take over another Instagrammer’s account, or have an influencer take over your account for a short period of time. (we recommend under 24 hours). This is a great way to work with another influencer where you both can benefit and expand both of your audiences. Make sure to choose your influencer carefully – align with someone that works in your niche and will help contribute to your overall marketing goals. Done well, it will build authenticity and connect you to a whole new set of followers who then will engage with your brand.

  1. User Generated Content

Along the same lines of Instagram takeovers, you can increase engagement and followers by utilizing UGC (user generated content). When people mention your brand, you can hit “Add to your story” and post their content in your Stories. This way you can mention your followers and make them feel part of your brand story. People like to be acknowledged and a simple tag of their profile in your story can go a long way.

  1. Repurpose Your Blog

The best thing about blogs is that you can find ways to share the same content in a myriad of ways. Instagram Stories offer you a great opportunity to utilize blog posts and turn them into little mini articles. The most obvious examples here would be how-to articles and recipes. You can break them down into a few slides that you can visually display with voiceover or text layover in your stories.

This is easy to do.

First, choose your topic. Then use Canva or another graphic design app to create the images to accompany your Story. Then, upload the images in sequence and your story is created! Don’t forget to include a call to action at the end, to truly engage your audience. It’s always important to let people know what you would like them to do next. Perhaps it’s visiting your website – utilize the swipe up feature to take viewers there directly once they’ve watched your Story.

  1. Create Exclusive Offers

If you are looking for sales, Instagram Stories can move consumers through the purchasing funnel quickly. Here’s our secret tip: Create a story that has a special offer. Add photos or videos clearly showing what the offer is and let viewers know that in 24 hours, when this story disappears, so does the offer. When people feel that they have to act fast to get something, it intrinsically increases the value of the offer. Add a CTA (call-to-action) within the story letting people know to visit the link in your bio to claim the offer or you can have viewers swipe up to a landing page where they will claim the offer.

 

There are as many ways that brands and marketers can use Instagram Stories to their advantage as there are people using them. These are just the tip of the iceberg to get your creative juices flowing! How likely are YOU to interact with or be motivated by other’s Stories? Do you check for new Stories regularly? What brands have you seen making the most of Stories?