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Social Media Trends to Watch For in 2019 by @donnaamos

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Social Media Trends

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Social media is here to stay in a big way. One of the best ways for businesses to connect with a target audience is to maintain an active presence on social media channels. The era of, “My business is open, come and see me” is long over. Now, savvy business owners know they must go where consumers are and establish a relationship. Social media is THE place to do that, easily and relatively cheaply.

Therefore, as you embark on planning your social media marketing strategy for 2019, get on board with these important trends. They either gained popularity or became firmly established during 2018, and will play a vital role in how you connect with your audience in the coming year.

A “Pay to Play” Strategy

In the early days, companies could fully expect that 16% of their followerswould see their Facebook updates. By the end of 2018, that reach had plummeted to about 6% or less. Other social media platforms have followed suit. The day or organic reach has ended. Social media platforms will not give away what they can reap a huge benefit from – your followers. Now, you must pay to play.

Now, in order to reach your target audience on any social media channel, you must invest in sponsored posts, boosted posts, and social media ads. Fortunately, social media advertising is one of the most affordable means of marketing available. If you handle your own keyword research and audience targeting, Social media marketing is much more affordable than pay-per-click advertising.

Video is the Preferred Media of Most Users

Now is the time to get on board with video marketing, if you haven’t already. According to research by Wyzowl, “97% of marketers say that video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service, and 76% indicated that it has helped increase web traffic and sales.”

That is easy to accept when we also realize that 95% of Internet users have watched explainer videos to learn more about a product or service, and 81% have bought a product or service as a result of watching a company’s advertising video. No other form of media can boast these high use and conversion percentages.

Video is the absolute best way for a company to put a face to their business. It enables prospects and customers to get to know who leads and works in a business. Video gives businesses an opportunity to show not only what they do but also “who” they are. In our current climate where users seek a personal connection, this is a critical factor.

The Rise of ‘Live’ Video

Live-streaming will continue to emerge as a powerful way to engage people on social media. According to statistics compiled by Go-Globe, two-thirds of all internet traffic in 2017 was streaming video. By 2020, 82% of internet traffic is expected to be video content. And most of that will be live streaming. The interactivity of live video makes it a powerful tool for marketers to engage with their audience and strengthen the relationship between a brand and its followers.

The authenticity of ‘going live’ is a key factor that audiences want, as it helps build trust and loyalty with your company. Even if problems arise when you are ‘live,’ followers are likely to understand that and it may even further strengthen their trust in your company, as only authentic content leaves room for genuine mistakes.

Quality Long-Form Content

Word count isn’t everything when it comes to ranking high on search engines like Google, but SEO experts agree that long-form content can give you an edge. Users and search engines alike want to see high-quality content of more than 1,000 words, and we see that such content consistently outranks articles with 500 words.

Therefore, more publishers are requiring writers to submit articles over 1,000 or 1,200 words, and more company blogs are beginning to embrace similar long-form content. These comprehensive articles that are rich with information and insight, will go far to both attract readers and give Google and other search engines a reason to rank them more favorably.

Building Community

Building a community in social can help you to build trust with your followers. Groups on LinkedIn and Facebook are being encouraged on both platforms. And once you begin building that following you have to immerse yourself and be engaged.

Using hashtags in Twitter and Instagram can help you to find conversations that your community are having and allow you to join in.

Communities can also help to segment your audiences and customize your messaging. By the way, building community is the perfect way to build your personal brand and can be the beginning of influencer marketing!

Personal Branding

Particularly for small businesses, putting a real, human face to a brand name helps to build loyalty. A brand that’s more relatable, and has the human element, naturally garners more trust, and trust is essential for building relationships. Many companies have used the tactic of promoting their brand by promoting the business owner.

His or her face essentially becomes the brand, closely associated with the company logo. He or she personifies all that the company is about, or at least what they wish to portray. By enabling your audiences to get to know the character and expertise of company leadership, your business can strengthen its brand reputation.

What other important social media trends do you see emerging for 2019? Share your thoughts and insights with our readers in the comments below.

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How the LinkedIn Algorithm Works by @donnaamos

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linkedin algorithm

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

When you visit LinkedIn or the LinkedIn app, you see your homepage feed. This page acts very much like the Facebook feed, where you see updates from your friends or Pages you follow. However, your LinkedIn feed does not show every post from your entire network. It only shows content that LinkedIn judges to be relevant to you. You can, of course, use the setting at the top right of the page to see posts based on recent activity instead of relevance. 

That’s because LinkedIn has implemented a process for content distribution across its network that utilizes four filters, in order to reduce spam and/or inappropriate content. If you include LinkedIn in your content marketing strategy, you need to understand how the LinkedIn algorithm filters your posts and chooses whether to show them or not. 

Filter #1 Quality Level

Every time you post any type of content, the LinkedIn algorithm judges it to be spam, low quality, or quality. In a blog post describing the strategies used to keep the newsfeed relevant, Director of Engineering, Rushi Bhatt explained: “Our online and nearline classifiers label every image, text, or long form post as “spam,” “low-quality,” or “clear” in near real time.

Filter #2: Level of Engagement 

If your content passed the initial round, it appears in the LinkedIn feed temporarily. This is when the LinkedIn algorithm watches and measures the amount and types of audience engagement your post earns. If your post is gaining likes, comments, and shares, you will likely pass this stage. However, there is no definitive number of likes, shares, or comments that determine a pass or fail. 

Filter #3: Your (and your Content’s) Credibility 

At this third filter, the LinkedIn algorithm will look beyond the content of your post and more at who you are to determine if your post should keep showing up in user feeds. According to Hootsuite, “This stage is also when the algorithm decides whether to ‘demote’ your content, sending it backwards in the queue for another chance at winning credibility. 

If your post looks ‘suspicious,’ but the algorithm doesn’t want to make a definitive call on it (giving you the benefit of the doubt), it will remain in the feed but not show very highly or very frequently.” Basically, LinkedIn looks at you and your network to determine whether or not this is a spam post and whether your network will find it valuable. 

Filter #4: Human Editors

It is at this point that human LinkedIn editors take a first look at your content. Up until now, only a small batch of people have been allowed to see and interact with your post. Most of the other determinations are made by LinkedIn algorithm bots that are preprogrammed to search for unpublicized factors. 

At this point, editors review your post to determine whether it should keep showing, if it should be included in a particular channel, or whether they can derive any takeaways from it for future algorithm tweaks and product development. As long as it keeps getting engagement, your post stays in the mix, continuing its algorithmic journey through the feed.

Here is a great infographic that details how the LinkedIn algorithm works. 

How to Optimize Your Posts for LinkedIn 

Follow these three tips to optimize your posts around the LinkedIn algorithm. 

  1. Create Great Content– Vary between text, images, videos, tips, opinions, quotes, and simple sharing links to other great content. Be sure all your content is optimized for mobile users, since about 60% of LinkedIn users access the platform on their phones.  
  2. Leverage the LinkedIn Bias– Since LinkedIn is a more professional-leaning social network, you should focus your posts around topics that LinkedIn admits a bias toward: 
    1. Career Helps
    1. Industry Relevance 
    1. Credible and Trustworthy Sources 
  3. Grow Your Network– A large network of followers spells credibility on LinkedIn, so use these tips to expand your network in 2019: 
  4. Ask all your employees to follow your company and set it as their workplace on their profiles.
  5. Follow influential people in your industry who are prominent on LinkedIn.
  6. Join and participate in relevant groups, sharing your content when appropriate.
  7. Comment on content relevant to your industry.
  8. Set up links to your LinkedIn page on your company website and careers page to encourage more relevant follows.
  9. Mention people when you post something and they’ll like or share if you’ve named them in your post. 

What are some other suggestions you have for optimizing your content to take full advantage of the LinkedIn algorithm and get your posts viewed? We’d love to hear your suggestions or ideas in the comments below. 

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Tools to Help You Find Content That Will Engage Your Readers by @donnaamos

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Content that engages

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Successful content marketing involves producing quality content that your readers want to read. If the most well-written piece you could possibly produce doesn’t resonate with your audience, it’s useless. While simply writing on topics relevant to your business niche seems adequate, it is really like shooting in the dark. You need to be writing on topics that relate to your business, but they must also be topics that your audience currently finds interesting.

To discover this, you must listen to your audience and see what interests them at the present time. What current topic is all the rage? What current event relating to your business or industry is causing a stir? Sometimes called news hijacking, this practice of following trending news is a great way to cash in on trending topics to attract readers and connections.

What I am NOT advocating is simply writing what everyone else is writing. Your content must still be fresh, original, and useful to your readers. That doesn’t come from parroting the same lines as everyone else. But you can discover trending or popular topics and write about them from your viewpoint, or demonstrate how your business or product can impact the conversation.

There are some great tools available that can make harvesting topics much easier for you. I’ll briefly highlight each one and provide some simple suggestions for how to use them effectively.

Solopreneur Connect

Solopreneur Connect is a great social media listening tool. It can help you listen to conversations that relate to your business or industry niche. You can read conversations on what your target audience needs and their problems. Solopreneur Connect can show you what interests your audience by allowing you to search for relevant keywords in conversations on different social media platforms.

To set up Hootsuite for listening to conversations:

  • Sign in to your Solopreneur Connect account.
  • Click on ‘search.’ You will see an option to setup –  keyword search.
  • Click on ‘Keywords’ and type as many keywords as you want to use. Type in one at a time and click on add after each.
  • You can then add a location if you want to do so.

Solopreneur Connect’s comprehensive social listening tools empower marketers to execute brand monitoring and analyze social data for marketing insights. Gather introspective, contextual insights to topics, hashtags and influencers relative to your mentions to find new and incremental marketing opportunities.

Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo is another tool that allows you to know what your audience is currently sharing. For example, I typed “writing” into the tool. The free version only allows users to see what is most popular by shares over the past year. The result was a piece about whether or not to use only one space after sentences from the Washington Post. Since May 2018 it has had 349.9k shares across all platforms. Pretty popular.

The paid membership allows for much more versatility, including what is currently being shared about your chosen keywords, even on each social media platform. It would be worth the cost, considering the other features included, to use this one tool to analyze what is currently being discussed in your industry niche.

Google Alerts

Another tool you can use is the Google alert tool. It is very useful. You can set alerts for your keywords and when such keywords come up, you will receive notifications in your email inbox.

For example, if you are in the writing niche and you want to know what is trending, you can create an alert for it using Google alert like this:

  • Type http://www.google.com/alerts into your browser
  • Log in with your Google account
  • Enter the keywords you want to monitor separated by commas
  • Click on options
  • Select how often you want to receive the alert. (choosing “as it happens” keeps you constantly updated)
  • Select the sources i.e. news, video, blog, etc. (selecting automatic covers all the sources)
  • Select the language, choose the region, and choose the number of results
  • Select the email where your alerts will be delivered
  • Click on create

Pretty soon, you will start receiving alerts in your inbox.

Answer the Public

With Answer the Public you enter the keyword you are interested in and it will return the phrases that actual users are typing into Google and Bing. The how, what, where, when, can, are, etc. If you know exactly what is being searched for you can provide the solutions that are being searched for. It’s perhaps one of the best but most underutilized sources of research for content ideas. Until now…

Now that you have some great tools to help, you can harvest topics and set priorities for writing content that resonates with your audience. This content will drive users to your site, and to your business.

What other audience listening tools do you like to use? Share them in the comments below.

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Why Write a Book for Your Business? by @donnaamos

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write a book

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Everyone seems to be writing a book these days. Moreover, every business consultant seems to be advising business owners of every type and industry to write a book. Is there really a need for more books about your industry expertise? Maybe not, but there is a need for YOUR book.

Books are no longer about information. Books are the new business card, an effective marketing tool, and your ticket into the higher leagues of credibility. Heck, books can even boost your website SEO. Books have become a valuable tool to grow your business prospects, value, and revenue.

Why write a book for your business? A book gains you the kind of attention that takes your business and personal credibility to new levels. Here’s how that works.

A Book Gives You Authority and Credibility

Writing a book on any subject establishes you as an authority on that subject. This gives you credibility in the eyes of the unpublished world. Only expert-level practitioners have the knowledge, experience, and savior faire to author their own book showcasing their expertise. In many ways, being the author of a book says more about you than a college degree. How many idiots skimp by at the bottom and graduate with a degree? If you write a book, you’d better know what you’re talking about.

Your book demonstrates that you have what it takes to complete the project. You can commit to something and follow through. You get things done. Hard things that are truly worthwhile and helpful to many people. Not only do you possess knowledge and expertise, you have risen from ordinary worker to a teacher of others. Your accomplishments are worth passing on to others, so they, in turn, can learn to become a success.

A Book Raises Your Visibility

Who are you? And how would I know anything about you? Unless I have availed myself of your products or services, I wouldn’t. You may have a name among your local clients or fellow businesses, but probably little beyond. Until you author a book that provides lasting value to readers concerning your chosen topic.

Then, you become that expert _________________ who wrote a great book on the subject. Now, people everywhere are aware of who you are and what you have accomplished. And this visibility creates even more visibility. When a media outlet wants a comment on something, who do they go to? The expert, right? And how do they know someone is an expert? Because they wrote a helpful book on the subject that people are finding useful.

Media interviews and articles, talk shows, podcasts, lecture halls, boardrooms, special events, and the list goes on. Popular media hosts never say, “My next guest just posted a cat video.” But how often do you hear, “My next guest has just published a new book that readers are finding supremely helpful when it comes to…” A book is the key that unlocks access to a wider audience.

A Book Helps People Find You

Everyone knows the largest search engine on the planet is Google. Most people know the second largest is YouTube. But do you know the third largest search engine? Amazon. As a matter of fact, Amazon is the number one search engine when shopping for products and services. Approximately 44 percent of all searches for consumer goods begin on the Amazon website.

When consumers want the best, they search for who “wrote the book” on the topic. Or at least who wrote a book. Who knows more about a topic than someone who authored a popular book on the subject? A book is a great marketing tool to build your brand and attract new clients.

Your Amazon book page also provides quality backlinks to your website. Your book has its own page on Amazon, which should definitely be linked to your company website. This tells Google algorithms that your site has a bit more authority than others, boosting your SEO.

A Book Creates New Revenue Streams

In business, they key to continued viability is creating multiple streams of revenue. Or as my grandfather used to say, never put all your eggs in one basket. What happens when one of your products or services becomes outdated or surpassed by newer, better techniques? Does your business take a hit financially? Yes; but if there are multiple sources of revenue, the hit can be more easily absorbed. That one product was not your solitary source of income.

A book can do this in several ways. You can, of course, make money from the sale of your books. How much and how often depends on many different factors. Nevertheless, selling a book that provides helpful information in your industry niche can earn you some money. Obviously, the more well-known you are as an expert in your field, the more books you are likely to sell. For most business owners writing a book for their business, don’t count on making large returns from selling your book.

What a book can open up is the opportunity for a new revenue stream. A book can lead to a podcast, which can be leveraged into a monetized communication forum for your industry. Your book led you to begin a podcast, and you grew that into a money-making venture in addition to your book and business. It happens more often than you may realize.

The book gains you recognition and authority in your field, and that can lead to speaking engagements, seminars, and even your own line of training courses, live or online. The book has opened the door, giving you access to more opportunities to demonstrate your expertise in different settings to people who are glad to pay for what you know.

The Sky is the Limit

Men and women everywhere are writing books for their business and using them to open up new opportunities for growth. Even if you are not an author, there are legitimate avenues you can pursue to help you produce a book with your name on the cover. Resources abound for learning how to write, or for getting your knowledge and ideas into print.

Why not take advantage of this powerful medium and boost your credibility, authority, visibility, and profitability? What was that? Your new book is coming out when?

 

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How to Use Facebook Live to Grow Your Business by @donnaamos

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Facebook live for small business

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Since being launched in April 2016, Facebook Live rose to overtake YouTube as the #1 video streaming service on the Internet. Facebook also has 2 billion monthly users as of June 2017. That’s more than any other social network. So, using Facebook Live to grow your business seems like a no-brainer.

Most businesses recognize the importance of video. By 2019 it’s anticipated that 80% of the Facebook news feed will be video. Perhaps you thought about using video in the past, but the high costs and complexity turned you against it. True, storyboarding, writing, shooting, and editing a professional video can be extremely costly.

That’s the beauty of Facebook Live video. All you need is a smartphone and an idea. The online marketing world is praising live video like crazy because of its simplicity and versatility. Opportunity can meet innovation at any moment to produce a live video stream to promote your brand in any number of ways. All on the largest social media platform available. And FREE.

 

Video Storytelling

The essence of all good marketing is storytelling, and that is the prime focus of video. Storytelling applies to any business or industry, no matter how large or small. Anyone can tell a good story. We tell stories all the time as we talk about our product or service and the people with whom we interact.

Four primary types of storytelling:

  • Informational: Drop knowledge bombs and tell people what you know.
  • Inspirational: Speak to the heart, stir emotion, and motivate others.
  • Entertaining: Engage with people, make them laugh or cry.
  • Experiential: Show people who you are, where you are, and what you are doing.

 

As you tell your story, remember these important tips:

 

Always Be Authentic

The hook of live video streaming is the connection with a real person. This doesn’t mean you don’t want a clear idea of what you’re doing or want to say. It does mean you show authenticity. Be real. Speak to the camera as you would speak to an individual in front of you. Reflect real emotions. If what you’re talking about upsets you, it’s OK to appear a bit upset. If you fumble a word or two, keep going. It’s live, remember? It’s supposed to be real and not completely scripted.

 

Engage with Your Audience

Another great hook with live video streaming is the ability to engage with your audience, and for them to engage with you. This is more than acknowledging when participants join the broadcast or comment. Ask questions for your audience to answer and interact with them as the video continues. The unscripted nature of live video is one of its huge drawing points, so capitalize on that and have fun.

The engagement doesn’t have to end when the video ends. Leave an offer at the end of the broadcast and include an engagement button on the post so viewers can get more information or simply connect with you. Leave the live post available on your Facebook feed for more users to view and engage with later.

 

Promote Live Events in Advance

Covering a live event for your brand is huge, and you want as many people watching as possible, so advertise the live video in advance. Set a time and location when you will be streaming live and promote it on every social media channel and your website. Invite local fans to come and be included in the live video audience.

Consider giving away some freebies to the live audience and allow one of them to choose a remote viewer to win as well. Encourage interaction from your streaming audience and share that with the live audience. This is especially helpful if you have regular online events, like auctions or product showings.

 

Brand Your Content

Always have a purpose in going live on video, and tie that purpose to promoting your brand. You can produce a moving live video session about the homeless in your city that engages thousands of viewers without benefitting your brand in any way. Always tie your video to your brand. What are you showing? Why? How does your brand connect to that event, project, or need?

As you tell your story, include the why. Why is your brand showing this? What makes it important? Why should viewers care? How can they connect your video to your brand? Live videos don’t always have to be about promoting your business; but they should always promote your brand values and showcase your brand.

Do you currently use Facebook Live in your business marketing efforts? What are some of your best tips for using it successfully? Share your suggestions and stories with our readers in the comment section below.

 

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Using Facebook Messenger to Increase Leads by @donnaamos

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Facebook messenger

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

In 2016, The New York Times published an article sharing with readers the surprising amount of time social media, specifically Facebook, consumes out of our day. Active users on Facebook and Messenger reached over 1 billion people and the average amount of time spent on these platforms is nearly an hour.

With users spending about 50 minutes a day using Facebook and Messenger, it’s a no-brainer that you want to leverage Facebook to gain customers and leads. To be successful, your business must change as its customers change. Time spent on mobile devices and social media networks is steadily increasing, so you need to be easily accessible and open to communication.

But recent publications indicate that it won’t be Facebook that’s dominating the marketing world in 2018. Instead, it will be the new ability to use Messenger as a channel to promote your business. Aside from the regular Facebook newsfeed, there are a few ways to also utilize the Messenger app to draw in new customers with your promotional tactics.

One-On-One Promotions

Now, not only can you can create an ad that appears on the Facebook newsfeed, you can take your ad to your audience with a one-on-one experience. You can personalize an ad with a custom message to your audience and choose a call-to-action. When your ad appears on the homepage of Messenger, potential customers are just a click away from chatting with you in real time.

Utilizing Chatbots

If you’re going to utilize Messenger to communicate with customers and clients, a chatbot may be just what you need. By using a Messenger chatbot, you can automatically reply to customers. Instant access and quick replies keep clients and customers happy, and keep them coming back with your excellent customer service. You can create a custom message that will automatically be sent to the customer, giving you time to get back to your computer or phone to reply.

Companies like Food Network and Whole Foods Market also use chatbots to help their followers find other interesting related content and articles. This opens up a new way to reach your audience and allows you to deliver personalized content – you now have a way to give your customers and clients an experience that you otherwise would not have before.

Convenience of Privacy

Taking advantage of the ability to instant message is not only convenient for your customers, it’s convenient for you. Messenger is also a great tool because of its ability to be more private. You can easily handle negative feedback or other matters privately at an instant without ever leaving the Facebook messenger app. It also allows you to keep track of and document all your conversations for quality control or to bring forward later on if they are needed.

Event Reminders and Updates

Another feature of Messenger that works well for marketing is the ability to engage your audience with events outside social media. Facebook users have the ability to sign up for events through Messenger. When they do, they will automatically be sent a reminder for the details of the event. In the days before the event, your customers may be notified and kept up to date about any new information.

This way of communicating updates about events proves more effective than traditional email updates. A study done by Hubspot noted the open rate for Messenger broadcasts was at 80% while the open rate for emails was only at 33%.

Collecting Customer Feedback

Since Messenger allows conversations to be kept for future reference, using data from Messenger chats can be a great way to create better ads that ensure you’re reaching the people you’re targeting. Your communication with customers can reveal a lot about the audience you’re trying to reach – struggles, desires, and wishes.

Messenger is a great place to get feedback and ask opinions. You can get a small piece of the conversations already going on in your customers’ lives. Being able to transform Messenger data into something real and substantial can help you better serve your customers. When you understand more about the people who are using your products or services, you have some great intel into what marketing tactics can help you most effectively reach your target audience and give your business a boost.

Comment-to-Messenger Function

An essential part of using Messenger to help you understand what customers want is the comment-to-messenger function, which allows you to auto-message anyone who comments on your Facebook posts. Instead of using an ad to create a promotion or produce a lead, you become invested – you are taking an approach that is relationship-oriented.

Now, not only can you gain context into the goals of your customers and clients, you have made a way available to have a sales conversation. Offers for products, deals, or special promotions have become relevant to them. Your advertisements aren’t random and they aren’t just considered spam, so your business has an even better chance of success.

The sky is the limit with interactive Facebook Messenger marketing. If you are ready to take it to the next level you might want to look into a service like ManyChat. How have you used Messenger to personalize your marketing efforts? Have you had success? What problems have you encountered, and how did you solve them? We’d love to hear your feedback. Share your comments below.

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Tips for Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator by @donnaamos

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sales navigator

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

It seems everyone is looking for ways to expand their brand and increase sales. With all the strategies and sales tactics available, it can be difficult determining which direction to go and what platforms are most useful in reaching your desired goal. LinkedIn has significantly expanded its outreach to help you succeed in your business. Although it may be easy to overlook this social media platform and the potential they hold, you will find it is useful, user-friendly, and results-oriented.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator has been designed with a multi-faceted approach, and will aid in whichever marketing strategies best fits your needs. If you are not familiar with this feature, LinkedIn has made it simple to explore and understand this beneficial product, as their business section features the highlights of Sales Navigator. This is outlined in the goal of targeting, understanding, and engaging business prospects. Additionally, they offer a free demo and free trial to play around with the options.

Don’t let the endless possibilities overwhelm you when you explore Sales Navigator. It may be easy to rush through, or get lost in the expansive selection of filters and tools. When using a valuable resource, a little planning can go a long way. Even if you are already seeing the benefits of Sales Navigator, you can always find ways to make it work even better for your business and sales with these tips.

A Little Planning Goes a Long Way

The first tip to using Sales Navigator is to start with some planning and set a strategy. This tool makes achieving sales incredibly attainable, but it does take some consideration on your part. The best feature is that this product can generate a tremendous amount of leads that you may not find anywhere else. The important part is to plan how you will sort and take advantage of these leads.

Regardless of your time using Sales Navigator, ensure that you have set a realistic lead criteria. Take some time to think through the ideal lead, start with generic qualifiers, then add more specifics to essentially have a few sets of criteria that would best fit your niche.

Use Filters to Your Advantage

Start with Top Filters to narrow down the leads that Sales Navigator will scan and produce. This is the time to play around with how specific you need to be to get the leads you are seeking. A top tip is to start with the basic filters and see what results you get back. If it is vast and you find you need to be more specific, employ the advanced filters to get the desired results.

Some of the top filters to adjust are keywords and geography. Keywords can fluctuate, and it may be helpful to look for synonyms of common keywords that are bringing quantity over quality. For advanced filters, you may want to narrow down to postal code and look at company type.

Utilize Your Resources

If you have felt frustrated or think there is more that Sales Navigator has to offer, you’re probably right. Often, it is easy to let limited time take away from all that a program has to offer, which leads to missed opportunity. Fortunately, LinkedIn has developed an extensive variety of resources for you to utilize within Sales Navigator.

The Learning Center  is an extensive set of resources developed to help users maximize what Sales Navigator has to offer. There are modules, webinars, video tutorials, eBooks, and simple guides to support your business and expand potential within Sales Navigator. The more time put into learning about what the program offers and how to best use the tools, the better leads generated and outreach you can have on LinkedIn.

Strategize Communication and Connections

A theme that LinkedIn has found strength in, is making connections through people, places, careers, companies, and interest. Sales Navigator draws heavily on this and makes using LinkedIn even more effective for generating leads, and the filters are such a benefit to streamlining an outreach. However, this tip moves away from having Sales Navigator do all the work.

Once the leads have been provided, it is on you or your liaison to prioritize and build on the connections made within LinkedIn. Although Sales Navigator has a private messaging option, it may not always be advantageous to rely on in-app messaging. It takes a little more time, but employing an excel spreadsheet and doing a little research can go a long way when it’s time to reach out and communicate with your generated leads.

It can certainly pay off to see if you have mutual connections and reach out to that person to the lead. This creates a more personal outreach and can make the person feel more comfortable or open to what you have to offer.

If you have no mutual connections, another tip is to do some research and send emails in addition to messaging through LinkedIn. For the right person, an email may generate a quicker response. This may end up being a bust, but it also may bring a higher response rate than only one type of outreach.

How have you found success using Sales Navigator? Please share your experience and any tips you’ve found to work to your advantage in the comments.

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Ways to Use Facebook Groups to Grow Your Business by @donnaamos

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Facebook Groups

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Facebook is ever-changing, as is how people engage and utilize the social media platform. From simply keeping up with family and friends, to making connections and getting thousands of followers, it is not always clear what someone’s intentions are. Facebook groups have greatly expanded as a way to make connections, get more information, and spread awareness. It seems there is a Facebook group for everything under the sun. Thus, there are a number of ways to use Facebook groups to grow your business and make your group stand out among the crowd.

Review Your Profile

First, it is always a good idea to review your own profile before trying to grow your business through groups. If you are seeking to make connections, spread information on your skills or a product you have to offer, you must realize you are representing that brand or product. Facebook allows us to show as much, or as little, as we want with privacy settings.

Before seeking groups or creating one, review your profile and figure out how you want to represent yourself. You can even employ an objection friend to review it for anything that may be offensive or prevent your success. This may require additional privacy settings, removing photos or tags that may deter a potential client or consumer if they don’t know your intentions.

On the flip side, you also don’t want to have your profile where people can’t see anything about you or present yourself as uninvolved on Facebook. If you count yourself an expert in something, you may want to strategically share informative articles or videos to your friends and followers.

Finding Groups to Join

Growing your business with Facebook groups can be fairly simple when you explore the public groups that relate to your business, and are open to join. Public Facebook groups are a great way to add to a conversation or thread, or create one yourself. It is important to review the page and especially the rules. Most groups have guidelines or expectations, and it is frowned upon to solicit business or spam the group. Be selective and intentional in what you post.

Additionally, reviewing the page and recent comments will prevent you from posting the same questions or ideas that someone else may have already shared. One item to be aware of in larger groups, is there may be an onslaught of people with similar skills or products, and it may not be as profitable to get lost of the shuffle.

On the flip side, smaller or closed groups may offer the clientele or sharing platform that you are looking to reach. With private groups, it is also important to follow the guidelines and expectations. Closed Facebook groups are private, and have requirements set by the administrator for joining. It is important to meet the criteria to be authentic and trustworthy.

For instance, they may have a group for a certain geographical location. Even if you are trying to branch out, you should be up front if you don’t meet their criteria. In the end, you could leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth if you are dishonest to get into an exclusive Facebook group.

Engage the Right Way

Regardless of the type of Facebook group you join, you want to engage with people the right way. Try to be warm and friendly, engaging with others in an authentic way in the group. Do not send unwanted messages or spam the group with products or unwanted information.

The best way to grow your business is to share useful information and build on the knowledge, skills, or products you can provide. Set yourself apart, and even invite connections to join a group you’ve started to learn more and gain more insight.

Start Your Own Facebook Group

After you’ve made connections and seen what other groups have to offer, you can look to start your own Facebook group to grow your business. This way to grow your business needs to be the most thought out and intentional use of a Facebook group. Starting your own group should come after some time spent in other groups, adding to the conversations and also seeing how you can set your group apart.

Depending on your goal and product, decide what you like and don’t like about other groups you’re involved in. This should be the template for how you want your group to be structured, and will determine if you start a public or closed group. You don’t want to start a group that is going to flop or have no one interested, so take the time to plan out the content and what your group has to offer. This can be the best way to use Facebook groups to grow your business.

What do you look for in a Facebook group? Do you have your own business-related Facebook group? Please share how starting your own Facebook group has grown your business in the comments below.

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8 Twitter Tools to Use for Success by @donnaamos

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8 Twitter Tools

 

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

If you’re a small business owner, it is easier than ever to connect with your customer base and create a successful community for your business. At the touch of your fingertips, you have the power to make a call, send a message, or research anything. Statistics show that nearly 2 billion people worldwide used social media in 2017 – 330 million of those users have an active Twitter account. Using social media to promote your business can have a great effect on its success, and knowing how to use it effectively for your purpose can help you even more. Check out these 8 Twitter tools to help you get the most out of your social media marketing.

 

Twitter Dashboard

Twitter dashboard is a free tool created for business owners to use Twitter to their advantage. Dashboard allows you to create a custom news feed so you can see what’s most important to you. Mentions you want to see will appear first in your news feed so you know exactly what people are saying about your business, allowing you to better engage with your community. You can also schedule tweets so you can be sure you’re still connecting with your customers even while you’re busy. Dashboard also offers tips and creative ideas to help you send out tweets that are relevant to your customers.

 

Commun.it

Commun.it is another effective way to stay connected with your community. It offers a free or paid membership. This site analyzes followers so you can see users who are most beneficial to your business. This can help you prioritize the time you spend on Twitter and ensure you interact with the right individuals to increase your potential for success. It also allows you to monitor what people are saying about your business by watching hashtags, phrases, and shared links. You can start for free today at https://commun.it/growth.

 

Buffer

Buffer is a service that helps business owners see what tweets get the most feedback and allows you to see who is interacting with your tweets. It has the ability to monitor “high traffic” times for your followers, as well as the most well-received topics, so you can effectively engage with your audience.  It can also accommodate other social media platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn as well as Twitter. Buffer is available as an app on your smartphone and offers extensions for Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. Check it out at https://buffer.com/business.

 

Hashtags

The hashtag is a common feature that is among a few underrated Twitter tools. Hashtags are a way to label common words or phrases and link tweets that have the same topics. Using hashtags can help filter content so you can draw more followers and attract customers to your business. Taking note of popular and frequently used hashtags can help you see what topics your customers are interested in so you can understand effective ways to market your business and target your customers.

 

Demographics Pro

The key to a successful business is knowing your target audience. Your services or products are aimed at a specific range of demographics. Demographics Pro is a twitter tool to help you find the right target market and use your social media to reach them effectively. It will analyze the people who influence your target market and help you tailor your advertising to the right people. See what Demographics Pro can do for you at http://www.demographicspro.com.

 

Twitter Advertisements

Simple social media advertisements are another underrated Twitter tool. As of August 2017, 66% of people who use Twitter on a regular basis have discovered a small business from advertisements. Nearly all users who discovered a business on Twitter plan on purchasing something from the small business they discovered. Promoted tweets or promoted accounts are also a great way to advertise using Twitter. Using promotions gets your content in front of your target audience. This can help your business’ social media gain followers that could benefit from the services or products that you provide.

 

Mention Mapp

This is a Twitter tool business owners can use to navigate conversations, save and track important ones, see mentions, and make connections. Mention Mapp sounds just like what it can do. It creates maps to help you keep track of mentions, retweets, and commonly used words. In a simple format, you can see how people are talking about your business and get an idea of how many people your tweets are reaching. Mention Mapp also creates clouds so you can see words that are most commonly associated with your business. See what it has to offer at http://mentionmapp.com.

 

TwtQpon

Draw in customers by providing a little incentive. TwtQpon is a Twitter tool that allows you to generate QR codes or virtual barcodes. You can choose if your coupon is used in-store or online. You can subscribe to TwtQpon by coupon page or pay for a monthly subscription. You can see examples of how these coupons work at https://www.twtqpon.com.

 

These are some great tools to help you leverage the Twitter social media platform for more success in your business. Do you have a favorite tool not mentioned here? Why not share it with our readers in the comments below?

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Why You Need Email Marketing Automation and How to Use It by @donnaamos

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WHY YOU NEED EMAIL MARKETING AUTOMATION AND HOW TO USE IT

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

There are 3.2 billion email accounts in the world, and 91% of email users check their accounts every day. It’s likely that your customers and target audiences are part of that number. As marketers seek to make personal connections with consumers to generate income, email is one of the best options for doing it. In fact, email marketing automation is the largest driver of ROI among digital-marketing channels.

Automating your email is the perfect way to drive conversions while not taking up too much time. Email-automation programs allow you to create personalized email interactions based on how customers respond to your advertising, website, products, or services. Targeting the customer or potential customer with the right message at the right time is an extremely effective tool in your marketing and sales arsenal.

Investing the initial time to create an automated-email program helps you save time and increase revenue; it is well worth the effort and expenditure. Email marketing automation makes it possible for you to send messages based on an internet user’s behavior and effectively target messages in real time. Automating email responses to customer interactions delivers a high ROI and takes a load of effort off of you. So, how do you get started?

What is Email Marketing Automation?

Email automation is also sometimes called “email drip campaigns” or “marketing automation.” Automating email marketing is about building relationships with customers and target audiences. By automating the email response process, you combine customer data and your marketing channels to enhance the relationship with consumers. Email automation, if designed correctly, can become an extremely personal channel of communication.

Automated email campaigns can be simple or complex, depending on what you what to accomplish and the time and resources you can invest.

  • A simple email automation campaign can begin with just a few emails timed as a response to a single interaction, like when a user joins your email list.
  • A complex email automation campaign can consist of varied email messages that stem from a user’s interaction that nurtures another response over time. I can include reminders of items left in a shopping cart, specials on items previously viewed, further enticements to convince a sale after downloading an eBook, and more. The campaign is complex because various emails are triggered by numerous different user responses.

How Does Email Marketing Automation Work?

Email marketing automation allows you to create email workflows that automatically send email messages to subscribers once certain actions are taken. These workflows are initiated by the behavior that acts as a trigger, combined with the user’s data. Personalized, relevant emails are created and sent to nurture positive responses and move the user along the sales funnel.

Example triggers for a B2B company:

  • A visitor views a landing page but doesn’t submit the form
  • A lead downloads several content items but has not contacted you directly
  • A potential client starts following your social mediaaccounts

Example triggers for a B2C company:

  • A visitor views several products but didn’t add any to their shopping cart
  • A consumer places products in their shopping cart but doesn’t buy them
  • A consumer makes a purchase

Email marketing automation workflows can be used for a host of different purposes. Companies can create workflows to nurture existing customer relationships that encourage making additional purchases. Some workflows work well for both B2B and B2C companies:

  • Welcome emails – These are best sent immediately after someone joins your subscriber list — either by registering their email or making a purchase — when they’re most receptive to hearing from you. B2B companies should include a link to a relevant content piece; B2C companies should include an exclusive offer or coupon code.
  • Feedback request emails – Show subscribers that their opinion matters to you with these emails. 1. Negative Trigger – When someone unsubscribes, send a message asking for their reasoning and feedback.
  • Positive Trigger – After a brief time interval following a purchase.
  • Re-engagement emails – These messages aim to reconnect you with subscribers who haven’t interacted with your emails over a set time (say, 60 days). Offer the subscriber an incentive to re-engage, such as a free eBook or special discount for purchases.

Practically any action a user takes when engaging with your company can be tracked and used for email marketing. Using website visitor information, create triggers that will deliver the most relevant and meaningful email messages to your responders.

Why Should I Use Email Marketing Automation?

  1. Create segmented email lists that are automatically updated based on user data
  2. Quickly convert website users into customers
  3. Easily continue your engagement with existing and potential customers
  4. Increase efficiency by automating repetitive customer relationship management tasks
  5. Improve engagement by delivering subscribers timely, relevant, and personalized email messages

Some companies may fear that email marketing automation may make their messages seem impersonal. The opposite is actually the case. By automating your email responses to consumer actions, your business will seem more personal. Therefore, your messages will become more effective and in turn, increase engagement and ROI for your business.

How do you use email marketing automation in your small business? How did you begin? What have you learned from it? What are your most effective email automation practices? We’d love for you to share your experiences and lessons with our readers. Enter your comments in the box below.

 

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