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5 Core Pillars of Social Media Marketing by @ImAnkitPtl

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by Ankit Patel

Social media marketing is a key element of fruitful marketing and numerous marketers realize the potential for business growth utilizing this platform. It is rapidly becoming the most vital part of effective digital marketing strategies. This platform is ideal for businesses because it requires minimal financial investment and, when executed correctly, it can assist to grow your business.

As a study by HubSpot, more than 90% of all marketers confirmed that their social media endeavors have generated more exposure for their online store. Then, almost 80% of them said that social media efforts increased traffic for their business websites.

Following are some questions to ask when characterizing your social media marketing objectives:

  • What are you expecting to accomplish through social media marketing?
  • Who can be your target audience?
  • Where and how will you discover your target audience?
  • How would your audience utilize social media?
  • What message would you like to send to your audience through social media marketing?

Social media marketing can assist with diverse goals, such as:

  • Augmenting website traffic
  • Building conversions
  • Raising brand awareness
  • Creating a brand identity
  • Improving communication and interaction with key audiences

 

5 core pillars of social media marketing

 

1. Strategy

Consider your business goals before you begin making social media marketing strategies.

What are your prime objectives?

How can you accomplish your business goals with the assistance of social media?

A myriad number of businesses utilize social media to boost their brand awareness, while others use it for driving website traffic and sales. Social media can likewise generate engagement around your brand, build a community, and serve as a customer support channel for your audience.

Which social media platforms would be best for marketing?

These days, most utilized social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. There are also some smaller platforms, such as Tumblr, Anchor, etc and social messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and WeChat. It is better to choose a few platforms that you believe your target audience is on than being on all platforms.

What sort of content would be beneficial for you?

Various kinds of content include business, educational, entertaining content, etc. And it can be in the form of images, videos, or links.

First, you have to comprehend what kind of content will attract your target audience. A decent place to begin is to create a brand identity that will allow you to answer these questions. And you can always change your strategy according to how your social media posts perform.

 

2. Planning and publishing

Social media marketing for small businesses starts with having a consistent presence on social media.

About three billion individuals utilize social media. Subsequently, by being active on social media platforms, you are allowing your brand to be found by your future customers.

Posting a blog post, an image, or a video on a social media platform is very easy and popular these days. It is much the same as posting on your own Facebook profile. But instead of posting content arbitrarily, you should schedule the content ahead of time.

 

3. Listening and engagement

When your business and social media keep on growing, a conversation about your brand will grow as well. Individuals are going to comment on your social media posts, tag you in their social media posts, or send you messages directly.

Also, people on social media could speak about your brand without letting you. So you will have to monitor the discussions about your company on social media. If it is a positive comment, you get a chance to delight them. Otherwise, you can offer support and fix an issue before it gets worse.

To expand your reach on social media, you also need to publish great content that your audience likes, at the right timing and frequency.

 

4. Analytics

Regardless of whether you are posting content or engaging on social media, you will need to learn how your social media marketing is performing. Are you reaching more people on social media than you did the last month? What number of good mentions will you get every month? How many users have utilized the hashtag of your brand name on their social media posts?

A fundamental degree of such data is given by the social media platforms themselves. You can utilize the wide range of social media analytics tools available to get more in-depth analytics information or to easily compare it across social media platforms.

 

5. Advertising

At the point you have more funds to expand your social media marketing, social media advertising is one area that you can consider. Ads on social media help you to reach a wider audience than those who follow you.

Nowadays, social media advertising platforms are so powerful that you can determine precisely who you want to show your ads to. Depending on their backgrounds, interests, attitudes, and more you can create target audiences.

 

Wrapping up

It’s pretty much clear that social media marketing has its advantages, so if your business does not already have suitable profiles, create them! Fill out your business’ information and publish a few attractive content material to start gaining followers. With consistent updating, the right social media marketing strategy will lead to increased traffic, higher conversion rates, improved brand loyalty, and significantly more. It is stated that social media marketing has many advantages so if you are not the part of social media HURRY UP and JOIN it.

 

 

Ankit Patel is a Marketing/Project Manager at XongoLab Technologies LLP which offers top-notch mobile apps development services globally. As a hobby, he loves to write about new & upcoming technology, business, and marketing. His write-ups have been published on popular platforms like TechTarget, SmallBizDaily, JaxEnter, Social-Hire, TorqueMag, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

3 of the Most Popular Social Media Marketing Trends You Need to Know

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What started as a channel to connect people has now become a full-fledged marketing channel. Yes, I am talking about social media.

But with numerous brands competing for the attention of the same audience, how can you make your brand stand out?

You need to focus on producing content that converts, targeting relevant audience groups, and following the latest trends. That’s the key to successful social media marketing.

Let’s take a look at what’s trending on social media and how you can leverage it for effective marketing.

1. Organic Reach is Booming

As the global pandemic led to economic losses, most brands are cutting their ad spends. That’s why marketers are witnessing a significant boost in their organic social reach.

What does it mean for you?

You can also grow your social media following organically by publishing content that is relevant, valuable, and engaging. Remember, this situation won’t last for too long so make the most of it now.

To leverage this opportunity, you should:

  • Plan your social media content calendar effectively.
  • Publish high-quality content every day.
  • Engage your audience via comments, DMs, and interactive Stories.
  • Use other organic marketing tactics such as using hashtags, location tags, Story stickers, and collaborations with other content creators.

You should double your content quality and quantity to increase your reach and engagement.

2. Influencers Are Not Going Anywhere

Influencer marketing plays a crucial role in the marketing plans of most brands, and that is not going to change any soon. However, you need to evaluate the authenticity and worth of your influencers closely.

Analyzing what value an influencer brings to the table has always been important. But with the rise of fake influencers and the de-emphasis on likes as an engagement metric, it has become even more crucial.

Many brands are partnering with nano- and micro-influencers to encourage meaningful conversations and real conversions, and not just growing numbers.

You should partner with influencers only after analyzing their audience demographics, content quality and style, and the overall value through the referral program, they can offer your brand. Even during ongoing partnerships, you should regularly monitor the traffic, clicks, leads, and sales an influencer brings you.

You should hire influencers who can attract more visitors for your outdoor events like – exhibitions, trade shows, and other live events.

This can be a lot of work. To simplify the process of influencer vetting and campaign monitoring, you should consider using some of the best tools for influencer marketing. They can help you get useful insights and make informed decisions.

3. Video Content Will Continue Dominating Social Feeds

Video content is already gaining higher traction and it will continue to do so.

After video posts, video Stories, IGTV videos, YouTube, and TikTok, now content creators will also be leveraging Instagram Reels. Instagram has recently introduced its short 15-sec video feature that will allow users to create videos with music and other filters and share them.

Your marketing strategies will only succeed if you’ll deliver what your consumers want, exactly when they want it, and in the way they like. That’s why videos and platforms have become a must.

72% of customers prefer to learn about a product or service via a video. And they are likely to retain 95% of a message shared via videos.

Aren’t these statistics enough to tell you the importance of investing in video marketing?

Ready to Boost Your Brand’s Presence on Social Media?

As always, the world of social media is evolving.

You should capitalize on the current market trends, experiment, analyze what’s working and what isn’t, and optimize your social media strategy accordingly. Remember, optimizing your marketing strategy is a continuous process and that’s the only way to succeed.

Are you ready to keep up with the changing social media trends?

Do you have questions about how to proceed with your next social campaign? Ask them in the comments below.

Strategize your social plans: How can starts-ups maintain a steady social media presence? by @AlmaCausey

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Strategize your social plans: How can starts-ups maintain a steady social media presence?

“Hello, all! I am so excited for our weekend plans!” Annie exclaimed as she barged in after work.

To her dismay, no one responded. Tania was angrily sending voice notes to someone. Mike appeared like he would shatter the screen with his furious typing. And Ben, as usual, was lying on the couch with earphones on. Disappointed, Annie went to her room, stumped on the bed, and began scrolling her Instagram.

Does this scenario ring a bell?

Pretty much, every home these days has turned into a media hotspot. From adults to kids, as young as five years, are a part of the target market for many businesses. Be it leisure, apparel, accessories, and firms specializing in designer footwear or academic applications.

Leaving the debate of its pros and cons for another day, let’s discuss it from a corporate perspective. Social media has become the central focus of business entities. It started as an entertainment tool, but now it is one of the most sophisticated marketing tools for entrepreneurs. Marketers spent over $89 billion on social media advertising and marketing in 2019.

The stats only convince them to spend more. Currently, more than 42% of the world’s population has a social media account. That is over 3.2 billion users!

Clearly, marketing on social media is worth the effort. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become indispensable parts of customer acquisition, brand awareness, content distribution, and lead generation. All of it becomes even more essential if you are a start-up. Strategize your social media presence to maintain a steady standing in the digital community.

Clueless on how to tread here? Let us spell it out for you.

Step one: Craft a Plan that Works

First things first, you must set some attainable goals. The best way to do that is to ensure they are SMART. Below, we have the image to decipher such objectives:

Source

It is good to expand your social network. However, unless you figure out what you want to achieve via expansion, you can’t expect successful outcomes. Following are a few goals a start-up usually looks forward to pursuing:

  • Generate new leads
  • Improve brand awareness
  • Enhance web traffic
  • Increase sales

Step two: Choose a suitable platform

Once you know your goals, it is time to find which platform caters to your needs. This depends on the niche you are working in. For example, if you are in tech, LinkedIn would be a better option than Instagram.

Note that not all social media channels have the same purpose. The target audience for each is different. Given the variation, you must pick a channel where you can connect with the right people at the right time.

Source

As a start-up, you can’t afford the luxury of failing often. You need to ensure your advertising budget works hard for you. Keep it minimum, but make sure your strategies are relevant. For instance, if you are a B2B, go to LinkedIn. If you are an e-commerce agency, work on Instagram.

There are a few ways you can go about finding where your audience is hanging out.

  • A straightforward approach is to carry out the customer survey. Ask questions like which social platform they use the most, which influencers they follow the most, and from where they get their online info.
  • Another method is to deploy social media sites. Platforms like Facebook allow you to estimate the size of the audience.
  • Also, you can research the demographics of each social site through the Pew Research Center for the Internet and Technology.

Next, follow what Patrick Ward from High-Speed Experts believes, that once you’ve identified where your customer resides, you can be consistent and valuable to master your chosen social platform truly. This will definitely make a strong impact!

Step three: Analyze competitor’s social presence

As soon as you have set up your social media profiles, it’s time to do some stalking. Snoop into your competitor’s social media profiles and check what the devil they are up to. Being the newbie in the industry, you have to spot the competing parties first. You should monitor the social media presence of mid-sized and even larger corporations.

Experts recommend using third-party tools to have a closer look at competitor’s social media performance. Websites like Keyhole, SEMRush, and RivalIQ can help you audit the social media of competitors. You can study the metrics and evaluate the content they are producing.

Here are a few things you should pay attention to:

  • Posting frequency
  • Content quality
  • Comments/likes details
  • Number of followers

Step four: Design a content marketing strategy

Your content marketing strategy, in its essence, is the outline of your start-up. It contains a detailed plan that you can use to address your audience. Bear in mind; there is no general content marketing strategy template. Each business has to design its own.

Allow your creative genies to join heads and come up with a plan meant to boost brand awareness. It is not always about crafting blog posts. It includes videos, infographics, case studies, research outcomes, graphics, animations, and much more. Filter out the type of content that will allow you to reach your audience in the best possible ways.

Source

When promoting content on social media, you must go both ways: paid and organic. For the latter, you can use third-party distributors or influencers to promote your content. It will assist you in reaching out to different sources and add your content to their social channels or websites. Besides, you must anticipate the frequency of posts your audience requires. A social media scheduling tool will allow you to keep up with the pace.

Step five: Build relationships and find leads

As a start-up, your ultimate success lies in the relationships you build. Use your social channels to interact with the audience, respond to their queries, and offer free or discounted items. Take their feedback when necessary and enlighten them about your long-term plans.

Summing Up

At the outset, building a social media presence may sound simple. Yet as you advance, you’ll understand it’s a bit tacky.

Don’t fret when this realization hits you!

Many entities made it big, and you can do it too. All you need is professional knowledge and a couple of experts up your sleeve.

Initiate your journey and share with us how it goes. Good Luck!

 

5 Things You Need to Know About Making Money Through Instagram

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Photo credit: @virtuallydone Instagram

by Jemma Broadstock

With marketing budgets increasingly being spent on digital marketing, you aren’t alone if you’re running around like a headless chicken trying to understand the ins and outs of using Instagram for your business.

So if you have no idea how to make money through your Instagram, here’s are 5 key things to bare in mind:

 

1. Consistency is Key

If you think posting an image every now and again is going to do it, you’re wrong. You need to be showing up consistently, not only on your feed, but on your stories too.

The message in your captions, stories, bio and hashtags all needs to make sense. If the content isn’t consistently sharing the same message or your content isn’t consistently being shared, people won’t become familiar with you as a brand.

You want to get to the point where people see a quote graphic you created pop up on their feed and they know it’s you before they’ve seen your name because the message, fonts and colours are all consistent with what they have seen from you before.

In an ideal world, people should be seeing something from you daily. This doesn’t mean you have to post something new and exciting every day, instead you can show up on your stories. Share an insight into your day, or upload your to do list – people love behind the scenes content, and this will keep your engagement up on the days you don’t post.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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2. Make sales easy⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

This might seem like an obvious point, but it’s a mistake I see way too often.

The average consumer attention span is 8 seconds. Someone should be able to click onto your profile and know within those 8 seconds who you are, what you do, and who your product or service is for. Your biography should explain this clearly and concisely, with a specific call to action and a link for people to click if they want to learn more.

“Mystical goddess helping millennial women do amazing things” might sound cool to you, but no one will know what that means. Who are you? What do you do? Who do you help? If you don’t answer these questions, they will not take the time to DM and ask you, they’ll simply click off your profile.

Your copy doesn’t need to be complex; it just needs to be simple and easy to understand.

 

3. Creating connections is everything

People often talk about the dreaded ‘algorithm’ which underlies some of the curious things Instagram does such as showing or not showing our account to other people.

Don’t let this scare you! Instagram is based on connection. If you engage with your target audience, and by engage, I mean follow, DM, comment and like, Instagram will connect you with more of those types of people.

This doesn’t mean you should be downloading ‘engagement’ apps or joining ‘engagement pods’. Instagram is clever and will punish you for any unnatural or fake engagement. Instead, each day spend some time genuinely connecting with people within your network. Vote on their story polls and send them a DM if you love what they are doing. This really is the secret to success on Instagram!

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4. Being vulnerable works

You might feel that everything on your Instagram has to remain 10/10 professional at all times BUT this stops connections from being made.

As we all know, people buy from people, and to build that like, know and trust factor, you need to show your human side. You can do this by uploading pictures of yourself, running mini trainings on your stories, or writing captions that give an insight into your life.

Sharing video content has become huge on Instagram lately and with 4 in 5 consumers admitting they would rather learn about a product through a video, it’s no wonder why!

By being vulnerable and sharing the person behind the business, people feel more connected to you. Whatever your story, share an insight into your life and it will make a huge difference to the way your followers engage with you.

On the flip side, if you make your life look perfect, people can’t relate. Instead, show the ups and downs of your business. Talk about your insecurities. Share your journey. You’ll be amazed how many people DM you and tell you they can relate.

Miss the last post and panicking? Share it!

Spilt coffee down your shirt before a big meeting? Share it!

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5. Good things take time

It might not be what you want to hear, but you won’t get 10k followers overnight or get clients with your first Instagram post. A successful social media profile takes months of hard work and good content to build up.

Be patient and it will pay off.

 

 

 

Jemma Broadstock is a Virtual Assistant and Social Media Manager specialising in using Instagram for online businesses. As well as working as a Virtual Assistant and Social Media Manager, Jemma also runs Virtually Done, an online platform for those wanting to learn how to be VAs.

Connect with Jemma on Instagram.

Learn more about her services here.

 

How to Skyrocket Your Traffic By More Than Double Thanks to This Platform by Caz Wilson of @socialkitchenlv

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by Caz Wilson | Featured Contributor 

This platform is one of my favorites for driving traffic to a website and for growing brand awareness.

No doubt you know this platform well, but probably you would not think to use it for business. Or maybe you do and you’ve seen how well it can work. In either case, I hope here to make a compelling argument for why, Pinterest is something you should be using to drive traffic to your website.

Although Pinterest isn’t a social media platform in the traditional sense, Pinterest is thought of more as a search engine, almost like a visual Google. Because of this, Pinners have a certain bias and are in a searching frame of mind when they come to Pinterest. They’re looking for a solution, for help, for ideas, and for inspiration. If your business is what they find, and they like what they see, they’ll go ahead, click through on the pin and more often than not, continue to buy your product.

Pinterest is a must if your business targets women, operates in the wedding or the fitness industry or is very visual (think home decor, party planning etc.). When set up correctly and used consistently, Pinterest can be the greatest driver of traffic to your website allowing you to remarket to these highly interested people and overall provide great value to them.

Thyroid Refresh, a lifestyle support platform for thyroid patients, attribute a significant amount of their daily traffic to Pinterest. They launched their membership site in the Spring of 2018 and prior to their launch, we worked to build their audience with useful, helpful pins and a strong identifiable brand. One of the amazing things about Pinterest is that, unlike other social media which you might be using, a pin lasts forever and can gain momentum. We, therefore, created consistent, eye-catching pins to establish Thyroid Refresh in the market. Useful, value-adding infographics also worked well, all of which pointed to the website.

As Thyroid Refresh grew on Pinterest, it started to establish more and more traffic from the pins and the re-pins. After they launched, Thyroid Refresh published more content which their audience just loved. Pinterest is the perfect platform for a pre-launch strategy.

Hopefully, I’ve convinced you about the power of Pinterest. If you’re looking to get started, here are some quick tips to get you started, or to get your Pinterest working harder for you:

1. Create boards and content which your audience will love

Have a clear idea of who your target audience is and what content they will enjoy. Then curate boards with that audience in mind. Your goal is to be a resource, a place for inspiration for your audience.

2. Have a strategy to consistently pin content

As with most platforms, Pinterest loves consistency. Plan to pin once a day, or better yet, set a scheduler like Tailwind to do the heavy lifting for you!

3. Create incredible pins

As with anything online, quality content is king and this runs true for Pinterest. Great headlines, eye-catching pins and quality content will go along way on Pinterest as people read, pin and then repin your content

Putting these super simple tips will work wonders for your Pinterest efforts and get you started to maximizing this platform for your business.

What questions do you have about Pinterest? Leave them in the comments below…

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.

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.

Chrissy Teigen Twitter: 5 empowering lessons to take away from this social media rock star by by @jodijill

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Chrissy Teigen Twitter Lessons of this empowering female star

by Jodi Jill | Featured Contributor

Chrissy Teigen Twitter dominates the social media platform. There isn’t a month that goes by that the celebrity isn’t highlighted in the Twitter Moments section and she gets thousands of likes, retweets and posts. Chrissy Teigen’s Twitter messages are empowering in every way.  If there is any female celebrity to be in awe of when it comes to social media, it’s Chrissy and for good reason. She’s a woman who embraces Twitter in all the right ways with millions of people watching.

Before making the jump to suggest Chrissy Teigen gets so much attention because she is a celebrity, you might want to take a closer look at her posts. Of course, she’s a popular star, she is part of the successful show Lip Sync Battle and her cookbooks are amazing, but there is more. She has developed her voice to include some beloved elements on social media that draws people to her posts. Her strong female voice is the perfect example of what women should strive for when using social media. She is empowering with her digital influence.

If you were to study Chrissy Teigen Twitter posts over the past eight months you might find there are empowering lessons to implement in your Twitter use. In fact, if you break down her Twitter posts, you will find five very important social media lessons that every Twitter user should follow to build up their social media stream.

5 Empowering Lessons to Take Away from Chrissy Teigen’s Twitter

  1. Be authentic. Chrissy gives a glimpse of her life in a very real sort of way. It’s digital access showing who she is and how life is for her. People love how she shares who she is without the intensity of perfection. As life is good and bad, the balance of sharing both is authentic and enjoyable to read.
  2. Talk to people. If you check out Chrissy Teigen’s Twitter posts, you will notice almost immediately she talks to people. Not just famous people either. Folks like you and me. Connecting with the world is what Twitter is all about, but some people forget this element. Notice how she retweets messages instead of simply liking a post. This effort goes a long way and her engagement is noticed by all.
  3. Share life situations. Who knew a celebrity could be so normal? Chrissy Teigen does share pics of her next to Kim Kardashian, but she is also very relatable offering insight that her husband steals her cell phone chargers. The more you share about life, the better. We all are unique individuals, but we have so many things in common. Chrissy reminds us all that our lives are normal (to an extent) and we all face struggles and deserve happiness.
  4. Twitter storms will come,Twitter storms will go. Not everyone will appreciate your thoughts online, but you have every right to share them. If you just say all the right things, you aren’t being authentic. Mix it up and offer up your vision on situations. Be prepared to meet a few naysayers, a few over the top personalities and even a few rude souls. Brush them off and keep sharing your voice.
  5. Pictures, pictures, pictures. Chrissy’s pictures are real. The recent look at her potato salad (and crushed bowl) on the floor offered a glimpse at life at the Teigen home. Keep in mind Twitter pics shouldn’t all be filtered selfies with perfect lighting. Showcasing life, as it happens, is a great draw of followers too.

Chrissy Teigen isn’t the only female celebrity who has found Twitter empowering. There are a few other stars who use the social media to connect, impact and share life as it happens. The rock star Pink is another great example of how female celebrities make a positive impact on social media. Of course, you too, can make a strong impact on social media as well. Twitter is all about connecting, empowering your voice and making the world a better place one tweet at a time.

Talk With Your Audience, Not To Them by @DrRKayGreen

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by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

It is no secret that social media makes connecting with your audience easy. But some people assume that “easy” means that it does not take any time or effort. This is not the case. “Easy” just means that you are now capable of connecting directly with consumers, while before you had to go through a middleman like a journalist or an advertising firm.

The power to connect with your audience directly is not to be taken lightly.

Social media has completely changed the way that consumers interact with brands, and vice versa. If you want to connect with them, it is not enough to simply dole out information on your latest products. For a truly engaged following, you need to facilitate communication and generate real interaction.

In other words, you need to talk with your audience, not to them.

A connection between a brand and a consumer base does not pop up overnight. However, here are four steps in the right direction you can begin taking today.

Utilize Hashtags

People on social media want to be part of something. Creating a hashtag for fans or consumers to use can help to fulfill that desire.

Twitter and Instagram are the platforms that benefit most from this, naturally. Making it easy for consumers to find each other means that you will be able to encourage them to talk with each other about your product. It will also make it easier for you to find them, as well.

Hashtag campaigns that promise a reward are especially effective. People will be much more inclined to get involved if they think they can get something out of it.

Of course, using hashtags goes both ways. While encouraging your consumer base to use certain hashtags, you should be doing the same — making yourself visible and making it easier for potential consumers to find you.

Ask Questions

A statement is not likely to generate much conversation. A question, on the other hand? That makes it easy for consumers to respond and engage with you.

Get into the habit of asking your consumers questions. They should not be complicated, either — most questions (and answers) should easily fit into Twitter’s character limit.

Ask your consumers how they are using your product. What their favorite thing about it is. What they would like to see changed or improved upon.

You might be surprised by the amount of engagement you will see back. However, this is only the first step. In order to really facilitate conversation, you need to …

Get Involved

It is not enough to just ask questions or encourage your consumers to talk. You need to acknowledge them, too.

When people say something nice about your product, thank them. When people complain about it, reach out (politely) and tell them that you are looking into it.

When people ask a question, answer them. When people answer your questions, comment on those answers.

Being seen as engaged and approachable is one of the best things you can be on social media. After all, it is called social for a reason — you should be able to hold your own in a conversation.

Be Authentic

People do not want to talk to a brand — they want to talk to a person.

So when your brand is active on social media, it needs to come across as friendly. Brands that succeed are ones that have a personality of their own. Take the time to figure out what your brand’s personality is going to be.

This will ensure that people will actually want to talk about your company.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

Dr. KayDr. R. Kay Green is the CEO/President of RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. With over 190,000+ Twitter followers, 35,000+ Facebook Likes, and the Top 1% LinkedIn profile designation, Dr. Kay, a self-motivated trailblazer, is the Quintessential “New-Age” Professional Woman, and PhD Marketing Pro. She earned a Doctorate of Business Administration in Marketing, and has completed PhD coursework in Leadership and Organization Change. She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing and Management, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, and an Associate of Arts in Marketing Management.

She is affiliated with several prestigious universities and has instructed over 350 courses online. A popular speaker on Marketing and Business topics, Dr. Green is currently featured on Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, Black News, The Network Journal, Business Review USA, Digital Journal, College View, Business New Hampshire Magazine, Bay State Banner, Reader’s Circle, North Dallas Gazette, Harlem News, Top News Today, One News Page, NE Informer, Women in Business PR News, Consumer News Today, Women PR News, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Daily Herald, The Miami Herald, and Book News Articles.

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3 Factors That Will Mold The Future Of Social Media by @kerijaehnig

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3 Factors That Will Mold The Future Of Social Media as explained by Keri Jaehnig of Idea Girl Media for SheOwnsIt.com

by Keri Jaehnig | Featured Contributor

Where is social media heading? A glimpse into the exciting future of social media 

The future of social media will revolve around these key areas:

  • Localization
  • Mobile
  • Privacy

How will social media evolve in the future?  What does the future of social media technology look like?

The world of social media was envisioned to connect people and to create relationships that will transform the world. Over time, the social scale started tipping and appealed to businesses. Social media has fostered a new world of virtual relationships that go beyond merely the place where you live, work, or spend time.

This is NOW.

While Facebook and Snapchat roll out update after update, there is even bigger change happening that will alter the broad landscape of social media.

Let’s explore 3 factors that will mold the future of social media…

Localization As The Future of Social Media 

If you own a wedding photography service in Memphis, Tennessee, would you want your Facebook posts to be popular with people in London, England?  No, right? 

It makes sense to target people who are in the same local area or region as your business. In turn, building your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media followings keeping your business location in mind attracts more sales. 

Here is how social media companies are helping businesses to leverage geo-location tagging and localization to maximize their target audience reach:

Snapchat: Collaborating with Foursquare to help members use Geofilters when they are near or in store locations. Snapmap is a new feature that allows Snapchat users to know their friends’ location as well as trending events from all around the world. 

Facebook: Facebook is working in stealth mode to create a range of local search features including Facebook Professional Services, City Guides and several other options based on:

  • Business popularity
  • Price range
  • Location

And others. In fact, Facebook Pages already have some of these features integrated now. 

Google My Business: A Google product that helps businesses register their NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number) online even if they do not have a website. These businesses get listed in search results when users search online using location search queries. 

Mobile As The Future Of Social Media

Mobile has changed the digital landscape. It has also fueled the social media usage thanks to mobile apps and mobile websites. 

Keri Jaehnig of Idea Girl Media outlines Mobile As The Future Of Social Media at SheOwnsIt.comMarketing Land estimates that one out of every five minutes of digital time is spent on social media websites. One of five – WOW, right? 

There is also a growing popularity of social messenger apps like:

  • Facebook Messenger
  • WhatsApp
  • WeChat
  • Instagram
  • Wickr (encrypted)

Think about it: Our mobile phones are always in our purse or pocket.  Always with us.  Anywhere and anytime accessibility, connectivity and social interaction with personal and public circles.

No surprise – Mobile messenger apps have already started implementing ads based on user behavior. 

With those things in mind, it is fair to say that the future of social media is mobile. 

Privacy As The Future of Social Media

According to Business Insider’s Messaging App report of 2015 users are steadily spending increased time on private messaging apps over interacting publicly on social platforms. Users want to have more privacy in what they share, to whom they share, and when it is shared. 

The increase in privacy controls, setting private circles, restrictions to who can see your stuff, all hint at the growing popularity of privacy as a cornerstone to the future of Social Media. 

It is important to note that Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, and other social platforms revise their privacy policy often to better protect the privacy of their users.  In addition, Facebook already offers encryption options, and entire encrypted apps, like Wickr, are starting to gain attention. 

How To Prepare For The Future Of Social Media

From ‘Social Media is the Future’ to the ‘Future of Social Media’ quite a lot has happened in this world! 

Facebook, especially, caters toward the individual user.  However, they have made many changes in the past few years in favor of businesses. 

The one sure thing is change!  Businesses using social media need to be prepared to continue to stay informed about social platform changes.  This will require entrepreneurs to dedicate time to following updates.  For bigger companies, part of the social media marketing team’s responsibilities should be to stay aware. 

All social media strategies should be flexible to re-strategizing to be consumer-centric while being mobile-ready, privacy-friendly with ability to target most ideal customers. 

Using social messenger apps for customer support is a good example.  Chatbot solutions allow businesses utilize time-efficient, automated yet private marketing messages to their followers. Well-done messenger strategies amplify returns compared with traditional email marketing. 

Using the location settings, geofilters and tags on social media will help businesses be found more easily by their potential customers. Clever use of Geofencing will allow display of targeted ads that will lead to more in-store foot traffic resulting in additional sales volumes. 

All said, the future social media platforms will be geared toward mobile, localization and privacy.

Do you have questions about the information above?

How do you think social media will impact the future?

Please share your questions in comments below.  🙂

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Keri Jaehnig is the Founder and CMO at Idea Girl Media and writes for She Owns ItKeri Jaehnig is the Founder and CMO at Idea Girl Media, an international Social Media Marketing Agency. Keri helps business brands, public figures, and non-profits achieve and positive online reputation. You may have seen Keri online at Forbes, Social Media Today, Search Engine People, Business Insider, AOL Small Business, TabSite, WiseStamp, SteamFeed, and other social media marketing websites. She also writes for her own blog at ideagirlmedia.com. In 2013 Keri received a Small Business Influencer Honorable Mention Award, and a commendation for Outstanding Attainment in Social Media from the State of Ohio Senate. Non-fat lattes, travel & quick wit make her smile, and Keri is always enthused to meet new people!

Connect with Keri on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.