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Celebrating, Connecting, and Supporting Women Entrepreneurs

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…

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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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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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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.

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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.

Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn

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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.  🙂

———————————————————

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.

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What Type Of Marketing is Best for Your Business by @SixDegreesDM

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by Angela Moore | Featured Contributor

One of the things that business owners, entrepreneurs and bloggers struggle with is what marketing methods they should invest their time, and money, in. This is even more difficult for new businesses that have very little marketing budget.

You’ll hear, experts, gurus and would be marketers tell you that you have to do this or that. Everyone will have a different opinion. But there are some tried and true proven methods to market different types of business.

First of all everyone should be working to build an email list. That is something you own and it’s by far the most cost-effective way to market to customers and prospects. But first you have to drive traffic to your site right? Right.

Ok so to do that, you either use paid or organic traffic. And social media can fall into either of those categories as well. No matter what you do, you need to be producing content that people will want. And it should be a mix of media:

  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Infographics
  • Slideshares
  • Podcasts

Here’s a handy guide of how to market your site based on the type of business you are.

What Type of Online Marketing is Best for My Business

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6 Ways to Repurpose Your Blog Posts for Social Media Networks by @yourchicgeek81

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6 Ways to Repurpose Your Blog Posts for Social Media Networks

 

by Kim George

Have you been looking for ways to increase your brand’s presence on social media platforms? Good.

You’ve already written the content and established your online platform. Now it’s time to dust off those old blog posts and repurpose them so that others will read, react and repost!

Consider this your DIY Guide for Social Media Marketing—Blogger Edition. By executing these strategies and utilizing these tools, in no time you will see a little work go a long way.

In this article, I will provide you with five simple ways to revive old content to publish on your social media networks.

 

1. Turn Quotes from Your Blog Posts into Branded Images

You can use key action items or your very own soon-to-be famous quotes from your blog posts. Canva and PicMonkey are two free resources that you can use to design your images in a flash!

Here’s an example of a branded blog post quote image that Lisa Irby from 2CreateaWebsite created based off an article that she wrote discussing whether or not blogging is dead that was pinned via Pinterest.

 

BRANDED QUOTE IMAGE EXAMPLE FROM LISA IRBY OF 2CREATEAWEBSITE

 

2. Take Key Points from your Blog Posts and Use It For a Live Stream Series

Periscope and Facebook Live are excellent resources that you can use to do this. In fact, Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income used this strategy to promote a blog post that covered some of his reader success stories and to get more up front and personal with his audience.

Pat’s Live Periscope stream garnered some excellent comments from his audience who felt a more up close and personal connection to him during the live stream.

 

Pat Flynn Smart Passive Income

Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income

 

3. Convert Your Blog Posts to a Vlog

Video blog posts or Vlogs can be a great way to turn a blog post into a video then upload it to Youtube or your favorite social media platform.

Diana Urban from Ustandout.com does an excellent job of this. Diana repurposed her blog post that covers 6 Reasons Why You Should Consider Video Blogging and created a Vlog about it:

Top 6 Reasons to Video Blog

Diana Urban’s Vlog Post Example

 

4. Make a SlideShare Presentation

For the Powerpoint presenter turned social media guru in all of us there is SlideShare. SlideShare is the web-based slide hosting service available on LinkedIn.

By presenting your blog’s content in slideshow format, you are able to skip over the soup and salad and immediately serve the key points for your audience to enjoy.

One of my favorite bloggers and a well known thought-leader in the content marketing space Mark Schaefer of Businesses Grow repurposed one of his blog posts 10 Reasons Why Twitter is Content Marketing’s Best Friend into an awesome slideshare presentation.

To date, Mark’s slideshare presentation has received more than 55,000 views!

5. Create a Photo Video Story

Photo video stories using a tool like Flipagram is an excellent want to repurpose content from your blog.

Flipagram lets you easily share your work on social networks that include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google Plus.

Here is an example of a Flipagram created by Shannon Henderson of ImShannon.com, a fellow entrepreneur that I discovered from Twitter where she repurposed a blog post written for 17hats.com on The 8 Questions to Ask to Close the Sale.

 

Flipagram The Eight Questions to Ask to Close the Sale

Flipagram created by ImShannon.com on The 8 Questions to Ask to Close the Sale posted on Twitter

 

Now that I’ve shown you how to repurpose your old blog posts, here are some tips for effectively promoting your work:

  1. Optimize your content with hashtags (2-3) for networks like Instagram and Twitter.
  1. Repeatedly promote your content across social networks. Don’t limit your promotion to one post with no follow-up. Post often but don’t go overboard.
  1. Create a cohesive design and feel for your graphics. Let your brand speak for itself with your visual content. Whether using your brand’s logo or color scheme, familiarity is key to your audience. Stand out for all the right reasons.
  1. Brand ALL of your visual content designs with your blog/site URL. You’ve put in the work creating and re-purposing the content, now tell them where to go for more information. The goal is for them to follow you to find out more about your brand.

 

Conclusion

Creating original content for your brand takes work. The next time you’re ready to post resourceful information throughout your social media platforms, consider re-purposing your old blog posts using some of these tips.

Re-purposing your work will make you a more versatile marketer and will help you get the most value out of your content.

I’d love to know how are you repurposing your blog content for social media networks? Please share your comments below. Cheers!

 

—————————————————————

Kim GeorgeKim George is a techie girl in a small biz world that makes TECH and Digital Marketing easy! You can download her Free Video Guide to Repurposing Content + follow her on @yourchicgeek81.

 

 

 

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Social Media Has Changed Your Small Business Marketing Plan. Ready or Not.

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by Melissa Stewart

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Comcast Small Business, but all the opinions are my own.

=> Curious about how other businesses are using social media?

=> Wondering which platforms work best?

=> Does the term “influencer marketing” boggle your mind?

You’re not alone. Most small businesses owners want to increase their social media impact but worry about the time and money they’ll have to invest. They know they need to integrate social media outreach into the overall marketing plan but they don’t have a Fortune 500 marketing budget. The challenge they face in figuring out how to achieve those goals in the shortest amount of time, and with often limited resources, can seem overwhelming.

I’ve been an early adapter on some platforms (I’m a little Twitter obsessed) but even I can’t keep up with everything! I’m pretty good with Facebook, average with Instagram and Pinterest, but totally out of my element when it comes to video or my kid’s favorite, Snapchat.

How about some facts to get us started.

According to Social Media Examiner, 92% of the small business owners they surveyed agreed with the statement “social media marketing is important for my business” but did not know if their efforts were working (i.e. how to measure the ROI of social media marketing).

How does you small business stack up against the Fortune 500?

The top 3 social media platforms used by the Inc 500 are:

  • 93% of the Inc. 500 have a LinkedIn account
  • 82% of the Inc. 500 have a Facebook presence
  • 79% of the Inc. 500 have a Twitter profile

And according to Heidi Cohen’s article based on info from UMass Dartmouth’s 2015 Inc. 500 research findings, 67% of small businesses don’t have a written social media plan!

You NEED a plan!

I tweet that a lot and it’s true!

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” 
Alice and the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland

 

SMBs must develop a social media strategy that includes related content, promotion and budget and it must be integrated into the rest of the marketing plan. If you

What actions can be included in your plan to increase the ROI?

  • Go visual. When you can, get photographs and videos of your employees and your customers.
  • Focus on relationship marketing.
  • Include a call-to-action with an offer readers can’t refuse.
  • Invest every marketing dollar wisely, taking risks on less-crowded platforms can pay off.
  • Provide customer focused content to support prospects and customers.
  • Give it time + keep testing. Most SMBs have been using social media marketing for 2 years of less, not enough time for an accurate measurement.

Need help? The Comcast Business Community page is a great resource. Whether you’re a small business, medium business, or solopreneur, you’ll find information to help your business grow.

Here are some links to get you started:

So much to learn and so little time! We’d love to hear from you.

  1. Has Social Media changed the way you do business as a small business owner?
  2. What were your initial thoughts of social media in the business world? Did you embrace it? Fight it?
  3. Do you think it is possible for a small business to survive without social media?

Leave your answers and tips in the comments below!

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7 Evergreen Social Media Truths to Guide Your Marketing by @TracyVides

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7 Evergreen Social Media Truths to Guide Your Marketing

by Tracy Vides | Featured Contributor

The last half decade has been an extended social media party that refuses to turn down its volume. Anybody in the free world with an internet connection is probably part of, and most definitely aware of this phenomenon that has brought us closer to hundreds of people we barely know, while cutting us off from the people actually around us. But hey, that’s social media and its magnetism for you.

As marketers, we have seen social media budgets going up with every passing year. The job of a social media marketer too has become more and more complex with time. However, there are some truths that are so universal about this medium that they promise to stand the test of time.

Peeps Go Social to Hook Up with Friends, Not Brands

This is the first and most important certainty that you need to accept. Much as you hate it, your audience on social media is there to connect with friends, keep up with the latest family gossip or even snoop on their exes. No one signs up to social media in the hopes of following a fast food brand or an ecommerce site.

In Facebook’s own words, “People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content.” This means, if you want users to connect with your brand on social media and stay engaged, you need to offer them something extra.

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From inside scoops to exclusive social media discounts to special preview sales, give them a real benefit from connecting with your business on social media.

Getting fans and followers on social media is simply the first step. Real returns from social media come once you start engaging with your fans. Sharing your posts with their friends is probably the most significant form of engagement a fan can offer you. But social shares are also the most difficult thing to achieve. The trick to being extremely shareable on social media is to make your fans look good in front of their friends.

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By painting them in a favorable light, you are virtually ensuring the fact that they will share your content among their networks.

Social Media is Not Free

Yes, creating your profile on most social networks is free of cost. Posting content on the sites and interacting with your followers is free as well. However, as social media has gotten more mature, the networks have begun monetizing nearly every aspect of reaching out to users on their platforms. We are all aware of how organic reach on Facebook dropped dramatically last year and has been on the decline ever since.

This however is not limited to Facebook. Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, SnapChat are all monetizing their giant audiences and extracting marketing dollars from brands who wish to engage with them on those networks. The lesson? Create awesome organic content. But back it up with requisite paid advertising muscle across the networks of your choice to be visible to your audience and make a difference to your bottom line.

Your Choice of Platforms Can Make or Break Your Social Media Marketing

Say you’re planning to set up a new online fashion store. If you’re like me, you’ll spend days (probably weeks) researching, understanding and agonizing over which platform to go with, before gingerly beginning with a free online shopping solution such as Spaces. Or, if you already happen to be running a small site selling apparel, built on a basic ecommerce platform like Shopify, you could try expanding your business to Facebook.

Use that same due diligence to pick social media networks that will work best to influence your target audience. Look at trusted data sources like the Pew Research Center to determine the audience profile for each of the social networks out there. Match these profiles with your buyer personas and ideal audience profile to figure out which platforms would work best for you.

Listening is as Important as Talking, Sometimes More

Many marketers tend to look at social media as yet another podium to broadcast their brand messaging. However, social media is not your personal soapbox. It’s a channel that thrives on two-way dialogue. You’d be doing you brand a huge disservice by discounting the inputs of your users on social networks – there’s some awesome free data for the taking! Chipotle spots a great hook by listening in to conversations about itself on social media:

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Moreover, when users interact reach out to brands on social media they expect quick responses. Delay too much or worse, ignore them, and you’re on your way to losing their trust.

Tracking brand mentions allows you to unearth customer problems and fix them on time. Understanding customer sentiment, tells you about how customers perceive your brand, what its strengths are and what weaknesses need to be fixed.

You can manually quantify mentions by setting up Google Alerts for your brand or related keywords and keeping count on a spreadsheet. Alternately, you can simply pick up the ready-made mention metric available through a bunch of tools.

A tool like SocialMention helps you keep track the number of mentions your brand receives on a regular basis. It also lets you filter by source – Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and so on, so you know your brand equity on each platform.

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You can filter based on keywords used, identify top users, and also know whether users feel positively or negatively towards your brand. If you use social media dashboards like Raven or SproutSocial, they offer you the same data (in different formats of course) as well.

Not all users are equal. There is your average fan or follower who may like or comment about your brand once in a while. And then there is the super fan who evangelizes your brand like it’s their own. Or the celebrity who gushes about your service to their followers, sending an avalanche of business your way. Creating loyal customers and brand evangelists is definitely not as impossible as it sounds.

Bribing Users Only Works in the Short Term

Freebies and giveaways are an easy way to grow your fan base and increase engagement in the short term. However, users who like your page or share your posts in exchange for a bribe are mere opportunists who would do the same with your competitors too, given a chance. Instead of buying your customers’ love, try earning it on a more permanent basis. Post the kind of content that your users are automatically attracted to. Develop the kind of friendly, helpful social persona that your users love connecting with.

Social Signals Impact Your Search Visibility

We can debate till the cows come home the correlation between social media and search rankings and not get anywhere. However, multiple pieces of empirical data have conclusively proven that social media does impact rankings and hence cannot be ignored. Last year, data showed the growing importance of social media vs. search in terms of site traffic.

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When we integrate with social media into our websites as a means of improving organic rankings, we need to keep in mind one key fact. Social media is not a bottom of the funnel, last touch medium. Social media is a top of the funnel medium that attracts the right users to your site. It can influence a user positively about your brand. The actual conversion push might come from a coupon or a sale at a store that a user exposed to your social media marketing walks into. However, that does not change the critical role social media has in positively influencing customer choices.

Integrate social media into the fabric of your site by doing the following:

  • Place social sharing buttons strategically alongside shareable pieces of content. This could be product images, blog posts, quotes, or whatever else works for your site.
  • Actively solicit social sharing of your content through specific social oriented CTA e.g. “Be the first to tell your friends about this awesome deal!”
  • Showcase user feedback from social media platforms as a means of upping your social proof and winning credibility from new users.
  • Encourage your existing users to refer their friends and family to your site via social media plugins.
  • Consider including social login to your website with plugins like Janrain. Social logins make the experience of browsing your site seamless for your users. At your end, they offer you rich social data about each user that you would never be able to access otherwise.

Social Media Can’t Be Your Only Bet

Yes, we’ve all heard about those brands like Lolly Wolly Doodle that were built purely on social media. However, if we’re honest to ourselves, we’ll realize that those are exceptions, not the rule. Not every single customer of yours is going to be active on social media. Most businesses need a multi-pronged approach to reach out to their audience and get them to buy. A mobile friendly website, a content strategy that boosts brand authority, on-site SEO readiness, and an email marketing strategy, are all key elements of a successful brand’s marketing story.

In Closing

Social media is a dynamic space. Some days your audience seems to love Facebook, the next day they switch to Instagram. Sometimes images are the biggest engagement tool on social media, and then suddenly images turn passé with videos usurping their spot. These are trends that you’ll learn to keep up with as you ride along your social media journey. However the fundamental truths that social media operates on remain constant. Master them and you’re closer than most to your goal of rip roaring returns from your social media marketing efforts.

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Tracy VidesTracy Vides is a content marketer and social media consultant who works with small businesses and startups to increase their visibility. Although new to the digital marketing scene compared to her illustrious She Owns It counterparts, Tracy has started off well by building a good online reputation for herself. She’s now a “serial blogger” with posts featured on Sprout Content, Steamfeed, Soshable, and elsewhere.

Connect with her on Twitter @TracyVides for a chat any time!

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