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Friday, March 13, 2015

Secret Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing originally began as a concept that not many businesses took seriously. Today, however, millions of businesses worldwide are using it to reach out to a wider audience and develop stronger relationships with their customers.

If you haven't got a social media marketing strategy yet, then what are you waiting for?
As outlined below, there are countless benefits to using it to better your business:
1. Distribute Content
Firstly and foremost, you can use social media marketing to distribute your website's content. If you have a blog, you can publish your blog posts (or enticing extracts from your posts) on your social platforms to encourage followers to click through to your site to learn more. You can also post links to press releases, company news and other important information regarding your business. This is a great way to keep current and potential clients in the loop.


2. Boost Brand Awareness
Social media marketing also helps you to boost brand awareness. You can also use this online marketing tool to make people more aware of your brand and your website's existence and without it, you can automatically cutting out a huge potential target market.
Millions of people use social media and it's easy for good content to go viral. According to reports, 78% of small businesses attract new customers through social media, and people are quick to turn to their platforms to form their impression of a brand. For this reason, this is an essential brand awareness tool that boosts brand loyalty and encourages people to come back for more.
3. Improve Customer Support
You can also use social media to interact with your clients and improve customer service. Today, customers are quick to turn to the internet to talk about a positive (or negative) experience with a brand, so if you can provide a dedicated customer service department that offers communication through a number of mediums you will be able to provide a more positive client experience that is highly receptive to the needs of the individual. This is great for improving brand awareness and giving improving customer retention.


4. Boost Sales
By posting company content, boosting brand awareness and having a reliable customer support team, this will no doubt contribute towards boosting sales. You have the power in your hands to target specific audiences with the right message immediately, which ultimately leads to a boost in sales.

About 8 Ways Media
8 Ways Media SA is a Swiss-based web design and marketing agency providing 8 main services including branding, web design, IT development, offline & online marketing and much more. 8 Ways Media specialises in providing services that focus on creativity as well as the latest parallax designs and technological trends.

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Visit http://www.8ways.ch/news to learn more.
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015

How To Find The Right Twitter Influencers To Grow Your Business

While having a large number of followers may look impressive, if you want your Twitter for business efforts to have an impact on your bottom line, you need to focus on quality over quantity. Now that you know why it's so important to target the right Twitter users, let's take a look at several different ways to connect with the right people:

The 3 Groups That Matter
Individuals who fall into your customer demographic are the first group you want to target. If you haven't taken the time to define the traits that one of your potential customers may possess, put that task at the top of your to-do list.


One commonly overlooked aspect of Twitter training for business is there are actually two other groups worth targeting. The first are industry influencers. Not only can the tastemakers of your industry send you qualified traffic, but having their endorsement can help close sales.

Amplifiers are the other group worth your time. Although there may be some overlap between influencers and amplifiers, not every influencer is active enough to be considered an amplifier. Since these users can be a little tricky to identify, the easiest way to pinpoint them is to visit Topsy. You can paste the URL of a popular post within your industry into this tool, and then you can see which Twitter users were most active in sharing it.

A Twitter Marketing Strategy That Works
Since a big part of Twitter training for business is identifying a strategy that works, we're going to give you an actionable plan that you can start putting into practice today. Followerwonk and Buffer are the two free tools you'll need in order to execute this strategy. Followerwonk provides lot of insights into Twitter users and data, while Buffer is a Twitter management tool designed specifically for content.
Twitter profile optimization is the first step towards making beneficial connections. Adding a profile and including relevant keywords in your bio will maximize your profile's visibility. Next, use Twitter hashtags and @ mentions to get on users' radars.


As you start using Twitter more, you'll want to share a mix of content from your own blog, as well as others. In addition to sharing content, be sure to actively engage with other users. Finally, as you get more comfortable with Twitter and all of the features this platform has to offer, you can utilize advanced tactics like creating Twitter lists.

This is the syndicated copy of an original article posted at WebStrategyPlus.

CEO of Web Strategy Plus a full service digital agency & a passionate Internet Marketer with 15+ years of successful online business development experience. We help businesses by providing web services such as website design & redesign, social media design, social media management, website logo design, SEO and more!

By Michelle Hummel

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Hummel

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Saturday, March 7, 2015

Why No Business Should Be MIA On Social Media

Whilst Social Media is being highly adopted by the wider population, senior management are very under-represented, with only 15% of executives active. Executives tend to misunderstand or prefer to ignore it, rather than embrace it in their organisation.

This also means that this space is void of appealing content about organizations that executives could provide to interested parties that are searching for this content.

There are six key myths about social media:
(1) It's just a fad (2.55 Billion are current using social media)
(2) People only use it to post photos of their pets or food 
(3) It's only for young people
(4) It's only for geeks, Tech heads, and IT savvy people
(5) It's only for marketing
(6) There is no gain or R.O.I



All of these myths are incorrect, and this is a reason as to why organizations often fear or are reluctant to engage in it.
The main issue is that, whilst there are so many benefits and advantages, only the small amount of negative experiences are publicised by the media, and so, people tend to get the impression that social media only causes dramas.
One potential barrier is that so many platforms of online community-based media exist today, it can be overwhelming for most users. Therefore, it is best to stick with the main versions: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for business.
An emerging trend today is that people are more willing to trust a complete stranger's review about a product online overall marketing collateral that exists. Social media encourages a "review" platform that organisations must be amongst, and not ignore.
In 2014, the G20 declared that the social media sphere was worth $US 16 Trillion of the world's economy.
The main uses of online, community based media are:
(1) Defensive (just be on there to deal with bad press)
(2) Online Reputation (building brand awareness presence)
(3) Active Use (regular posts, blogging, job adverts, updates)

The most effective use of social peer media is the Active Use.
It is important, today, that all organisations safe guard their territories in this space, which includes all URLs and user names on the main platforms (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) as imposters can claim it and spread incorrect information.
Truths about social peer to peer media:
(1) It's here to stay (it's been around for over ten years and is growing rapidly)
(2) It's about human moments and interaction of any kind, especially business
(3) It's for absolutely everyone
(4) It's about communications and relationships/followers/interested parties
(5) It's absolutely immediate
(6) It can be used effectively and measured

CrowdMed is an example of a platform where medical professionals from around the world submit and combine their expertise to solve even the most difficult medical cases. This kind of 'crowd sourcing' approach is an excellent example of how social media creates a portal of information from the masses, including target audiences.

 
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) is another new trend now, where large, reputable educational organisations are providing free-of-charge courses, bachelors, masters and certificates in practically everything. They serve as a way an individual can access education and provide everything a full paid course does, however they do not award the official accreditation upon completion. Interestingly enough, some organisations are now accepting MOOCs certificates as official qualifications for entry into jobs.

Open Data is the most intriguing phenomena at the moment. It is the collecting and analysing of online community media data to predict trends and demographics due to its immediacy. Open Data saw that statistics and data organisations were able to accurately predict the spread of the Ebola virus before any medical organisation could, because areas of contraction were posting the events online in real time.

Another medical website of interest is Patients Like Me, where patients share their medical experiences and treatments.
Emerging trends with social media:
(1) It's only going to grow in importance more rapidly
(2) Everyone is mobile now, increasing its appeal
(3) Even older consumers are joining
(4) There are now millions of consumers entering the market that have never seen life without online peer media
(5) Consumer education and opinion has never held more influence than it does now.
Christopher Melotti

Freelance Copywriter at Melotti Media.

http://www.melottimedia.com.au
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Thursday, March 5, 2015

Warning Signs You Are Wasting Time and Energy in Your Social Media Marketing

We've all been there. Someone told us we needed to have our business promoted in social media, so we opened up Facebook and Twitter accounts and started posting stuff. But then, we discovered the awful truth... nobody cared.

So the next logical step was to go out and find some people who might care. We asked our family, friends, and maybe even a few customers to start following us. But, as you might have experienced yourself, the results didn't change.



It can be downright frustrating. Think you might be wasting your time and energy on social media? Here are some warning signs you might just be (and what you should do to fix it):
1) You don't have an audience for your business.
Social media is a two way street. That's why it's called "social." If you don't have an audience there, then you are talking to thin air, and that certainly is a waste. But it can't be just any audience, it needs to be an audience that wants to hear your message.
2) You haven't created content that resonates with your audience's interests or needs.
Often times you have the right audience in place, but you fill your social media content with material that just doesn't matter to them.
3) You haven't asked for your audience's engagement or included calls to action.
If you do figure out how to share relevant content with your audience, you still don't manage to leverage the opportunity into a sale by giving them direction or asking them to buy something from you.

So how can you avoid wasting your time and energy, and actually use social media to your advantage?


The first step is to know what you want to get out of your efforts, so you have a better idea of what to put into it. By putting specific goals in place, you can create measurable outcomes, and be better about creating the right sort of content to realize those outcomes.
Be clear, simple, and provide great value.
Next, you want to create simple rules for your content. Develop a template for the content you produce, and be sure to keep it relevant, simple, and provide clear direction to your audience on how to engage... and how to buy from you.
Finally, be consistent.
If you want to get out and stay out of your social media rut, make certain to be consistent about producing great content.
So how are you going to get started?
Here's a simple answer. Invest a few minutes in David Baer's video on the 3 Marketing Essentials you must have in place to achieve massive success in your online marketing. And learn how to attract more leads and convert them into evangelical fans.

Brought to by David Baer, dedicated to demystifying Internet Marketing for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Online at Baer On Marketing
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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Using Social Media - Marketing Your Brand As an Entrepreneur


Several designers asked me to further expand on the topic of social media with a few tips, so they may "re-vamp" or better enhance their online brand presence.

I am happy to share a few specific examples, but please keep in mind, I am not an expert or guru on this topic. This post is directed to entrepreneurs such as myself that strive to use social media as part of their business marketing objectives.

I utilize tools such as FB, LinkedIn and Pinterest, finding them extremely useful whether I am promoting my services, to make an event announcement, provide updates or simply to connect and network online with other like-minded individuals. Please, I beg those of you out there, do not send me endless rants on the "science of social media" or " theories that I should consider". Entrepreneurs want bare knuckle solutions, that they may attempt to implement easily for their company. Instead, please let's just all agree the needs of everyone will vary based on the type of business.



1) Determine which social media platform(s) will work best for your objectives.
This may sound obvious, but many designers I notice will place themselves on any and every platform because they think they will be found by everyone at anytime. Typically, their end result is very few followers on their page, and/or no direct hits to their website or blog. Not to mention they have no time to follow up with their online presence and stop using them all together or give the duty to their latest internet savvy intern.

What I'd recommend is to consider each platform and why'd you should use it just as you would consider an ad in a fashionable print publication. Certainly, you wouldn't purchase a full page ad in every single type of "woman's' publication" because you want to reach female consumers. Instead, you'd review all the magazines you like -- their audience, view other advertisers, time of year its published, the overall look and feel etc.

Only then would you decide to pay for the ad placement based on your evaluation of which one was the most relevant to your target audience. It's a good idea to do this as well with various social media platforms. Spend some time on a minimum of three types of tools when researching what works best. For each one also note and consider what type of people use the specific tool, and how brands use them-especially the customer engagement for sales, promotional marketing and brand awareness - pay attention to how often an item may be shared, where its cross-linked and amount of relevant tweets.

Take additional time to search and review competitors in your sector - what do they do, use and why? What seems to be working well and how to do they stay relevant when advertising their brand, sale or promotion? Are there some ideas you can incorporate on a smaller scale from a global company? I often participate in Facebook "event parties" by my favorite food brands - especially when they allow their customers to post or tweet questions to their healthy living teams of experts on ways to prepare their products at home.



Look at organizations you follow in other sectors, that are the complete opposite to what you do now - what do they do to capture your attention? Some companies are quite clever at using social media when they don't have a "non sexy" product. Perhaps that may give you a fresh idea to use in your marketing.

2) Dedicate 30 minutes, once a week, starting out with your tool.
Social media is about engaging people directly and consistently, but also be aware it takes time. You will not get hundreds or thousands of followers in a month or even two months. You cannot buy followers another misconception. You must think quality over quantity if you want real followers aka potential customers that will want to connect with your brand online and eventually offline at your next event, product launch or trunk show.
Think of your social media as a "window" to your store -- people may walk by and eventually decide come in (aka follow you ) but you have to make the consistent effort. As an entrepreneur you have many responsibilities, and working on your social media presence for 30 minutes a week, should be part of your marketing initiatives.
3)Take advantage of features, that can assist you with making social media a task not a chore. 

Here's two small action items you can try tomorrow!

The Facebook post scheduler. Its a great way to post regularly. You can schedule out your posts ahead of time - for the week or the month with exact times. Its a great way to promote a sale, event and the reminders in timely organized fashion.

Link ALL of your accounts together - I have my FB and Twitter accounts linked, so I can post simultaneously. This way if someone is just on one or the other, I've covered my bases. Not to mention, I'm not posting the same updates over and over.

3) Post relevant topics, people and things that relate to your brand image.
i.e. If you are selling cocktail dresses, then keep your posts relevant to that topic.
Don't post about a kids' event or the latest candy, if you can't tie it into your brand message. Perhaps, I'd instead, customize the post to prom season in a candy color that I am trying to sell. You have to be strategic with every single post. Direct or non direct each one should be a gentle reminder about YOU and what you are selling.Not your competitor, another event or brand that will lead them away from your page!

I don't understand why, in particular,emerging designer brands will talk about another designer in their category, (as they think this will be draw to their site), when they are trying to promote their own collection online. If you notice, competitors don't boast about an amazing brand similar to theirs no matter how much larger or more popular it may be - instead they tie in their message to something that keeps you on their page. There is a thin line between discussing trends and fads versus promoting someone else on your dime.

4) Understand not everyone communicates regularly on social media. It's not the end all easy marketing solution for your business.
I am assuming I will get a lot of flack for this last point. Yes, social media is here to stay, but know if your customer uses it, which one(s) and why. I have one high end very successful boutique client in a small town in Florida, that uses text messages to alert their clientele about sales, new collections, holidays offers and parties. They discovered that many of their customers were older affluent women and men that preferred a private personal touch - through a phone call and text rather than going online to a Facebook page.

Social media is a great resource and service for marketing - especially when used correctly. Like anything an entrepreneur tries to incorporate or implement, just realize its not the savior on the road to riches. Also know it is not "free marketing" your time is not free, so make the most of using it with a solid plan.

It can get daunting, reading about the trends, new platforms changes and updates, however, stick to your plan stay diligent and evaluate all pros and cons with each service. It's again about knowing your customers --what works and what doesn't for YOU and how the heck you going to share your brand message consistently and clearly online.


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