A Business Killing Lack Of Social Media Strategy?

Social media seems to be the best thing to happen to small businesses.

It is essentially a free tool that almost everyone is using, a factor that can be a benefit and a curse..

Related Article: Optimize YOUR Facebook Social Media Strategy?

Businesses of all sizes can now create major marketing campaigns on shoestring budgets.

However, some businesses are killing their brand with poor marketing materials and no marketing strategy.

They fail to develop a strategy behind their posting, refuse to invest in quality graphics and don't engage with their community. They may not see a direct decline in business, but the energy spent posting content is not generating new prospects because people are looking at ill-conceived marketing — and deciding NOT to engage. (Ouch!)

There are a handful of essential elements that need to work together for your social media strategy to connect with your target market and generate quality leads for your business.

Make sure your social media strategy isn't suffering from these common mistakes:

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Cheap Or Ugly Graphics

We live in a visual society where people like to look at pretty pictures. Even if they don't read your content, immediate assumptions are made about your business based on the graphics you use. There are several free and low-cost platforms that allow you to create and edit photos and videos for social media posting.

You may not have a lot of time or a staffer to dedicate to this task, but at least one or two hours should be carved out each week to develop content for your marketing. If you're a solopreneur, you may be thinking you don't have time to do this. My question is, do you have so much business that you don't need new clients?

No Design Consistency

Is your business traditional, modern or contemporary? Is your target audience youthful or experienced? Are your products/services designed for corporate consumers or household consumption? Believe it or not, those elements should make a difference when designing your social media images and messages. When someone looks at your images, reads your messages or watches your videos, they are trying to determine if this product/service is talking to them. It is important for viewers to see your content and become intrigued enough to click the link, request more information or call for an appointment. If you are getting a lot of views but few clicks, there is something in your messaging that is not connecting with your audience.

Related Article: Fixing YOUR Boring Social Media Brand?

No Content Consistency

Posting consistently on social media can be draining, but if you choose to use it as a part of your marketing strategy, it is something that you need to do so strategically.

Failure to do so makes your brand seem disengaged. Even if you only post once a day or every few days, that helps to show that you are taking a step to remain connected to your audience. Not sure what to post? Don't let that ruin your schedule. You could:

• Link to articles that may provide helpful information to your community.

• Share inspirational quotes.

• Ask a question that can help in the research and development of your next product/service.

• Ask for reviews of a current product/service.

• Feature a profile of a member of your team.

Related Article: Creating Engaging Social Media Content?

No Connection With Your Community

I am amazed at the number of businesses who fail to connect with their community. I see them posting ads, offers, advice and you name it with people commenting and asking questions — but no response from the business. Inevitably, the consumers begin talking to each other, which seems to derail the conversation away from the business.

Even if you don't have the resources to dedicate to a community manager, someone within your organization should be tasked with monitoring and following up on the information that you post. If you are a one-man shop and getting a high level of engagement, congratulations because you're doing something right — but the next step is to convert those leads into sales.

Likes and comments are warm leads because these are people who have expressed some interest in what you're offering. Now, you must figure out through engagement what it will take to get them to buy. Not responding or leaving them to find the answer themselves is a poor lead-conversion strategy. You would not do that to someone outside your office building trying to get in the door, so why do it to someone trying to gain virtual access to you?

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No Investment To Reach Your Target Audience

Let's face it: Just because you build it or post it, they are not going to come. You need to go out and find them. Because so many social media platforms are free, many business owners have failed to allocate financial resources to effectively reaching their target audience, causing their message to fall on deaf ears. You can have great images, great content and be on standby to connect with your community, but if you have not invested in reaching your target demographic, then you have essentially wasted many of your resources.

In theory, social media is the great equalizer for many industries. It gives businesses of all sizes the potential to connect with their target customers all over the globe. However, doing so requires a strategy to engage prospects and a plan to follow up with those who seem interested in your offer. Not making an investment of time or finances into your social media can be killing your business, but using social strategically can be an asset to untold growth.

Guest Authored By LaKesha Womack. LaKesha is a Published Author, International Speaker, Politcal Strategist and Business/Marketing Consultant at Womack Consulting Group. Follow LaKesha on Twitter.

Related Article: Connecting With Customers On Social Media?

“Unlike traditional media advertising that can be very hit or miss, many social media ads are targeted and often allow you to pay per click so you are only spending money when prospects engage with your content.

Start small to see which platforms and message-types your audience is most likely to engage with, and then build from there.." -LaKesha Womack

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

2017 Social Media Mover & Shaker List?

Which brands topped the social media Movers and Shakers list in 2017?

You do not have to be a new, hot technology in order to get consumers talking about your brand. Consumer engagement can happen across all brands -- if you get it right.

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It does seem that new products and those within sectors such as technology that are considered to be the "hottest" are the ones consumers are talking about most.

However, this is more of a myth than fact. New York-based data, analytics, and insights company Engagement Labs has identified the top 10 brands that saw the most improvement with respect to the quality and quantity of consumer conversations.

I looked at 500 consumer brands and ranked brands that gained the most consumer conversation over the course of a year.

It ranked its 'Movers and Shakers' as brands with the biggest point increase in their TotalSocial scores from the year ending in May 2016 to the year ending in May 2017, placing them in the top half of its TotalSocial ranking.

According to its analysis, these Movers and Shakers are not from just one category.

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They range from technology and entertainment to insurance companies, travel services, and food brands.

There is a raft of new products, such as the Apple Watch, along with well-established brands such as General Mills.

It does not seem to matter what the category or age of a brand is.

If there is a strong product, good customer case study, or great marketing campaign, there is always an opportunity to gain momentum and improve how much and the way in which consumers talk about a brand.

USAA and Bayer are clear examples that brands do not have to be 'sexy' to earn consumer engagement. USAA is ranked third on the list. It focuses on providing military members and their families with insurance, banking, and investment services.

Its marketing campaigns focus on patriotism and appeal to consumers emotional. This has resulted in a rise in people who were talking offline about their advertising and marketing.

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Life science company Bayer is second on the Movers and Shakers list. Bayer had a record-breaking year and substantially improved its face-to-face conversations and offline sentiment.

Apple Watch is the No. 1 Mover and Shaker. The brand moved up more than 100 places. During the reporting period, it released product innovations including the iPhone 7, Apple Watch Series 2, and Apple AirPods.

Consumers have long been talking and interacting with the brand. It used the Apple Watch launch to generate consumer conversations.

General Mills proved that even the most established brands can rise up the list, One of the catalysts that enhanced its position was its controversial "Bring Back the Bees" campaign.

Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs, said: "In the case of Apple, it is clear that the company really made the most of its product launch for the Apple Watch."

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Consumer conversations are a proven driver of critical business outcomes, including sales.

Tracking, measuring, and benchmarking the impact of conversations happening around a brand and industry -- both online and offline -- is key to the brands success.

Guest Authored By Eileen Brown. Eileen is a social business consultant who has been working with collaborative technologies for 20 years. Eileen creates the social business, energizes communities and ignites social commerce and social CRM. She develops social business strategy, customer reach and online branding. Her book, Working The Crowd: Social Media Marketing for Business, is available on Amazon. She is a regular speaker at conferences around the world, maintains a blog Here. Follow Eileen on Twitter.

Related Article: Powerful Social Media Success Metrics?

“Consumer conversations are a proven driver of critical business outcomes, including sales.

Tracking, measuring, and benchmarking the impact of conversations happening around a brand and industry -- both online and offline -- is key to the brands success.."

• 

  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

YOUR Successful Gen Z Marketing Campaign?

Last year, for the first time ever, the amount spent on digital advertising surpassed that spent on television ads..

This year, that trend is expected to continue. Last year, Facebook made over $26 billion in revenue, a number that exceeded analysts’ expectations and that represented a $9 billion increase over the previous year.

Related Article: Social Media - The Death Of Television?

The driving force behind both of these trends is the fact that the world’s biggest and most beloved brands have turned to social media marketing in order to reach prospective customers.

According to an article in AdAge, even traditionally conservative brands have come to realize that social media marketing is the future. As AdAge journalist Deborah Williamson notes, “Brands like Citi have come to realize that the traditional way of thinking about video as merely a 30- or 60-second TV spot is outdated.”

Social media has become popular with brands because they are only able to reach younger audiences online. When members of Generation Z consume content, they do it on a smartphone, not through a television. For brands to stay alive, they must learn to create social media content that appeals to Gen Zers.

This article offers marketers 5 tips on how to do just that.

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1. Invest In Interactive Technologies

Brands that already appeal to Gen Zers have created powerful social media campaigns that drive awareness on a social media platform, and then motivate Gen Zers to take an action that brings them in contact with interesting technologies.

American Eagle’s Aerie sub-brand is a good example of this. The company used social media to promote the launch of a new chatbot called This or That. The simple interface allowed users to select the clothing style that best suited them. Eventually, the chatbot recommended a product to purchase.

Aerie coupled this social media campaign with a PR campaign called “#aeriereal.” The campaign encouraged young women (especially Gen Z shoppers) to adopt a positive image about their bodies. This well-thought-out social media campaign included multiple elements designed to appeal to the Gen Z buyer.

It was a mobile-first campaign that was promoted through social media. The campaign featured a positive message for impressionable young buyers, and brought that message home through a piece of interactive technology based on a popular messaging platform used by Gen Zers.

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2. Feature-Diverse and Gender-Neutral Subjects

Members of Generation Z are more diverse than any other generation, and they also have different attitudes about gender than their forebears. Gen Zers are less likely to embrace binary gender categories, and are more comfortable with gender ambiguity than other generations. Brands that want to engage Gen Zers on social media should reflect these sentiments in social media content.

The examples above are taken from YouTube’s Instagram account. The content features ethnically diverse subjects, many of whom are expressing their support for the LGBTQ community.

3. Analyze Brands Gen Zers Already Love

Marketers who take the time to identify and analyze social media content produced by brands that are already succeeding with Gen Zers will be able to quickly create content that engages this target audience.

To get started, take a look at the content produced by Nike, YouTube, Oreo, Google and Gatorade - all brands Gen Zers love - to see how these companies use social media content.

Related Article: Tracking Brand Images On Social Media?

When analyzing these companies, it’s best to look at profiles on Snapchat and Instagram, since Gen Zers prefer these social media platforms over Facebook and Twitter. It may make sense to invest in an Instagram analytics tool, in order to understand how other brands are successfully engaging members of Gen Z.

4. Select Social Media Platforms Wisely

As was mentioned above, Gen Zers love social media, but they don’t love all social media platforms.

For example, Gen Zers spend relatively little time on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. However, they spend an inordinate amount of time on Snapchat and Instagram. In addition to traditional social media networks, Gen Zers use messaging platforms like Kik, Line, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

When trying to create a social media strategy that appeals to members of Generation Z, it’s important to focus primarily on Snapchat and Instagram. For marketers with bigger budgets, it may also make sense to dive into messaging platforms with the help of chatbots, as American Eagle did in the example above.

Related Article: The Social Media Platform For YOUR Business?

5. Include Paid Elements To Accelerate Engagement

Even the best marketing campaigns can benefit from paid advertising elements to improve reach and accelerate engagement. Brands interested in targeting Gen Zers should consider investing in paid social media ads on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube to better engage this demographic.

When creating social media ads for Gen Zers, remember that this demographic prefers ads that reflect life as it is, not an idealized version of it. One study found that about 75% of Gen Zers prefer ads that “show real people in real situations.” Similarly, about 70% of respondents said they disliked ads that idealized life.

Guest Authored By Deep Patel. Deep is the Founder of Owl Metrics, a serial entrepreneur, marketer and bestselling author of A Paperboy’s Fable: The 11 Principles of Success. The book was dubbed the #1 best business book in 2016 by Success Magazine and named the best book for entrepreneurs in 2016 by Entrepreneur Magazine. Also recognized as a top 25 marketing influencer by Forbes, He has worked with VC-backed startups to Fortune 500 companies. He's am also a contributor at Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post and Success Magazine. Follow Deep on Twitter.

Related Article: Powerful Gen Z Marketing Tips?

"Generation Z has different media consumption habits than previous generations. Because of this, marketers need to focus on building social media campaigns that are mobile, diverse and realistic.

Social media managers should research how brands like YouTube, Nike and Oreos (among others) are able to connect with Gen Zers, and may also want to invest in technologies that allow members of Gen Z to shop through mobile or messaging platforms.."

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

New Brands Pressing The Right Buttons?

When the most awkward brand presses the right buttons in people on social media, it becomes their favorite..

Our timelines on social media are flooded with different marketing campaigns on a regular basis. The majority of this content is from brands that fall into a certain category, creating a myth that social media marketing is selective.

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While certain brands may seem more in tune with trends, the diversity of social media audiences creates a market for all kinds of products and services to excel.

When you are at a party with beautiful guests, great music, drinks and food, there’s an open floor for you to mingle and network. You either grab the opportunity or pass on it.

Social media gives you that sort of opportunity. What you do with it, in regards to your brand, is totally up to you.

Here are four ways to shake things up for an awkward brand on social media.

Have A Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social media might be an avenue to unwind for the average person, but to business owners, it’s a marketplace. If you want your brand to be given the time of day, you need to come up with a social media marketing strategy and work religiously to achieve your goals.

The competition is fierce. With many brands fighting over the attention of the audience, going to the battlefield without a strategy is a risk too big to take. What do you aim to achieve on social media? Is it to create brand awareness, make sales or generate leads to your website? Figure this out and tailor your marketing efforts in that direction for better results.

Create Interesting Content

It takes more than great looks to be the life of the party. Granted, looks can get you the attention, but you need a lot more to hold it. No one wants to be stuck with a bore when they have many options to make their day more fun. When you fail to tickle their fancy, they move on to the next person who can give them want they want.

Related Article: Social Media Content Curation Tools?

Marketing on social media is a two way street. The social media audience wants to hear and see interesting content that gives them a relief away from the stress in their daily lives. Whatever content you create should be related to your brand and what you seek to achieve with it. Think out of the box. If creating a social video seems better than writing a post to showcase a product or announce an upcoming event, then go for it.

Infuse Humor

Your brand may not be like that funny-looking comedian whose mere appearance gets people laughing already. However, you could make it be like the comedian who doesn’t look funny but knows the right things to say to get people rolling on the floor with laughter.

Everyone needs a little bit of laughter in their life. With the right dose of humor, you can make people on social media pay attention to your brand. This technique was put to great use for a seemingly awkward sector like gambling. We saw some of the most hilarious betting commercials that we couldn’t help but fall in love with.

Related Article: Making Your Social Media Marketing Personal?

With humor, the advertisers were able to appeal to a larger audience and get more people on the train. You could take a hint from this. Humor is one of the marketing strategies that never fail to covert.

Be Interactive

Take away interaction from social media, and you’ll have a quiet room full of bored people. Interaction sets the ball rolling and sustains conversations.

Interaction on social media is a give-and-take model. When you put out content, pay close attention to feedback from your audience. If they react to your content, don’t ignore this: Keep the ball rolling by responding in line with their reactions. And when they post things that that conform with your brand, don’t hesitate to join the conversation.

Events on social media are similar to those in our physical environments; the major difference is the medium. Think of social media as a virtual market with real people. Appealing to people’s emotions is a secret to getting on their good side because you evoke a positive reaction in them.

Guest Authored By James Jorner. James is a content strategist and marketer at Effective Inbound Marketing. His company specializes in online branding and digital marketing for businesses. Follow James on Twitter.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Engagement Metric?

"When the most awkward brand presses the right buttons in people on social media, it becomes their favorite.

And that generates leads in the long run.."

• 

  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

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