YOUR Explosive Social Media Growth Strategy?

Three ways to diversify your marketing strategy after explosive social media growth..

It’s common for an e-commerce business to start out using only one or two digital marketing channels. Take, for example, Freshly Picked -- a company that uses social media (namely, Instagram) as its primary marketing strategy.

Related Article: Top CEO Social Media Strategy?

While explosive follower growth and aggressive influencer campaigns (Frank Body’s influencer marketing and user-generated content come to mind) can get you far, relying on one or two channels can be dangerous.

Not diversifying your strategy can leave your business in an uncomfortable spot if anything goes wrong. For instance, Instagram deleted Frank Body’s fast-growing account after it launched (the body scrub company had been posting risqué photos of models), forcing it to start over from scratch.

When you diversify your marketing efforts, you’ll be less prone to panic if Instagram changes its algorithm or Facebook pushes an update.

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Get More Out Of Your Current Social Followers

If you’ve had success on social media, start there as you begin to diversify your strategy, rather than diving headfirst into unfamiliar territory.

For example, expand your social influencer campaigns to include more microinfluencers (generally, accounts with fewer than 10,000 followers) and brand ambassadors. Though they have fewer followers than the mega-stars of Instagram, microinfluencers often charge lower rates and boast higher account engagement than their larger counterparts, delivering a higher return on investment (ROI).

Brand ambassadors (typically unpaid, real users of your product) go beyond the one-off sponsored Instagram post or story to regularly advocate for your product because they use and love it. To begin building a network of engaged brand ambassadors, you can start with your existing customer base. Reach out to customers who mention your product on social media to turn their one-time positive comment into a long-term relationship.

To reach an even wider audience, you can also consider asking brand ambassadors to post about their experience with your product on other digital channels: industry forums, blogs, review sites, YouTube videos and so on.

Related Article: The BIG Business Of Social Media Influencers?

Leverage Paid Advertising For Quick Revenue

If social media is currently your primary source of traffic and sales, paid social is a natural next step for a diversified marketing strategy -- but you have to make sure you do it right.

A good starting point for paid social is ad retargeting, which will go after social media users who have already demonstrated an interest in your product. As long as you have an audience of at least 1,000 people, you can start serving them ads.

Retargeted ads can be set up a number of ways but for starters, look at how long it takes a user to typically convert using analytics data. For example, if 80% of people who visited your site have not made a purchase within eight days, you should consider setting up retargeting ads to put your products in front of them again, reminding them to purchase.

Don’t just set up an ad and hope for the best. Test different types of ads (video ads, product carousels, customer testimonials, etc.), and keep an eye on the data to see which ones convince customers to purchase. From our experience in using hyper-targeted ads with various clients, you should see an ROI/ROAS (return on ad spend) of at least three times.

Related Article: What Other Peoples Advertising Can Teach YOU?

Start Building A Long-Term Strategy For Organic Traffic As Soon As You Can

Referral traffic (both from social media and Google ads) is great, but you’re limiting yourself if you aren’t going after organic search traffic.

Building out a robust content strategy is a longer-term plan that typically won’t deliver immediate sales. But, as the amount of relevant, quality content on your site increases, so will your organic search rankings. This will, over time, provide you with a steady stream of incoming traffic from potential customers who are searching for answers to their questions.

Is your product new or disruptive? Or something that customers will research extensively before they purchase? If that is the case, begin creating content that answers their questions and assists readers in their product research.

If your product is something that requires less research -- a pair of shoes, for example -- your content marketing strategy may focus more on brand awareness, creating backlinks and top-of-funnel content that, while not selling your product directly, speaks to your target demographic.

Related Article: Brand Awareness With Unexpected Platforms?

Centralized Data Helps Your Marketing Efforts Work Together In Harmony

As you add more marketing channels to your strategy, think about how they can feed one another, working together to convert customers. Having a central point for collecting and reporting will make all the difference. Many businesses layer on numerous marketing channels but fail to connect all the data together.

As you create robust pieces of content and your organic traffic increases, you can serve a larger pool of people your retargeted social -- and even pay-per-click (PPC) -- ads. The more content you create, the more assets you have to share on social media, boosting referral traffic and potentially earning you more backlinks as people share your content.

Guest Authored By T.J Welch. TJ is the VP of Marketing at Stryde, supports in the strategic business planning of the company with 12 years of marketing experience. Follow TJ on Twitter.

Related Article: Data Mapping Social Media Influencers?

"By having centralized data and reporting in place, you can identify how each piece of your marketing is impacting the whole. All aspects of your strategy should be used in harmony with one another, exponentially boosting your bottom line.." -TJWelch

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Salt Lake City, UT. where 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 ;)

Who Dominates Social Media In 2018?

4 Industries That Will Dominate Social Media in 2018..

All it takes is the right mix of attention, commitment and effort..

Related Article: Successful Social Media For YOUR Small Business?

Once seen as purely a tool for entertainment, social media has become an indispensable marketing tool for many industries over the past few years, rivaled only by word of mouth.

According to a first-quarter-2017 report by 4C Insights, overall social media spend was up 60 percent compared with a similar period the previous year. CMO Survey predicted a 17 percent annual compound growth rate from 2016 through 2021 for social media spend. It estimates that the social media advertising investment will represent 25 percent of total online spend in 2018.

Yet, there are some who are not convinced that social media can generate revenue. Clearly, the success hasn’t been uniform across all industries—some are raking in billions of dollars, while some are barely active. But based on the recent trends, we’re likely to see more social media activity from some traditionally inactive industries.

Related Article: YOUR Guaranteed Social Media Marketing ROI?

Hospitality

Much like social media, the hospitality industry is a dynamic sector characterized by constant shifts and evolution. Its adoption of technology over the past couple of years has only added to the rapid change.

When it comes to social media, however, the industry’s usage is still in its infancy. We’re just now seeing prominent brands starting to utilize it to their advantage as they integrate marketing with services, such as bookings, into social media channels.

As chefs encourage their customers to post photos of their food on social media and reviews continue to influence buying decisions, mobile pay transactions are taking center stage in the industry. Reports show that 43 percent of restaurants will be adopting mobile pay by the end of the year. The mobile pay industry is expected to hit the trillion-dollar mark in a few years, meaning that hospitality will have no choice but to be part of it.

Related Article: YOUR Local Business Social Media Marketing?

In order to quickly adapt to such changes and ensure their effective implementation, the industry needs to first catch up with the new ways of communication—social media being the dominant one.

As they try to learn about the behaviors and expectations of their tech-savvy customers, these companies will rely on social media.

Related Article: Marketing Trends To Dominate In 2018?

Although most of the business-to-business world has been embracing social media, manufacturing has been lagging. This has been mostly due to the accepted assumption that the average customer doesn’t spend enough time on social media. But that’s in the past, and manufacturers have realized it.

“Now, most manufacturing companies have some kind of presence on social media,” says Raymond Sam of GearScope. “According to an annual report by the Content Marketing Institute, the average number of social media platforms used by manufacturing companies is five, and most manufacturers prefer the big five platforms in this order: YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. On the question of the most preferred paid content promotion methods, 85 percent of marketers say their organization uses social promotion.”

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Whether it’s educating customers, boosting brand awareness, enhancing B2B relationships or sourcing customer feedback, manufacturers can benefit from social media in many aspects of their businesses.

Emphasizing the importance of making use of social media, Michael Del Gigante, president of MDG Advertising, says, “Manufacturers have been slow to integrate social media into their marketing strategies, but it’s an essential tool for content promotion and lead generation.

Manufacturers that don’t embrace it will find themselves falling behind their social-media-savvy competitors.”

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Pharma

You can’t talk about compliance issues hindering the adoption of social media without mentioning pharma.

While the communication lines of pharma are highly regulated, the number of pharmaceutical companies using social media to reach and engage with their consumers, potential hires and other healthcare professionals has been steadily increasing

How’s pharma navigating the big world of social media? Lux Narayan, co-founder and CEO of Unmetric, tells Forbes of the “four-silo” approach pharmaceutical companies have taken to ensure that they reap the most from social media.

When conducting research for its report, Unmetric found that pharma has organized itself into four areas to boost its social media presence:

--Corporate social profiles that typically talk about the company history, overview, and staff.

--Careers in pharma.

--Over-the-counter branded pages, discussing products.

--Community pages, discussing diseases without mentioning drugs (unlike the branded pages).

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As patients get used to going online to find treatment recommendations, emotional support and general engagement with their peers, the industry will need to gear up its efforts on social media to stay connected to its consumers.

Finance

The finance industry is heavily regulated. The compliance issues alone have been enough to make would-be social media users in the industry think twice about testing the platform for marketing.

Speaking to Hootsuite, financial services expert Amy McIlwain said, “In addition to compliance, one of the reasons financial advisors initially held back was the belief that their clients––baby boomers and seniors––were not on social media.” She went on to say that the situation has changed with baby boomers flocking to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. She continued, “LinkedIn reported in 2014 that more than 5 million high-net-worth people in North America were likely to use social media to assist with financial decision-making.”

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Another important currency in finance is trust.

When money-in-motion events such as job change, retirement or graduation occur, customers look for trustworthy financial advisors. To build this trust and ensure that they remain on the minds of their customers, financial institutions will have to turn to social media.

To reach its audience, which now includes avocado-toast-consuming millennials, the finance sector will need to get on with the times and start using social media.

Industries such as tech, fashion, real estate, retail and marketing have shown that all it takes to see success with social media is the right mix of attention, commitment and effort—and, yes, a budget, too.

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.

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"With promises of further advancements in technology, faster Internet speeds and generally better connectivity in 2018, social media is likely to be embraced by more brands across many industries.

No matter how much success they’re having with other platforms, most industries are quickly realizing that social media is no longer optional.

It’s now an important part of the overall business development

strategy.." -JamesJorner

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  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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YOUR Social Media Bandwagon?

You have been invited to “link” to people on LinkedIn, “follow” people on Twitter, and be someone’s friend on Facebook, and to be a “fan”.

You also have been asked to join Namz, and Foursquare, Hootsuite and any number of other weird sounding stuff..

It is confounding, time consuming and here is the big question (with apologies to Clara Peller) “Where is the beef?”

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Business Presence?

How does all this social media stuff get business and generate revenue? All legitimate questions.

One word of caution- don’t just get on social media because you should, and don’t be ridiculous while you’re doing it.

I will confess- I am hooked on certain elements of social media. Not because I just like them but because they are generating results for my business. I have 21,680 direct connections on LinkedIn, and 15,770 members of my own private LinkedIn group Motivation Nation. It is the largest motivation group on all of LinkedIn. I only bring this up to show that I am doing it, and I have learned some key concepts I would like to share with you to save time on your social media learning curve.

1. Do you need to be involved with social media at all?

OK this really is the big question. In my opinion the answer is a definitive yes. Why? Well the numbers don’t lie. Let’s look at LinkedIn as an example. There are 300 million people on LinkedIn. Their demographics are high earners, college educated and 49% are decision makers. That is just LinkedIn. Many types of social media can be used for advertising, marketing, recruitment and research.

Related Article: Millennial Talent Recruiting Social Media?

I was meeting with a prospective client for dinner. The company is based in Idaho and that is where their office is headquartered. Using a quick search on LinkedIn I discovered their CEO lived in another state. So I of course asked about that during dinner.

My dinner guest almost dropped his fork and said “let me tell you- that is not public information.” He wanted to know how I knew that. I told him how I knew. I landed a new client. By the way, this information was not available on Google. So being involved with social media can enhance your credibility and improve your ability to do research.

2. What is your objective?

Just like any other initiative in business, there has to be a reason for being involved in any form of social media. Are you there to prospect, increase brand awareness, inform, recruit, educate? There are various channels on You Tube where you can post “how to” instructional videos. Gary Vaynerchuk has videos on You Tube called Wine Library TV- he is educating people about wine and put his business ( a local wine shop) into the stratosphere by doing simple “how to” videos about wine. One word of caution- don’t just get on social media because you should, and don’t be ridiculous while you’re doing it. It can kill your reputation. Here is an example - people who get on Twitter and send out a tweet that reads “I am having a slice of pizza.”

Related Article: Your Focused Social Media Strategy?

How is that going to generate business or build the brand? As a good example here a real tweet I got today: “Extreme fat burning workout and free DVD for our fans” (followed by a tiny URL Link) That is a message that had value.

3. How do the various social media channels integrate?

Huh? I am saying that if you are on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.- how do they all fit together? For example you can take a video clip and post it on You Tube, then using something like Hootsuite (a free software program) push the link of that video to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The link can then drive people back to your website. Now link all of that to an ad campaign. Mission Control- we now have integration! I have read about bakeries that massively increase their sales on a specific day by tweeting a special of the day. It also gives people a reason to follow them.

Related Article: The 7 Best Social Marketing Channels?

4. Figure out how to get people out of the closed loop.

In every social media you are on Twitter or on LinkedIn and the only way to communicate is through their messaging system. In LinkedIn you send an “In mail” on Twitter a “tweet”, on Facebook a “note” or an “update.” The owners of these devices want you to stay in their system. Your goal is to eventually get them out of the closed system into an open system like email or a phone call.

5. Know the rules and how they work.

Each social media is its own little world. They each have their own rules and guidelines and way things work. If you violate them your hand will get slapped. Some will even kick you off for violating terms of service.  If you are getting involved in some sort of social media, spend some time there first checking out the landscape.

6. Have a social media budget.

I am not talking about dollars- most social media is free. I am talking about how much time you will spend on social media each week.

A more important question is how much time will your team members spend on social media each week? Which social media? Some companies block access entirely. Let’s face we do have other things to accomplish.

Related Article: Understanding Social Media For Marketing?

7. Social media is “social” and as such you have to use finesse.

If you went to a networking event you wouldn’t just run around the room immediately “pitching” everyone- right? ( I hope not) in this case it is the same- you are networking with people online instead of in a room- across the region, the nation and the world. It’s a very big room.

So build relationships by helping others, provide advice, building relationships first. Relationships equal trust and trust equals sales..

Guest Authored By Shawn Doyle. Shawn is a certified professional speaker, author and coach. He's written 17 books and two have become Amazon #1 bestsellers. His life's passion is to make a positive difference in people's lives by helping them live to their full potential at work and at home. Follow Shawn on Twitter.

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"I do not think social media is a fad but a powerful tool that will more and more traction as a valid tool.

As older people leave and the younger generation employees (who are avid technology users) will be the decision makers of tomorrow.

The question is will you be ready??" -ShawnDoyle

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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 ;)