The Top 3 Marketing Tips For Targeting Millennials

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21Mar

Business, Content Creation, Copywriting, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Marketing, Social Media

The generation infamously known as the Millennials is the largest and most educated group in history. That being said, many marketers find themselves going back to the drawing board to cater to these folks. Many traditional forms of marketing just aren’t working for this audience. That’s where social media comes in.

Millennials are quite varied when it comes to culture, interests, and demographics. They are typically drawn to creativity, nostalgia, and trending topics, but most importantly, they love innovation. They grew up in the 90s, and most don’t know life without a screen ready to deliver answers, connections, or entertainment.

Technology has forced brands to constantly compete to be in the limelight. In other words, Millennials were born into a world saturated in marketing. They grew up with advertising being fed to their psyche from all sides. As a result, marketing professionals need a particular approach.

Are you trying to reach out to Millennials? Then you should integrate these three strategy ideas into you social media marketing.

1. Use Instagram and use it often. Millennials like imagery, efficiency, and convenience. How do you deliver all three? Instagram. For those who have never used the popular platform, it’s all about the visuals. Captions and comments are used to add copy, links, and information, but the focus is on the picture or video. Instagram is quick, convenient, and streamlined – just what the Millennials ordered.

2. Create a unique and standalone brand.Millennials have options. Lots of them. This goes beyond the usual Coke or Pepsi, Nike or Adidas, or even Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks. EVERY aspect of their life has multiple avenues, choices, options, and most importantly, brands. Successful businesses stand above the rest because they are better than the rest, but also because they offer something that others have failed to do – a good look. Make sure your company has consistent and eye-catching colors, imagery, and a logo. Make sure that there is a clear difference between your company and your competitors. Obviously, this goes beyond reaching for Millennials. Every single business, regardless of their intended audience, should have powerful and iconic visuals.

3. Make sure your reviews are fantastic.Word of mouth and peer review are important for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Obviously, a company’s marketing efforts are going to be as positive as possible and never show any negative side of a company, service, or product. However, reviews are real and raw responses to customer’s experiences. It has been proven that Millennials rely on reviews and user-generated content as a “go to” when trying to decide if a company is right for them.

Millennials truly are the “social media generation.” They grew up with it and now use it as a resource and communication tool when doing business. You need to be at the top of your game when handling social media.

Are you ready to have the pros take care of your social media? Contact us today!

How You Can Add Quality To Your Social Media Marketing

By Christopher Tompkins

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15Mar

Social Media

Is your brand behind on social media marketing? Do you feel overwhelmed or poorly-trained when trying to promote your company through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? Are you just trying to sharpen your message?

Social media is an imperative tool for having a successful business in 2017. All of it can be a bit unsettling at first, but these five starter tips will be great for you and your company’s visibility:

1. Analyze past content to improve future posts. Use tools like BuzzSumo and others to analyze data. Dump what’s not working and improve the content that’s creating engagement.

2. Use links to optimize visual content. Visual content may serve as a gateway to more valuable content. Using a link is a great way to drive traffic to your website.

3. Switch up your content formats.Create videos, images, snippets of your content or think about combining your articles into an ebook. There are varying routes you can take to reach your audience.

4. Deliver content on a consistent basis. Being consistent helps you to be relevant in the eyes of your audience. If needed, you can schedule your content delivery. If growing your business is your main concern, there is no excuse for being a “social media absentee.”

5. Use your social media updates to create blog posts. Take your most popular tweets and posts to create informative and compelling blog posts. This gives your audience more to chew on while you build credibility as a leader in your field.

If you’re still wary of your social media marketing skills or lack there of, contact us today! We’re here to help you hit your targets.

The 5 Laws of Social Media Marketing Credibility

By Christopher Tompkins

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15Mar

Social Media

Social media is a great way for your business to look credible… or a mess if you don’t do it right. We’re dealing with a powerful online force that can spread your word to an untapped market. You should make sure that word makes you look legit.

Your online presence has the ability to make your brand shine and reach a new audience (and new customers). How do you do this? You need to achieve the following traits in your content, approach, and communications.

1. Communication. You don’t want to be a “mute brand.” Yes, you’re sending out content multiple times a day, but if a customer responds to you, it’s vital there you respond quickly. Remember the 3 “P’s” when you are talking with your customers – positive, prompt, and productive.

2. Influence. Take time to find online influencers in your market with quality audiences who would be interested in your products or services. Connect and build relationships with those individuals. By doing so, you are branding yourself as an authority in your respective market.

3. Quality connections. Quality or quantity? It’s better to have quality, focused content versus thousands of online connections, reading your content just once, then disappearing. On the other side of this, you need to be a quality connection yourself by sending out worthwhile content.

4. Consistency. Don’t create a few batches of amazing content and then disappear. This means constantly publishing content and participating in online conversations. Your followers need reasons to stay by your side. Give them what they want.

5. Branding.Show off your marketing skills with consistent branding, color, tone, messages, and mission. This is absolutely necessary as you expand your voice across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and much more.

Are you less than confident in your approach to social media marketing? You don’t have to be, contact us today! We’re here to help you make your mark and hit your targets.

5 Social Media Marketing Lessons For New Marketers

By Christopher Tompkins

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14Mar

Pinterest, Snapchat, Social Media

What lessons would you pass on to your younger selves if you could? I was once asked this during an interview and I had to smile as I thought about our past experiences. As social media marketing experts, my team and I have seen both the good and bad on social media. But more importantly, we have learned so much about what works and what doesn’t, whether it’s first hand or advising another business.

If we were able to speak to our younger selves, we would have to choose our words very carefully. After all, back then there was no Instagram, Snapchat, or even memes if you could believe it. We would have to go to the very building blocks of social media, which is the perfect place to start.

These are the five things I would stress to a younger self and in the same respect, fledgling social media marketers.

1. Hashtags can be overused. Back when hashtags first came out, people were writing whole updates with every word as a tag. Some people STILL do this, unfortunately. For Facebook and Twitter, stick to a limit of two tags per post. For LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest, use none. Instagram – go crazy!

2. Take your time. Social media is not an instant hit. It’s so much more gratifying and rewarding than that. Social media managers have the responsibility to grow and engage an audience that will prove to be loyal customers.

3. Spread the word. Don’t just stick to one platform. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and others to reach different areas and levels of audiences. You will have the opportunity to reach a broader and more talkative audience if you manage multiple accounts.

4. Communicate. Don’t expect your audience to share your content and talk about you if you’re not doing the same for them. Spend time on social media focused on sharing and talking about content others have published. As we always say, it is SOCIAL media!

5. Don’t stop. There may be times when the engagement just doesn’t come. This just means you have to push harder, restrategize, rewrite, redesign, and reschedule. There’s no room for giving up. Also, if things are going good, do not let your audience forget you by missing a month, week, or even a day of content.

We’re excited to imagine what our even older selves would tell us about the future of social media. With live video, temporary content tools, and new platforms coming soon, the future is looking bright.

Are you finally ready to let the pros take over your social media? Contact us today!

The Visual Strategy Coke, Disney, And Other Top Brands Use On Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

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8Mar

Advertising, Business, Copywriting, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter

Think about today’s biggest brands. What do you visualize?

You most likely think about their iconic colors or logos. For Disney, you probably think of Mickey Mouse and that iconic cursive logo. For Goodyear, you might think of the blimp we all know and love. What about UPS? The fleet of brown trucks and their golden shield strikes a chord, doesn’t it?

Iconic imagery and branding are essential for the life of a company. That’s why when there is a rebranding project, it’s such a massive undertaking for big businesses. It’s important to have a well-strategized and consistent look everywhere you are seen. With that in mind, it’s obvious that social media should be an extension of your pre-existing brand.

NBC, Coke, Marvel Comics, and other top brands don’t change their look on social media just because it’s on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Quite the opposite. They expand upon what people remember. They create consistent imagery while using the same colors, logos, tone, verbiage, message, mission, and more.

What if you’re just starting out and don’t have iconic visuals like a company such as Apple or Nike? First, you need to decide your intended audience and what colors and message appeal to them. Are you geared towards females? Maybe Millennials? What is their income? What do they value? Your answers should change your approach to design. You first have to take a serious and objective look at your brand and figure out who you are.

Finally, look at your competitors’ social media pages and see how those in your industry approach visuals. You will find that many companies from the same industry use similar colors or imagery for a variety of reasons, primarily demographics and work elements.

This goes beyond your profile image and cover image. When you are creating pictures, video, and other forms of visuals for your social media updates, you should stick with the same color and feel. This should go as far as the color of your wording on your coupons!

Your branding should be a lean, mean, and unified machine. Don’t make anything that doesn’t match the rest of your brand. The top brand like Coke and Disney already know this benefit from it!

Our graphic designers and social media managers can help your business shine on social media and the rest of the web. Contact us today to jump in!

The Best Steps To Dynamite Email Marketing

By Christopher Tompkins

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8Mar

Advertising, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter

This morning, I had 37 ads in my inbox. For some, that’s a relatively light number. Like many people, I got on my smartphone and began to skim the subject lines quickly, and after a quick review, I decided about 35 out of the 37 were better off in the trash. But there were two of them whose copy was compelling enough that I actually read them. One, I actually clicked the link and explored the company’s website.

What made the winners stand out? What made the losers fall?

When we create email marketing campaigns for our clients, we are fully aware of two things.

1- The average person is overloaded with ads on an hourly basis.

2 – On a good day, the average person has an attention span of fewer than twenty seconds.

These two factors must be taken into consideration when you’re creating email marketing. To ensure you cater to your reader, you must have the following concepts in place.

A “once in a lifetime” subject. Like I said, we’re constantly barraged with prompts to buy, buy, buy. If we listened to every single one, we would be broke by noon. Make sure your subject line has the ability to stand out. Make the copy pack a punch. Don’t just present deals without some personality.

Short (and I mean SHORT) copy. No one will be willing to read very much about your promotion. If it’s a newsletter, keep it brief and to the point. If you’re repurposing an article, cut it down to a fraction of the size. There’s no room or time for long-winded lectures in an email.

A powerful call to action. Once your copy gets your reader excited, they need to jump in deeper. Make sure there is a call to action, whether it’s a link, a prompt to contact, or a form to fill out. The email should be the first step in a conversion, conversation, or purchase.

Powerful imagery. Just like on social media, people need visuals to maintain focus on your message. Create imagery that is faithful to your pre-existing branding complimentary of your message.

Personalized and specific messages. The best email marketing makes the reader question if it was written specifically for them. Variable data software will allow you to enter a customer’s name and other information into the copy of the message. But most importantly, you should study who your customer is and what would make them be compelled to read an email from their brands.

Email marketing is an integral element of an online marketing strategy. It helps your customers stay in contact with your brand and be informed about updates, sales, and opportunities to save. However, to be specific, you need to tackle it exactly right for your audience.

Does your company have a less-than-stellar email marketing campaign? Maybe it doesn’t have one at all? Contact us today! Our team can help you hit your target.

Why Your Online Marketing Needs To Adapt

By Christopher Tompkins

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7Mar

Business, Content Creation, Copywriting, Email Marketing, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Live Video, Marketing, Social Media, Social networking

It’s 2017 – is your online marketing keeping up with the times? If your business isn’t on social media – then the answer is NO. How can you prevent your company from getting left in the dust? You need to adapt to what today’s customer wants.

At one point, all a brand had to do was have a landing page, and they were ready to go on the world wide web. Things are quite different now, and that’s a good thing.

Today’s customers want more out of their brand. They expect a walking, talking, content-slinging machine – and we have to look good doing it. Social media allows us to do this all while drastically improving our customer relations and raising brand awareness like never before.

Over 50 million businesses reap the rewards of social media’s popularity. The average Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram user checks their timeline and news feed multiple times a day so they can see what their favorite people and accounts are up to. Those are opportunities to connect with your customers through engaging content!

Unlike a website, social media’s new innovations allow companies to literally interact with their audience as if they were their friend. But because of this, social media marketing demands your attention. You have to create a queue of compelling and creative content for your audience to engage with. Otherwise, there will be radio silence, and that’s the death of a brand’s reach.

In addition to having a content calendar that’s stuffed to the brim with diverse and well-strategized content, you also need to adapt to current trends. Today’s most successful marketers study what content and tools people are flocking to and act accordingly. This can range from using a new tool such as Instagram Stories or Live Video, to incorporating hot topics into your brand’s marketing.

It’s all about adapting and beating your audience to the punch. Today’s marketing landscape is drastically different than years prior thanks to the Age of the Internet. But there’s no need to fear. With the right social media experts by your side, you have the ability to tap into markets and audiences that otherwise would be unattainable – you just have to keep up with what the people want!

Every day, our team rocks the world of social media marketing for our clients. Our managers, designers, writers, and strategists analyze what today’s customers want and keep ahead of the game. Contact us today jump on board!

Social Media Success Isn’t About Luck, It’s About Expertise

By Christopher Tompkins

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1Mar

Content Creation, Copywriting, Pinterest, Snapchat, Social Media

You don’t need a four-leaf clover or a lucky rabbit’s foot to do well on social media. What makes a good social media marketing strategy? Expertise and skill.As social media marketers, we have seen the online landscape shift drastically on a regular basis thanks to new algorithms, rules, regulations, and formulas. You can’t just send out a couple posts and wish for engagement. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Some people have said that social media success has no rhyme or reason to it. To the untrained eye, it may certainly look that way. You can create a compelling post, and it will do amazing and then send something similar out the next week and get nothing. That isn’t just bad luck or randomness – you missed something. It may have been the timing, the audience, content itself, or it could be that you’ve saturated the market with that kind of content.

How can you fine tune your strategy? You better be ready to get technical.

There are many components to a social media update’s success. If even the smallest thing is off, things may not work as you plan. Be sure to consider the following when writing, designing, and scheduling.

– When is the best time to publish?

– When was the last time I shared a post similar to this?

– What imagery do I have to compliment the copy?

– Is the message strong and compelling?

– Does this message match my branding?

– Does this content appeal to my ideal customer?

These are some of many questions we have to ask ourselves when we create marketing content for our clients. We have to strike a balance of creativity and well-formulated tactics in order to achieve brand awareness.

How do we figure out what works and what doesn’t? Reporting, and a lot of it! There are many ways we analyze a post’s performance. How many people like, shared, or commented? What was the reach? Did anyone click the link and delve into the company’s website? ALL of this matters.

After we figure out what needs improvement, we update our creative strategy. Maybe they need a sale to punch things up or perhaps they need more images to get people talking. No matter what is necessary, we handle it!

As you can see, social media for business is quite a bit different than when we’re using it to look at friends’ photos. 50 million businesses use Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms, so they are seen as industry influencers and active in their communities. You need a constant stream of well-planned content, so you’re in the forefront of your customer’s mind, study, and get ready to do it again!

It’s time your brand takes social media marketing seriously. Contact us today to have the pros work for you!

The Dangers of Doing Social Media Marketing Wrong

By Christopher Tompkins

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1Mar

Snapchat, Social Media

We’ve all seen “self-destructive marketing.” It’s those half-hearted attempts that are so cringe-worthy that they actually hurt the company. It could be a website that uses blurry images or graphics from the 1990s or a Facebook page that hasn’t been updated since last Halloween. It could also be much more subtle, but just as detrimental. Either way, it puts the business in such a bad light that customers wouldn’t touch the brand with a ten-foot poll, let alone purchase from them.

In the age of social media, a brand has a responsibility to represent itself on the most used platforms on the web. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have become standards and depending on your industry, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest and other platforms can expand your reach. But what happens if you make these accounts and sully your brand with self-destructive marketing?

In short, your business will suffer. It’s easier to sabotage your marketing efforts than you may think. Self-destructive marketing can include the following:

– Offensive, politically biased, or vulgar content

– Low-quality imagery

– Poorly written copy

– Broken links

– Slow or non-existent responses to customer communications

– Inconsistent publishing

– Only promotions

– Using false or outdated material

When companies do the above blunders, it’s not only noticeable, but it’s unprofessional. If your company sends content out, it’s out, plain and simple. With a poor strategy and lackluster content, your marketing will backfire by making your whole brand seem unprofessional, illegitimate, and unreliable.

Social media can help a brand reach new heights of online visibility and have access to an audience they wouldn’t have otherwise. However, if you send out poor quality content, you’ll have the same type of results. Engagement will go down, customer satisfaction will drop, and you will lose a very powerful tool.

How can you stop this from happening? Strategize! Craft compelling copy and professional-grade visuals. Most importantly, take social media seriously and devote the time required to post consistently and create an approachable avenue for customer communication.

Interested in doing social media right? There’s no better way to do it than contacting the pros. We have the expertise to help your brand tackle the online marketing world and look good doing it!

The Challenge of Hitting Your Target Audience on Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

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28Feb

Snapchat, Social Media

Sometimes online marketing can be like matchmaking. In order for it to work, you have to know who exactly you’re looking for. Ask yourself, “Who wants my product?”, “Who needs my product?”, and last but not least, “Who’s life will be better if they buy my product?”

When I ask new clients these questions, I get a variety of answers. Every now and again someone will say “Adults” or “Men” or, my personal least favorite “Anyone with money.” You need to be accurate with marketing, especially when you’re trying to tackle social media.

We’ve helped companies of all shapes and sizes hit their target audience on social media. Some of them were nearly there while others had a lot of room for improvement. But either way, everyone was able to benefit from social media. How do we help them hit the bullseye? We ask them the following questions:

1. WHERE does your ideal customer live? The answer to this goes hand in hand with your company’s reach. Do you focus on a local market? Maybe “local” to you means the entire east coast. Whether you’re trying to sell to a global market or your neighbors down the road, this detail will change the way you market.

2. HOW old is your ideal customer? Are you trying to sell to Millennials or Baby Boomers? Grandparents or college kids? Specificity is a major component key to success. Even if you think your business is perfect for all ages, the best brands realize that they cater to a particular age bracket and shape their marketing accordingly.

3. WHAT do your customers do for a living? Does your business reach out to a certain profession or industry? This is especially true for B2B companies with specific clientele. You should also figure out what your customers’ income is. Do you offer a premium service that has a larger price tag or do you offer quality for a wallet-friendly price?

4. WHICH social media platforms do your customers use? All brands should establish themselves on Facebook, but it can’t stop there. Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Snapchat all have major benefits that brands can utilize. You may find that your particular audience uses Instagram or Twitter more than Facebook, or vice versa. This question incorporates all the answers from above. Younger people tend to use Instagram and Snapchat while professionals use LinkedIn more often, etc. It all depends on YOUR brand and situation.

Social media marketing strategies are like fingerprints, not a single one is the same. As you can imagine, each answer you give to these questions alters your approach. It’s up to you to break down your brand and analyze its parts. Then, put it back together as a lean, mean, marketing machine!

Isn’t it time your brand has better online visibility? Contact us today! We’ve helped hundreds of brands achieve better recognition and new customers.

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