Tag : Content Curation

SEO V.S. Social Media Marketing: What’s The Difference And What Marketers Need To Know

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10Dec
When people begin to research online marketing, they quickly realize that two terms seem to dominate most conversations – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Marketing (SMM). In fact, these two are used so much that it can make someone’s head spin, especially if they’re not entirely sure of the difference.

To start things off, let’s establish some definitions.

Search engine optimization is a process which allows a web page to appear in the most viewable placing possible in search engine results. For example, if someone looks up “fishing supplies” on Google, Bing, Ask, AOL, or Yahoo, they will get a list of related web pages that feature fishing supplies. Businesses that incorporate SEO strategies will, in theory, appear above others.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, is a tad bit different. Entirely different, actually. This method allows businesses to not only appear in search results on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest, but it also allows them to interact with customers through a variety of avenues. Marketers can represent their brand via profiles and pages. They can also share a constant stream of original and curated content, similar to an individual’s activity on these platforms.
We may be tempted to ask ourselves which one is better. SEO or SMM? Well, these two are not competitors. Instead, they cater to completely different aspects of the online marketing industry. The two are essentially completely different crafts despite contributing to the final product of increased online visibility.
That being said, social media marketing contributes to online marketing efforts in ways that SEO, in its nature, cannot. Here are the top advantages social media has over SEO:
  1. Immediate customer and audience communication. Businesses on social media have the ability to respond to customers who are trying to reach out via messages, tagging, tweets, etc. After all, it is social media.
  2. The ability to send out constantly fresh and updated content. SEO allows you to be in the spotlight in search engine results. Social media allows you to be in the spotlight of social media news feeds. The average Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram user checks their feeds multiple times a day, thereby increasing your chances of getting engagement.
  3. Quick personalization and “damage control.” Are there negative comments about your business on social media? No problem. You can immediately respond to the “crisis” in a positive and professional manner. Does a negative comment pop up on search engines? You’re in for quite a headache.
  4. The benefits of “peer reviews” and user-generated content. People like to read reviews from their fellow consumers. While places like Angie’s List and Yelp are helpful for this, social media is one of the most popular places for reviews and offers a special advantage – companies have the ability to respond and tell your side of the story, whether the review is positive or negative.
  5. Considerably less expensive promotional options. Social media isn’t completely free if you want to be successful. Facebook advertisements, for one, is a very helpful albeit paid service. Still, social media promotional services may prove to be inexpensive when compared to premium SEO options.
We don’t do traditional SEO, as it takes quite a while to be effective, whereas social media takes 4 to 6 weeks to really take off. It is also quite costly. With SMO (social media optimization) we get people to your site via PR, targeted relationship building, social media advertising, and strategic use of keywords, hashtags, and algorithms.
Now, there is one bridge to connect these two worlds and that is Google+. By posting social media content on this platform, your SEO rankings will be improved on Google via the keywords you used in your updates. Google is by far the most popular search engine and offers this helpful solution to have best of both worlds.
When it comes down to it, SEO is a visibility tool. SMM is a communication tool.

There is a place for SEO. No smart online marketer would say otherwise. It can help service-based businesses show up when people are searching for solutions. However, SEO in no way replaces social media marketing. By representing your business on Facebook, Twitter, and the other platforms, you’re essentially giving your customers the opportunity to benefit your company by tagging your business, giving 5-star ratings, sharing your posts, and much more. It’s a completely different marketing animal, and one that is proven essential for online brand awareness.

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6 Steps To LinkedIn Success

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8Dec

When the average internet surfer thinks about social media, they tend to think of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Yet LinkedIn continues to stand firm as one of the leading platforms for professionals to reach out and connect with their peers in a unique way.

A little over 200 million users are on LinkedIn, many of them have found valuable connections they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. Linkedin’s success all boils down to how you use it. Check out the following steps that will help you market on one of the largest and most important platforms available.

Notes – Learn a lesson from the world of blogging. Posting original articles will help you establish online credibility as an idea generator in your industry. It’s a great way to attract attention and you can reuse these articles on Facebook, Google+, and promote via Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Groups – After you’ve written a note, you can’t just let it sit on your LinkedIn profile and become stagnant. You need to share it! One of the most effective ways of accomplishing this is through LinkedIn Groups. There are so many groups on LinkedIn that you will be able to quickly find many communities in which you can discuss, connect, and share your written content.

Endorsements – LinkedIn is all about looking as professional as possible. Endorsements help you accomplish this by utilizing your fellow peers. When you create your LinkedIn profile, you choose which skills you have. Other users have the opportunity to “endorse” this skill, which is further affirmation saying “Yes, they really are good at this! I’ve seen it!”

Genuine Invitations To Connect – One annoying aspect of LinkedIn is that there are a lot of recruiters and promoters online. You can spot one quickly when you see a generic invitation to connect. When you want to reach out to someone, write a personalized, polite, and real message.

Stay Away From Sales – LinkedIn isn’t the place to post sales, coupons, and promotional content. You’re already selling your image on this platform, do not try and sell to your fellow colleagues in the same industry.

Staying Updated And Current – When you’re creating your posts, come up with relevant, creative, non-controversial, and compelling content. You want to make sure you come off knowledgeable about today’s situations and business landscape.

LinkedIn has the power to become one of your greatest allies in your marketing efforts. Do not let this opportunity up! Start connecting with fellow professionals today.

Does LinkedIn have you stumped? Contact us today to jump on board!

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Use Social Media To Project Your Work Culture

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7Dec

Wouldn’t it be nice if your business could take a selfie? Well, it can through your employees. Emphasizing your company’s unique and vibrant office culture through social media is a great way to humanize your business. It appeals to the very core of social media, which is person-to-person communication.

Social media marketing is quite a bit different than traditional methods. It requires a human element. Otherwise, you’re just posting a bunch of ads. The most successful social media campaigns projects work culture through the following methods:

1. Pictures from around the office/events. Christmas party? Post (non-embarrassing) pictures! Methods like Snapchat Stories and Instagram Stories have even proven to be great with this so you can show behind the scenes shots of your office.

2. “Staff Picks”. Whether it’s an interesting article, a book of the month, the movie of the year, etc., what your employees like is always a fun way to add a bit of humanity and caring into your brand. This is also very effective when talking about the products and services you sell.

3. An employee of the month. Fairly self-explanatory. By spotlighting an employee, your social media will show your brand is people-driven. This is important for customer relations so your brand can come off as approachable.

Be real with yourself- do you like your office and your coworkers? Let the good vibes show on your social media marketing! Your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram followers will love these types of posts – and so will your team!

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The Top Tools To Automate Social Media Marketing

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7Dec

Before you know about social media marketing automation, you may be wondering how do these companies have marketers employed seven days a week to post at all hours? After learning about automation, you may smile and wonder why you didn’t think of that in the first place.

Many businesses use software tools, so their social media marketing stays consistent. Smart marketers understand that posts should be published on a regular, if not daily basis. The following tools help marketers  live a life and still reap the rewards of the internet:

Hootsuite. Our friends at Hootsuite have made a comprehensive package with their software. Yes, you can schedule posts for your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ business pages, but you can also study the performance of these posts via detailed analytics and reports.

Onlypult. Instagram is an animal of its own and as such, a specialized tool called Onlypult only deals with Instagram. It’s a great tool that can help you schedule, study, and review content.

Post Planner. This handy scheduling tool has one thing that others lack. Canva integration. Canva is helpful design software that partnered with Post Planner so you can make exciting imagery as you schedule. What a time saver!

Crowdfire. Automation isn’t only about scheduling. As you can imagine, plenty of sites can do that. However, Crowdfire is one of the few tools that can help you reach a massive amount of people on Twitter with just a few clicks of a button. You can “follow back” those who followed you, unfollow inactive users, and even tap into a competitor’s fan base.

Tailwind. Pinterest can’t be left out of the loop, now can it? Tailwind provides analytics and scheduling, but you can also increase your reach by pinning to multiple boards. It also offers content calender and a nifty browser extension.

As you can see, signing up for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. is just the beginning. These helpful tools will help you raise your social media marketing game so you can promote, pin, and post like the pros!

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10 Inspiring Online Destinations For Content Creators

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6Dec

There’s nothing worse than being stumped on what to write about. We all know how daunting the blank page can be, or an empty spot in your content calendar. Well good news, you’re not alone.

At times, writer’s block is no match for the internet, while other times the sheer magnitude of the web causes us to become overwhelmed and leaves us without results. You need filters, guides, and specific places to go for the best material.

Here are the best places to find content ideas for social media marketing, blogging, and more:

  1. Google. Okay, we all use Google. But the handy website goes far beyond the standard search engine. You can specifically look for news and filter results based on the most recent or relevant. You can also set up alerts that help you stay aware of new content relevant to specific keywords. Finally, Google allows you to study trends and topic performance with Google Trends. It’s a handy tool that transforms content into quantifiable data. All three are fantastic features that not many marketers utilize.
  2. Facebook and Twitter. I bunched these two social media giants into one category simply because you’re able to search for content in similar ways. Hashtags, trending charts, and search bars are all very helpful when trying to find that spark of inspiration.
  3. Reddit. While Reddit is technically a social media platform to a certain extent, you can use it as a resource. Reddit is comprised of categories named Subreddits and you can find content that’s specific to your topic. r/cars is ideal for mechanics, r/technology is for computer companies, r/news is all-around awesome.
  4. Groups. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ house communities where like-minded professionals go to discuss relevant topics. These places are great for inspiration and new insights.
  5. Blogs. There’s nothing like a blog to get your brain working. There are millions of these sites out there that offer up a plethora of information. The only problem with blogs, however, is that they can be difficult to find. Blog Engage is a great place to find new and exciting avenues to knowledge.
  6. Email Marketing. Instead of trashing every email you receive, save the ones that might actually get your brain thinking or offer an engaging news article. You might find out that not everything in your inbox is spam.
  7. Stack Overflow. I love Stack Overflow. It’s a fantastic place to find the answers to technical questions, but they also offer a seemingly infinite library of knowledge and resources. They also have plenty of sister sites that will fit a wide variety of your content-hungry needs.
  8. Feed.ly. Like Google Alerts, Feed.ly is great because you can sit back, relax, and wait for the content to come to you. It takes just a few moments to set an account up and you will soon see a nice stream of articles, blogs, and more coming your way.
  9. YouTube. YouTube offers content suggestions based on things you’ve already viewed. This causes it to become a surprisingly deep well of knowledge and information. Just don’t get too distracted with funny videos.
  10.  Your Own Page. Lastly, all the inspiration you need might be on your own Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram page. Read your followers’ comments, study analytics, and read your older content.

There is no excuse for writer’s block or blank pages anymore. With the above recourses, you should be ready to take on the content creation world with a revived passion for marketing!

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10 Traits Your Social Media Marketing Needs

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5Dec

Social media is all about establishing online credibility and brand awareness. Whether you want to build up your business as an industry influencer or just bring more attention to your growing startup, these two goals are both essential. However, nobody is going to be able to do anything with poor content or conduct.

It’s time to shape up! You need the following ten traits to truly succeed online.

1. Focus. Your content should be specifically relevant to your industry and type of work. This doesn’t mean every post should be about your business. Instead, post articles and interesting posts that your followers will enjoy.

2. Passion. How are people supposed to be interested in your company if you’re bored with it? Trust me, your lackluster effort will show in your content. Get pumped up! You should be proud and passionate about your brand.

3. Professionalism. Social media is about casual communication, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a professional. Keep it classy, fellow marketers.

4. Authenticity. People can spot a scam a mile away. The internet is already full of cheesy marketing tactics and empty promises. Make sure you stay honest and true to your brand.

5.Consistency. You never want an excessive amount of time to go by without sending out a post. A day is understandable. Two, you’re going to start to suffer. A week, and you will need to wipe away the digital dust. Keep your publishing schedule consistent and reliable.

6.Communication. When a customer, client, follower, or fan contacts your company, you have to abide by three things. Friendliness, timely responses, and a satisfactory answer to their inquiry. Make sure you stick to the basics of customer service and communicate with a cyber smile.

7. Positivity. There’s enough bad news in the world, in particular on the internet. Make someone’s day by spreading some joy through a post. Whether it’s a quote, tasty recipe, or a fun image, your social media content should make do some form of good.

8. Integrity.Don’t take advantage of bad news for marketing gains. Don’t post inappropriate or controversial content. Don’t curse. Don’t fight with dissatisfied customers. Once again, keep it classy.

9. Entertainment.One of the defining factors of social media is that people use these platforms for FUN. Make sure people actually enjoy seeing your tweets, posts, and pins by studying what is trending and most engaging.

10. Patience.This trait combines a bit of everything. You need to be consistent, have a focus, stay positive, and use your exceptional communication skills. All the while, it may take time, but don’t let the quality dwindle. Don’t forget that social media takes time. Do not give up!

There are plenty of businesses who have all ten of these traits. There are also MANY who have none of them. Make sure you keep these in mind when you pursue your marketing ventures. If you do this, online credibility and brand awareness will be yours!

Contact us today to learn more about the best strategies for social media for your business and how you can implement them!

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Is Your Business A Social Media Snob?

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4Dec

It’s no secret – social media marketing is about brand awareness and promotion. It is, after all, marketing. However, marketers may suffer from sticking to certain practices that cause their businesses to become overly promotional, sales-driven, and exclusive. There is such a thing as a social media snob, and it’s easy to spot these brands. Obviously, this is a derogatory title, but what are these huge red flags to look out for?

The following is the “social media snob checklist.”

– Do you only post promotions?

– Do you refuse to share or engage with other people or company’s content?

– Do you post content that can only be accessible through payment?

– Do you have an “exclusive” feel?”

– Do you have a poor customer response rate?

– Do you only post content about your brand?

– Do you refuse to acknowledge current events, holidays, or relevant news?

– Do you bash your competitors?

– Do you lack any personality or creativity?

– Do you stay away from fun content?

Social media is a different type of marketing. Coming off as elitist, a stick in the mud, or shut off from the rest of the internet world will come back to bite you. Make sure your company has an approachable vibe and perhaps most importantly, add a variety of content into your schedule that includes a bit of fun!

Is your social media marketing strategy a drag? Contact us! We will add new life to your online presence!

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#HoHoHo! The Top 5 Social Media Holiday Posts

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1Dec

It’s coming. The garland, the elves, the Santa hats, the dreidels, the festive candles, snowmen, and food. It’s coming and in full force. Social media is no exception. The “holiday eruption” has already begun thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There’s no more time to wait.The holiday season is a surefire way to grab some audience engagement. But to truly succeed, you need to create the content your audience craves. Check out the top post categories that do particularly well during these days.1. Gift Ideas- Whether you run an auto shop or dental office, there are gift ideas that cater to your ideal audience and industry. People search for these types of suggestions for the whole month of December, so publish these early!

2. Recipes- What would the holidays be without food? Take a break from promotions and post your favorite festive dish, whether it’s pie, turkey, or egg nog.

3. Contests- Everyone could use a win, especially now that their bank accounts are a little smaller. Make a holiday-themed contest that will get people actively engaging with your page.

4. Nostalgia- With holidays come memories. Consider #ThrowbackThursday and #FlashbackFriday your friends throughout the holiday season. Post videos, images, GIFs and more that tug at people’s hearts with a flash to the past. You can also ask your audience what their favorite holiday memory, movie, song, dish, book, or tradition is! Time to get people talking about what they’re already thinking about.

5. Holiday wishes- Last but certainly not least, on the actual day of Christmas, New Years, the first day of Hannukah, etc., wish your customers a very happy day. Keep it simple and promo free.

Tis the season to be filled with joy. Tis also the season to be a smart marketer. Don’t forget to create plenty of festive and fun content for everyone to enjoy. Your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other accounts will most certainly benefit.

It’s still early in the holiday season, but you need to act NOW! Contact us today to create an engaging and holiday-filled social media strategy!

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The Power Of Fun And Social Media Marketing

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30Nov

Someone once asked my team what we do for work, and we explained a broad overview of our work as social media marketing professionals. Then, they asked us what we do for fun, and well, it was almost the same answer. It occurred to me that this is one major reason why social media marketing works. It incorporates fun into marketing.

When talking about social media ads, we often say “if it’s targeted correctly, it’s not an ad at all, but rather more engaging content for users to enjoy.” The reason for this is because when we create Facebook ads, Twitter promoted posts and other forms of advertisements, we have the opportunity to specifically narrow our focus towards social media users who are interested in or require your type of work. The reason why this is so important is that social media does NOT mean spam. It’s content people actually enjoy.

The fun aspect of social media marketing is also why it’s not advisable to only publish promotional content. Otherwise, you may have a “used car salesmen” vibe by mistake. Instead, post relatable articles, quotes, contests, recipes, etc.

What’s always interesting to us is that people choose to go on social media for fun. They do not go on there to work (well, most people, anyway). Because of this, our marketing efforts already have an advantage. Traditional marketing can only compete with this only so far. Is it time people actually enjoy your message?

Contact us today to add some fun to your online marketing efforts.

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Don’t Wait Until 2017 To Try These 3 Social Media Marketing Ventures

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29Nov

Right now, social media is on fire. The holiday season has a tendency to wake everyone up and get them searching their preferred platforms for the best holiday ideas, sales, trends, recipes, gift ideas and more. Do not pass this up! Social media marketing has been known to make this time of year a smash hit for businesses of any shape or manner.Are you a little behind the times? Try one of these three ideas to kick start your online marketing efforts!1. Create a new account on a new platform. Most of you probably have a Facebook or Twitter, but could Instagram be a good fit for your business? Maybe Pinterest? Maybe a brand new YouTube or Snapchat channel? It’s time to try something new and exciting.

2. Try Live Video. If you’re well-established on social media, this would be the perfect time to take it a step further and try live video. Facebook Live, Periscope, and YouTube Live will rocket your engagement rates to new heights. Act now, because these platforms are heavily promoting their live services and hence, giving broadcasts extra boosts of attention.

3. Begin a blog. A blog is one of the most powerful avenues to promote an original article and establish yourself as an expert in the industry. Now, there are new ways to blog such as Medium and Flipboard that allow people to promote their writing in innovate ways.

If you’re like many businesses, the pressure is on to create a powerful and lasting marketing effort. Don’t wait until next year! The holiday season is when people pay the most attention to online activity and you don’t want to be left out!

Contact us today to jump on board with social media marketing! From blogging to video marketing, we have it all!

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Bulletproof Marketer