Slow Summer? Speed It Up With Social Media Marketing

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10Aug

The scorching days of summer aren’t typically days in which summer is sizzling for most businesses. While everyone is either away on vacation or too hot to do any business, the dog days of summer are always difficult for businesses to thrive. Yet there is still plenty to do! Just because business may be slow doesn’t mean the internet is. The world of social media marketing doesn’t sleep, let alone take a break. You can use these days to really ramp up your social media strategy. Here are the top ways to set social media on fire:

Summer Sales- Perhaps the more traditional way to drum up business, a sale is always an eye-catch on social media. While you don’t want to be overly promotional on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, every now and again a sale will cause a rise in engagement.

Email marketing- Does your business have an email marketing campaign? If not, now would be a good time to start. As you create your eblasts, be sure to incorporate your social media accounts and your website.

Blogging- Perhaps your customer is in the mood for some light summer reading? Your blog will establish you as a professional in your industry. It can also offer your customer base a new level of information. You can use social media to promote these new pieces of writing, and vice versa.

Experiment- This is the time to get your social media strategy down pat. You may have wanted to try different tactics such as incorporating video, contests, long forms, or creating a whole new account for a new platform. Now is the time to do it.

Prepare for the rush- Whether it’s a good thing for a bad thing, summer does end at some point. With the autumn and winter comes a whole new wave of business. From Back to School to the big Holiday rushes, it will be time to rock. If you find yourself with some extra time on your hands now, use it to plan ahead.

Summer is great for kids and theme park employees, but for the rest of us, it can be a rough patch.You don’t need to fret, though. This time can be used to your advantage, and you can still find a way to shine.

How do you use summer’s business season? Comment below!

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What The Presidential Election Can Teach Us About Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

8Aug

Advertising, Email Marketing, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Local Marketing, Marketing, Periscope, Pinterest, Snapchat, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

You may not have noticed if you’ve been in outer space for the past two years, but it’s time for the Presidential Election again. Everyone knows who the two major candidates are and what they stand for. By the time November hits, most of us will be able to recite the many commercials by heart.

Social media has had a substantial role in spreading Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s thoughts and opinions. It also allows everyone else to state their own thoughts about issues and who they want to vote for. Where does this put a business amongst all the debates and promotions? For one thing, this whole thing can be used as a learning experience. Here are the top lessons to take away from the Presidential Election that you can use for your own social media marketing:

Negativity spreads. Unfortunately, we have seen controversial tweets, posts, and other forms of marketing and due to the reachability social media grants us, it’s not easily forgotten. That being said, if something negative is said about your business online, social media becomes a tool for you to be able to contain the situation and address the problem in a professional manner.

Positivity spreads. Yes, even if though negative messages can spread quickly, so can well-crafted, beneficial content. Your followers are both your audience and siphon, they have the ability to amplify your reach by sharing, retweeting, and commenting.

Advertising works. What would an election be without ads? What would a business be? Facebook, Twitter, even Pinterest offers advertising opportunities for your brand’s message to spread all over the world, or just around the block.

News and social media are symbiotic. Current events and social media seem to be in a give-take relationship. While social media is supposed to reflect the real world, the opposite can happen and a good or bad Tweet could raise headlines. Be sure to be knowledgeable of trends on social media and how you can use them.

The most important thing to take out of this is that everyone is watching. Be sure to choose your words carefully, but you do need to speak, or your lack of internet presence will make you look obsolete.

What marketing tactics have you learned from this election? Share with us below!

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Go For The Gold! How The Olympics Affect Your Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

6Aug

Advertising, Business, Email Marketing, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Local Marketing, Marketing, Periscope, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

If you can believe it, it’s time for the 2016 Olympics! Yesterday, the opening ceremonies commenced, and the whole world watched with their flag of choice waving in their hands. These flags were also waving on Twitter thanks to a new development the social media giant implemented especially for the games.

You can see the update for yourself. Go on Twitter and enter #USA. An American flag emoji will pop up! Twitter has also created emojis for other elements of the Olympics. Ranging from #Archery to #Gold, these little illustrations will be sure to grab attention to your business profiles quickly.

On Facebook, we will see new bright and flashy updates throughout the games and Google is sure to impress us with unique Doodles. The Olympics’ influence goes beyond emojis and doodles, however, it comes with both opportunities and hurdles.

First of all, the internet is going to be as busy as the Rio streets talking about their favorite athletes, their country’s standing, and maybe a controversy or two. The Olympics are going to be trending for a while. What does this mean for your business?

As always, it is important to stay relevant and knowledgeable about what’s happening in the world. Depending on your industry, it may be a challenge to incorporate #Olympics or other festive messages, but it is possible with enough brainstorming.

Be sure to keep a positive voice. There will be plenty of people putting down athletes, administration, and whole countries out there. Your job is to use the best parts of these games and somehow craft them into a way to spread your brand. You can have “Olympic-themed” photos, contests, sales, and more. Finally, be patriotic! This is one of the times people tend to back their country and show pride. Make sure you promote your country’s colors on all your accounts.

Since cyberspace is going to be crowded, be sure to have your message as sharp and impactful as possible. The Olympics can muster up just as much engagement as the Holiday season if executed correctly. You need to use this opportunity to your advantage, and you can truly win gold for your business.

How do you plan on incorporate the Olympics into your marketing? Comment below!

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Yes, Even YOU Need Social Media Marketing

By Christopher Tompkins

4Aug

Advertising, Business, Facebook, Instagram, Local Marketing, Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

Have you ever said, “Yes, I know about social media, but it’s not really for my business.”? What about “We just don’t see the point in that stuff.”? We’ve heard it all before and guess what? Social media is for everyone.

Professionals from a wide variety of industries are benefiting from using social media marketing and online advertising. For example, this presidential election has used Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms much more than previous years. Almost every day, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump tweet something that ends up on the headlines. Social media has not only become synonymous with news, but with communication in general. That being said, some business owners still don’t think there’s a place for them on the internet. Here are some the top misconceptions about social media that are holding people back:

“I don’t have anything to post.” A supposed lack of content seems to be a reason why a lot of people do not want to sign up for social media. It’s a fair concern. After all, empty timelines and newsfeeds aren’t pretty. However, even those with a plethora of original content need to share interesting articles, quotes, pictures, videos, recipes, listings, and more. So can you! Even if you don’t have anything to say, you can find relevant content.

“My business is too old school.” While you may feel like your business is set in its ways or reflective of a bygone era, there’s a place for you on social media. (Even the Renaissance Faire has a Facebook page!) Companies that you would never expect to be online are thriving there. The reason for this? That’s where the customers are. Adapting to the market’s needs is critical to surviving the fickle market. Plumbers, Mom and Pop shops, dentists, all are on social media because they understand the general public is trying to connect with their trusted companies and locations.

“I have all the customers I want.” Yes, we have actually been told this one before. Sure, some businesses are at the maximum capacity that their staff and resources can handle. Luckily, social media goes beyond making a sale. It’s about connecting with your pre-existing customers and offering a convenient method of communication.

“I’m not tech-savvy.” Some people just don’t like technology. That’s totally fine for your personal life, but for your business to stay relevant, you will need to have a web presence. Of course, if you don’t understand technology at all, this may be easily said than done. Luckily, The Go! Agency can help your company establish itself online by administering the most modern and effective marketing techniques.

What other excuses do you have? When it comes down to it, the world is becoming more tech-based in every aspect. While it may be daunting, social media is an essential part of staying relevant and connecting to the world. Time to sign up!

Share your thoughts about social media’s impact below!

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Don’t Wait To Make Your Social Media Marketing Plan

By Christopher Tompkins

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2Aug

Advertising, Local Marketing, Marketing, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Uncategorized

The world of social media is not the place to be unprepared. Yes, the time may come when you have to publish a post on the fly as a situation unfolds, but for the most part, you should have a solid strategy at your content’s core. Planning is what separates success stories and failures when marketers try to tackle the internet.

In the first part of this series, we emphasized the importance of tweaking your approach and assessing what works for your brand. The same ideas apply when trying to devise a plan, only now we are applying them. Here are the six major steps you need to complete.

Think of strategizing like a treasure map to your goal. What is the bounty lying under the X that marks the spot? Better customer relations? A wider audience? The ability to promote our company’s events? All of the above? You will need to keep your goals in mind with every step you take.
Know your target market. Who is your ideal customer? Every product, whether the seller wants to admit it or not, caters to a particular type of person. To take an advantage of this step, you should create buyer profiles. Who is your ideal customer? A female in her mid 30s, middle class, who enjoys cycling? Perhaps it’s a senior male who just retired from a long and lucrative banking career? It might seem unnecessary to add the small details, but trust us, these buyer profiles will help you sharpen your content.
It’s suggested to have your posts ready to go for the upcoming week. Even if you want to post about subjects that are happening “in the moment”, you can add more in later.
Study the calendar. Plan out holiday greetings and upcoming events such as Motivational Monday, Wisdom Wednesday, Friday Feeling, and other daily and trending topics. This all should be supplemented with hashtags or keywords. With this in mind, keep an eye out for fads, pop culture happenings, and news events. Be sure to stay relevant!
O.A.R. What is OAR? Observe, Analyse, and Research! After your posts hit the Wild Wild Web, take time out to see how each post performed. Did people click the link? How many comments did it receive? Was it a total dud? You can use analytic tools such as Hootsuite to figure out what your audience is being more receptive to at this time. Be sure to do this on a regimented schedule, because we often see patterns change.
There’s nothing wrong with a little spying. Check out what your competitors are doing online. What type of posts is work for them? Obviously, you should never just copy someone’s content, yet you may be struck with inspiration when you see what other professionals share.Now, it’s time to plan! Gather up your social media team and lay out the groundwork for an effective strategy. Stay goal-oriented, knowledgeable about current events, and study which posts work and which didn’t. There are many accounts at the brink of failing that were able to recover by preparing. Alternatively, there have also been successful social media accounts who plummeted due to poor management. As you can see, preparation is key to reaping social media’s rewards.

How do you plan social media planning? Comment below! Be sure to watch out for the third part in this series about how to effectively succeed at social media marketing and what to avoid!

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Your Website: Your Social Media’s Biggest Fan

By Christopher Tompkins

26Jul

Advertising, Business, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized, Website Design, YouTube

Online marketing is a broad term that encompasses both social media and a company’s website. Because of this, these two need to work symbiotically. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the other platforms need help from your website, and vice versa.

There is a bit of quid pro quo in online marketing. Some social media content should send the reader back to the website so they can read informative web pages, fill out forms, etc. On the other side, a website needs to be designed with those social media icons proudly being promoted in a prominent corner. There are so many websites out there that tuck away the links to its company’s social media page and even if you wanted to find their accounts, you wouldn’t be able to! It is very important to have those buttons right where viewers can see them.

Your website will generally stay the same. It tends to be a steadfast, unwavering piece of marketing as opposed to social media which is constantly updated with news, sales, articles, etc. You can see why these elements are very important to a successful online presence.

When promoting separate pages on social media, do not always link back to your home page. Share the wealth of attention to other pages that can provide the customer further insights into what makes your company tick. One of these important pages is your blog.

A blog can be one of the most important parts of your website. It is one of the sections that is typically updated, albeit not as quickly as your social media. By promoting your blog on your social media pages, you will bring attention to your website, which is a valuable resource to your company. What’s that? You don’t have a blog? You need to start one up ASAP!

A business’ website and social media pages are both integral elements of online activity and as such, a good marketer knows how to take advantage of both.
How do you promote your website on social media? How do you promote your social media on your website? Share below!

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Is Your Social Media Marketing Social?

By Christopher Tompkins

16Jul

Social Media

For decades, marketing was a fairly straightforward job. Regardless of the medium, the goal was to present the client’s product or service in the most positive light possible so customers would buy, buy, buy. There was no mistaking that all the content produced was advertising, commercials, and sales. Now, however, social media has changed everything. Perhaps it’s that the general populace has become keen on what marketers are trying to accomplish or perhaps it’s the technology that we currently use. Regardless, social media marketing requires a different type of approach, one of humanity and warmth.

The whole premise of social media marketing is to have have instant access to a company’s representative. That’s right, a live, human representative. The same should go for your content. It needs to have that human spark to it. How exactly does one go about reclaiming the humanity in an industry that was once very shallow? Here are some of the best ways to keep your social media content down to Earth:

Respond quickly. When a customer contacts you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or one of the other websites we all know and love, you need to respond the same way you would if it was one of your friends asking you a question, which is quickly! The days of being put on hold are coming to an end and the best social media marketers keep their response times low.
In addition to responding quickly, your tone should be organic. You should have a natural, friendly feel to everything you write and depending on your industry, you should add some personality to each post.
Raise engagement. How do you strike up a conversation in real life? With questions, statements, and general icebreakers. Social media is no different. Present content that will get the dialogue going. Ask a question in the form of a poll, quiz, or just a simple inquiry into your customers’ thoughts. Then, when you respond, try to act in a professional, yet comfortable nature.
Share! On your personal page, what do you do if you see something that your friends will enjoy? Well if you are a good friend, you share it. Your business page should be the same. If you see content out in the wild landscape of the internet that pertains to your customer base, try to share it often. This will bring a lot of attention to your pages as well.

Making sure that there is a conversation and human tone to your social media content will satisfy customers and have more followers show up. It is helpful to always examine how you are writing and to make sure it doesn’t seem too robotic.

Share your thoughts on humanity’s role in social media below!

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What Social Media Marketers Can Learn From Pokemon Go

By Christopher Tompkins

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12Jul

Advertising, Facebook, Local Marketing, Marketing, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Uncategorized

Do you remember the hit game Pokemon from the 1990s? While there have been several versions since Nintendo’s original incarnation, it’s popularity returned in a big way recently by tapping into the smartphone world where Pokemon Go, a completely new game, is available for free.

Not even Nintendo itself expected its new video game to take over the world as quickly as it did. Less than 24 hours after its release, Pokemon Go’s servers began to crash due to overpopulation on their digital frontier. Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store both proudly house the massively popular game and at the time of writing this article, there are well over a million players trying to “catch ‘em all”.

Yes, it’s obvious that video games are popular. Yet by tapping into the mobile app market for the very first time, Nintendo has proven itself to understand the current trends in their field. However, there’s much more at work here than an app. From a marketing standpoint, they just accomplished a beautiful act.

Without getting into too many details, Pokemon’s popularity hit American shores in 1995 when their first two games debuted on Game Boy, the premier mobile gaming platform at the time. Children ate it up like it was the end of the world. Merchandising exploded. A TV show, a card game, action figures, stuffed toys, candy, clothing, themed stores, and much more took the world by storm. It was a marketer’s dream. Now, those children are in their mid-twenties and early thirties and have put the Game Boy down in place of an iPhone or Android device. Nintendo adapted perfectly to their original audience. Best of all, they made a majority of game play for free.

So, as social media marketers, what can we learn from this rising phenomenon? For one thing, watch internet trends closely. No surprise #PokemonGo was one of the top hashtags for quite some time. Brands that were able to somehow pull Pokemon Go into their social media posts received a nice spike of engagement. All over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, there were tons of Pokemon-related posts. Keep in mind that all of this publicity is free. Nintendo hardly advertised this app at all!

Social media marketers should also take note on just how ingenious Nintendo was to tap into their original market. Surely, today’s children could probably borrow their parents’ phones and play, but the numbers are coming in and it’s not a surprise to anyone that the most downloads are from those same people who played the original version. Nostalgia, it is one heck of a marketing tool.

Pokemon Go would not have been as much of a success without social media and you can take advantage of the firepower of these platforms just as easily.

What are your thoughts on Pokemon Go’s quickly rising popularity? Comment below!

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How to Run Circles Around Social Media Algorithms

By Christopher Tompkins

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9Jul

Advertising, Email Marketing, Instagram, Local Marketing, Marketing, Periscope, Pinterest, Snapchat, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

Social media marketers need to be as adaptive as chameleons in today’s cyber landscape. Our favorite websites throw us curve balls by constantly changing their algorithms and layouts. As such, we need to continuously tweak our strategies. Yet how can you compete with the inner-workings of a huge website such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?

One of the more significant algorithm changes of late has been Instagram’s switch up. They had always ordered posts in a time-linear fashion, placing the most recent items first and older posts would be further down the line. Now, Instagram seems to be taking advice from its parent company, Facebook. Their new algorithm has the website trying to predict users’ potential interest in each post. There are several variables ranging from the person who posted it, subject manner, and the amount of engagement the post already has. No matter how you look at it, it is a new challenge for marketers, like all social media algorithms.

The first step of adapting to algorithms is to understand what they are intended to do. Like Instagram, Facebook’s current algorithm is meant to deliver quality posts to the user in an intuitive way, even if they aren’t frequent users. It delivers more posts from whom you engage with the most. You will notice this when you like or comment on an update from someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Soon, you will see their posts more often in your timeline and once you continue to like them, Facebook will think these kinds of posts are exactly what you want. Seems user friendly, right? This, however, doesn’t make it easy for social media marketers when they are trying to get the word out to new audiences. Now, users do have the option to switch off these algorithms. For instance, Twitter has a handy pre-checked box that says “Show me the best tweets first”. If one unchecks that, they are back to the old-fashioned type of news feed. However, you in no way can expect users to uncheck that box. You have to be proactive!

Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have an answer to the outreach problem they have presented. Using hashtags and keywords will save you from being lost in the updated news feeds. Yes, it seems like hashtags may be a common saving grace, but it is one of the most effective tactics to reach audiences aside from utilizing advertising services. This way, your content will come up when a user searches for the hashtag’s subject manner. Hopefully, they will follow your trail of breadcrumbs back to your profile and you will be set.

For Instagram, one of the biggest ways to stay on your followers’ screens is to request they “turn on notifications.” If people choose to receive notifications from your account, Instagram’s algorithm will work in your favor and you will begin to take notice. For Facebook, engagement is key. If you want your audience to continue to see your posts, (and of course, you do) promote commenting, liking, and sharing. You will start to notice the tides turning in your favor, but you need your followers’ cooperation.

As you can see, algorithms can be tricky. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as everyday we have to study the workings of social media to see how we can have an advantage. In the future, we are going to see more restrictive algorithms and it is important to have an expert on your team for when the time comes.

What do you think of algorithms? How do you adapt to them? Comment below!

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Hashtag Your Holiday! Why The Calendar Is Your Social Media Friend

By Christopher Tompkins

4Jul

Advertising, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized

Happy Fourth of July! As Americans celebrate their Independence Day, fireworks will set off, hot dogs will be grilled, and beer will be slurped all throughout the fifty states. Meanwhile, our fun moments will be documented online via social media. These are the kind of days social media was made for! We will see tweets upon tweets of firework videos and Facebook status updates wishing America a Happy Birthday in the coming hours. Guess what? Your business needs to join in the fun.

Social media marketing rocks holidays. They bring inspiration to the writers, deliver a massive amount of content, and by using appropriate hashtags, your posts will show up on a whole lot more screens than traditional content. By acknowledging a special time which customers are most likely participating in, you will be showing the humanity of your company which is a key goal in social media marketing. You want to be involved in the community you are reaching out to.

Of course, Independence Day isn’t the only holiday and each festive time brings its unique array of content curation ideas. When December rolls around, you are in for some holiday overload so a nice balance of holiday-centric posts and business-centric updates will give your audience room to breathe. You should not ignore a holiday, even if you are a bit of a Scrooge. Every year, Google catches heat for not acknowledging Easter Sunday with their Google Doodles. You don’t want that kind of publicity.

There are also holidays beyond those that the Post Office acknowledges. Each industry has awareness months and niche holidays that pertain to its demographic. They can range from events like Breast Cancer Awareness Month (which is October) and National Ice Cream Day (which is coming up on the 17th! Get your scoopers ready). No joke, every single day is a holiday, sometimes two or three of them on the same day. A little bit of research will give you a plethora of things to celebrate.

From a strict business sense, you should use social media marketing to take advantage of holiday shopping rushes. Between Black Friday specials to Back to School sales, the Sunday Paper inserts have nothing on a boosted Facebook post. So, get your Santa hat on and light those sparklers, because your business will benefit from participating in these special fun days.
What holiday posting techniques does your business utilize? Comment below!

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Tag : online marketing