Category: SMO

Is it absolutely necessary for you to create a social media account for your brand? Isn’t building a business website more than enough to make an online presence?

I used to think so too, until I realized how much I’m missing out by not going on social media.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that social media is a force to be reckoned with. It’s where everyone goes to connect, share, and discuss content. When I say everyone, I mean exactly that.

A lot of other businesses have jumped into social media once they realized the many perks that come with it―including its ability to boost their earnings.

How does social media do that? Here are the ways:

It enables genuine engagement.

Through social media, you can interact with your prospects on a one-on-one basis and learn exactly what they need from your brand.

Aside from promoting product or service deals on platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, you can also post content that evokes a positive emotional response from your followers.

Doing this will help clients feel more connected to your brand, inspiring them to patronize you over other service providers. Over time, this builds customer loyalty.

It prioritizes customer service.

I’m aware of how social media can also easily ruin a brand with just a couple of posts from an angry client. But there are ways to counter that.

One of them is to prioritize customer service on your social media account. Try to reply to messages and queries within the next 12 hours and provide resolution.

That isn’t exactly a one-man job, so use of social media monitoring tools to make the job easier for you. Timely responses induce a positive experience for your client, which in turn prompts them to share about it through different social media platforms.

It modernizes campaigns.

Have you heard of the infamous hashtag? Back in the day, it was just one of the symbols you see on a keyboard. Now, it has evolved into a symbol for trending topics all over the world.

How can it help you propagate your business? Easy. You don’t even need to use sophisticated techniques to produce results. All you have to do is create a compelling post with great visuals. Then add a couple of trending hashtags to the mix.

Internet users who are interested in the hashtag will be able to see your post through the hashtags. If your content is eye-catching enough, it will automatically increase your conversion rate as well.

It reaches mobile users.

Not everyone owns a desktop or laptop, but I can confidently assume that almost everyone who exists in modern society has a smartphone. Sure, you can view business websites through a mobile device, but not a lot of people really do that.

What do people usually do on their phones then? Browse social media, of course. If your brand has a social media account, you get to introduce your products and/or services to more people.

It increases traffic.

Social media isn’t just built for show and tell. You can post links that direct clients to your business website.

Think of it this way. Your business website acts as the online representation of your physical office or shop. On the other hand, your social media account acts as your very own PR team.

With highly efficient yet easy-to-do advertising on various platforms, you can rest assured that your business website will never lack visitors.

So how do you maintain a positive presence on social media?

Getting into social media is easy. Just sign up for an account and you’re good.

The real challenge comes with establishing a presence online. It’s quite a competitive market out there! I have a couple of tips that should help you establish your brand’s foothold into the online community:

Set your goal.

Think about what you want to gain from publishing a post.

Choose your demographic.

Focus on a particular demographic to form a better connection with your clients.

Create your brand personality.

Personify your brand in a way that is relatable to your audience.

Follow your event calendar.

Post content that relates to the most trending topics as of late.

Monitor your activity.

Check which posts gain more positive feedback and continue making those.

Are you ready to jump into social media?

Yes, I know that the first step is usually the hardest. But once you get past the first obstacles and get a general feel of what social media is all about, you should be able to maneuver through it quite easily.

There’s no need to be intimidated of social media! If everyone else can do it, so can you.

Besides, establishing your brand on social media is not something you should pass up. With it, you can easily create and boost your brand authority. It even lets you promote business on the international market, where it will have a better chance of reaching clients.

The best part? Building your social media presence gives you access to an affordable yet highly efficient means of advertising.

Sounds too good to be true? Just try it and see for yourself!

This article is contributed by Louise Savoie — Digital Marketer at Proweaver.

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Do you remember the last hilarious article you read and wanted to share with someone else? You must have thought that sharing it publicly on Facebook may not really reach that person hence you may have decided to forward the link on messaging apps like WhatsApp instead.

This is a perfect example of why you should make it a point to add WhatsApp sharing along with other social sharing icons on your website.

Recently trends have made it clear that such chat apps are a great help in generating a good amount of relevant traffic and improves conversions.

I have listed below a few more reasons that will easily convince you to add WhatsApp to your website;

Fast Content Sharing:

I am an avid reader and read multiple articles on the net, this makes me want to share relevant information with my family and friends as well but if I do not find sharing buttons on the site, I move on to the next site without wasting further time.

If a reader wishes to share your content with someone else on messaging apps, they will have to copy the link of the website and paste it on messaging apps. This procedure seems to be too long and we are aware that most readers would not bother spending that much time in just sharing content if you do not make it easy.

Adding a quick WhatsApp sharing icon can make the sharing process super quick for the readers. Adding floating WhatsApp button below the content will make it much faster for the readers to share it with others in seconds.

Personalized Content Sharing:

If a friend of mine sends me a link on my chat app, I definitely go through it as I am sure it must be something which would interest me or else why would he or she send me that?

Sharing on social media may not encourage many to open up your content link but when someone sends a link on WhatsApp, people tend to definitely go through the links as they are personalized. If you measure the engagement rate through web analytics, you will realize that it can really be high if you add WhatsApp sharing on your website.

Reminds Readers to Share:

I try to share as much relevant content possible in my social feed or directly with friends but many times it has happened that I loved an article and forgot to share it with others.

Your readers may be loving your content but not guiding them on what to do next may be a reason why your content is not reaching a lot of audiences. People are so busy juggling multiple responsibilities that they forget to share content if they are not asked to. Adding sharing icons can remind them that if they liked the content, others may like it too. If you only add social sharing icons, they may just share the content publicly whereas if you also add a WhatsApp sharing button, there are higher chances that your readers will share your content with other interested readers.

Reaching the Right Audience:

My friends forward me links for sale and shopping and most likely I end up at least considering investing in them.

Readers sharing your content on social media will help in reaching many others but are they the right audience for your content? People only share content on WhatsApp to someone else if they feel that the other person will be interested in such content. This means that WhatsApp helps in reaching out to your target audience and in reality, only that matters.

Harnessing the Benefits of Popularity of Smartphones:

Ok, this may sound repetitive, but I do read a lot and most of it is on my phone as I find it difficult and feel lazy to open my laptop for any activity.

More than 60% of users access contents on their smartphone hence adding WhatsApp sharing can automatically work in your favor. The number is rising continuously hence you can harness this to your advantage by just using the right tactics.

Almost Everyone Uses WhatsApp:

Anyone who uses a smartphone will definitely have WhatsApp installed as it has become the most popular messaging app. We can’t say the same about other social media apps. Though adding social sharing icons is good for SEO but the results may not be as great as adding WhatsApp sharing which may bring in targeted traffic to your website.

WhatsApp is an Ever-Green App:

Initially, I was crazed about using Facebook and used to browse it multiple times a day, then I came across Twitter and found it really quirky and interesting but that did not last long too. Recently I have shifted to Instagram as I find it really creative.

Most people do not use many all the social media options available but the majority of them use the WhatsApp messaging app hence your social media sharing icons may not be of any use to them but WhatsApp sharing icon may encourage them to share the content with others.

Can be Used by all Age People:

My parents have smartphones, but they just use it to call people, chat and browse the google. The only app they use the maximum is WhatsApp as they find it really convenient to stay in touch with the family all the time.

Though the older generations have shifted to the smartphone, they are not as active on social media as the younger generations. Most of them may not even have a social media account. Whereas every generation uses WhatsApp hence putting up a WhatsApp sharing button will make sure that you are focusing on the readers from all the age group.

There is no doubt about the fact that adding WhatsApp to your website is great for getting better conversions and the best part is that a simple free plugin can be used to add such sharing icons on your site within a matter of minutes.

There is no denying it ‒ video is now the future of content marketing. On average, YouTube receives 1 billion unique visitors per month, and is considered as the second largest search engine next to Google.

Videos give you access to a broader audience. It is becoming key to satisfy people’s information and entertainment needs. Therefore, businesses and brands that fail to include video in their current online marketing strategy will do so at their own risk.

In this post, we will give you 10 actionable tips on how to boost your YouTube presence to get more leads, subscribers, views, and sales.

1. Research Relevant Keywords

Do you want your YouTube channel to stand out? Start with great SEO.

When you have a solid understanding of SEO, you will know what your audience is looking for.

Here’s the thing, people do not just look up videos on YouTube. They also use Google as well. Also, more than ever, Google is prioritizing videos over any other content for most of its searches.

Here are effective tips on how to look for Google-friendly keywords for any type of video content:

• Know all the possible keywords using Google Ads Keyword Planner.
• Then, Google for your options online. Search the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) for every keyword. Are the top results video or written content?
• If necessary, tweak your keywords and then try again. Consider adding the phrase “How to” if you have a hard time looking for video results.
• Choose a keyword that will prioritize video and will suit your content well.

2. Use Descriptive Titles

The title will be one of the first things that people will see when they browse your content. So make it punchy.

Here are some effective ways on how you can create a title that stands out:

• Keep it short and sweet. Do you know that the most popular videos on YouTube have the shortest titles? Ideally, stick to 60 characters or less. If it is more than that, your title will get cut off if displayed.
• Place your keywords on the title’s first half. It is to avoid losing valuable information. A lot of readers focus on the beginning of the sentence and then skip out the rest.
• Keep in engaging. The best headlines create an emotional reaction. While going for click bait can be sometimes tempting, it can damage your reputation in the long run.
• Use YouTube’s autocomplete feature. Search for a specific topic or theme, then see the title the YouTube will suggest.

3. Optimize Your Profile Description

A lot of YouTubers skip this part and dive straight in the actual content creation process. But optimizing your profile description is one of the best ways to stand out. It also optimizes your video for search engines.

Your YouTube channel description is one of the best places to add your keywords. YouTube penalizes “tag stuffing” though. But adding a couple of keywords would not hurt and can go a long way.

4. Know Your Audience

YouTube is still a social media channel. Therefore, it warrants interaction.

So, if you are just passively posting videos without encouraging comments and discussions from your audience, you are completely missing out.

YouTube rewards channels with excellent engagement. This includes the channel’s total watch time, likes/dislikes, and comments. So, as much as you can, try to respond to the comment that you receive and ask people to engage with them.

5. Establish Your Brand

Once you added all the required information, focus on the overall branding and appearance of your channel.

Your branding is important because it adds a bit of personality in your channel, helping you stand out. Here are a couple of graphics on your channel that you can personalize:

• Thumbnail of your channel
• Video watermark
• Channel Banner
• Video intros and outros
• Custom thumbnails for videos

6. Utilize Social Media Platforms

Another excellent way of promoting your videos is on social media. You can promote your video on various social media channels like Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and so on.

Do your research first, and know where your target audience are. Then, select the social media network that works best for you.

7. Optimize Your Thumbnails

Do you know that thumbnails matter more than titles? Well, it is because the human brain is hardwired to process visual information over texts first.

So, to boost your views, make an eye-catching thumbnail for every video that you post. To get the optimal results, follow these guidelines:

• Size: 2MB limit
• Format: JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 px
• Utilize highly contrasting images
• Select a close-up image
• Always be consistent with your branding

8. Use Your YouTube Cards Properly

Previously, we mentioned that YouTube rewards channels that keep viewers on their pages for extended periods.

Longer watch times means that your audience is more engaged with your content.

By placing YouTube cards, you can place recommended videos at the point where viewers are dropping off. Although they might abandon the current video, they will still be compelled to watch your other content, and therefore stay on your channel.

This helps boost your page ranking over time.

9. Use Subscribe and Push Notifications

Promote your channel as a whole, as well as your videos. Link your account and push for subscribers. That way, your videos will rank higher on YouTube and Google search.

10. Upload More Frequently

Although it might be a bit daunting at first, you need to boost your posting frequency by posting at least one video per week.

Consistency is key here. So it is best to stick with a schedule and publish a video at the same day or time. Also, keep your subscribers updated if you have upcoming videos.

Over to You

Hopefully, you have found these tips that we have discussed will be helpful in your current strategy. Growing your YouTube channel will require constant work from the beginning. It might take some time to gain some viewers (and eventually, brand partnerships). But if you persevere, you will likely to succeed in the long run.

This article is contributed by Bryan Mixon, owner of AmazeLaw.com, who is also known forFacebook advertising agencies.

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Aren’t you ever curious about how several small brands have made it big in the last couple of years? Well, this article will let you in on their secret―Social Media Marketing.

Social Media Marketing? What Is It?

If you haven’t heard of it yet, then it’s about time that you do. Social Media Marketing (also known as SMM) is an online marketing strategy that is utilized by small businesses and massive companies worldwide.

How does it work? Well, to implement this marketing tactic, you will simply need to create and share content that is related to the nature of your business on different social media platforms. Sounds pretty easy, right?

But then, you might be thinking, “How can such a simple plan like that work?”. Well, don’t be so quick to underestimate social media marketing! You may not think much of it now, but it actually comes with a good deal of benefits:

#1. It can enhance brand recognition.

Brand recognition is a great obstacle for a lot of startup businesses. After all, not a lot of people would want to invest their money in a brand that no one has heard of yet. But that can all change!

By engaging in social media marketing, you can divert the public’s attention to your brand and make it better known. The key to making this happen is by creating interesting content. With those posted, web users will be more inclined to read and share your content; ultimately enhancing brand recognition all over the world wide web.

#2. It can boost brand loyalty.

There are a lot of factors that can affect brand loyalty. But for the most part, convenience is a huge aspect of it. The easier you can make things for your consumers, the more likely they are to patronize your brand. After all, who would purposefully go out of their way to obtain a certain product or service when there are other, more accessible options available?

And that’s what social media marketing does. Through frequent posts on different social media platforms, your brand will not only be better recognized, but it will also be quicker for consumers to get a hold of. As a result, your brand becomes their preferred go-to, leading to better brand loyalty.

#3. It can improve conversion.

All businesses struggle with conversion. Even the most successful brands constantly seek out marketing techniques that will allow them to reach their monthly quota. But as of late, social media marketing has always been in their plan of action.

Why is that so? That’s because SMM is a means which you can utilize to improve consumer interaction. Your brand can reach out, connect with prospects, and gain their trust. And once trust is established, conversion is sure to follow.

#4. It can provide a higher brand authority.

How do you convince people that your brand delivers good products or services? Client testimonials seem to have always done the job. However, in this day and age? Social media marketing is the new trend for it.

With SMM, you are able to establish a direct line of communication with your consumers. They can tag your social media accounts when they would like to brag or compliment your products or services, causing a positive ripple effect among the community. With more good reviews on your side, more people will be convinced to switch to your brand.

#5. It can promote inbound traffic.

Currently, your business website is most likely only limited to individuals who already know of your brand. And it will continue to stay that way if you don’t give social media marketing a try.

You see, SMM aims to break boundaries. With your brand readily recognized through social media, there will be an added influx of visitors to your site. And obviously, this will lead to added conversion as well!

#6. It can lower marketing expenses.

Marketing helps your brand draw in more clients. But, let’s face it. It’s not always a cheap option. In most cases, you’d even have to invest a pretty penny for your brand to gain exposure. Well, with social media management, you won’t have to spend as much!

Signing up to different social media platforms is free! You also have the option to write your own blogs and content. And even in the case that you would have professionals make content for you, it won’t be as expensive as other marketing options. And the best part? This strategy works just as well, if not even better!

#7. It can help increase search engine rankings.

Do you click to the next page when looking through a search engine’s result page? Personally, I don’t. And I can say with confidence that not a lot of people do either. Why would you bother to when what you need is already on the front page? That’s why search engine ranking matters. The higher up your rank is, the more likely web users will check out your business website, leading to conversion.

But how do you increase your ranking? Social media management is one thing that can significantly help. With content that is relevant and informational to the general public, your brand will have a better chance of reaching a wider market.

So, will you be implementing SMM for your brand?

Let us know what you think about SMM by sharing your opinion in the comment section below!

This article is contributed by Louise Savoie, Digital Marketer at Proweaver.

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As a social media marketer, your focus should be driving traffic to your site and encouraging users to complete an action.

Well, you can make that possible by retargeting audiences through the platform.

The best part is that this practice is proven to have better results than the more traditional forms of social advertising.

You can optimize your campaigns by incorporating it into your paid social strategy.

Ideally, there are different types of retargeting ads on Facebook that you should be utilizing. That usually depends on the specific actions of your audience.

In this post, we’ll discuss the different types of audience that you need to retarget.

Those Who Visited the Page

Check with Google Analytics and find the page on your website that gets the most views. As you would find out, it is usually the category page and the homepage.

Your goal is to retarget users who have visited your category pages which didn’t make a purchase.

So, how do you look for users who have matched these criteria? Moreover, how do you exclude the ones who have visited and purchased?

Well, go to the Audiences tab, click on “Create Audience” and then “Custom Audience” on the dropdown menu.

If you want to specifically target users that have visited a specific page, utilize the Website Traffic option. There, you can put the URL of the page that you want to retarget accurately.

Hit the dropdown arrow of the first part of your audience creator form then clicks “People who visited specific web pages.”

Usually, on the text box below, you can add the URL that you want to retarget users from.

Remember to exclude those who have already purchased. Showing them an ad that they’ve already purchased in the past is going to cost you time, effort, and money.

Moreover, you can also avoid showing ads to your previous clients by excluding the ones who have visited your purchase and check-out page.

People Who Placed an Order but Didn’t Check Out

People who abandon their online shopping carts are one of the most important people you need to retarget.

Why? Well, it’s because they almost reached the finish line, and yet they failed to cross it.

Personalization is vital if you want to retarget this type of online buyers. You can gain insight from these users by knowing what’s in their shopping carts.

Moreover, you can encourage them, even more, to return to your site and go through with the purchase by giving them exclusive discounts.

People Who Engaged with Your Page

You should also tap to the audience who liked your Facebook page. That goes to show that they’re engaged enough with you that they want to connect with you.

To know the audience who engages with your page, build a custom audience, and then click “Engagement” on Facebook. Then, hit “Facebook Page.”

The page engagement is usually the default option, but you may also choose a specific engagement, such as a particular post or ad and those people who have messaged you.

People Who Clicked on Your CTA

This custom audience is composed of people who have hit the call-to-action (CTA) button on your page. For retargeting campaigns, it’s vital to target this audience to encourage them to make a specific action.

For instance, if the CTA of your page is “Shop Now” then you can run ads that target users who didn’t buy after they clicked on your CTA button.

To create this type of audience, click your Facebook page, and then choose “People Who Clicked on Any Call-to-Action Button” on the Include dropdown list.

People Who Subscribed on Your Newsletter

Upload your customer database, the CSV file of your email list, or any subscriber list that you have. The platform will match the details on the list with their users, then build a custom audience.

Those who have subscribed in your email list are usually warm people. Chances are, they already like what you’re doing, so they subscribed to you.

If you want to advertise on a specific audience, they are the best users to advertise to.

Your Previous Shoppers

Aside from cart abandoners and leads, you also need to target your previous buyers to have repeat transactions.

If you’re giving discounts to those who haven’t previously done anything, then you should also give rewards to your previous customers.

If this is the reason that will push them to buy again, then why not show it?

To look for your previous buyers, build a custom audience, then choose “website traffic.” Afterwards, include the event purchase, and voila! You now have the previous purchases that you can click through again.

Then, you can craft ads that invite them to purchase again. If you continue making reasonable offers, then there’s no doubt that they will.

Create Personalized Facebook Retargeting Ads for Your Audience Today

Facebook is an excellent platform that lets you do your retargeting campaign effectively.

According to Voy Media, “The key here is knowing how to strategize your campaigns in a way that you can personalize your ads with the kind of audiences that you have.”

So there you have it! Those are the most actionable categorization of your audiences that you can tap into to create a successful Facebook retargeting campaign.

Now that you can identify these audiences, it’s now up to you to build a successful ad that will draw them in, and win them over.

This article is contributed by Kevin Urrutia of Voy Media, who offers Facebook marketing services based in New York.

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