Any company that hasn’t got their social media marketing campaigns sorted is going to struggle. It’s central to any marketing strategy so that means no half measures, it needs to be absolutely perfect. You’ve probably seen plenty of social media marketing companies that can do it for you, for a fee, but is it really worth spending this money to do something that you can do for yourself. Whether you do it yourself, or put together an in-house team to deal with it, that’s going to be cheaper than outsourcing, but not always best. So, should you outsource or not? 

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Do You Really Know What You’re Doing? 

Most people will immediately say yes to this question. You build a following on your social media and post meaningful content that appeals to your target demographic. But it isn’t that simple. So many people make the mistake of thinking that they know what they’re doing because they’ve got a Facebook account but even if you’re posting well, that will only take you so far. There are so many more aspects of social media marketing that you need to use if you want to be successful. Understanding search engine optimization, for example, is absolutely vital for driving customers to your site. Knowing when to use pay per click adverts and where to place them is another thing you probably don’t know about. Online marketing companies will know all of this, but make sure you’re getting the service you pay for. You can always try to learn these things yourself or hire a new employee that does know what they’re doing, but when you’re just starting a new business it’s just more work on the pile if you’re trying to become a social media marketer as well. 

This is obviously an important question. I can go on for hours about the benefits of outsourcing your social media marketing but that doesn’t matter if you can’t afford to hire a company. If you haven’t got the spare cash then you might have to end up doing it yourself, however, it’s worth getting a line of credit from somewhere like businesslineof.credit to pay for it. Remember, a good social media marketing strategy is going to make you money so borrowing a bit of cash to fund it is always sensible. It’s great having fewer debts during the early months of your new venture but it isn’t worth it if you aren’t getting any customers. 

How Important Is It? 

While I said it was absolutely vital, that isn’t always strictly true. It is an important consideration to make but, depending on your target market, it won’t always be your main marketing strategy. If you’re trying to appeal to a younger audience, social media will absolutely be the best way to reach them and if your campaign is lacking, your sales will reflect that. However, if you’re selling a product that is designed for over 60’s, you aren’t going to find that many of them on Twitter. You still need some sort of a presence but there’s no need to shell out loads of money on outsourcing it. 

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that social media marketing is easy and invest in outsourcing if it’s an important part of your marketing strategy.

We all know that even going it alone shouldn’t literally mean going it alone. Having a helping hand is essential if you want success without burnout. Yet, with more and more businesses focusing on ecommerce, we seem to be forgetting the importance of getting others on board. 

The internet, though fantastic for communication, can be a lonely place. When you’re on the computer, it may seem like you against the world. As such, you can easily fall into the trap of taking too much on your shoulders. As well as being a risk for you, this could damage your business. After all, the people you know can be the key to success. But, who is good to know online? Who can help you get a foot up? Read on to find out! 

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In the website world 

For most businesses, their website is their first port of call online. So, it makes sense to consider what help is available here. The need for assistance starts straight away. Before you get going, you need a hosting company through which to operate. You won’t get far without one of these. Hosting companies like Gatorhost provide the platform on which your website operates. And, you can compare Gatorhost with other hosting companies here, to ensure you know your options. It’s worth taking your time over this choice. The hosting company will have a significant impact on the ease of your website operations. 

In a more literal sense, help could involve enlisting other companies. Getting a mention on a more popular site, for example, could bring a real boost for business. Often, mentions like these work on a ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ basis. So, start doing favors for others, and see where it gets you. Bear in mind that you don’t want to link to competitors. But, linking to companies which go alongside yours could work wonders. 

Every business owner worth their salt in the modern age knows about SEO. Search engines can make or break your business. As such, you need to be on the best terms with the big boys like Google. You want your website to appear as high on their listings as possible. But, that’s not going to happen if you start on the wrong footing, or prove yourself unworthy in any way. So, how can you get in Google’s good books? By keeping up with updates, and following them. Oh, and developing a high-quality website, of course. 

Getting social with social media 

Much like SEO, social media has become a staple in the modern business world. But, without help, you could find yourself shouting into the void. By getting in contact with companies such as Twitter, you can work with a team to get your advertisements seen. And, remember the importance of scratching backs. Make sure to retweet and interact with companies which are bigger than yours. If you do this enough, they’re sure to check you out, and perhaps repay the favor.

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When it comes to making the most of social media for your business, you’d think it would be largely the same strategy. You’d think you could do X, Y, and Z thing - and then everything would clip along and be dealt with. 

Of course, the more you learn about how you use social media for business purposes, the more you realize that’s not the case at all. You soon learn that while we might group all the different services together under the banner of “social media”, they actually have very little in common with one another. 

You soon realize that you need a separate strategy for each one. The way that you run your business Twitter is very different to how you run your business Facebook. Your Instagram usage is incomparable to the methods you need to use for Snapchat. There’s no tried-and-tested strategy that will work across all platforms. 

Still, when you’ve figured that out… you’re sorted, right? You’re going to be able to use social media to promote and bolster your business, you’ve got all your different strategies set out, and then… 

Sorry: There’s Something You Forgot 

Apologies for being the bearer of bad news, but, yes, there’s still something you have forgotten. Social media doesn’t just break down into what “works” for each one, you also have to think about what type of customer you’re going to be able to target. 

Social Media Age Splits 

Let’s take an example. If you’ve got a small business premises that sells recliners and comfy sofas to a target demographic of 50+, then Snapchat geofilters for your store and a hilarious Twitter account isn’t going to be much use to you. 

On the flip side, if you’re trying to sell clothing to 18-21 year old women, then Facebook and Pinterest boards aren’t going to be efficient. 

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Different demographics use different forms of social media. While it’s not wise to ignore entirely the ones that don’t appeal to the demographic you are targeting, you should absolutely be focusing on the platform that’s going to work best for your user base. In those two examples, if you were to flip the options - the geofilters and Twitter for the 18-21 year old women; Facebook and Pinterest for the near-retirees - then you’d have a great strategy. 

There are plenty of charts you can consult which make clear the demographics for each social media platform. 

It therefore makes sense that you find the platforms that are most likely to appeal to your target demo and focus your efforts on those. That doesn’t mean your work up to this point should be ignored, even if you have been focusing in the wrong area. It never hurts to be good at social media! There’s always the people that will buck the trend, too; the grandmas playing with Snapchat filters and the teenagers looking through Pinterest. So you still have a chance of catching those errant, outside-the-stats users. 

However, by doubling down your efforts where it’s most likely to make an impact, your business is going to be in good shape.

The popularity of social media cannot be ignored and, due to the fact that the amount of social media users is expected to reach 2.55 billion in 2018, understanding the way each platform works is vitally important for your business. In this article, we will review five major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. We will also discuss the demographics of each, and how they can help your business. Social media increases traffic and exposure, and, if you understand how the platforms differ and how they work, you will be able to capitalize on that.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social media site that allows users to share text posts, pictures, videos, and any other form of media. You are able to plug in information and data about your business into your profile, and the settings for businesses make it seem like a webpage with a social media twist. On Facebook, you can add friends and followers, with the former being able to see everything you post and the latter just seeing what you want them to.

On Facebook, there are 1.51 billion mobile active users. The demographics are very diverse and include a large range of age groups, education levels, incomes, and races. The majority of Facebook users are between 18 and 29 (84% of that demographic uses the site), 77% of women use Facebook, and the majority of users (72%) are in the suburbs. The average amount of Facebook friends that someone has, according to Pew Research, is 155, and 58% of the entire adult population is on Facebook. (All statistics are provided by Pew Research Center).

Facebook can help your business because it is specifically designed to allow companies to post as much information and news about themselves, while also providing a way to contact them and have them respond rapidly. Currently, 40 million small businesses use Facebook, and, as a result, Facebook has set up an entire department dedicated to supporting them. Facebook is also a primary location for social media influencers, and if your business’ demographic is wide-reaching, you should create a page.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is similar to Facebook because you can share text posts, pictures, videos, and other multimedia. Twitter has a character limit of 140, and you can only attach four pictures per tweet (or one video or one GIF). Again according to Pew, 23% of adult internet users are on Twitter, and 19% of the adult population at large is on Twitter. Twitter skews male and the majority of its users live in urban areas and are between the ages of 18 and 29.

Twitter for businesses is able to let you post succinct, clear information with a link. Twitter users are more likely to share posts than their Facebook counterparts and approximately 70% of small businesses have a Twitter account. If your business is looking to attract a younger audience, particularly one that lives in an urban area, you will be able to use Twitter to do so, but make sure that you are posting links to your site—otherwise, the character limit will chop off your information and make it less meaningful.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a photo- and video-sharing site that allows people to represent themselves visually. Businesses are taking part in Instagram, posting pictures and videos of their products, services, and how to use them. Beauty and clothing companies are two of the biggest presences on Instagram, with “tutorials” on how to apply makeup, and pictures of clothing with links on how to purchase them. Instagram’s demographics look a lot like Twitter’s. According to Pew, 26% of adult internet users (21% of the entire adult population) use Instagram. The primary users are female, ages 20 to 29, who reside in urban areas.

Instagram allows your business to represent itself through pictures and videos, which help visually-oriented users get a better grasp on your product or service than just words could say. Pictures and videos are, generally, more engaging in comparison to large blocks of text, and taking advantage of that medium will allow you to attract a younger audience.

Snapchat

Snapchat has seen more and more use by businesses and celebrities. It allows you to take pictures and short videos that, when received, are visible for ten seconds before disappearing -- hence the “snap” in the name. Despite the short duration of the pictures and videos, when combined with a social media influencer, Snapchat is pretty powerful. This is evidenced by the fact that the app has 100 million daily active users. Additionally, according to Bloomberg Technology, people watch ten billion videos a day on the mobile app. This is a two billion increase since February of this year.

Businesses can use Snapchat themselves, or, more effectively, they can work with social media influencers to reach their established audiences. Like Instagram, Snapchat is a way to represent your brand visually, and it is very effective, even with the time limit that is imposed onto the videos and pictures.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is another photo-sharing site that allows users to curate and post pictures. If you see a picture you like, you can “pin it” to your page and, when people see your photos, if they like them, they can do the same. According to Pew Research Center, 31% of the adult online population uses Pinterest, and 26% of the adult population at large, online or offline, uses the site. The photo curating is what makes it different from Instagram and Snapchat, which are also sharing sites. Pinterest represents your brand visually, and allows you to collect other pictures from other users that help showcase your company as well (and build relationships with those other users.)

Pinterest reached 100 million users in 2015, and its follower count is only increasing. It has made “pins” shoppable with a “Buy Button,” meaning that you can click “buy” and purchase something if you like the picture—a major advantage for businesses that can market their products successfully this way. On Pinterest, there are 50 billion pins, and 30 billion of those are “buyable,” i.e. they are products that are being sold, not just aesthetic-only photos. Also, people who visit Pinterest, on average, spend 50% more than regular, non-Pinterest-using customers. If you are a business that has a product that can be represented visually, this is a platform you need to be on, particularly if your product is popular among women, ages 18-29, the largest demographic on the site.

Regardless of the site or sites you choose, social media helps drive traffic to your business, particularly if you use a social media influencer platform with a large user base to help you find and connect with the right influencers for your brand.

Social media is a fantastic tool to get your product, idea or message known. Nowadays, literally everyone is on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and, what's more, they spend hours on these social media platforms. They are the perfect environments to get your business and product known, interact with your customers, attract new followers and establish a powerful brand, either by yourself or through a social media influencer platform. like NeoReach.

Social media can be an extremely powerful tool if you know how to use it, but it can also be incredibly dangerous for your business, especially if used carelessly. The competition on social media platforms is fierce and having a well-crafted strategy is essential for its success. On the contrary, poorly planned strategies can miss their target and, even worse, may be extremely detrimental for your business.

There are lot of examples of social media strategies gone wrong, but here are the most incredible ones:

It's one thing when a social media newbie makes a mistake in a campaign, but it's a completely different story when the CEO of an international multi-billion company does it. In 2014, Twitter's boss, Anthony Noto, made a terrible mistake when he posted a private message on his public account. It read “I still think we should buy them. He is on your schedule for Dec 15 or 16 -- we will need to sell him. I have a plan.” The message is thought to be about the possible acquisition of Shots, an app backed by Justin Bieber. The message was initially intended to go to Twitter's CFO but instead was made public to Anthony Noto's thousands of followers.

Social media is often used by big companies to talk directly to their customers or even to offer support. While this usually goes without trouble, there are some cases which can easily be defined as complete communication disasters. This is the case with one of US Airways tweets to one of its customers. The message was directed at a customer who complained about the company's service and included an incredibly inappropriate image. NSFW is really just an understatement for that particular picture, as many of  the users who have seen it said, but thankfully, the company deleted the message in less than an hour and issued a formal apology.

Almost all companies try to have special sales on national holidays and commemorations, but when these sale promotions are offensive, everyone has to suffer. The manager at Global Village's Duluth, Minnesota, store tried to create a special sales day on MLK Day, but the message was condemned as being racist. The message on the store's Facebook page read “25 percent off everything black”, but was immediately taken down after customers complained about its offensive connotations. Fortunately for the customers, the offer still went on, but under a different slogan.

American Apparel found a very inappropriate way to celebrate 4th of July and annoy its customers in the process. The company's Tumblr page featured a picture of the Challenger space shuttle exploding as a way to celebrate the 4th of July. This absurd marketing campaign initially baffled clients, but later attracted a lot of negative feedback. The company deleted the image and apologized after several hours, but the damage was done. In a later statement, American Apparel's CEO explained that their social media manager was born after the terrible incident and didn't know what the picture was all about. A frivolous explanation, but at least they apologized.

About the Author:

Flaviu Mircea is a small business owner who has used social media as a marketing tool for his company. If you would like to learn more about Flaviu, you can check out his Google+ profile.

With over 300 million active users, Twitter is an essential marketing platform that businesses can take advantage of. As one of the biggest social networks with incredible engagement among users, Twitter can be beneficial to businesses looking to build brand awareness and generate leads. So, if you’re looking to start promoting your brand and business using Twitter, the following tips should help you hit the ground running.

Optimize Your Twitter Account

This is the first thing you need to do. Start by creating a twitter account around your brand, business or organization. Let’s say that you want to promote your business; your Twitter account should only have details of your business and possibly the face or ambassador of the brand.

All tweets should be centered on the business. The same goes for your personal branding. The reason behind this is simple: if you’ll be gathering followers, it makes sense that they’ll follow you because of your brand.

So, posting tweets about personal things such as political leanings or religious issues should be avoided. You want to make sure that every time people stumble on or see your brand, they will only see the best things about it.

Target Effectively

One of the best things about Twitter is that you can literally find every niche there is on there. This essentially makes targeting your ads and messages easier. But since you’re just starting out, you need to effectively identify the best demographic that you can reach through that platform.

One of the best ways to do this is through locating influencers and amplifiers. Simply put, influencers are people with a lot credibility or authority perception in your industry. These should be the first set of people that you want to reach out to.

They often have a huge following, and you’ll often notice that their followers tend to interact more with them by retweeting their tweets and mentioning them in their replies. If you can find these influencers, you can get them to promote your products to their audiences by currying their favors or getting noticed.

Use Twitter Ads

Twitter launched their paid advertising platform a while ago. So companies, brands, organizations, and individuals can start promoting their products and services to their audience.

Using the provided tools, you can often find your target demography, thus creating laser targeted ads that they will see and hopefully respond to. The platform is designed to deliver set goals and objectives.

For instance, you can setup campaigns targeted at gaining followers, increasing your website conversions, measure app installs or downloads, capture more leads and measure audience engagement. Whatever you do, make sure you have a goal before setting these ads up.

Have Your Fingers on Industry Pulse

The best way to take advantage of Twitter for free advertising is by tracking industry trends, news, hot issues and major problems. So, start by looking for and identifying all these.

Once you have these, you should create content around these topics and issues and tweet the links. More importantly, you could tweet those links at major industry influencers whose audience would want to know about your resource.

Not only does this help increase your followers and popularity on the social media network, it also helps improve website visitors, click through rates and conversion rates on your website.

Get Noticed

The simplest way to do this is by frequently retweeting all tweets from prominent individuals in the industry as well as mentioning them. You should also engage with them on other platforms using the same profile. If you do this on a daily basis for long enough, they will take notice of you and your brand, and possibly go on to promote your brand to their audience.

Joining a respectable marketing community is a good way to develop your marketing strategies and connections. To learn more or start a conversation about Twitter, visit Kreativa.co.

There’s no question that the internet has changed society greatly over the past 20 years. And businesses have been one of the main beneficiaries.

However, the World Wide Web isn’t just a great communication tool. We can achieve far more than sending a few company emails. The internet is a powerful resource and you should be using it to help your business thrive.

Here are just four ways that it can improve your operation.

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Increase Customer Base

The most important aspect of your business is the customer. Finding new and effective ways to increase your numbers is a must, and the internet can help you greatly.

Your website is one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal, so make sure it has a good design. Meanwhile, you can improve its visibility with SEO. In turn, this will increase your sales both online and offline. Don’t forget, people still use the internet when searching for local products too.

Moreover, social media campaigns can cast your nets even further afield. You won’t get that from more traditional marketing schemes.

Increase Workflow

Most businesses now use computers to some degree. For many sectors, they are a crucial piece of the operation. Computer technology already sends our workflow through the roof, but wouldn’t it be even greater if you could step it up another notch?

You can! Blue Star Technology consulting services will help you find the best way to make your IT solutions work harder for the company. The increased workflow should result in improved productivity. In turn, this should encourage bigger profits.

As well as helping productivity, outsourced IT solutions could also help lower your overheads. What more incentive could you need?

Assemble A Better Team

Recruitment is a vital part of being a great boss. Your ideas and innovation will only go so far, and you must acquire the best team to make those dreams a reality. The internet will be of huge assistance throughout the process.

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In addition to posting vacancies on various online job boards, you can also use freelance directories to find people yourself. This gives you a much better chance of finding the best candidate for the job.

Best of all, some employees won’t even be required to turn up to the office. This can lower equipment costs and other overheads such as insurances. Most importantly, though, the right team of employees will get the best results for your business.

Organisation

Anybody that has ever applied for a job will know that good organisational skills are a highly sought talent. There are solid reasons for this, and essentially staying organised will help the business thrive. Once again, the internet is your friend.

Nowadays, you can pretty much make your office go paperless. You’ll no longer have to waste hours looking for a misplaced document. And as we are all aware, time is money. Meanwhile, it saves on the need for loads of storage space.

For the more environmentally conscious owner, it will reduce your printing output too.

What used to be the ‘word on the street’ is now the word on the web. Using social media for having a dialogue with your customers is a really effective tool for ensuring that they are happy, and for ironing out the issues that might need to be looked at with growing and maintaining a brand that wins every time. Some of the world’s biggest and best brands have worked out that the best way to engage with their customers is through showing that they are listening. There are a few interesting ways that big brands use social media for customer care, read on to learn how they are doing it.

Back in the day if someone wasn't happy with your product they would vent to their friends over coffee, but with social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, they now have a much larger audience for their vent. If you are not listening, it will become very clear, very quickly to customers and could affect your business in a big way. Once the words are out on a social networking site it isn't long before other disgruntled customers add their own judgments of your brand, or how your customer care employees handle the situation and it creates a snowball effect. Social networking could be one of the best things to happen to your brand if you use it effectively and let your customers know that they are heard in the public forum of social media. Look for big brands such as Coke and Vistaprint on Twitter and see how effectively they handle their customer care.

I love to shop online.

In less than a year since its official launch last March 2012, Lazada Philippines, an online local shopping avenue, has outgrown other local online E-commerce sites in such a short span of time.

You may wonder how Lazada did a quick rise to popularity. There are but many reasons aside from the online traffic due to the ads in all forms of media. These reasons of course are not being hid or like secrets and anyone who has experienced purchasing even a single item at Lazada can attest to such truths.

Before Lazada came, it is a known fact that purchasing items online here in the country is a hassle because this would require the use of a credit card. Credit cards have negative implications that is why only a few Filipinos prioritize to acquire such.

The next time you think of collaterals and company give-aways, think of Branders. Branders is the only company today that offers durable, customized promotional products. Send your design and choose your item among a wide range of selections from pens to high end stationery sets. You can even pitch in your own idea, whatever it may be.

Branders works in just three easy steps. First, select your item. What would you like to have personalized? Promotional T-Shirts? Office and Business supplies? Next, send in your logo so they can custom fit it with the item of your choice. Once everything is set, the third and final step is that you get a quote for the product you asked for! It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

I've been tagged by Molit to help spread the word on the ‘Breast Cancer Awareness’ month of June. I always wanted to support this kind of programs as it focuses on women's wellness.

Bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. Blog Action Day is about MASS participation. That means we need you! Source


There are 3 ways to participate:
a. Post on your blog relating to the environment
b. Donate your day's earnings
c. Promote blog action day

Around forty million people are living with HIV throughout the world - and that number increases in every region every day. In the UK alone, more than 60,000 people are living with HIV and more than 7,000 more are diagnosed every year. Ignorance and prejudice are fueling the spread of a preventable disease. (World Aids Day, 2006)

Those having the disease are even getting younger and younger. We should always take care of our health guys in everything that we do. As I have read in Wikipedia, the United States government and health organizations endorse the ABC Approach to lower the risk of acquiring AIDS during sex:


Abstinence or delay of sexual activity, especially for youth,
Being faithful, especially for those in committed relationships,
Condom use, for those who engage in risky behavior

Let us raise the awareness of the World AIDS Campaign by adding a ribbon or World AIDS Day badge to your blog guys!

Get a Virtual Red Ribbon now!