Showing posts with label ssocialmediamarketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ssocialmediamarketing. Show all posts

Thursday, 29 September 2016

Why You Should Outsource Your Social Media Marketing

Social Media marketing is an indispensable part of digital marketing. The basic reason why this is such an integral part of online marketing is because customers are present more than ever on Social Media and companies who want to reach out to their customers must reach out wherever customers choose to go.
Social Media Platforms Are Diverse
Social Media marketing is either completely free or very low-cost compared to traditional advertising. Social Media marketing — when done right — is highly targeted and hence very effective. It’s important that this form of marketing be done right using the correct Social Media platforms, so choose your platforms carefully. Certainly, a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ is a given. As to the other Social Media platforms — Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, Vimeo or more — serve specific purposes and should be used to target certain audiences. Companies whose products lend themselves to artistic photography — and after Steve Jobs and his obsession with aesthetically pleasing industrial product designs, very few companies will stick their neck out and say that beautiful looks are not important for them — must use Pinterest and Instagram to showcase their products. So, if you are a restaurant or any sort of business related to food products, cooking, recipes, bakery products and so on, beautiful photography and the promotion of those photographs on Social Media is going to be a key part of your online marketing policy. Similarly, For B2B businesses, LinkedIn promotion is a must. Do your research and see what works best for you as every business is unique so one-shoe doesn’t fit all as they say.
Keep Social Media Marketing Engaging & Interesting
One of the biggest reasons why people use Social Media is because they find it interesting. People come back again and again to their Facebook newsfeed multiple times in a day because they find things that are riveting, funny, informative or otherwise engaging. For marketers, the cardinal principle therefore has to be: never be a bore. Actually, it’s not just relevant to Social Media marketers but many others.
Hence, viral video marketing is very effective. If you create a funny video commercial, people will watch it and share it and it will get millions of views on YouTube. Marketers have internalized this principle and we have seen many recent instances of clever promotional videos that went viral for different reasons.
Videos can go viral by being funny, emotional or by tapping into a specific mood by incorporating some hot button current topic into the video. The other way to get audience participation is by having contests. Social Media accounts should remain active. There should be regular posts on Facebook and Google+ as well as tweets sent out from the Twitter account. Remaining regular and consistent is a very important characteristic if you want to become popular. In addition, Social Media being an interactive platform itself, it is important to be interactive and interact with your customers on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to give them a personal touch to show them you care.
If customers make a complaint via Social Media — such as sending a tweet to an airline’s Twitter account complaining that the airline was not sufficiently helpful when their flight got delayed or that their luggage was misplaced in transit — then corporate accounts should have a policy about how to respond to these complaints.
Reasons to Outsource Social Media Marketing
There are many good reasons why it makes sense to outsource the Social Media marketing of your business. Here are is a few:
Cost & Time Factors
Remaining regular and responsive on Social Media can be a time consuming activity — you have to post content on Facebook at least once a day and tweet several times a day. Depending on the size of your Social Media community, there will be several comments on your FB posts and you may need to engage with a few of the comments. If anyone is spamming your FB posts or trolls or becomes abusive on Twitter, you need to take corrective action such as blocking the relevant accounts. It can be time consuming to keep an eye on all of the different activities happening via Social Media.
With outsourcing this activity, you can get professional Social Media marketing companies to take care of all of the above aspects at a reasonable cost compared to hiring multiple Social Media experts in-house depending on the size of your company.
Experience & Expertise
Whether it’s writing novels or picking apples, experience matters. The same applies to Social Media. Professional Social Media guys or gals who are at the top of their game have developed a range of knowledge which can be hired by outsourcing Social Media marketing. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and all the other Social Media platforms are evolving continuously; hence, only experienced Social Media professionals will be able to really do a great job.
Long-Term Investment
While it might appear to be an easy solution to attach Social Media responsibilities to the existing job description of a regular employee, there are many problems to taking this short-cut. Social Media being quite time consuming, tacking this on to an employee’s existing job role might hamper the employee’s productivity in his or her role.
Remember that Social Media is here to stay — it will change and evolve but Social Media is not going to go away. It’s a long-term investment for the company. Hence, a company should approach it with a sufficiently strategic vision in how to go about it. Outsourcing Social Media marketing to a professional agency will ensure that this will go on in a smooth manner irrespective of personnel issues. When you outsource Social Media marketing, you don’t have to worry about a particular employee “handling it” and you will be able to rest assured that a good agency has the expertise to make this a long term activity.
Real-Time & Hands On
With outsourcing, you get professionals who are always there. You are paying them for a service and you expect results for this service. With the immediacy that is an intrinsic character of Social Media, you cannot treat it like a side job which is what might happen if you tack on Social Media responsibilities to an existing employee. You cannot postpone responding to customer complaints or queries on Facebook or Twitter just because you are having a busy week or are out of town attending a trade show. With outsourcing, professionals will be there to respond to any crisis or complaint or even to say a gracious ‘Welcome’ to customers who might send an occasional ‘Thank You’ tweet to the company’s Twitter handle.
Brand Voice 
Companies should have or develop a consistent brand voice which will in turn create a devoted user base. If a clothing company is seen to be modern for example, then it might attract a younger demographic. Companies have to have a certain personality to attract their target demographic of customers. Social Media caters to different sorts of users and Social Media professionals will know how to create an attractive and consistent brand voice for the company. When you use a professional company to help with these services, they can help you create this “brand voice” and guide you with what makes the best business sense
Summary
They are many advantages to outsourcing your Social Media. Yes, you will have to be very careful when selecting who you are working with to ensure that you get exactly what you need. However, the benefits far outweigh trying to hire a full in-house team. With these advantages as listed above and other advantages, outsourcing of your Social Media marketing makes a lot of sense. If you need any help with any of your Social Media marketing or any other digital marketing, feel free to reach out to the team at Mind Digital Group.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016

Importance Of Social Media For Branding

If you are running a business, you know how important marketing is for your branding. This same rule applies in the world of Internet marketing. Social Media has become an essential part of online marking. Making an effective presence online consists of ensuring that Social Media is now an integral part of your overall online strategy.
 Targeted Audience: With the help of social media you can now directly interact with your targeted audience. This will help you sell your products or services directly to someone who needs it.
 Free Advertising: Social Media can provide new business and it costs nothing to setup. The reason is signing up and creating social accounts is totally free of cost. You can post photos, general info and more of your products or services through Social Media. Facebook pages and Twitter feeds are great examples.
 Easily Build A Customer Base: There are billions of people using Facebook, Twitter and other social media networking websites. As a result it is easier for you to find customers and show them your services or products directly online.
 Better Customer Service: You can improve your customer service with the help of Social networking websites as your customers can easily reach you directly on social media. They can also give you feedback/reviews of the services or products you are providing them. As a result the overall experience will be positive about your brand through better customer service.
 Branding Yourself: A huge benefit of Social Media sites is the ability to quickly put yourself out there. All you have to do is join groups, communities, and interact with members that are related to your niche. It is important to create these relationships first before you start to market to your audience.
 Boosts Your Search Engine Optimization: Social Media plays a vital role to boost your website’s Search Engine Optimization esults. By simply letting people talk about your company, this allows Google to see that your brand is growing positively therefore it benefits your overall SEO efforts.
There are plenty of benefits that companies can take advantage of within the world of . Today it is critical to ensure that your brand is being seen the way that you want it to be seen. If you need any help or assistance with your Social Media or just want some advice, then please feel free to reach out to us at Mind Digital Group. We would be more than happy to help you get Social!

Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Impact Of Social Media on Ecommerce

Don’t have the time to go out for shopping? You can use your laptop, iPhone, iPad, or Android device instead. The trend of E-commerce websites across the world is increasing exponentially which reflects in the success of retail stores and online E-commerce companies reporting significant increases in online sales. For example, compared to last year brick and mortar stores such as Tesco, Sainsburys were reporting sales that were the same compared to last year in store, but they saw an increase of almost 10% online. This reflects the increasing affluence of the rising middle class and their willingness to shop from the comfort of their own homes and offices. Availability of consumer goods, books, computer peripherals or any item you can imagine are now available within a few mouse-clicks.
Most companies today are present on Facebook and Twitter and some are also present on defunct websites such as MySpace. On Social Media, however, it’s more about engaging customers through dialog, witty messages, contests and keeping in touch with customers even when they are not visiting the company’s website. What matters most, however, is how active the company is on Social Media, with the following they have on Twitter and how much engagement they have on Facebook with their fan base.
A good example of how to engage customers within Social Media is with contests. This is a great method in which most of the participants feel they have a chance to win something. This prize method or whichever your method is as an E-commerce company to engage your Social Media fans is important in your overall marketing strategy. Social Media engagement is all about providing value, giving something or just even helping out your brand advocates. Shopping is a popular pastime and people love the sight of products, and they love the idea of coming across the products they use frequently. Users love writing and speaking about these products on Facebook or Twitter and talking about whether they loved the product or hated it. For E-commerce companies this is having a huge effect on their business and it can no longer be ignored.
It’s a great idea for E-commerce companies to upload pictures of their latest products or most used products and even old products on Facebook and other Social Media sites. Consumers are able to therefore share the experiences they have had with these products and as a result they create awareness amongst social networks.If a certain type of product is rated highly by a friend or loved one, the likeliness of someone using this product will be much higher versus through direct ads on TV for example. Social Media as a result has had a tremendous impact on all E-commerce companies across the globe. E-commerce companies can capitalize on these social networks by engaging with the users of their products and giving them a personal experience. Every company weather that be E-commerce or retail brick and mortar needs to have a Social Media strategy but most importantly engage with their brand advocates otherwise someone else will.As always, if you need any help or guidance with your Social Media, please feel free to reach out to the team at Mind Digital.

Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Make Social Media Work For Your Business

Social Media is all the rage these days. Companies can benefit from viral social media campaigns — and sometimes get burned by Social Media as well. What companies hope for is to create something viral like the Ellen DeGeneres Oscar selfie but not every company can do that or have an ad budget equalling the GDP of a small country.
Social Media marketing has got to be a part of the overall brand building process for any company. This is a long term process and cannot be a one-time or a short term thing. The best Social Media marketing campaigns combine SEO, online marketing and above all, effective storytelling.
The Internet has levelled the playing field for businesses of all sizes. A viral YouTube video that can cost nothing that can be seen by millions on YouTube or shared by the billion plus users of Facebook or nearly half a billion users of Twitter can have a huge impact on your business. Social Media includes Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and more.
Social Media not only can help your business gain traction on Social Media platforms it also has an impact on your SEO rankings on Google. An important thing to remember is that you need to ensure that your business has a Google+ page so that users can rate, review, and share your business online. Besides gaining reviews, Google is now serving up these profiles in the search results to users as well as it has become a ranking factor within your SEO.
Businesses of all sizes small or large should hire a professional Social Media marketing services firms for the best Social Media marketing results or even consider doing it in-house themselves. The bottom line is Social Media can have a huge impact on your business and is something that needs to be taken seriously.
A good way for a company to create Social Media buzz is by running Facebook or Twitter contests and rewarding these participants through prizes or coupons. In return, they can get to see their hashtags trend on Twitter if there’s enough buzz and enough tweets. If you can create interesting content that Social Media users love, they’ll share it with their network on Facebook. If you create great content on the company blog, it will get shared on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and so on. Pinterest and Instagram are image-driven; hence, they are appropriate for businesses such as restaurants, bakeries, florists and so on whose products can be highlighted via great photos. YouTube videos can be great tools to provide product training or ‘how-to’ tutorials.
Creating great content is a key part of Social Media marketing. Content marketing and Social Media marketing therefore go hand in hand. Content marketing has become even more important considering the changes Google has made to its ranking algorithms. With changes such as Google Penguin, Google Panda and Google Hummingbird, Google has made it clear that it loves fresh content and discourages meaningless backlinks or duplicate content. Your Social Media marketing strategy has to take into account the fact that nearly half of the visitors to your website are likely doing so from mobile devices and this will only keep growing with the rapid adoption of smartphones. For online E-commerce businesses as an example, they need to ensure that customers are able to make purchases online from mobile devices.
If you choose to hire a Social Media company, make sure to opt for a company that has the experience and expertise you need to stay ahead of your competitors. Remember that SEO and Social Media marketing should be an integral part of any business’s marketing efforts. If you do it on your own or have a company do it, the choice is ultimately yours. All in all, Social Media marketing is a key weapon in the overall marketing battle that needs to be taken seriously. If you have any questions or need any help with your Social Media, please feel free to reach out to the team at Mind Digital Group.