social media marketing

 by Emma Cameron

How To Gain More Followers On Instagram

Instagram is quickly becoming the biggest social media network for businesses and content creators. Instagram opens up a huge playing field for any businesses looking to gain exposure and interact with their target audiences online. Many businesses do not utilize all of the great resources that Instagram has that can get them a lot of followers. Gaining more followers requires a little more than just uploading content, check out some great things you can do to gain more followers on Instagram.

 

Stick To A Niche Segment:
In order to be successful on Instagram, you will need to stick to one or two specific niche segments. It is best to find a niche market that you are passionate and knowledgable about, so that it makes it easy for you to come up with creative and consistent content easily.

 

Post Engaging And Creative Content Continuously:
People follow accounts because they want content – and a lot of it. If you are looking to attract a large audience on Instagram you are going to have to post consistent, high-quality content nonstop. It is easy to get lost in the land of Instagram, so make sure you are posting around two to three times a day so that followers can get use to your post and familiarize themselves with your username.

 

Use Captivating Captions:
Captions can be just as important as the content you are putting out. Figure out first if your audience enjoys long or short captions. For an example, if your Instagram page specializes in makeup, your audience will most likely want a long caption that includes the products that appear in your post. Once you have figure out what your followers want in their captions, you must remain consistent with it.
Instagram captions should include four things: they should be motivating; captivating; inspiring; and should give viewers an experience while reading it. This will really draw users in and keep them wanting more from your page.

 

Use Hashtags…And Lots Of Them:
Using hashtags on a post is one of the best ways to attract like-minded individuals to your page. When you are using hashtags for your post you want to be using the right ones that relate to your content posted, as well as your Instagram page. Studies have found that the optimal number of hashtags on Instagram is 11. The more hashtags you load onto your post, the more likely you are to get likes, comments, and new followers. So #YourHeartOut.

 

Interact With Users:
Communicate and engage with the community around you by following, liking, and commenting on other users post. Instagram isn’t just about posting your own content, it is also about exploring the content of others and the different communities around you. Create personal bonds and relationships with your followers by responding to comments they have left on your post. This will allow you to create personal bonds with your followers, and make you seem more attractive to them and others who stumble across your page.

If you are just starting on Instagram, comment and interact on big content creators pages. People are more likely to click on your page if they see you commenting and interacting with the same people they follow.

in Business / Content / Marketing / Social Media / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Basim Mirza

Increase Instagram Followers [Video]

Instagram is a new mammoth that adds to a business’ brand, increase instagram followers and you’re well on your way to attracting qualified leads and connecting with prospects. Check out the video below to learn more on the steps you can take to increase instagram followers.

How do I grow my increase instagram followers and get great engagement?

 

 

One of the great things you can do is just be yourself, be personal. Forget about your business when it comes to Instagram. Instagram is a place where you need to connect with people on a personal level. Now, at some point you can tie your business in and let people know what you do, but that is not what its about. You want to create visual experiences for people that get them to reciprocate. If they feel personally connected to you in someway, they are going to show some love and that is really the key. What worked for me is that I went out there and I started making sure that I got pictures with every celebrity that I knew, and that worked for me – not saying that to toot my own horn or anything like that, that I hangout with celebrities. But you know, maybe that might work for you, go out there, get to know some influencers, get to know people that other people know – they can recognize their face. You would be surprised what that does. I took a picture with Jenny McCarthy and that did so much for me. So what I am saying is find something that works for you, it could be something really visual. If you run a spa company you may actually have lots of really beautiful images that you could take of like stones and aesthetics. But you could do some really cool stuff that get people to say “hey that looks so cool, that looks so nice!”. That is what you want, and the beautiful about Instagram is that people reciprocate, so when people like your stuff and when they start commenting, do the same thing for them. Show the love back and when you start to do that, you are going to start building that community around you as well.

in Business / Content / Marketing / Social Media / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Emma Cameron

How To Write The Perfect Tweet

Crafting the perfect tweet can be a bit of an obstacle course. Do you hashtag? Add visual elements? Or only talk about popular topics?

Using all of those elements will be beneficial, and will drive more interactions and engagement to your Twitter posts and content. But there are also a few more strategies that can be used to get more retweets, replies, and favourites. Check them out below!

It touches on current/relevant trends
Whether you are talking about the winners of the Power Ball lottery or the current episode of Making A Murderer, creating the perfect tweet always needs to include topics and trends that are happening currently. Check out the trending section of Twitter to see what everyone is talking about or check which hashtags are getting the most traffic currently. This way you will know someone will eventually stumble upon your tweets!

It is engaging
Twitter is a very accessible and open platform that allows anyone – even users who don’t follow you – access to stumble upon any of your posts. Thanks to Twitters openness, your tweets have the ability to be reached by millions of people in many different countries! In order to reach the masses, you have to come up with engaging content that can lure them in.

Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion – whether it be positive or negative. Many rememberable tweets have been the most controversial and opinionated. Sometimes sharing an unpopular opinion can spark conversation, which can draw attention to your post and your Twitter page.

It utilizes #Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to connect and discuss events, or topics that may interest you and others on Twitter. Hashtags make it easier for people to find your posts and allows for more engagement and interaction to your page and content, through the use of retweeting or sharing.

Many studies have shown that tweets with one or two hashtags can double the changes of engagement. However, if you exceed two hashtags per tweet, the chances of engagement actually drops by a surprising 17% – which makes staying within the two hashtag limit crucial.

It uses some type of visual aspect
Whether it be in the form of a photo, a video or a info-graphic, people love visuals on Twitter. Studies have shown that tweets with a visual element attract the most engagement on Twitter out of all other types of tweeting.

Finding the perfect type of visual for your post is crucial for growing your interactions in the Twitter community. You will need to experiment a little bit to see what people will positively respond to – it will differ from person to person.

in Business / Marketing / Social Media / Uncategorized 0 comments
networking
 by Mitchell Cameron

Networking and Referrals: Best Strategy

Word of mouth is one of the most important types of marketing that a business owner or organization can focus on to help encourage current and future business. According to Nielson, 84% of consumers say they either completely or partially trust recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends about products. Networking is an underlying concept within any industry and it is important to understand how valuable your network actually is to your marketing strategy. When developing a network and looking to take advantage of referral business, there are a few things that are often overlooked or can be improved upon in your marketing plan.

Effective networking strategies are outlined below:

Build a highly credible and valuable network

Networks are great to have, but often these networks consist of people who do not necessarily add value. On the other hand, sometimes these networks are just not kept up-to-date and lack current credibility. Regardless, when you formulate your marketing strategy, it is important to build a list and network of valuable, credible and hopefully referable people. If the people do not add value in some way, then do not bother wasting your time trying to network or gain referrals from these individuals. Rather, focus on the strongest and most important connections that you have and you will waste less time with referrals that don’t turn into leads. Networks can be built and grown at any time using things like lists, email marketing campaigns and viral social media marketing campaigns.

Be referable

Sometimes as a business owner, you become so focused on leads that other aspects of your marketing strategy and business begin to suffer. The easiest way to be referable is to offer value to each and every customer by providing them with exceptional service through your firm. By delivering great service or products to current clients, you can expect that they will recommend you to others. Another way to be referable is to be relatable and likeable so that current customers enjoy working with you and will think of you first within your industry. If networking is done properly, both the referred and the referral should benefit from their new relationship and the person referring you will feel as if they are helping both people attain their goals.

Be aware of where your referrals come from

It is important to think about how you are obtaining referrals. Some companies offer an incentive or explicitly ask for a referral but this is not the best way. This will often make a customer less likely to refer you because they feel they are being “used” to create a prospecting list. The best kind of referral is one that you do not have to ask for and is given voluntarily by happy customers you have served well. A marketing plan that focuses on making current customers happy so they will spread positive Word of Mouth can save money and goodwill versus things like incentive programs.

As your business grows and develops, it is crucial to develop and keep your marketing strategy up-to-date to achieve success in 2016. If you practice these strategies and continue to work towards your goals, then there is no telling what you can accomplish.

We have the know-how when it comes to focusing on social media marketing and networking which can improve your business outlook and in turn make you more profitable. We can offer you marketing services that drive success and help convert data into a focused marketing strategy. We also provide access to world class training systems that can help you gain an edge over others in your field. The benefit to you being less wasted effort and a greater return – which will help your business grow and keep you happy! Click here to book your complimentary consultation.

 

in Business / Marketing / Networking 0 comments
 by Emma Cameron

How GoPro Empowers Their Customers

gopro

Social media is an amazing new marketing outlet that allows consumers to keep connected and engaged with their favourite brands. Social media not only allows brands to specifically advertise to their demographics, but it is also allows consumers to advertise and promote their favourite brands products and services as well.

GoPro has been doing a success job of empowering their users, while using their content to promote their brand. GoPro allows everyday people the ability to shoot HD footage and capture out of this world photographs on their miniature cameras – no matter what their past experience consists of. Not only are their products successful, but their presence on Instagram is as well. GoPro currently has 7 million followers, and averages about 300,000 “likes” per post. Their following is continuously growing, and so is their social media campaign. The company came up with the campaign “Photo of the Day”, where users upload their HD photographs to their own Instagram accounts, tagging GoPro in these photos. Everyday, GoPro picks a photo to be featured on their own Instagram account and tags the user in the re-uploaded photo. GoPro is not just stopping at photos, they are also promoting users to create extreme videos that they repost on their Youtube page.

gopro photo

This campaign has been extremely successful, and has been going on for years now. This allows GoPro to empower their users and promote their work, while at the same time be able to share these photos and use them as advertising tools. Creating a sort of win-win for both the user and the brand. This is just one of the many brands who are embracing social media, and really allowing consumers to take the reigns on advertising through these platforms.

As more and more brands move towards social media marketing, this tactic will become increasingly popular. Consumers love it and so do brands!

in Business / Lifestyle / Marketing / Tech 0 comments
 by Emma Cameron

How To Use Hashtags Effectively

Hashtags are an important part of our social media and tech culture today. So important that in 2010 the Oxford Dictionary added the word, and the board game Scrabble added it to their dictionary. Though most people in the world have heard of hashtags, or have seen them live in action, many still do not know to how to use them effectively. Hashtags are simple to use and can really drive traffic and engagement to your post or content – making them an important tool to know inside out.

 

Choosing The Right One:

It is not effective to just pick any word or phrase and proceed to use it as a hashtag. You should research which ones are already in use and in what context they are being used. For an example, if you come up with a hashtag that fits your brand perfectly, you need to make sure that other brands or individuals are not using that same one in a completely different way. This can cause confusion and a loss opportunity for your brand, and it could pick up some unwanted attention.

 

Pick The Right Social Media Platform:

Different social media platforms yield different returns for your content.

Twitter:

Twitter is the originator of the hashtag, and continues to still be the powerhouse. Tons of research has been done to track the effectiveness of the use of them on Twitter. According to one study, tweets with one or two hashtags can double the chances of engagement. However, if you exceed two per tweet, the chances of engagement actually drops by 17%. Staying within two per tweet limit is crucial. It is also important to note how “engagement” is defined in research. The engagement that is activated by hashtags can include different types of interactions; 22% of engagement comes from replies to brand’s tweets; 78% are retweets; And 92% are link clicks. Depending on the use of them in a tweet, it can either increase or decrease this amount of engagement

Facebook:

Facebook introduced hashtags to their site in 2013, which was a late start for the social media powerhouse. Though Facebook currently ranks the highest for the most used platform in the world, their engagement using hashtags is one of the worst. Studies have shown that Facebook posts with hashtags actually have less engagement than those without. Furthermore, studies have found that Facebook and Twitter are similar in the sense that overuse can also decrease the amount of engagement and interaction. It is more beneficial to keep hashtags down to one or two per post on Facebook in order to receive interaction back.

Instagram:

Instagram is the complete opposite to Twitter and Facebook when it comes to hashtags. Other social media sites diminish your return on engagement with the more hashtags you use per post. Instagram views this in a different light, and the more hashtags that are used the more noticed, liked, shared, and commented your post will get. Post that exceed 11 or more hashtags, are the post that bring in the highest number of interactions. Hashtags can be your best bet for growing a fast following on Instagram.

 

Timing is Everything:

As with most things in life, everything always comes down to timing. The same can be said with using hashtags on social media sites. There are many different online tools that can help you set up and schedule times to post content to your social media sites. This helps with getting content out during times of high usage, and on significant dates (e.g. holidays, campaign launches, etc). This can really help with getting your hashtag out there, and bringing in traffic.

 

Hashtags are a huge part of our social media sites today. Hashtags allow brands to reach more followers, give followers the opportunity to engage and interact with their favourite brand. It is one of the greatest inventions and one of the best things for online marketing.

in Business / Marketing / Tech 0 comments
 by Emma Cameron

How To Use Snapchat As A Marketing Tool

For years Facebook and Twitter have been the kings of all social media platforms. Combined, these platforms have over 2 billion users and growing, making these platforms one of the most looked at sites for marketers. Recently however, a new social media king has stepped onto the scene, and is bringing brands along with them. Snapchat reports an estimated 6 billion views daily, and has over 100 million active daily users (65% of which contribute content). This portfolio has brands and marketers not only impressed, but jumping at the opportunity to use it as a marketing tool. There are many benefits to advertising on Snapchat, however it has to be the right fit for your company. If you are looking into using Snapchat for your own business, check out what we think are the 4 best ways to utilize it.

 

1.Provides Access to Live Events:

Snapchat is one of the best tools for real-time social media marketing due to the fact that is can give audiences around the world access to live events. Companies can use Snapchat for real-time product launches, trade shows, or one-of-a-kind unique events. It allows consumers to feel involved in events, and engaged to be up-to-date on what their favourite brands are doing.

Lives events that have been successfully featured on Snapchat include the American Music Awards, the Westminster Dog Show, and Oktoberfest.

 

2. Embrace the Time Limit:

Many would say that the time limit that Snapchat offers is a negative for some businesses. However, many marketers and brands do not think this is always the case. The time limit (24 hours) allows for brands to create short videos or photos that last only a few seconds that can be sent to consumers as teasers. These teasers leave viewers wanting more, and creating a demand for these teasers.

Make-up powerhouse brand, NARS, used the app to allow followers an exclusive sneak peek look of their upcoming Guy Bourdin collection. NARS only allowed followers who added their @NARSissist Snapchat the opportunity to preview the collection. Due to the time limit and the ability to send personalized content to followers, this made Snapchat the best possible media for this type of release.

 

3. Offer Contests, Promotions or Perks:

Online consumers repeatedly check brand’s social medias to score on promotions or perks that not all customers get access to. Snapchat is no exception to this. Many consumers flock to Snapchat for the opportunity to see new promotions and contest that are offered by their favourite brands.

GrubHub excels in the Snapchat community by using different promotions and deals to engage their audience online. Grubhub became the first brand to launch a nationwide scavenger hunt campaign in 2014. The campaign lasted for five days, and each day followers were given a new challenge to complete. The winners of the challenges were given a $50 credit to GrubHub and had access to other promotions. GrubHub saw an increase growth of 20 percent in their followers, and found that more than 30 percent of their followers participated in the challenges.

 

 

4. Partner with Individuals with an Audience:

Snapchat can be used to promote brand awareness, brand loyalty, and also be used for product placements. Influencers with a large following can be a vital tool for brands who want to get their product noticed by demographics that are hard to reach through their traditional medias.

During the Superbowl, Audi teamed up with the app and the blog, the Onion, to bring a Snapchat campaign to followers. Photos of “typical things people may exhibit during the game” included humorous captions and drawings. The end result of the 3 hour campaign resulted in an increase of 5,500 new followers to Audi’s Snapchat page, and endless retweets of screen grabs from the campaign.

 

Snapchat is dominating in the app world, and brands are continuously growing their presence on it. Is your company ready to jump on this Bandwagon?

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