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    Tag: social media marketing

    Social Media: How do you optimize your social media?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    social media optimization

    Social media should definitely be one of the focal components of your digital marketing plan. While it remains one of the easiest ways to reach potential and existing customers, it also has the potential to drive traffic from your social sites to your e-commerce web page. On the other hand, when you optimize your social platforms, you enable a strategic force that has the ability to drive your business to its full selling potential.

    What is social media optimization:

    When you use a number of social media networks to increase the awareness of your brand, product or service, you are optimizing your social media presence and therefore maximizing the reach you have to your target market. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are usually the social media platforms that most businesses start off with to promote the growth of their company, but be sure to only focus on networks that will add value to your brand.

    Why is this so important? Well, by optimizing your social media, you have the power to increase your reach to potential customers and drive more traffic to your site.

    Steps to optimizing your social media profiles:

    With the opportunity to create and enhance your outreach using social media you will be able to grow your company’s online reputation, assert your voice within your niche and maintain a presence with your audience.

    • Optimize your strategy: Once you lay out a social media strategy for each social profile, you are then able to define any goals or objectives that match between them. A social media strategy should focus on growing your presence and establishing a voice for your brand with your given social networks.
    • Regularly check your keywords: Identifying phrases and topics that your audience may search for is the key to creating relevant content and optimizing your social accounts. Referencing applicable topics, hashtags and words will heighten your chance your reaching out to your target audience.
    • Optimize your social profiles: The social profile is the foundation behind any e-commerce-based company. Make sure to have a profile photo embellishing your company logo, a username that clearly states your company name and a bio section artfully filled out explaining what your company does using relevant industry keywords.
    • Optimize your content: Content is the driving force behind any social media marketing strategy. In order to successfully showcase your business, you will need a mix of created (made by you) content and curated (made by others) content. Quality always beats quantity, however, regularity (create a posting schedule) is ideal when you are trying to get yourself recognized.  

    Are there any other tips on how to optimize your social media that we haven’t mentioned? Tell us in the comments section below.

    Social Media: How to use LinkedIn for business

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    LinkedIn for business

    Although many business owners are drawn to using Facebook, Twitter or Instagram as key components of their social media strategy, companies are neglecting the power that LinkedIn has to spread the word. While it is one of the best networking tools that is used by people seeking jobs, it is also an excellent platform to advertise your business. Attracting talent, positioning your company as a thought leader in your niche and promoting your products and services are just a few of the basic networking strategies that are beneficial to business owners. Furthermore, here is how you can use LinkedIn for business.

    Create a LinkedIn company page

    By creating a custom LinkedIn company page, you open your business to a world of potential customers. A company page allows consumers to learn about your business, brand, products, services and job opportunities and it only requires a verified email address. Remember to edit your page to include a company description using keywords as well as describe the history and mission of your business. There will also be an option to fill in details such as location, company size and any specialties that you are known for. Be sure to use this platform to advertise your company logo. Sometimes pictures are easier to remember than names.

    Create a career page

    If you are seeking employees that have the skills and the means to fit into your company culture, then creating a career page is simply a must. This portion of your LinkedIn account allows you to tell a story which will help the talented job seekers measure how their goals meet your own. You are also able to upload photo galleries, company insights and videos to this section.

    Tips and tricks to using your LinkedIn page

    Now it’s time to start promoting LinkedIn for business. Creating a company and career page are just the sections that get your started but how do you build your business with these pages?

    • Get followers: Publishing content is absolutely pointless unless someone is seeing it on the other end. It’s important to gain a following so that you have an audience that is benefiting from your knowledge and expertise. Try not to be overly promotional and use this as an opportunity to connect with your audience.
    • Publish and share content: Make sure you publish regular and relevant content that your audiences find interesting and enticing.
    • Try to keep on schedule with a content calendar: Since publishing regularly is the key to social media success, sometimes setting up a content calendar, where you will post how and what is to be scheduled, is the best way to ensure you are using this platform to your advantage.
    • Use social media days to your advantage: Playing off of specific stat holidays or even social media only holidays are a good way to ensure that your content offers a nice mixture to your audience.
    • Track your results: The best way to know if what you are posting is engaging your audience is to track the past post in order to determine what is working and what is not.
    • Experiment with both photos and videos: LinkedIn offers users a video and photo feature within the mobile app, where you can post it directly to your timeline. This is a good opportunity for you to share behind the scenes content that you don’t offer on your other social media channels.

    Too busy to manage all your social media platforms? Allow the Trek team to take over some of the responsibility so, you don’t get too burnt out.

    How have you used LinkedIn for business? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

    How do you create a content game plan for your business?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    content marketing

    Content marketing has become an important integral part of a successful business. Sharing high quality, relevant information has the ability to help your brand develop a relationship with your audience by establishing authority in your industry. Once you determine who you are communicating with and how, then you will be able to effectively distribute your message across your social media platforms.

    What is content marketing?

    This type of marketing strategy is all about creating and sharing online material to promote your brand, as well as stimulating interest with your audience. Content marketing can include:

    • YouTube videos
    • Blog posts (either curated from other websites or managed by your social team)
    • Pictures (either curated from subscriptions or custom created using editing tools)
    • Quotes
    • Academic articles
    • Fun Facts
    • Memes
    • Infographics

    Keep in mind that your content can be repurposed and used across all your social media channels.

    What does content marketing do for your business?

    Content marketing has the potential to increase the sales of your business and create a relationship with your target consumer market. This type of marketing game plan is not just another opportunity to push your product or service on your customer, but simply about finding a relation to your customers by providing them with relevant, enriching information. Although your agenda is still the same, to sell your business, content marketing strategically drives customer purchasing by providing a more focused, valuable approach. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a good meme or some fun facts to start their day off?

    How do you come up with a content marketing game plan?

    This game plan intertwines directly with a much larger plan, your social media strategy. However, like any plan, brainstorming ideas and setting goals is the first step towards successfully launching a one that will work for your growing business.

    Step 1: Figure out who your target audience is.

    Step 2: Set goals that you hope to achieve within a certain timeline.

    Step 3: Establish a voice for your brand.

    Step 4: Find out which social media platforms will work best for your growing company.

    Step 5: Build a content calendar to manage what will be posted at specific times.

    Step 6: Decide who will be in charge of managing your social media. Don’t have the time? Have someone from our team do it for you!

    Do you have any other tips for developing a content marketing game plan? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.

    Do brick and mortar businesses need a digital marketing strategy?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    brick and mortar businesses to use digital marketing

    If you’re a retailer that prefers the more traditional selling approach that brick and mortar businesses have to offer, you may still find that you need a digital marketing strategy to get your business noticed. Although you offer your customers a more personable face-to-face interaction, when it comes to doing business, it is difficult to complete with your web-based counterparts. While ecommerce businesses make it their job to become noticed on the web in order to receive any sales at all, brick and mortar businesses can also leverage the benefits of digital marketing to their advantage

    What is a brick and mortar business?

    The term brick and mortar is used to describe a company that possesses a retail store, factory or warehouse for its operation. Your local bookstore or grocery shop is a perfect example of this. Brick and mortar businesses offer their consumers the opportunity to touch, try out and discuss any concerns they may have with an item prior to making any purchase. These types of businesses also provide consumers with an immediate form of gratification because they do not need to wait for the item to be shipped before they can enjoy it.

    Needless to say, even though a business is doing well in physical form that doesn’t mean that with a proper digital marketing plan it couldn’t be doing a whole lot better.

    Why does your brick and mortar business need a digital marketing strategy?

    With the rise of ecommerce businesses snatching up internet friendly consumers, it is important for brick and mortar businesses to use digital marketing to establish a strategy in order to remain technologically with the times. Many long-time retailers — Sears, Zellers and Kmart — have shut down dozens of store locations due to slow traffic and a decrease in sales.

    Whether your company is better suited as a brick and mortar business or you’re resisting the need to embrace e-commerce, you can have the best of both worlds with the proper digital marketing strategy.

    In order for brick and mortar businesses to use digital marketing to its fullest potential they will need to:

    • Build an online community: This will increase your customer base and allow you to offer your product to a much larger demographic.
    • Find your target audience: Unless you have found a location in a local neighbourhood where everyone uses your product, a digital marketing strategy will allow you to find an online audience that has an interest in the product or service that you are selling.
    • Engage with your consumers: Although it does not offer the same face-to-face personalization as the traditional brick and mortar business, digital marketing allows you to speak to customers online, comment on their reviews and troubleshoot any problems they are facing without them even needing to step foot in your store.

    If you need help getting started with your digital marketing strategy, consult our team of professionals to learn more about what we can do for your business.

    Do you prefer to shop in retail stores or online for your products? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

    An introduction to how social media aids in promoting your business

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    social media tips

    Social media is one of the most powerful modern-day tools that businesses of all sizes can use to reach out to their target audience. Potential customers are interacting every day through social media and if you’re not taking the time to directly speak to your audience through social platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram you’re truly missing out on an advantageous opportunity for your business.

    What is social media marketing?

    Social media marketing, or SMM as marketers refer to it, is an online marketing tool that allows businesses to create and share various content across all their available social media networks. This includes memes, curated and custom written blog posts, pictures, videos, quotes and basically any content that has the ability to drive engagement with consumers and your brand. Consider the following social media tips.

    How does social media marketing aid in the promotion of your business?

    The power of social media is vast, especially when it comes to spreading the word of something new. By marketing your business on social media, you have the power to increase traffic to your website, raise your brand awareness, resonate its personality, build conversions, create an identity in your niche and improve your ability to interact quickly with your audience. The more engaged you become with your consumers, the easier it will become to know how they feel about your product or service.

    Create a social media strategy

    Before jumping into the world of social media marketing start with a well-thought out plan. What are your business goals? What social media networks would best reflect your products? What audience are you targeting? Are they a particular demographic? What is the message that you want to resonate with your audience?

    Once you have these questions answered, you need to lay out a plan to ensure social media success. Don’t just throw yourself in. First understand how to use each social network to its fullest potential so you can utilize the platform when you share content about your business.

    Crafting weekly blog posts is a good way to announce to your audience that you are knowledgeable in your area. Also, posting to your social feeds at least once a day will show that you actively engage with your clientele. These posts could include daily news pieces surrounding your niche market, cool stats, informative videos and even funny memes that have the potential to get a lot of shares and likes. You don’t know it yet, but future customers are scrolling through their news feeds as we speak looking for something like your product.

    New to social media marketing? Try hiring a professional that has the skills to boost your social media following and the knowledge to curate blog posts that your audience will find interesting.

    How has social media marketing helped promote your business? Do you have any other social media tips? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.  

     

    Social media marketing: The importance of two-way dialogue

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    the importance of two-way dialogue

    The emergence of social media has created an opportunity for businesses to engage with their consumers online. These social media platforms have allowed brands to interact with their target market without actually speaking to them face-to-face. Although this method may seem a little futuristic for some people, it’s important to remember that how we choose to communicate is constantly changing.

    The vast development of social platforms has allowed companies, located anywhere in the world, to spark intriguing conversations with their consumers by understanding the importance of using two-way dialogue.

    What does two-way dialogue do?

    Two-way dialogue allows e-commerce businesses to build online communities, create brand ambassadors out of their customers and increase the positive visibility of their brand.

    Not only does two-way dialogue within social media provide you with the opportunity to provide damage control immediately online, but it is the fastest growing means of conversation.

    What are the benefits of using two-way dialogue?

    • It allows a human-to-human connection: Unlike a one-way conversation where a company dominates the narrative, two-way dialogue allows communication to flow more gracefully between the brand and the consumer.
    • It shows off your brand’s personality: Two-way dialogue within social media allows you to show off a certain cultural humor. By posting memes, responding directly to customer complaints or comments and posting photos for your followers to comment on, you are creating a brand personality that will resonate with your customers.
    • Gain insights into the consumer: Whether you like it or not, the online world can be a mean, miserable place. With that taken into consideration, engaging with your consumer, whether they provide you with positive or negative feedback, is a crucial way to gain insight on how you can improve your customer service and your business overall.

    Just take advantage of social media. If you’re able to get your social media followers interacting, you’ll have an opportunity to build important connections with the people that love your brand.

    We would love to hear about how you’re reaching out to your consumers. Share your strategies in the comments section below.

     

    A few marketing books to add to your summer reading list

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    marketing books

    With summer already in full swing, you’re probably looking forward to your leisure time on your days off. With the rise in temperature, naturally, comes more time spent enjoying the outdoors. Take a load off, relax and read your way through some of the most favored marketing books of the year.

    Here are a few reading suggestions for lovers of all things business and advertising to take with them anywhere their summer vacation leads.

    John Hall’s, “Top of Mind”

    This marketing book is about exploring opportunities. Hall examines the notion that opportunities are more likely to appear before people that create meaningful relationships in both their professional and personal life. He also speaks about consumer needs and how those have shifted over time. It’s important to build trustworthy, strong relationships with your clients so that in turn you will earn space at the top of your customer’s mind.

    Robert Glazer’s, “Performance Partnerships”

    Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing that involves the affiliate website, the affiliate network, the advertiser and the buyer. Not as common of a marketing avenue to take, affiliate marketing allows the business to reward other parties for their marketing efforts. Glazer explains the concept more in-depth in his marketing book and examines the evolution and ongoing transition “into one of the most important forms of direct-to-consumer digital marketing.”

    Jay Baer’s, “Hug Your Haters”

    In this marketing book, Baer explains that you don’t possess the ability to please everyone and that you need to learn to ignore the complaints if they begin to bother you. Although most companies boast about their customer service skills, most consumers will have a thing or two to say about that. Baer’s customer service novel describes what you as a business owner need to do to regain your consumer-focus and how to properly handle those people with attitude.

    Do you know any other marketing books that our fellow business owners might enjoy? Tell us in the comments section below.

    How do Instagram Influencers Market Brands?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Instagram Influencers

    In a world that revolves around social media, Instagram is one of the newest and most influential platforms that brands are using to engage with consumers. With over 800 million users, Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms, focusing primarily on image-based content.

    People are spending more time on social media every day, with an average engagement rate of 3% (compared to 0.5% to 1% for most other social media networks), making Instagram the perfect platform to market your product.

    From the unique content available, it’s easy to see that Instagram users like to tell stories. Well, brands like telling stories too.

    What are Instagram influencers?

    Instagram influencers are Instagram users that have established a high credibility with their audiences. Usually, these influencers showcase some sort of authenticity that attracts followers to their page. People who are Instagram famous are paid by companies to flaunt a brand hashtag as a way to promote their business or service.

    Brand hashtags allow you to market your company by building brand awareness and recognition. With hashtags everywhere you look, it becomes very important to find one that works for you if you hope to promote or sell yourself in the social media world.

    How does this all tie together?

    Brands need to work hard to get noticed, but with the average person being exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements each day, that can be a challenge.

    Yet visual content remains the crucial part of any business’ marketing strategy. Instagram marketing presents an edgy, unique opportunity to represent your brand using creative imagery. Users scroll through their feeds multiple times a day, so it also extends your exposure.

    With around 80% of users following a business and the top 50 global brands marketing on Instagram, it is a bandwagon that your company shouldn’t mind jumping on.

    If you don’t have the time to manage your own social media, Trek Marketing has trained professionals that can engage with your audience for you.

    Do you follow any business Instagram accounts? If so, tell us in the comment section below.

     

    Social media marketing ideas to engage your audience

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    social media marketing ideas

    Like any marketing tool, social media management requires constant upkeep. It’s not just simply planning ideas and themes, but also making posts stand out in feeds and enticing consumers to respond. The following social media marketing ideas act as CTAs (calls to action) for subscribed followers and appeal to new users as well.

    Invite your audience to share

    Ask and encourage your audience to share photos of how they use your products. It’s a great way to learn what products are most popular and if consumers are looking for additional variations, or even have critical opinions.

    International Data Corporation predicts that over 50% of marketing content will most likely be user-generated by 2020. With almost everyone takes photos of seemingly anything that catches their interest on the daily it evokes some kind of sentiment. It’s an organic means to use what people already enjoy doing.

    Go live

    Live video is another terrific strategy for engaging social media content that retains customer interest and keeping followers coming back for more. Build anticipation by announcing your plans the day before or within a few hours of starting.

    Also consider the following:

    • AMA (ask me anything) session
    • A tour of facilities
    • Showing how a product is made
    • Showing how you shop for ingredients or materials

    Create unique and memorable hashtags

    There’s nothing wrong with using common hashtags as part of your social media marketing ideas, but don’t shy away from creating your own original ones. Incorporate slogans, product names and unique descriptions into these metadata tags and then repeat them throughout Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram posts. Also try to work them into emails to increase branding and establish phrases that consumers associate you with.

    Spark conversations with polls and surveys

    Polls and surveys show your audience that you listen to and value their opinions, thoughts, and suggestions. It’s a strong component of how social media can help your business by strengthening relationships with customers and making you more than just another company to like. Asking followers to vote on product features (“Do you prefer this dress in blue grey or dove grey?”), or ideas (“If you could vacation anywhere, where would you wear our shoes too?”), will also encourage sharing and tagging.

    Tell us what your vision is to boost customer engagement, then let our social media marketing services help get you there!

    Which idea do you feel works best to entice engagement? Tell us in the comments section below.

    5 types of Instagram ads to consider for your business

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Instagram ad tips

    Although you may think that Facebook and Twitter combined are enough to attract and maintain customers, Instagram is another heavy player that helps with social media marketing. Follow these Instagram business tips for advertising to create posts that expand your audience, increase exposure and enhance branding.

    Why use Instagram?

    Developing your SEO, keywords and text are still effective marketing tools, however, there are certainly times when sharp imagery is better than stamping a post as TL; DR. In September 2017, Instagram reported that they had approximately 800 million active users a month, which means seemingly endless opportunities for your business to reach followers. We live in a vastly visual age, so you need to grab your audience’s attention quickly and keep those target groups coming back as much as possible.

    Which ad best relays your message?

    Facebook owns Instagram, so once you’ve created your Facebook Business Page, why not also set up an Instagram account so your ad manager can sync both apps? Then you can choose the type of imagery that best reflects your brand.

    • Photo: Everything is a photo opp these days, so show off products in ways that entice customers. Create snapshots of services that speak to your audience and tap into their desires and wishes. Of additional benefit, caption the images with strong CTAs.
    • Video: Consider this an expansion of the power of photos. You get 60 seconds to tell a story, but place the product or service within a few seconds, for maximum effect.
    • Carousel: A series of 5 photos or videos for customers to view, ideal for advertising that requires more than 60 seconds for effective messages. It can also illustrate multiple ways to use a product or service.
    • Story: These are ads that are only available for 24 hours and are shown between stories by followers. It’s a great tool to use for a limited time or special promotions. It is also based on viewing habits, so users can go right to your website or contact information while watching their favourite content.
    • Canvas story: Ideal for mobile use, you can create this ad from a Facebook or a custom template.

    Why settings matter

    It’s important to put thought into the settings for each post or campaign in order to monitor what works and what may need an adjustment. Ask yourself (or your team) which of the following objectives meet your goals:

    • Video views
    • Website traffic and conversions
    • Alluring posts
    • Mobile app installations and usage
    • More leads and event attendees

    Remember to name each campaign uniquely and just as you increase engagement on Twitter, use branded hashtags and short captions to entice your audience. Although you get 300 characters to say something, the recommended number is between 125-150.

    Other settings to note as you build your own analysis for Instagram ads tips include:

    • Audience and placement: Are you targeting a specific, “custom” audience (based upon interests and sales), or a “lookalike” audience (potential leads that already follow and are similar to other companies)? Filters include age range, region and connections, along with deciding any placement factors, such as categories and devices to include/exclude.
    • Budget: Instagram ad costs can vary. Depending upon dynamics and typically ranging from less than 50 cents to about $1-$2 per click (approximately $5-$7 per 1,000 visitors). You can choose a daily budget or a lifetime (length of campaign) option, with the ability to change the figure, but not the type of campaign you have just set up.
    • Bids: Related to budgets, this setting represents maximum monies spent for customer responses. It’s either manual, set by you, or automatic, determined by Facebook analytics.
    • Start and finish times: Continuously, or for a specific duration.
    • Delivery optimization: Choose how your campaign reaches viewers, either through impressions (as often as possible), link clicks (to followers most likely to respond), or daily unique reach (once a  day).
    • Delivery speed: Do you prefer your campaign to run at a standard pace, or rapidly  at a more accelerated rate?

    Are you concerned about correctly getting your message across Instagram? Learn how our social media marketing services can help make it happen!