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    Tag: Social Media Strategy

    How to Build a Strong Brand Presence on Instagram

    Posted on by Nurul Afsar

    Instagram is more than just a photo-sharing app; it’s a powerful tool for building brand awareness and connecting with your audience. In a digital world flooded with content, a cohesive brand presence is essential for standing out. This guide will walk you through the steps to create a strong brand presence on Instagram, from developing a unique visual style to crafting engaging captions that resonate with your audience. We’ll also explore the importance of using Instagram Stories and Reels to enhance brand visibility.

    Understanding Instagram as a Branding Tool

    Instagram is a visual platform that favors aesthetically pleasing content. This makes it an ideal space for brands to showcase their products, services, and personalities. However, simply having an account isn’t enough. Businesses must build a strong brand presence on Instagram to connect with their target audience and drive engagement.

    Elements of a Strong Brand Presence

    A strong brand presence on Instagram consists of several key elements:

    • Visual Identity: This includes your logo, color palette, and design style. A consistent visual identity helps your content stand out and makes it easier for your audience to recognize your brand.
    • Brand Voice: Your brand voice is the tone and style of your captions and comments. It should reflect your brand’s personality, whether that’s professional, casual, witty, or inspirational.
    • Content Strategy: A well-thought-out content strategy ensures you post regularly and your content aligns with your brand’s values and goals.
    a hand putting a block with person engraved on it

    Developing Your Visual Identity

    Your visual identity is crucial in creating a strong brand presence on Instagram. It includes your logo, color palette, and overall design style. Here’s how to develop a visual identity that stands out:

    Choosing a Color Palette

    Select colors that represent your brand’s personality. For example, blue conveys trust and professionalism, while red signifies energy and passion. Use these colors consistently across your posts to create a cohesive look.

    Designing a Logo

    Your logo is the face of your brand. It should be simple, memorable, and reflect your brand’s values. Use it in your posts, Stories, and profile picture to enhance brand recognition.

    Creating a Consistent Style

    Develop a consistent design style for your posts, including fonts, filters, and layout. Use the same fonts for captions and texts on images to create a unified look across your posts.

    Crafting Engaging Captions that Resonate

    Your captions play a significant role in your brand presence. They should be engaging, informative, and reflect your brand voice. Here are some tips for crafting effective captions:

    Be Authentic

    Show your brand’s personality. Use a tone that matches your target audience, whether it’s casual, professional, or humorous.

    Include a Call to Action

    Encourage your audience to engage with your content. Use phrases like “double-tap if you agree” or “share your thoughts in the comments” to boost interaction.

    Utilize Hashtags Wisely

    Hashtags help increase the visibility of your posts. Use relevant hashtags to reach a broader audience, but avoid overstuffing. Aim for 3-5 relevant hashtags per post for optimal engagement.

    reels used for cinema

    Leveraging Instagram Stories and Reels

    Instagram Stories and Reels are powerful tools for enhancing your brand presence. They allow you to share content that may not fit your main feed, offering more opportunities for engagement.

    Using Instagram Stories

    Stories are perfect for sharing behind-the-scenes content, promotions, or quick updates. Use them to humanize your brand and connect with your audience on a personal level. You can also use Story highlights to save important updates, making them accessible to new followers.

    Leveraging Instagram Stories and Reels, Instagram branding, brand presence, Stories, Reels

    Creating Engaging Reels

    Reels allow you to create short, engaging videos that can reach a wider audience. Use Reels to showcase your products, share testimonials, or highlight brand values. They’re an excellent way to connect with your audience and encourage engagement.

    Building a strong brand presence on Instagram requires effort and strategy. By developing a unique visual identity, crafting engaging captions, and utilizing Instagram Stories and Reels, you can create a cohesive brand experience that resonates with your audience. Remember, consistency is key. Ensure your content, voice, and visual elements align to build a recognizable and trusted brand. For more tips on social media marketing, visit Trek Marketing.

    Hashtags: Importance and effects to social media marketing

    Posted on by Alex Wilks
    Hashtags are a crucial tool for enhancing visibility and engagement on social media. By categorizing content with relevant hashtags, users can reach a wider audience beyond their followers, tapping into specific communities or trending topics. Helping to organize content, hashtags make it easier for users to discover posts related to their interests. For businesses and influencers, using the right hashtags can boost brand awareness, increase engagement, and over time, drive more sales. In essence, hashtags are more than a label; they’re strategic tools that possess the power to amplify a message and extend its reach across social media platforms. 

    What is a hashtag?

    A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the symbol “#” used on social media platforms to categorize and make content more discoverable. It helps group posts with similar topics, making it easier for users to find and engage with related content. Hashtags are often used to join conversations, follow trends, or increase visibility for posts. 

    Where did the hashtag originate?

    The hashtag originated on Twitter in 2007, when Chris Messina, a former Google employee, suggested using the “#” symbol to organize and group related conversations. His idea gained popularity as users adopted it to easily join discussions. Since then, the use of hashtags spread to other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, becoming a universal tool for discovering content and participating in trends 
    *Social Media Strategists at Trek Marketing can help optimize hashtag usage by researching trending topics and creating targeted hashtag strategies that increase brand visibility and engagement across platforms.

    Advantages of using a hashtag

    Using hashtags for social media offers several benefits for engagement and visibility:

    • Increased discoverability: Hashtags make your content easily searchable helping you reach a broader audience. 
    • Improved engagement: Posts with relevant hashtags often receive more likes, shares, and comments.
    • Enhanced brand awareness: Custom hashtags can promote your brand, campaign, or product, strengthening recognition. 
    • Community building: Hashtags help connect like-minded users and create a sense of community around shared interests.

    Participation in trends: Using trending hashtags allows you to join current conversations and stay relevant. 

    Searching for trending hashtags to match with your post

    Searching for trending hashtags to match your post is a strategic way to increase visibility and reach a wider audience. By using a hashtags generator, you can quickly identify popular and relevant hashtags that align with your content. These tools analyze current trends and suggest the most effective hashtags based on your topic, helping you stay on top of what’s trending. Incorporating the right hashtags into your posts ensures that your content is seen by users interested in similar subjects, boosting engagement and participation in relevant conversations. 

    How do you create your own hashtag?

    Creating your hashtag involves a few key steps to ensure it’s effective and engaging. Start by researching trending topics or searches related to your content to make sure your hashtag aligns with what people are already interested in. Once you’ve identified a relevant topic, choose a unique, easy-to-remember phrase or word that reflects your brand or message. For consistency, use the hashtag for social media in regular posts to build recognition and encourage others to use it. Regularly posting with your custom hashtag helps foster a community and increases its visibility over time. 

    Effects of hashtags on social media

    Hashtags have a significant effect on social media by improving discoverability, engagement, and overall reach of content. By using the right hashtags for social media, you can connect with your audience and others across different platforms. 

    • Hashtags on Facebook: While Facebook doesn’t rely heavily on hashtags, using a few relevant ones can help your posts appear in search results and boost engagement within specific interest groups. 
    • Hashtags on Instagram: Hashtags on Instagram are essential for reaching a larger audience, as users often search for content using hashtags, making it a powerful tool for visibility and engagement. 

    Hashtags on LinkedIn: On LinkedIn, hashtags help categorize professional content, making it easier for users to find posts related to their area of expertise. 

    How important are hashtags for social media marketing?

    Hashtags are essential for social media marketing as they help businesses to connect with their target audience and so much more. By using the right hashtags—a hashtag generator is a useful tool to help with this—businesses can participate in relevant conversations and stay visible with trending topics. Here at Trek Marketing, we assist in helping businesses by crafting effective hashtag strategies tailored to their brand, ensuring maximum reach and engagement on social media platforms. 

    Drop a comment below if you’re ready to revamp your social media marketing strategy. 

    How to navigate social platforms in 2024

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Staying ahead of the curve is a crucial part of any business social media strategy. As we step into 2024, the landscape continues to evolve, presenting new challenges and opportunities. Although to thrive in their dynamic environment, it’s essential to develop a robust social media strategy that aligns with the latest trends. Here’s how.

    Embrace the rise of niche platforms

    While major players like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn still dominate, the year 2024 is witnessing a surge in niche platforms catering to specific interests and demographics. To effectively navigate this diverse ecosystem, incorporate these platforms into your social media strategy. Engaging with niche communities can provide targeted exposure and foster authentic connections with your audience. 

    Prioritize video content

    Video content continues to reign supreme across all platforms. Whether it’s short-term content on TikTok, reels on Instagram, or long-form videos on YouTube, incorporating video content into your social media strategy is non-negotiable. Leverage the power of visual storytelling to captivate your audience, convey your message, and increase engagement. 

    Harness the potential of AI and automation

    In 2024, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools is becoming increasingly prevalent in social media strategies. These technologies can streamline your efforts by automating routine tasks, analyzing data for insights, and even predicting trends. By embracing AI, you can enhance the efficiency of your social media strategy and stay ahead of the competition. 

    Foster genuine connections

    Amidst the ever-expanding sea of content, authenticity is the key to standing out. Your social media strategy should focus on building genuine connections with your audience. Engage in meaningful conversations, respond to comments, and showcase the human side of your brand. Authenticity not only enhances your online presence but also fosters trust and loyalty among your followers.

    How do you plan to revamp your social media strategy this year? Drop a comment below to share your journey.

    Amp up your digital marketing these 3 ways

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Each new year ushers transformation to the world of digital marketing. Thus, digital marketing strategies must constantly undergo a revamp to remain effective in improving customer relationships, visibility, conversions, and growth. Listed below are three ways that you can focus on remaining on top of your business and craft new strategies to achieve your desired results.

    Utilize the social platforms that will benefit your business most

    While harnessing the power of social media is a great way to reach your target audience, we recommend that you not get caught up in the craze. With so many social channels to pick from, you must weigh the pros and cons of each one and select an amount that’s manageable for you or your digital marketing team. It’s way better to be unique and authentic on the platforms where your audience engages most than to overextend your means by trying to post on every single channel. After all, if the demographic you’re advertising to spends most of their time on Instagram or TikTok, doesn’t it make more sense to spend your time creating content there? Maintaining social accounts is a huge task and if you want your digital marketing efforts to be noticed, implement your strategies in a way that best suits your brand’s personality.

    Examples of the top social platforms to implement your digital marketing strategies:

    • Facebook (recently renamed Meta)
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • TikTok
    • Pinterest
    • Snapchat
    • YouTube
    • Whatsapp
    • Reddit

    We recommend selecting two to three of the above options for your small business.

    Tell stories by utilizing your customer reviews

    Not only are business reviews valuable in developing trust with prospective customers, but they can also be used to further your digital marketing efforts. Customer feedback is a gold mine for any sized business. While business owners must listen and respond accordingly when the review requires you to get in touch, positive assessments can be used in so many ways—you can turn these reviews into stories for your blog, create an image with the review copy and place it on your social channels, or simply ensure that the reviews section of your website is up-to-date so that shoppers can read them to help answer some of their questions. All of the above examples will help you appeal to wider audiences through authentic customer feedback. 

    Strive to always be flexible and adaptable with your business

    Some digital marketing strategies might work long-term, while others will be required down the road. Change in any digital space is inevitable, so you need to be ready to jump onto new opportunities and understand that what’s working today might not be the case for tomorrow, next week, or next year. Part of growing your digital marketing strategies is embracing the pace of your niche industry and the nature of an adapting digital world, so be sure you learn how to leverage new tools and trends so that you gain the most success in each of your digital marketing efforts. 

    If any of the above amped-up digital marketing suggestions seems daunting to you or you simply want tips to further your understanding and the direction you need to go, our team of digital marketing professionals is here and ready to answer all of your questions and take on any of the workload proving to be challenging.

    Which one of our amped-up digital marketing strategies are you most excited to work with? Drop a comment below to start a conversation. 

    What social media platform is best for marketing a business?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    With so many social media platforms to choose from, it’s easy for a first-time business owner or an entrepreneur looking to expand their networks to be overwhelmed by choice. Needless to say, if you don’t want to drown in the responsibilities of meeting each channel’s demands, it’s important to take a step back and evaluate how you will manage your social media strategy altogether. So, before you become too overwhelmed, it’s time for you to narrow in on the channels that will help you connect better with your audience and boost your brand awareness. 

    How to choose the best social media platforms for your business

    Social media marketing is an artform where businesses decide which platform(s) best fit their brand. For starters, there are a few things you should ask yourself:

    • Am I a business-to-business (B2B) or a business-to-consumer (B2C) company?
    • Who’s my ideal customer/target market?
    • What’s my goal with social media marketing? Some goal examples could be to sell, connect, or build brand awareness.
    • Will I handle posting content and answering questions or will I hire a social media management company to do it for me?

    Since there’s no single platform that will work for every business, it’s important to take the time to explore popular social channels to see their potential for brand development and marketing. 

    Here’s a list of the top social media outlets for business:

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Snapchat
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok

    Unless you have extra staff that can help you out or a social media management company assisting you in producing content for all of the above channels, it’s pretty much impossible to be proficient in all of them, especially when conducting other business affairs. This is why you should start by picking a couple based on where you’re most likely to find your audience and build your presence there before moving onto the next platform. 

    How to measure the success of your social campaigns?

    Great! You’ve narrowed down a couple of social platforms and are ready to launch some campaigns. While you may be full of fantastic ideas to spread the word about your brand and create some traction within your industry, once those campaigns are out in the world, the next step is tracking your progress and evaluating what to do next. 

    Thankfully, most social media platforms possess free, easy-to-use tools that can help you to successfully measure the metrics of your social efforts. This will include elements like reach, clicks, reactions, shares, comments, sales, and even elements like the gender, age range, and interest in which type of demographics. While many businesses focus on sales as their primary measure of success, you must look at everything that you’re building and how things are steadily progressing. 

    Do you need any help exploring your target market, selecting the right platforms, or measuring the success of your campaigns? Reach out to our team for more information on our social media management company service. 

    Do you have any questions that weren’t answered in the blog submission above? Please drop a comment below to share with our readers.

    How do newsfeed algorithms work on popular social platforms?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    People everywhere rely on social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep them connected with their loved ones as well as admired connections like celebrities and organizations. However, each time you log onto these networks it isn’t impossible for you to see every single update from all your connections, which is why today’s social channels have gravitated towards an algorithm-based feed to better the experience for each user. 

    What is a social media algorithm?

    A social media algorithm is a compilation of rules and data that work together to decide what a user will see on their chosen platform. Each social media website utilizes a unique, ever-changing algorithm for every person’s account, which means that no two people will possess the same updates, news, and posts on their feeds. 

    How does Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm work? 

    Facebook is the largest social media platform to date, studying user’s behaviours to ensure that the content shown is what that person is most interested in. But, how does Facebook know what its users like? Well, the Like button works as the epicentre of Facebook’s user experience, allowing each user to personalize it based on who and what they enjoy most. The Like button also works as a form of positive reinforcement, allowing users to click like on content that’s shared by friends and family. Over time, all of this data governs how each newsfeed operates. 

    How does Twitter’s Timeline algorithm work?

    Below is a breakdown of the data that determines the social media algorithm:

    • Relevancy score: There are hundreds of variables that an algorithm takes into account when it picks each user’s posts. Things like the user’s history of likes, clicks, comments, shares, hides, or marked spam are all stored and used to predict future content. More specifically, the algorithm predicts outcomes by giving content a relevancy score, which sorts your social media content and places it on your feed for optimal engagement. 
    • Prioritizes friends: Did you know that you can boost the posts that you want to see more of on your account? The people you interact with most often on Facebook are given priority over other Facebook users, which means that you won’t be concerned about missing important updates from the friends and family members that you care for the most. This is done by categorizing a person or page by clicking “see post” and unfollowing the people or pages that you don’t want to see as often. 

    Your Twitter Timeline consists of a stream of tweets from the users you follow. If you’re very active on Twitter and have a lot of celebrities and friends that you care about, then your algorithm can be organized based on two approaches: “Show Me The Best Tweets First”, “Best Tweets” or the “While You Were Away” feature.

    Below is a breakdown of the data that determines the social media algorithm:

    • Show Me The Best Tweets First: This feature ranks your content based on relevancy rather than listing tweets chronologically. Based on what you’ve liked or engaged with recently, Twitter will put the tweets that it thinks you will find most interesting at the top of your timeline.
    • Best Tweets: This feature requires the user to opt-in and select content from specific users to indicate these will be the best tweets. Then, the user can refresh the timeline to have any of these tweets added to the top of their feeds.
    • While You Were Away: This feature has been added to allow users the flexibility to be away from checking their feeds without FOMO (fear of missing out). It’s completely determined by user engagement and can be turned off for users that don’t check with Twitter feeds often.

    How does Instagram’s feed algorithm work?

    This quickly evolving platform is becoming a hot spot for digital marketing, which means that it’s important for small businesses to understand how the social media algorithm works for this channel. 

    Using machine learning to aggregate six key factors, Instagram determines the content that’s the most relevant to the user.

    • Interest: This is based on prediction data that measures the type of content of posts you engage with most often. 
    • Frequency: This is measured by how often you use the app to determine what posts you want to see when you open the app again. 
    • Following: The more accounts you follow, the less likely you’ll be to see everyone appear in your news feed. 
    • Recency: How recently was the post published? This impacts if it will appear in your newsfeed. 
    • Relationship: Who shared the post and what connection do you have to them or their content? This can easily be influenced by tagged photos, engagements, or direct messages. 
    • Usage: The time you spend on Instagram also has a great effect on the content that you see on your feed.

    Do you need someone to help you to manage your company’s social media networks? Trek Marketing offers a social media marketing management service for businesses that want to outsource their social content and have a team member available to answer customer questions and comments. 

    Which of the above three social networks do you spend the most time on? Drop a comment below to share.

    Is Facebook advertising right for your business?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    While many elements of your digital marketing strategy will consist of trial and error when it comes to effective online advertising, no platform is more powerful and underutilized as Facebook! While many e-commerce business owners tend to shy away from Facebook ads as their primary investment, it’s one of the best ways to get the word out about your company, especially if you’re also looking to reach prospective customers. As a social platform with more than a billion users, it would be silly to not include it in your ongoing advertising campaign strategy. 

    Facebook ads work for most businesses

    It’s reassuring to know that most industries and brands benefit from Facebook advertising before even contacting a professional digital marketing agency! This is partly because of Facebook’s popularity, with people from all over the world and different walks of life visiting the social platform to communicate, browse, and yes, shop. However, if you’ve already tried to use Facebook to increase your conversions, reach your target audience, and engage through product advertising, it may be the type of ad or marketing that you’re doing, rather than the platform itself. Even if your user doesn’t use Facebook often, you may be surprised at how they will still find their way to your website with the right ad coming their way. Plus, even if they miss it, their loved ones might share it! 

    Start with a goal in mind

    Why is Facebook such a great platform to carry out your professional digital marketing goals? It’s because it has the potential to put you in touch with a range of consumers quicker and more efficiently. Not to mention Facebook ads are relatively affordable, giving ample opportunity to adjust your campaign strategy as needed.

    So, when you’re looking at investing in your social strategy on Facebook, start the process with a clear goal in mind. Make sure to write down your short-term and long-term goals so that you can govern advertising decisions. Maybe you want new customers? If so, how many? And is your primary goal to increase visits, conversions, account registration, or all of the above? Be sure to keep your goals as specific as possible so that you can work alongside a professional digital marketer to tailor your ads, track your progress, and tweak your strategy as the layout of your industry shifts. 

    Understand KPIs

    Finding success with Facebook advertisements is strongly dependent on your knowledge of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). This allows you to focus on the actual net profits made through your Facebook ads, and then you can further pinpoint ways to drive down your cost per action on advertising engagements. Money is money in the business world and if able to heighten your sales without lowering profits, it makes the most sense to run cost-effective campaigns that generate higher revenue for your business. 

    Rotate types of Facebook ads

    Before you dive deeper into the world of Facebook ad campaigns, remember that you will need to create more than a single advertisement to have an effective campaign strategy. So, as a rule of thumb, be sure to develop at least three ads with the same targeted interests and goals, and rotate them within the campaign that you’re running. By doing this you’re better able to gather consumer information and compare each ad based on their CTRs (click-through rates). This will allow you to keep your focus on winner ads versus those that are underperforming.

    Are you ready to speak with a professional digital marketing team about adding Facebook ads to your current social media marketing strategy? Let Trek Marketing start things off by connecting you to your target audience using Facebook!

    Have you had any positive experiences using Facebook for advertising? Drop a comment below to share among our readers. 

    How does social media help your online business?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Regardless of whether you’re a new or seasoned e-commerce business owner, the realm of social media is constantly evolving. In Canada alone, there were approximately 25.3 million social networking users and that number is projected to grow to over 27 million by 2023. So, if you want to keep up with the competition in the coming years, you need to either learn to better use social networks or pass the torch to a social media marketing management team to handle the efforts for your business. 

    Social media creates brand awareness 

    While having a beautifully designed website is a great way to attract prospecting shoppers, one of the best ways to get your e-commerce business noticed is through web traffic. With an assortment of social media platforms at your fingertips, you’re able to start developing an advertising strategy that expands traditional word-of-mouth, and is amplified through shared content. Not only will visual content provide you with many engagement opportunities, but you’re also able to answer consumer questions, maintain growing relationships, and even find new leads through the use of social media. 

    Unsure of the media channels that would best benefit your business? Most established digital marketing agencies offer some form of social media marketing management service that will allow them to take the reins by strategizing ways to lead your presence online. 

    Social media builds relationships with new and recurring customers 

    Unlike traditional marketing, social media marketing provides an innovative opportunity for two-way interactions to take place between business owners and consumers. This enables a means of building and nurturing relationships by sharing content that your audience values rather than just using the platform to promote services and products. Social media also invites conversation by allowing customers to comment and share your posts! However, if you want to do well, remember to listen to your audience and further refine your social media marketing strategies through professional management. 

    Social media allows you to provide better customer service

    Whether you have your personal smartphone hooked up to your business social accounts or you’re simply religious about posting, social media works as a great tool to handle any discrepancies, customer lashing, or simple questions that need answering before a purchase is carried out. Unhappy people often take to social media to vent their frustrations and if your business has an online presence, there’s great opportunity to rectify a bad experience or offer your perspective to an unruly customer that’s only bashing you in hopes of receiving something for free. 

    If you have trouble winning customers over through online services, a social media marketing management team member may be the perfect addition to your staff, enabling them to be available to listen to customer complaints and reply promptly to offer solutions. 

    Are you a small or medium-sized business that is struggling to create a social media presence? Drop a comment below to discuss strategies that haven’t been working thus far for your online business.