Social Networks Archives

In News

What is Social Selling? 10+ Top Tips to Level Up Your Business

August 15, 2023 No Comments

Navigating the digital landscape, you’ve probably heard of the term ‘social selling.’

But what does it actually mean? And how can it turbocharge your business?

Well, think of it as the ultimate modern sales technique, leveraging your social networks to build relationships and close deals.

From reaching out to prospects on LinkedIn to leveraging customer testimonials on Facebook, there are many ways to win at this game.

So, ready to turn your social media prowess into sales power?

Let’s jump in.

What is Social Selling?

Social selling isn’t just another marketing jargon. It’s an evolved sales methodology designed to function seamlessly in the digital era.

Harnessing the power of social media platforms, it’s about finding and interacting with potential customers in their natural online habitat.

Let’s delve deeper into this concept…

Imagine you’re at a networking event. Instead of bombarding strangers with your sales pitch, you opt for a softer approach.

You mingle, listen, provide valuable input, and slowly develop relationships.

Social selling is similar, only it takes place on the virtual corridors of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms.

But it isn’t a process of randomly approaching anyone online.

It involves strategic listening, observing potential clients’ online activity, understanding their needs, and then initiating conversations that provide value.

For instance, you might come across a LinkedIn post by a potential client who’s facing challenges your product can solve.

Instead of directly pitching your product, you could share a helpful article addressing those issues, subtly showcasing your solution.

In essence, social selling moves away from the era of cold calling and unsolicited emails, enabling you to engage in more fruitful and less anxiety-inducing sales conversations with interested buyers.

Why is Social Selling Important?

a women looking up social selling on her phone

Now, you might be thinking, “Okay, so social selling involves using social media. But why should I bother?”

Well, here are a few benefits that might change your mind:

Improved lead generation: With social selling, you’re not just throwing darts in the dark. You’re able to target audiences that are already interested in what you’re offering. Hence, you can improve the quality of your leads.

Enhanced customer relationships: Social selling isn’t just about the sale; it’s about building relationships. You’re engaging with potential clients on a platform they’re comfortable with, leading to better connections and trust.

Increased sales: With improved leads and better relationships, it’s no surprise that social selling can boost your sales. According to LinkedIn’s social selling index, sales reps who leverage social selling tools are 51% more likely to exceed their quotas.

With these benefits in mind, let’s transition into some top tips and strategies to help you unlock your social selling potential.

11 Top Social Selling Tips That’ll Skyrocket Your Sales

People checking their phones for social selling

If you’re set on embracing the world of social selling, you’ll need more than a basic understanding.

Here’s where best practices come in — consider them your survival kit in the vast digital jungle of social selling…

1. Leverage LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is not just a tool — it’s a treasure chest filled with nuggets of invaluable customer insights.

This advanced LinkedIn tool is designed to help you find the right prospects, understand their needs, and engage them with personalized outreach.

For instance, with its lead and company search feature, you can filter by job role, company size, and industry, among others, to find your ideal customers.

Moreover, it provides real-time updates about your prospects, such as job changes and shared posts, giving you a reason to engage.

Remember, sales pitches are out; insightful, personalized engagement is in.

So use these insights to approach potential customers with something valuable to them, increasing your chances of striking up a meaningful conversation.

2. Engage in Social Listening

Social listening goes beyond merely monitoring your social media mentions. It involves analysing the conversations and trends happening not just around your brand, but your industry as a whole.

For example, you might notice a rising trend or common pain point among your customers.

By addressing these in your interactions or content, you show prospects that you understand and care about their needs, making your brand more attractive.

So, make it a daily habit to listen in on the buzz, then respond strategically, placing your brand right at the heart of the conversation.

3. Promote Employee Advocacy

Your team members are not just employees; they’re your secret brand ambassadors waiting to be activated.

When they share your company’s content, they help humanize your brand and extend your reach into their diverse social networks.

For instance, a software engineer sharing a company blog post about a new feature they developed not only promotes your product but also showcases the brains behind your operations.

This type of content adds a personal touch, which can resonate with customers and build trust in your brand.

Remember, people connect with people, so fostering employee advocacy can be a huge win for your social selling efforts.

4. Partner with Influencers

Influencer partnerships can dramatically amplify your reach and boost your credibility.

But it’s not about picking any influencer; it’s about choosing the right one who aligns with your brand and can add value to your audience.

For example, if you’re a fitness equipment company, partnering with a respected fitness coach on Instagram can help your products get in front of the right eyes.

The influencer could share workout videos using your equipment, providing value to their followers while showcasing your products.

Thus, the key to successful influencer partnerships is finding those whose values align with yours, whose audience matches your target customers, and who can showcase your products or services in a way that adds value to their followers.

5. Prioritize Content Marketing

The value of high-quality, relevant content can’t be overstated. Effective content marketing isn’t about overt promotion; it’s about establishing yourself as a trusted thought leader within your industry.

This means sharing articles, infographics, and videos that not only pique the interest of potential buyers but also provide them with actionable insights.

For instance, if you’re in the SaaS industry, share tips on maximizing software productivity or post a how-to video for a common software problem.

By consistently offering valuable content, you attract potential customers, facilitate meaningful sales conversations, and organically boost your brand reputation.

6. Track Social Selling Statistics

While instinct plays a part in social selling, it should never be your primary decision-making tool.

Use social media analytics to track your efforts and understand which strategies work and which don’t.

For example, measure engagement rates to understand what content resonates with your audience or track conversion rates to see which tactics drive sales.

Adjust your approach based on data, not just gut feelings.

This constant analysis and adjustment make your efforts more targeted, increasing the efficacy of your social selling strategy.

7. Utilize a Variety of Social Platforms

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to social selling.

Each platform has its unique demographic and engagement style, and your approach should reflect that.

LinkedIn, with its professional focus, is perfect for B2B outreach and networking, while Facebook and Instagram might be better suited for B2C and lifestyle brands.

Twitter, with its concise, real-time communication, is ideal for industry news and quick updates.

Be sure to optimize your messaging to align with the platform. A diversified presence allows you to reach a broader audience and tap into the unique opportunities each platform provides.

8. Focus on Building Relationships

Social selling is more about cultivating relationships than making a quick sale. It’s a long-term strategy, not a quick fix.

Engage with your followers by responding to their comments, answering their queries, and even participating in discussions on their posts when relevant.

For instance, if a potential client posts a question about industry trends, provide an insightful response or link to a helpful article.

This type of engagement builds a relationship based on trust and respect, positioning you as a go-to resource. This rapport will naturally lead to sales conversions over time.

Remember, in social selling, relationships are the soil from which sales grow.

9. Personalize Your Outreach

You’ve likely been on the receiving end of a generic sales message before — it’s about as thrilling as watching paint dry, right?

So, to truly engage with your potential customers, make sure your outreach efforts are personalized.

Study their profiles, understand their interests, and reflect on their needs. By doing this, you can tailor your messages to resonate with them on a deeper level.

For example, if you see a potential customer post about sustainability efforts in their industry, don’t just send them a message about your product. Instead, talk about how your product aligns with their sustainability goals.

By personalizing your messages in this way, you’re showing that you genuinely understand and care about their needs, which will in turn build trust and connection.

10. Stay Consistent with Posting

Consistency is the backbone of any successful social media strategy. Just as your favourite TV show has a consistent airing schedule, your social media accounts should also follow a regular posting pattern.

This keeps your brand fresh in the minds of your followers and demonstrates your dedication to engaging with them.

Establish a content calendar to keep track of what you’re posting and when.

Mix it up with a variety of content types — blog posts, whitepapers, user-generated content, case studies — to keep your audience engaged.

Plus, regularly updating your social media accounts may help improve your SEO rankings, which leads to greater visibility online.

11. Always Provide Value

Social selling isn’t a one-way street; it’s about fostering a beneficial relationship between you and your audience.

This means ensuring that every interaction — be it a blog post, an insightful comment, or a helpful tip — provides value to your audience.

Think of your social media platforms as a resource hub for your followers.

Sharing helpful tips, industry insights, and useful resources not only educates your audience but also positions you as a thought leader in your industry.

For example, if you’re in the software business, regularly sharing tips on maximizing software efficiency or guides on choosing the right software can be incredibly valuable for your audience.

Embracing the Future with Social Selling

Perhaps you’re sitting there, a tad overwhelmed…

We get it.

But remember, it’s not just about selling — it’s about building relationships and connecting in meaningful ways.

You’ve got the tools, you’ve got the know-how, and now, you’ve got the insights from this definitive guide.

So, it’s time to take the reins, harness the power of your social networks, and skyrocket your sales.

The world of social selling is your oyster — go out there and make some pearls!

By Sam Driver

Sam is an Associate Editor for Smart Blogger and family man who loves to write. When he’s not goofing around with his kids, he’s honing his craft to provide lasting value to anyone who cares to listen.

Sourced from SmartBlogger

In News

5 Social Networks That Are Alternatives to Twitter (Plus, What You Need to Know)

August 14, 2023 No Comments

By Tamilore Oladipo

In this article, we dive into five apps that are similar to Twitter and share what you need to know about each one.

Ever since Twitter’s ownership changed in late 2022, several apps have sprung up offering to be alternatives with varying degrees of popularity. Some are so recent they’re not even at the beta testing stage yet.

It may be overwhelming trying to navigate the list, but thankfully, I’ve been keeping up with them and have noted five that you may want to keep your eye on. In this article, we’ll dive into these apps, what you need to know about each one, and share some advice for your potential future on these new platforms.

Mastodon

Starting with one most of us are familiar with; Mastodon saw an uptick in users when the Twitter takeover began and has been touted as the most likely platform for users to gravitate towards.

Mastodon is a decentralized network that allows users to create accounts in distinct communities while being able to access others. It’s based on an open-source, “federated” concept, where different servers use the same protocol to speak to each other and share content to one feed.

These servers (also known as instances) allow users to create communities through Mastodon without building the whole infrastructure from scratch. Server operators oversee the users’ activity registered and hosted on their respective servers.

Key Features

Users can choose the network they want to sign up on, and options abound with nearly 10,000 active communities. The default network for new users at signup is “mastodon.social”, but you can choose whichever you want.

There are no ads or plans to incorporate ads into Mastodon. Its founder has stated that he doesn’t mind if users publish ads on their servers but would do so at their own risk.
When you create an account on one server, you can still see and interact with the activity on other servers on your Feed.
Users can make up to 500 character-long posts and share images, videos, and links.

Some Use Cases

If you target highly specific audiences and communities, there’s a Mastodon server for you.
By creating an instance for yourself or your brand, you can make a personalized feed with all the content you want to serve your audience and conversations you want to have with them while reaching a wider audience.
Find the Mastodon version of your favorite accounts from Twitter – many people and brands that moved over cross-post their content to both platforms.
Focus on thought leadership by starting and contributing to conversations without worrying about selling something or needing great visuals since that’s not the platform’s focus.

💡 You can schedule posts to Mastodon in Buffer. Get started here →

Available on: Web | iOS | Android

Threads/Project 92/Barcelona

In January 2023, rumours began that Meta had started coding a “Twitter competitor,” and in May, the rumours were confirmed through a leak.

instagram barcelona app — Sneak peek at the UI of Instagram’s new app. Source: ICYMI newsletter

Currently referred to internally as Project 92, the platform has been referred to as Meta’s answer to Twitter and will be integrated with users’ Instagram information. According to The Verge, “The app will use Instagram’s account system to automatically populate a user’s information.” It’s also rumoured that the app’s public name might be Threads.

Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox reportedly shared with employees that the company’s goal for the app was “safety, ease of use, reliability” and making sure that creators have a “stable place to build and grow their audiences.”

There isn’t much out officially about the app, but according to Lia Haberman’s ICYMI newsletter, it could be out as early as July 2023. Some other details she shared in her newsletter are:

It’s built on the back of Instagram, so you can sign in with your username and password, sync your follower list and even keep your handle, bio and verification status
Users on other apps will be able to search for, follow and interact with your profile and content (so it’s likely a decentralized app built on the ActivityPub protocol)
You’ll have multiple options to create content: text updates of about 500 characters, links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes
Sharing will remain standard with likes, replies, and reposts.
You’ll be able to control replies and mentions and easily block or report spam. Also, your blocked accounts and hidden words on Instagram will carry over
Finally, community guidelines will remain the same as on Instagram

The newsletter also shares that there are no current monetization plans, implying that there won’t be ads and the focus will be on organic content.

Available on: Nothing yet

Bluesky

Of all the apps on this list, Bluesky is second in popularity only to Mastodon, as the app has seen increasing hype, in part thanks to its Twitter co-founder and former CEO, Jack Dorsey, co-sign. The app has around 50,000 registered users but has reportedly been downloaded more than 375,000 times.

Bluesky is a decentralized social network, much like Mastodon, that allows its users to share short text updates through different providers instead of a huge central one. The default provider is bsky.social, where I’ve created my account. However, users can set their domain name as their Bluesky username while accessing the platform (instead of tami.bsky.social, I could be tami.buffer.com).

👀

We have a few teammates in Bluesky, so leave a comment if you’d like an invite code and I’ll share it with the first commenter!

Key Features

Users can create posts of up to 300 characters and add images and links.
Bluesky allows its users to choose and even create their own algorithms called “Feeds.” This means you can decide which type of content shows up on your feed. Some available options are: What’s Hot, which shows all the trending content on the app; Blacksky, which shows posts from the Black users of Bluesky, among many others.
Moderation is taken quite seriously, with users allowed to filter content, mute lists, block accounts, and more updates in development.

Some of the available custom Bluesky Feeds

Some Use Cases

Create an algorithm that shows you and your community content from your account and other related news. If I had the technical prowess, I would create a “Creator Economy” or “Social Media Updates” feed. Flipboard has created curated Feeds for different categories.

You can set and manage your account from a custom domain – see instructions here – which can help with verification. It could also create cohesion for everyone that works with or collaborates with your brand

Available on: Web (in progress) | iOS | Android

Post News

True to its name, Post News is a “social platform built for news,” according to its tagline. The main idea behind the platform is to replace the specific function of “trusted news source” that Twitter lost, along with the changes to how verification works.

Since its public launch in February, Post has welcomed over 440,000 users ranging from journalists, subject matter experts, and academics, and more than 30 premium publishers.

Despite serving a similar function to Twitter, Post aims to “develop a platform where publishers can generate revenue from micropayments — that is, where users pay some small amount of money to read individual news items,” according to TechCrunch.

Essentially, the platform seeks to aggregate every news platform that might put a paywall and let users choose when to pay for each news item they want to read instead of paying multiple subscriptions.

Key Features

Post allows users to write articles of any length, as well as like, repost and reply
Users pay with “points” to read articles which range in cost from 1-50 points
You’re gifted 50 points at sign-up, after which you have to buy a bundle from Post’s micropayments platform. One point costs $0.01 and you can buy a bundle of 300 ($4.20) to 10,000 points ($126.70).
Post gets a percentage of each sale of points bundles.
Users can also choose to tip creators and publishers on the platform.

Some Use Cases

If you already share paywalled content through your newsletter or Patreon, for example, Post could be a great way to send updates to your existing and new audience (if it’s a relevant platform) while also being able to keep monetizing your content.
Thanks to the lack of a character limit, you can post entire articles on the platform so people don’t have to click out, but your content still gets in front of the right audience.

Available on: Web | iOS | Android (coming soon)

T2 Social, founded by Gabor Cselle and Sarah Oh, is the closest platform to Twitter in terms of its user interface, the style of posts, and the general vibe on the platform. This can probably be attributed to Sarah Oh’s experience as Human Rights Advisor at Twitter.

The platform has one of the smaller user bases on this list, reporting 7,500 users in an email update as of June 2023.

Key Features

Write short posts of no more than 280 characters, add a photo, post replies, and repost or like content.
You can connect to your Twitter account to your T2.

how T2 social works — You can link and display your Twitter in T2

Users who are legacy checkmark holders on Twitter can claim their T2 checkmark by filling out a form. Others have to schedule an interview with Sarah and availability is limited – you can only get one as soon as August. I’ll let you know how mine goes!
There’s no clear “algorithm” yet – I get served content across different verticals and in different languages (Japanese is a constant on my feed). This is probably because I just joined, so my interests haven’t fully registered yet.

👀

I have access to T2, so leave a comment if you’d like an invite code, and I’ll share it with the first commenter!

Some Use Cases

If you’re looking for a centralized, clear alternative to Twitter with a simple interface, this is the platform for you
The T2 audience is small, so engagement is high and it’s easy to grow a following and connect with like-minded folks with a bit of consistency

Available on: Web | Desktop

Spill

Another entry from ex-Twitter employees, Spill is a social platform launched more recently than any other platform on this list. However, it’s the most different from Twitter, as it’s visual-first, putting it closer to Tumblr in look and feel.

When you open the app, you land on a feed that includes recent posts from people you’re “sipping” (the platform’s version of following, taken from the Kermit the frog meme) and algorithmically served posts. From there, you can pull down a top menu showing trending posts and hashtags. From the bottom menu, users can post text, gifs, videos, photos, links and polls.

Spill stands out from other platforms, including the ones on this list and its CEO’s former company, as a platform that immediately prioritizes diverse communities. CEO Alphonso Terell shared with TechCrunch that the driving ethos behind Spill is that “building for underserved culture drivers would create a superior platform for all.”

Spill is still in beta and is invite-only, so I’ll have to report back with my observations once I’ve been given access. Till then, some key things to know about Spill are:

Like Twitter, Spill will have a live news feed where users can post “spills” (the platform’s version of posts, taken from the phrase “spill the tea” popularized by Black creators).
It’s getting its own large language learning model for better content moderation that will reportedly understand Black dialects like AAVE.
The platform also plans to add blockchain-based creator features in order to reward users who originate viral trends.
It gives users a “rep score” to incentivize good behaviour and create a system for rewarding active users regardless of their audience size.
The platform is building a feature called “tea parties,” where users can host both online and offline events and then get in-app bonuses to apply to things like boosting their posts without having to pay.

Available on: iOS (beta)

A common theme across the apps on this list is the focus on decentralization. Users have become increasingly wary of big tech companies and their goals. Worries around data privacy and content moderation are driving user behaviour to platforms where they have more control.

Most of these apps have adopted open-source protocols to improve interconnectedness and allow users to control where they settle on the Internet and how they communicate. Mastodon and Meta’s secret project are all built with ActivityPub (which powers the “Fediverse”), while Post intends to adopt it eventually. Meanwhile, Bluesky is built on the ATProtocol, a social networking technology created by the team.

This push towards decentralization means two things for creators (including businesses) and users. One, watching the developments in these apps and technologies is important to understand them better. And two, you must take the time to try them out where you can, especially if users are gravitating towards them.

The more practice you have with using decentralized social networks, the better prepared you are for whatever changes are to come for how we communicate online.

Feature Image Credit: Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash

By Tamilore Oladipo

Sourced from Buffer

In News

Discover The Keys To Grow Your Ecommerce With Minimal Spending

June 2, 2021 No Comments

By Johnny Lee

When you launch an eCommerce, the first sale is as symbolic as it is necessary

When you launch an eCommerce, the first sale is as symbolic as it is necessary. It is not so much because of the income or because it is extremely complicated, but because of the optimism and tranquillity, it represents for the team. It can mean the biggest turning point in the life of the company. Obtaining that first customer will be a long and complicated battle, so in this article, we explain how to grow an eCommerce while spending the least. Keep reading!

How to grow an eCommerce with minimal expense

Without a doubt, the first sales are the most complicated and the most exasperating. Consumers won’t come to your platform by magic. Therefore, if you want to know how to grow your eCommerce investing little money, you must aggressively market your business and take advantage of the weaknesses of your competition to attract customers and traffic.

Take note of the following techniques that will help you achieve this. Keep reading!

1 # Presence in social networks

The first point on the list of how to grow an eCommerce could not be other than social networks. To start making yourself known, you must open an account. It is not about being in all of them, but about selecting the ones that will be useful to connect with your target audience, but how do you know which is the ideal one?

TWITTER

The simplicity of Twitter makes it one of the most effective ways to engage with your audience. A good way to find potential clients is to proactively find people who post questions about your field and reach out to them so they keep you in mind. The idea is not to present or mention your products but to help them answer their questions. If you do it right, users will investigate your existence and discover your business.

LINKEDIN

Second, Linkedin is the Internet office. On this platform you can find professionals and executives of all kinds, showing off their skills and connecting with others. Once you have configured your e-commerce profile, you can start doing the same.

You may not sell anything directly through Linkedin, but you will discover many opportunities with other companies, providers and related websites. There are dozens of public and private groups created for specific niches, allowing you to post questions and talk to other members.

INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK AND PINTEREST

On the other hand, social networks like Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest allow you to take a different approach if the audience is young. They are ideal platforms for original and creative content. Take photos of your products as well as videos and tell an engaging story.

FACEBOOK

And finally Facebook. This is still a very powerful social network. Take advantage of your professional profile and create a business page to interact with friends, family and acquaintances and make people talk about your brand. Get creative with status updates and engage in public groups and fan pages relevant to your niche. In addition, you can do paid campaigns.

2 # Create a blog

If you are not yet building a blog associated with your e-commerce or product, you are losing the unlimited potential of content marketing. Producing free and valuable content builds brand trust. It also offers you content to share on social networks and helps you rank in search engines.

To start, think about all those initial inquiries that the audience has about your products and your sector. Use the blog to answer those questions with individual articles. Plus, you can use it to provide lifestyle tips, tutorials, and resources around your products. If you can create regular content, you will soon start to see results thanks to social networks and search engines.

3 # Send your product to influencers

Third, the list of how to grow your eCommerce could not be without influencers. In recent years, influencers have become key pieces for marketing strategies. The Internet is full of bloggers, journalists, entrepreneurs and vloggers of all types specialized in all fields. You need to find the right ones. Many of them have a large following and a loyal following on their web pages.

Therefore, you can send a free sample of your product to those who best fit your brand. Hopefully, you will get a mention on one of their platforms, and you will also let them know that as a company you appreciate their work with a small gift.

In this sense, you can also conduct interviews with them. It is a good way to create original and different content. Interviews work because they are win-win situations. The interviewee gets more visibility and the interviewer has good content to post on the blog, for example. Take the opportunity to ask questions about their lives and careers, but also about the industry in general.

On the other hand, to collaborate with them, you can also run contests or raffles. We all love free stuff and if you’re looking to build trust, running a contest or giveaway could help you get there. This can be done with the collaboration of influencers or on your social networks.

4 # Public relations and communication strategy

If you want to know how to grow your eCommerce, make a public relations strategy. They have the same effect as when a video goes viral and can propel your brand to success. A sure fire public relations trick is to do something unusual, outrageous, funny, or important enough to merit media attention.

If it goes well, your eCommerce will benefit from many high-profile news source links, which is great for both short-term traffic and long-term SEO.

In terms of communication, many electronic businesses publish press releases to attract the attention of the media, although most of them fail. It is a less useful strategy than it used to be but still sire. The secret is to make sure your story is newsworthy, concise, and professional, without being too monotonous.

5 # Create a Mailing list

Email is one of the best channels for attracting leads, and it can even be free. You can create a mailing list of previous and potential customers and send them information, products and content. Include an email subscription form on your website. This is an effective way to convince visitors to sign up for your database.

Instead of just saying “sign up for our newsletter,” offer an incentive or some kind of added value for subscribing.

Another use that you can give is conducting surveys to your consumers, so you receive comments to improve. Customers often have no qualms about saying what their experience with the store has been like and whether something was done wrong.

6 # Experiment with Google Ads

To know how to grow an eCommerce you have to know what Google Ads is. In case you don’t know yet, Google Ads is Google’s pay-per-click advertising platform. It enables online merchants to place ads on almost all Google results pages, YouTube videos, and partner websites.

The biggest advantage of Google Ads is its speed and massive reach. In a few minutes, you can set up and launch an advertising campaign that makes your text, image or video ads appear. You can also set the option for them to be activated and displayed next to Google results when users search for predefined or similar keywords.

7 # Pay attention to web analytics

The behaviour of each user when he visits a web page from when he enters to when he leaves helps you understand why you are or are not selling. Your page statistics will show you what your customers are doing on your website, including the websites they enter, the time they spend on each one, and the route they choose to exit.

Some tools also display additional information. For example, how often a customer visits your website. In this sense, Google Analytics is a totally free tool that helps you measure traffic in many ways.

8 # Sponsor an event

To get good results sponsoring an event you have to give it the right approach. First, you will have to make sure that you select the right event and that the target audience is the same as yours. Will your potential clients be among the attendees? Would your product interest them? How many attendees will it have?

Once the data in hand, classify them according to the type of audience and sponsorship price. Once you attend, avoid typical marketing strategies like handing out flyers. You will have to be creative to establish and build relationships.

Show off some of your most interesting products to tell their story, get people talking about it, and offer immediate promotions like free coupons in exchange for email list subscriptions or social media follow-ups.

9 # Make use of affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is those actions by which you allow other people to market your products and send traffic to your website. In return, for each sale, you pay a percentage. You can track it by giving it a custom link or a unique coupon code.

The great thing about this sales strategy is that you only pay if sales are made, which makes affiliates do their best.

10 # Outperform the Competition on Price Comparison Platforms

Most consumers like to shop around before making a purchase, this includes browsing Google and sites like Amazon for the best options. The most popular platforms are Google Shopping, Yahoo Shopping, Kelkoo, idealo, etc.

To achieve notoriety, you have to follow the rules of each platform, stay competitive on pricing, and wait while you experiment to find out which platform is the best fit for you and offers the best ROI.

What did you think of this article on how to grow eCommerce? Leave your comments and share!

And if you want to set up your own e-commerce and you don’t know how to launch your project, take the Master in e-Commerce & Digital Marketing. You will learn everything related to managing electronic commerce with a comprehensive vision with the best business models and strategies. We will wait for you!

By Johnny Lee

Author Selena is a blogger and a guest contributor for a well-known brand that includes MESHEBLE, Saveucoupon & INTHEMARKET. In her leisure time, she plays tennis.

Sourced from INFLUENCIVE

In News

Top 10 Reasons to Use Social Networks for Advertising

October 21, 2020 No Comments

By Thomas Glare.

Description: Despite the constant traffic in social media, some businesses still think they are better off not using this amazing and largely low-cost resource for advertisement. We have a few reasons why they might want to reconsider that opinion.

Introduction: Social media platforms are everywhere. If you have a smartphone and Wi-Fi, you have access to everyone you know and everyone they know every second of the day. And, while using it to reconnect with old friends is a pretty solid way to utilize such a versatile medium, it can also be a great resource for marketing.

These days, it seems like everyone has social media accounts. From toddlers to grandparents, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have kept us connected, for better or worse, and allowed us to know everything about everyone. It is even possible to win real money by clicking on an ad or doing a social media quiz.

Marketing in the Age of Social Media

In the past, ad traffic was expensive and could only come from television, radio, and newspapers. Promos run maybe once an hour to as little as once a week, and the target audience was only listeners, watchers, or subscribers. And advertisers hoped their target market was tuned at just the right time, but it was essentially a gamble.

These days, social media advertising has almost overtaken all other forms of marketing. As a matter of fact, when a marketing firm lists their services, if the phrase “social media campaign” isn’t mentioned, a lot of businesses will move on. It isn’t the niche market of ten years ago, but a living, breathing animal of its own.

Your Next Marketing Strategy

White pages do work, and emails are still a heavy hitter in the marketing game. But if you want to get the most eyes on your product or service, you can’t beat the endless traffic of the big three. These social media networks have made a killing based on this knowledge. So, why shouldn’t you?

Here’s how:

1. Ready and Waiting

Your customers are on social media. You want to connect with them. So, like AT&T used to say, “Reach out and touch someone.” They are waiting for you to tell them what you have to offer. Don’t leave them in suspense.

2. Branding

You aren’t just a business but a brand. And your brand is the face of your company. People recognize big brands because they stand out, and there is something special about them. Get your brand out there and introduce yourself!

3. Improving Relationships

Online reviews have replaced comment cards, and access to business owners has become commonplace. Using social media to stay connected with your customers is the best way to know whether your business is doing well, and what to do to fix it if something is wrong. Instantly.

4. A Wider Net

Any social media manager will tell you not to aim at small but launch a large campaign to draw big attention. As far as social media plans go, this is a valid idea. You may inspire new business just because you took a chance on an untapped market for your niche.

5. Low Money Down

Let’s say you are a casino. Your business is to bring in people with money to spend. But how? Free coupons! You put a free coupon for slots free spins on Twitter, and the traffic flows into your site. And you paid next to nothing for it. Social media marketing is the most cost-effective medium for product promotion.

img alt: social media marketing

6. Competition

Everyone has a business out in the world that is trying to take your customers and your dollars. And guess what? They already have a website and tons of followers, subscribers, and valued customers. They aren’t taking your business; you are giving it to them by not having a social media strategy.

7. Loyalty

People like to know who they are buying from. A bad social media brand can kill a business, just because of the owner’s improprieties. But if your customers are aware of your story, and it garners trust and makes you seem like a quality human-being, they instinctively want to support you.

8. Drawing a Bullseye

While you can throw out a huge campaign that blankets the entirety of social media, you can also target specific people, catering to your most fervent customer base only. It is similar to fishing with a bait that only certain fish like. Sure, you will get some outsider nibbles, but you will hook what you came for.

9. Up the Ladder

Along with knowledge of SEO, traffic algorithms have a hand in search engine rankings. The more people visit you, the higher you are on the list when customers search for your business. Typically, the average web surfer will pick one of the top five links when looking for just about anything.

10.Reaching and Grasping

Just like the Internet is global, so is social media. And that means you can now advertise all over the world from one or more platforms with ease and speed. Customers in Estonia can buy your product, receive it, and give you feedback in a matter of days, not months like in the past. It has connected the commerce of the world.

Conclusion

Social media management may seem a little odd to those with old school marketing ideas, and that makes sense. So many advertising fads have come and gone, it can be puzzling if getting an account for your business might just end up as a waste of time. But the upshot is that advertising on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are so quick and easy that you’re actually wasting more time trying to come up with reasons not to. Do you advertise your business on social media? Has it helped your bottom line and customer traffic?

By Thomas Glare

Thomas Glare runs a marketing firm and believes in the power of advertising through social media platforms. He recognizes it as a vital tool in promotional mediums and uses it on a regular basis for his clients to promote his own business interests.

In News

How to Create Strategy of Social Media Marketing For 2021

August 24, 2020 No Comments

By RuhaniRabin

In the past decade, social networks have actually been an interesting new frontier in advertising and marketing. It has a lot going for it as a marketing system: it’s cost-free, it’s audience-driven, it’s enjoyable, as well as it can be extremely effective. But if you intend to make use of social networks to grow your organization, it’s inadequate to post whatever you feel like, whenever you feel like. Having a well-researched, social media content strategy indicates the time and sources you invest in social media sites advertising won’t go to waste.

In this article, we will direct you with the full program of establishing a brand and the market. If you have a specific product or intend to offer an authentic product with Ecommerce, after that this is the right location to learn. For an effective eCommerce company, prompt service and reliability are important. Well, to begin a company with social media marketing services India we should have something to offer. This thing could be a product or a service depending upon your understanding, picks a product or service.

Tips to create a social media marketing strategy

Research Your Audience

To be successful with your social media advertising and marketing campaign, you have to target the right audience. If you intend to profit, interacting, and engaging with your audience is crucial in today’s advertising and marketing. You need to recognize that your target audience is since that’s the only means you can meet their needs and address their problems. Regardless of how terrific your web content is if you don’t target the ideal target market your social media advertising strategy would not work. Researching and also recognizing your target market is among the most important social media advertising and marketing tasks. With your social media posts, you might be creating a great deal of attention, but you may not be producing leads or sales as you are creating content for the incorrect audience. Survey the clients to get a better understanding of who they are as well as the responses they seek in a business.

Post valuable content Consistently

Providing high-quality information constantly is one of the most important social media ideas for organization. Among the best ways to enhance interaction on social networks and build the brand is by consistently providing value and top-quality web content to social media customers. Your target market is more likely to trust your recommendations and advice when you generate value without taking anything in return. It is essential that all the content you develop and publish for your customers’ matters, fascinating, and offer value. Once you understand your audience, you will build valuable content that meets their desires and offers value to them.

Custom-made content for Each Platform

Great social media sites marketing methods would certainly focus on creating individualized posts for each social media platform, as opposed to dispersing the same message throughout all profiles. Each little bit of material that you post on social media has to be thought out intelligently. If you’re simply uploading to share something you are not going to profit from social networks advertising. Each social media site’s platform is based upon a set of principles. Every content uploaded ought to be curated appropriately. The purpose of the content ought to be in harmony with the function of the system. LinkedIn is an ideal system to network with professionals. Also, only the viewers interested in your brand will join the group giving you more qualified leads.

Use Less-Known Operating Systems Too

There are numerous various other social networking websites that are not as popular as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube but are slowly getting popularity in their particular niche area. Discovering large and also small social media systems on the macro in addition to an on-line micro degree will certainly help you develop a base for your company. A personalized social network site, Pinterest, allows customers to publish, conserve as well as, take care of pictures and also video clips through collections typically referred to as Pinboards. It additionally helps other individuals’ jobs to be surfed according to their specific choices. Pinterest has the capacity in your niche to boost traffic on your site, your income, and your reputation and authority. A fantastic online search engine that discovers and recommends internet material in the form of blog sites, articles, pictures, as well as videos to match a person’s tastes.

Develop Interaction with Projects

Engagement is the missing piece of the challenge when trying to increase your impact on social networks. So you need to work to develop enjoyable occasions for your followers to profit from social media sites advertising. The even more followers that engage with your profile, the more likely they will reconsider it for brand-new updates in the future. When you develop a contest on any one of your social network profiles that are attached to a typical or trending subject, you inadvertently create the opportunity for individuals to engage and also attach based upon a shared passion. On the internet, free gifts have progressively gained popularity as brand-new social networks businesses are seeking means to boost their audience. Marketers will certainly give consumers a complimentary item or present card, in exchange for sharing your message as well as labelling buddies.

Utilize the Right tools

Choosing the proper tools is one of the most crucial social media sites marketing tips and also techniques. The tools you choose will determine the power of all of your advertising and marketing methods for social media. Use tools to boost the process in social media sites will aid you to conserve time as well as make points take place much faster. You can’t afford to invest more time on social media sites than you should. You will certainly have to identify which social media sites automation platform you will certainly utilize to configure your social web content. Measure the choices-each business has various needs and expectations.

Examine Your Results

You need to check your outcomes and analyze them frequently. Tracking the performance and reviewing them will aid you recognize when you are doing things right. Tracking as well as reviewing your results is an action that requires special focus. There is no point in making as well as applying techniques if the results don’t enter your favor. To track and assess the social media sites advertising strategy, the complying with metrics need to be born in mind:

By RuhaniRabin

In News

A Complete Guide to Using Social Media for Your Small Business

June 19, 2020 No Comments

By Anders Hjorth

Social media has revolutionized human relations and transformed the way we communicate. It has created a new type of celebrity thanks to the power of personal branding.

And businesses are increasingly realizing how direct person-to-person relations via digital channels can be beneficial to their sales and marketing.

To master this new type of business communication, most companies could use a bit of social media advice and some digital marketing tips. So, we’ve gathered a collection of social media tips for business in this article.

They’re easy to understand, easy to execute, and should prove valuable for any small business social media marketing operation.

8 effective social media tips for your small business:

Learn about your audience
Choose your primary and secondary social networks
Use a mix of hero, hub and help content
Repurpose your content
Leverage inbound marketing and partnerships
Set up social commerce
Evolve your content from articles to video to live
Plan and automate

8 social media marketing tips for small businesses to try

Whereas social media marketing has become an advanced marketing discipline where experts compete for excellence and for outstanding results, it’s also a playground where any business — big or small — can make a difference for itself.

The following social media marketing tips can be implemented by practically any business. (Take special note of Nos. 4 and 8, which are our favorite social media tips on this list.)

1. Learn about your audience

One of the great benefits of social media is the access to market data it provides. Social media platforms are data-driven platforms designed to tailor advertising to their users. In the process, they provide access to some of that data to businesses.

As a business owner, you’ll get access to the social media metrics you need to steer your business, but you’ll also get insights into your audience that you can use for a social media audit or for defining your target market.

How to put your audience insights into action:

While running your social media activity, you’re constantly learning more about your audience. However, you can gather audience insights for a marketing plan in a more structured way.

Define your target: First, define what characterizes your target market. Perhaps you have several segments with different characteristics you can outline.
Estimate segment sizes: Go to Facebook audience insights and enter the characteristics for each segment to gather an estimate of the audience size.
Learn about their media consumption: Identify which publications your audience reads, what they watch, and who they listen to and follow on the internet by looking up their media preferences with SparkToro.

2. Choose your primary and secondary social networks

There are so many communication opportunities via social media marketing that you can easily spread your efforts too thin. By choosing one primary social network where you concentrate your efforts, you’ll get the biggest return on investment.

Other networks can be part of your small business social media strategy as secondary networks that you utilize in a more opportunistic way.

How to select your primary social network:

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to pick one social media network and stick with it. Here’s one approach.

Analyze the options: Analyze the user characteristics of the various social networks via information they share with you. Make a list of candidates for your primary social network.
Compare with your target audience: Compare and contrast the characteristics of the users on each platform with the characteristics of your target audience to find the best fit.
Evaluate your strengths: You probably have more affinities and more reach with one or more of the social networks on your list. Objectively evaluate your strengths on each platform.
Apply weights: Set up a simple spreadsheet where you can score each social network on attractivity, audience fit, and strengths. You can weight each score to account for the most important elements. Then pick your primary network, and mark the others as secondary. Build your social media strategy around this primary social network.

3. Use a mix of hero, hub, and help content

Google has a challenge. Its advertisers were brought up with search marketing but were not necessarily educated on how to use Google’s other great advertising channel: YouTube.

Google therefore created a conceptual framework for working with YouTube. This framework helps define the role of video content, which by nature is more expensive to produce and distribute.

Whether you plan to use video or not, the YouTube strategy playbook — which uses the three Hs of “hero,” “hub,” and “help” — can be of great use when planning social media activity for your business.

How to establish your content mix:

Creating a mix of content with the three Hs is very focused on the hero content, or the driving elements of your business’s storyline that you want your broadest audience to see. Let’s look at what you need to do to establish your content mix with this in mind.

Content audit: The first thing you need is an overview of your existing content and events that can be used in your content strategy.
Brainstorm: The fun part of the process is the brainstorming and idea-testing for your hero content. Aim to find a unique and remarkable content idea that resonates strongly with your audience and emphasizes your brand’s differentiation.
Plan around the hero content: Some of the other content you use in your social media strategy can be built around the hero content. Other content pieces act as “hubs” and will simply help your brand stay top of mind. And “help” content is more traditional company information that you place around and between the more story-driven hero content.
Build a content calendar: The three types of content come together in a social media content calendar, which helps you stay organized and share your content in a consistent and effective way.

4. Repurpose your content

If you’ve followed our second tip, you may be wondering how to best utilize your secondary social networks. You may also be overwhelmed by the thought of needing to publish content to your social networks multiple times a week.

This is why content repurposing is an important strategy. A publication has a limited life span on social media, and in order to generate a return on your investment in a piece of content, you need to maximize its usage.

How to thoughtfully and effectively repurpose your content:

The initial version of your content should be optimized for your primary social network. Subsequent versions can be formatted to suit other networks, perhaps using a more visual angle, a different perspective, or simply different text.

Optimize for your primary network: The first time you publish a piece of content, it should be optimized for your primary social network. Each social network has its own ideal mix of image, video, text, emojis, and hashtags.
Adapt to secondary networks: You will likely need to make changes to the format of your content when publishing it on your secondary social networks. Perhaps you’ll only use parts of the content you prepared for your primary network.
Republication: One piece of content can typically be presented several times to your primary audience. This is useful as you never reach 100% of your followers with one post since everyone is online at different times. Using different text and images for subsequent publications is a good way to make sure your content doesn’t appear stale or repetitive.
Repurposing: Content in which you have invested significant time or money can be repurposed at a later stage. Perhaps you can update a survey you ran, provide a new editorial angle, or redo the graphics. A good way to organize the use and reuse of content is to build a social media content calendar.

5. Leverage inbound marketing and partnerships

Inbound marketing is an approach by which you create and publish content that will drive interested users closer to your offering.

It’s a structured process using planning, scoring, and automation to manage long customer interaction processes. It’s a great approach to marketing for small business, especially in the B2B space.

How to put inbound marketing into action:

Inbound marketing is about using content to drive users to your offering without reaching out to them with advertising.

Analyze the user journey: Users travel through various stages before they become prospects for your offering. You first need to identify what questions the user is asking before they’re ready to move to the next step in the user journey.
Create and publish content: With the stages of the user journey in mind, create content that corresponds to each stage, and think of mechanisms that will bring the user to the next stage: Newsletter subscription, whitepaper download, webinar registration, etc. This is the stage where you’ll actually use social media platforms to publish your content and engage with your audience.
Automate the funnel: One of the aims of inbound marketing is to create an automated lead generation process. It uses content and publications on social media to generate interest and subsequently works like a content relationship management tool. You’ll need a technical solution such as HubSpot or Salesforce Pardot to pursue this approach seriously.

6. Set up social commerce

Users can be strongly influenced by social media but may not be used to buying products there. There is, however, a rising trend of social commerce on social networks like Instagram and Pinterest.

Facebook also recently launched its Page shops, adding e-commerce functionality to business pages on its platform.

How to use social commerce in your social media strategy:

Social commerce is a shortcut from social media to e-commerce. It can be an interesting opportunity for companies with strong social media activity and the possibility to sell online.

Prepare product information: In order to sell online via social media, you need the same information as for any other e-commerce activity: product titles and descriptions, images, prices, and an order fulfillment solution.
Choose your platform: If your primary social network has e-commerce functionality, go with that platform. If it doesn’t, consider trying one of the leading social commerce platforms: Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook.
Build the e-commerce functionality: It’s fairly easy to set up social commerce. Products and prices can be entered individually or as a product feed so your shop is up to date.

7. Evolve your content from articles to video to live

When you first consider content for your social media marketing plan, you might think about articles and images.

But video content has become accessible to small businesses now that platforms like the Facebook Live Producer empower you to create professional-looking live video content. You might even want to make video your hero content, as we saw in tip No. 3.

How to make smart use of video:

All you need is a smartphone with a good camera to start producing live video. We also recommend adding a good-quality microphone or headset.

Plan your video content: For video content, you need to create a title, write a script, and find the right filming location with good lighting and an appropriate background.
Test-run your video: To overcome the fear of looking silly and get used to speaking to the camera, do at least one test run. A teleprompter software tool can be helpful as well.
Set it up as an event: You can create video content for later publication or create a live event. Whichever you choose, make sure to build awareness before publication to drive more views and more engagement.

8. Plan and automate

Running social media activities is about efficiently using resources. The best way to organize any social media activity is to plan ahead and automate as much as possible.

There are a number of simple social tools to help with automation that each perform specific tasks, or it can be done using a more complete social media software suite that covers all of your automation needs.

How to plan and automate your social media activity:

If you’ve built your content mix using tip No. 4, you may have started using a content calendar as the nervous system of your social media strategy. Now, all you need to do is connect your primary and secondary social networks to your content via automation.

Define your primary social network: As described in the first tip, you should first define your social network set-up and decide where primary content goes.
Build your content calendar: A content calendar is a key component of a social media strategy. Build your calendar by placing the hero content first and scheduling supporting content around it. You will likely have a regular flow of hub content, and the amount of help content you produce will depend on your business activity and commercial calendar.
Automate publication: Bring it all together with automation software that allows you to connect your content to your social media accounts. Schedule posts to each of your social networks in advance, keeping your content calendar moving like a well-oiled machine.

The best social media tools for small business

Social media automation tools will help your business automate the implementation of your content strategy. In the tips above, we’ve mentioned various tasks for which these tools are useful: in implementing a content calendar, automating publications, and planning ahead.

Let’s look at a few tools that work in different ways.

1. Later

The core functionality of Later is to build a visual content calendar and schedule image posts to Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Later’s visual overview of the calendar is one of the best we’ve seen.

The content calendar view of Later is visual and well adapted to planning Instagram posts.

2. MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar is great for getting the most out of your content. It’s the content repurposing, recycling, and automation champion.

A unique feature of MeetEdgar is the automatic creation of post variations submitted for approval.

3. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is one the best and most complete social media management tools covering the entire spectrum of automation, management, research, and reporting functionalities for your social media activity.

Sprout Social provides a wide variety of reporting options, including content performance across the social media channels you are using.

Learn from what you do and focus on where you win

Most social media activity only pays off in the medium to long run, which can be frustrating to businesses looking for quick wins or a rapid return on their investment.

But some of the above tips are sure to generate value for your business even in the short run as they can help you focus on what’s essential and what tasks are the best use of your time.

Focus your efforts, optimize your content output, plan ahead, and automate where you can in order to get the most out of your small business’s social media strategy.

By Anders Hjorth

Sourced from the blueprint

In News

The Year Ahead: Are You Ready for Next Generation Social Networks?

January 13, 2020 No Comments

By BoF Team and McKinsey & Company

As traditional engagement models struggle on established social media platforms, fashion players will need to rethink their strategy and find ways to maximise their return on marketing spend.

This article appeared first in The State of Fashion 2020, an in-depth report on the global fashion industry, co-published by BoF and McKinsey & Company. To learn more and download a copy of the report, click here.

LONDON, United Kingdom — The collective reach of the social media giants is staggering. Facebook reported 2.5 billion monthly active users in September 2019, and both Instagram and WeChat have more than a billion users each. Yet, growth seems to be slowing and users are spending less time on some of the major platforms: in the US, average daily time on Facebook fell to 37 minutes a day from 41 minutes in 2017.

Stagnating enthusiasm has not stopped advertising rates and revenues rising at the big platforms. According to one report, the average digital ad cost has risen 12 percent in two years, but digital ad expenditure rose 42 percent, helping analysts forecast Facebook’s revenue in 2019 above $69 billion at the time of writing, up 70 percent from 2017 and equal to all print media ad spending. However, visits to those advertisers on social media have risen only 11 percent.

The challenge is that advertising overload might be hurting engagement. Global consumer-goods giant P&G discovered that people spent less than two seconds on average looking at its ads on mobile feeds — and that those ads appeared too often. Chief brand officer Marc Pritchard explained in the Wall Street Journal, “We’re trying to reduce the amount of times we reach the same person over and over again.”

The data suggests that it is time for brands to rethink their social media strategy. Specifically, they need to re-evaluate how to exploit existing platforms more effectively, capitalise on the rise of new platforms and understand how to generate direct sales through social platforms.

The typical route to reach a large audience on existing platforms such as Instagram is to either build followers organically or borrow followers using influencers — both these routes are starting to wobble. UK cosmetics company Lush realised that its organic newsfeed content reached only 6 percent of its online followers and became tired of fighting the platforms’ own advertising algorithms. It decided to shut down its social media accounts to regain ownership of its communication by relying on brand-owned channels instead. While this may be an extreme step to take, it demonstrates the lengths that some brands are willing to go to try to overcome current challenges on social media.

The harsh reality is that it is increasingly hard to excite and inspire audiences who are overwhelmed and overstimulated.

While an incredible 86 percent of companies use influencer marketing, the engagement rate for such sponsored posts on Instagram dropped from 4 percent in Q1 2016 to 2.4 percent in Q1 2019. Facebook’s and Twitter’s numbers are even worse at 0.37 percent and 0.05 percent respectively. The harsh reality is that it is increasingly hard to excite and inspire audiences who are overwhelmed and overstimulated. Going forward, a static image displaying a product with a model or influencer will no longer cut it. Industry executives believe that the top trend shaping the fashion industry within the next 12 months will be a rise in the importance of “storytelling” and marketing strategies that resemble media productions.

Arnold Ma, chief executive of creative digital agency Qumin, suggests players should move up the influencer funnel, partnering with individuals or other brands who truly live the lifestyle and can tell an authentic story, rather than blindly paying popular more generic influencers to promote their products.

Ralph Lauren adopted this approach when it worked with fashion publication Highsnobiety for its 50th anniversary. The published advertorial followed the impact the brand had on designers, collectors and the fashion industry from the Ivy League to the streets of Brooklyn.

Another tactic to grab consumers’ attention is to use social media to tap into the drop culture typically associated with streetwear labels. Consumers’ desire to be in the know and to have an exclusive product drives a large part of the purchase. Last year, for example, Burberry released a limited-edition Ricardo Tisci T-shirt available only on Instagram and WeChat for 24 hours. The company used the hype around this drop to release more limited-edition designs available on social media or exclusively in its London flagship store for just 24 hours.

As data shows, it is getting harder to stand out in established social media. Fashion players need to understand how to gain traction on newer platforms. 70 percent of fashion executives believe that increased exploration of and spend
on new media platforms versus more “traditional” platforms will be crucial to their companies. At the same time, executives are showing hesitation, and only 8 percent are choosing to increase spend on TikTok, the biggest emerging platform with more than 800 million downloads and a user base skewed under 30.

Creating convincing content is critical on a platform like TikTok: the landing page is a constant stream of short videos sourced globally and compiled by artificial intelligence.

This approach challenges the traditional view of the need to build an audience, but does require extremely high-quality content to stand out. Not that brands always need to create this content themselves. Uniqlo appealed to TikTok users to upload videos of themselves wearing their favourite item from the company’s UT line. The best videos appeared on monitors in Uniqlo stores around the world.

There are many other emerging social media networks, including those focused on gaming such as Fortnite or Tencent’s mobile game Honour of Kings, which have fast become integral to youth culture. Fortnite has more than 200 million users and is free to play, but made a sizeable chunk of its $2.4 billion in revenue last year by selling avatar skins. Nike was quick to see the potential and started selling branded skins on the platform. In China, brands such as Mac Cosmetics, L’Oréal and Hong Kong jeweller Chow Sang Sang have all partnered with Honour of Kings, which has more than 200 million registered players of whom more than half are female (and women mobile gamers are 79 percent more likely to make an in-app purchase).

Ultimately, all the content creation needs to lead to sales, and social commerce is growing fast. By 2023, it could account for a fifth of all online sales in China — a staggering $166 billion. Brands are cooperating with social-media messaging super-apps such as WeChat, livestreaming platforms such as Yizhibo and Kuaishou and social-commerce platforms such as Xiaohongshu
to introduce and sell products.

Ultimately, all the content creation needs to lead to sales, and social commerce is growing fast.

Other social media platforms have been progressively incorporating commercial functions. Pinterest has its catalogue, while Instagram has evolved its checkout and augmented reality functions, letting customers “try-on” Ray Ban glasses or Mac lipstick. A wide range of messenger apps use chatbots to generate direct sales rather than just serving as a customer service channel. Nowhere, however, is as advanced in social commerce as China.

One app that may offer us a glimpse into the future is Douyin, TikTok’s counterpart in China. Douyin, which is extremely popular with young people, has just launched a game-changing in-video search function through which users can zoom in on clothing, or other items in the video, and link through to related content and even directly purchase products — all from within the app. These are not videos that are actively selling or promoting products, but rather regular user generated content — any post from anybody could become a potential sale.

Overall, in light of consumers’ growing apathy — and sometimes antipathy — towards traditional social media advertising models, we expect fashion brands in 2020 to significantly re-evaluate their strategies in a quest for meaningful returns. This means having a deep understanding of which platforms and networks their target consumers are engaging with, both in terms of region and demographics. Brands will start to establish content creation as a discipline within their organisation, focusing on engaging and tailored content that can work across a range of channels. Brands must also be prepared to exploit the new sales-orientated functions of platforms, as well as develop chatbots in combination with messenger apps to generate more immediate online sales.

At the time of writing, TikTok was said to be under national security review in the United States.

By BoF Team and McKinsey & Company

Sourced from BOF

In News

Four Reasons Why Influencer Marketing Will Thrive Without Instagram Likes

September 20, 2019 No Comments

By Jim Tobin

Instagram recently added new countries to its test in which it’s hiding the number of likes a given post gets from everyone except that post’s creator. Social networks are constantly testing new concepts, but the fact that this test has expanded indicates how seriously they are considering it, with the main goal being to take the social pressure off acquiring likes.

Some have worried that hiding likes from public view would hurt influencer marketing, as influencers are judged, at least in part, on their ability to get people to react to the content they produce. Here are four reasons why I believe influencer marketing will be just fine without the ability for the public to view how many likes their content receives:

1. Professional influencer marketers don’t look at public view counts.

All the social networks have APIs that let other software ingest the like count on the posts they are most interested in. With this ability, we can look at performance across a wide array of influencers and their posts very quickly and even make on-the-fly calculations in terms of engagement rates, cost per engagement and more. Only part-time influencer marketing folks are manually scrolling through accounts looking for the posts they care about.

2. The like isn’t going away.

Whether we should or not, humans feel a certain positive way when they get another like on their post. While hiding these numbers could certainly remove the pressure of “only having five likes” that we’ve all felt, getting those likes still feels good. Even more importantly, engagement on what we post is the fundamental signal to the Instagram algorithm of what we like to see more of. By the simple act of liking, we’re telling the algorithm who we want to see more often, whether we like video or not, and much more. Barring a seismic reinvention, the social networks can’t eliminate the “like” as the easiest way for us to give a nod back to our friends’ posts.

3. Engagement rate is relative.

While hiding public like counts will almost certainly decrease the total number of likes on the social network, influencers and content are compared against each other in terms of efficiency. So, if an average post once got 100 likes and that drops to 80 likes, the entire scale of what’s good shifts along with it.

4. We’ve moved beyond likes for measuring success.

Just a few years ago, we were reporting “engagements” back to clients as among the metrics showing the success of a given campaign. Today, however, we’re much more focused on measuring business results from influencer marketing programs. Many of our campaigns drive web traffic and measure that traffic all the way through to sales. For retail campaigns, we’re still often tracking sale lift against a benchmark period to measure success. Improvements in measuring influencer marketing are accelerating rapidly and the few left only measuring engagements are likely going to be left behind anyway.

Social networks will continue to make changes to their platforms. When I formed my company in 2007, there were no brand pages and no ways to run paid ads. You couldn’t even upload a video. Today there is another rumor that Instagram is running a test that will hide follower counts. As social networks make these adjustments in ways that favor quality content in front of people who care about it most, high-quality influencer marketing will have a place. After all, inspirational and aspirational content fosters brand discovery online and that is among the things people very much enjoy about social networks and the content we see there.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Jim Tobin

Jim Tobin is President of Carusele, a leading influencer marketing agency, and CEO of Ignite Social Media, the original social media agency.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

Three Ways To Understand And Apply Social Media Insights To Your Business

December 4, 2018 No Comments

By Daniel Zhao

The internet has impacted the way most, if not all, industries have evolved. Keeping up with industry trends and available platforms is a job in and of itself. In particular, social media is shaping the way many companies engage with customers and drive sales.

In the education industry, the internet has revolutionized the way people learn and how they interact with their peers. Based on my experience working with social media influencers to engage students, I’d like to share three tips for entrepreneurs in any industry.

Learn how your target audience is using social media.

You can never stay hot for too long in the world of social media. One minute Snapchat is the app of the hour, the next it’s Instagram, and the cycle continues. Social media has secured credibility in recent years as a trusted source of information not only for news but also as a platform for consumers to engage with companies and exchange information.

My company’s target audience is students, and we have found that students today use social media in ways that are foreign to generations that did not grow up in the digital age. For example, “study with me” videos have become a popular internet sensation among youth. My company decided to capitalize on this opportunity by partnering with YouTube influencers to learn how students are using YouTube to study; we then applied that information to our platform to better help our users succeed academically.

Understanding how your target audience is using and benefiting from social media is critical to success. This applies to any business. Many companies are under the impression that all there is to social media is a simple press of a button to post content, but that’s not where the value lies. Building your presence is important, but understanding why you have that presence will help you properly utilize your channels and benefit in multiple ways.

To do so, connect with your target audience and customers. Create surveys, send personal emails or even make phone calls to understand how your customers are using social media and in what ways your business can have a valuable impact. Get a deeper understanding of your audience behavior and which channels you should focus on.

Identify why certain platforms are working.

When sifting through the social media landscape, a key priority is understanding and identifying why certain platforms are working. What about certain channels make your target audience inclined to use them?

When speaking to one of our YouTube partners, we discovered this community of “study together” videos had been booming for the last few years. We found that there were numerous reasons students were turning to YouTube when it came time to study. Whether it was to have a “buddy” or merely to learn from someone other than a tutor, our target customers were engaging with this platform in a way we hadn’t seen before.

Connecting with partners has enabled us to dig deeper into the world of online learning and helped us further develop features for our own platform. I believe every entrepreneur can learn from this example. Finding that outside party to provide valuable insights is a crucial element to success.

If you’re looking to establish a partnership with an influencer, you can be certain they are getting cold emails on a regular basis. To differentiate yourself, provide your potential partner with something that can help advance their career; this is a two-way street. Directly address why you are reaching out to them and how your partnership will be beneficial. Let them know why your goals align and how you can work together to create a successful partnership.

Understand the trends.

Once you have done your homework and established concrete partnerships, it’s vital to understand where the trends are headed. In our case, we saw that not only were students using social media to communicate with one another, but academic institutions were relying heavily on social media to communicate as well.

It’s important to research what others in your industry are doing to reach the same audiences. Various sectors within our industry are using platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Google Plus to connect with students. Students want to collaborate and have someone available for support. We saw a heavy focus on group communication, which led us to configure a group study function on our own platform.

All entrepreneurs can learn from this example by taking the time to see what trends their audiences are following and why these trends tend to be working. Make time on a weekly basis to read your industry and social media marketing publications to understand how the landscape is growing and shifting. Overall, continue to evaluate your social media strategies through the lens of industry trends and your target audience to help you determine the next course of action.

Feature Image Credit: Pexels

By Daniel Zhao

Daniel Zhao is founder of StudyGate Inc., an online tutoring service.

Ads Ruined Social Media. Now They’re Coming to AI.

It’s not your imagination. Advertising is getting worse – and it might be deliberate

Where Did The Original Google Team Go After Google?

Alphabet (Google) shares news on bold $85 billion investment

The Personality is Eoin Wrixon and his role is CEO of Packed.House and Wide Eye Media

Adrian Serle, Former CEO of Communicorp speaks to Mediastreet on his thoughts and experience in the Irish Radio market

Grace Aungier – Queen of Magazines

Social Networks

Navigating the digital landscape, you’ve probably heard of the term ‘social selling.’

What is Social Selling?

Why is Social Selling Important?

11 Top Social Selling Tips That’ll Skyrocket Your Sales

1. Leverage LinkedIn Sales Navigator

2. Engage in Social Listening

3. Promote Employee Advocacy

4. Partner with Influencers

5. Prioritize Content Marketing

6. Track Social Selling Statistics

7. Utilize a Variety of Social Platforms

8. Focus on Building Relationships

9. Personalize Your Outreach

10. Stay Consistent with Posting

11. Always Provide Value

Embracing the Future with Social Selling

By Sam Driver

Sourced from SmartBlogger

In this article, we dive into five apps that are similar to Twitter and share what you need to know about each one.

Mastodon

Threads/Project 92/Barcelona

Bluesky

Post News

T2 Social

Spill

The future of social media might be decentralized

By Tamilore Oladipo

Sourced from Buffer

When you launch an eCommerce, the first sale is as symbolic as it is necessary

By Johnny Lee

Sourced from INFLUENCIVE

Marketing in the Age of Social Media

Your Next Marketing Strategy

1. Ready and Waiting

2. Branding

3. Improving Relationships

4. A Wider Net

5. Low Money Down

6. Competition

7. Loyalty

8. Drawing a Bullseye

9. Up the Ladder

10.Reaching and Grasping

Conclusion

Tips to create a social media marketing strategy

Research Your Audience

Post valuable content Consistently

Custom-made content for Each Platform

Use Less-Known Operating Systems Too

Develop Interaction with Projects

Utilize the Right tools

Examine Your Results

By RuhaniRabin

8 effective social media tips for your small business:

8 social media marketing tips for small businesses to try

1. Learn about your audience

How to put your audience insights into action:

2. Choose your primary and secondary social networks

How to select your primary social network:

3. Use a mix of hero, hub, and help content

How to establish your content mix:

4. Repurpose your content

How to thoughtfully and effectively repurpose your content:

5. Leverage inbound marketing and partnerships

How to put inbound marketing into action:

6. Set up social commerce

How to use social commerce in your social media strategy:

7. Evolve your content from articles to video to live

How to make smart use of video:

8. Plan and automate

How to plan and automate your social media activity:

The best social media tools for small business

1. Later

2. MeetEdgar

3. Sprout Social

Learn from what you do and focus on where you win

By Anders Hjorth

Sourced from the blueprint

As traditional engagement models struggle on established social media platforms, fashion players will need to rethink their strategy and find ways to maximise their return on marketing spend.