by Onyia Ifeluwa | Aug 9, 2017 | Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is the big thing in this century, everyone is on social media, businesses and brands know they have to be since mobile phones have made access to social media easier and better.
Because it appeared quickly, social media has developed a reputation by some for being a passing marketing interest, and therefore, an unprofitable one. The statistics, however, illustrate a different picture. Just three years ago, according to Hubspot, 92% of marketers in 2014 claimed that social media marketing was important for their business, with 80% indicating their efforts increased traffic to their websites. And according to Social Media Examiner, 97% of marketers are currently participating in social media—but 85% of participants aren’t sure what social media tools are the best to use.
This demonstrates a huge potential for social media marketing to increase sales, but a lack of understanding on how to achieve those results. Let’s take a look on how social media marketing can improve your business:
1. Improved brand loyalty. According to a report published by Texas Tech University, brands who engage on social media channels enjoy higher loyalty from their customers. The report concludes “Companies should take advantage of the tools social media gives them when it comes to connecting with their audience. A strategic and open social media plan could prove influential in morphing consumers into being brand loyal.”
2. More Opportunities to Convert. Every post you make on a social media platform is an opportunity for customers to convert. When you build a following, you’ll simultaneously have access to new customers, recent customers, and old customers, and you’ll be able to interact with all of them. Every blog post, image, video, or comment you share is a chance for someone to react, and every reaction could lead to a site visit, and eventually a conversion. Not every interaction with your brand results in a conversion, but every positive interaction increases the likelihood of an eventual conversion.
3. Higher conversion rates.Social media marketing results in higher conversion rates in a few distinct ways. Perhaps the most significant is its humanization element; the fact that brands become more humanized by interacting in social media channels. Social media is a place where brands can act like people do, and this is important because people like doing business with other people; not with companies.
Additionally, studies have shown that social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing, and a higher number of social media followers tends to improve trust and credibility in your brand, representing social proof. As such, simply building your audience in social media can improve conversion rates on your existing traffic.
by Onyia Ifeluwa | Aug 9, 2017 | Social Media Marketing
Tips are healthy for businesses, since they act as a navigator, with tips from trusted pros you do not need to pay the penalty of making some fatal mistakes. Experience is not necessarily the best teacher, because some failures are too fatal that it would be wise to learn from others mistake and avoid.
Here are some social media marketing tips from trusted pros:
#1: Identify Your Outcomes
Ric Dragon
When we talk about the best thing to do in social media marketing for any given business, we have to begin with what that business is trying to achieve—its “desired outcomes.”
The best thing for a manufacturer of underarm deodorant is likely to be something quite different from what might be best for a company that tests those same products.
Before you go jumping into one platform or another, imagine what it would require for you or the company to go out and buy a $1,000 bottle of champagne and share it with the team. That’s your “1K Champagne Result.”
Start thinking about your 1K Champagne Results. Image source: iStockphoto
The next part of the puzzle is to understand that not all social media efforts are the same. There are some really big differences in approaches, and thus outcomes. The five big approaches are:
- Brand maintenance—monitor your channels and respond when appropriate, and perhaps post a bit here and there.
- Community-building—whether it’s internal advocates, external brand ambassadors or groups of people who share the underlying passions of the brand, in this work you endeavor to join and nurture community.
- Influencer outreach—identify and engage the people who are influential around your passion pointsor industry.
- Reputation management and development—the project wherein you either repair or develop thought leadership or positive reputation.
- The big splash—these are the big creative campaigns that garner a lot of short-term attention.
You might very well decide on a mix of these five approaches. If you start by thinking about your 1K Champagne Results, you can more easily line up your big approaches with whatever it is that’s going to make that cork go flying across the room.
Ric Dragon, co-founder and CEO of DragonSearch, author of Social Marketology and DragonSearch Online Marketing Manual.
#2: Become the Wikipedia of Your Industry
Marcus Sheridan
Over the last couple of years, a very interesting shift has occurred with each and every one of us who use the Internet. And what is this shift?
We’ve all grown incredibly impatient online.
In other words, if we go to a business’s website, and we can’t find what we’re looking for, it bothers us. We get frustrated quickly. And unlike a few years ago when we might have “hung around” to try to find the answers we were looking for, we now move on quickly—knowing that if we keep searching, we’ll eventually find a website that has the answer(s) we seek.
Interestingly enough, although we’ve all grown more impatient when it comes to websites that don’t bother giving us the answers we’re looking for, we’ve also grown more loyal once we stumble upon the information jackpot.
Basically, if we feel a website is a true “go-to source” for information and answers, we’ll keep coming back—again and again and again.
It’s for this reason that the best social media strategy any company can take in 2013 and beyond is to become a true teacher (Wikipedia) within their industry. The golden rule of marketing is this:
They ask, you answer.
In other words, if a consumer has ever asked a question, you should be answering it on your website. And considering most industries have literally thousands of potential consumer questions, content should always be growing, evolving and added to.
After owner Steve Sheinkopf followed the “They Ask, You Answer” strategy for his company’s content marketing approach in 2012, the Boston-based business Yale Appliance watched their web traffic, along with sales, explode.
With the average business website answering about 10 consumer questions, if a company is willing to follow the “They Ask, You Answer” mentality, amazing results will often occur. The brand will grow. Traffic on the site will increase. And above all else, sales will likely have a huge upturn.
Marcus Sheridan, co-owner of River Pools and Spas, the founder of PoolSchool.us—an educational site on selecting the right pool, founder of The Sales Lion.
#3: Like Your Customers on Facebook
Mitch Joel
Instead of asking your consumers to like your brand on Facebook, why don’t you start liking them?
Most brands use Facebook as an extension of their traditional and mass-marketing initiatives. As such, we have what can only be described as an “arms race” for likes on Facebook.
The average person on Facebook has 120-200 connections (depending on whom you ask… and when).
Start liking your customers on Facebook. Image source: iStockphoto
As big as Facebook is, it’s actually many, many, very small circles of close (and semi-close) connections.
Facebook and brands are less about advertising and much more about creating, nurturing and developing a more direct relationship between individuals and the brands that serve them. This isn’t for all brands. This isn’t for all consumers. This is (still) a massive opportunity for those who can rise above a traditional advertising strategy.
Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image, blogger and podcaster, author of Six Pixels of Separation and the forthcoming book CRTL ALT Delete.
by Onyia Ifeluwa | Aug 8, 2017 | Technology
We know Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. The company’s hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, the iPad tablet computer, the Mac personal computer, the iPod portable media player, the Apple smartwatch, and the Apple TV digital media player. Apple’s consumer software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media player, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and i Work creativity and productivity suites. Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud. With it hardware and software products, Apple Inc. popularity is delight-some, for the company and it consumers.
So, where is her corporate headquarter? Apple Inc.’s world corporate headquarters are located in the middle of Silicon Valley, at 1–6 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California.
So, how did Apple come to life? Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976 to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. in January 1977, and was renamed as Apple Inc. in January 2007 to reflect its shifted focus toward consumer electronics. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in March 2015.
In case you have forgotten or you do not know, Apple is the world’s largest information technology company by revenue, the world’s largest technology company by total assets, and the world’s second largest- mobile phone manufacturer, by volume, after Samsung. In November 2014, Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at over US$700 billion in addition to being the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalisation. The company employs 115,000 full-time employees as of July 2015 and maintains 478 retail stores in seventeen countries as of March 2016. It operates the online Apple store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the world’s largest music retailer. Consumers use more than one billion Apple products worldwide as of March 2016.
Let us face the reality; there are two kinds of people in the world: people who say Apple isn’t just a company, it’s a cause; and people who say Apple isn’t a cause, it’s just a company. Both groups are right. Nature has suspended the principle of noncontradiction where Apple is concerned.
Interestingly, Apple is more than just a company because its founding has some of the qualities of myth … Apple is two guys in a garage undertaking the mission of bringing computing power, once reserved for big corporations, to ordinary individuals with ordinary budgets. The company’s growth from two guys to a billion-dollar corporation exemplifies the American dream.
And another interesting thing is Apple’s future looks brighter with her consistent and initiative updates of products. Apple is here to live I must confess.
by Onyia Ifeluwa | Aug 8, 2017 | Social Media Marketing
Your customers are not just some sort of statistics. They are individuals with feelings; hence you should treat them in likewise manner. And the best form of doing this is by actively engaging them.
Why do you think many of the big tech companies remain on top of the business log? These companies know the relevance of engagement. So, here are some Facebook tips that would help you actively engage with your customers and fans.
- Post at the Right Time (based on Facebook Insights)
I’m sure you heard about this. The best time to post is:
Every study will show a different result because the best time to post varies based on industry and demographic, and of course geographical location.
- Post About Trending Topics
If you don’t know yet, the news feed algorithm will reward posts that are about topics trending on Facebook.
What you can do is find potential topics that your customer will be talking about. For example, if you know your customers will be watching the presidential debate, you can post content around this, and ask which candidate they’ll be supporting. It’s a fun way to interact with your fans. This further help you develop your customers’ profile.
- Share Random Thoughts
What’s on your mind today? Just share whatever comes to mind just to see if fans respond. You’ll never know if some of your fans might be thinking the same recently. This type of post also spices things up a little. Don’t be surprised if it’s your most responsive post yet; you never can know until you try.
- Ask Fans About Business Decisions
Does your company need a new logo? Trying to decide on some new product features? Don’t know what you should be writing on your blog or maybe you don’t know what you should be writing on your blog.
Why not ask your Facebook fans? This is a great way to bost engagement in a hurry. I’m sure your fans will have a lot of question for you.
- Use 3 Ps of Posting
To make sure you get engagement and reach on your page. Use the 3P’s of posting to adjust to whatever algorithm changes Facebook throws your way.
The 3Ps will allow you to spice up your content and add value to your fans. Stay personal, purposeful and promotional and see how your engagement receive more acceptance.
by Onyia Ifeluwa | Jul 28, 2017 | Business
What do we know about the man that became the world’s richest person, surpassing Bill Gates with a net worth of just over $90 billion?
When markets opened on July 27, 2017, Bezos briefly became the world’s richest person, surpassing Bill Gates with a net worth of just over $90 billion. He lost the title later in the day when Amazon’s stock dropped, returning him to second place with a net worth just below $90 billion.
The American technology and retail entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who is best known as the founder, chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Amazon.com, the world’s largest online lit social media with the news of him becoming the richest man in the world on July 27, 2017.
So, where was this business mogul born? Bezos was born as Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Bezos has often displayed scientific interests and technological proficiency; he once rigged an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room. His family moved to Miami, Florida, where he attended Miami Palmetto High School While in high school, he attended the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida, receiving a Silver Knight Award in 1982. He was high school valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar. A promising path comes waiting for the industrious chap.
Bezos graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University with Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. While at Princeton, he was also elected to Tau Beta Pi. He served as the president of the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of space
In 1994 Bezos founded Amazon.com after making a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way. He initially set up the company in his garage. He had left his well-paying job at a New York City hedge fund after learning “about the rapid growth in Internet use,” which coincided with a new U.S Supreme Court ruling that exempted mail order companies from collecting sales taxes in states where they lack a physical presence.”
A lot of people do not understand the importance of investing in chains of businesses, but Bezos did, he was one of the first shareholders in Google, when he invested $250,000 in 1998. That $250,000 investment resulted in 3.3 million shares of Google stock worth about $3.1 billion today
In 2000, Bezos founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup company,partially as a result of his fascination with space travel. The company was kept secret for a few years; it became publicly known only in 2006 when it purchased a sizable aggregation of land in west Texas for a launch and test facility.
Bezos story is one that deserves lot of the attention it has been receiving these past days, and it is imperative successful men like this be celebrated while they are still living.
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