Tag: social marketing

Social Media Strategies for Any Business

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date June 23, 2017
No Comments on Social Media Strategies for Any Business

Some businesses or industries seem to have a much easier time coming up with fun or exciting social media campaigns to help promote their products or engage their audiences. Even if the products you sell are average items and don’t necessarily scream excitement or fun, there are still certain strategies you can employ to succeed on social media platforms. Follow these steps to keep your social media audiences engaged and informed.

Focus on Information or Education

Not all social media posts should be goofy or fun to drive engagement. Depending on your industry, your audiences may look to you as a vital source of information for products or services that are available within your industry. In fact, most informational or educational posts will perform just as well as fun posts if your audience is right for your particular industry.

Latch on to Trends or Influencers

One easy way to gain exposure for your business is to find current trends or influencers that would work well for your particular products or services. This can be an incredibly effective strategy for getting your name out to potential customers you may not have been able to reach previously. Influencer marketing has grown in popularity in recent years and nearly every industry could benefit from this practice.

Humanize Your Business

One of the easiest ways to build customer loyalty for your business on social media is by humanizing your business. Instead of being a faceless company, try to interact with your audiences publicly without the legalese filter. It is much easier to form a bond with a company as a potential customer if you are actively responding to their concerns or questions on social media platforms.

Share Relevant Content

In a recent blog, we talked about the difference between curated content and created content. It is important to remember not all the content you post has to be original. By posting relevant information, you can establish your business as an informational hub for your industry. Just try not to promote a competitor or their products in the process.

Still Need Assistance with Social Media Management?

You can always call the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your social media management or anything else you need to help make your business succeed. With our diverse range of skills and experience, we are sure to have the tools you need to make 2017 your business’ best year yet. You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags digital strategy, social marketing, social media

Marketing

What is the Difference Between Content Creation and Content Curation?

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date June 16, 2017
No Comments on What is the Difference Between Content Creation and Content Curation?

Customer Relationship Management. Content marketing as mean of interaction between provider and customer - vector illustration

If you are managing your own social media accounts, you likely are already engaging in content creation and content curation, even if you don’t realize it. To better understand what each of these means and why it is important, it is first necessary to define the terms. Content creation is developing your own original content for social media, while content curation is utilizing relevant content from other sources that your social media audiences will be interested in or find value in.

What is a Good Balance of Each Content Type?

It would be great if we had the ability to tell you which content type should be utilized and what percentage ratios they should be used; however, no business and their audience are the same. This unique challenge for each business requires the ability to remain flexible and test your content strategies to determine the best return on investment. However, there are some helpful guidelines you can follow to ensure the best return on investment for both your business and its potential customers.

Content Creation Strategies

Content creation should involve the creation of unique social media posts, blogs that can be easily shared on social media and other visual content such as videos, infographics or relevant images. This content should always link back to your website to drive traffic and sales conversions whenever possible. It is important to not overdo it when pitching your products to customers. If you are continually trying to sell, they will likely be turned off by future content updates.

Content Curation Strategies

To successfully provide relevant curated content, a social media manager really only needs to find and share information that they find relevant to their business or the businesses audience. Depending on your business strategies, content curation can also include viral videos or memes to help boost engagement. Determining the proper content curation strategies and the frequency of posts including them takes some trial and error but will benefit your business immensely when determined.

Still Need Assistance with Content Development?

Tags content marketing, search engine optimization, search results, seo, social marketing, social media

Marketing

Building Engagement While Blogging

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date April 21, 2017
No Comments on Building Engagement While Blogging

cloud of words or tags related to web design on a vintage slate blackboard with a chalk and cup of coffee

Over time, it seems like many bloggers have done away with the comment functionality on their posts. Often this stems from the arrival of unwanted spam and advertising comments or a few negative comments that led to a bad experience. However, with the ability to approve comments before they are posted, WordPress can help you be comfortable with the comments being added to your site. Blog engagement comes in a wide variety of forms. However, post sharing through social media or direct comments on your blog posts should be your primary focus.

These two factors can help with indexing and drive consistent traffic to your website. The consistent addition of new comments on your blog, and your responses, can help ensure your pages don’t become stale and remain active. However, unless your content is phenomenal this likely won’t happen on its own. Here are some steps you can take to build engagement while blogging.

Provide Value

To bring traffic to your blog, you will need to ensure that your posts are giving some form of value to your readership. Depending on your business and business practices, this could be humor or just standard posts that strengthen your products and industry. By giving your readers value, they will be more likely to interact with your information.

Focus on Originality

If you are taking your blog ideas from other websites, hundreds to thousands of other people are as well. This can bury your posts in the search rankings and harm the exposure your website is receiving. To remedy this, flex your creative muscles and think of fresh, new content that others will want to share.

Provide a Call to Action

One of the easiest ways to build direct engagement on your blog is to ask readers to participate. Give them questions inside of the body of the content that will make them likely to respond. However, make sure you respond to each comment, otherwise, readers will have no incentive to continue commenting. This is also a great way to get the pulse of what your readership is looking for in future content.

If you need any help keeping up with your blogging requirements or updating your content, call the content creation experts at Skynet Solutions. We can write interesting, fresh content for any industry or business, as well as handling your social media and other marketing needs. You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

Tags blogging, seo, social marketing, social media

Marketing

Does Social Media Impact SEO?

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date April 7, 2017
No Comments on Does Social Media Impact SEO?

Searching Engine Optimizing SEO Browsing Concept

More and more, social media is solidifying its place as the most prominent activity in terms of time spent online. This has, in turn, led the generation and creation of overwhelming amounts of content that can be consumed by those willing to seek it out. It’s not uncommon for many small business owners to wonder if social media really has an impact on their search engine optimization or the value it can give them.

Direct search engine optimization currently is not part of social media posting. Social media posts are indexed but this doesn’t mean that every social media post is being indexed by Google or other search engines. With the wide amount of content being created, it would quickly engulf search results, making traditional search results buried in social media posts. In most cases, bots are unable to judge the credibility of the content or author of social media posts, making them less likely to be indexed. Social media does have a more indirect impact on SEO than you may have realized.

Social media platforms are an excellent source for both links and link sharing. This can benefit traditional websites by providing a conduit to their existing website for many individuals at any given time. Branding content can also be shared, making search result rankings higher in the long term. Search has become a prominent focus on social media channels in recent years.

For example, with Twitter users can add hashtags to their post which are then easily searched. Other content that is indexed includes keywords, images and other similar content. Even though social media platforms don’t have a direct impact on SEO for business owners, it is important to realize the positive benefits that can be achieved by remaining active on social media. By providing interesting and relevant content that can easily be shared, websites owners can expect more traffic than they would receive without social media platforms. Optimizing your pages can further benefit your business.

Tags seo, social marketing, social media, socialmedia

Marketing

How Can You Drive Social Media Sales?

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date March 24, 2017
No Comments on How Can You Drive Social Media Sales?

Social media collage with icons background. Vector illustration

Small business owners have a wide variety of outlets to get the word out about their products. However, social media can often be the most impactful FREE outlet for promoting your products or services. Most small business owners will mistakenly invest little time in their social media accounts. It can be hard to determine the return on investment that small business owners receive from social media. For this reason, many factors must be considered to ensure your customers are receiving proper incentive to purchase your products or services. Growing your social media audience is the target goal to help drive individuals ready to purchase to your websites.

Seek Out Intent

Social media outlets are hotbeds of potential customers seeking product recommendations to suit a particular need they may have. With the help of a social media manager or agency, small business owners can seek out customers on an individual basis that may require their products of services. One report found that social selling generates 40% more qualified leads than cold calling.

Competitive Monitoring

By utilizing an agency, small business owners can gain insights into how their competitors are growing and making mistakes. This can be pivotal in determining how to proceed with the goals of your small business. Monitoring your competitors can also provide a deep understanding of your customer base and customers you potentially are missing.

Focus on Customer Service

In the modern digital world, reviews and customer recommendations are key. By promoting superior customer service, small business owners can benefit not only from word of mouth referrals but digital referrals through positive reviews. Modern social media communication makes it possible for customers, or potential customers, to voice their concerns in real-time, regardless of the time.

Proactive Lead Research

A great social media manager understands the value of empathy and the power of insights. By having a dedicated social media manager, you are more prepared to identify your customer base on social media and effectively sell to them. Monitoring industry trends and the habits of your customer base can help build a stronger case for bolstering sales in the long term.

Utilize Content Marketing

It is important to have a strong content strategy that aligns with your businesses desired outcome to ensure your end goals are achieved. Many studies have shown that consumers are 90% of the way through their research before ultimately settling on their chosen product or service, making it difficult to influence their decision. Utilizing influencers can help turn a company push into an individual push.

Tags sales, social marketing, social media, socialmedia

Marketing

What Are the Best Practices for Social Media in Business?

Post author By Skynet Solutions
Post date March 17, 2017
No Comments on What Are the Best Practices for Social Media in Business?

Hashtag speech bubble sign icon. Social media symbol. Colored round buttons. Flat design circle icons set. Vector

It is important to define how you want to leverage social media for your business before utilizing the services of an outsourced social media manager. Establishing objectives that are trackable and measurable are pivotal in creating winning strategies. These goals should be flexible to allow for pivoting when strategies need to be changed. It is also important to ensure your social media goals focus on a specific strategic goal. This can be as simple as collecting user engagement metrics or pushing potential customers to your website to drive sales. Depending on your personal business goals, these best practices should be considered:

Leverage the Right Social Media Networks

Social media is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Many businesses will attempt to utilize multiple social media accounts and only see success on individual social media platforms. Use your target customer base and their online behavior to determine the social media platforms that best work for your products or services.

Brand Your Profiles

One of the most important steps in creating a social media profile is branding each account to ensure a consistent user experience. With the help of an agency, you can ensure each of your social media profiles exemplifies your brand while sharing common, yet effective, posts. This can help build stronger brand awareness and, in turn, brand loyalty.

Focus on Quality, not Quantity

Quality posts will always be more beneficial than excessive posts that may turn off your customers in the long term. A good social media mix will include promotional posts, thoughtful posts and posts that drive engagement. By utilizing social media management through an agency, your posts will be tracked monthly to determine which posts were most effective and then tailor your social media efforts to that data.

Monitor Metrics

By utilizing social media management through a firm, you can rest easy knowing your metrics are consistently being tracked. By analyzing your social media analytics on a weekly basis, an agency can determine the best methods of driving engagement for your profiles. With tools like HootSuite and Google Analytics, you can be sure your best interests are in mind.

Patience is a Virtue

Building a loyal following on social media platforms doesn’t happen overnight. It can take time to effectively analyze your customer base and accurately target their needs. With consistency and patience, you will be more likely to achieve social media goals.

Tags social marketing, social media, socialmedia

Services

Support

Additional