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Marketing

Using Snapchat for Businesses

Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia 9th April 2015,Released in September 2011, Snapchat is popular a photo messaging application.

Snapchat has surpassed 100 million daily active users that send 400 million snaps each day, making it one of the fastest-growing social networks currently. With the average age of Snapchat users ranging from 18 to 34, this may be a target demographic that some businesses are struggling to hit. If a business is interested in using Snapchat, there are several different uses for Snapchat that can be utilized to help ensure growth.

While offering direct messaging, the most viewed content on Snapchat is released through Snapchat stories. This combination of pictures and video are available 24 hours and can be watched repeatedly by Snapchat users. With Snapchat’s native features, including text, emojis and filters, creating interesting content is as easy as a swipe of the finger.

Inside Looks

Consumers who follow a business on Snapchat can often get an inside look at the business. This is an excellent way to create a bond and sense of inclusion that strengthens brand loyalty. By offering real-time snaps during an event or previewing upcoming products, Snapchat offers unique insight to your followers.

Contests and Promotions

Snapchat stories offer a unique opportunity to show content sequentially in the order it was posted to create one story. This can be utilized to add a promotion or discount at the end of the story to ensure that consumers are exposed to content that is presented. By offering this at the end of the story, consumers are more inclined to watch the story in its entirety.

Behind the Scenes

Showing off a company’s facilities and enhancing the image of a company is easy with Snapchat. By providing behind-the-scenes content to followers, they have a direct look at the company culture. By showcasing work parties, warehouse operations and production techniques, companies can show why they are different from competitors.

If your business is in need of a professional, functional website with the ease of use customers will appreciate, call us today or contact us through our online form! You can fill out our contact form to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

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Marketing

Boosting Social Media Engagement

icons of consumers or users online in social media, shopping - vector graphic. This graphic also represents social media communication, internet shopping, web chat, social networking & interaction

Maintaining consistent engagement on social media platforms can be a challenge. The average consumer lives on social media platforms and constantly have access to their accounts at any moment throughout the day. Nearly everyone is on social media these days, even competitors, so unique meaningful content is needed to gain the upper hand. Luckily there are several steps you can take to boost social media engagement. Use Hashtags Hashtags create a searchable index for your social media posts. If an individual conducts a search for that hashtag, a personal post that includes it will be available to view. Be creative with hashtags but don’t over-do them, otherwise, the content will be lost in a sea of other posts. Utilize Visual Elements When social media users scroll through post upon post, visual elements are usually the item that makes them stop to read content. With the amount of text-based content posted every minute on social media, adding visual elements can help posts become unique. Include Tags and Mentions Tags and mentions can help notify high profile users that you are talking about them, this can lead to engagement if they repost or share the post to their own social media accounts. It is better to create unique posts to make it seem more personal to the mentioned person that are sent on different days. Ask Questions Asking creative questions will undoubtedly help encourage engagement. Make the questions relative to the brand to maintain a cohesive message. For instance, if you are a nutritional supplement company, use an image of various gym equipment and ask how they would create a workout program based on those particular elements. If you are struggling with your social media engagement and content strategies, Skynet Solutions can help you succeed in this growing medium. Call our contact us through our online form to easily solidify your place in the social media realm!

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Marketing

Social Media Impacts on Businesses

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Alushta, Russia - October 28, 2014: Woman holding a iPhone 6 Space Gray with social networking service Instagram on the screen. iPhone 6 was created and developed by the Apple inc.

Businesses can use social media to accomplish a wide variety of objectives within the organization. This powerful, constantly developing medium can help small businesses create a communication platform to efficient market their products and services and build relationships with customers to expand their reach. Large businesses can use social media as an effective means of intimate public relations and information dissemination. Building Customer Relationships Utilizing social media allows a business to strengthen its relationships with their consumer base. The greater the engagement a business sees, the greater the impact on sales. By having real-time contact opportunities available at any time, customers are able to express their opinions and needs to a company to allow more informed decisions. This can be used as a great tool for market research as well! Customer Retention If a social media user currently follows a brand, it would be likely they are prone to buying that brand’s products. By creating a positive façade on social media a company can create loyalty with their consumer base. This will also allow customers to share your company with their friends to further increase sales. Product Marketing Social media provides a free and real-time opportunity to expose potential customers to the products or services offered by a business. For every follower you have on a social media platform, you could potentially be receiving one imprint of that product with each. Public Relations For larger companies, dispersing information and having it be well-received by a media outlet is tricky. With social media platforms, you are in control of what information gets released and the exact timing. When dealing with corporate news timing can be crucial. Social media can be an effective outlet for sharing a unique message in the tone intended with the proper timing! If you are struggling with your social media content and outreach strategies, Skynet Solutions can help you succeed in this growing medium. Call our contact us through our online form to easily solidify your place in the social media realm!

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Marketing

Building an Online Presence

The perfect website that exhibits the personality of your brand has been built and filled with content reflecting your mission statement. Products or services you offer have been listed and are ripe for customers to begin utilizing them. However, without building an online presence, even the best startup company or website will remain in obscurity. Building an online presence can take time and dedication. It is rare that a product or brand will become an overnight success and many take years forming relationships with customers and building their image before they achieve success. With a few simple steps and persistence, brand and website owners can ensure they are on the correct path to success. Provide Valuable Content If a website cycles the same content over and over (I.e. products or services) and never adds new content to the site or related outlets, what is enticing clients to return to the site or new clients to check it out? The addition of a blog, podcast or video updates can provide consistent, new content across several mediums. Utilize Social Media Social media has made it easier than ever to connect with a target audience. In the past, businesses were less accessible to the general public. With social media consumers have the ability to voice their concerns, good or bad, about products. Social media platforms allow a broad reach with minimal effort; however, choosing social media platforms that fit your business and marketing model is key. The biggest draw for businesses to adapt to and utilize social media is that companies have the ability to humanize themselves and meet with people on an individual level. Consistency on social media channels through regular posting and replying to individual and community concerns can be the most helpful component in establishing an online presence. Track Progress By tracking website stats and social media engagement, businesses have the ability to see what works for their specific needs. With most social media platforms, tracking is done painlessly for you. Following website analytics and determining what has created peaks of consumer activity is invaluable for growing and maintaining an online presence.

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Marketing

It’s 2016 Do I Even Need a Website?

It’s 2016 Do I  Even Need a Website?   Many small businesses believe a Facebook page or other online profile is sufficient and there for no real reason exists to invest in an individual website. With all the misinformation and scam artist in the “Web” industry, it is easy to see how one would arrive at this conclusion. The reality is, that it is more important than ever for organizations, especially small business, to have their own website. Did you know that recent case studies have revealed a 20% reduction in the average adult attention span since the year 2000? Bear with me, in order to explain we need to create a little back story so the explanation makes since. Imagine that Sunshine Furniture is a local furniture store. Sunshine Furniture does not have a website instead they have a Facebook Business Page. The owner has reasoned that since they did not waste the money on a website they can in turn invest in regular updates/posts to their Facebook profile. Now that you understand Sunshine Furniture’s marketing tactics, let’s imagine that you happen to be in the market for a comfortable new rocking chair. While on Facebook looking at new photos recently posted by someone in the family you happen to notice a recent post announcing a, what looks to be, huge sale at Sunshine Furniture on their rocking chairs. We all know how quickly the Facebook feed updates so at that moment you have to make a choice, make a note to visit Sunshine Furniture or click on the post to find more information. Since how Sunshine Furniture does not have a website when you click on the post you are taken to a page within their Facebook profile. Now you are looking at the event page for the sale and receive a new notification “You are now eligible to move to the next level of Candy Crush”, remember the thing I mentioned earlier about reduced attention span… that’s right boom you’re off working hard to stay ahead of your friends on Candy Crush. At some point in the future you are going to remember you had seen an ad somewhere regarding rocking chairs on sale, even if you remember it was on Facebook the post is now long gone. If Sunshine Furniture had invested in a website the sale, would likely have been posted on the website. Then upon clicking on the Facebook post you would have been directed to their website allowing you to focus for just a few short minutes on exactly what was on sale and whether or not you needed to check out the sale in person. Since Sunshine Furniture controls the website they can in turn control the environment and rest assured that there will be no popup notifications within that few minutes and you will be able to receive the full message they are wanting to communicate.   Conclusion: there is no “silver bullet” when it comes to maximizing your online presence, instead there are many puzzle pieces that need to play together in order to maximize the desired result. A website is most definitely an important puzzle piece as it is the ONLY online asset where an organization can insure that there are as few distractions as possible while trying to communicate a message to their audience.

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Marketing

Skynet Solutions Recieves Congressional Commendation

The team at Skynet Solutions was recently honored with a Congressional Commendation by U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine, in recognition of all the work we have been doing to educate, enhance and strengthen the small business community in Oklahoma. A Congressional Commendation is awarded by a member of Congress to officially recognize outstanding public achievement by those in their districts. One of the most rewarding parts of being an official Google Partner is all the events we get to host and speak at where Skynet Solutions marketing experts get to share their knowledge and interact with other local businesses.

Here at Skynet Solutions, we love being a part of the small business community and using our skills to help other local entrepreneurs succeed as well. Since fall 2015, we have been hosting and participating in “GYBO” (Get Your Business Online) seminars throughout Oklahoma to help small business owners get their businesses online. Thanks to our partners at Google, the REI Women’s Business Center, the Tulsa chapter of SCORE, area chambers of commerce and others, we have been able to help dozens of local business—like yours—improve their online presence in a variety of ways!

We’ve hosted workshops across the state, from Ponca City to Stillwater and Muskogee to Bartlesville and have covered topics ranging from how to use Google Analytics effectively to what S.E.O. is and how you can use it to amplify your business’ online presence. We also covered and held entire workshops dedicated to helping business owners get their business listed on Google Maps and other maps listing services, like Bing and Apple, and other effective tactics to make sure potential customers are able to easily find their business online. We have found maps listings to be one of the most effective ways to help a small, local business grow.

Skynet Solutions also recently co-hosted a special event in May to celebrate and promote National Small Business Week. Along with Tulsa SCORE, we created and hosted the inaugural SCORE Small Business Summit Tulsa, which brought together about 100 mentors, business experts and entrepreneurs from around the region to network and discuss all aspects of starting, owning and running a small business. Speakers from The Small Business Administration, Constant Contact, Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, the Tulsa chapter of SCORE, Skynet Solutions, REI Women’s Business Center and other local and regional institutions discussed everything from email marketing and small business taxes to bookkeeping for small businesses and social media marketing.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of a robust and up to date online presence for a local business; 50 percent of all mobile searches are conducted in hopes of finding local results, and 61 percent of those searches result in a purchase, according to Search Engine Watch. In addition to that, 56 percent of mobile searches are from users seeking local information, like business hours, directions or a physical address for your store—which is why maps listings are so critical. If your business can’t be easily found online, customers are going to go elsewhere. You also have to make sure your business website is mobile friendly.

With the majority of internet searches originating from mobile devices, not desktops or laptops, according to Google, the majority of people who end up on your business’ website are going to get there from a mobile search. The majority of customers believe it is easier to find information on a mobile-optimized site and 48 percent of people who visit a site that’s not friendly feel that the company doesn’t care about their business. That’s definitely not the impression you want to give off to your valued customers!

To learn more about all of the educational small business-focused events that Skynet Solutions participates in and hosts, you can keep up with our blog, follow us on social media or give us a call. In the meantime, you can always get in touch with the experts at Skynet Solutions for help with your online business listing, website development, social media marketing 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 2016 your business’ best year yet. You can fill out our online contact form on our website to get started today. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn!

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