Social media marketing has become recognized as a normal part of every modern marketing campaign. For many businesses, this can present a unique challenge, as the traditional approach to marketing does not work in the online environment. Though Facebook has been universally accepted as useful to businesses, many entrepreneurs underestimate the influence Instagram can have on the everyday marketing efforts of their business. [Read more…]
For the modern business owner, Google can seem like your best friend or your worst enemy. Online marketing encompasses a plethora of different categories, and developing a complete marketing strategy can be a daunting task. With so many free resources, many businesses find that Google makes strategy much easier to devise and traffic much easier to monitor. On the other hand, Google constantly makes changes to its search engine index and to the tools that it offers for free, which can make it difficult to stay on top of the newest and best practices. [Read more…]
Companies spend countless dollars on brand management, using online marketing and a variety of other tactics to ensure that they build a strong reputation. Without proper planning, these companies can undergo serious damage from harmful brandjacking if they do not plan for the threat appropriately. Like any challenge in business, the key to combating the threat is first to identify what you are up against. Once that is established, you can fight against it with proper brand management tactics. [Read more…]
(Editor’s note: This is the second installment in our Secret Recipe series. If you missed the first helping of our tips on content marketing greatness, click here.)
Main ingredient alert: We’ve reached the part in the Brandsplat Secret Recipe where we disclose a big, protein-dense tip on successful content marketing. It’s the one that has moved more than one client to accuse us of using slight of hand and other forms of magic to boost their website traffic and conversion rates. (Hey, we’re not above that; if your coven has any tips, please let us know.) But getting more visitors to your site isn’t magic — nor is getting them to offer up their email address for your newsletter or to engage with your company or brand on social media. [Read more…]
Happy Friday! From Facebook pages gone ugly to blunt billboards, we’ve rounded up all the social media marketing, digital branding and online marketing news on a list we call our Five Things You Might Have Missed.
1.) Blogapalooza: Topping our list is a new study from Neilsen that is music to our ears: Blogging is back and bigger than ever. According to Neilsen, blogging is on the rise and the three major platforms — Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr — account for 80 million unique views in October 2011 alone. This is great news for blog writers and blog readers and more proof that if you blog it, they will come.
2.) ‘Sync. Tweet. Save: This brilliant Twitter marketing campaign from AmEx is a game changer. For the first time, the brand will use specially-created hashtags to reward card holders with bonuses. Each time AmEx customers tweet about using their card to buy coffee or get gas, for example, their cards get bonus points. It’s social media savvy meets rewarding customer loyalty.
3.) Pretty Ugly: The unpretty side of social media reared its ugly head this week in a controversial and popular Facebook contest called “The Most Beautiful Teen.” Parents were horrified when news of the page, which calls upon teens to sound off on the appearance of other teenagers, surfaced. Teens being teens, the comments got out of control and Facebook shut down the site — but not before the media hopped on the story at lightening speed.
4.) Hot Dogs in Hot Water: Those rascals from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine are at it again. This time, it’s a billboard that states Hot Dogs Cause Butt Cancer. (Alrighty then.) Sometimes it’s the blunt and simple messages people remember most.
5.) The Fed Tries Twitter: And finally, the Federal Reserve took to Twitter to clear up its much-maligned messages and image. We say bravo, Fed. If Twitter marketing can work for Charlie Sheen, then anything is possible!
There is nothing new about the concept of branding in business, and with the new technologies that pop up each day there are more and more opportunities for a business to work on expanding its brand. Among these opportunities, social media presents an inexpensive and easy way to relay unique messages. With the proper brand management, social media experts are showing businesses how to get their messages directly to the consumer.
The most important place to start with any social branding efforts is to ensure that a compelling brand statement is already in place. And if it doesn’t have the right kind of supporting content, no amount of promotion is going to be effective. Every piece of information shared must be in line with the company’s brand and each piece should demonstrate, directly or indirectly, why that brand is better.
The truth is that you can hire the best social media experts in the world to help with your brand management and get absolutely nowhere if you don’t already have a clearly understood branding statement. You need to know what sets your company apart from the competition, and come up with some creative ways to express that. Once you have the overall strategy in place, your social media manager will be able to get the appropriate content to convey your brand image.
Of course, anyone can get set up on social media, so don’t feel accomplished just because you have a Facebook and Twitter page for your business. For these pages to help with your branding efforts, you must remember that consistency is key. In this case, consistency is not just making sure that everything you post is in line with your brand image, but also that you are consistently posting new content to keep your users engaged.
This is one of the biggest struggles that new businesses face when working to get their message out there, and one of the primary reasons that businesses find their social media presence to be a source of great frustration. The truth is that for someone who does not understand how to use social media channels properly, this type of branding is a waste of time. For those who are engaged with social media, they find that these channels can be one of the easiest and most powerful ways to brand. This is ultimately why so many companies turn to social media experts when it comes time to help with brand management, and why those companies are able to produce such impressive results.
Social media has taken a significant role in the marketing and operation of businesses in the digital age. This influence has been so profound that it has produced an entirely new type of marketing job in the form of a social media marketing specialist. Before hiring anyone to manage the social media for your company, it is important to have a basic understanding of the impact each social media community can have on your marketing efforts. In terms of Facebook for business, the key is to engage customers so that you remain at “top of mind” when the time comes to use your service.
Facebook is more about Branding and Customer Retention, Not Acquisition
It is important to understand when establishing a Facebook presence what your goals are. As any experienced social media marketing specialist can explain, each outlet has different uses in the marketing world, and Facebook is no exception. Many times, people think that if they set up a Facebook account for their company they will magically start getting likes, and their brand will simply explode due to all of the extra exposure. This is unrealistic.
Though Facebook will occasionally lead a customer to your company, and can be quite effective in that regard for certain industries, the simple fact is that the platform is not intended for businesses. However, Facebook can work as a great tool to keep your business on your customers’ radar. By regularly posting updates, your product or service can stay fresh in peoples’ minds.
Your Only Expense is Time
Though there is the option to purchase Facebook ads, which can be very effective, the cornerstone of a successful Facebook marketing strategy does not require any paid advertising. The real keys to success are simple: keep a consistent voice and remain true to your brand, regularly make posts, and engage with customers. If your business is small, you may even be able to devote enough time each day to do this yourself. If you can afford it, you can hire a company to monitor your account and keep your content fresh.
Ultimately, the key to success on Facebook is the same as any other marketing program. You need your message to stay in front of customers, and let them know that your value. By establishing this connection, you can help ensure that your business comes to mind when they need your service.
Does it feel like you’re always hiring another communications person? Depending on the size of your company, you either have one person wearing multiple communications hats (writing press releases, handling social media and SEO, performing public relations work, writing blogs, managing your brand, creating videos… you get the idea) or one or more communications persons per category. Regardless, turnover is a pain (and sometimes crippling). This is why Brandsplat exists — to take on these worries for you and ensure you get consistent, spot-on communications without the headaches of turnover. Our stable of writers and communications consultants stand at the ready to assist you.
Case in point: Last week, we were able to help a client save gobs of money when he needed to replace two employees. Rather than hire another two employees with all the costs of benefits like medical/dental and paid time off, he came to us and was able to hire three of our freelance communications experts part-time AND get more years of experience and service out of the deal.
And don’t forget that turnover costs are largely hidden costs: Lowered productivity, overworked remaining staff, lost knowledge, training costs, interviewing costs, the HR staff that has to recruit your next hire, etc. An article in Inc. Magazine says these costs can run as high as 150 percent of the employee’s annual salary — “significant enough to make retention a high priority for your business.”
We have nothing against companies hiring workers on their payroll. But if you’re tired of hiring someone who’s not exactly what you need and watching them stay only long enough to start really performing before getting hired away, it’s time to consider hiring through Brandsplat. We’re experts at finding, training and retaining great people so that you don’t have to. When you’re ready to outsource your headaches, contact us.