Tag Archive for: Content Marketing

The 5 Most Important Things About Your Brand

First Impressions

No one gets a second first impression. This is true in all kinds of different relationships, but especially in business. With only a few seconds to connect with users, companies need to deliver a clear and concise message to consumers.

Start by asking what a potential customer might think the very first time that they interact with your brand. In every aspect of your company from a Facebook post to the website home page, you need to ensure that you are communicating your brand effectively.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization is a very serious topic when it comes to how customers are reaching you. Not only does enhanced SEO help drive traffic and awareness, but it can also heavily impact the user’s overall experience with your brand.

For instance, if a potential client goes to your website but can’t figure out how to navigate through the pages, then you have a problem. This kind of issue can prevent them from learning more about your company or even reaching out through phone or email.

Social Media

10 years ago it is unlikely that anyone could have predicted that there would be a need for such a thing as a “social media manager”. Times have certainly changed. In today’s digitally driven environment, social media plays a very important role in brand recognition.

According to Statista, 70% of the population in the U.S. has at least one active social media account. That means that if your brand is not utilizing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other major platforms, then it is severely limiting itself.

Content

Content is the incredible piece of the puzzle that brings everything else together. It shows what you have to offer and how you can help your customers across all kinds of digital mediums.

The best way to utilize your brand’s content is to link it all together. Drive every click, tweet, and post back to your website. This allows users browsing Facebook to easily pop over to your website and take a look at your amazing products and services.

Data Measurement and Analysis

No matter how well your business is doing, it is near impossible to realize just how well things are going without some type of measurement. Simple tools like Google Analytics can go a long way in helping your brand succeed.

By taking a look behind the scenes, you can start to get some real answers. Have a sudden uptick in conversions? Try taking a look at how much content you generated, or how well your company ranks on the first few pages of Google search results. Once you can solve the mystery as to why good or bad things are happening, you can take action to make better choices for your brand.

Run a Free Scan of Your Business Today

Get started on improving your company with a brand audit from Onimod Global. See just how well your business ranks on search engines, important local directories, and the top review sites. To see your brand’s overall visibility on the internet CLICK HERE.

Content Marketing Tips: How to Use Live Video to Build Your Brand

In this video, Entrepreneur Network partner Salma Jafri discusses how just how important live video is in 2017.

Live video is a great to maintain a two-way conversation with your audience — something you simply can’t do when you’re reading a script — and major social networks are taking note. Snapchat is now a multi-billion-dollar company with live news feeds, Twitter has invested heavily in Periscope, and Facebook is pushing its own live feeds. So, get on board now and learn how to use this tool in 2017, because it’s going to be bigger than ever.

Social Media Marketing Tips for the Fall and Holiday Season

October begins the holiday season for businesses and marketers. You should embrace the new seasons and holidays as part of your social media marketing strategy. The seasons are a perfect time to produce relevant content that revolves around current situations all your customers and prospects are currently in. Holiday shopping begins before Halloween for 20 to 40% of all consumers. The fall season is a very busy time for people to be searching the internet and browsing social media for Halloween costume ideas, fall recipes, fall decorating ideas and crafts, the list is almost endless. It’s important your business has a strong online presence during this pivotal time to take advantage of a large audience. Below are some marketing tips for your business to implement this holiday season:

1. Profile background to match the season
Consider customizing your social media profiles for the holidays. Your online presence should reflect the current season your business is experiencing. Showing an updated and current online presence will build up the credibility for your business in the eyes of the consumers. An idea could be to promote a specific product or service your business offers that would interest viewers the most during the specific holiday or season your currently in. Include an image of this on your social media background along with a theme to match the holiday or season. For instance, a jewelry store could highlight a couple seasonal jewelry pieces they sell on their social media background along with any seasonal specials.

2. Search for relevant hashtags to use during the season and implement them into your content strategy and editorial calendar
See what holiday or seasonal hashtags are being commonly used and see if your business can relate to it or if it caters to your customer’s lifestyle. Craft social media posts with the relevant hashtags a couple times a week to increase the reach of your messages. You could also make a special hashtag for your business that’s relevant each year the holiday season approaches. It will help keep the conversation going. For instance you could use your brand name followed by gift idea, like this #BrandnameHolidayGiftIdeas to showcase your products and services. Some other relevant hashtags could be #HolidaySavings and #HolidayDeals.

3. Write a blog posts that relevant to the season and your business
Look for opportunities to use seasonal topics and traditions to engage your audience in a timely and relevant way. This can humanize your business and help customers connect with you in a whole new way. For example, Napoleon Perdis, a popular makeup brand, created a series of “How To” tutorials demonstrating how a customer could apply Napoleon Perdis makeup to create classic Halloween looks.

4. Share social media posts relevant to the season
Showcasing what you have in common with your audience is a great way for your brand to humanize it’s image and strengthened your relationship with your current and future clients. Share tips relevant to the season like Gibson Air did with this tweet “Fall Energy Saving Tip: turn fans clockwise in the fall to force warm air down, improving the energy efficiency of your home” During the fall season HVAC companies should provide tips that relate to heating and preparing for the winter season. A jewelry store could highlight seasonal jewelry fashion trends in their social posts. Always keeping up with the trends will allow customers to see you as a credible information provider that’s always up-to-date and cares about delivering the freshest content to viewers. This will encourage customers to engage and search out information from your business.

5. Create a Pinterest board revolving around the holiday
Pinterest is a great source of traffic and a great way to increase the reach of your messages. During the holiday season people are searching Pinterest for specific holiday or seasonal ideas, tips and gifts. This is a great opportunity for you to develop a special holiday Pinterest board to increase your reach and visibility online. If you are an HVAC company you could create a Pinterest board titled “Fall Décor Ideas” where you would share fall décor ideas for homes. You would be providing content that’s relevant to your customer’s lifestyle, your business and the current season which is always a win-win situation.

6. Create a social contest revolving around the holiday or season
Giveaways are a great way to create exposure and a buzz around your product, service or brand. A contest that matched the season would be a strategic way to capitalize on a trending topic. For example, TomTom launched a holiday-themed sweepstakes giveaway and called it “TomTom’s 12 Days of Giveaways”. Create a special Facebook tab for your contest to further capture data to further analyze to develop social media strategy. Make a contest that requires users to enter an email, to help build up your email list so you can update subscribers on future contests, promotions and announcements. In fact 55% of brands use email as their number one holiday marketing channel (Accenture)

7. Create a special YouTube playlist revolving around a seasonal or holiday topic
You can create your specific playlists on your YouTube channel to feature videos that has information your customers may be searching online during a particular season or holiday. For example Travel Channel is featuring a “Fall in Finger Lakes” playlist on their YouTube channel during October and features the best attractions to experience during the fall in New York’s Finger Lakes region.

fall season social media marketing tips for YouTube

8. Implement event marketing and host a holiday themed event, that’s promoted on social media
Events are a great way to interact with your customers and to increase your exposure. Social media can further the experience of your events in many ways. You could create a special hashtag to create a conversation around your event and promote it on your social profiles. You should also develop photo albums on your social networks to share photos of the event. A holiday or seasonal themed event shows your customers and your community your fun and creative side.

9. Create seasonal specials and coupons
If you’re looking to boost engagement, offering coupons and discounts are one of your best options. Try developing a seasonal special that you can offer each year to keep customers coming back. Share these specials in social media posts to increase your reach.

Use these marketing tips and ideas to make the most of the spike in holiday traffic and spending, and create a positive impression of your small business that will last long into next year.

H/T: Toni Corsini