Tag Archives: Small Business

Marketing

Effective Social Media Marketing Starts With A Game Plan

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Social media marketing is simply one of the most powerful methods in turning followers into customers, yet many who manage the accounts for small and large businesses don’t see the potential that is there. In the automotive industry on the dealership level, the lack of commitment, consistency, and even the reluctance to spend on ads are key factors as to why they’re not seeing results. Being conservative on spending for social media marketing is an obstacle that can be worked around, but commitment and consistency go hand-in-hand, and if you don’t have either one, you won’t see lasting results.

The level of involvement to your dealership’s social media marketing is paramount. If you’re not sitting down with the person who manages your accounts quarterly to go over effective strategies and numbers that pertain to traffic, engagement, and leads through Facebook, Instagram, etc, you’ll never see any value in having accounts for your dealership. There needs to be a game plan right from the start where objectives and goals are written down to fully understand why social media is a viable tool in generating online sales. Only then will the content that your dealership is producing and sharing on a daily basis have consistency and coherency on your Facebook timelines.

Facebook is a measuring stick to see how effective and committed you truly are to seeing any results. If you’re noticing a pattern with the content your dealership is promoting, such as lack of variety when it comes to digital media or receiving no engagement, then there needs to be a change. Recently I was going through my timeline and a local dealership showed up in my newsfeed eight times within twelve hours, and as no surprise, not one of the posts achieved greater than two likes, and when taking a closer look they were dealership employees not customers.

It’s this bipolar attitude towards social media where there’s five posts one day, no posts for the next three days, and then eight statuses that are completely irrelevant to customers four days later, it shouldn’t be shocking that dealerships aren’t seeing results. We are living in a time where going a weekday without updating a social media account can be absolutely detrimental, especially if your dealership has integrated digital media into it’s marketing strategy. There needs to be a rhythm and consistency to social media marketing, and once you’re in that groove, the engagement will come.

For 2017 make it a goal to ask these questions. Is our content attracting an audience? If not, why? What is our primary goal with marketing on social media? Are we going to promote our vehicles through third party links that take our audience further away from our webpage, or are we going to create digital content that drives traffic to other social media pages we operate and our website? One important thing to remember, and I see it far too often from dealerships, those articles from Car & Driver or national news websites are driving traffic away from your dealership, which could lead those people down a path that doesn’t return to your Facebook page or website.

The content that is being shared and your commitment and consistency will determine what happens for your dealership this year. Your goal is to sell cars and get people into your showroom, not inform them on winter driving tips and topics that are irrelevant to 90% of your customers. Having a strategy and game plan, similar to what is drawn up for traditional advertising such as billboards, television and radio ads, can be beneficial for your social media marketing strategy. Marketing on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms should be taken seriously, which is why mapping out objectives and goals for your content will be crucial to seeing results this year.

Marketing

Social Media Success Doesn’t Equate To Using All Platforms

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For small business owners, finding the right tone and voice is more important than shouting from the rooftops hoping you’ll reach someone with your message. Small businesses setting up accounts on all social media platforms have been up for debate for quite a while, and depending on who you ask, the answer may vary. Most social media marketers push their clients into using all platforms, when it reality, they’d be better off focusing on one or two social media accounts. Let’s go a little more in-depth on whether being on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms are a necessity, or unnecessary depending on the market your business is in.

Social media and the marketing strategies that come with it, have been well-known for quite some time now. We know that each platform differs, and the users may have different ways of communicating with each other or businesses. With that in mind, before jumping right in, you need a solid strategy that not only has the right tone for the target market you’re trying to reach, but also that your content is appropriate for that platform. Too many small businesses use multiple platforms as if they’re intertwined, but the content that is being shared on Facebook, may not get noticed on Twitter and vice-versa.

Facebook should always be at the cornerstone of your social media marketing. The platform has essentially become an extension of your website as your posts can be perceived as mini blog posts or updates that were once specifically shared on web addresses or by email. Facebook’s ad campaign tools and boosting posts you’ve shared, will help attract new customers and followers. While it’s unfortunate that to achieve engagement from potential customers for followers requires an investment of cash, it’s better to spend money on a platform that works, than putting money into Twitter or Instagram that don’t yield a high ROI despite what social media marketers want you to believe.

Instagram goes hand-in-hand with Facebook as the photo content oriented platform is a subsidiary of Facebook. Pictures you share can be directly posted to Facebook, making content multi-platform friendly. Twitter on the other hand makes it difficult, as the photo that gets shared is formatted as a link. This is just one of the meany disadvantages of Twitter, which I’ll get into later.

Many small businesses thrive on Instagram because hashtags make reaching people simple. Without even spending a dollar, your following numbers can increase just by content alone, and since Instagram doesn’t limit businesses in terms of engagement, you can follow, comment, and like your potential customers’ photos which ads another level to your marketing; being personal. Instagram, more than other platforms, truly is business-friendly. Time more so than money should be invested, as paying for followers gets you fake accounts or people who don’t live in the United States. All this achieves is the perception of having a large consumer base, but in realty it’s deception that doesn’t persuade customers to buy from your online store at the end of the day.

Twitter is one of those platforms where it either works for your business or doesn’t. Small businesses that offer services have the best success because they’re more likely to use content that involves articles or written content. Twitter is a social media marketer’s paradise as many corporate businesses and entrepreneurs who aren’t in retail use the platform daily. The marketers also can write concise tweets that share their knowledge, and with so many social media gurus rising on the platform, their posts can go viral. With all that said, Twitter’s real value became apparent during this past election season as we finally saw what market thrives off small blurbs of information along with a link to articles.

Media, whether mainstream or alternative enjoyed Twitter’s journalist-friendly forum. News could go viral very quickly, and with the platform being wide open with very limited private accounts, articles, tweets, and pictures would reach thousands, if not millions in a matter of minutes. The last few months proved that businesses would see better results if Twitter became their news platform, while Facebook and Instagram attracted customers through the use of eye popping content.

Each platform offers different tools, advantages, disadvantages, and audiences. Your business’ success hinges upon the tone you use, along with the segment you’re in, and the content that is created based on who your target market is. If articles and written content make up a large percentage of your marketing efforts, Twitter has to be the first platform you use. If you’re into retail, look no further than Facebook and Instagram. Both social media platforms give small businesses the ability to reach thousands of potential customers of all ages, and through the use of picture and text content, you’ll attract to clients and customers, with or without spending money, depending on whether you’re heavily engaged with Facebook as opposed to Instagram where time and content prevail.

Remember, just because one or two platforms make up 100% of your social media marketing, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t experiment with new social media apps that will be released in 2017. Find the right voice and tone, and if your target market is on these platforms, go hard with content and marketing. Experimentation may lead to success, but if not, it’s always important to keep trying. The market is changing everyday, and it’s up to you to stay one step ahead of your customers.

Marketing

Not Putting Effort Into Social Media Marketing Is How Your Voice Gets Silenced

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When we talk about social media, our first thought that comes to mind is the platforms we use daily to communicate with friends and family. We also think of how we use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to talk about ourselves, our accomplishments, taking pictures of the places we go, and sometimes the people we meet. It’s this initial reaction we get when we hear the words “social media” that distorts many social media managers who are using corporate and small business social media accounts incorrectly. As a result the company’s, and even the person who is branding himself, gets drowned out by the noise around them.

Social media is a public forum with millions of voices and conversations, with some dominating the entire platform if world or market trends are affecting a wide swath of people. It’s within this forum that you must become a contributor to a conversation, or gain a voice that influences many in your market or the topic that is most being talked about. In business related terms, there are plenty of competitors fighting to have their voices heard, and they’ll commit money to ad campaigns, spend hours on platforms engaging with potential customers, or put forth a lot of effort to post compelling content that grabs people’s attentions.

Right now, few are crushing the competition while others are having difficulty in finding an identity on social media, and for a large group, even quitting social media altogether because the manager behind these accounts, is ill-prepared to take on the challenge of growing a following. In some cases, small business owners who run their own social media accounts, fare much better than those who have an employee who clearly isn’t used to using social media professionally. This is because a solo entrepreneur has the passion and hunger for knowledge, not only of their business, but of their local market. But for bigger businesses that were either established before the social media era, or have multiple employees, a breakdown in marketing occurs, which results in abandoned or poorly managed Facebook pages and Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The lack of effort that is put forth by these social media managers, whether that be caused from that role not being the primary role of the employee within the company, or lack of knowledge on how social media marketing works, is detrimental to the company and a complete waste of money for the business.

Effective social media marketing goes beyond spending money on ad campaigns or simply posting content every week. You must dive in and engage with your target market and become part of the conversation. This can be achieved multiple ways. Instagram allows companies to like and comment on any person’s photos. If that person is in your market, like and follow them, and if you want to go the extra mile, comment on their photo with a personal message without hard selling your products or services to them. Twitter, much like Instagram is another open forum, but you can retweet their posts and photos, along with following and liking their content. Your ability to strike up a conversation with your target market is effortless, but you have to be willing to search for these conversations and people who would benefit from your products or services.

Facebook is by far the more difficult of major social media platforms to engage in a conversation. You must invest in ads, whether that be campaigns or boosting posts you’ve shared. The content must be compelling, and any lack of effort will make your ads ineffective. Once you start acquiring followers on Facebook, you must keep them coming back for more. If you’re not willing to put in effort to continue posting great content, they’ll leave.

While we live in a time where people have short attention spans, social media does bring a unique opportunity to attract customers or followers to come back for more. Almost like feeding pigeons in a park, when you run out of bread, they’ll fly to a new location where someone else is feeding them exactly what they want. Never run out of bread, or you’ll be all alone with absolutely no attention. Your social media marketing effort not only reflects upon you, but your company, and if your effort disappears, so will your sales.

Social media is so important, and if you, or your employee managing your pages is having the company’s voice drowned out by competitors, it will be time for a change in strategy and possibly personal. Put forth the effort, and you’ll reap what you sow.

Business, Marketing

With Social Media’s Existence, Are Email Subscriptions Even Necessary?

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2017 is the start of a new beginning for many, including business owners, bloggers, influencers, and people who have a desire to further their physical development. In the technological and business realm, the ways in which we acquire customers changes with the new year as new and innovative ideas moves markets into a different direction for the better. Almost 20 years into the new millennium there are still businesses and old school entrepreneurs who try acquiring customers the old fashioned way, and email subscriptions could very well be the next causality of the social media age that many who live in the past still use today.

First, let’s understand why email subscriptions were so effective in the 90’s and early 2000’s. When the Internet was relatively young, email was the Facebook of it’s time. You could contact friends and family and companies that had your email from past purchases could promote coupons and sale events that you’d be interested in. Since email was the most widely used way of communication on the Internet, email click rates were very high for small businesses and large corporations because that’s where their customers were.

For the early day bloggers and influencers who were constantly writing articles, an email subscription list was very beneficial. Not only could subscribers get the latest updates sent straight to their email accounts, but the administrator of the website that was sharing content could also promote webinars or selling some form of software that his or her subscribers would have interest in viewing or purchasing.

Fast forward to a decade and a half later and social media is now the most used form of communication, whether it be for personal or business use. Social media’s emergence was the death of email marketing and subscriptions for many reasons, with the most obvious one being that customers’ attentions were no longer on email and the click rates reflected that. Myspace and Facebook made communication with friends and family more convenient, Twitter changed how we get news, consume content, interact with businesses, sports teams, and other people who share our interests, and Instagram gave people the ability to communicate their lives through pictures.

The end of email’s dominance was inevitable, and now email subscriptions face the same fate. If you look at marketers who made a living off email subscription lists and compare them back then to where they are now, most if not all who stressed the importance of email marketing are irrelevant at best. They failed to transition to social media, and as a result they were left behind.

As a small business owner and someone who created accounts and websites for hobbies I really enjoy, email subscriptions wasn’t even an option. When my content, whether it be on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook reaches my current and future customers, there’s no point in emphasizing email marketing. Click through rates are high, and 99% of traffic on all the websites I manage, including my business, come through social media, there’s no reason to explore abandoned avenues that consumers left behind many years ago.

Having followers is the modern day replacement for an email subscription list, especially with the use of direct and private messaging. Many customers of mine contacted my business through direct message before purchasing, and it’s that depth of connecting on a personal level that makes social media much more effective than email.

We’re living through a technological and marketing revolution. There’s no telling exactly where we’ll be in terms of business and reaching customers 3-5 years down the road, but one thing is for sure, with each passing day another old and decaying form of marketing is dying. It’s up to all of us to keep up with the times and our customers, or we’ll all be left behind wondering what could have been had we paid attention to where our customers were spending the most time.

Business, Economy, Marketing

Instagram Has Become A Consumer-Friendly Platform: Which Is Good News

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Three years ago, what was Instagram and Pinterest? What value did they bring to the consumer, and were they worth the devoted attention by marketers? Some would argue that Facebook was and is currently the primary focus, and that it should be. However, has Facebook reached a point where not only the advertising has lost its effectiveness, but that, combined with Facebook’s evolution to becoming the platform to discuss social, political, and religious issues has pushed consumers to other platforms? Absolutely. There has been a major shift to Twitter and Instagram, and with that brings bigger and better marketing opportunities for businesses both big and small.

What makes Instagram so different is that the picture is what draws people in, not the written text below. Hard selling is very difficult as putting out quality, native content is a number one priority that will make more of an impact due to great visual posts. On Instagram, the consumers come to you. By effectively using hashtags, you’re drawing customers in, but the ball is in their court, not yours. They have the power to choose whether they’ll follow and consume what you sell, and they’re the ones that are engaging with you, rather than you engaging with them. Facebook has become a push platform, where Instagram is at it’s best when you’re attracting customers.

Companies are now promoting their products with the use of great content, and in-turn, are now getting inquiries about prices and services by serious consumers. On Facebook, it’s become rare to see customers engage with companies in such an open manner, unless those companies are very friendly, open, and direct through the use of their content. Small businesses ranging from selling t-shirts to car services, are seeing results through the content they share. Visualization is key. The better the picture, the more engagement.

Instagram is also a platform where it’s a must to update on a regular basis; four, five, sometimes even six pictures a day aren’t enough. But it should be noted that you have a clear strategy when it comes to the distribution of your content as certain hours of the day work better than others. To some degree, Pinterest has a lot to do with Instagram’s growth and maturity as a social media marketing platform. Pinterest is essentially the visualized version of eBay and Amazon, and through that, a great quality of content has now shifted to Instagram.

Consumers have a desire to become “friends” with companies, and build a connection through the use of content. At the rate Facebook is going, advertisements along with boring content is repelling customers, which may eventually lead to Facebook becoming valueless to businesses in terms of selling products in mass volumes. Right now Instagram is one of the hottest social media platforms out there, and it would be a mistake to not use it to your company’s advantage.

Prepare to put out great content and engage with your followers. Social media is changing, and Instagram’s current setup is the direction social media marketing is heading. Visualization will be key to selling anything, so it’s time to make the switch and focus on other platforms that aren’t named Facebook.

Business, Economy, Marketing

Your Specialty Is What Creates Value For Others

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Value Unused = Waste
Kevin Krejci / Foter / CC BY

It’s safe to say that one point in your life you’ve asked yourself “Where do I fit in?” This question can pertain to a sports team, group project, or the business strategy you put in place before acquiring clients. It might also be safe to say that you’ve tried mirroring either a peer or other business to try fitting in and replicating what they do because they’re successful in that particular area. Usually the results weren’t what you had hoped, and that’s because you weren’t utilizing your own strengths, skills, or that one intangible asset your friend or business across town didn’t have.

By not using your strengths, you’re not only hurting yourself, but others around you who could have benefitted from your skills and specialty. Your strengths are what creates value for your clients, co-workers, and friends around you.

Having been in the sports journalism industry, it can be very hard to outshine other writers and get noticed by a wide range of viewers. By trying to be like other writers, posting the same type of content, writing a post-game article that fans could read from a number of different writers, and not putting your own informative input out on the web, will surely make your content invisible. You must find your specialty or niche that not many, if any are writing about, but you know there is a target audience that will benefit and enjoy reading your unique content that they can’t get anywhere else. Whether it’s discussing player performance, what different sets of plays a team runs throughout the game, what worked or didn’t work for the team, are just a few ways to enter into what appears as a saturated sports journalism market.

In business, you’ll find yourself dealing with the same scenario. What can you do that gets you noticed, acquire clients, and provide value to your customers? Is there a market in the industry that your business is a part of that rival companies aren’t serving to a target group that you can be successful in? With laptops and iPads making home computers and desktops obsolete, there are still many small businesses that use desktop computers in the office. If you have a computer repair business, you have a niche market that still needs servicing but is slowly being forgotten about. Or, if your a software and technology consultant, you have a market where your can help these small businesses move to a more efficient way of getting work done.

Your specialty is what brings value, and that can’t be emphasized enough. Don’t ever feel that you’re inferior, or question your skills because no one else is doing what you’re trying to do. The truth is, businesses need people who can provide value in some way, shape, or form. If your skills can save businesses time, money, and resources, go out there and market your business and the services you provide. Thinking outside the box is sometimes frowned upon throughout our lives, but the reality is, the world we see around us was created by those who didn’t think like everyone else.

This can be applied in every aspect of life, whether it’s school, starting a blog or business, to even friendships and relationships. Providing value through your skills, experience, and knowledge is how you’ll become successful in anything you attempt to do. Don’t be conventional when there is a more efficient way of doing things. By being an individual and honing your skills, you’ll outshine everyone and they’ll see just how much you’re worth.

Business, Economy, Marketing

Battlefield Franchise: How Video Game Series Can Relate To Small Businesses

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Onslaught
SobControllers / Foter / CC BY

Businesses, big or small, can learn a lot from corporations’ mistakes whether that be from the products they sell and discontinue to the lack of innovation and change that consumers want to see. Some companies in the past were the cause of their own demise because they failed to listen to the consumer by not delivering what they wanted, giving the customer a worse product in the long run. The Battlefield franchise, makers of the Battlefield and Battlefield Bad Company games, is the best example for small businesses and how they must continue to provide quality products that consumers want and can’t get enough of.

As a former gamer who would play a few hours of Battlefield a night during my teen years, I’m quite familiar with the franchise as a loyal consumer. Battlefield Bad Company is still being raved about by fans nearly seven years after it was released in 2008, and the second installment has gotten just as much love, if not more. It’s been four years since the last Bad Company game, and since then consumers have been given subpar games, and worse then that, they’ve paid at least $100 if they wanted to become Premium members to get exclusive content and more maps to play on in multiplayer mode.

Recently the boss for Dice, the maker of the game, discussed with a gaming magazine as to why they haven’t released a Bad Company 3. The answer is rather shocking from a business perspective. The developers can’t understand why consumers loved the game so much. They’re not sure if it was the single player storyline, the characters in the game, or the fact that they’ve failed to replicate what they created for online usage.

My take: In general, since online gaming is what drives sales, single player story lines have become quite bland and boring, but not in Bad Company. The characters were funny, there was an actual storyline, and you had much more freedom on the maps than in the Battlefield games. The online play was crisp and fluid, rarely if ever were there glitches, never getting kicked out of a server due to lack of connection, and the gameplay was extremely fun and worth the time invested. Best of all, the online gameplay was so good it was worth forking out the extra cash to gain access to new game modes and maps.

What is so difficult about replicating and continuing the story? Since Battlefield 2 ends with the Russians advancing on the continental United States and the four main characters ready to take on the challenge there is a storyline for a third game.

As small businesses owners we have to listen to the consumer or we don’t eat or have a roof over our heads. The Battlefield franchise has been under fire (pardon the pun) for not delivering games worth playing to the consumer. According to bf4central.com, 7 million customers bought Battlefield 4, but today only 2% still play the game. That’s unacceptable in business terms. Recently the franchise released a beta version for a Battlefield where cops fight the war on crime. The beta was so bad, the game is now being postponed until sometime next year.

The consumers have spoken, and they want either a Bad Company 3 or something like it. Businesses, both large and small need to listen to their customers and provide the best products and services they have to offer. Gamers might be willing to pay an extra $60.00 for a premium membership if the game itself is premium.

In business you can’t ignore the customer, and that’s what they’re doing. If you have a great product why change it? The Ford Taurus was once the #1 selling car in the United States, after they changed the appearance sales figures plummeted. The gaming industry is no different. Either provide the customer with what they want, or go in a different direction and target another customer base. It’s impossible to run a profitable business if you fail to understand and listen to your customer.

Now it’s time to see what the Battlefield franchise is made of. If they don’t go back to their roots, customers will spend their money on a different war franchise that will listen to their wants and desires in a video game, both in single player and multiplayer modes.