Ten BE's To Increase Your Social Media Followers

As a business owner or marketing strategist, social media is an important tool to increase brand awareness, we can see social media like a cocktail party, where you can have networking and fun. I will explain 10 Must-Haves in your campaign to rock your social media strategy.

1. BE INTERESTING.

According to BBC News the average attention span is less than 12 seconds, thanks to multiple devices and a lot of distractions is really hard to stay focused and maintain the audience entertained. The only way is generating interesting content in relation to your service or product, there are a lot of formats according to each channel like videos, interactive images, and useful information applicable to their needs.

The best example is TED Talks, their content is about generating content through guest speakers of the most trendy and interesting topics in different industries.

2. BE AN EXPERT ON YOUR AUDIENCE INTERESTS.

Rule number 1. The more you know about your target, your strategy perform will better. Who are you talking to? What do they do? Why they buy your product/service? What are they doing? Where are they from? Which type of content are they interested in?

Netflix knows us well, if you are watching comedy movies, they will recommend other ones of the same type, the recommendations are driven by machine learning algorithms analyzing your interests and behaviors.

3. BE PART OF THE INFLUENCER TREND.

The storytelling of influencer marketing is more realistic, and the followers can feel connected and identified with their daily life. Marketers are increasing their budget on influencers thanks to the impact on their audience.

Fiji water did a partnership with the influencer Danielle Bernstein who is a fashion blogger offering workout videos with her personal trainer. The goal was to highlight the importance of hydrating if you want to feel and look good, the campaign name is #weworewhat with #bodyworewhat.

4. BE EMOTIONAL.

We are human beings and even we live in a connected world, we want to feel different emotions on ads and campaigns to take the experience to the next level. The campaigns that get a connection with their audience are the ones who will last for a long time in their minds.

Dove is the brand taking the beauty perception as its core strategy, they don't sell soaps, they sell beauty to women empower them to gain esteem.

5. BE FUN.

To engage your audience, you need to be unique and enjoy this job. Choose a game, a funny quote, a meme, depending on your service or product to get your audience attention.

Test, measure and repeat, you never know how your campaign is going in comparison with other campaigns, just make experiments and make them run to see what happens.

6. BE AWARE OF YOUR DATA.

Imagine if you just do campaigns and don't measure their performance, you maybe will get the results you want but, you don't know what exactly is causing a conversion or working with your audience. With your data, you can optimize your campaign and bidding.

A great example is Amazon, do you imagine this revolutionary business without data? Data gives the information and the information gives the power.

7. BE INBOUND.

Inbound marketing is a whole strategy to increase the traffic to your website and create conversions to get new customers. Content marketing is one part of that strategy, the first step is identifying the pain points of the brand and competitor's analysis. Then, create a persona (with the information you have on point 2), create content offering value to your audience and make it with a CTA (Call to Action) where you can redirect them into a landing page and you can proceed with a sales strategy.

Chipotle captured gaming fans, chipotle fans with a successful inbound strategy about "Chipotle Taste Invaders" with a laser tag shooting burrito, fighting against additives and educating the customer about the burrito ingredients.

8. BE CREATIVE.

Remember you need to captivate your audience with your campaign and it's not necessary just explaining the products and services. One of the best campaigns is Metro Trains with "Dumb ways to die" with catchy music and cartoon characters getting in the top 10 on iTunes in 24 hours.

9. BE HONEST.

And this is a little related of why influencer marketing is so successful now, the truth is that you will obtain your customer's loyalty and retain them with honesty and transparency; if they trust you, you are a winner. Put yourself in a scenario where you are really hungry and there is a new restaurant that someone told you about it, but you're not 100% sure of how healthy it is, then, you realized they cook your meal in front of you; that will make you feel confident about how they prepare the food, what type of ingredients and if it's fresh. The same happens with your company, the more transparent your product or service is, the better your audience will accept it.

One company with a lot of negative comments about their quality food is McDonald's. To attack this, the company creates a transparent marketing campaign called "Our Food. Your Questions" Where McDonald's answer all your concerns about their food.

10. BE A FRIEND.

This is my favorite part, to see the importance of these channels. Back in the days, we wouldn't think about Facebook to a way of communication of resolving inquiries or issues with a brand. Today you can take Customer Service to a whole experience making it so personal like you're in the store, providing that, you are saving time, energy and effort to the customer having a satisfied customer or just changing their perception if they had an inconvenience.

The best example is a lovely response from Lego, who could just reply with a "standard message" but it was so personalized and unexpected that went viral to all channels.

Check out your current campaign strategy and think about the above information and try to implement it to your own business.

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A Guide to Going Viral

Reaching customers and creating awareness is something that determines the success of any business. The access to customers has become significantly easier over the years thanks to the development of social media platforms. These platforms have given businesses a way to reach out to their customers in an effective and efficient manner. This is the reason why it has become significantly important for businesses to come up with campaign ideas for their viral marketing efforts and implement these ideas by teams that have been specifically designed to take care of viral marketing efforts of the business.

All of the famous brands worldwide have successfully built a strong viral presence and that is exactly what you need to do in order to succeed and take your business forward. In this article, we discuss tips that will enable you to design and implement a strong viral marketing campaign thus creating awareness for your business and making a place for it on The Virality Map.

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

The first step of making a strong viral presence is doing the background work that will help you understand your marketing goals. This includes identifying and understanding your target audience. As well all know anything that goes viral catches the attention of millions of people. However, you need to specify the audience that your campaign intends to target to guarantee success. Do a detailed analysis of your target audience including the demographics, psychographics,and other behavioral factors.

Once you have identified your target audience, it is necessary to understand the kind of material they are likely to share and be interested in. Find out more about your target audience in order to come up with a campaign that is sure to grab their attention.

Step 2: Pick the Right Platforms

After identifying and understanding your target audience you have to decide on the kind of platform you will be using for your marketing efforts. There are a number of options that are available to marketers in terms of social media platforms. However, the kind of platform you choose will depend on the kind of marketing technique you will be using to move your message across.

Instagram will, for example, give you an option of choosing a picture story whereas LinkedIn can be used if you have written content that you wish to use for your campaign, Facebook can be used for video messages as well as other strategies. While choosing the right platform also keep in mind the interests of your target audience in order to guarantee success. You can seek help from consultants who can help your determine the right strategy to be used when dealing with the different platforms available.

Step 3: Create Engaging Content

Most of the social media platforms suggest content to their users based on their interests and behaviors. This is done by using an algorithm that gives ranking to different content going viral according to the needs and interests of the user. So, in order to reach the target audience, it is necessary for you to create the kind of content that will be surely enjoyed by your target customer. It is also important to keep the content interesting and exciting for the target audience. This can be done by using catchy headlines or using content that will make the audience feel emotionally connected. You can also use the services of different independent creative consultants to help you create the perfect content for your needs.

Step 4: Post at the Right Time

Timing is extremely important in determining the success of your viral marketing campaign. In order to make your viral efforts successful, you need to keep yourself updated about the latest trends and news based on the interests of your target audience. If there is a hot trending topic that seems relevant and beneficial for your post you can plan the posting in such a way that it coincides with the trending topics.

Do not forget to use those hashtags! However, if there is no such trend, you can plan your posting accordingly. Just make sure not to post it at a time of tragedy. Nobody wants their business to be associated with a negative event.

Step 5: Use Ads To Create Visibility

Another way of creating awareness for your business/brand could be by spending some money on paid ads that will help you gain some visibility. This can help your content becoming viral however it will require some amount of investment from your side.

Step 6: Engage Influencers

Using an influencer in order to gain visibility and awareness for your brand is an effective and time-saving strategy. With the advent of social media, there has been an increasing trend of influencers creating awareness of different brands to their target audience. You can use the help of a social media influencer who can help you introduce the brand to the target audience. However, it is extremely important to choose the right social media influencer. This can be done by going back to your research done in Step

Step 7: Track And Measure

It is also imperative to keep track of your viral marketing efforts to ensure effectiveness. Once the viral marketing campaign has started you need to use different analytics tools in order to determine the success. Do not expect yourself to reach your goals with the first campaign. If you find something to be unsuccessful in a particular campaign that does not produce desired results, you should immediately make changes accordingly in the strategy. For this, you will have to keep tracking and measuring the performance of your ongoing viral marketing campaign.

Step 8: Add Calls To Action

Do not leave your audience hanging after grabbing their attention. Make sure you add a call to action factor in your viral marketing campaign that will motivate the audience to take a step. This can be done by offering discounts on their first purchase, offering them free membership or a free trial.

Step 9: Attract More Attention

Once your viral marketing campaign has reached a considerable number of views, you can then move on to attracting more attention for your campaign by contacting different news organizations and bringing their attention to the success of your marketing campaign. However, before contacting any news organization, it is a good idea to work on developing a press release that is sure to get attention and does not lack content and authenticity.

Step 10: Use Content To Create Originality

Nothing great comes from plagiarizing and copying the efforts of others. Similarly, it will not be beneficial for you if you use content for your viral marketing effort that uses the ideas of others. A campaign that lacks originality will not be welcomed by the audience and will have a difficult time becoming etched in their minds. Hence, make sure your campaign uses new ideas and thoughts. If you require ideas and innovation in your campaign you can use the services of creative consultants who are known for creating and designing successful viral marketing campaigns. li

http://www.mattiabaggiani.com

In the end, it can be established that the use of viral media marketing in developing awareness for the business cannot be undermined. So plan your campaign with the help of creative consultants such as Matta Baggiani http://www.mattiabaggiani.com and witness the success of your business.

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Types of Visual Content That Really Work

If you are looking to kick start a content marketing campaign for your business, You need to find out exactly what drives engagement and online growth. Most of the content on the web is text-based, but to stand out in a fierce competition, visual content is absolutely key.

Visual marketing is gaining popularity because the human brain can consume and retain visual content easily. Technology is really helping us out in exploring how visuals can be used as an effective marketing tool. Ten years ago, it was not easy for a small business to launch a video marketing campaign. Now, even a small company can run a video marketing campaign on a tight budget. Here are some types of visual content that really works, if used properly:

Infographics

Infographic is an incredible type of content that really helps readers absorb complex information. To design effective infographics, it's important that the layout and design are as impactful as possible. A good combination of colors, fonts, and shapes can really create amazing infographics that not only captivate users but also improve marketing ROI. If you want to bring complex data or stats into life, learn how to make and use infographics.

Images

Images play a vital role in building an effective web presence. However, you must know few things before making images a part of your marketing campaigns. Always use high-quality images that represent your brand well. It is not hard to find free images on the web. However, the best approach is to use your own original images.

Video

Videos are great tools to present solutions to a number of common problems. Online users love to consume video content because it is easy to digest information in form of videos. A business should have a well-thought-out video marketing strategy to make the most out of its videos. You can use explainer videos, demonstrations, or customer testimonials based on your needs and the preferences of your audiences.

Presentations

Presentations were considered as a very formal, educational type of content. However, presentations allow you to present technical information in a very effective way. A business can share its presentations on platforms like Slideshare to get some SEO juice.

Visual content will gain even more popularity in the coming years. If your website or social media posts have nothing but text, you need to change your approach and make visual content an integral part of your marketing efforts. You can hire a professional online marketing agency to take care of your content marketing campaigns.

At Reach First, we work with clients across industries to design ROI-focused business websites that are developed with business goals in mind. Being a reputable, one-stop digital marketing agency in Canada, we provide brands with top-notch branding, web design, development, SEO, paid advertising, and social media marketing services. Feel free to discuss your design or redesign project with us.

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How to Create a Content Calendar for Your Blog

If you've been following our blog lately, you'll notice that we've been talking a lot about social media and the need for a strategy. Yes, most definitely social media is also about sharing the content of others, and spontaneous posting, but an overall social media marketing strategy is essential.

One of the core concepts in any strategy is planning - and in this case, we're talking about planning your content, so you're never struggling to find a topic to write about, but you're also thinking through what makes sense for you.

Here are our top 10 tips for creating a content calendar for social media:

1.Start with a way to get organized, I personally like Excel for this. If you have a team and are collaborating on the content calendar, you may want to use Google sheets, so you can all see it in real time. You'll want 12 columns for the months, and then you can use the rows for the weeks of the month.

2.The easiest tip is to look at statutory holidays, and time themed blog posts. We strongly recommend that for holidays that are commemorative in nature, that your blog be a resource for giving back, for example prior to Thanksgiving you may want to post resources to give to those who are less fortunate, or volunteer opportunities.

3.Now its time to do a little research - what industry events are coming up that are relevant to your market. These could be conferences that you may or may not be attending, or big releases you are aware of. Mark these down on your calendar - ESPECIALLY if you're going to be there.

4.Schedule a blog before the conference talking about why its relevant, perhaps comparing it to years previous. If you're there, blog the week you're there about it, and of course schedule a wrap up blog to comment about what a success it was!

5.Do the same thing for any thought leaders in your industry - do they have events coming up (in-person or virtual). Dedicate a week to promote them!
For both 2 and 3 above, reach out to the organizers of the event and see when registration opens, ask them if they have content that you can share.

6.And while you're at it, offer them a guest blog spot!

7.Look at your own calendar, do you have a launch this year? You'll want to schedule blogs before your launch, during and after. Remember, you'll also want to blog about your planning, do a slow release (teasers) about the launch. This is your opportunity to build excitement!

8.Now look at your travel schedule - where are you going to be (personally or professionally). Blog about what you're going to be up to. Your followers may reach out when they know you'll be in the area to meet up in person.

9.Plan a regular feature, for example if you're a nutrition coach, start the month with a blog about meal planning for the month, and then for the last week of the month do a check in.

10.For each of the ideas noted above, you'll now want to build out how the message will be delivered across your different digital marketing platforms (LinkedIn, blog, Facebook, Instagram, etc.). How should your message differ depending on the medium its being posted to? How do they all connect back to a lead magnet to collect contact information?

With just these 10 tips, you should find your calendar filling up nicely! You can use current events or a literature review relevant to your industry to fill in the gaps.

You're done!

We'd love to see what you've come up with! Feel like sharing? Send it along, we'd be happy to offer a few more suggestions to fill in any gaps or answer any questions you may have.
Happy planning!

We help business owners find more time.

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Getting Started With Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which the focus is on influencers rather than on the target market as a whole. The concept is simply to identify the people who impact potential buyers and direct marketing activities around these influences.

Influencer content may be framed as some form of advertising evidence in which they themselves play the role of potential buyers or may be third parties. These third parties exist in a supply chain (traders, manufacturers, etc.) or can be called value-added influencers.

The world has slipped into social networks. Many consumers watch their co-consumers about their purchasing decisions. It's not like before, consumers trust each other, and one of those consumers is these personalities on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms that enjoy a lot of followership. This concept of social networking has exceptionally revitalized online industry; this surprisingly effective marketing technique is helping different international brands achieve their marketing goals.

It is an open secret that a celebrity that can run your brand regularly and help promote it is a brilliant idea, more companies are beginning to exercise the authority of social networks which is more efficient than the conventional advertising. For this reason, Influencer Marketing could be the next big success in advertising. Here's why:

THE CONCEPT OF INFLUENCER MARKETING IS A VERY POWERFUL ONE 

There are many methods that can help increase sales in your business. But for now, nothing can contest the record that Influencer Marketing has played in recent years. Research has shown that consumer-to-consumer marketing leads the consumer to generate more sales than paid advertising can do. This only shows that influential marketing can provide an exceptional opportunity for brands to capture the power of word of mouth thanks to the influential people who follow and admire.

IT'S GROWING FAST WITH THE HELP OF SOCIAL MEDIA 

Since the world has embraced the social media, this may be the right time for your business. Social media is more than just a replacement for conventional media. Previously, consumers Would buy an item based on what they see or hear. Today, social media is the main thing; consumers can easily connect with other consumers and can make a better buying decision by discussing their product or service experience. The use of social networks is growing rapidly across age groups and gender. Influencers communicate with consumers using these platforms and gives influencer marketing a key addition to any successful marketing strategy.

FAR BETTER THAN PAID ADS 

There are over 200 million people worldwide who are using ad-blocking apps already, what happens to the money you have spent on those pop-up advertisements if the most of the internet users don't even view them. It's time for the internet marketers to up their game and change to something internet users have less issue with. Consumer trusts influencers and their recommendations; more of your marketing and business strategy should go into working with influencers

HELPS YOU WITH THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE 

Influencer marketing has the ability to change the overall outlook of your business for the better along with email marketing; it is actually very cost-effective. The fact that your competitors are already investing in it, is an indicator that it's the next big and shouldn't be overlooked, as influencers can truly affect consumers' choice on buying a product.

Overall, the digital world is completely different. A lot of marketers are already using Influencer Marketing, because of its effectiveness and high return on investment. Social media likes and shares can be gathered turned into valuable insights to your advertising sojourn. There is no better time for you to start reaping the benefits of influencer marketing than now.

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Get Free Marketing From YouTube

Why should you take the time to market on YouTube? There are a lot of other sources for advertising that you can consider, so why would YouTube be one of the options that you put on your list. There are actually the number of reasons why YouTube can work so well, sometimes way better than the other avenues, and this can be true no matter what type of product or service you are trying to sell.

Free marketing!

Firstly, and importantly if you don't have a large marketing budget, YouTube is free. While you will need to invest a bit of your time to figure out your target audience and to create the videos that you want to use, being able to upload and even make the videos that you want to upload will be completely free. What is another advertising source going to be free?

Video content is really powerful

In a world that is moving more and more online, content is king. And out of all this content, video content is some of the best. Many times people would rather watch information about a product or service online rather than read about it. Also, there is a chance that your video could go viral. If you make a video that is particularly good, emotional, funny, or something else, your video could have the potential to go viral in no time. What going viral means is that there could be thousands of people who will share your video with others they know. If it does really well, this could mean that your business is exposed to an infinite amount of people.

YouTube also appeals to a global and a local audience (perfect for local search success. Based on the types of keywords that you use, your video could be seen by people all over the world. You could even end up with clients from other countries if it all goes well. If you are worried about the reach going too far because you are just a local business, it is possible to change this so that you are only found by people in your region.

Demonstrate your expertise on YouTube

YouTube is fabulous for demonstrating your expertise. You can spend your videos giving away great tips, which help to show your viewers that you are the expert in your particular field. For many customers or clients that you are going after, they will have a choice between two businesses and you want to make sure that they pick you. If you have videos on YouTube that show why you are a good choice, this will help your business to stand out.

Make it once and let it sell for you

Just because you just spend a little bit of time on a video and then post it doesn't mean the work your video is doing is all done. Making a video is like one of the best salespeople in the world. You only have to make the video once and then load it to YouTube. Then the video can go to work, being available any time of the day or night that someone wants to take a look at it. And for each new video you create, you are making a new salesperson. There is really no limit to what you can do with this.

YouTube provides the customer with a face

Sometimes what you need is to provide the customer with a face, a person they can trust, in order to form that connection to make the sale. And since it is impossible for you to go out there and meet all of your customers, creating a video that can do this work for you can really help If you are camera shy, you can make a video that is in PowerPoint and then add in a headshot so people can still see how you look.

Search engine friendliness

Videos on YouTube are very SEO friendly as YouTube is owned by Google. This is really important. When someone is doing a search online, it is likely that a video is going to hold onto a top spot during the organic searches. If this ends up being your video, this is a big deal because for one reason or another, and your hard work, your video is standing out above the other links. And of course, more people are going to see your video if it is a ranked high in search results, however much you concentrate on your onsite SEO tactics.



When it comes to marketing your business, there really isn't a site that is better than working with YouTube. This website will allow you to make some content that will connect with the customers and if you do the process right, which we will discuss more in later chapters, you are going to get some of the best conversion rates and sales ever.

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