If you aren't following social media marketing best practices, it’s difficult to get results.
Today, every serious business – across industries - uses social media.
But how many of them can boast of actually achieving their social media goals?
Sadly, a lot of businesses use social media because everyone else is using it. Because social media has become an absolute must-have. But without following social media marketing best practices, it’s difficult to get results.
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For businesses that win on social media though, it can be rewarding. Unsurprisingly, 73% of marketers claim social media has been effective for their business.
That’s why in this…
By
June 10, 2019
Chart of the Week: 70% of marketers say that their main goal for using social media is to increase brand awareness, showing that social is about more than sales
Social media continues to be a powerful marketing tool for brands and yet almost half (47%) of marketers say that the biggest challenge they face is creating a social media strategy that supports their organization’s goals.
Sprout Social’s latest report reveals that marketers’ biggest goal for social media is to increase brand awareness, with 70% choosing this option. Second to this is sales/lead generation (59%), which is likely to reflect the larger goals of an organization and may not be suited to social media for every company.
Other goals that marketers have for social media include increasing community engagement (48%), growing the brand’s audience (46%) and increasing…
Lush UK has ditched social media to put social back into the hands of its communities but is this a brave move, misguided or something else entirely?
Social media has become such a huge part of our daily lives, as well as an important aspect of marketing. From keeping up with friends and family and growing your audience to becoming an influencer and increasing brand awareness, social media is a powerful tool.
It’s no wonder then that social media users across the globe increased 9% year-on-year, with 3.484 billion people using social networks in 2019. This has led to more brands increasing their use of social media to reach greater audiences and networks have responded to this with tools like shoppable posts.
With social adapting to demand and digital marketing strategies attempting to keep pace, the news that…
In the world of startups and small businesses, there is a lot of misinformation and confusion about social media handles
We understand that when it comes to business, entrepreneurs want to make the right choice. They are careful about every step of the branding process, even social media handles, so it is no surprise that some people are hesitant to take a business name if the social media handles are taken.
In the world of startups and small businesses, there is a lot of misinformation and confusion about social media handles. Many people don’t realize that, like a domain, a social media handle is a way that potential customers can find your business online. However, like domains, you do not always need an exact match social media handle.
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Social media strategy and planning essentials
First let’s answer the question, “What is a social media strategy?”
A social media strategy defines how your organization will use social media to achieve its communications aims and the supporting platform and tools it will use to achieve this. At a basic level it’s a simple statement of intent, outlining the goals and measurable objectives for using social media, and the target outcomes you want to achieve. It does this in the context of the overall business and comms plan so that social media isn’t in a silo but working in parallel with other channels. It isn’t a detailed plan of action – you’ll also need a plan but without a clear strategy, how do you prioritize the activities for a plan? Think strategy first, plan second.
Even if you’re not actively involved in social…
Chart of the Week: More than 1.12 billion accounts spread across Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp now watch or create Stories every day
When it comes to social media marketing trends, Stories is the big one you need to watch. More than 1.12 billion accounts spread across Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp now watch or create Stories every day, representing a 987% increase since the start of 2016.
It isn’t just individual users that are causing Stories to grow hugely in popularity, more brands, companies and marketers are making the most of them. Buffer’s State of Social 2019 report has found that 57% of brands have found that Stories have been an "effective" part of their social media strategy.
The effectiveness of…
High user volume caused Alexa to crash on Christmas Day, Google is testing new search with importance placed on streaming, Instagram launches new features for Stories and Facebook is testing 'dark mode' for its Messenger app
We may have switched off for the holidays and New Year, but it's now time to take a look at what news stories in the marketing, tech and social media worlds were missed over the last couple of weeks.
First up is the news that Amazon's smart speaker was such a popular item this festive season that Alexa crashed on Christmas Day across many parts of Europe. It just goes to show that the idea of a smart home is becoming increasingly appealing for many.
It also looks like Google is just about ready to admit the importance of streaming services, as it seems to be testing a new design for search that puts streaming higher up…
Discover six costly mistakes that marketers make with social media and how to fix them
Despite the herculean changes to both technology and media, marketers have no choice but to build emotion-rich and customer-centric strategies to always stay on top. In the struggle to sink into the trivial details of the marketing functions especially with social media, some of the smartest marketers sometimes go wrong in strategizing the right way with social media.
So, do you wish to make your social media marketing a flawless one?
1. Not choosing the right social media platform
Why is it necessary to pick up the right social media platform for your business?
You can only call a platform perfect for your business if it enables you to use the best of its functions that can enhance your business presence and add value.
The ultimate idea is to reach widely, to enhance visibility, to add value, to understand your followers, to…
Key social media trends for 2019 that every marketer needs to keep an eye out for and include in their digital marketing strategy, based on predictions from leading industry experts
Social media is ever-changing. Be it new platforms, different consumption habits or varied forms of communication, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp etc. are always coming up with innovative features or affordances that add different dimensions to the platforms. These changes not only help users engage in a number of different ways with their favourite brands online but also give marketers a chance to captivate their audiences through an array of tools and tactics.
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Amazon's recent data breach, Taco Bell's fun marketing campaign, Facebook funding new journalists, Instagram launching new shopping features and Pinterest creating new shopping tools with key US retailers
The last week has seen some positive changes across social media platforms, aimed at making the shopping journey simpler as more people head to social for purchase inspiration.
With Instagram adding yet more new features to help brands make the most of tagged products and Pinterest proving its relevance in the world of online shopping, brands definitely need to start looking at their social media shopping strategy.
As well as these updates, this week's news roundup takes a look at Amazon's data breach and Facebook's latest announcement that it will be funding the training of new British journalists. We also explore Taco Bell's latest marketing campaign to announce it's first London location.
Find out more about five of the biggest stories from this week:
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