Social Media Archives | Online Marketing Solutions for Business

Strictly Social Media Weekly Update – July 5, 2019

July 5, 2019

This week’s Strictly Social Media Weekly Update covers a lot of topics. I hope you read the posts on email marketing because — and a lot of people don’t know this — email marketing is more effective than social media marketing. Yikes! I revealed the big secret. Influencer marketing is on a lot of minds these days and there’s a post on that topic as well. Enjoy all them!

Instagram

8 Tips on How to Create Effective Instagram Stories and Stories Ads by ThibaudClement: “At Facebook’s F8 2019 conference back in May, the company reported that there are now more than a billion people using Stories every day across its family of apps – Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status. Along with this rising usage, research has also shown that 56% of people now use Stories on three or more platforms at least once a week, and 57% agree that stories make them feel part of a larger community.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing for Small Business: 7 Steps to Finding the Right Influencers ( Free Templates!) from Later and by Nikki Caning: “When it comes to growing your business on Instagram, influencer marketing has proven to be a huge growth asset. And it’s not just for the mega brands — influencer marketing for small businesses can seriously level-up a campaign, build brand awareness and reach new audiences, without blowing the budget.”

Content Marketing

How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy in 7 Easy Steps from Convince & Convert: “The truth is there are no secrets to creating a content marketing strategy. Instead, we simply use our proven, 7-step framework as a guide, plus add plenty of meaningful time and effort (usually about 60 days or so for us). These 7 core steps provide the quintessential framework for long-term success.”

Email Marketing

37 Astonishing Email Marketing Stats You Need to Know [Infographic] by Mark Walker-Ford: “Are you in the process of creating an email marketing campaign for your business? Need some facts and figures to help you implement a successful email marketing strategy? The team from AfterOffers share the stats you need to know in this infographic.”

10 Free Email Marketing Tools to Save You Time and Money from SproutSocial: “Marketing trends and channels evolve over time. While some trends come and go quickly, one of the channels that has remained more or less the same is email. In fact, email continues to be the top channel for content marketing with both B2C and B2B marketers. 87% of B2B marketers and 77% of B2C marketers use it to nurture their audience.”

Frances Caballo is an online marketing consultant and the author of six books on social media. Click here to schedule an appointment with her. Writing a book can serve as the best possible business card you can have. And it will establish your authority and expertise in your field. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Strictly Social Media Weekly Update – June 28, 2019

June 28, 2019

It’s Friday and that means that it’s time again for the Strictly Social Media Weekly Update. You’ll find posts on content failures, three new trends in social media, new social media user statistics, and Instagram Marketing. Enjoy all of the tips!

Content Marketing

5 Symptoms of Content Strategy Failure (and How to Get it Back on Track) by Meg Carpenter: “Considering the amount of ads thrust under our noses, is it any wonder that we’re ignoring the majority?”

How to Assess Your Content Performance: 5 Tools You Haven’t Tried from Convince & Convert: “Content analysis is a marketing task that’s never really complete. You can update your old content again and again and better optimize it for more conversions. With that in mind, there’s no set list of tools you should be using again and again. New tools bring new analysis methods and, hence, new ideas. Here are 5 tools to use for content assessment.”

Social Media Marketing

8 Social Media Marketing Stats You Shouldn’t Ignore by Nathan Mendenhall: “When it comes to social media marketing, there’s a lot of misinformation, and a ton of unrealistic expectations set as a result. Luckily, marketers are blessed with a massive amount of data from social media activity, so we can course correct misnomers ….”

The State of Instagram Marketing 2019 – Part 2: Which Options Are Currently Driving Results? by Andrew Hutchinson: “Based on the various responses, it was interesting to note that, while video content is hugely popular, at present, most brands are seeing best engagement with still image posts on the platform.”

3 Social “Trends” That Just Aren’t True (And Why Believing Them is Bad) from Hootsuite: “Kemp recently shared highlights from his Q2 Digital Statshot at The Next Web’sTNW2019 conference in Amsterdam.”

Social Media Weekly Update for Businesses – June 14, 2019

June 14, 2019

I have another edition of the Social Media Weekly Update for Business for you. And this one is chock-full of great information. From Instagram to blogging to the persnickety Facebook algorithm, you are bound to learn a few things. I know that I did. Enjoy!

Instagram

30 Instagram Stats Every Business Should Know in 2019 and Beyond by Mark Walker-Ford: “Are you considering investing some of your marketing budget into Instagram? Want to know if the platform is a good fit for your business?”

This is How the Instagram Algorithm Works in 2018 from Later and by Lexie Carbone: “How does the Instagram algorithm actually work? It’s a question that’s caused a lot of confusion (and frustration!) for business on Instagram since the controversial move away from a chronological feed. It seemed the Instagram algorithm was making it harder than ever to reach target audiences, get more followers, and improve engagement on your posts. But the good news is that once you understand how the Instagram algorithm works, you can use it to build a killer Instagram strategy, and continue to grow your account!”

Blogging

How To Define Your Target Audience And Create Your First Audience Persona from Blogging Wizard: “When you’re starting a new blog, most of the standard advice revolves around choosing your niche. And that’s OK. It’s a valid exercise. But it’s not the only thing to consider. You have to think about who is going to read your blog content; i.e. your target audience. In this article, you’ll discover why you need to define your target audience and how to create your first audience persona. Ready? Let’s begin.”

Social Media Usage

5 Things You Need To Know About Posting On Social Media On Weekends from The Social Marketers: “I have seen it over and over again, people, blogs and brands being very active on Social Media on weekdays – and turning utterly silent on social media on weekends. I am not sure whether this is due to their social media manager doing a 9 to 5 job and going home on Friday afternoon or if the idea behind this is that people are not that interested in “work-related” content on weekends.”

5 Data-Backed Social Media Trends for 2019 [Infographic] by Aleh Barysevich: “Even if you’re constantly active on social media, or consistently engaged in social media marketing, it can be difficult to stay on top of the latest trends and usage shifts – which you really need to know in order to align your strategy accordingly.”

Social Media Usage Statistics for 2019 Reveal Surprising Shifts from Convince & Convert: “2019 social media usage statistics and research from my friends at Edison Research and Triton Digital, contained in the newest version of their annual The Social Habit study, found surprising shifts in how Americans of different genders, age groups, and races use social media and social networks.”

Facebook

How the Facebook algorithm works and ways to outsmart it from SproutSocial: “The Facebook algorithm often feels like a mystery, doesn’t it? And as a result, brands are rightfully concerned about their presence on the platform. Even if you haven’t been impacted by the recent algorithm changes yourself, you’ve probably heard horror stories of brands watching their organic reach take a nose-dive. But Facebook algorithm changes don’t necessarily signal trouble for brands.”

Frances Caballo is an online marketing consultant and the author of six books on social media. Click here to schedule an appointment with her. Writing a book can serve as the best possible business card you can have and establish your authority and expertise in your field. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

How to Conquer LinkedIn for Business – Part 1

June 10, 2019

Ready to conquer LinkedIn for business?

Of course you are.

Listen, while Instagram keeps climbing the chart, growing and expanding you need to know this: professionals regard LinkedIn as the most valuable online platform for professionals.

And I didn’t select the above image willy nilly. Men now dominate LinkedIn and people of color are more prevalent on all social media.

So, let’s get started.

LinkedIn is an excellent venue to post information about yourself and your company. Here you can find clients, connect with colleagues, and learn and share your expertise.

However, let’s look at the numbers first. These stats are from Omnicore.

LinkedIn Statistics

These numbers are accurate as of May 29, 2019:

Total number of users: 630 million
Number of monthly active users: 303 million
Active users from the US: 177 million

LinkedIn Demographics

Now, look at who uses LinkedIn.

40 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn.
The number of men on LinkedIn rose above the number of women, with a 57% to 43% ratio. There used to be an even number, but that number now fluctuates.
23% Millennials (18-24 years old) use LinkedIn.
There are 87 million Millennials on LinkedIn, with 11 million in decision-making positions.
49% of LinkedIn users earn more than $75,000 in a year. This figure is courtesy of the Pew Research Center and is from 2018.
51% of US college graduates use LinkedIn. This number also comes from a report from Pew.
90 million LinkedIn users are senior level influencers, and 63 million are in decision-making positions. This figure comes directly from LinkedIn.

Let’s Interpret the Numbers

With so many college students and graduates on LinkedIn, as well as Millenials, LinkedIn is a great spot to announce job openings in your business.

Yes, you probably thought that Millennials were spending their time on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snap. Wrong.

They have to eat and pay rent, right? So they spend time finding a dream job.

If you have a paid account, you can advertise your company’s openings.

Here’s another statistic from Omicore, by the way. More than 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn regularly.

This means that if you’re looking for employees, recruit on this social media network through posts, blog posts, and especially video.

Let’s Get Started with LinkedIn

It’s hard to believe that you wouldn’t have a LinkedIn account already. If you don’t, go to LinkedIn.com and sign up. Just enter your email address and create a secure password, and you’re on your way.

Make sure that you upload a professional photograph for your avatar, upload a LinkedIn banner image, and go through the lengthy process of completing your profile.

After entering your About section, focus on the Experience section. Be careful with the titles you give yourself because the most recent title will appear in your top profile section.

The top portion of your LinkedIn profile should look like this:

LinkedIn enables you to include your education, volunteer experience, skills and endorsements, and recommendations.

Include your history of volunteer work as it pertains to your business or lifestyle. I believe that showing commitment to your community makes good business sense because it demonstrates that you care about your community.

Under accomplishments, you can add a variety of items. If you’ve written one or more books, add their titles and information about them.

If you have time to join a group, do so. However, adjust your notifications so that you don’t receive an email every time someone adds a comment.

Before leaving this page, remember to edit your public profile & URL. For example, instead of my LinkedIn public URL being LinkedIn.com/FrancesCaballo19385758493873628494 it is LinkedIn.com/in/FrancesCaballo/.

Edit your LinkedIn URL by clicking or tapping “edit public profile & URL” in the upper right-hand corner. If you want a new profile in another language, you can do that here as well.

Time to Conquer LinkedIn for Business

When you click or tap the arrow next to the word Work in the upper taskbar, select Create a Company Page.

LinkedIn Company Page

Once you select the option to create a company page, you’ll see four choices.

Make your selection and proceed.

You will add your company name and select a LinkedIn public URL. Then you will provide some company details, a logo, and your company’s tagline.

Once you complete this information, click Create Page.

The next item you see will be this pop-up:

Click “get started.”

My situation is different from yours. My company name is ACT Communications. I only use that business name when I bill clients. For years now, I brand myself as do a lot of social media consultants.

In your case, you will have a business name and logo. Use those.

Next week, I’ll share with you how to go about finalizing your company page. In the future, we will also discuss how to post jobs and attract candidates and other topics.

There’s a lot to cover about LinkedIn, so let’s take our time with it. This platform takes a lot of time to set up. It’s nothing like Instagram. So let’s take our time so that you can truly conquer LinkedIn for business.

Frances Caballo is an online marketing consultant and the author of six books on social media. Click here to schedule an appointment with her. Writing a book can serve as the best possible business card you can have and establish your authority and expertise in your field. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Social Media Weekly Update – June 7, 2019

June 7, 2019

In this edition of the Social Media Weekly Update, content is the theme. Whether you’re writing your social media posts, blog posts, website content, or a script for your video, it all comes down to the words that you do and don’t use. So I hope you enjoy the posts I collected this past week. I know that I learned from them.

Content

20 Secrets From Strategy Consulting & Persuasion Science To Create Memorable Presentations by Paul Millard: “I am motivated to help people tell remarkable stories, communicate complex information in simple ways, and to teach people how to be memorable. Over the past several years, both through my work and through my research, I have identified many “secrets” of what it takes to create compelling and impactful presentations.”

7 Social Media Content Writing Tips by Melanie Dodaro: “The ever-changing social platform algorithms make it increasingly harder to generate engagement with your social media posts. By applying some simple writing tips, however, you can make your message more appealing to more people.”

LinkedIn Improves Video Marketing Metrics via New Integration with Moat by Andrew Hutchinson: “Video is the best performing content type on all social media platforms, and that includes the professional social network LinkedIn. According to internal data, LinkedIn users are 20x more likely to share a video on the platform than any other type of post – while for paid content, LinkedIn members now spend 300% more time watching video ads, as compared to time spent with static Sponsored Content.”

3 of the Most Common LinkedIn Marketing Mistakes – and How to Fix Them by Virginia Bautista: “Are you making these three common mistakes with your LinkedIn content?

You “hijack” your own post
You post on LinkedIn only to promote your self-interest
You don’t have a LinkedIn content strategy

I’m seeing so many of these kinds of posts in my feeds, so I thought I should share with you why these are mistakes – and how you can fix them. Hopefully, these tips will help you improve your LinkedIn content approach.”

Facebook

Facebook Adds New Page and Group Ranking Factors into News Feed Algorithm by Andrew Hutchinson: “After announcing a News Feed algorithm update earlier this month, which focused on boosting content from the people you care most about, and reducing the reach of clickbait, Facebook has now issued an amendment to that update to also add in new ranking signals for content from the Pages and Groups that people are most interested in.”

Video Marketing

5 Research-Backed Tips for Effective Video Marketing by Convince & Convert: “… if you are wondering whether video marketing is worth all the effort and investment, then go ahead and put your doubts to rest. Because it’s definitely worth it. The only question is, how do you do it effectively?”

Frances Caballo is an online marketing consultant and the author of six books on social media. Click here to schedule an appointment with her. Writing a book can serve as the best possible business card you can have and establish your authority and expertise in your field. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.