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It is no secret that social media influences shopping decisions – especially among millennials. In fact, one report found that 47% of millennials say their purchasing decisions are influenced by social media. What might surprise you though is that this influence isn’t coming from the marketing messages brands are posting. Instead, it’s stemming from what millennials see their peers posting and sharing on social media.
Nearly 9 in 10 consumers view an online review with the same importance as a personal recommendation.
We’ve all been in the place of struggling with what to post on social media. You know it’s an important marketing tool for your business and you understand the benefits of using it, but when it comes down to clicking the “Publish” button, you’re having a complete mind blank.
If this sounds like you, we're here to offer a simple piece of advice: Put yourself in the customer's shoes.
It’s not an impossible task because we’re all consumers. Think back to the last time you clicked over to a business’s social media feed. What caught your attention? What made you leave?
In the end, consumers are just looking for value. Luckily, you can provide that in a myriad of ways on social media. Here are just a few examples:
Facebook business pages have been around for years now. As of last year, there were over 60 million Facebook business pages and over 41% of U.S. small businesses on the platform. It's easy to see how Facebook can start to feel like old hat.
Most businesses are fairly savvy when it comes to Facebook -- posting regularly on their pages, responding to customers, and running ad campaigns. While some things may switch up every now and then, the basic principles of the platform stay the same. But before you become too relaxed with the platform, consider these 3 things that could take your Facebook business page to the next level.
Hashtags can be complicated. They're effective on Instagram, but a flop on Facebook. They're usable on Twitter, but don't function on LinkedIn. Some make sense, others don't. Some have massive followings, while others simply die.
It can get confusing.
Before you forsake using hashtags altogether, though, consider these stats:
The number of small businesses on Facebook is continuing to grow at rapid rates. As of April last year, Facebook announced the number of active small business Pages on the platform was up to 40 million. For all of these small businesses on Facebook, limited reach due to Facebook’s algorithm is an ever-present frustration.
Instagram Stories, a strikingly similar concept to Snapchat, was launched this month with much fanfare. While the format is new to Instagram, the concept itself has been around since the launch of Snapchat Stories in October 2013. The idea is that users can create a chain of content that can be viewed an unlimited number of times over the course of 24 hours. Now, in addition to the Instagram feed we all know and love, there also exists Stories – a place to post goofy, off-the-cuff “Snapchat-style” content.
I recently had an encounter with two people who were working with a LinkedIn trainer to learn how to use the platform, complete their profiles, and make connections. I asked, “How many leads have you gotten so far?” To my surprise (I assumed everyone learning LinkedIn was doing so for business development purposes), their answer was, “We are not sure how to do that.”
Strategy is the biggest difference between a B2B sales and marketing team that enjoy consistent sales leads and revenue opportunities on LinkedIn and one that just has a presence with lots of connections. Learning the tactics of the platform is one thing. Learning how to generate leads is another. That’s where social selling comes in.
Social media is one of our favorite subjects. Here's a run-down of what's new in the land of hashtags, memes, and marketing.
Facebook The days of simply liking a post are over. Facebook rolled out "reactions" last week, giving users the option of choosing from a range of emotions instead. "Love", "wow", "sad", and "angry" are some of the reactions that users can choose from. It is expected that brands and small businesses will see an uptick in user engagement on their posts, since choosing a Reaction is much simpler and faster than leaving a comment. It will also give a lot more insight into how an audience views content. Read more about Facebook's "reactions" here.
Sometimes social media marketing can seem like a stab in the dark. Are those Facebook likes really sending customers to your website? Like any marketing strategy, you need to analyze the data in order to see if something is really working. In the past few years, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become much better about sharing meaningful stats. Now is a great time to analyze that information in order to see what has worked and what hasn't. Armed with this data, you'll be ready to craft a strategy that will take your social media marketing to the next level. Although there are various details you can see in your social media analytics, we recommend paying close attention to the following metrics.
The world of social media is never boring — new product launches, big announcements, and (sometimes) lots of arguments over things like stars and hearts. Here's what the social media world was up to recently:
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