Seven Ways To Leverage Instagram For Small Business Success

There is a common misconception among the business world that video content marketing is an expensive and time-consuming endeavour. Yet with a little know-how and Instagram’s free video capabilities, you can produce fascinating, informative and entertaining videos for next to nothing and share them instantly on your social media networks.

Instagram started life as a photo sharing service, but incorporated video in the middle of 2013. The fully loaded video service allows users to record, upload and share 15-second video clips. They can also be edited on Instagram and have filters applied to give normal cell phone quality footage an epic cinematic quality.

When you’ve got a new product coming out, shoot a little sneak preview to whet the audience’s appetite. It’ll help create a sense of excitement and expectation. You may even generate some pre-orders!

Here are a few tips to help you capitalize your business presence on Instagram:

1) Film video testimonials - satisfied customers are among the most powerful marketing tools so ask some of yours to film short video testimonials. Positive reviews are marketing gold that will encourage others to buy. You can shoot the short video yourself on a phone or tablet computer or ask your customers to film their own testimonials. Once you have them, upload to Instagram and share with your crowd

2) Compile portfolios of your work - no matter what industry you’re in, whether you’re a gardener creating a new landscaping plan or a bakery showing off your latest cake creations, film the best examples of your work. Send them to your followers and upload them to your main website.

3) Show comparisons - is your product head and shoulders better than your nearest rivals or the industry standard? If so, prove it by pitting them against each other.

4) Be more visible - customers love to see who’s behind their favourite brands. Shoot a series of  behind-the-scenes videos that show your staff at work Try using a short weekly or monthly message where you highlight some of the exciting things you think your customers need to know. You could also spotlight your team members and some of the great projects they’re working on.

5) Create quick tutorials and DIY videos - 15 seconds may not be a lot of time, but that doesn’t have to stop you from creating short, punchy videos that resonate with your followers. Perhaps you could turn your FAQs into short video explanations. You could even ask the audience to send their videos of how they use your products, and post and share the best ones.

6) Don't forget Facebook - videos and photos inspire the most comments, likes and shares on Facebook so make sure you share your Instagram videos with your Facebook followers.

7) Be creative - don't be afraid to break out of your zone. Try something new. Get inspired!

What do you think? Do you see a tip that will make a difference in your marketing? Tweet m3 your thoughts at @misstrendchaser or leave them below.

Five Tips For Marketing Startups Using Social Media

If you are using Twitter and Facebook, then you are in the social media game. But there is more to leveraging the power of social media than merely communicating on these two networks. While social media on its own isn’t a slam dunk in terms of an effective and well-balanced marketing strategy, it does offer an excellent way to get creative with that strategy. 

Many businesses are incorporating social media into their consumer outreach campaigns and seeing amazing results. Yet, it is the most creative uses of social media that reap the most benefits. 

Here are five awesome ways you can step out of the box and make the most of your social media campaign: 

1) Offer virtual gifts

You’ve seen Facebook users give virtual hugs, virtual flowers or other intangible tokens of appreciation; why not use the concept to boost your sales? It worked for Cold Stone Creamery. The ice cream franchise was one of the first to roll out the virtual eGift Social Marketplace program by First Data. 

The app allowed Facebook users to buy gift certificates directly from the Cold Stone Creamery fan page and essentially buy one of their friends ice cream by sending them the virtual gift through Facebook or email. The friend could then redeem the gift by visiting an offline Cold Stone Creamery and presenting a printout of the provided code or flashing it from a mobile device. The viral part happens when an announcement of the eGift appears in the recipients Facebook feed for other friends to see. 

This concept can work with a variety of businesses. If you stretch your creativity you can find lots of ways a virtual gift can benefit your business and boost sales.

2) Use video

Growing your Facebook following or just giving a bit of personality to your site video is where it’s at. For Facebook you can create an alternative landing tab with an embedded video by you that explains what potential fans can expect when they “Like” your page.

Additionally, you can also embed a useful or interesting video on your page, something others will be inclined to re-post on their own pages. When you embed a video, Facebook will include a white watermark hotlink to the top of your video that links back to your page, so when others re-post your video, everyone will know where it originated. It’s a great way to help your videos go viral.

3) Use Skype to create useful content to give away on your website

People like free stuff, but often it’s time consuming to develop content to give away. Skype has some built-in functions that you may have tried during calls, like the ability to share documents or a computer screen. But have you ever thought about recording that call and using that information as a learning tool for others? 

How about giving out free training over Skype? Offer 15-minute session with a bit of advice and record the call to provide to the potential client afterward. It will serve as a reminder of the information you provided in the call, but also keep you top of mind when they return to the recording to review the information. When you email the recording to the potential client, remind them of your full services if they should want to follow up with you later. 

4) Get vertical

You may already have a blog that talks about your industry and what you do. Blogs are fantastic for driving people to your website when people find your posts informative. Those posts should help your potential customers address a problem to which they are seeking a solution. That wins their loyalty and eventually their business. 

Take the blog concept a step further and start a vertical blog or two. A vertical is a blog that is related to your industry but niche specific. For example, if you are a website designer and you run a blog about web design, consider starting a blog on blog design. It’s a similar field, but you’ll get visitors who are looking for blog design and not necessarily website design. In essence, you are bringing in potential customers through the back door. 

5) Use forums to engage a community.

Right now there could be thousands of potential customers wanting the services you provide. In fact, they are asking questions that you can likely answer. But most business owners pass up the opportunity to engage these potential customers. Don’t neglect this prime opportunity to get involved and show your expertise. 

Chances are there are forums in your industry. Don’t just push your services, but. get active in these forums and genuinely participate. Interacting with others and being helpful is the best way to establish yourself as an expert.

With so many social media networks out there, don’t just take them at face value. Think outside the box and use them creatively to help you and your company stand out in the social media crowd.

Do you have great startup marketing tips to share? Let me know below or tweet at me @misstrendchaser 

 

Why Social Media Is Here To Stay

The funny thing about social media is that, unlike traditional marketing campaigns, there is no beginning and there is definitely no end. Campaigns are limited because, at some point, the postcards will stop being delivered and the commercials will stop airing. There is a sunset on campaigns if you will, while social media provides endless opportunities to get your brand out there.

Here are a few reasons why social media marketing is here to stay:

1) Social Media Is a Function, Not a Campaign

Too many freelancers think of social media as a campaign, something that will be turned on then turned off at a later point. Social media needs to become another department in your organization—whether you develop it in-house or contract it out.
 
2) You Wouldn’t Just Stop Doing Accounting

If you think of social media in these terms, then you already get it. Platforms may come and go (remember Myspace?), but the act of social media marketing is here to stay.
Many consumers use social media to evaluate your entire business. Have less followers than your competition? There must be something wrong with you. Don’t have as many likes as the company down the street? You must not be worth doing business with.
 
3) Timing Is Everything 

 The problem with social media and your business is this: The longer you wait, the longer you think that social media is just a fad—the sooner your business is going to go under.
Let’s jump into our time machine and go back 10 years. You put off the idea of getting a website because you thought the Internet was a fad. You assumed that your clients or customers weren’t online. You were wrong.
Once you stop measuring the impact of social media in days or weeks or months, and start appreciating what it can do for you in the years to come, the better positioned your business will be to survive. 

What challenges and opportunities do social media present for your organization? Share your thoughts with me in comments.
 

How To Turn Your Socially Engaged Employees Into Brand Advocates?

In social media, there is nothing more powerful than someone advocating for your brand. Advocates give their friends, families and colleagues trusted advice that is far more credible than any source of advertising; they defend a business against negative messaging in the countless small interactions that determine a brand's health. They volunteer ideas for product and service improvements.

And they do it all for free.

It's no wonder, then, that just about everyone is looking for advocates. Companies are executing deliberate social media programs to find, activate and maintain these vital assets. Understandably, current engagement effort are focused on making evangelists out of customers, widely considered the most authentic and valuable spokespeople, influences in the news media, academia and other fields are also cultivated. But while businesses reach out to these external constituents, they often forget about the potential advocates -their own employees.

Here are a few ideas to help you turn your employees into brand rockstars:

1) Make It Fun

Hold a brainstorming session. Encourage your employees to tweet about your brand's personality, share images (or even videos) of an upcoming event. Summer is a great time to capture images of fun events and socials and if you start now, the buzz can carry through the fall and winter. Don't be afraid to show off your company's inner workings. The key is to ensure that your content is relevant to your audience and related to your industry. Interestingly enough, it also serves as a strong recruiting tool.

2) Make It Easy

Send out suggested tweets/posts every now and then. Although you don't want a bunch of copycat posts, it's okay to rally the troops by sending out suggestions. This is a useful strategy for companies/brands who may just be adopting social media in their strategies or asking employees to get involved. If you can start the initiatives by giving some helpful recommendations, it will get the wheels turning.

3) Make It Tangible

If you receive inbound leads or interest thanks to their social efforts, be sure to communicate that back to employees. If they can understand how their presence on social channels directly impacts the business, they'll be much more likely to maintain an active account.

Keeping an active, relevant social media shouldn't be one person's job. It really is important to involve your whole organization in order to have social media channels serve their intended purpose.

By empowering employees to be a brand advocate, you're ensuring that your audience gets a steady stream of content and that your employees feel connected to your company.

Are you nurturing your professional relationships to gain more brand advocates? What do you do to encourage your team to do more? Share your thoughts with me in comments

Four Ways To Get Foot Traffic To Your Retail Store

As the online landscape continually changes, retailers are getting more creative to drive store traffic and keep customers coming back. 

There are a variety of ways to connect with customers through social media, but not all strategies are created equal. The most important thing to keep in mind when driving traffic from social media is that you should target people who are interested in what you have to sell.

Here are some smart ways to connect with your customers and bring them in:

1) Facebook Likes

Start by offering incentives for customers to ‘like’ your store’s Facebook page. Offering a fan only special is one of the most effective ways for business to drive traffic with social media. Make the offer truly valuable and then build a sense of immediacy by imposing a reasonable deadline. Upon liking your page, all of your customer’s friends will be notified through their newsfeed, highlighting your store.

For example, while customers are in-store, encourage them to ‘like’ your page and get a discount. Or you can send out an email offer to claim a free store item or discount for responding within 3 days. With a web-based point of sale, you can track who likes your page in the same browser you use to ring sales.

2) Twitter Targeting

Sometimes, business owners have to go out and find their new customers. Twitter is a great place to find customers whose preferences are in line with what you have to offer. Use the Advanced Search function is a great way to help you narrow your communication to customers who are geographically close.  You can even layer a little behavioural targeting to search for those who have tweeted about you or your competitors.

Upon finding these potential customers, start putting relevant content out there to motivate them to visit your store.

3) Word-of-mouth Interactions

As the first form of real advertising, Word-of-mouth (WOM) promotions should not be undervalued as part of a social strategy.  Although it may seem intangible, it can be quantified to build store loyalty. Offering incentives to write reviews on outlets like Google Places is a great place to start. For example, “Love [brand/store name]? Share your thoughts on our Google Places page and get 10% off your next purchase.” It can be a very easy, honest approach if you already have a loyal customer base. Simply, increase loyalty within and have them share the love online to open doors to new customers.

4) Building Loyalty

A great deal of using social media to drive traffic involves incentives. With multiple variations, there are big retailers out there who do it right and reap the benefits. 

For example, if a store that provided services or products aligned with your interests offers 15% birthday discount, wouldn’t you want to take advantage of it? Or for example, if you buy flowers every Friday, wouldn’t it be great to choose the store that gave you a free bouquet with every 5 that you buy?

There are lots of channels to bring people into your store. Social media is just one out of many that will contribute to both your existing and future customers.  

Which social media strategies have you tried before? What worked, what didn't? Share your thoughts with me in comments.