Archive for Marketing – Page 2

Secrets to create Engaging Social Media Content

Posted by connie on
 September 20, 2017
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Over 76% of marketers report that finding quality content is the greatest marketing challenge. Posting regularly to social media requires research, familiarity with trending topics, strong communication skills and brain power!

Today, we are sharing three of CC Communications secrets to keep your social media content engaging:

Start a Conversation to #ConnectMORE 

Social media is the perfect place to #ConnectMORE with your audience and “get social” with your customers. Try posting content that is interactive. For example, ask your audience questions about their preference or personal opinion to entice a conversation.

Once your followers have started to engage with you, it is important to respond. Social media platforms make it easy to respond to followers by replying to their comments or by using the “@” symbol to speak directly with them. Other users are more likely to participate in the conversation when they view responses from the company.

In this post to the left, it is clear that the company has not made an effort to converse with their audience. Such posts are ad driven to increase sales but fail to start an interactive conversation.

If a social media user is interested in the product, they may purchase the item, however posts such as this fail to encourage conversation or social interaction. This is a disadvantage because social media interaction through the form of written conversation often spurs interest from other users who could become potential buyers of such products and/or services. 

Can you spot the difference in this Coca-Cola post for example?

It makes a point to engage followers by asking them a question, while still promoting the product.

Represent Your Brand

Sharing and reposting existing content is part of a good social media strategy, but the majority of your content should be unique and relevant to your overall products and services. People will follow your social media pages to view content that represents your business and brand.

To accurately represent your brand and preserve your image, you should avoid “clickbait.”

Clickbait is the posting of articles with attention grabbing headlines that are designed to urge users to click on a link. Due to their frequent use, Facebook officials have altered their algorithm to reduce the viewership of “clickbait” articles. This recent change was made as an overall initiative to provide the Facebook community with organic and authentic content. Have you been a victim of “clickbait?”

Think Outside of the Box and Make it Visual 

Keep your content fresh! Research and capitalize on trends people are socializing about. Include visuals that represent your brand. In doing so, your social posts become 80% more interactive according to Facebook analytics.

For example, by adding this image of a quote to the Facebook post it has become more visually stimulating and might encourage viewers to remember it’s positive message (and your brand in association).

For commercial photography, consider utilizing the photography services of CC Photography, a division of CC Communications. Also book your FREE 30 minute consultation  as our agency is driven to provide business owners with the opportunity to increase their brand awareness and build community through interactive and conversational content.

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Simply being on social media is NOT enough

Posted by connie on
 September 13, 2017
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When put to use in a strategic manner, social media can bring in new customers, increase brand awareness and help you #ConnectMORE with your audience.

However, simply being present on social media is not enough. Here’s why:

  1. We live in an environment where social media is visible twenty-four, seven through the means of interactive technology and mobile devices. Failing to use social media marketing can have an immediate negative impact on your overall business growth. More than likely, competitors are actively engaging with customers and maintaining conversations with them through the use of various social media platforms.
  2. It is also no surprise that social sharing influences purchaser’s decisions. People often are influenced by their friend’s recommendations, reviews, and referrals and social media is the perfect place for people to voice their experiences.
  3. People are posting content regularly and it is becoming increasingly important to post engaging content that impacts your target audience. Creating a social media strategy will help you focus on using relevant content to connect with existing and new customers and avoid adding to the noise.

For these reasons, a social media plan is important to keep your content interactive, relevant and compelling. A social media plan can outline how your interaction will align with your overall business strategy to achieve business goals, whether they may be to enhance your brand presence online, market yourself in a more professional manner, or increase your sales.

Do you want to attract new customers? Would you like to increase traffic to your website? Would you like to increase your online sales?

If you’re a business owner and responding yes to these questions, then it is important to have a clear set of goals in mind to achieve these results.

We understand that busy-business owners do not have time to perform the research to determine a strategic plan of action. So, during your free 30 minute consultation with CC Communications, we provide important information concerning the set up of your social media accounts and website to recommend solutions to help you achieve your goals. Our familiarity with SEO keywords can serve to elevate your presence online as well as stand out from the ever-growing social media noise. Our familiarity in marketing trends and research, can also determine what types of promotional campaigns or offers would be wise to incorporate in your social media strategy. By working together, we can create compelling social content and provide “hands on” daily management services to ensure that your online presence is constantly growing.

Are you ready to take your social game to the next level? Let’s talk.

 

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Every Business Needs a Social Media Policy

Posted by connie on
 September 5, 2017
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Social media is here to stay, and the nearly 3 billion people who maintain an active social media presence would agree. However, when employees are linked to a business, that business’ reputation can either be crippled by an employee’s social media use or enhanced.

Too often we hear about companies coming under fire for something an employee has done, said or shared on social media.

Prohibiting your employees from using social media is not realistic and a violation of their privacy. However, having a strong social media policy drafted for your place of business is a legal and effective tool to utilize. It also allows your employees to become part of the “team building” of your online social media presence.

CC Communications can help you develop an effective social media policy to protect your employees, your company’s reputation, and to enhance your online brand presence.

In this regard, your policy should not be a list of things your employees are not allowed to do. Avoid a long list of restrictions, and instead focus on what your employees are allowed and encouraged to share.

Your employees can be the best advocates for your business. The messages about your products or services can be more credible when coming from an employee. Encourage your staff to use social media to promote products or services they themselves use or currently would recommend to friends and family. It allows your employees the opportunity to have a voice about the products and services they find useful.

Use it as an educational tool

Your social media policy should educate your employees – many people do not realize the information they share on social media can be view virally. Your policy should enhance employee knowledge of how to properly use using privacy settings on social media. Such settings are continuously changing and are dependent upon which social media network you are referencing. It is therefore important to research privacy information prior to the development of your social media policy in order to ensure it is relevant.

Remind your staff that nothing shared online is truly private, and once something is published online, it is difficult for it to be permanently deleted. Use your social media policy as a tool to encourage your staff to #ConnectMORE but, in a more conscientious way!

Be specific!

Before developing a social media policy, know your expectations and limitations.

For instance, the GAP clothing company has a social media policy explicitly states:

 “Don’t even think about it…. Talking about financial information, sales trends, strategies, forecasts, legal issues, future promotional activities. Giving out personal information about customers or employees. Posting confidential or non-public information. Responding to an offensive or negative post by a customer. There’s no winner in that game.”

Your social media policy protects your brand’s image, outlines your expectations and helps you build a team dedicated to the enhancement of your “online goals” for your business. Book your FREE 30 minute consultation with CC Communications regarding the drafting and finalizing of your social media policy today.

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Social Media is WORD OF MOUTH, only viral!

Posted by admin on
 October 25, 2016
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Many local business owners argue that a majority of their sales come from word of mouth advertising!

This is great news for those who are becoming more warmed up to the idea of using social media to help build their client Rolodex. Here’s why!

Social media marketing is word of mouth advertising, only digitalized. The opportunity to share information with a significant number of friends on Facebook has enabled small businesses to connect with larger audiences in a smaller amount of time. Keeping an up-to-date profile is therefore no longer a sub-task you should leave for “when I have time,” but rather a necessity to keep your online presence active and your profile traffic consistently growing.

The opportunity to connect with customers is also an advantage that traditional forms of advertising do not allow. Interacting with your customer base can allow you receive marketing insights that you would not have otherwise been privy to. If there is a problem with your product or service, you can find out about it immediately and contact the customer directly.

Using social media to grow your brand also makes your competitors antsy! The sooner you start to amass followers and create a strong identity the harder and more expensive it will be for competitors to join the band wagon. Although using social media to grow your business can be free, if you are having difficulties marketing your products and services to the masses, you may want to consider hiring a PR or marketing agency for help.

Hiring an agency can also streamline the process it will take to get you up and running but also ensure that your content will appeal to a larger target audience. The investment is usually worth the trade-off as you are likely to see a return by communicating with potential clients you may not have connected with any other way. In addition, social media marketing agencies such as CC Communications are continually developing their strategy to accommodate for shifts and changes not only in the market place, but also in the online digital world. Busy business owners may find the assistance rather life-changing as they can rely on an agency to continue to build and develop their online presence while they carry out day-to-day tasks.

Although some businesses thrive in the viral cyberspace by using attention gabbing tactics, it is much more important to maintain a reliable social media presence.

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Tips for Selling to Millennials using Social Media

Posted by admin on
 October 10, 2016
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Millennials are characterized as individuals born within the early 1980’s to the early 2000’s.

Being a member of this generation, I can attest to the incline of challenges that have tried and tested our generation including living through a recession, working two jobs to pay back student loans, and being negatively affected by a high unemployment rate.

However, Millennials are extremely well education and stand strong, especially in the community of Sault Ste. Marie. There has been an increase in a number of start up businesses led by members of this cohort who have become inspiring role models for our youth.

It is important to account for the challenges that affect Millennials and also their attributes when marketing especially their tech savvy capabilities. It would be wise for businesses to consider adding these tips to their marketing and communications plan in 2016:

1) Accept technology and use it to advance your brand. Millennials are tech savvy and as technology continues to advance, those in business would benefit from transitioning from traditional forms of advertising and communication and opt-in for a more modern and immediate form of marketing like routine social media management.

2) Make sure you have a strong social media presence that is kept up-to-date and relevant. Millennials are constantly using the internet to research and are very socially aware. Communicating with them on their level will not only allow you to be perceived as keeping-up-with-the-times but also earn you “top-of-mind” status the next time they require your product or service.

3) Millennials are very busy and most often moving quickly from point A to point B. The amount of time you have to make a social media impression is less than 3.5 seconds as they scroll through a newsfeed. It is imperative to have engaging content and make a good but immediate impression.

4) Authenticity is key! Be genuine and address ALL your customers with amazing customer service.

For more help on using social media to grow your brand, book a conversation with CC Communications and Let’s Talk!

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