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Posted by Patrick

How you can use March Madness to your benefit over social media

Social Media, Social Media for Party Planners 0

March is a glorious month for marketers and sports fans alike. Not only does the month mark the end of winter and beginning of spring, but it also means that college basketball teams nationwide will be competing in the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament. This is a wonderful opportunity for social media marketers to join in the March Madness conversation as means of promoting their brands. Facebook and Instagram have noticed that such trends surrounding things like the Oscars, the Superbowl, March Madness, and Valentine’s Day have provided excellent opportunities in 2017 for marketers to shine, and bring attention to their brands by joining in on the conversations surrounding these holidays and events.

Last year in 2016 alone, the number of conversations over Facebook surrounding March Madness grew by 40%. This is a hot topic of discussion and debate, and it truly couldn’t hurt to join in on the conversation. So, just exactly how does one join in on the March Madness conversation as means of boosting their small business? We’re so glad you asked! Here are some of our top ideas for using March Madness to boost exposure for your brand.

  • Start a contest: Several local newspapers and businesses find that March Madness provides a fun time to start a contest. While the basketball players are duking it out on the court, you can let customers try to predict who will win each game. You can offer the prize of your choice for the lucky person who wins each bracket.
  • Choose a team: There’s no better way to spark engagement than to pick a team to root for, and post content surrounding your favorite team. Perhaps you will create some custom graphics, or post videos and photos of your favorite team and players. All of this is sure to strike some emotion driven comments, whether viewers agree or disagree with your choice of who to root for.
  • Start a debate: One of the best ways to spark exposure and engagement over social media is to have an opinion, and to post content that expresses your opinion. Having an opinion about who is going to win a game, or the entire March Madness tournament is all it takes to begin a debate. When it comes to college sports, many people are passionately emotional about their favorite teams.
  • Post updates: If you’d rather stay out of limelight when it comes to voicing your opinion, simple updates after each game will suffice in providing your audience many opportunities to get involved in a conversation about a game. You may even want to start a conversation by asking your followers who they think will win an upcoming game and why.
  • Be a good sport: No matter who wins or loses each game, it is important to represent your brand by showing excellent sportsmanship. Reacting in anger over social media over a sporting event may not be the best image you want to portray to your followers on behalf of your brand. Keep things civil and congratulate each team who wins, and you will be projecting a fabulous public image for your business.

 Are you interested in using upcoming events to boost your social media exposure for your brand? Would you like help developing an overall digital marketing strategy? Our social media experts would love to help you. We’re a local San Diego website design, email marketing, PR, social media and search engine optimization firm. It is our mission to make our clients more successful. For more information, or a detailed quote, call (619) 291-8181 or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Posted by Patrick

Hottest Social Media Trends for Summer 2016

Business Tips, Marketing Campaigns, Mobile, Social Good, Social Media, Social Media for Consumer Products, Social Media for Hospitality, Social Media for Party Planners, Social Media for Restaurants, Social Media For Retail Businesses, Social Media predictions, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning, Strategy 0

Summer has arrived, and warm temps don’t mean that it’s time to take a break from your marketing campaign. Quite the opposite. As more and more folks take some much-needed time off from work, you can bet that they’ll be sharing their joy on social media. This is where you want to be as well. Here are the latest trends in the social media universe that you can leverage for your business marketing efforts this summer.

Not Your Grandma’s Video

We’ve been told for years that video is essential for marketing. Now with over a billion users worldwide, Live StreamYouTube has revolutionized video marketing to the masses. Yet, a new phenomenon is sweeping the planet and is pushing internet surfers and marketers alike to up their video game, so to speak: live video streaming. We’re no longer satisfied with simply watching recorded videos but crave the authentic live experience that is broadcast through Apps like Periscope and Meerkat – one of the hottest social media trends today. Periscope, owned by Twitter, is now broadcasting over 40 years worth of video daily. Before you start ambushing customers and live streaming, you may wish to strategize with some social media experts.

Snapchat for Business

Snapchat Snapchat, as much as you want it to be, is no longer just for teenagers. However, if your customer base is on the younger side, this is a marketing channel to example closely. According to Snapchat stats, 71% of users are under the age of 34, and there are over 100 million active users of the App. This is an App that can be leveraged for video marketing and short messages to reach untapped markets, particularly if your target market fits these demographics.

Social Commerce

Consumers are becoming less and less patient, and would prefer not to click through three separate screens to buy your product if it’s appealing. Fortunately, many of the social media platforms have heard the call, and various commerce-focused features have been implemented to allow the consumer to hit that “Buy” button sooner, rather than later. Facebook and Pinterest introduced these features in 2015, Twitter has been testing a “buy” button, and Instagram is expected to follow suit shortly.

Influencer Marketing

What used to be called word-of-mouth marketing is now termed “influencer marketing.” Same thing. Not only has the name changed, but its importance has gone through the roof. In fact, Nielson estimates that Social Media Trendsover 90% of consumers trust recommendations of friends and family over an advertising message. So, not only do those Yelp reviews and social media comments about your company matter, but your immediate response to them and prompt resolution of issues matters just as much.

Mobile Rules

It’s no longer “a plus” that your website, blog, and social media buttons are mobile friendly. Today, this is a must if you wish to survive in business. In 2016, it’s estimated that 2 billion consumers worldwide own smartphones, and mobile traffic overtook desktop traffic over a year ago. As content on a website is generally linked to social media, be sure that all of your web properties are mobile-friendly.

Social media platforms and their popularity change frequently and often those changes don’t make sense on the surface. Yet, social media marketing and staying on top of social media trends, is an essential element of connecting with customers and reaching untapped markets. Contact us if you’d like to learn more about social media trends and how My Social Marketing Network’s specialized marketing services can help your business get noticed.

Posted by Patrick

Keeping Your Fingers on the Pulse: Ways to Stay Ahead of the Game and Predict Social Media Trends Like a Psychic

Business Tips, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Marketing Campaigns, Social Good, Social Media, Social Media for Consumer Products, Social Media for Hospitality, Social Media for Party Planners, Social Media for Restaurants, Social Media For Retail Businesses, Social Media predictions, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Twitter, Yelp, YouTube 0

Keeping up with social media trends can be confusing, especially when they seem to change every few months. As Entrepreneur contributor Aaron Agius puts it, “the savvy use of social media” is one of the best methods for building your brand’s authority. Being aware of the latest trends on social media platforms is essential to any business hoping to remain competitive in their market.

Becoming a Social Media Marketing PsychicPredict Social Media Trends

Unless you’re a social media marketing consultant, psychic (or both), you probably aren’t keeping up with the hottest trends across the various platforms. If you’re a business owner or marketer, your top priority is likely your own business and industry daily logistics – so how do you stay ahead of the game and still have time to focus on the many other aspects of running your business? One way is to learn how to predict the social media trends before they happen (or predict which ones will continue to be hot). While this may seem like an impossible task, it really can be as simple as paying attention to what has worked recently and developing your marketing strategy from there.

One of the predictions mentioned at Inc.com – regarding which social media platforms would prove to be viable for marketers in 2015 – was based on the success of certain platforms in the prior year. No one could deny that Facebook continued to be a leading choice for both users and marketers in 2015. LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube were the next obvious contenders, based on the percentage of marketers who used them in 2014. Instagram has already surpassed Twitter in terms of growth and popularity since the marketing research from 2014, as it grew to over 400 million users in 2015. The next big social media platform gaining momentum in 2016 in Snapchat, which is currently rivaling Facebook with 4 billion video views on any given day from 200 million active users. 

Social Media TrendsLooking at Social Media Trends for 2015

Clearly, one of the best indications of the social media trends that will be hot in 2016 is the direction in which marketing practices developed in 2015 across popular platforms. Just as SEO practices experienced significant change in 2015, Facebook also implemented changes that affected marketers. The rules for posting marketing content changed considerably, and this will continue to change the way marketers do business on Facebook in 2016.

Social Media Week contributor Nicole Brown agrees that looking at the past is the secret to success in the future. Social marketing trends in lead generation that worked well in the latter part of 2015 are likely to be just as effective throughout 2016.

Keeping Track of Trending Topics

Another way to remain ahead of the game is to follow the trending topics on social media sites. This is not only a wise practice for journalists; it’s also a great way for marketers to learn what subject matter is of most interest to current platform users. Once you know which topics are trending, you can integrate that information with your marketing campaigns – from your social media posts to your email marketing ads.  

As it happens, you don’t really need to be a psychic to remain competitive in your marketing efforts. However, you may need to take a look at the most recent social media trends to predict which ones will be viable in the future. If you don’t feel equipped to do this, or simply don’t have the time, you may want to consult a professional whose job is navigating social media platforms for marketers and small business owners.   

Posted by Patrick

Winning By Pinning!

Business Tips, Social Media for Hospitality, Social Media for Party Planners, Social Media For Retail Businesses, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning 0

Pinning! Huh? Yes, you read it correctly. There is a new social site on the block, and it’s making a killing. A website completely driven by images, Pinterest is gaining interest from people all over the web. Still in beta form, you must obtain an invite to join (http://pinterest.com/landing/). How exclusive.

I won’t lie, I have a pinning addiction, and let me tell you why. Pinterest is basically an online compilation of lookbooks. The pinner sorts through countless images in every category and then pins their chosen images onto virtual boards that you create. It’s basically the modern day corkboard. The user can also upload images using the URL where the image can be found. Create as many boards as you like, and build an online scrapbook of everything you are obsessed with. I personally have about 8 different boards all in different categories ranging from food and recipes to animals and fitness inspiration.

So what’s the social aspect? It has a little bit of Facebook and a little bit of Twitter. People can follow yours boards like Twitter and can comment on your images like Facebook. Pinterest is different in the way that it is more about collecting content than creating it.

So why should you be interested in Pinterest? For one, it’s addicting, two, great for gathering and managing ideas and inspirations, and three, I think that it will prove to be a powerful social network for businesses. From event planners and florists to sports shops and hotels, Pinterest is going to be a great place to showcase what you are made of. Hotels, for example, may use Pinterest to show highlights or attractions in the city where they are located. Architects may showcase what inspires them.  Florists may showcase their work. The opportunities are endless.

Pinterest has yet to come out with business pages, but I have noticed that many businesses/consultants are on the site and are already gaining followers. Michael Kors is a great example of how a brand can use Pinterest.

All in all, Pinterest is a site to keep an eye on. It is not for everyone, but if your business can make use of visuals and photos then you’re in.

Happy Pinning!

 

 

Posted by Patrick

Facebook For Events: Part Deux

Business Tips, Social Media for Party Planners 0

Facebook has really changed the game for event planners. Facebook has become that new shiny tool that can be very useful if you know how to use it properly. Below I am going to outline some different tips and tricks to turbocharge your Facebook event creation and marketing.

  • Inspire yourself. Use the Facebook pages and network to look around. See what other people are doing, and keep up to date on party planning trends. Subscribe to renowned party planners or event planning pages. These will not only inspire you, but provide you with simple and effective ideas that may have completely slipped your mind. It is also a place to network and connect with others in the industry. Ask questions, and make yourself a part of the conversation.
  • Find vendors. Facebook is a great place to search for vendors and check out their reputation. Check out what each vendor has to offer, see pictures from events they participated in and find out what people are saying about them. You can tell a lot about a vendor, their professionalism, and their quality of service from their Facebook page.
  • Find Sponsors. Research companies that may be interested in sponsoring your event. Entice them with an added bonus that you will feature/ tag/ link back to their website on your Facebook page. Facebook is a great place to find people/ businesses that would be interested in being a part of your event. Let them post on your wall, feature their logos, and even submit interviews and videos that illustrate their support for your cause and event.
  • Give Facebook exclusives for the event. For example, Bridal Bazaar, a huge wedding trade show in San Diego, is offering a two for one ticket price when you “Like” their Facebook page. This not only calls people to “like” the page, but increases the attendance of the show as well.
  • Provide real time updates to fans and followers. Post about the event, check in and keep people on the edge of their seats, wanting to know what is going on. Post pictures, videos, interviews, etc. This is a great way to engage and interact with your Facebook audience.
  • Event recap. Post pictures, videos, comments, and recaps of everything that happened at the event. Use the post event recap to engage with people that were there as well. This is another great opportunity to say thank you to sponsors, receive feedback, and spark conversation with those that were there, as well as those that followed real time event updates.
Posted by Patrick

Talking Twitter – Part 1

Business Tips, Social Media for Hospitality, Social Media for Party Planners, Social Media for Restaurants, Social Media For Retail Businesses, Twitter 0

by Kristian Zaspel

Is making random tweets about your business and services on Twitter not helping you get the results you want?  This is because relationships do not start with self promotion and business plugs.  Like any relationship, it takes time to get to know someone, and just like in the real world, you have to actually ask questions and listen to truly engage with a person and build trust.  Casual conversation in social media is easy to do, but it does take some patience and investment on your part.  Next time you are using Twitter to search for hashtags and conversations related to your product or business, try exercising the following techniques to build new relationships, get more followers and make brand advocates out of complete strangers.

  • Ask people questions.  Believe it or not, people like talking, especially about themselves.  This works the same online.  If you find someone on Twitter that you would like to target to share information about your business, ask them about something they recently posted and see where that conversation leads you.
  • Do not be afraid to start the conversation, but also remember to use proper etiquette.  Just because you are hiding behind a computer does not mean you can ask personal or inappropriate questions.
  • People who “tweet” and use hashtags do so because they WANT to be found and interacted with.  This is why so many people ask open ended questions because they’re looking for answers and responses.  Here is an example of someone looking for engagement:  @RunnerGeek Why do my feet hurt after every run??? #pain #runner

Remember to take the time to find questions and answer honestly.  It does not hurt to use a little humor sometimes. 🙂

  • Keep track of who are interacting with.  You might not get a reply or Tweet back from someone for a couple days, so use an open document to copy/paste the other user’s handle and maybe what you were talking about.  This is helpful if you want to touch base with them later once the conversation is over and it keeps you organized.
  • If you are tweeting from a company or product handle, there is no need to plug your product right off the bat, especially if it already says something about it in your profile.  For example, if you are a beverage company and someone say’s “It’s so hot right now, wish I had something to drink!” you do not need to reply with, “Try my new drink ACME brand, it’s delicious!”.  Instead try something like, “I would direct message you a tall glass of deliciousness if that feature existed!”
  • Give good advice.  You want people to see you and your brand as experts.  This will also help after the relationship is made and if people have questions.  They might also ask you a question months down the line when they actually need your services or product and they remembered that you gave them good advice way back when.
  • Keep it light!  Most people do not want to talk business right from the get-go.  The opportunity to talk about your product or services might not come for a bit, or ever for that matter, but engaging with others in casual conversation let’s people know of your company’s presence and if you make a lasting impression, chances are they will remember you when they need you.

Life is good at My SMN, especially if you want to learn more about social media and about what we do!  Make sure to subscribe to our blog to get updates on our posts!

@MySMNChannel Have a great day and enjoy our #socialmedia tips for all your #online marketing needs

 

Posted by Patrick

Social Media for Events (Part 1)

Facebook, Social Media for Party Planners, Uncategorized 0

by Alessandra Ceresa

I used to work for a non-profit bottled water company called Nika water. At the time, we were an incredibly small company, just trying to spread the word about our cause. We had just launched the product in the Ventura market, and had partnered with an art gallery that was donating 15% of profits from an art show to our company. We began planning the event, and it turned out to be awesome. We had a taco truck, beer and wine, music, and all sorts of goodies to purchase. At the time, I was not as familiar as I am now with the social networking world. Although a successful event, if I had made a more conscious effort to use social media to drive more people to the show, it could have been five to ten times better than awesome.

Planning a successful event can be really stressful, especially when it comes to getting people to attend. The space has to be secured first, then there is the music, entertainment, food, drinks, raffle items, party rentals, etc., but party/event planners can never be too sure of who will show up. Such is the case when planning an event for a younger company.

There is No Party Planning without Social Media!

A local company in San Diego, The Green Flash Surf Art Gallery, has some really great events, and has implemented a rather cool concept of mixing both yoga events with its art events. They cross-promote their events via both Facebook pages and always have a great turn out. Along with cross-promotion, they have successfully identified their audience, and reached out in a targeted way, securing an active invite list.

If you want to be social media savvy for your next event, follow these guidelines:

  • First, create an event page on Facebook. After this initial step has been taken, it is important to identify the audience you want to invite to your event.
  • Next, research Facebook pages and Twitter profiles to find people and communities perfect for the invite list.
  • Once you have identified people who you feel will be eager to be a part of your event, reach out and invite them.
  • Post on Facebook pages where your targeted audience frequents. This will get the word out to exactly the people you want to target.

For example, if it is a Children’s Surf Competition, you may want to try posting on local surf shops’ Facebook pages, or perhaps Surf Camps, schools, etc. This way you are reaching as many potential attendees as possible.

DON’T forget to invite all of your friends, and ask them to invite their friends. This is a great way to spread event details by word of mouth.  Don’t be afraid to spread the word within your networking groups including family, friends, acquaintances, co-workers and professional contacts.

When it comes to Twitter, the most effective way to spread the news about your event is to mention people in a tweet that might be interested in coming, or who have expressed interest in a similar event. If they are interested they will most likely respond or retweet to their followers, again, spreading the word and creating a domino effect of invites.

Social media has opened up endless possibilities for event planners. Planners can now post live pictures and updates to attract even more people to events, so get creative with it. The Internet is a virtual world where news travels fast, very fast, and can turn something small into a hugely successful production.