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Why Small Businesses Should Have A Mobile App

August 26, 2018Business, Business Tips, Mobile, Web Design 0

If you think that only the giant retailers bother to create their own business apps, there are a few facts which you should consider that might affect your thinking. For instance, approximately 85% of the time that users spend on their mobile phones is dedicated to operating a mobile app. That fact alone should make you reconsider, but there are other compelling reasons listed below. Don’t dismiss the idea simply because you lack the expertise in-house – a great San Diego web design agency like MySMN can provide you with the perfect app for your business.

You can be constantly visible to your customers

When your app is downloaded to users’ phones, it’s always there on the screen, even if the individual doesn’t intend to use it right at that moment. The fact of its presence on-screen causes it to be etched into the memory of the person for later recall and usage.

Availability of useful information

Any information posted on your mobile website is instantly available to users who have your app on their phones. Whatever information that you’d like your customers to know is right at their fingertips, ready for immediate retrieval. You’ll have a constant line of communication open to your customers and potential customers.

Convenience breeds loyalty

The more convenient you make it for your customers to interact with your business, the more loyal they will become. One example is in collecting and redeeming rewards or discounts that you offer. By providing customers with more reasons to do business with you, their loyalty should increase toward your company.

Building your brand is easier

Your own mobile app provides the perfect vehicle for conveying the kind of image and message that you want your company to project. You basically have a blank palette which you can populate with the core values and philosophy important to your business.

Increase brand recognition

Building on the ease of branding, you can increase the recognition factor of your brand by getting more users engaged with your brand, and on a more frequent basis. And of course, along with that frequency of engagement, you can expect increased sales and customer loyalty.

Better overall customer engagement

Since most customers would rather text a company than talk to a representative, having some kind of messaging platform will give them a method of contacting you which most of them prefer. It can improve your customer service, and defuse any issues before they develop into a negative.

Get a leg up on the competition

Since most small businesses don’t yet have their own apps, this would be one very beneficial way for you to get ahead of the game, by providing users with your own app. It will lend credibility to your company, and make you look more professional and modern.

Increasing customer loyalty

Probably the most critical reason to build your own app is to establish and improve on customer loyalty. There is such a flood of new marketing and advertising being used these days, that maintaining contact with your customer base has become a real challenge. That makes it more important than ever to make a real connection with customers, and mobile apps will help you do that by keeping your business right at your customers’ fingertips.

Want to learn more? Contact mobile app specialists, like MySMN, that will create a mobile app which fully embodies visual appeal, relevant content, rock-solid functionality, and your company’s critical branding message. Contact us today, and start increasing your mobile presence through a customized business app!

Posted by Patrick

Our Top Marketing Predictions for 2017

May 19, 2017Business Tips, Content Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Media predictions 0

2017 is just around the corner, so while you’re planning your New Year’s Eve parties, your San Diego SEO experts have been gathering together the top marketing predictions we see coming to fruition for 2017, and planning our strategies accordingly. So just what do we see happening in a big way for digital marketing in 2017? Many, many things. Here are some of our top predictions.

Automation Will Be Mandatory

Automation is no longer an option of convenience if you want to succeed in marketing your small business in 2017. Instagram just rolled out a new API which will allow for automation of ads, and hopefully all posts on the platform will follow suit. Pretty much every other social media site has the API for automating posts, and this is going to be key. San Diego small businesses are going to rely on planning and strategizing their content, and scheduling it out via Facebook, Hootsuite, etc. This isn’t going to completely overshadow live posting, but it’s definitely going to be a must if companies want to keep up with content marketing competition.

Snapchat Will Continue to Grow

This social media platform has been growing at a rapid rate, as it should be. Large and small businesses alike are going to have to jump on the bandwagon, or miss out on a very large potential target market.

Targeting Will Be Data Driven

The collection of data by large social media platforms such as Facebook has completely transformed the way customers are targeted and marketed to. Marketing is going to be client-driven and all-inclusive pertaining to their lifestyle as a whole. How do we get this information? Facebook, Instagram, email, personal shopping history, etc. All of this data is going to be used in a cumulative way to really paint a picture of each consumer individually, so that targeting will only become smarter–giving each consumer exactly what they want when they want it.

Investing in Your Marketing Team Will Be Mandatory

If you own a San Diego marketing firm–or employ one to conduct the marketing for your business–a bit of investment into your team is going to be essential in 2017. This is because the heat will be turned up, and the pressure will be on to not only produce great content, but to really engage with your target audience and build a following that is not only interacting with said content, but loyal to your brand. Instilling passion and loyalty in your digital following is a bit of an art combined with science that takes time, blood, sweat and tears, so if you’re not investing in your team, a bigger, better competitor will.

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

Add Fuel to Your Social Media Campaigns with Pokemon Go

May 19, 2017Uncategorized 0

As a small business owner, you should always be alert to the possibility of capitalizing on trends which can be advantage to yourself or your business. One of the hottest trends in the country right now is the video game called Pokémon Go, and that fact alone makes it ideal for usage in adding fuel to your social media campaigns.

If for no other reason, the fact of its enormous popularity and the numbers of people who are involved with it, should be something that gets your attention, because it provides you with an enormous built-in audience to promote your small business. Here are some of the ways that you can hop on the bandwagon and use Pokémon Go to grow your small business.

Encourage players to use your business

You can boost social media engagement by encouraging Pokémon Go players to make use of your business – the invitation alone will open the way to greater social engagement with your local clientele, as well as any visiting customers. By making use of social channels to invite people to come play at your business location, you’ll be increasing patronage simply by virtue of the greater number of visitors. If you have a restaurant or store this can be ideal, since the influx of new customers will probably take advantage of time spent there by purchasing your products or services. For even greater participation, you can stage contests or promotions to draw in even more people.

Provide charging stations and free Wi-Fi

You may find that Pokémon Go players flock to your business location if you provide them with charging stations and free Wi-Fi for playing. Two of the critical requirements for extended play will thus be supplied, and your location may become the go-to place in the neighborhood for players. By using your own social channels to inform area players of your generosity, it should quickly become known that you’ve established a player-friendly location which they should be visiting.

Encourage social media check ins

Having players check-in while at your establishment is a great way to boost social engagement, as well as to enhance your Facebook page credibility. Most of the time, a high volume of check-ins is followed by more players coming to your business because of the increased visibility, as well as additional reviews of your business on Facebook. Of course it’s up to you to make sure that those reviews are positive, by providing a pleasant experience for players while they’re with you, and for offering great products and services.

Have players take Pokémon pictures with your products

It can be solid gold for your business to have players taking Pokémon pictures with your products, and have those pictures posted to social media. This amounts to free advertising for your business, and gives you great product exposure all over the Internet. You can encourage this even more by offering discounts to players who take such pictures, especially if they’re products featuring your business name.

Assistance with your social media campaigns

Of course there are many more ways of using digital media strategies for growing your small business. For instance, if you’re considering SEO San Diego or a revamped website, you should contact the experts in San Diego website design, the good folks at My Social Marketing Network. Far more than just a search engine optimization firm, MySMN can handle all your digital marketing needs and website redesigns. 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

Here’s a Look at some New Social Media Apps for 2016 that could be BIG

May 19, 2017Social Media, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning 0

Social media has become such a big part of our lives whether we use it for business, or fun. Sometimes, a new app comes out that makes your social media use so much more productive or enjoyable that you wonder how you ever got along without it. It can be a potential new tool, especially if you use it to promote your business. If you use social media a great deal, then you know that every new app is a new toy to master, or a new solution to a problem you’ve been having implementing your social media strategy.The year 2016 offers several new apps with exciting features that promise to increase your efficiency, or just to make your social media experience more enjoyable. Here’s a look at five new apps for social media that are going to get a lot of attention.

Peach

Peach is an exciting new social media platform. It takes favorite features from several social media platforms and rolls them all up into one. It’s described as a “social journaling tool.” The platform uses what it calls “magic words” to guide you in documenting what’s going on around you and your experiences, things you like or want to save and much more. It’s quickly gaining popularity, and it’s not hard to see why.

Kleek

Facebook users will really appreciate Kleek. Many have become frustrated with their newsfeeds. They don’t like the algorithms that decide what you see in your friends feed. With this app, you can plug it into Facebook and determine who and what will appear in your newsfeed. You create “cliques” and then you only see content that you choose. You can do Facebook your way with Kleek.

Buffer

If you employ social media platforms for marketing, then Buffer is going to help out a lot. As the number of social media apps that are used for marketing grows, the need to post content on all of those channels grows. Planning and executing all of this can be frustrating and extremely time consuming. Buffer allows you to post your social media content across several platforms. You can set up a posting schedule and post content on Facebook, Gmail+, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. It will really save a lot of time on social media marketing.

Secure My Social

Social media has become a way of life. With the rise of social media, as a tool used by a majority of people, also came the rise of cyberbullying and smear campaigns aimed at businesses. Secure My Social is an app that let’s you track what’s being said about you or your business, on social media. This app gives you real time alerts when your business, or yourself are being talked about. It also allows you to “rethink” your post, before it goes out.

Slyce

Created by an athlete, Slyce is a favorite of sports fans. The app allows the athletes to wade through the massive amounts of social media communications they get. It also makes it easier to publish content for their fans. In this age, players are attempting to be more connected to their fans and Slyce makes that easy.

Each one of these new apps has new and different features that will enrich your social media experience. The options for expanding social media use are many, and this is only a small list. It can get rather confusing, with so many options. If you use social media for marketing, and you’re in over your head, reach out to an expert.

Posted by Patrick

7 Ways to Use Instagram for Your Small Business

May 19, 2017Advertising, Business Tips, Social Media, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning, Strategy 0

Photos, graphics and videos grab people’s attention. If you want to be a savvy marketer, it makes sense to learn how to make the most of Instagram to find your target audience, interact with them and sell to them.

Here is a look at 7 effective ways to use the power of Instagram for your small business.

Use Engaging Content

There is so much noise online, it can be hard to get noticed. The best way to stand out is with images and videos that are high quality, colorful and entertaining.

Give a behind-the-scenes look at your business with funny company photos highlighting employees and customers with your products.

Interact with Your Audience

You want to build a relationship with people online. Getting faithful followers makes the best use of Instagram for your small business.

Three good ways to get people engaged with your Instagram account are:

Post daily. People love to interact with you. The more content you post, the greater incentive they have to check back. Ask questions in your posts to get a conversation going.
Comment on customer posts regularly. The more you comment on the photos they post, the more connected they feel toward your product and service.
Repost regularly. By reposting your customers’ photos, you make them feel important.

Start a Photo Contest

People love contests. Since over half of your customers are using smartphones and tablets, it is easy for them to take photos. Combine these two facts to drive customer engagement.

It works because people will need to follow your account in order to enter the contest and find out if they win. Make it a requirement that they “regram” the contest image in order to enter.

Learn the Art of #Hashtags

The creative use of hashtags can get your images shared all over the web. Use the symbol # in front of any word or phrase, without spaces between words. They provide a way to filter and categorize posts on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Be creative when you decide on a hashtag. The more imaginative it is, the greater the chance that followers will post their own on your company photos. Check out how effective they are by using the analytics feature to track your hashtags.

Use the Location Feature

Shoppers use mobiles even while in your brick and mortar store. By creating a location tag for your company, you let them post when they are checking out your products and what they are buying. This is an under-utilized method of marketing with Instagram for your small business.

Create Event Tags

At your next sale or an industry gathering, create an event tag. It notifies your followers that something special is going on. Using the tag, they can easily share it with friends and family. Ask people at the event to take a photo of their favorite moments and post them.

Post Videos

These don’t have to be professional. Use your smartphone to capture an aspect of your business or product. Aim for a 15-second video that is filter-enabled. Then be sure to embed your Instagram video in your blog or your website.

Instagram can help you build your brand and sell your products and services. But figuring it out can be complicated and take time. If you’d like some professional guidance, we can help. We are the go-to experts for using Instagram for your small business in San Diego.

Posted by Patrick

Why Social Media Marketing is Essential for Small Businesses in 2016

May 19, 2017Advertising, Business Tips, Facebook, Social Media, Socially Connected, Strategy, Twitter 0

Most small business owners recognize that, in order to be competitive in their chosen industries, they must have an online presence. This includes participation in social media, which continues to evolve with regards to strategies and platforms that are effective at any given time. What was once just Twitter and Facebook has now been expanded to include Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube, among others. Regardless of where you market your business online, there are several reasons why social media marketing is essential for your small business in the new year.

Mobile

Mobile devices are now everywhere. According to Google, mobile internet traffic in 2015 surpassed desktop traffic and the way that people use their mobile devices is very telling. More mobile device users than ever are browsing social media sites, viewing content and videos, and posting comments or reviews on businesses. If you are not participating in these social sites that more than half of the population is visiting, you are leaving money on the table.

Video

Speaking of video, the average adult in the U.S. spent 1 hour and 16 minutes daily watching online videos in 2015. Last year was the first in history that Facebook video views surpassed YouTube, with over 8 billion views. Social sites now have their own native video apps that small business owners are using to market their businesses very effectively. Whether it be Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Snapchat, video is exploding online and should be an essential part of any social media marketing strategy going forward.

Search

While Google is still the world’s most powerful search engine, the social media sites that small business customers spend so much time on have also introduced search functions. This is a recent development and platforms like Facebook, with its Facebook FYI, now make it easier for 1.5 billion searches per day to return relevant results about local businesses and services. Results may include public posts from friends about a business, public conversations, or prior business reviews.

Personalization

Social media is about both creating brand awareness and establishing relationships with customers. Some social media sites are rolling out tools to make it easier to establish and maintain that personal connection with current or potential customers. Facebook offers Businesses on Messenger, currently only in the U.S., that allows businesses to have these real-time conversations.

Social Commerce

Social media marketing can include such things as paid ads, which continue to evolve on the various platforms. These ads will allow you to bring customers straight to your website once clicked. A new development that takes things even further for business owners is the ability to use the social media platforms themselves to display and sell products or services, essentially turning them into e-commerce platforms. Facebook has Canvas, Twitter has a Buy Button for In-Tweet purchases, and Pinterest has Buyable Pins.

With over 2 billion active social media users worldwide, there is no doubt that the exposure companies get by being involved in social media marketing has a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. Simply having an online presence isn’t enough, however. Being effective and successful in social media requires a purposeful online strategy. If your small business is ready to start the new year off on the right foot with a strong social media program, give us a call or email us. We’d love to answer your questions and help you move forward.

Posted by Patrick

Holiday Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

May 19, 2017Advertising, Business Tips, Social Media, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning, Strategy 0

As shoppers start to trickle into stores, searching for those perfect holiday gifts for friends and loved ones, it’s more important than ever for small businesses to step up their marketing game. Since most customers head to the web before hitting the shops, digital marketing is the most important thing you can be doing right now. Here are some tips to help you launch a successful holiday digital marketing campaign.

(1) Engage Customers on Social Media

A great way to do this is by holding some kind of contest or giveaway. You could post a product photo on Facebook and ask people to “comment and share” for a chance to win, or release a special coupon to your Instagram followers. Also make sure you’re taking advantage of ads on social media to help you reach brand-new customers.

(2) Have a Strong Mobile Presence

It’s 2015. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly site or even an app, chances are, it’s impacting your bottom line all year round. But it can be especially damaging to your holiday digital marketing efforts, because when people are out going from store to store, they won’t have a laptop with them when they’re deciding where to head next. Know what they will have? A smartphone. So focus on reaching them there.

(3) Reach Out to Your Email List

If you have a website, you probably also have an email list (if not, get on that). Be active about sending out time-sensitive offers that will encourage them to act right away, like 20% off for “one week only,” because putting a time limit on things creates a sense of urgency. Feature products or services that would make good gifts, and make sure to highlight why they will.

(4) Change Up Your SEO

Different keywords trend every year, so don’t just stick to the same old boring ones you used last Christmas season. Do keyword analytics research to figure out which ones are hot this year, and incorporate any that fit into your holiday digital marketing strategy, whether that’s in online product descriptions, worked into blog posts on your small business’s website, or sprinkled into your social media posts. If you want web traffic coming to you instead of your big-box competitors, you need Google on your side.

(5) Spend More on Ads

Even if your company budget is feeling a little tight, this is the time of year when it’s worth pulling out the stops. There’s a lot of money to be made by reaching as many people as possible, so don’t be an ad Grinch!

Holiday digital marketing can be a little overwhelming, especially if you’re starting from zero and trying to do everything at once. If you’re feeling a little lost and aren’t sure where to start, please feel free to contact My Social Marketing Network. We’d love to help you reach your small business’s holiday sales goals.

Posted by Patrick

Holiday SEO Strategies for Small Businesses

May 19, 2017Advertising, Blogging, Business Tips, Strategic Planning, Strategy 0

If you operate a small business, you are probably always looking for effective marketing techniques. Employing the right search engine optimization (SEO) methods is vital to any company, and this is especially true for small businesses. You’ll need any advantages you can gain in an ever competitive marketplace, so now is the time to implement the latest and most powerful holiday SEO strategies.

Embrace the Holiday Season

Many consumers love everything about the holiday season, from wrapping paper to holiday feasts to shopping for toys for the little ones. Be sure to use this enthusiasm to your best advantage; display a holiday theme on your website, and offer content that relates to the season. You might publish blog posts using keywords associated with both the holidays and your industry. You could also post videos to YouTube that link seasonal festivities to your business (such as a video that depicts your latest holiday promotion).

Optimize for Local Searches

This is one of the best times to optimize your business for local searches. While many people do their seasonal shopping online, countless others prefer to examine merchandise before they buy it. You can still keep your online shopping demographic while encouraging consumers in your geographical area to visit your bricks-and-mortar store. You might add descriptive words to your business title that relate to your geographical location. If you don’t have a physical store but cater to people in a few specific areas, you could edit your Google My Business information to include those service areas.

Check Your Citations

Don’t forget to check the online citations for your business. If your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are listed incorrectly in various listing directories, your business could fall behind in search results. You may need to hire an SEO professional to perform an intensive search for all of your online citations, but the potential increase in profit is well worth the investment. Once this information has been gathered, the person you’ve hired can help you to implement any necessary corrections. This may also help your business to get additional citations, which is a viable strategy for increasing consumer recognition of your brand during the holidays.

Audit Your Website

This is one of the top holiday SEO strategies that numerous business owners may forget, but it could be a crucial one. Even if you don’t have time to do a thorough audit of your website, performing a basic audit might enable you to optimize the site more efficiently for the season. Details to look for include file code errors, as well as links that are broken and graphics that are missing. By fixing these issues now, you might draw more traffic to your website (and keep more visitors from leaving the site in frustration) at the onset of the busy shopping season.

This season could help your business to make up for any lulls you experienced earlier in the year. In order to capitalize on the heightened shopping activity over the next several weeks, you will need to utilize effective holiday SEO strategies. If you don’t feel qualified to do this without assistance, you might consult a professional who has been trained in SEO techniques.

Posted by Patrick

How to Maximize Your Digital Marketing Efforts During the Holidays

May 19, 2017Advertising, Business Tips, Social Media, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning, Strategy 0

Some of the busiest shopping days of the year take place during the holidays. Whether you run your business online, as a bricks-and-mortar-store, or a combination of both, marketing it online is essential. The following are a few of the top ways to maximize your digital marketing efforts this holiday season.

Advertise via Email

Email marketing is especially important during the holiday season. Consumers generally seem to check their email accounts more often at this time. This is partly due to the fact that people need to consult their email for confirmation of airline and hotel reservations. Additionally, many individuals communicate with their friends, relatives, and coworkers via email regarding holiday parties and other plans.

You can maximize your digital marketing efforts by reaching people in the place you know they are likely to go often (their email account). Consumers do a lot of shopping at this time of year, and they are generally looking for the best deals possible. Offering such deals via targeted emails could help you to generate much business throughout the season, as well as in the months that follow it.

Focus on Your Mobile Efforts

More people than ever use their mobile devices to search for products, services, and sales. Once they find what they’re looking for, they are just as likely to make their purchases by using their smart phones or tablets. Hopefully, your website and ads have been optimized for mobile devices (if they haven’t, then you are probably missing out on a great deal of business since Google made its recent algorithm change).

This is also a good time to streamline your emails to accommodate mobile shoppers. Be sure to utilize a template for your emails that is mobile-friendly. Make your email messages brief so that mobile shoppers don’t become frustrated when viewing them. Use a larger font than you ordinarily might – this will be easier for people to read on their mobile devices.

Feature Your Customers in Your Social Media Content

Another way to get the most from your digital marketing efforts is to provide your customers with user-generated content. When people log on to their social media accounts, they might automatically ignore overt marketing techniques. However, when you feature your users strategically, you may capture the interest of many other users, as well.

Try holding a contest to see which users can devise the most creative photos of themselves using your products or services. If you own a beauty salon, your customers might send photos of their hair and nails as they frolic at holiday parties. If you run an auto dealership, you could hold a contest to see who can send in the silliest vehicle-related selfie (not taken while driving!) – and the winner could receive a new car for the holidays.

The holiday season is the best time to step up your marketing campaign and increase your profits for the year. Consumers are looking for deals, so your business should reach out to them now and advertise your holiday promotions. If you wish to maximize your digital marketing efforts during the holidays, you may want to consult an expert for assistance.

Posted by Patrick

Dozens of Ways to Use Social Media for Lead Generation: What Works?

May 19, 2017Advertising, Blogging, Business Tips, Facebook, Social Media, Socially Connected, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Twitter 0

There is so much that can be done today in the world of social media when it comes to generating leads, it can be disheartening to realize that social media lead generation is like nothing you might have been used to before. Unlike any other lead generation type in history, social allows companies and customers to meet each other in the middle and find common ground. Because of this, many social managers don’t take advantage of what social can do to make their lead generation and customer retention efforts easier and more efficient.

Establishing Thought Leadership and Creating Engagement

No matter which networks you’re working with, all basic social media lead generation can be simplified to this basic form: become a thought leader and create engagement. Every method used on social media to create interest will be based around this basic concept. Establishing yourself as a thought leader means that whoever represents your brand on social media must become known (through blog posts and communications) as a knowledgeable expert in your field. Creating quality content is one way to do this. But creating quality content will create more engagement, for which you should be adequately prepared.

The beauty of social media is that it allows you to treat clients both one-on-one when needed and as a group. Have certain social media followers who are rabid fans or your product or service? You want to treat them with more intel than usual. You can not only direct personal interactions with followers to create leads, but you can only market directly to specific niches within your customer base for better reselling and retention efforts. Leveraging your own power as a thought leader and knowing how to engage your base is essential.

Dozens of Ways to Create Direct Lead Generation Through Social Media

Of course, all of this sounds nice, but you want to know how to leverage social media today to make leads. If that’s the case, here are three solid ways to begin lead generation and tracking right now on certain platforms. While they may appear to be platform-specific, some of the same information can be used on different platforms (Twitter can lead to a form for lead generation, but done correctly, so can other platforms with even more detail.) It’s important to note that to avoid sounding spammy, it’s important to make sure that, as mentioned above, you establish thought leadership or work in areas where you have already done so.

If you’re looking for even more ways to use social media to create leads, here is a page which links to a few dozen different ways to do so, which also includes how to tie social into your blog for even more engagement. If, however, this is starting to look overly complex, fear not: just reach out to our social media experts, who are here to help you. We can analyze your current social engagement and help you make the right decisions on how to approach social media lead generation for your business. Once your social media lead generation is on track, you’ll be surprised at how much social media really is the customer acquisition tool of the future, and eventually wonder how you got along without it.

Tag: my social network marketing

Establishing Thought Leadership and Creating Engagement

Dozens of Ways to Create Direct Lead Generation Through Social Media

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