by Sofi | Nov 24, 2017 | Social Media Marketing
Instagram is currently one of the most popular social media networks in existence. According to Statista, they had 800 million monthly active users as of September this year. The platform is mainly used for sharing photos and videos from smartphones, and about a year ago Instagram launched their new feature – Instagram Stories, which was an instant success.
Since there are so many users on Instagram, many companies are taking advantage of the platform to promote and grow their business. They create accounts and share content to engage with their customers. However, certain types of content perform better than others. So, here is a list of the most engaging types of content on Instagram.
#1 UGC
User generated content (UGC) is when brands repost photos from their customers on their own profiles. It has become a popular social media marketing trend, and for a good reason. It is affordable yet powerful strategy for increasing your brand’s visibility and customer engagement. Regramming your customer’s photos shows them you appreciate them and their opinion about your products. Additionally, you always have available new content to post on your profile, and you save time and money for creating your own. GoPro is the best example of a brand that superbly uses UGC. They continuously engage their customers by encouraging them to post cool photos taken with GoPro cameras, and then reposting the photos on their profile which has millions of followers.
#2 Behind the scenes
By posting behind the scenes photos you show the human side of your brand. Keep in mind that everybody likes brands that value their employees. You can post photos of your happy employees working hard, activities where they show off their specific skills, their work spaces, and different types of events, such as birthdays, holiday celebrations in the office, or even a simple launch break. By posting this type of content you show you have a great company culture and a good working environment. This may also inspire your employees to share photos on their own profiles, thus further increasing their popularity and reach.
#3 Motivational and inspirational quotes
People like stuff that makes them feel motivated and inspired. If you post a motivational or inspirational quote that really hits the nerve of people, chances are they will like it and share it with others. Quotes from famous people that your customers admire can always perform well, but if you can come up with something original and awesome yourself, then you should go for it.
#4 Contests
Contests are a great way to engage your followers and promote your brand. You can organize fun contests with simple rules and give different kinds of prizes to motivate people to participate. The prizes don’t have to be something glamorous or too expensive as long as they’re exciting enough for your customers. For example, you can reward the winners with gift cards, discount cards, or they can win some of your products for free.
#5 Funny posts
If it’s appropriate for your brand, consider posting something funny from time to time. Everybody absolutely loves positive content. A hilarious joke, or a funny photo or meme can go a long way. This type of content gets shared a lot, and generates huge engagement. So, brighten up the day of your customers by giving them a good laugh.
#6 Product photos
Your audience follows you to keep up with news about your brand and products, so don’t forget to post photos of your products highlighting their features. You can post photos of what you have in-store, your best-selling items, product pairings, etc. Make sure you post quality photos with great colors and make use of the Instagram filters to make your photos look even better. By promoting your products, you also promote your brand, thus increasing brand awareness, and boosting sales.
by Sofi | Nov 17, 2017 | Other
If you’re planning to set up an online store, you’re facing the challenge of choosing an appropriate e-commerce platform. There are multiple platforms which offer great e-commerce solutions, but Shopify is a leader on the market and a go-to choice for many businesses. The reason for this is that the platform has many great features, and it’s relatively easy to use.
So, without further ado, here are the benefits of using Shopify.
#1 Affordability
Shopify offers monthly plans which are relatively cheap and affordable for any business.
- Lite plan – this plan gives you tools for selling on social media and buy buttons you can put on your website or blog. You don’t get too many options with this plan, but it goes for only $9 a month.
- Basic Shopify plan – with the Basic plan you get a hosted shop and blog with additional options such as adding unlimited number of products, fraud analysis tool, ability to add discount codes, a free SSL certificate and 24/7 customer support. This plan costs $29 a month.
- The Shopify plan – with this plan you can take advantage of all the options from the basic plan, plus additional options such as the abandoned cart recovery tool, which lets you get contact details from people that didn’t finish their orders, and send them reminder or promo message later. This is the most popular Shopify plan and is priced at $79 a month.
- Advanced Shopify plan – this plan has all the features from the other plans, with the addition of advanced report builder, dashboard access of 15 users, and third-party shipping calculation. This is the most expensive plan and it goes for $299 a month.
#2 Easy setup and use
The platform offers an easy way to setup and launch your online store. It has a nice admin interface, which is very well structured and easy to use. There is also a Shopify Help Center where you can find all the necessary information and guides about setting up and managing your store.
#3 Hosted platform
To use Shopify, you don’t need to have a lot of technical expertise or coding skills. They take care of your site’s server, software, website management, hosting, payment gateway, as well software updates. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about technical issues and you can just focus on running your business.
#4 Marketing apps and tools
Shopify provides all the key marketing apps and tools you need to promote your e-commerce business. It has integrated SEO features, advanced analytics, social network integrations, targeted e-mail marketing, discount codes, custom gift cards, coupon engine, etc. You can use any of the marketing apps and tools to generate more traffic to your site and boost your sales.
#5 Mobile friendly
Shopify includes mobile commerce features and can be managed from a mobile phone. All the themes are mobile responsive, and it includes a built-in mobile commerce shopping cart which means customers can buy from your store using a mobile phone. In addition, you can manage your store from anywhere using the Shopify mobile app, available for iOS and Android.
#6 Security and reliability
Shopify keeps your site secure by handling security compliance, security upgrades and hacker protection. They also provide reliability, by maintaining and upgrading your server in order to make sure your shopping cart is always available and loading quickly.
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If you want to easily launch and manage an online store, without having to bother with technical issues, then Shopify is the right choice for you.
by Sofi | Nov 10, 2017 | Other
What is mobile marketing?
Mobile marketing is a type of digital marketing aimed at reaching specific audiences on their cell phones, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices via SMS, MMS, email, social media, and mobile applications.
Considering the rapid pace of technological advancement, mobile marketing is becoming an indispensable part of an effective marketing strategy. Some companies have been slower in adopting this concept, mainly due to the belief that this type of marketing only targets the younger population. But the truth is that people of all ages are using smartphones and other mobile devices, and this trend will continue in the future.
According to a statistic by Express Pigeon, “over 50% of smartphone users grab their smartphone immediately after waking up.” This shows how much people are attached to their devices, and this type of information should encourage companies to direct more of their efforts towards mobile marketing.
Companies need to constantly improve and adjust their strategies to succeed in the mobile world. Although effective, it’s no longer enough to connect with customers only by sending text messages, because people now use smartphones to engage in all the kind of online activities they can engage on desktop and laptop computers. This means that companies need to catch up with the times and evolve their mobile strategies to fit the current wishes, needs, and habits of their customers.
Benefits of using mobile marketing
Reach – Majority of people nowadays own smartphones, and spend a lot of time online, so mobile marketing can help companies reach very wide and diverse audiences. It’s also very important to be present on social media, since people regularly check into their social media networks on their smartphones. People share stuff they like online, so good social media presence will increase your brand awareness as well.
Immediacy – You can get immediate responses from your customers when you reach them by mobile, because people carry their smartphones with them almost all the time. If you send them a text message or an email, they will immediately receive it. If in your message or email you include a link to your new product, they might like it and decide to make a purchase right away.
Enhanced customer experience – Many businesses still don’t have optimized websites for smaller screens, and that results in inconvenience for users who surf the internet on their smartphones and other mobile devices. Adjusting your web content to fit on smaller screens will enhance the experience of your customers and increase engagement.
Location awareness – If you own an app for your business, you can track the location of your users by technologies such as GPS or beacons. You can deliver different information to your users by sending push notifications, at any time. With analytics, you can gather different types of data for your users, such as the time they visit a certain location, how long they stay there, and more. The location insights can help you create more personalized marketing strategies, and boost the odds of engagement and conversions.
Cost-effectiveness – Compared to other marketing techniques, mobile marketing is very affordable. You don’t need a big budget for an SMS campaign, and you can create any other kind of mobile marketing campaign at a relatively low cost. This makes mobile marketing a good option for small businesses that have a limited budget.
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Mobile marketing brings companies many opportunities for development and improvement of their business endeavors. It helps them reach many people at the same time, inexpensively, easy and fast. Think of all the benefits mobile marketing can bring to your business, and make it a part of your marketing strategy, if you haven’t done so already.
by Sofi | Nov 3, 2017 | Other
The holiday season is an opportunity for your business to grow in both sales and customer base, so it’s important for you to optimize your marketing strategy, and make the most of it. Here are some tips on how to make the busiest season of the year, the best part of the year for your business.
#1 Prepare social media content
People spend a lot of time on social media during holiday season. Before they go on their holiday shopping, they often go online to check for discount announcements, ask for product prices, and search other information about their favorite brands. Therefore, it’s essential for you to prepare a great holiday content for your social media profiles. Publish the kind of content your audience liked in the past, share some exciting news, discount offers, post cute holiday photos, or organize fun events.
By posting on social media during the holidays, you can reach a wider audience, and consequently increase engagement. A good idea is scheduling your posts for publishing in advance, instead of publishing each post individually. This can save you a lot of time that you can use to focus on other business issues, and you can schedule posts to be published at optimal times of the day when your audience is active the most. So, prepare awesome content and then schedule it for publishing at specific dates during the holidays.
#2 Optimize your website
Optimize the content and the look of your website for the holidays. Add relevant information, feature new products/services and discount offers, and include CTAs. Update your website with news about your work, your company, and your brand. Add the kind of content you think your website visitors would like, then organize it and make it easy to find.
Also, try to create a great user experience for people who visit your website. Consider editing the look of your website by adding a holiday flair. Design some cool graphics, change website colors, get creative with it and give it a nice festive look.
#3 Send emails to business clients
If you work with business clients, send a nicely crafted email to all of them, and wish them a great holiday season. You can design beautiful email templates in MailChimp, which is a great online platform for email marketing. It offers plenty of cool layouts and themes you can choose from, as well as content and design editing tools.
Sending a holiday email is a great opportunity to express your appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity to work with your clients, as well as your hopes for further collaboration. This is a great time to remind them of how great it is to work with you and strengthen your relationship. Show them how much you value them, and your clients will appreciate the attention.
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Use the holiday season to promote your business, attract new customers, and strengthen the relationship with your clients. It’s the busiest and most cheerful time of the year. Use this to your advantage, and prepare your marketing strategy accordingly.
We wish you a joyous and prosperous holiday season!
