Generating leads on LinkedIn: 3 easy steps

LinkedIn is by far the most misunderstood social media platform in the game today. Though people understand it is a place to professionally connect with colleagues and employers, they fail to explore its lead-generating resources and tools available for growing a client base.

Simply put: LinkedIn doesn’t get the love it deserves.

We’re here to explain why you should love LinkedIn, and we’re going to start by providing 3 easy steps to start generating leads for your business:

1. Article Publishing

Nothing legitimizes your expertise in a specific field more than publishing a free article for reading. Most people don’t realize that LinkedIn has its own blog feature built into the platform, enabling you to publish articles that are then shared with your entire network. And since LinkedIn is considered the serious and professional place to interact with people, your articles are going to be read at a much higher rate than they are on more “fun” platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

2. Group Involvement

Be honest, did you even know you could join groups on LinkedIn? There are tens of millions of highly active groups on LinkedIn at this very second interacting, networking, and scoring clients. All you have to do is request to join a group, and once approved, start posting whatever content you want while communicating with other group members. This is a great place to connect with fellow industry professionals, or to immerse yourself in ideal client pools and start sourcing your leads list.

3. Individual Celebration

Sure, Facebook is full of clicking the Like or Love button to win over other’s favor when they post the typical “look at me” photos and paragraphs. But, on LinkedIn, it’s actually constructive to take time to celebrate others. To show the love on LinkedIn, it’s done via recommendations, reviews, and skill endorsements. So, if you’re chasing down a lead and want to get them to consider you more carefully, go over to their profile and endorse their skills while writing them a heartfelt review. It’s impossible not to love you after that.

Feel a little less scared of LinkedIn? Though it has a serious tone to it, LinkedIn can take your business and build it a steady stream of leads with just 20 minutes of activity every day.  

3 reasons why your business needs a chatbot NOW

It seemed like a fantasy of the future not too long ago when cartoons and TV shows poked fun at using robots for daily human support. There was Karen, Plankton’s computer wife on Spongebob, the Jetsons, My Life As A Teenage Robot, and so many others throughout the last 30 years. Though we don’t quite have teenager robots floating around our streets yet, we do have the creation of chatbots for human-to-robot conversational interaction on a business or brand’s behalf.

What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is an artificial intelligence system that interacts with humans over an Internet-based text chat. The interactions can be straightforward, like placing a pizza delivery order, or they can be complex, like troubleshooting a problem with Internet service. The one-on-one business-to-consumer interaction potential just got a whole lot bigger with the implementation of these conversational bots.

Here are 3 reasons why your business needs a chatbot NOW:

1. Scalability

Up until now, humans were tasked with answering business questions and inquiries. That means only a certain volume of questions could be answered every single hour. With a robot, an infinite amount of questions can be fielded and answered in a single second, with perfect, preprogrammed accuracy. Wow.

2. Engagement

Social media may be to blame for this one. Consumers are spoiled today. They’re used to a steady stream of optimized content, persuading them to make purchases. They’re used to direct contact with businesses through social media profiles. Therefore, they expect this kind of engagement on apps and websites. Chatbots are the perfect way to provide them with personalized, instant engagement as often as they want it.

3. Millennials

Whether this word makes you laugh or cringe, millennials are the most powerful consumer group in the world today. How they go about acquiring their purchases is kind of important. It’s no secret that millennials prefer text chats to any other kind of consumer support (we’re looking at you, smartphones). By having a chatbot, you’ll be catering to the most active consumers in the game today.

Still not totally clear on what a chatbot is? Fear not, we do offer comprehensive informational classes in which we teach you about chatbots, how to create them, and how to anticipate questions for your bot to answer. Check out our new teaching branch: http://socialmeuniversity.com/.

Mobile apps vs. Mobile websites: they have less in common than you think

Last week, I visited RedSneakers, an upscale SEO and website marketing firm in Fort Myers, Florida. I sat down to chat with the boss, Ed Moore. I asked him what he thinks about apps. He replies quickly "We have a website, we don't think we need one." I tried to hide my horrified expression behind my coffee cup.

This is from an SEO guy.

The functions of an app haven't been made clear to the public yet. Why not? That's what I'm trying to figure out.

The App Story

Apps have been around prior to 2008 – but that was the year that we, the plebes, were introduced to that very short and ominous sounding word: app. GooglePlay and Apple's App Store opened for business that year. I even attempted to make my own in 2010. It wasn't very successful, but I did the best I could with what I had. Don't judge.

Apps have come a long way since then. TUNE's "Global Mobile 2016" report [1] estimated there was 180 billion app downloads in 2015. Furthermore, the App Store just enjoyed its busiest day ever on New Years Day 2017.

Obviously many folks know these juicy little widgets exist, but what about the mainstream? Nope, not yet.

Let's get back to Ed at RedSneakers. He is still believing that an app is a mini, mobile website. I laid my phone on his desk and tapped on our company's app: SocialMe (we're a boutique social media management and training company). I continued tapping. I showed him the Entrepreneur.com newsfeed that displays real-time social media articles and blogs (and entertains me in the wee hours of the morning).

Then I tapped on our Calendar (Google Calendar link) so he could see the meeting I had scheduled with him.  I mentioned that his clients could see his scheduled MeetUps, events, and even the slots he had free for them to book an appointment.

Next, I tapped on our SocialClub, where our clients can add themselves to our map. Here is where it gets fun, I get their name, email, or phone number and location. Data collecting, baby! I tapped the SocialMe Poll button. Our fans can choose what features of apps they like the most with a fun, interactive chart showing where they fit in. We all like to fit in, don't we?

Push notifications are the cherries on top of the marketing sundae, though. I have never seen a website (yet) that shoots alerts of sales, messages and updates into my hands, by text, on my phone. We can alert our entire fan base of a special LinkedIn seminar that we are holding tomorrow!

Next, I showed him our SocialMe team superimposed over a grand NYC skyline. We look like hipster, high-fashion models. Hey, it's all about the image.

Then I feigned boredom while I showed him the normal Insta, FB and Twitter icons and easy GPS directions to our place.

Interaction & Engagement

When I looked up I instantly realized that I showed him something that he did not know existed: INTERACTION and ENGAGEMENT. People today are spending over 5 hours per day looking at their phones, making it harder and harder to slow down their speeding on the information highway. If there isn't an element that makes your clients feel connected to you and your brand, they aren't going to care about you. As Mary Kay, the Grand-Dame of make-up and uber successful entrepreneur said, "people won't care about you if you don't care about them." It's no surprise that the Mary Kay brand has multiple, sophisticated apps currently on the market.

Engagement is the biggest difference in mobile websites vs. mobile apps. Today, people have a ridiculously low attention span – if interaction isn't immediate, your customer has likely moved on in search of the next CandyCrush. Experts say that people are even sick of typing website addresses in search bars. Tapping on the app icon is going to be de-riguer in the future.

SocialMe Media

5 bad social media habits to drop this year

Sure, you know at this point that your business needs social media, consistent posting, and proper spelling and grammar, but have you ever considered the bad social media management habits you may be channeling into your daily posting? Social media is an art form of its own, and as such, has many ways for you to help, and hurt, your business in the process.

Here are 5 bad social media habits you should DEFINITELY drop this year:

1. Not engaging your followers

If you’re going to spend all this time developing social media content and posting it, then you better be engaging with the responses as well. People want to be seen and heard. If they have something to say about your post, they want a response from you. Whether it’s a good or bad response, make sure you let your followers know they have been heard either way.

2. Automation

If I see another Instagram picture posted to Facebook through account linking, I may lose it. No one likes to see “recycled” content on social media. People are on a platform specifically looking at you and your brand for natively uploaded and developed content. Get creative, and be sure to upload everything originally on the respective platform.

3. Taking yourself too seriously

Social media is full of enough cynicism and over-the-top seriousness as it is today. Don’t add to it. Have fun with your page! It’s ok to post something that is less-than-serious every so often. Show your followers that you’re a human being with humor. Funny posts always do better than intimidating, informational ones.

4. Inconsistency

This is a hard one for business owners to manage. As a business owner, you have a lot of responsibilities. Making sure a Facebook post is queued up for every day of the week isn’t at the top of your list. The problem is that prospective brand followers expect consistent posting from you, or else they’ll drift off to another brand that does get the job done. Try and queue posts up every Sunday when you’re home relaxing (if not, this is where firms like ours come in for helping with this consistency).

5. Spreading yourself too thin

Many business owners today are under the misconception that they need to be on 10 social media platforms every single day. By spreading your social media presence too thin, you’re going to dilute your content. People will be able to tell. Channel your energy into the 1-2 platforms where your online communities thrive.

For us and for everyone on social media, kick these 5 bad social media habits in 2017. As always, we know it’s easier said than done, which is why we offer Content Calendars and Social Media Training for a step-by-step approach to social media success. 

2017’s Top 4 Content Marketing Trends

The New Year is here! You’re probably busy chasing those resolutions, revamping the dietary plan, and avoiding unnecessary after work drinks. We are, too. That’s the beauty of January.

With the arrival of 2017 comes a whole new outlook on content marketing for digital advertisement and awareness. Now is the time to sit down and plan the content marketing strategy for the year ahead – what parts of your brand do you want to emphasize? Do you have a new kind of consumer you want to invite into your marketing circle? Do you need to reformulate your ideal Buyer Personas?

It’s important to not only ask yourselves these questions, but to also answer them via the content you’re putting out online.

Here are the top 4 content marketing trends to follow in 2017:

1. App Development

Mobile applications used to just be those things we used for accessing Facebook quickly or booking a last-minute Uber out. This year, we’re going to see a massive increase in the use of apps for everyday businesses looking to directly reach out to consumers through geographic pinging, increased product deals and discounts, and information-retrieval based on app usage.

2. Visual stimulation

Visuals are everything. People don’t have time to skim 3-page articles anymore to get what they want out of a brand – if they can get what they want by looking at a beautiful photo with one or two sentences of text overlaying it, that’s what they’re going to do. Cater to the average consumer today by translating your brand principles into visuals and easy-to-watch videos.

3. Personalized messaging

People expect a lot out of a brand today. Most businesses understand they need social media profiles and digital advertising to reach today’s consumers. In order to outshine the competition, you’re going to want to consider targeted, personalized messaging that is catered specifically to your ideal consumer. Who is your ideal consumer? Their age, gender, and interests? You want content that directly reaches and communicates with this individual.

4. Technological implementation

Technological development had a great year in 2016. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being implemented in just about every industry as we speak, businesses are placing chatbots on their websites for immediate consumer answers, and companies like Google found a way into our homes via the Amazon Echo. It’s incredibly important now more than ever to be receptive to these technological advancements. Technology is our future, and your business may want to consider chatbots online and AI learning capabilities down the line for content development.

If any of this sounds overwhelming or time consuming, that’s ok, we can help. Your content is the branded face of your business. It’s important. We have specially crafted Content Calendars available for any business in any industry. Plan ahead. Invest in your digital presence for 2017.

2017 Social Media Marketing Trends: The Snapchat Takeover

This past year was a very, very good year for the short-attention span social media platform of Snapchat. A fairly new social media app compared to the Facebooks and YouTubes of the world, Snapchat hit the scene with a brand new concept of fleeting picture and video sharing that lessens the pressure of posting quality. Its revolutionary platform idea has proved to be a massive success – and a great place for businesses to get in some one-on-one interaction with prospective consumers.

To prove how good 2016 was to Snapchat, we’re going to breakdown some significant statistics proving that the video-sharing mobile application is the place to be in 2017:

·      Snapchat awareness this year grew from 60% to 71% among Americans 12 years of age and older.

·      Snapchat has more users now than LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

·      Total percent of Americans using Snapchat grew from 17% to 23% just this year.

·      Snapchat is now the country’s second favorite social media platform.

·      Young Americans (12 to 24 years old) using Snapchat grew to 26% in 2016, outpacing Instagram at 17%.

Those are just some of the impressive Snapchat stats garnered throughout the past year. The company is expected to be valued at $25 billion at its IPO early in 2017, and the platform expects to close out 2016 with a whopping 150 million active daily users.

You as a business owner, individual, or entrepreneur should absolutely take Snapchat seriously as part of your 2017 business plan moving forward. Clearly, the app is not going anywhere any time soon, and the amount of daily users is expected to surpass 200 million this year.

Though Snapchat is a world of its own, centered on quit wit, clever videos, and intriguing content, anyone can learn to conquer its appeal by whipping out their phone and snapping a picture or video of daily business operations.

Consumers are all about direct connection and interaction with you today, and Snapchat is the perfect place to give them it – free of charge to you!

2017 Social Media Trends: Hang In There, Twitter

The past year hasn’t exactly been kind to Twitter. Shares dropped nearly 400%, the company laid off thousands of workers, and its little video project, Vine, was officially killed. Twitter has its work cutout in 2017 for climbing back up the relevancy ladder, and that is going to start by adopting some of the other “hot” features championed by Instagram and Snapchat today.

I am personally a fan of Twitter, and I find it to be the most effective place to source breaking news before its skewed by the media narrative. I also find it to be a fun place to fire out some sarcastic remarks I am too scared to post on Facebook. That being said, Twitter needs to make serious innovative moves in 2017 to appeal to the larger base of social media users. Though I know the founders of Twitter probably won’t read this, here are my recommendations for giving the platform a facelift:

1. Live Video

Live Video is everything today. Periscope used to be the place to do it, but other platforms found a way to integrate their Live Video Marketing directly. Twitter needs to develop a “Live Video Tweet” option in which users can not only “Go Live” for other Tweeters to watch, they can also Tweet segments from the Live Video after it’s done.

2. More Ad Options

Businesses are flocking to Instagram for the advertising and influencing opportunities today. Twitter isn’t exactly ad-friendly. They need to create an easier and more effective way to get advertisements in the face of their desired users. It’s all about expanded branded awareness, and Twitter needs to cater to that.

3. Keep Character Limit

Twitter has toyed with the idea of expanding their character limit and I’m here to say: DON’T DO IT! Clearly, the world is becoming more and more scatterbrained, drifting to platforms like Instagram and Snapchat that rely on simply a picture or 10-second video. People don’t like to read. Keep the Tweets to 140 characters. It’s what makes them so funny, clever, and quick in the first place.

Hopefully the executives at Twitter are already going over these three tips right now; but if they’re not, we may continue to see a drop in the relevancy of Twitter in 2017.

Let’s say a prayer that’s not the case.

Instagram rolls out “Instagram Live” for Live Video Marketing

Well, we were already calling 2016 the year of Live Video Marketing, and Instagram just solidified it with the official rollout of their Instagram Live feature. Now, business owners, marketers, and branders galore can Live Video their tips, tricks, and surroundings on more than just Facebook. It’s a social media marketing dream come true.

Instagram’s latest Live Video move comes at a time when the app is aggressively trying to associate its platform with more video posting and less picture sharing. Instagram knows the world is heading towards a heavy Live Video Marketing age, and it doesn’t want to be left in the dust as the place for simply pretty and eye-catching pictures.

Now, when users go on Instagram, they can access their Instagram Stories from the top left icon, and swipe right to “Go Live” for all friends to watch. The Instagram Stories feature, a relatively new development as well that enables users to post 24-hour photos and videos (JUST LIKE SNAPCHAT) before they’re taken down, will now play host to going live for any Instagram user. Once the user goes live, Instagram will take it upon themselves to fetch and build an audience, like Facebook, and even message friends directly about the live broadcast.

Is Instagram Live any different from Facebook Live?

Not really, but there are a few subtle differences. Instagram Live will notify users by placing a live icon over the username in any given Instagram feed. Additionally, once the broadcast is complete, Instagram will leave it up for only 24-hours before it is removed. On Facebook, however, Live Videos exist for an infinite amount of time once the video wraps up. Lastly, users will be able to “pin” their favorite comments to the top of the broadcast feed while rolling.

Overall, the two features are incredibly similar, enabling users to disable comments, connect with friends in real-time, and market their hearts out.

So, if you’re a business owner trying to cut through the social media noise, here is yet another way for you to directly, in real-time, connect with your consumer base in a personal, one-on-one kind of way.

2017 Social Media Trends: Live Video

It’s only fitting we start off our 2017 Social Media Trends series with the King of 2016: Live Video.

Live Video managed to go from being slightly relevant on Periscope in 2015, to the dominant marketing force of 2016. How did Live Video explode into such a driving sales force and why are social media marketing platforms so high on it?

Let’s start from the beginning. YouTube changed the game for content marketers and videographers back in 2004 when it provided a free channel for posting and sharing videos. As YouTube grew in popularity, new social media platforms started to pop up and include some kind of video posting capability. People love watching a video instead of reading an article; so naturally, video became more and more popular, accessible on all major social media marketing platforms by 2015.

In 2014, Snapchat changed the video marketing game by creating a platform that caters to quick, funny, and highly engaging video clips that were filmed “live” with no editing. Though it wasn’t real-time, it was the next best thing – and people LOVED it.

Fast-forward to now, and every platform can’t get their hands on Live Video fast enough. Facebook incorporated Live Video as part of their algorithm changes to favor high-quality content over chronological posting. If you get on Facebook and start a Facebook Live recording, they actually fetch followers for you. And if that’s not enough, they send all of your friends a notification – right to their mobile devices – when you go live. It’s a marketers dream.  

Instagram wanted to be part of the revolution, too, and this year rolled out an Instagram Stories feature for enabling brands to post 24-hour shelf-life videos of maximum 10 seconds – JUST like Snapchat.

The Future of Live Video

As 2016 comes to a close, Live Video hasn’t even hit its peak, setting the stage for Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and maybe even the peripheral platforms like LinkedIn and Pinterest, to incorporate a Live Video component. With all of the digital noise out there today, Live Video is the best way for a brand to break through it and showcase personality, accessibility, and entertainment to followers.

Haven’t used Facebook Live for your business platform yet? You better reevaluate for 2017.

3 ways millennial social media habits will change in 2017

It matters how millennials use social media. Millennials make up the biggest consumer bloc in our country currently, and rely on social media for consumerism far more than any other living generation.

Even more eye opening, millennials trust social media reviews and recommendations more than any other demographic.

Simply put, if you want your service to be relevant in 2017, you may want to pay attention to these changing millennial social media habits.

1. The Year of Reviews

Ever see a millennial at a restaurant pounding away at their Yelp app after their meal is delivered? Millennials LOVE to rate and review things for other millennials to read. What does that mean for 2017? The rating and reviewing is expected to skyrocket with more platforms incorporating a review-based component – especially with the rise of mobile apps.

2. Step Away From the Echo Chambers

The mainstream media took a serious hit this election cycle. Americans are the most skeptical of media and social media-sourced news than ever before. Social media’s content-curated algorithms place users in an “echo chamber” of consistent articles/opinions that align only with their interests.

Many millennials are fed up with this, and may turn their backs on social media as a credible news source. What does that mean for businesses? We could see a spike in using social media strictly for communication and brand association.

3. Nonverbal Communication

Just in case the millennial generation couldn’t be anymore stunted in the communication department, we are likely going to see a jump in nonverbal communication using pictures, gifs, and of course, emojis. Millennials are all about brief, concise communication that relays the point in the least amount of words as possible. The best way to do that? A sentence completely comprised of one or two emojis.

As such, expect to see the incorporation of emojis in way more communication channels, even working their way into professional emailing.

You Should Care

If you’re a business that cares about staying current and forming solid sales leads, you may want to consider these three upcoming habit shifts, and adjust your business plan accordingly.

And if you’re not sure exactly how to do that, we are! Hit us up if you’re looking for affordable app development, SEO services, and social media management that aligns with 2017 ideals.