Mediaboss Marketing

Recent research from B2B ratings and review firm, Clutch, found that many small business owners in the U.S. are not using social media, instead harking back to marketing headlines from several years ago that expressed doubt in the value of Likes or Tweets.

"They are missing out because of their own viewpoint on the topic, [made] from believing five- to six-year-old headlines and not recapturing the maturation of the space," said Joshua Dirks, CEO of Project Bionic, a Seattle-based creative marketing agency.

The report by Clutch, 'Social Media for Small Business: 2017', based on a survey of 350 small business owners across the US, reveals that one quarter (24%) do not currently use social media, with 8% saying the never expect to use it.

However, according to Instagram's latest announcement that it now has over 1 million advertisers on the platform. eMarketer forecasts Instagram will generate $3.64 billion in advertising this year.

The majority of brands it works with are small businesses. In addition to monthly advertisers, Instagram claims 8 million businesses are using its business profiles - a free feature for accounts that want to be recognized as a business on Instagram. Such business profiles are being adopted the most from companies in the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, Russia and the U.K.

"In the last month, over 120 million Instagrammers visited a website, got directions, called, emailed or direct messaged to learn about a business," Instagram said in its blog post.

A key attraction of Instagram for small businesses is access to insights and statistics about their posts and followers. Instagram plans to add to its free tools for businesses over time and has just announced a new "booking tool" to be made available globally in the coming months. This will allow users to book appointments or make reservations through a business profile.

"Many small businesses don't have a website or the traffic to sustain a separate place for booking," Instagram's VP of business, James Quarles, told Forbes. "They just want to have that as part of their Instagram experience. We're just getting started in building the tools businesses would like to find customers and get people to stores."

Tags: advertising, Instagram, small business, SMB, social media

Read more:
Instagram's focus on business tools attracts SMB advertisers - BizReport

Forbes

Why Surprise Is Your Secret Weapon In Social Media Marketing Forbes There are a lot of potential secret weapons you could have in social media marketing. Maybe you're using a platform that your competitors haven't found yet, or a tool that cuts your effort in half (I have my own list of favorites in this area), or ...

Link:
Why Surprise Is Your Secret Weapon In Social Media Marketing - Forbes

This is the fourth installment in a five-part series of articles focusing on best practices to up your content marketing game on the big four of social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Catch up on the first, secondand third installments, and stay tuned for the final Instagram installment. Share your own favorite tips in the commentswed love to hear from you.

Facebook is the Goliath of social media networks. It has the broadest reach of any social network79 percent of Americans use it, and more than 1 billion usersglobally log in every day.

Here its crucial to cut through the clutter. Thats something you can achieve with consistent messaging and branding, by leveraging Facebooks unique features, and with effective ad targeting.

Images and video are more important on Facebook than status updates, with more than 100 million hoursof video watched every day.

Some products and services lend themselves to visual marketing more than others, but there is always an angle. Even if you arent selling something tangible, show someone using or explaining it.

Many brands are also starting to incorporate Facebook Liveto reach larger audiences in real-time with live question-and-answer sessions, webinars or product demos.

Its easy to feel overwhelmed by the service and tools offered by Facebook, but these are a few unique features that can help marketers make their brand stand out:

There are many metrics that Facebook offers to show you that a post or ad campaign is working. Reach, click-throughs, impressions, comments and likes are all metrics used to evaluate social media success. However, rather than just chasing likes, its important to ensure that your ad objectives are aligned with what your actual business goals are.

As far as targeting goes, Facebooks pixel and custom audiencesallow you to gain rich insights about how people use your website, measure results better and build audiences for targeting. After installing the pixel on your site, Facebook will start building a pool of people who have visited your site. These audiences are created separately from your ads, so you can choose when and who to advertise to.

Facebook also allows you to input a user list or pull data from people who interact with your page and find others who are just like themthis is called a lookalike audience. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of ad targeting, but you should make sure to compare the results from lookalike campaigns with other types of targeting.

Note: be wary of interest targeting, which is essentially the social version of a cold call. Likes and clicks can be made by a user for any reasonit doesnt necessarily mean that they are interested in those particular pages or ads.

Facebook offers a variety of creative ad options you can select. Heres a rundown of which option to select based on your campaign goals and the audience youre trying to reach:

Whoever you are and whatever your brand seeks to sell or do, if it isnt on Facebook, it might as well not exist. When it comes to social, Facebook is king. How will you use it to your advantage?

Next up: Instagram.

Ulrik Bo Larsenis founder and CEO of social media management software-as-a-service platform Falcon.io.

Originally posted here:
A Modern Guide to Social Media Content Marketing, Part 4: Facebook - Adweek

Asbury Park Press 12:02 a.m. ET March 20, 2017

The Asbury Park Press Small Business Innovator of the Year program is spotlighting the Shore's top tech firms. Wochit

Theresa Pittius (left) and Cassie Galasetti own Social Sidekick Media in Red Bank.(Photo: Courtesy Chris Kucinski Photography)

Theresa Pittius andCassie Galasetti own Social Sidekick Mediain Red Bank.

When did you decide you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Pittius: Funnily enough, I started working in middle school, volunteering at the Monmouth County Library shelving books and running a pretty darn successful babysitting business for myself in Lincroft and surrounding towns. (The Baby-Sitters Club series was a huge hit back in the '90s and I read each one religiously!) My work ethic has always been very strong, and through the many different occupations I've had over the years, I quietly kept note that I was working harder than most of my fellow employees. There were times when my bosses were coming to me for answers, and I always found it odd, so when I was in my mid-20s I started my first company and was hooked.

Galasetti: I worked hard at various jobs during college and out of college where I picked up a lot of skills along the way. I worked in TV, publishing, marketing, public relations, advertising and entertainment. For me, I think I needed all of the background first before venturing out on my own.

Why did you start this business?

We were both working separate jobs at the time that we met. We noticed each other's work on social media, but it wasnt until I (Cassie) reached out to Theresa to compliment her work that we started to become friends. We were both working on our own until we decided to go full-force together. We quickly learned that our individual strengths complimented one another extremely well. We both wanted to have free reign over our success; I guess the rest is history!

MORE:Adapting Social brings marketing to the little guy

MORE:Five keys to small-business social media success

Were there any challenges that made you think twice about striking out on your own?

Never. We are both extremely efficient and highly dedicated individuals. Every new challenge has been exciting for us to experience and overcome!

If you could do it again, what would you do differently?

Maybe learn a little more about the accounting side of things. We agree thats the most intimidating part of running a business. As creative professionals, bookkeeping is not an area where we truly excel, but we were able to quickly find that out and hire strong accountants to back us up.

Whats the best business advice you have ever received?

Pittius: "Treat others how you wish to be treated." My grandmother, Carol Sullivan, started a business in Red Bank in the '60s and was my mentor in life. She always had life lessons, and this one stuck with me. Dealing with all types of business owners, they all have one thing in common: they want to be treated with respect and held in your best interest. I take that with me every day when I visit my clients. Owning a business is stressful enough without having to deal with unpleasant people!

Galasetti: Surround yourself with good people. Take risks. Dont take things too personally. Watch, listen and learn. Write every dream and goal down on a piece of paper and read them often.

MORE:Red Bank woman knows PR glamour takes hard work

MORE:Writer gets your business message across

What personality trait helps you the most?

Creativity, dedication, open-mindedness, innovative, hardworkingand (the big one in our line of work) deadline oriented.

Whats the hardest part of the job?

We are constantly working. We will try to meet for something fun (kickboxing, lunch, etc.) and just end up talking about work because we are so passionate about what we do. Being able to turn off that constant energy is tough, especially on holidays when we know we have to focus on family.

The easiest?

Working with each other! We have the same vision and dedication and want whats best for our business and clients.

What surprised you the most about running the business?

That many potential clients dont set aside the time and budget for crucial business tools like social media and PR.

Describe your most unusual customer, job or work experience.

We were working on a social media campaign for our Philadelphia clients and ran (literally) around the city with a photographer taking pictures at all of the Philly landmarks with our client's product. Try taking a product photo next to the Liberty Bell during a class trip! It was nearly impossible, but really fun. We were basically doing an on-the-go photoshoot. We got a ton of looks from people, but now they all know the name of our client's brand, if they werent aware of it before!

How would you like the business to grow and change?

We have very high hopes for Social Sidekick. As other small businesses continue to learn and understand the importance of hiring a professional to run their social media and PR, we will continue to work with more and more new clients. We like our boutique agency feel, but we do see ourselves growing with another staff member or two in the near future. We also have a very wide variety of clients from divorce attorneys to surgeons to restaurants, theaters and dance schools, but we definitely want to work with a clothing retailer or art gallery something colorful and fun.

In one sentence, tell us why customers should go to you?

We help small businesses receive the attention that a major company would die for.

What do you love about the community where your business is located?

Small businesses are the backbone of Red Bank. There is just something about watching a business grow from their grand opening to their one-year anniversary party or even second location.

When you leave work, do you leave the office behind, or are you always in contact?

Were always connected! Were a text, call, tweet, comment or DMaway. Every day is different, so we need our communication tools by our side at all times.

What do you do in your off time?

Pittius: I teach private voice and acting to local performers at a professional track training studio I own,Red Bank Performance Prep. I have a background in musical theaterand love boosting confidence in kids and teens (and adults!) and strengthening talent while training my students every week.

Galasetti: I love to travel, especially to Central America. I also write for many blogs, magazines and local newspapers, so that keeps me pretty busy!

When you leave the business behind some day, what will you do?

Pittius: Start another one!

Galasetti:Travel full time!

Small Business Spotlight runs Mondays. If youre a small-business owner in Monmouth and Ocean counties interested in taking part in this Q&A, contact business producer Dennis P. Carmody at dcarmody@gannettnj.com.

SOCIAL SIDEKICK MEDIA, BRANDING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Describe your business: We are a boutique social marketing agency founded on ambitious goals and a passionate spirit. We assist in launching your company on social media platforms, help with managing existing accounts, get your name in the press and execute a total overhaul of your brand. Social Sidekickis your one-stop shop. We provide clients with strategic, inventive and measurable results to bring you to the next level of your industry.

Owners: Theresa Pittius andCassie Galasetti

Location: Red Bank

Website: socialsidekickmedia.com

Founded: January 2016

Read or Share this story: http://on.app.com/2nq9Jn4

Read this article:
Red Bank social marketers unafraid of risk - Asbury Park Press

Influencer marketing is now an integral part of social marketing; it may even become an anchor for marketers trying to navigate around the scourge of ad blocking and bot fraud this year.

However, while influencer marketing has proven to yield excellent return on investment, rising costs have some experts asking how much is too muchto pay for influencer campaigns. Content discovery platform Bloglovin surveyed 100 marketing pros to get a sense of the current state of influencer marketing.

The marketers surveyed by Bloglovin take advantage of influencer marketing for a few main reasonsraising brand awareness, reaching target audiences and the original content created by social media influencers. Fewer than 20 percent of those surveyed said they werent working with influencers yet, but they planned to this year.

Marketers who sponsor influencer content on social have discovered that traditional advertising, such as display ad campaigns, simply cant impact audiences the way influencer campaigns can. The personalized and authentic content created by social influencers encourages audience loyalty. In fact, for 75 percent of marketers surveyed, quality/authenticity was the most important factor in choosing an influencer. 70 percent also selected for audience size, 64 percent for engagement and more than one-half for the influencers aesthetic.

The bottom line is that influencers provide real value to marketers. Aside from the essential boost in brand awareness and new audience reach, more than one-half of survey participants reported that influencers help grow their social following and increased sales, while still nearly one-half reported increases in website traffic.

For more information on the preferred ways to locate influencers, the best social sites for influencer content and investment growth data, download the full report.

Image on homepage courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Influencer Marketing Is Becoming an Essential Business Strategy (Survey) - Adweek