How to use Social Media to Grow E-Commerce Sales

Social media for E-Commerce is essential for helping build brand awareness and loyalty. Doing so can help grow sales in the present and the long run. Here are a few different ways to utilize social media for E-Commerce that can benefit your brand.

Use Hashtags

Platforms such as Instagram have over 500 million followers plus an average of 95 million pieces of new content posted per day. Therefore one needs to consistently utilize hashtags for a better chance of being discovered and not buried under posts. Keep in mind that different social media platforms handle hashtags differently. For example, Instagram posts do better with about 11 related hashtags. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest do best with only two.

Try Paid Advertising

If you have not yet tried paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram or Snap, now is the time. Organic brand visibility has slowly been on the decline due to the amount of competition. Creative and tailored content can help your brand receive the visibility it requires to grow. Prevent the waste of ad dollars by being as specific as possible when targeting your demographic, location and behaviors of the audience you wish to capture.

Interact with Customers

Social media has become an easy way to include customers in your decision making processes. Build credibility for your brand by responding to questions/comments, thanking customers for their loyalty and creating questions to generate discussion. Building credibility means customers are more likely trust your brand which can increase sales.

Utilize the Best Platforms for Your Brand

Choosing the correct social media platforms can be difficult because there are an abundance to pick from. When deciding on platforms it is crucial not to choose every option possible. One would need additional time and resources to maintain a number of platforms. Therefore try to choose two that can be most beneficial to your brand and then start to build a following. Two platforms with a large amount of followers and interactions carries far more weight than 5 platforms with minimal followers or engagements.

Working with a social media marketing agency such as Bright Age can help you utilize social media for E-Commerce and build your brand.

7 Tips for your 2017 Social Media Marketing Strategy

Present day, social media for business is one of the best ways to differentiate your brand from competitors by allowing you to post creative and tailored content. Here are 7 tips for 2017 to help your company fully utilize social media for business.

1.) Maintain Your Relationships with Current Followers

As we know, it is far more expensive to gain new customers or followers than it is to retain current ones. In saying this it is important to maintain the relationships between your loyal followers. This can be done with thoughtful posts where attempt to get your customers involved in your decision making process for new products or services. Ask questions that engage your audience and start a discussion. You may also feature “customer appreciation days” where you giveaway prizes or offer discounts. When making these posts make sure to truly acknowledge the appreciation you have for those customers.

2.) Use More Discretion When Posting Content

I have come across countless social media business pages that post content completely unrelated to the products or services they offer. When posting 2017 make sure to ask yourself these questions before posting in order to determine if you are going to receive the most value from your post:

1.) Is this valuable information?

2.) Is this information entertaining or practical to my audience?

3.) Does this post relate to my brand?

4.) Will this post help my audience to connect with my brand?

5.) Have I included a call to action?

3.) Take Advantages of Trends

Social media trends come and go but if you catch on within the right amount of time they can help boost your relevance factor as a brand. Constantly educate yourself on upcoming technology or topics people are discussing. Then try to incorporate these ideas into the content you post.

4.) Try Color Psychology

92.6{3257b6ea9729d50d0ff0b2d66dfbc71319303295fd3654295ddeccd44865dc00} of people say visual stimulation was the reason they pushed the “buy now” button. Colors have been proven to affect marketing because they affect the subconscious are of the brain. Color psychology works because it taps into our emotions. Refer to the guide below when creating colorful posts so you can figure out which emotion you may want to evoke pertaining to your brand.

color psychology

5.) Create 360 videos and images

Consumers more than ever want to feel included in your brand experience. Instead of posting simple videos or images about an event pertaining to your company, try utilizing 360 videos and images to fully immerse them in the experience.

 

6.) Utilize Social Media Advertising

If you have not yet tried paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram or Snap, now is the time. Organic brand visibility has slowly been on the decline due to the amount of competition. Creative and tailored content can help your brand receive the visibility it requires to grow. Prevent the waste of ad dollars by being as specific as possible when targeting your demographic, location and behaviors of the audience you wish to capture.

7.) Focus on One Social Media Platform

We are all familiar with the divide and conquer strategy relating to social media platforms. Without a sufficient amount of funds, developing every social media platform is costly and time consuming. Focus on and refine the social media platform that best relates to your brand and then utilize your resources accordingly. One strong social media platform with a huge following and engagement carries far more weight than 5 different evenly spread platforms.

Social media for business is crucial to differentiate your brand from your competitors. Working with a social media marketing agency such as Bright Age can help your business create a marketing plan for the upcoming 2017 year.

Facebook for Businesses Improves with Launch of Unified Inbox

Managing social media inboxes and responses is a tedious task, especially when it comes to maintaining profiles for a business and maximizing the potential of Facebook marketing. This is why Facebook is attempting to solve this issue for at least a few platforms with the introduction of their unified inbox for Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. This unified inbox allows you to maintain comments, responses and messages all at once. Benji Shomair, Facebook’s global head of Pages, describes the new functionality of the Facebook unified inbox “one of our most frequent requests.” The overall goal of the Facebook unified inbox is to help businesses to manage their social media and better respond to customers.

Before the Facebook unified inbox, users had to sign into and open separate apps. Benji Shomair also added, “There were some people even carrying multiple phones so that they can quickly respond to all the different things coming in.”  This is a tedious and time consuming task considering social media interactions are instant. Spending time on just one platform can take away from the possible connections of another. It will soon be possible to respond to Facebook, Messenger and Instagram information from the Facebook Page Managers app. The app will stream all content including comments on Facebook posts, posts on pages, messages and comments on Instagram and videos. One will be able to quickly scan through their content so as to never miss any important announcements. There are also tabs that will focus on individual channels meaning you can still maintain each channel individually if you choose to do so.

Although the inbox is not out yet, the release will be coming soon. It is currently being tested by multiple companies who specifically use the Pages Manager app (on iOS and Android). Already early testers have said that the updated inbox has allowed them to streamline their workflow which in turn has saved their time by around 12{3257b6ea9729d50d0ff0b2d66dfbc71319303295fd3654295ddeccd44865dc00}. Working with a social media marketing agency such as Bright Age can help you company properly utilize and understand the unified inbox and the platforms it supports.

Instagram Grows with the Introduction of Shopping

Instagram has recently revealed the creation of their in-app shopping experience, Instagram Shopping. It is said that 84{3257b6ea9729d50d0ff0b2d66dfbc71319303295fd3654295ddeccd44865dc00} of smartphone users in the US browse, research or compare products via a web browser or mobile app. Therefore, it is no surprise that Instagram marketing is growing and has taken the initiative to make shopping within their app convenient and effective. During an internal survey, Instagram found that only 21{3257b6ea9729d50d0ff0b2d66dfbc71319303295fd3654295ddeccd44865dc00} of online purchases are made within a day. This is due to a lack of information for the consumers. Also, up until now there has been no simple way to receive information and then buy a posted product.

Dave Gilboa, co- founder and CEO of eyewear company Warby Parker says that “Instagram and Warby Parker share a similar appreciation for design and seamless experiences. But right now, there isn’t a simple, clean way for us to share details about the products featured within our posts. Customers often have to ask, which creates a bulky experience on both sides. We love how seamlessly integrated and consumer-centric this new experience is.”

There are currently 20 retail brand testing Instagram Shopping within their profiles. Brands include Warby Parker, Kate Spade, Levi’s, JackThreads and BaubleBar. How Instagram Shopping works is simple.  First retailers tag products in their photos. Each post can hold up to five products. The product information is hidden behind a “tap to view products” button located on the lower left hand corner of the image. Then the consumer clicks on which specific item they would like to view. After the product is chosen, an in app page brings up the items price description, additional products and a “shop now” button. By clicking the “shop now” button, the consumer is automatically brought to the brand website with their desired product.

Until now, most “shop now” buttons bring the consumer directly to check out for the item, rather than letting the individual decide whether or not they have an interest in purchasing the product. People tend to prefer more information before their final purchasing decision is made. Also, Instagram Shopping keeps users in the app longer than previous online shopping methods. By only giving customers the “shop now” choice, they are pulled quickly away from the app. But giving them information to read and discover keeps them engaged on Instagram longer.

By providing extensive product information, Instagram Shopping is not only enhancing the online shopping experience, but also increasing potential turnover for companies. Time will tell if this exciting new feature from Instagram marketing catches on. If so, Instagram Shopping has the capability to change the game of online shopping.

Does Instagram Shopping sound like a feature that can enhance your business? If so, working with an experienced Instagram marketing agency such as Bright Age can help you utilize this feature to create returns from your products.

Social Media Marketing Tips for the Holiday Season

The biggest shopping days of the year are approaching fast. Is your business ready with an effective social media marketing strategy? If not, here are a few tips that your business or social media agency can use to generate sales during the holiday season.

1.) Brand your Social Media with a Holiday Theme

Consumers love to get into the holiday spirit while shopping online or in stores. Think about the elaborate decorations you may see at your favorite retailers. How do they make you feel? Do they bring back nostalgic memories of last year’s holiday season, or seasons long ago? The same principle applies to creating holiday fueled social media posts. Consumers are more likely to share social media content during the last three months of the year. Take holiday themed photos, create videos and do not forget show your holiday cheer. Also, create your own holiday hashtags to keep the buzz going.

2.) Give Consumers a Taste of What’s To Come

Create a sense of curiosity by releasing tidbits of products or services that you plan on releasing for the holiday season. This keeps consumers engaged and more likely to return to your social media for updates.

3.) Run a Social Media Contest or Competition

It is no secret that people love to win free products or services. Running a contest or competition during the holiday season gives your business a better chance for exposure, and creates much excitement. Offer prizes such as a credit towards your business or service and even a goody bag filled with products. Encourage participants to like posts, tag their friends and re-post images to increase the amount of people you reach. You may also like to offer a daily prize draw that will keep consumers coming back to your social media.

4.) Give Back to Your Community

The holidays are a season of giving. Create ways to give back to your community and document every detail on social media. Donate a percentage of profits from sales or create a campaign collecting donations for a cause related to your brand.

5.) Snag Those Last Minute Shoppers

In December 2015, a Facebook survey showed 54 percent of respondents admitted to being nowhere near finished with their holiday shopping, and that it would happen within that month. This being said, be sure to market perfect last minute gift ideas and even expedited shipping to reach customers in time.

Overall, the main focus of your holiday social media marketing strategy should focus on spreading holiday cheer. By leveraging emotions, one can create a powerful and effective campaign. Using a social media agency such as Bright Age can help your business create the most compelling holiday themed content.

Which social media platform will best market your business?

When trying to figure out how to market your business on social media, the available platforms and how they function can be quite overwhelming. Each has different elements that may or may not work for your type of business.  This is why we have created an overview of a few of the top social media platforms, and how they can help your company grow.

Instagram

1.) Instagram is best for businesses that have a creative element. It tends to well for those promoting food, a lifestyle, fashion, luxury or a personality. Instagram allows you to share visual content such as photos and videos. To succeed on Instagram, you should try to post at least once a day, at a time best fit to reach your target audience. The best way to figure out the best times to post is to test different times or research sites that have already collected the information for you. Also, remember to use as many hashtags as possible when posting. Unlike other platforms, the more hashtags on Instagram means the more people are likely to find and like your content. Make sure the hashtags are appropriate for your content.

Facebook

2.) Every business should be on Facebook. With 1.71 billion active users, there is a market for every business. Facebook is great for sharing interesting content, events pertaining to your business and ads. It is a fantastic place to engage with customers and bring them to your website. This can be done with your creative content or by utilizing Facebook Ads. Facebook allows you to track which of your posts are the most effective while running an ad or simply utilizing a regular post. In order to succeed on Facebook, one must create a genuine page that contains curated content and interacts with customers. Also, it is best to post once or twice a day.

Twitter

3.) Twitter is a fast paced and involved platform that everyone should be using. It allows for constant communication between other people and brands. In order to well on Twitter, a business must be able to post constantly. Information does not stay relevant for long considering how fast a more interesting topic can arise. Also, be sure to constantly like, retweet and be involved in conversations. Remember to use only 3 or 4 hashtags with your posts to help them perform better.

Pinterest

4.) Pinterest is great platform for posts related to travel, food, fashion, design and DIY. It is another creative platform that has a largely female user base. On Pinterest one can create boards of “pinned” and “re-pinned” posts, meaning photos they upload and photos they re-share from others. One should post and re-pin multiple times per day to help build a following.

 

YouTube

5.) YouTube is used to create video content. Higher quality content with interesting titles tends to do well. Also, YouTube takes away the need to run an advertising campaign on television. It is now easier than ever for businesses to create an interesting video, then post it with no additional costs. Posting interesting content that gets people talking can cause it to go viral, thus bringing more attention to your company.

Yelp

6.) Yelp is wonderful for brick and mortar stores, bloggers and reviewers. The more stars and reviews your business has, the more people are likely to use your services or visit your store. To succeed on Yelp, remember to actively engage with people who take time to review your business. Also, add as much information to your Yelp such as website links, “about us”, etc. Then be sure to update that information as changes are made.

Overall, there are many platforms that can be used to market your business on social media. The best way to figure out what works for you is to test the ones that resonate with your needs the most. Using a social media marketing company such as Bright Age can help you to strategize which platforms should be used to market your business on social media.

Workplace by Facebook Introduces Social Networking to the Office

Facebook is at it again, introducing themselves into more parts of our lives. As we have experienced, they have the ability to change the way we communicate. Facebook recently expanded its services into the office with the launch of Workplace by Facebook.

Overall, Workplace looks exactly like the traditional Facebook that we all are familiar with. The feel and features are all the same. As of now, there are no ads. Knowing Facebook, it is more than likely ads will be added later to increase ad revenue. Because Workplace is built for company use, there are extra measures taken to ensure that data and information stay secure.

Workplace by Facebook is built predominately for people who do not work at traditional desks. Some examples include baristas and retail associates. Until now there have been over 1,000 companies using the early private version. Starbucks and their 238,000 employees is one of them.

One of the main goals of Workplace by Facebook is to get rid of emails altogether. People within the company can chat with each other, replacing the need for emails. Companies can also share chat groups with other companies, allowing for even more direct conversation.

Facebook is typically viewed as a distraction in the workplace. Therefore it can be difficult to see how this new platform can boost productivity. Facebook plans to accomplish this by making Workplace solely for business use. No personal accounts can be connected to this service.

Your company can utilize Workplace by Facebook for a small fee per employee. Compared to its competitors Slack and Yammer, Workplace is far cheaper.  Facebook will charge $3 per user per month for the first 1,000 users; $2 for the next 1,001-10,000; and $1 for any users above that.

A Facebook advertising agency, like us here at Bright Age, are excited to see the potential behind this new social channel.

Facebook Marketing Grows with Launch of Facebook Marketplace

Remember the days of meeting up with random strangers from Craigslist to buy goods without having any clue about who they were coming from? Those times are soon to be gone with the launch of the Facebook Marketplace. With over 450 million people already visiting buy-sell-trade groups on Facebook, the creation of the Facebook Marketplace is a no brainer.

Prior to Facebook Marketplace, individuals were predominately using Craigslist and buy-sell-trade groups on Facebook to find local goods to purchase. The main problem with Craigslist is that it is impossible to know who you are buying from. There have been countless stories of individuals being ripped off and even robbed from Craigslist sellers. Facebook took this issue and decided to change the game.

When using Facebook Marketplace, you know exactly who is selling your desired product. The marketplace is hooked up to an individual’s Facebook profile. This allows you to get a feeling of what the other person is about before deciding to engage in a business transaction. Users can also filter by location, category and price to find exactly what they are looking for. What the feature lacks is a rating system, just like Amazon of Ebay uses, to find out whether the seller has products that truly fit their description, and what they are like as a seller.

The implementation of Facebook Marketplace is genius. On average, people spend about 50 minutes per day on Facebook. This new feature is a simple tap away within the program. The overall convenience makes it all that more appealing to users. There are similar start-up companies such as LetGo, Wallapop and Close5 who will be in competition with Facebook Marketplace. The obvious advantage Facebook has is their 1.17 billion active users. Facebook will also take action on those abusing the service. They are not afraid to remove listings or ban users altogether.

After they build upon the marketplace, it is more than likely that Facebook will integrate news feed ads or sponsored placement within this experience. They may also allow local businesses to sell their products as well. This is when a Facebook marketing agency such as Bright Age can help you to create the most effective content for your business.

Facebook Best Practices on Demographic Targeting

Many people do not fully utilize the customizable features in the creation of Facebook Ads. This is essential for receiving the full value of your ad dollars. Are you properly targeting your demographic with Facebook Ads to reach your intended audience? If not, we have you covered. In this article we’ve compiled a few tips on Facebook best practices when targeting your demographic.

Identify Key Audience Segments

Properly identifying your audience segments is one of the key principles of marketing. This allows you to create specific content that will resonate with your audience. Once you know exactly who you would like to market to, the rest of our Facebook best practices become a breeze.

Understand the “Detailed Targeting” When Creating an Ad

The second step to our Facebook best practices is to understand “detailed targeting” when creating an ad. Have you ever noticed the “detailed targeting” section while creating an ad, yet did not know how to use that feature? In this section one can specify demographics, interests or behaviors to ensure the right audience is reached.

1.) Demographics

Once you specify your audience, add their demographics to your campaign. Make sure to be specific as possible because Facebook allows you to be.  A few demographic options include education and income

2.) Interests

What interests is your product or service intended for? Whether it be cooking, shopping, outdoor activities or B2B marketing, Facebook has an interest for every industry there is.

3.) Behavior

If you are a Facebook marketing agency, you may want to find people who have recently purchased business marketing related services. By understanding their purchasing behavior, you can customize your ads better than before.

By utilizing the demographics, interests and behaviors sections in Facebook Ads manager, you ultimately waste less ad dollars on people who have no interest in your product or service.

Utilize the “Connections” Feature

The third step to our Facebook best practices is to properly utilize the “connections” feature in the Ad manager. Under this feature, one can dictate the ad to target people or friends who like your page. People who like your page can even be excluded from seeing the ad. The same principles apply to events or apps created by your business.

Facebook ads can be quite profitable when they are set up correctly and are as targeted as possible. Working with a professional Facebook marketing agency such as Bright Age can ensure the best quality and targeted ads for your business.

The Importance of High Quality Social Media Content Creation

Social media platforms such as Facebook are constantly looking for ways to improve satisfaction for their users. It is critical that your social media content creation process contains high quality, creative and authentic content. Without these three elements, making your social media presence successful is not possible.

To begin with, humans are simple. We enjoy content that can resonate with us. Self- promotional spam or boring media is not as appealing. This has to be taken into consideration during your social media content creation process.

One simple way to differentiate between quality content and self-promotion is to ask, “Why should others care or share my post?” In this context quality means to “add or give value” to your intended audience. What value can you ultimately give to others that would make them want your product or service?

In saying this, people share more authentic content as opposed to promotions. Your marketed value should not stem from a sale or special being offered. Instead it should originate from articles or quality photos. Non engaging posts can turn people away from the building of your customer base.

Platforms such as Facebook constantly improve their algorithms to weed out “click-bait” or heavily advertisement based posts. Content such as this typically gets sent to the bottom of an individual’s news feed, or simply does not appear as often. Keep this in mind during the creation of your social media content.

A few tips to remember when creating high quality content include:

1.) Use high resolution photography that pertains to your aesthetic

2.) Post consistent content that can engage your audience

3.) Create content that people want to share. Be sure to stay on top of current events and web trends

4.) Readability is a must! Create posts with short sentences that get your point across.

When creating amusing articles or beautiful posts, one can never go wrong with authentic and promotion-less content. Working with a social media management agency such as Bright Age can help your business create the best social media content possible.