Snapchat-The Newest Platform for Ad Targeting

If you are over the age of 29, you may be asking yourself, “What exactly is Snapchat???”

While you’ve probably heard of it, you may still not know exactly how it works.   And, with most of its users being Millennials and teens, it’s easy to understand why.

Although it’s expanded quite a bit since its initial launch less than 10 years ago, the primary feature of Snapchat is that the pics, messages, and videos sent are temporary. For example, if one user sends another user a photo, upon opening that photo the receiver will only be able to see it for 10 seconds, then it’s gone, the file deleted automatically.

With Snapchat, the phrase, “What happens on the Internet, stays on the Internet…Forever” no longer applies.

Ad Targeting

According to a study done by the Network Advertising Initiative, ad targeting, is said to have 2.7 times more revenue as non-targeted ads.

With ad targeting, ads become more meaningful to users and are often considered to be less intrusive. They also allow businesses to show ads only to those likely to use their products or services.

Just like Facebook, Snapchat can be an effective way to target your specific audience. Also, like Facebook, it can be a confusing process for a business to learn.

The Latest Tool for Ad Targeting

Snapchat is most valuable for engaging your target demographic creating interest for your service or product.  Recent research has shown that Snapchat receives almost 4 times more engagement than comparable platforms like Instagram.

Here are some ways you can break into the Snapchat platform and increase your ad targeting.

Launch New Products

You can use Snapchat to launch products as they become available. Like the cosmetic company, NARS did to give its Snapchat followers a look at its newest product line before the release date.

One advantage to using Snapchat for marketing is your ability to create less formal, budget friendly videos. With this feature, you can even let your followers see your business from a more personal point of view.  This can go far in helping you develop a stronger relationship with them in the future.

Leverage Social Influencer Marketing

The use of Influencer Marketing is the practice of creating relationships with the people who can build additional relationships for you in return. Whether the audience is small or large, an influencer can touch consumers via social networks and blogs, in ways your brand may not be able to reach.

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective channels out there today.

By leveraging influencers, you are able to capture a much greater audience since your content will be viewed both by your followers and the followers of your influencers. It’s one of the fastest ways to build your own immense audience.

An additional way to take advantage of influencer marketing is by inviting an influencer to do a takeover of your account. When this happens, you allow them to run your Snapchat account for a pre-determined time period.  During this time, they will post snaps for you.  The well-known rapper Pharrell did this once in partnership with Adidas for one of their promotional events.

Offer Promo Codes

Compared to the other popular Social Media platforms that offer Ad Targeting, Snapchat is still an up-and-coming platform that hasn’t become overly saturated.

And, because of its growing popularity, engagement levels are still considerably greater than many other platforms.  This makes it a good location to scout out new audience members.  Marketers who take advantage of it now can expect much better engagement than those who wait to jump on the band wagon later.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

The Most Important 2017 Social Media Trends

Marketers have to constantly stay up on social media trends. As cumbersome and time-consuming as it may be sometimes, social media is an aspect of business that has to be paid attention to if a company wants to be successful.

The landscape of social media is constantly changing. New platforms pop up almost every day and the algorithms of existing platforms usually change just as you have gotten the hang of the first platform.

Staying abreast of social media trends can mean that you either have a really successful social media year or a really bad year. Here are the most important trends to look out for in 2017.

Live video content

Last year, Facebook and Twitter launched their live video content services and about half of all marketers indicated that live video would be a major part of their social media plan in 2017.

In order to make live video work for you, consider which social media platform your customers used the most frequently. The platform where you get the most engagement is where you will have the most success with live video.

When you plan a live stream, make sure that you are streaming content that your audience will care about. Some good examples are big company-wide events where you’re releasing new products or announcing new initiatives, question and answer sessions with your customers or with high-level executives, and/or product demonstrations.

It is important to not haphazardly throw together live video content. Your customers expect top-notch content and you have to deliver that with your live streams as well.

Messaging apps are the new customer service tools

If you haven’t noticed already, many of your customers reach out to you on social media before they call or email you. Social media and the messaging services attached to social media platforms have quickly become an invaluable customer service tool.

People prefer when they can chat with a customer service representative one on one and don’t have to wait on hold or be bounced around from representative to representative.

Meet your customers where they are. Start to train your customer service representatives in social media. Consider investing in a social media management tool that makes customer service easy. Once you start making this change, your customers will become happier and more responsive to your customer service efforts.

Mobile advertising will become significantly more competitive

Marketing on mobile devices shot up in the last few years. Once people started browsing the web and social media with their phones instead of their laptops or desktops, mobile ads started to become more and more important.

If you were one of the few brands that were early adopters of mobile advertising, good for you! But sadly, there’s some bad news for you in 2017. Mobile advertising is going to get increasingly more competitive as more and more brands start to move from desktop ads to mobile ads.

The mobile ad marketplace is going to get crowded fast and that is going to make it really competitive. Advertisers should be prepared to up the quality of their content and add more money to their mobile ad budget.

While Facebook and Twitter are still going to command a lot of the mobile ad space, Instagram and Snapchat are going to start to become more and more important. People are responding to ads on Instagram faster and better than was anticipated, so Instagram optimized ads are going to be important.

The bottom line with mobile advertising is, companies need to take a hard look at their mobile ad spend and the mobile optimization of their website if they are going to compete. If you don’t have a mobile-optimized site, get on it ASAP as it could take you down this year.

If you want to learn more about social media trends of 2017, take a look at my done-for-you system today.

Which Social Media Platforms Should You Use for Online Marketing?

Facebook remains the king of social media platforms. There are nearly 2 billion active users on Facebook. But, it’s not the only social networking site out there.

LinkedIn is still going strong and was recently purchased by Microsoft. Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Reddit, and Google Plus are also attracting millions.

Which of these social media sites should you focus on for your online marketing campaign? Spreading yourself too thin is a possibility for entrepreneurs. Instead, devote your energies to two or three platforms.

Use the following tips to determine which social media platforms will best help you connect with your target audience.

Facebook

Due to the sheer number of users, Facebook should definitely be a part of your social media marketing (SMM) strategy. As mentioned, they have almost 2 billion active users. Almost everyone seems to have a Facebook account.

It’s estimated that about 77% of all female internet users and 66% of men have a Facebook account. Though, the numbers shift depending on your target age group. About 87% of people 18 – 29 have a Facebook account. The numbers drop to 73% for those 30 – 49 years old.

You can target just about any demographic through Facebook, as a part of your SMM campaign. Though, you should still include one or two additional sites in your strategy.

Twitter

Twitter has reached 313 million monthly active users, which makes it the third most popular social networking site after Facebook and YouTube. For the 18 – 29 age group, about 37% of the population has a Twitter account. Twitter is well-rounded. A nearly even number of users are men and women.

As with Facebook, Twitter covers a wide range of users. Though, younger generations are more likely to have a Twitter account. Due to the ease of sending out tweets, it remains a popular option for entrepreneurs that want to quickly build a social media presence.

Twitter is very beneficial for entrepreneurs that are just starting out or those that want to specifically target a younger audience.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn  now has over 500 million active monthly users. Nearly half of people with a college degree have a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn is well suited for B2B marketing, as well as for marketing professional services or products.

LinkedIn users tend to skew into the higher income brackets and are more likely to have some level of higher education.

Pinterest

Pinterest is another option, depending on your target audience. They have over 276 million users. 42% of women have a Pinterest account, while just 13% of men use this site. Pinterest remains heavily geared towards women.

If your products or services are targeted directly at women, then Pinterest may be a beneficial site to include in your SMM strategy.

Which Sites Should You Choose?

You should think about your target audience. Who do you want to reach? You won’t get anywhere by targeting the entire population. Focus your efforts on specific segments of the population.

As your brand grows, you can increase your presence and target larger groups. But, you will still use individual campaigns to target these groups.

Two to three sites, including Facebook, are a good starting point for most entrepreneurs. If you feel that you can handle the demands of keeping up with more than that, then go ahead. Just know that an SMM campaign should remain consistent. Create a schedule and stick to it.

If you’re finding it hard to market your products or services through social media, rethink your strategy. Use these suggestions to choose the right social media sites. For additional online marketing techniques, such as a complete lead generation system, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.