9 Awesome Tools to Help Your Twitter Game

With over 328 monthly active users, it’s hard not to acknowledge the power and popularity of one of the world’s most prominent social media platforms. The microblogging trend has taken the internet by storm and it’s easy for anyone to follow their favourite brands and celebrities from the ease of their phone. You too can take advantage of this platform by utilizing these handy tools to boost your marketing efforts.

Hashtagify

Twitter is all about hashtags and there’s nothing better at finding the right hashtag than Hashtagify. If you want to know which hashtags work best for your industry, Hashtagify is the tool for you. With over 40 million hashtags in its repository, Hashtagify will be your best friend to get noticed during hashtag searches.

Tweriod

The clever combination of “Twitter” and “period” should tell you all you need to know about this app. You can spy on your followers and see when they are most active on Twitter, therefore giving you a better idea of when to post during peak times. Combine this with a scheduling app and watch your retweets climb higher.

Buffer

Speaking of scheduling apps, Buffer gives you the ability to schedule tweets and posts at certain times. This is especially useful when trying to target your audience during peak times or when experimenting with different time zones and the like. You can pre-write all your tweets and have them scheduled to be sent out in a few hours or even a few weeks.

Twilert

Another clever combination of words, this app alerts you when your keywords are messaged on Twitter. For example, you might opt in to receive emails whenever someone mentions your brand name on Twitter, allowing you to swiftly respond to them. Managing your social media presence and watching what people are saying about your brand is incredibly important to maintain a positive image of your company.

Bit.ly

Bit.ly is great because it does two things. The first is that it shortens your links which is very useful for fitting in everything you need to say even with the new 280-character limit. The second thing Bit.ly does is track the number of clicks so you can see how many people actually interacted with your link.

TweetChat

One of the most annoying aspects of Twitter is that you can’t interact with someone directly unless you send them a direct message or input their handle in a private tweet. Luckily, TweetChat changes all that. This handy app allows you to have private conversations without all that other annoying hassle.

BuzzSumo

This tool used by everyone from BuzzFeed, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, IBM, Expedia, and more. It’s most useful feature is that it allows you to see what sort of content related to a certain topic is most popular so that you can gain insight as to how people are talking about that topic. It also helps you track what your competitors are doing on social media so you can compare statistics against them.

Triberr

Twitter is a great place to find like-minded people. Triberr does exactly that; you can find “tribes” of people with the same interests or in the same industry as you.

HootSuite

If you are in charge of managing multiple social media accounts, HootSuite is the tool for you. This handy program allows you to simultaneously look at and manage several different accounts at the same time even if those accounts are on the same platform. Its clean interface makes it easy to use and allows you to compare posts side-by-side.

These are just a few of many useful Twitter tools that can help gain you followers and boost brand engagement. Simply find out which ones work best for you, make an account, and have fun.

All of these apps are easy to use, so feel free to experiment and test out different techniques to find out which marketing strategy works best for you.  And, if you’d like more access to invaluable online marketing strategies, check out my done-for-you service.

The 7-Point Smart Solopreneuer Social Media Checklist

90 percent of businesses say social media is crucial to their marketing. But the point is, are you doing yours right?

In a world where (according to an Adweek study), over 90 percent of businesses say social media is crucial to their overall marketing strategies, solopreneurs arguably have the most to gain and lose via social networks.

Sure, those platforms often have a reputation for being total time-sinks or wastelands of marketing ROI. But savvy solopreneurs understand how to use platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to spread the word about their businesses. In many cases, these same solopreneurs are growing those businesses and bottom lines without spending a dime.

But, when you're using social media to pursue networking opportunities or seal the deal with new customers, how do you know whether you're using your time wisely or merely spinning your wheels?

Fear not. The following checklist is a guide for solopreneurs looking to pinpoint their social strategy and use their time on these platforms wisely, to build their investment in their business.

1. Pick a primary channel.

Simply put, you need to decide on a single social channel that's going to command most of your attention. That's not to say you can't focus on both Facebook and Instagram, for example, but trying to be in multiple places at once will inevitably burn you out.

For many solopreneurs in the B2B space, Facebook is the number one channel to focus your efforts. There's a good chance that your clients and customers are already connected to the platform in some way, shape or form, especially considering that users spend an average of 50 minutes on Facebook per day.

Niche businesses, however, are booming on Instagram, especially those within B2C industries such as fashion and beauty. Growing and monetizing Instagram followers is arguably easier than ever; meanwhile, Instagram has one of the highest average order values via ecommerce, at $65 per order.

When in doubt, you can pick your primary channel by answering one simple question: "Where are my clients and customers hanging out?" If there's a clear answer, then you know where to start.

2. Don't spread yourself too thin.

Despite popular belief, you don't need to be active on each and every social site. In fact, there are no "must-have" networks for solopreneurs, truth be told.

But, think about it: There's absolutely no way you can effectively manage a presence simultaneously on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn by yourself. If you try, you'll neglect at least half of your social sites.

Solopreneurs have two options when it comes to attacking the various social channels available.

• Pick a primary channel coupled with one or two secondary channels (for example, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn).
• Focus on a primary channel while using a social automation solution to help push content and maintain a presence on secondary channels

For example, apps such as Buffer and Sprout Social allow solopreneurs to curate and queue content to their social network of choice without lifting a finger. While such solutions do require a monetary investment, they allow your brand to be in multiple places at once, so to speak.

3. Never stop networking.

The old adage, "Always be prospecting," rings incredibly true for today's solopreneurs on social media.

There are seemingly endless opportunities to connect with new clients, win over customers and share your business's content all at once.Private Facebook groups based around your industry represent potential gold mines of new business. Likewise, sites such as LinkedIn put you on the same level as CEOs and industry bigwigs.

4. Position yourself as an influencer.

Oftentimes, making yourself heard via social media means playing the role of a bigwig yourself. By positioning yourself as an influencer, you grow your authority within your niche and make yourself more attractive to potential clients and customers. Some smart yet simple positioning strategies on social media include:

• Thoughtfully responding to questions and comments on industry-related Facebook or LinkedIn groups
• Republishing your own content to the various social channels, including LinkedIn's own publishing platform
• Regularly commenting on the updates of major players in your industry, showing that you've got the chops to be a bigger player yourself

Any combination of these strategies not only puts your name out there, but also publicly displays your commitment to your industry.

5. Look for opportunities to curate social proof.

Especially if you're a new solopreneur, social media represents a great place to curate social proof on behalf of your business.

Ever leave a comment that got tons of positive feedback? Created pieces of content that just about went viral? Have clients who've given you a digital "thumbs up" or a public "thank you" via social?

If so, you can use such social proof as a way to seal the deal with future clients and customers. By highlighting your positive social experiences either on site or throughout your marketing materials, you can break down the trust barrier for any skeptics who may not think you're the real deal.

6. Professional imagery goes a long way.

This point is crucial but so easy to ignore: Something as simple as your professional headshot can make all the difference when it comes to networking via social media.

If you want to be taken seriously, present yourself accordingly. Bathroom selfies and party pics aren't going to cut it if you really want to make an impression on your audience.

7. Don't let your profiles gather cobwebs.

Finally, don't let your social presence fall to the wayside. Period.

Consistency is key to gaining followers and traction via social: The more you post, the more you will grow an audience that's hungry for what you have to say.

On the flip side, if a certain channel is netting you absolutely no engagement, don't be afraid to cut it loose for the sake of your time and energy.

Today's solopreneurs are living and dying by their social presence. By sticking to this checklist, you can save yourself from scrambling for a social strategy and focus on what really matters: growing your business.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/295463

Simple Solutions for Social Media Marketing on a Small Budget

You don’t need to spend a fortune to promote your business through internet marketing. When you first start off as an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to decide how best to spend your available funds. One area that offers the most confusion is marketing.

I’ll walk you through some of the best solutions for social media marketing on a budget.

Create Social Media Business Profiles

The first place to start is with social media marketing. You don’t need to spend a dime to begin promoting yourself or your products on social media. Start by choosing two or three social networking sites to focus on.

One of these sites should be Facebook, as they have the most users. Along with Facebook, you could choose Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Consider the average demographic of these sites and which platform your target audience is most likely to use.

Join Relevant Social Media Groups

Create a business profile for these sites. At first, you should minimize the promotion of your own products or services. Focus on building relationships with others in your industry. Join relevant groups on each platform. Begin joining conversations and get your name out there.

Facebook Groups are available for almost any industry. If you can’t find a relevant group, then create your own.

Create a Schedule for New Posts

After you grow your follower base, you can start sending out posts and tweets promoting your products or services. Create a schedule for these posts. You should try to post on a daily basis. Though, the majority of your posts should not be related to self-promotion.

Try to strike a balance between self-promotion, helpful posts, and curating posts. Over half of your posts should offer your followers beneficial information. This could be content that you find elsewhere on the web that you believe your followers will enjoy.

Create a Facebook Ad Campaign

Once you have a Facebook business profile, you should consider starting a Facebook advertisement campaign. This is one of the most affordable options for creating an ad campaign. You get to target a large segment of the population.

Over 70 percent of internet users have a Facebook account. This number is continuing to grow. Unless you’re targeting teenagers or the elderly, there’s a good chance your target audience has a Facebook account.

When using a Facebook ad campaign, you can pay for impressions instead of clicks. For a few dollars per day, thousands of people can see the post that you promoted.

Offer a Freebie Item to New Followers

In addition to the tips already provided, you could give your new followers a freebie item. You don’t need to spend any money on this item. Creating a short guide that your followers can download is one example of a free item that costs no upfront money to create.

Choose a topic related to your products or services and create a short guide. Convert your document into a PDF and then create a spot on your website to provide users with the download link. Once a visitor clicks on the link to follow you on Facebook, they’ll receive the download link.

Social media marketing doesn’t have to break your bank. When you’re first starting out, it can be hard to gain recognition. If you’re struggling to sell your products or services, use these tips to boost sales and grow your brand without spending a large sum of money.

Along with these simple tips, I’d like to offer you the chance to gain conversion-ready internet marketing prospects. 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.

Social Media Marketing Tips - How to Get Twitter Followers for Free

How to Choose the Right Social Media Platform

Using social media to connect with customers, increase your online exposure, and boost your SEO are all great reasons to include social media in your internet marketing strategies. But, having too many social media profiles can dilute your brand and make it difficult to keep up with your marketing efforts.

While major corporations can get away with paying a marketing team to stay up to date with every social media platform available, this may not be an option for your business. Instead of spreading yourself too thin, you should focus on two, three max, social media platforms.

So, how do you choose the platform that’s right for your business? By evaluating your target audience and the pros and cons of each major social media platform. Here are a few useful tips to help you make the right decision.

Facebook Remains at the Top

As mentioned, at most, you should have a presence on three different social media platforms. You’ll need to consider the benefits of each platform, except for one. Facebook remains the largest social media platform. Right off the bat, you should include Facebook in your social media strategy.

Facebook has over 1 billion users across the globe. That’s a figure that the other social media platforms can’t come close to beating. For this reason, you’ll need to include Facebook as one of your social media platforms.

Everyone and their grandmother has a Facebook account. Even if you don’t use your Facebook account, you probably have one. You can’t ignore a site that receives over a billion unique visits every month. Though, there are other sites to add to your marketing strategy.

The Top Social Networking Sites

In addition to Facebook, you should choose one or two other platforms to focus your social media marketing efforts on. You’ll need to look at your target audience and the demographics of each to determine which ones to choose. Here are the top social networking sites, other than Facebook:

• Twitter – 310 million visitors per month
• LinkedIn – 255 million
• Pinterest – 250 million
• Google Plus – 120 million
• Tumblr – 110 million
• Instagram – 100 million

As you can see, none of these sites come close to matching the Facebook’s traffic. But, they can still be an effective part of your social media strategy.

Consider Your Core Target Audience

Who do you want to target? What are the demographics of your core target audience? The answer is key to choosing your social media policies. Here’s some valuable insight into the demographics of the top social networking sites. Use this information to decide which platforms you want to focus on.

Pinterest is used by 44% of all female internet users. The majority of these women are between the ages of 18 and 49. Yet, only about 16% of men have a Pinterest account. If your products or services are geared towards women, Pinterest is a good choice.

If you’re targeting the younger crowd, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram are all suitable options. Roughly one-third of internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use these sites. Twitter is more effective for regular updates and links while Tumblr and Instagram are beneficial if the majority of the content that you share is visual in nature.

For those targeting fans of technology, you should include Google Plus in your marketing strategy. It may not receive as much traffic as Twitter. But, Google Plus remains a popular source for those interested in the latest gadgets and technology.

Despite all of the talk about LinkedIn’s declining appeal, it’s still the third most visited social networking site. It remains an effective solution for those focusing on B2B lead generation and actual business networking.

Every entrepreneur and business owner should be using social media to expand their brand and reach more customers. The trick is choosing the right social networking sites for your business. Keep these tips in mind as you develop your social media strategies.

Thanks for reading—make sure that you put these tips to use. If you’d like to gain additional internet marketing tips and strategies, then click on this link to learn about my lead generation system.

Increasing Sales Leads by Boosting Twitter User Engagement

Twitter is an effective platform for entrepreneurs that want to reach out and increase their online presence. But, these efforts don’t provide a lot of help if you can’t engage your followers.

Twitter user engagement directly impacts your ability to gain sales leads through this social media platform. Engagement refers to the number of followers, retweets, and messages you receive through your Twitter profile.

If you want to boost engagement, then take a moment to review these simple tips.

Shorten Your URL Links

Every entrepreneur should use a web-based program to shorten their URL links. Studies show that shorter URLs receive more clicks.

The programs that generate these shorter URLs also typically provide a method for tracking these links. You can see how many people followed the shortened URL.

Use Images in Your Tweets

Tweets that contain images receive more clicks and more retweets. If possible, all your tweets should contain an image.

If you’re sharing a link to a landing page or a web page that you own, you should set up Twitter cards. This allows Twitter to pull the featured image from your page and place it in the tweet.

You can also upload photos for each tweet. It’s time-consuming, but it can help you get more retweets, clicks, and new followers.

Ask People to Retweet Your Tweets

Sometimes you just need to ask people to do exactly what you want them to do. Ask people to retweet your tweets.

Including “RT” in your tweet can help you gain 10 times as many retweets. On average, including the word “retweet” in your tweet will result in 23 times as many re-tweets.

This only takes up a few characters of the space that you have available. Give it a try. Add “RT” to the end of all tweets moving forward.

Include Actionable Words in Your Tweet

Along with asking people to retweet your tweets, you should include actionable words. You may not have enough space to include a full call to action, but you can use actionable words to increase engagement. Examples of actionable words include:

• Download
• Free trial
• Subscribe
• Learn more
• Read now
• Gain access

 Engage Your Twitter Followers

You should also drive engagement by being more engaging. You can include questions in your tweets, to encourage people to respond. This drive engagement and could result in more followers.

If you haven’t already, you should set Twitter to send email notifications when you receive a new message and when your Twitter tag is mentioned in another tweet.

You should respond to questions and comments as soon as possible. Even if the comment is unrelated to the products or services that you sell, you need to be active on social media. Respond when people talk to you.

Tweet Late at Night

The final tip for increasing user engagement on Twitter is to tweet late at night. These late-night tweets obtain about 10 times as many retweets as similar tweets sent during the day.

If you go to bed early, you can use a social media management platform to automate the release of your tweets and social media posts.

In the end, using Twitter to increase your online exposure depends more on quality than quantity. The number of followers that you have is less important than how engaged your followers are.

Focus on engagement by responding to tweets, asking questions, and using these other tips. Increasing your Twitter user engagement will help you boost the number of followers that you’ve got, along with helping to increase traffic from Twitter to your website.

Gain even more internet marketing tips and access to a system for generating conversion-ready prospects, by clicking here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Common Internet Marketing Mistakes You Probably Already Have Made

Internet marketers tend to be highly predictable. They often make the same mistakes over and over again, especially when they are starting out. How many of these mistakes sound familiar to you?

Don’t Push It

The first mistake most newbie affiliate marketers make is to try to market your products to people who don’t want them. This is why it is important to use “permission lists” only. Permission lists are groups of email addresses of people who have given you their permission … either explicitly or implicitly … for you to send emails promoting your products.

Examples of explicit permission would include lists compiled of people who respond affirmatively to your inquiry, “Can we send you more information about promotions and special offers for our products?” Implicit permission examples would include people who enter their email address on your squeeze page.

When you purchase an email list from somebody else, for example, you are paying for a list of indifferent customers.

If the list is big enough … such as thousands or tens of thousands of addresses … sending promotional emails to everybody on the list probably will result in a very small percentage of responses, possible 1 to 2 percent.

But the cost of reaching that small percentage of potential customers is alienating everybody else on this list by sending them emails they don’t want and can’t use. You risk being considered a “spammer” and dramatically decrease their willingness to consider any product you offer in the future.

Plus, as we have seen, it can get you banned by the big email providers and perhaps even prosecuted and fined for violating the law.

‘Social Media? It’s a Fad!’

The second most common pitfall is ignoring social media. This is actually quite common among established businesses. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn offer some of the best ways to contact specific customer groups.

It also offers the ability to develop strong, interpersonal relationships with potential customers. That’s because these platforms tend to be more personalized and intimate than other more traditional marketing platforms.

For example, assume you have a Facebook page for your business that sells kits for converting your home to solar energy. The only people who are going to “friend” you on Facebook are people who are passionate about renewable energy sources, reducing them home power costs, and saving the environment.

Keeping Connected with Customers

You can nurture these customers by providing links to informative articles on the topic, hosting forums and web chats for people to share their ideas and resources, and even frequently posting pictures and videos about your personal life in order to establish a lasting bond.

Then, when it comes time to promote your specific products, your Facebook friends … or Twitter followers or LinkedIn contacts … will be very open to the idea of purchasing them because they feel as if they have a personal relationship with you.

Social media is often ignored by traditional businesses because they assume it is simply for entertainment purposes, is used primarily by younger people who are less willing to spend money, and takes too much time and attention to properly maintain. All three assumptions are dead wrong.

Facebook and Twitter are now considered one of the most effective ways to reach highly targeted prospective customers.

The average age of Facebook’s users has risen to 34 years old in recent years. And social media sites are simple to set up, fun to maintain, and free to use. Ignoring this growing marketing opportunity is a huge mistake because it is only expected to become more dominant during the coming decade.

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.

4 Ways to Use Social Media to Obtain High-Converting Sales Leads

Being able to obtain high-converting leads is an essential part of online marketing. There are many tools at your disposal, but one of the most cost-effective tools is social media.

With the power of social media, you’ve got the ability to reach millions of internet users that are ready to buy.

You’ve probably already started using social media. But, with a few simple tips, you can leverage your existing tactics to gain more high-converting leads.

#1 Choose the Right Social Media Networks

The first way to gain better leads through social media is to streamline your efforts. You shouldn’t spread yourself out too thin. You don’t need to have an account on every single network.

Stick to the basics. Every online marketer needs a Facebook business account. In addition to this, you’ll probably want Twitter, along with one or two other networks.

When choosing your 3^rd and 4^th options, consider your target audience. For example, Pinterest contains a lot of content related to DIY projects, crafts, fashion, beauty, hobbies, and entertainment. Instagram is becoming more of a platform for driving brand awareness.

#2 Target Your Audience with Paid Ads

Social media paid ads have become just as beneficial as traditional pay-per-click advertising. You can get thousands of impressions or dozens of clicks for a fraction of the cost of Google PPC ads.

Whether you use paid ads on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you’ll want to use targeted ads. All of these social media sites allow you to target your audience based on their interests or other criteria. This simple step helps boost conversions but limits your reach.

#3 Share More Video Content on Social Media

You should also start sharing more video content on social media. It’s known that video drives engagement, which results in higher conversion rates. So, use more video when sharing posts related to your products or services.

Posts and tweets containing videos are more likely to get noticed. They get more shares, clicks, and likes. You can now even use video in Instagram paid ads.

Creating a video to market a product is easy. You can create a short customer testimonial featuring satisfied customers. You could create a demonstration video highlighting the benefits of your product or services.

Use these videos to drive traffic to the relevant landing page. The higher engagement will lead to higher conversions.

#4 Use Keyword Research to Choose Your Tags

You should put the same care into choosing hashtags on your social media posts that you give to keyword research for blog posts and paid ads. Conduct keyword research to find the right terms and then choose 4 to 5 relevant keywords to use as your hashtags.

Place your hashtags at the end of your content, instead of using them as word replacements. This makes it easier to read your message.

The hashtags act as search filters when people use the search features on their favorite social media network. It also helps the social media network provide relevant suggestions to users. So, using the right hashtags can help you attract the right audience.

These tips are intended to help drive high-converting traffic from your social media accounts to your website. Make sure that you’re using these suggestions in conjunction with a social media marketing plan.

You should be posting a mixture of promotional and non-promotional messages to your followers on social media. If you do this and continue to use these tips, you should get a spike in referral traffic from social media.

Social media provides a great opportunity to gain more leads. If you’d like to gain even more marketing tips and suggestions, along with a complete solution for generating high-converting traffic, then click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Easy Tips for Improving Your Local Social Media Marketing Strategy

Check out this video.  It includes several tips regarding the use of social media for anyone’s business. 

It also mentions Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram as the most important sites to consider when marketing products online. 

Use one or all tips as part of your existing marketing strategy to share content and reach your target market.

How to Properly Use Hashtags for Social Media Marketing

Hashtags are useful for helping people discover your social media posts. Twitter was one of the first social networking sites to make good use of hashtags. But, they’re now an important part of all social networking sites, including Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

While hashtags are useful, they can also have a negative impact on your marketing efforts. You need to be careful with how you use hashtags in your posts. So, with that in mind, you should learn how to properly use hashtags for social media marketing.

The Basics of Hashtags for Social Media

First, let’s make sure you understand what a hashtag is and isn’t. You can think of hashtags as keywords. That’s a hashtag in a nutshell. It’s a keyword or keyword phrase without any spaces and it includes the pound sign at the beginning of the phrase.

The reason that you should use hashtags is that they’re used by social media search engines. When a user performs a search, the site finds relevant posts based on hashtags. And, hashtags are now used by almost every major social media site, including:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Google Plus
• Pinterest
• Tumblr
• Flickr

So, you know the basics. Next, find out how to properly include hashtags in your posts.

The Correct Way to Use Hashtags

If you can remember what hashtags are used for, it should be easy to use them properly. Here’s a quick look at the correct use of hashtags:

• Use up to 3 hashtags per post
• Make sure they’re relevant to your post
• Use local terms to increase local marketing

Generally, you’ll only use 2 or 3 hashtags per post. Adding too many hashtags shows that your posts don’t have a clear focus. Instagram is an exception to this rule. For example, Instagram posts with the highest engagement typically have 4 or 5 hashtags.

When choosing hashtags, make sure that they’re relevant to your post. Don’t include a hashtag simply because you think it’ll attract more users. You can take a look at trending hashtags to find examples, but don’t add them to your post unless they actually make sense in your post.

You can also use local terms to help increase local marketing. For example, when posting about an event, you can include the name of the city where the event will take place. The same applies to posts about local businesses.

The Incorrect Way to Use Hashtags

It’ll also help to learn the incorrect way to use hashtags. These are methods that you should avoid:

• Using too many hashtags
• Including hashtags in your message
• Using the same hashtags every time

Remember, don’t use too many hashtags. Unless you’re using Instagram, you should only use up to 3 hashtags. Otherwise, they’re no longer helpful.

Also, don’t include hashtags in your message. Don’t use them to replace words. This makes it hard to read your message. For example, you wouldn’t say, “check out our latest #SEO #service.” Place them at the end of the message.

The final tip is to avoid using the same hashtags every time. Mix it up. Using the same hashtags will only help you continue to attract the same people. Do you use the same keywords on every single page of your website? No. So, use a variety of relevant hashtags to appeal to more people.

As long as you follow these tips, hashtags should help you gain more followers and improve your social media marketing. In addition to these tips, if you’d like even more marketing suggestions, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready marketing prospects each month, then click here to learn about my done-for-you system.