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Author: barry

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Why You Should be Using WordPress in 2022

Choosing the right website builder can be tricky because there are so many different ones out there. You need to be able to ensure you are using the correct builder that will fit all of your future website’s wants and needs. One of the most popular and easiest open-source content management systems to use is WordPress. This site combines all types of simplicity for its users and developers to make the process of starting your website easier than ever. Its flexibility and easy-to-use aspects allow you to make all different types of sites. With numerous amounts of features, plugins, and SEO friendly, WordPress is able to turn your dream website into reality.

Free Themes and Plugins:

There are over a thousand themes and plugins that WordPress offers for free. Yes, you read correctly, FREE. Many websites offer different themes, but it takes hours to download them. With WordPress, all you’ve to do is click “Install” and you can customize your theme to make your website something unforgettable.

Various plugins allow you to improve your website in certain aspects that you desire. For example, one of the most popular plugins is “Yoast SEO”. With this plugin, you can directly enter information that will help your SEO on the page you want to improve. Other plugins allow you to make your website faster, create online stores and add contact forms.

Easy to use Functionalities:

Are you scared because you’re brand new to it or it might be your first time? WordPress is like riding a bike; once you know how to do it, you never forget (if you’re reading this and don’t know how to ride a bike, I’m sorry).

WordPress has a very simple dashboard with various menu options that are self-explanatory. Also, WP gives you the ability to create different pages, customize the design, add navigation, etc. to help your site in many ways.

One of the main reasons why users are hesitant about website builders is because of technical issues that they may not be familiar with. But with WordPress, you don’t have to worry because the website regularly releases core updates that you can easily install with one click.

WordPress can be overwhelming at first because it offers so much, but is that really a bad thing? Even though it has many features, they’re all there to make your life easier when creating your website. 

SEO Favorable:

You can have the most awesome and creative website, but it’ll be worth nothing if no traffic comes to your site. Many website builders focus only on making your site look pretty and don’t care about important things like SEO.

With WordPress, search engine traffic always comes first. We won’t get all nerdy on you so to sum up a long story short: WP is loved by major search engines like Google. There’s also a special plugin called “All in One SEO” that’s easy to use and helps your website get more traffic. WP helps you focus on keywords, meta description, and gives you specific advice on what needs to be improved on each page when you install an SEO plugin.

A fast website is the essence of a successful website, especially for your visitors. Waiting for a website to load to find what you want is just as bad as waiting at the Chick-fil-A drive-thru. Luckily, WP is built for speed with lightweight themes, dedicated plugins, and content delivery networks.

Blogging for the win:

As far as WordPress has come, it actually started as a blogging platform. If you want to publish your blogs, WP is the fastest and easiest way to do it. With a few clicks, you can manage your content, view comments, and make any necessary changes.

Blogs are great for SEO purposes and provide engaging content to users who visit your website. The Yoast SEO plugin will help you optimize your blogs for search engines and future visitors so that you get as much traffic as possible.

Just like any other page on your website, you can customize your blog page the way YOU want to. With WordPress, you can design headings in certain colors, insert images, add links, and many more features for your blog page.

 

It’s 2022 and if you’re not using WordPress for your website, you’re really missing out. WP gives you the power to make your future website a fantastic experience for your visitors. With customization and SEO capabilities, your website can grow in more ways than you ever imagined. WordPress doesn’t care if you’re a beginner because it’s the most user-friendly website on the market and will help you become an expert in just a few weeks. WordPress is the key to a successful website in 2022 and for years to come.

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The Top 4 Important Pages for Your Next Website

When designing your next website, a few pages should have more time spent on them than others. We aren’t saying that all of your pages aren’t as important, but some deserve a little more love. These pages are like a pet dog: you treat them well, and they will treat you even better.

This might seem like common sense, but you will be astonished to know that many designers don’t apply this when they are trying to improve conversions. A key component of this process is being able to optimize these pages efficiently. Enhancing your SEO and CRO within your website will bring greater success to all aspects of your business soon. 

About You Page:

A quick way for customers, new hires, and even competitors to learn more information about your company is your “About You” page. This page usually includes a mission statement, company history, bios of employees, and a few testimonials if you have them available.

The About You page gives your business the opportunity to introduce itself to those who are scrolling through your website to help you build credibility and trust with them. Don’t put any content on your about you page that will scare your customers off or make them think you are weird (even though you already are a little weird because aren’t we all?)

Remember, this page is more than information about your company. This is the first spot on your website that will offer a deeper level of engagement that your visitors are looking for. Your page should answer the 5 Ws: who, what, when, where, why, and how (yes we know that is six, don’t be one of those critics.) It should be able to answer any questions visitors have. The about you page is the most overlooked page when creating a website, but it becomes one of the most important ones in the future.

Blog Page:

“Blogging” has been an important method to optimize a website for keywords related to your business. These can be used to mention products or services, storytelling, and sign-up links for visitors of your website.

Blogs can be great for SEO purposes to help achieve your goal while writing these. Ensure that your content has the appropriate keywords and geared towards your correct target audience to help this process go more smoothly.

To help organize this page better, provide different categories such as “most recent” and “most popular”. This can help visitors reach the blog they for quicker and more efficiently. Even though most users come for information, having them being engaged and connected are also important as well. You want those visitors to continue to come back to read your blogs with the intent of them becoming further customers for your business.

Home Page:

Think of your home page as a first date. You get all dressed up, you make sure you look your best, and you try to make the best impression you can for that person. Well, you should do the same exact thing when creating the home page for your website because this is the first impression of your business to visitors. Just like a first date, every second counts when visitors reach your page. But unlike a first date, at least you can’t get a drink thrown in your face online.

The content, design, and visuals you choose to include are crucial to making that first good impression. These should be able to guide them to their next step on the journey of going through your website and finding what they are looking for.

Use big headlines and always put the most important information you are trying to get across first. This helps your website have a better “flow” and allows visitors to know exactly what they are supposed to do next. Again, just like a first date, don’t screw this up because you might not get another chance with that certain visitor.

Contact Us Page:

Providing your services and what your business does is great, but what about if a visitor needs to contact you for more information? Believe it or not, contact pages on a website can make you the most money. A contact form, appointment app, calendar schedule, or even as simple as a phone number can be used for this page. This is where future customers make their decision to learn more about your services and willing to do business with you.

It might seem like common sense, but there have been numerous occasions where a contact you page has provided visitors with the wrong information. One wrong letter in an email address or wrong phone number can cause you to miss out on a lot of money. Use content such as “Chat Now or “Email Now” so visitors know right away what to do and what to look for. The contact page can generate some great leads for you and your company.

Your website has the opportunity to engage with your customers in more ways than you think. Yes, websites are supposed to look good and be appealing. But if you focus on your about, blog, home, and contact pages, your success will grow even further. These pages give you the opportunity to attract new visitors, gain new leads, and to solidify loyal customers. The more valuable information you have available, the more valuable customers you will get in return.

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Importance of Good Content Writing

If you’re struggling to connect your brand with consumers, consistent and high-quality content writing could help tremendously. The written content you are producing whether it is for your website or social has great SEO gains, along with the ability to generate leads and give your specific brand identity. Conventional advertising is dead (may you rest in peace young padawan) and welcome to the digital world! Posting your content online that is entertaining and high-quality is becoming more and more valuable, so if you’re not using this successful tactic, we are here to help guide you so we demand you listen to us (please).

Brand Awareness:

When you are trying to push products or certain ideas, this can be a time-consuming process in order to see results. Unlike spending hours cooking a meal for your significant other just to tell you it’s gross, this is a time-consuming process that is worth it in the end. Getting customers on your side and giving them the chance to discover who you are or what you’re selling is the main priority. Being able to push your content on numerous different sites and pages can help your audience get a better understanding of what your goals are. Creating engaging, well-written content on blogs, social media, newsletters, and your website gives you the ability to show customers you are active.

Doing this can reach your potential customers and the target audience you are targeting. The key to this being successful is to be consistent and be able to post new content that makes your customers want to come back for more.

Boost Your Customer Retention:

The success of your business comes from the measure of new customers and qualified leads that you produce. Yes, getting a customer’s first purchase is great. But if those customers aren’t being retained, it becomes as pointless as a camouflage golf ball. What becomes important is how your content you are producing engages with customers after their first purchase. Customer retention starts at the customer onboarding process.  To ensure success in this process, the content writing you put out beforehand is crucial.

Content that is accurate and high-quality so customers know exactly what your services are and how you can help them. Believe it or not, blogs are one of the most sufficient ways to achieve customer retention. Blogs show you want to provide value beyond the products and services. Look at it as a content commitment; this reduces churn by 24% for B2B companies. But publishing customer success stories and how you helped them will lead to more and more customers wanting the same satisfaction. Posting people complaining about your business in a “Karen” type of way can be funny, but we don’t recommend it.

Help Your SEO:

SEO rankings are always important. Quality content that uses the correct keywords make sure your rankings are where they should be. When good content writing is produced, people have more reasons to link to your content because of the wide range of topics and interest areas that are available. But you need to remember, google seeks content in order to rate your site and personal links. Again, all of this can be achieved by using specific keywords that are relatable for your content and customers. Enhanced content equals enhanced visibility.

Good Content=More Links:

If you are producing spectacular content with your business, you will soon get links and mentions from other popular websites with the same services and products.  Being consistent with your blogs and articles, this creates a unique place in your domain. Content marketers and popular websites will eventually link your specific content/website about category of business you are in.

Quality content writing is an important aspect for creating backlinks for your general business strategy as well. The backlinks that you achieve are helpful to get improved visibility and exposure. At times, with this also becoming your new consumer base, they can become your new brand advocates too. These backlinks are a great way for you to be promoted more and generate new leads. For any of this to happen, you need the right content produced.

You would have a good amount of money if you got a $1 for every time we said “content” in this article. But giving that money would be worth it to get the point across that good content is important for success. High-quality and engaging content can result in improved brand awareness you might desperately need. Being able to retain customers and show off what your services are is crucial for your business to grow. Content writing is more than just writing words and posting it. It becomes a well thought out process to ensure quality, keywords, and engagement are produced in the end.

 

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Video Marketing

As you may already know, video is becoming the Michael Jordan of marketing. Because our current generation is lazy and can’t hold still for five minutes to read an article, videos have this problem covered. They provide a more personal experience for your customers who have that short attention span and are comfortable with social media.

Videos are an increasingly important marketing tool for businesses because they’re useful and versatile. Whether it’s for your social media, your website, or for your customers, videos are important to the success of your business. Enough with the boring content and memes that don’t mean anything (cat memes are still okay), upgrade to videos, you’ll thank us.

The Numbers:

Videos for business don’t just “look good,” they bring big numbers. Numbers and data are the name of the game in marketing, because that’s what everyone wants and needs. A survey by Renderforest.com found that videos can increase awareness of your brand by over 70%. As a result, your business reaches new audiences and attracts new potential customers to your website and media pages.

This increase in brand awareness correlates with traffic, which video can increase by over 51%. It’s simple: the more people that come to your website and social media sites, the more successful your business will be. Unlike the horrible traffic on US-19 at five o’clock where you’re stuck listening to “Put you to sleep” radio, this is the traffic you’ll enjoy.

But enough with the “boring” statistics, let’s get to the one thing that ALL business leaders are most interested in, MONEY.  Using video marketing increases sales by over 34%. Over 45% of people are more likely to buy a product or service after watching a video because of the improved SEO. It’s simple math, folks! People want to see what your product or service does. These stats are great, but you first need to know what type of video you need to produce, for what platform, and who your target audience is before these numbers even matter.  Keep reading if you’d like your business to make more money.

How to Use Video Marketing:

The amazing thing about video marketing is how far it’s come and how many different areas in which it can be used. With its ability to communicate and deliver messages efficiently, video marketing has evolved in numerous ways to help you be as successful as possible.

Informative Videos

To start out with video marketing, your best bet is to create informative videos.  These are videos that explain who you are, what you do, and how you can help the target audience you are pursuing. Don’t get too personal right away though; make them want to come back for more just like a first date (yes, we give dating advice as well).

Tutorials and How-to

People love tutorials or how-to videos. These go along with informative videos, but they are more in-depth. You can use these to show how a product works or show your audience how to better use an online system that they may already be using. Many people are visual learners, so these types of videos make it easier for them to follow along and want to visit your page for the next video you share.

Educational Videos

Depending on your company, educational videos are great as well. Use certain narrative resources such as graphics and scripts to gain their attention and combine them with interesting topics to keep their attention throughout. The purpose of these is to be engaging and fun while providing useful information in the process. Webinars and live streams on social media are two of the main effective ways to use this technique.

Testimonials

An effective video marketing technique that gets overlooked is testimonials. This is an powerful way for your audience to hear about how your company has helped others from the perspective of previous or current clients. Future customers tend to trust the opinion of others who are like themselves rather than the voice of the company. When doing this though, make sure these are people that ACTUALLY like you (if possible).

In today’s marketing era, video is essential to success. But, it’s more than just plastering your face or visuals in a video; you need to use it in a smart, content-strategic way. When you create video content for your company, remember that the #1 goal is to stay on track with the audience you are trying to reach. Make sure your quality is recognizable and that your viewers understand what you are trying to say about a product or service. Create videos that people will share and discuss with others, so that they are more likely to check out the rest of your company’s attributes.

One more word of advice: don’t try to go viral right away. Yes, it worked for the Kardashians, but being normal human beings like most of us are, perfection takes time and repetition. Repetition. Repetition.

 

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5 Social Media Trends for 2022

Want to stay ahead of the game on social media? A solid social media presence is very important, and trends are always evolving and growing in different ways to engage your audience. Using these trends is a great way to get people involved and increase engagement. Check out these new trends to spice up your social media presence.

1. Video Content

With the success of TikTok, other platforms like Instagram and Facebook have spiked their video content with clips like Reels to engage audiences. It’s predicted that by 2022, more platforms will include videos in their social feeds. Short videos have become a trendy way for brands to sell their products entertainingly. Video content is one way to increase your engagement and join the trend.

2. Behind-the-scenes content

With the video and TikTok trends comes behind-the-scenes content. Many small businesses have jumped on the trend and are showing the behind-the-scenes of how their products are made. Just as the do-it-yourself trend was popular a few years ago, customers are getting a glimpse into how their products are made and their company operates. The customer can get more involved in the products, which increases sales and followers.

3. Interactive Posts

Interactive posts have increased in the last year as more and more people work from home or cell phones, and this trend isn’t going away anytime soon. This trend is popular on Facebook and Instagram, but LinkedIn has expanded its survey-like posts. Interactive posts are a great way to gauge your followers’ reactions with a simple slider or poll. Offering your followers something fun like a quiz or poll will increase their engagement and give them something to look forward to.

4. Shoppable posts

As more and more businesses turn to social platforms to share their products and reach customers, shoppable posts make it easier for customers to shop from their phones. With swipe features, embedded product links, and automatic product tagging, you can seamlessly connect your e-commerce brand to your social media by tagging images of your products in your posts for direct purchase.

5. Carousels

Carousels are still new to social media, but they’re growing in popularity on Twitter and Instagram, and are predicted to become even more popular by the middle of 2022. A carousel is a series of 5-10 texts or images in a single social media post that can be viewed by swiping or clicking. It’s a way to show lots of content, but only in one post, either for education or entertainment. It’s very popular with photographers showing multiple images from a photo shoot, or clothing brands introducing a new line or collection.

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Why is Lighting Important for Professional Photos

The importance of proper lighting in photography.

Lighting is a key factor in creating a successful image. Lighting determines not only brightness and darkness, but also tone, mood and atmosphere. Without lighting, you can’t create and expose a clear image. The light brings out the sharpness and details of the subject, so it’s very important that you expose the subject well.

Therefore, to take the best photos, it’s important to properly control and manipulate the light to get the best color and luminosity for your subject. By changing the lighting and shadows precisely, you can best highlight your subject and take the best professional looking photos.

When it comes to lighting, natural light is the best option for headshots or other professional photos, but sometimes it’s not the easiest option. If you’re shooting in the studio, lighting will be your best friend.

Positioning light

Scott Headshot

Where you place your lighting is very important and will have a big impact on how your subject is lit. Depending on where you place your studio lighting, your subject will look different in your photos and in the final result.

If the light is behind the camera and aimed directly at your subject, it’ll look very flat. Lighting from the side will bring out the subject better and create a small shadow that creates more of a 3D look. Tip: Make sure you match the height of the studio lighting to the height of your subject. If the shadow is too big, the photo will look more dramatic, which could be too much for a professional photo.

If you want to create a silhouette effect with headshots, you can keep the light source behind the person and use a strong light source to create a striking silhouette photo.

Hard light

If you’re using studio light, depending on the subject and the room, it can create too harsh a light for a professional photo. If the light is that harsh, it can cause too many shadows behind the subject or on the subject’s face.

If you add a diffuser to the light source, the harsh light and shadow can be reduced. This will also defuse imperfections on the subject and give it a healthy glow, like natural sunlight would.

Once you’ve achieved the best possible lighting with your studio setup, you can also edit the images in Adobe Lightroom. With the editing software, you can change color, balance, and temperature, enhance tones, sharpen, reduce noise, and crop images.

Lighting can make a big difference when taking pictures, because you want your subject to look as good as possible. Learning to use light to your advantage and get the best possible results from your setup will set your work apart from your peers and put you on the path to becoming a professional.

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THE TOP 5 COMPONENTS OF YOUR CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY

There are still questions and confusion when it comes to “content marketing.” The concept is simple when it is thought of as a means to an end, which is ultimately driving traffic to your website or blog. The more great content you have, and the easier it is for people to find your content, the more visible your brand becomes.  Here are the top 5 ways to use content marketing that will generate leads, sales, and potential clients.

1. WRITING ENGAGING AND HIGH QUALITY CONTENT

Your content doesn’t always have to be about your products or services. Creating a story and providing value is what will engage and drive current and potential clients to your business. The goal is to build a relationship with your audience by creating an emotional connection and establishing the humanity of your brand. Finding out what makes your business unique and sharing that story is important in making your content more shareable and valuable, while making a connection with your audience.

2. OPTIMIZATION

Make sure that your content is optimized for search engines. Content is still king, so it’s essential to have well-written and unique content that will focus on your primary keywords or keyword phrases. Keeping your content fresh is what will improve your rankings – it adds relevancy to your site in the eyes of search engines. In addition to fresh content, there are many other SEO tips that are important when creating your content strategy. Stay tuned for a more in-depth blog posts regarding search engine optimization.

3. DISTRIBUTION

Distributing your content is a vital component in driving people to your website or blog. There are many different ways to ensure that you are sending people to your site from various sources. Your content should be distributed through various channels including social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, Google+, etc) as well as through other not so obvious channels. Press releases, email-marketing, newsletters, and guest blogging are other valuable and necessary ways of sharing your content throughout the web universe. There are also a variety of tools to help you do this such as Hootsuite, Buffer, AddThis, Slideshare, and many more.

4. DISPLAY CONTENT USING GRAPHICS AND IMAGERY

Just as important as content itself, is the ability to display your content in a visually appealing way. If you don’t have an intriguing image(s) to accompany your content, you risk being overlooked by your average reader. Using infographics or images that are compelling and attractive will allow your audience to connect and share your information. In addition, social media networks statistically show higher engagement rates if your content includes an image that is appealing and valuable.

5. FOLLOWING UP

Just as important as creating and distributing content in a meaningful and tactical way, is making sure that you follow-up on all of your leads. Are you engaging with people who like your posts? Are you adding them to your email lists and newsletters? Ignoring those that comment, engage, or like your content is not only wasting your efforts, but will not help your ROI. Although this is important, keep in mind that not everyone that shares, comments, or downloads your content, is your ideal customer.  Knowing and determining your target audience and ideal customer up front will make the follow-up process that much more rewarding.

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INFLUENCER MARKETING: THE DOS AND DON’TS

DOS:

Do Focus on Engagement

Ahhhh, the classic debate of engagement vs. follower counts. Many brands are continuously making the mistake of overlooking a key factor when it comes to connecting with and utilizing influencers for their brand advertisements – ENGAGEMENT. That number displayed at the top of an influencers page… NEWSFLASH you can buy it, and it is not that expensive to buy either. It truly means nothing anymore, and if you are a true spotter of good influencer talent, how many followers someone has will not phase you and will not be the first thing you check for. The first thing you should be paying attention to is engagement levels – not their follower count. DO focus on engagement and DON’T concentrate on their overall number at the top of the screen because it genuinely does not have meaning anymore when it comes to brand partnerships that will have value and ROI for your brand.  

Do Find the Right Niche

It can be easy sometimes to get caught up in the wrong influencer genre for your company because of their status or celebrity. Make sure you spend the time researching the community and market you need to immerse yourself so you can see results. Too often, the audience your influencer appeals to is not interested in your product, because it is not what they usually see on the influencers page. Finding influencers that are accustom to your product, have a follower base built around it, and are knowledgeable will produce more ROI (return on investments) than the wrong influencer in the wrong niche. For example, beauty brands should not work with influencers that are fashion or travel-oriented, but rather influencers built around skincare and self-love. The same could go for a clothing brand. Prioritize fashion bloggers and not food influencers just because of a status they might have within the social media community. 

 These all go hand and hand and are mistakes that might seem like common sense but are made more commonly than you would think. If you sell kids toys, you would want to advertise with someone like Amber Fillerup or Cara Loren, knowing they have children and a massive mother audience. All of these are things to increase sales and warrant yourself proper exposure with the right community.

Do Pay Attention to Comments

Okay, we are giving away one of our trademark Instagram clues that so many digital marketers are overlooking when selecting influencers. Check their comment section. Are they receiving a lot of comments? Are the comments genuine? Are the comments filled with emojis or “so cute” comments? If so, they are not the right fit for your brand. You want to see engagement but also genuine engagement (unfortunately, engagement can be bought too). Are the followers discussing what is happening in the photo in the comments, are they talking about the brand featured, are they asking questions? The more questions an influencer can raise, the more likely it is to turn that into a sale for your brand. Is the influencer responding to comments, are they making a conscious effort to engage and spread knowledge and awareness about the products that they advertise? Take that little business secret and run wild in the comment section; you’re welcome!

Do Create a Budget

Have a budget and stick to it. Whether your goal is to give out free products or pay influencers for their services, know what you can afford, and only dedicate around 20% of your marketing budget. Do not put all your eggs in one basket with influencer marketing since it is such a new form of advertisement. It still has its pros and cons and does not always work the way you want it to. 

Do Have Backup Plans

You will commonly find out that the influencer you were dead set on working with is just not interested, or their fees are straight up too expensive. Have a solid enough list that this set back does not screw up your whole quarter. Not everyone will be eager to work with you, and not everyone works for the exchange of a free product, be aware of this and always be respectful of that because you do not want to burn a bridge for an opportunity in the future.   

Do Ask for Leftover Content

No shame in the game, if you are paying an influencer for posts, you know that one picture has a million others behind it. Influencers take hundreds of photos before they get what they consider as their “best shot” for the brand, and then they only end up using three to four of the images they spent hours creating. So, ask for all the extras! If you ask for this from the beginning and make it part of your arrangement, you can use the images down the line, and you will build-up collateral for yourself at no extra cost.

 

DON’T: 

Don’t Fall Victim to Pricing Sheets

The people who do not want to have a conversation about your brand and send you a pricing kit right away… they are taking advantage of you. A good influencer will get to know your brand and your needs before concluding what pricing should be. The ones that present you automatically with a pricing sheet and exhibit pushy demeanors with it, most of the time, their rates are way too high for the value they actually bring, and these influencers do not care about your brand. They want to make their post and move on. The influencers that want to invest time and energy into your brand are the ones worth paying for, and sometimes the ones you want are not really who is suitable for your brand. Do not fall victim to the overpriced drama queens that make you feel less than you are. Your brand is unique and has value to be shared with others, and the right influencer will help you cultivate that.   

Don’t Be Caught Up in a Fake Account

Check the influencer’s credentials. Ask for their insights, check their engagement, check them out on sites like https://igaudit.io/ . When looking at sites like this one, the influencer should be at least 65-70% authentic following. No one is hardly ever 100% seeing as bots sometimes follow without the purchase of fake followers. Sometimes, Instagram tracks inauthenticity as just not very engaging followers, so inactive accounts are basically impossible to avoid. Still, a really high authenticity rate is anything above 70%, so keep that in mind when searching.

Don’t Exclude Micro-Influencers

This has been the year of micro-influencers. On occasion, they are even outselling the influencers that have millions of followers, why you ask because they are real people! So many people are on social networks looking for real and honest reviews of their favorite products. Partner with individuals who are going to review your products with honesty and authentic conversations and invest in the people who are not just searching for the dollar sign you can offer them. Micro-influencers are great for that, and they also usually are more affordable. The two options you are presented are you can either take the one big macro-influencer route or several small micro-influencers. Both have their benefits, and you should try out both avenues to see, which is the better fit for you. 

We hope some of this information opened your eyes to the inner workings of influencer marketing! There is still so much more to discover, and it is truly an undertaking. If this is something you are interested in learning more about, reach out to our social media team here at Power On Marketing!

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WHAT IS INFLUENCER MARKETING?

Influencer Marketing is a form of marketing utilized throughout social media platforms and other online avenues where companies leverage influential people in the community or online to push sales, leads, or brand exposure. 

Influencer marketing can commonly be a lot more affordable than traditional avenues of marketing; hence, it has become so popular in the business world in the last couple of years. As social media continues to grow, so does the opportunity for influences and influencer marketing to grow and prosper as one of the most successful forms of advertising. 

HISTORY OF INFLUENCER MARKETING

The original form of influencer marketing was utilizing celebrities to advertise your products. This could cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars, but now with the influencer community growing, it does not have to. Nowadays, the average everyday influencer can sometimes produce more quality content and sales than an A-List celebrity could. Why, you ask? There is something to be said for the authenticity of a regular person influencing their tight-knit community and messaging going to your intended audience from a person that your audience trusts. 

There are different ways you can utilize influencer marketing. You can offer discounts on your products in exchange for free advertising on social media platforms, blogs, or affiliate links. You can do product exchange – this is a free product in exchange for advertisement and endorsement, or paid advertisements. For the more influential people with wider audiences and reach, you can pay influencers to pitch your business to their followers and bring in sales. These three levels depend on the influencer you are trying to target, your company’s budget, and what audience you are trying to sell to. 

Influencers can help you reach new audiences and the right audiences instead of mass advertisements that can be seen by people, not within your clientele. Stop wasting time advertising to broad demographics when you can select influencers within your business niche and get the audience that is actually interested in what you have to offer. If you are a childcare product, reach out to the mommy blogging community. If you are a beauty brand, reaching out to makeup artists and beauty influencers would necessarily be a better audience for you than someone in lifestyle. 

NICHE INFLUENCERS

It is safe to assume that if an influencer is posting within a specific niche, their followers are there to see that type of content, so your product or service should seamlessly fit what the influencer has to offer. Suppose you position yourself within the right niche. In that case, you are automatically targeting an audience more likely to invest in what you have to provide through that specific influencer than you would with someone outside your realm of expertise. Find the proper niche by searching to discover pages or targeting particular hashtags. Also, assess what your competitors are doing and who they are advertising with. If you are looking for someone to advertise for your restaurant, target a local food blogger. Pick a local food blogger known for their unique food journey in the community. Other restaurants consider targeting people like this for their profile stature and influence within the community. This is just one example of finding someone to show you the right audience.

GROW YOUR AUDIENCE

Influencer marketing can also help you grow your business social media platforms, boost credibility in your niche, and serve as great testimonials. 

The other purpose influencers serve for your business is content creation. Take the heavy expense out of photographers and models. Influencers make their living off of the content they create, so you can get creative and high-end content to utilize form influencers for yourself. 

The possibilities with influencers are endless! Do you guys want to learn more about influencer marketing? 
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CONTACT RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) – WHAT IS IT?

A Contact Relationship Management (CRM) program is simply a system for how your company does 4 things:

  • Coordinating How New Leads are Handled
  • Tracking Prospect Communications
  • Automated and Personal Activity
  • Automate the Sales Process
  • For Accuracy and Measurement
  • Providing avenues to grow business
  • fewer lost leads
  • more client retention and secondary sales
  • more measurable activity and analysis

OK, so that wasn’t exactly 4 things anymore than this series of business blogs is going to be 6 topics long when it’s all said and done. The reality behind the solution is that we are in a time where it’s not ok to simply rely on activity alone as a measurement of Salesforce automation success. There are fewer leads in the marketplace, the competition isn’t being lazy anymore, and every contact is valuable even if they don’t close right away.  Along with a great web design services and marketing with SEO, every business needs tools to manage their clients.

It is no longer a smart business decision to rely simply on rolodex, outlook reminders, or pad and pencil methods of trying to keep track on who needs to be called and other activities along the sales cycle. With cost effective solutions now available individual salespeople and smaller local businesses can now afford and manage Contact Relationship Management (CRM) solutions that can help them work more efficiently like a larger institution. With all that is on the line, the monthly expense of this kind of solution is negligible based on the potential return in efficiencies and sales that can be delivered. More to come…

Power On Marketing offers Website Development , Design and Online Marketing such as Search Engine Optimization in Tampa Bay, Florida. Call for a Free Consultation!

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