By Ken Merced, Social Media Practitioner (@kenmercedmedia) 

We live in the year 2016. Unfortunately, most businesses are marketing as though it’s 2014. Most businesses and business owner are becoming more and more aware of the need for maintaining their strategy for social media; but not everyone has the expertise to execute their strategy effectively. Most businesses jumped in to Facebook because “Everyone else is doing it” and “It’s just what you do if you are in business” instead of having social media strategy, being good or passionate about it.


Unfortunately, most businesses (even major corporations) don’t understand how to engage with their customers on social media. The fact is, consumers are more interested in a than your product or service.
Too many marketers find ease in posting the same content to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter hoping their consumers won’t notice the duplication in content. Not only are their followers vastly different from one platform to another, the way businesses communicate must differ as well.


From my experience, I have listed the five major keys for utilizing Instagram for business:

1. A picture is worth a thousand words. Unlike Facebook (where content must be likable, shareable and commendable), content on Instagram should contain pictures that are relatable and personal. Think of Instagram as the photo album of our day. If they say a picture is worth a thousand words, than Instagram is the dictionry of our time.


2. Think like a viewer. Don’t post substandard content. If you’re a photographer, you are very aware of the necessity for quality photos. Considering Instagram is primarily photo based, the photos need to stand out in a news feed.


3. Don’t be afraid of #hashtags. In 2016, we are at the whim of Instagram’s new algorithm. Hashtags are the driving force for followers to view your content. Spend a few minutes researching hashtags from the perspective of the person you want to see your pictures. Although it’s easy to get lost in newsfeeds when using the hashatgs in the million post club, don’t neglect the hashtags in the 100k club. Ideally, you want a nice mix of both. Keep in mind that Instagram currently only allows the use of 30 hashtags per post so choose wisely.


4. Post regularly with the time of day in mind. Believe it or not, the two best times to post daily is 2am and 5pm. What?? Yes, that means unless you have hired someone to post for you, you will need to be up at 2am posting your content. Other then that, post during times your viewers will be checking their feed (i.e. breakfast, lunch time and dinner).


5. Be patient. Don’t use all your content all at once. Spend time once or twice a week stocking up on photos and content. Don’t use them all at once. Spread your content out throughout the week. Also, if your expect to see results after few months of posting regularly, you might be in for a surprise. It takes time and persistence in ordeer to see the results you desire.

​When it comes to marketing, the less crowded the room, the more your voice is heard. While Facebook is still an extremely valuable medium of being seen and heard. Since Facebook purchased Instagram, the way to communicate on these platforms are similar yet vastly different. Don’t even get me started on Snapchat (I will cover this in future blog posts).
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In summary, it is not only a good idea, it is necessary for businesses to be on Facebook and instagram. Don’t rely on some employees, friend or family members who may know a thing or two about social media. Find a reliable, experienced agency to grow your follower base the right way. The right way is patiently, organically, and with massive engagement.

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Ken
www.storytellermco.com

Every week I get multiple questions about how to get started with Social Media to generate leads and build an online presence. So I wanted to review a few tips as well as focus on 3 specific outlets to get you started…Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  These social media outlets are set up in a way that lets you be more selective in your advertising. These 4 Tips to Generate Leads with Social Media should get you going in the right direction with social selling.

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TARGET AUDIENCE. 

Much like traditional advertising, if you want to sell on social media, you need to determine who your buyers are and what demographic they fall into. You must determine which group you want to market to and tailor your advertising specifically to that group. It is unlikely that you will utilize the same social selling tactic with different demographics. Once you have determined your target audience, you are ready to go!


WHY I LOVE TWITTER!

People often have misconceptions about Twitter and believe it to be merely just a social media tool without understanding what it really accomplishes. Twitter allows you to communicate with your target audience by keeping in constant contact with them via the Twitter feed. When you establish a following on twitter, you have the ability to link social selling to your website, physical location or other social media forum. 

 Twitter Tip: Make sure you Tweet relevant information based on your target audiences preferences without actually making a sales pitch; this will generate leads within your target audience. (Really this tip is relevant across all social media outlets.)


FACEBOOK IS AWESOME!

Facebook offers a variety of tools to help you build your online presence, as well as generate leads– Such as weekly page analytics, advertising campaigns, and more. Facebook allows you to market directly to specific audiences. Therefore, you may tailor the same ad to several different groups, and utilize Facebook advertising to generate leads on social media. When you utilize Facebook and Twitter in conjunction with one another, you will see your social selling rise simply because you have the ability to find and market to your target audience on different forums.

Facebook Tip: Posts and Facebook PPC ads with images get much higher engagement than those without, as they help your ad or post stand out from a flooded news feed.


LINKEDIN IS NOT JUST…
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Most people think of LinkedIn as a job search website. However, it is very useful as a social selling tool when you need to determine whom your target audience is. LinkedIn makes it easy to search for specific types of professional groups and affiliations. When you find your target audience on LinkedIn, you have the ability to see what they are talking about and what is really important to that group. When you tie LinkedIn with Twitter and Facebook, you gain an edge with your target audience by tuning into their true needs and desires. 

LinkedIn Tip: Make your messages personalized. Let the person you’re connecting with know you have an interest in his or her business and you’re not just trying to sell something.


When you utilize all three of these social media outlets, you have the ability to customize your advertising to the individual. The social selling process generates leads with your target audience by establishing a rapport and trust relationship with them. Remember while its important to build large audiences, it’s even more important to focus on creating real relationships that create, not only rich engagement online, but translate into business offline as well.

I would love to hear about your successes. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at mike@mikescottnow.com @mikescottnow on Twitter 

Before I start, let me apologize for my excessive use of parenthesis in this article (sorry not sorry). I am just in that kind of mood today.

Within the last few years, I have noticed a shift in my purchasing patterns of name-brand apparel. Unintentionally or not, I have become partial to a particular brands and styles. 

As a kid, my single working mother could not afford name-brand things for my brother and me. While I was in middle school, someone gave me a pair of Nikes that were a couple sizes too small. I still wore them. My very pair of Nike shoes that I purchased with my first paycheck from my first job where the first name-brand thing I had even owned brand new. As I became an adult, my interest in name-brand, specifically Nike, continued to grow.

Within the last few years, my affinity for the Nike brand had made me sort of a walking billboard (billboard: an outdated source of advertisement and marketing that I will probably write about later) for the brand.

My collection to date consists of a wallet, sweater, keychain, my favorite San Francisco Giants hoodie (which I cannot find at the moment) and multiple pair of shoes. To summarize, if it has the Nike swoosh on it, I’m all over it.

Mind you, I do not consider myself an athlete, fashionista, or baller by any means. So what is it that has me taking a second look at anything that screams “Just Do It” sitting on the shelves or hanging from a rack at the department store?

Then it hit me. . . “Just Do It.”

The “Just Do It” campaign was launched 25 years after the birth of the Nike brand. Not only has “Just Do It” become a household phrase, it has become one of the most recognized slogan in the 20th century.

You see, what Nike did was think outside the “shoe” box. Nike took their brand beyond a product on the shelves and began telling their story [TWEET THIS]. Every one of us can relate to the “Just Do It” story regardless of age, gender or physical fitness level. Our culture has connected with Nike on a much deeper level. More importantly, Nike connected their story to ours.

Are you and I capable of using our story to impact and influence people? Is our story one that would resonate with others? The answer to both of these questions is obviously, “Yes!”

Whether you are an athlete, musician, photographer, artist, cook, entrepreneur or anything else (the list is endless), we all have an unpreceded opportunity to share our story with the world. The internet has paved the roads to this world and social media is the vehicle by which our story can be told [TWEET THIS].

Whether you’re on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or any other platform (there are too many to list), tell your story.

I promise people (like myself) will buy into your story long before they think about buying in to your product or service [TWEET THIS].
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Be you. Tell your story. Watch what happens.