Marketing

5 ways to make your social media goals ‘sticky’

29th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Part 2 of 2

In this Locally mini-series, we will be looking at which social media platforms could be the best fit for small businesses, based on their industry and ‘type’. In Part 1, we looked at which social media platforms could work for your business, by identifying categories of business.

In this second part, we will be looking at how you can not only create goals for social media marketing but how to make them stick, so that your business gets the best exposure from social media that it can.

The story so far…

We have looked at the many differing kinds of social media platforms there are and how joining them all, could lead to disaster – after all, you have a business to run and you cannot be updating everything all of the time…

We also looked at some social platforms in relation to specific sectors of business and how they can be used to not only connect with customers, but advertise and market the business too.

But, we also suggested that some social media experts are suggesting that Facebook and Twitter are almost compulsory, but rather than just assume and sign on up, we suggested that this really was you choice – after all, if your customers are not there, why spend hours on it?

Have you made your choices?

By now, you may have decided which social platforms are the right vehicle for your business; for those local businesses with a more visual appeal, using Instagram for example would be a great start. For those with a younger audience, Snapchat could present an interesting forum and YouTube is also popular as ever.

So with choices made, and your business profile created, all you need to do is sit back and watch that popularity counter whizz up and up and up.

(Nothing happens. Carry on waiting)

Social media goals

Without having some form of clear idea or structure, your social media platform will either fizzle in to nonexistence or it’ll be so wrong, that you could actually damage your reputation.

The good news is twofold – this doesn’t have to take ages and they don’t need to be complicated but, to help you out here at 5 easy, simple steps to making your social media aims and objectives stick (and a sneaky step 6 too…)

Step 1: SEE your goals

This is a really useful tip that you can use beyond your social media platforms! We came across Lifetick, a fabulous app that helps you order your thoughts and then see your progress towards the goals you have.

But, don’t forget that your social media objectives should be SMART – specific, measureable, achievable, relevant and time bound. Setting a goal and being able to measure your progress towards them is essential.

Step 2: Pen and Paper

Even though we are surrounded by technology, sometimes a blank piece of paper and coloured pens are your best gadgets.

Having a social media presence is more than just ‘doing it because everyone else is’; you need to be able to compete with your competitors, gain custom and trade and create a buzz around your product, service and company.

Step 3: Create an action plan

This might take some more time, but it can also be the most fun part.

Example:

Social Platform: Twitter

This is your main social platform that you use to push your brand and company into the business eye, therefore your presence needs to a daily occurrence.

You may want to partake or even create your own #hashtag trend but, you also need to know how successful you Twitter presence is; there are various apps that can do this but one we quite like is Sumall. This app will show you all the analytics involved in your account, providing clear information on which posts worked best and when.

We suggest prioritising your social media presence too and which one is the driving force in your online campaign and presence.

Step 4: Deadlines

The problem with social media is that it is an open ended task… and the problem with open ended tasks is that they can bobble along for a long time… and the problem with is that we never feel like we have accomplished or finished anything.

For some people, this makes no difference to their working day; for others, it is a source of ongoing tension and the feeling of being on a treadmill of ‘finished one thing, straight on to start another’.

To stop this negativity eating away and then your social media objectives falling by the wayside, setting deadlines for which social media projects are reviewed/stopped/curtailed so that something new can start is the way of stopping the rot from setting in.

A deadline, after all, refines the mind and focuses the thinking.

Step 5: Throw in a really big goal

We can be too cautious. The thought of setting a goal and then thinking it may not come off can be a step too far; no one like or seeks failure. But, how about taking a chance? A manageable risk with one of your social media goals that if you don’t get there won’t cause the company to collapse or for you to throw yourself into exile…?

On Twitter, you will have followers… you may have 2,346 at the moment. How about doubling that in 2 months? Off you go…

(There are many examples of stretching goals but we won’t go on; you know the sort but stay away from those ‘dodgy’ followers that tell you for a fiver, they’ll get you a million likes or followers by midnight Tuesday)

And finally…

You have worked hard. You have researched which social media platforms are right for your business, you have created goals and an action plan and you have started your campaign.

You have a review date in your calendar and so, because we are Locally we are going to sneak in another step…

Step 6: Celebrate your success

We have loads of ideas… but we think you can think of something for yourself on this occasion!

Which social media platforms fit your business?

28th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Part 1 of 2

In this Locally mini-series, we will be looking at which social media platforms could be the best fit for small businesses, based on their industry and ‘type’. In Part 2, we then suggest looking at how you can not only create goals for social media marketing but how to make them stick, so that your business gets the best exposure from social media that it can.

We have talked about social media and its impact on your online business many times before. But, if you are still resisting Facebook and/or Twitter, then experts suggest you are resisting an evolution of social media.

Many customers use either of these social media platforms as a reference point for many companies and, with a new regime for businesses advertising on Facebook, these points could become more driven and focused than ever before.

And companies, realising this, are tidying up their act but, there has been an additional step in this process; many businesses here in the UK, as well as across the globe are using these platforms as a way of not just advertising their business to consumers, but hiring new employees too.

But Facebook and Twitter are not the only two social media platforms.

But, we think there is a problem looming on the horizon and it follows a pattern we have seen before, in other aspects of business – the state of trying to do too much, and not doing anything properly.

Social media could be the Achilles heel in your business; joining all these social media sites is one thing, keeping up with comments, likes, tweets, posts, pins etc. could not only send you into a deep space state of frazzleness, but also earn you black marks from the very people you are trying to impress – your customers.

Not responding to a social media comments, is the equivalent of ignoring the phone when it rings, or not bothering to post out the goods your customers have ordered.

Making the most of the right social media platforms your business

Rather than taking a scatter gun approach and signing up to everything, take some time to consider what it is you want your social media presence to do for your business, and then take some time to review which of the many sites suits your business.

To help you out, we have looked at social media sites and how they fit with sectors of business, making suggestions as to which social media vehicle could be best fit, but the final decision is YOURS!

Retail

Regardless of what you are selling, from scarves to jewellery, designer footwear, furniture, cushions or door stops, the photo is your friend.

Product photos are essential; the wordy description and catchy captions are great but if your consumer cannot see the type of shape or colour it actually is, then you have lost a sale.

Likewise, one of the many photographs you use per product can also be about suggesting to the consumer how your product can be used or what it’ll look when teamed with something else…

Instagram could be the way forward for you. Incredibly popular with retailers large and small, you will find that in terms of fighting for recognition, the smaller retailer will not face such an uphill battle against the ‘giants’.

Commentators have pointed out that Instagram users are a far more relaxed and tolerant lot; your photos do not have been a professional shoot each and every time, and so a shot taken on a mobile phone camera is just as acceptable. In fact, a little wonkiness and fuzziness can work in your favour…

Instagram have plans for 2015 too, that could benefit the smaller business; the site could become a lot more interactive, with all kinds of tools opening up allowing customers to tap on photos and lead themselves straight to you, as well as using video.

Manufacturing

Not so much a public face business, many companies and business to manufacture or create things tend to stay away from social media platforms as such, but there is still a need for you to making contacts and networking out there.

And we feel that networking is the key, which is why business-to-business social media platforms are the ones you should be looking at. We suggest LinkedIn may be the one where you can create the most contacts, depending on what you want to do.

However, don’t ignore your consumers entirely, even if there is another layer of business between you are them. Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy and informed when it comes to where their products come from and so, as you make your next product why not consider filming the process and starting your own YouTube channel?

Think no one will be interested? The popular TV show, How It’s Made is very popular, exploding common myths about how some things are created.

Entertainment

We like to think of our clients as a diverse bunch and so we struggled slightly with this heading, but we needed to include the awesome power of video, and real time video ‘snippets’.

Regardless of where you stand on pirate music sites, there is a silent but steady revolution within the media and entertainment sector; rather than fighting the fact that people have not only increasing access to media, but also to sharing it, we suggest you start to embrace it.

We are no experts of Snapchat but, it seems that every teenager and young person across the UK is ‘snapchatting’, as opposed to texting. And, some companies (although not too many yet) have taken up this mantel and have started to update fans and customers using this platform.

But, before you think this is just for those in the entertainment business, there has been successful examples of sports clubs and the like creating a following using Snapchat as well as other companies using small trailers as a means of advertising.

Regulated industries

However, there are some clients who are far more restricted in how they interact with customers and clients; companies and businesses within healthcare, financial sectors and the like are all industries that are regulated or governed by various rules or codes of conduct.

For those companies seeing to use social media, you will need to be aware of any restrictions that prevent you from using them to their full capacity but there are ways and means. Clearly, anonymising any information and not sharing photos without specific prior permission is a must but there are forums out there; we came across Connected Living, a website and social media platform that connects the ‘aging population’ with one another and other forums too, with the overall objective being to prevent isolation.

Technology

For those customers within the technology field, there is no fixed or one-platform-is-better-than-the-other argument, simply because technological businesses tend to lead the field by starting the whole social media platform off to a flying start…

And so, the bitesize lessons from part 1 of social media and business are thus:

Many people consider Facebook and Twitter as a ‘point of reference’ for many people and that joining these networks is essential; you can differ from this opinion
There are many other social platforms out there, some well-known some not-so-well-known
Some platforms are geared specifically towards certain kinds of businesses or industries, with specific objectives as to why they exist
Joining everything can lead to disaster, so do your research and choose the right platform for your business (and where your customers are at)

A picture never lies…

14th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

… and then along came Photoshop!

But we jest, for this is a serious post on the power of graphics and what they can do for your website, blog post and content in general.

We know you – you have an outstanding product, a superb website, it is beautiful and responsive and because we work together, it is mobile ready – everything is in place but there needs to be the icing on the cake: the graphic.

The image that paints the picture in all its glorious technicolour; the part that says ‘come hither and take a closer look’; it is the arty photograph of the best wedding cake that you have ever produced; it is the image of a frosty winter’s morning in Surrey (as of January 2015) and it is the image that speaks a thousand words. Unless you get it wrong.

We have all seen them. We have all grunted, raised an eye brow and allowed the corner of our mouths to turn up slightly. The images that websites use (usually from royalty free image websites) that show a workforce, all immaculately dressed with gleaming white teeth.

Nope. You need to think about these images and graphics a lot more than that.

The eyeballs have it

Just like we have talked in the past about content and how it is formatted to appeal visually to the eye, the image must do the same. Do not insult your customers’ intelligence by attempting to convince them you are all size 6, with expertly coiffured hair.

But before you take photos of all your products and dazzle the homepage with them, take a moment to think about this – research has shown that we are drawn to photographs of other human faces. An experiment that tracked human eyeballs as they looked at an image found that the vast majority of people spent the most time looking at the face. It is a natural human instinct.

Different angles

And so, a human face could be a shrewd move but there are other aspects to consider too. Photographic experts suggest that most websites and companies need to spend more time photographing their products from different angles.

So, if you sell jewellery, a close up shot of the detailing is great but a few of someone wearing it, so the potential customer can see what it looks like on, can also be a great selling point.

The call to action

We forget this sometimes, and in the fast paced world that we find ourselves in, we can forget the important ‘click to buy’ button. We have talked extensively in a previous blog about colour, and making it stand out, but colour is not the only draw for the eye.

Some American studies suggest that people like a little more information and so telling them to ‘call for more info’, could actually work better if it said ‘call for more info on booking a Swedish massage’ etc.

Locally’s helpful guide to using images

Always looking to help expand readership of blogs, possibly creating business, we have put our heads together and come up with the following:

Decoration is NOT what images are for

Finding a random photo of a happy looking lady and slapping it on your homepage is nothing short of confusing. Why is she looking so happy when you are talking about the distress and discomfort of a pest infestation…?

Images are not there to decorate web pages, they are there to reinforce your message. Nothing more.

WHY use an image with that particular blog post/webpage etc…?

Early placement – you may notice that we place our images close to the top of our blog posts and this is because visually, it draws the eye, followed by the opening few lines. Hopefully, we have snagged the interest of a reader to carry on reading… and the fact that it is an appropriate image that gives a visual clue as to what the blog is about is also helpful.
If you are selling a product – the image needs to be of the product and preferably more than one image, including one of someone (you, a customer or a paid model) using the product. But ask yourself, what is the selling point of your product? Take a look at the original advertising for the MacBook Air. Speed was not its main selling feature, its size was… so the fact the image was of it fitting in an envelope was pure genius.
Lines, lines, lines – what does that arrow point? Why is her gaze looking over there? Visual clues can also direct the gaze of your reader/customer to certain areas of the page – go on, try it!

Own photos or stock photos

But there is always a rub and we think that some of the other blogs that talk about images don’t comment on this; they will tell you to use your own photos but, for many small businesses this can add significant pressure to already full, busy week of selling their products. Taking photos of your products are the priority!

If time is limited and your photographic skills just as limited, you can fall back on stock images. There are many websites that address this issue, but always take time to look at the copyright on images; many stock image websites can be membership based, or pay-per-image and the quality can be high. Just bear in mind they need to fit.

That said, it doesn’t take much to take some decent shots of your products and like your blog, it is a marathon… and there are many ways of running this race.

Adaptive Content – the buzzword for 2015?

8th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

We’ve looked at brandscaping – the process of partnering with a non-competitor to your business, but one that you can form a professional bond with; you both pool your resources, financial and otherwise, and head up a joint marketing campaign. You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.

And then we came across this new phrase – adaptive content. You’ll either love it or think it’s a cop out, so let’s take a meander through the concept…

The idea of behind adaptive content

At this early stage, Copyblogger thinks that adaptive content doesn’t have definition as such, more of a rolling spectrum of what it can be. However, that is pretty useless for you (and us) and so here is Locally’s definition of adaptive content…

You create a piece of content, such as a blog but, instead of just leaving it where you put it, on your website, you publish it everywhere, by adapting it so its fits all these other places.

Great, you think, we do that… yes but, we bet you write a new blog every time. Right?

With this concept you create a blog, publish it everywhere, pulling in readership from across social media and anywhere else where you can grab eye ball time.

But, instead of then writing a fresh one, you reduce, reuse and recycle current content and keep spreading this marvellous content.

Think about the amount of time you spend in a given working day creating content; from updating webpages to writing new blogs. For some people, words trip off the typewriter and yet, for many of us, they are laboured over; changed and edited a hundred times before we press the publish button. Why waste all this effort?

For example, the recent blog we created on how to counteract negative online reviews would look quite good sitting in an infographic… and then, we may look at some of the information, chop some of it, add to some of it, give more detail and authorities links and then create a presentation posting it on Slideshare… and, each and every time, ‘selling’ each piece across every online platform that we choose to frequent.

It’s about getting more for your dollar, more from your posts by hitting the eyeballs of a wider audience with the same content that looks and feels different because not all of your audience will find your website; they need to help to discover it. To do that, you need to tell as many people as possible, in different places that your content exists.

Simple, then?!

Mmmm yes sort of, but things never are that simple are they because it isn’t just about rewriting an old blog and giving it a new title.

Analytics – what worked?

And this is where analytics comes in; you know – the stuff that creates data that we all love and understand.

Which blogs did you readers and consumers like? Which tweet pulled them to your blog or website? What kind if statuses grabbed eyeball time?

There is no point rehashing the same thing in a different format if it wasn’t the blog or article topic that grabbed attention.

We’ve also said that as consumers, we are an impatient lot and technology has done marvellous things for us. One thing it has done is heightened our expectations. We expect to able to do everything from out PC, mobile and tablet. Including buying the things we want, when we want and how we want.

Being more adaptive

This type of adaptive content goes places; just lobbing a blog post at your website and hoping for the best won’t work. It is a drop in the ocean but, before you all shrink from the challenge you need to know one thing: this is not because the quality is bad.

In fact, really brilliant content can sink without a trace; it is the fact that it is not used enough across all the platforms that are available to it. Some brands are starting to realise the impact of adaptive content and there are 5 elements that need to be included to make the best use of content:

Reusable – content is used across a range of platforms and in different formats
Structured – small bite-sized content works well across different devices
Simple – the format should be sophisticated and simple, not overly difficult to read or use
Metadata – the secret, techy bit that describes what the content is about and it needs to be accurate
A content management system (CMS) – that allows you to do all of the above!

Hence, we end back at the reduce, reuse and recycle system of adapting your content to fit across all the platforms you use with your business

Adaptive content is about re-using the content you have, but adding a spark of something extra to it.

Thus adaptive content is a two pronged attack –

Not reinventing the wheel every time but reusing, recycling and recycling or recharging content
Linking content which the behaviour of your clients or customers (they came via Facebook, so why can’t they create an account with your via Facebook?)

Where does a small, online and local business start with this adaptive content process?

Take a look over your content and, if your have the data, identify what people liked or commented on and, using a different approach, re-use this material. And then publish it again across all your platforms and see what happens…

When you use your content to its FULL POTENTIAL, it is truly adaptive content; how do you adapt your content?

Offline and online marketing – you really do need both

9th December 2014 by Alan Leave a Comment

… honestly, you do…

Every business is acutely aware of the fact that it needs to market itself.

Every business is also acutely aware that if they get it wrong, it is money wasted.

Every business knows the importance of getting it right. In fact, the biggest influencing factor in the failure of any start-up businesses is lack of marketing.

It is on ongoing, evolving process; just as you finish one campaign, another comes along. Just as Christmas will come and go, another season will be upon us meaning the goal posts move once again.

But, with the advent of the Internet, followed by the revolutionary effects of social media, businesses are plunged into a new era of marketing. The one size strategy that did everything now needs to be re-written.

And this is where some businesses found that they faced a new dilemma; online OR offline marketing.

Do you need both?

Or do you have a strategy for one, and hope the other tags along?

What is offline marketing anyway? Surely leaflets are dead and buried… aren’t they?

Definitions: online & offline

Before we hurtle headlong into a full and frank discussion, we need to make sure we are all singing form the same hymn sheet… otherwise, we will be at cross purposes.

Online marketing – is anything that you do online, from tweeting to statuses, to pinning photos etc. You should have a strategy for what is posted, where and when.
Offline marketing – is anything from adverts in local and national press publications, leaflets, postcards, business cards and anything you can possibly think of. Again, you should have a strategy for what will happen, when and why.

BUT, the problem has been that the online world has somewhat dwarfed offline marketing strategies for a variety of businesses. Many assumed, as you would with the power of the Internet, that offline marketing was somewhat dead.

Mmmm… it seems that this may not the case. In fact, a variety of experts have suggested that actually, the gap between online and offline marketing is actually shrinking. And so, as we near the end of 2014, look forward to 2015 perhaps now is the time to give some serious thought to both your business online and offline marketing for the coming year (we like some of these ideas – quick to implement and easy to do!)

Offline becomes interactive

The biggest change is that offline material is actually starting to morph in to online material. How many posters, banners, adverts, leaflets etc. have you seen that have a QR code printed on it? (We are going to look at QR – quick response – codes in an upcoming blog and how they can help grow your business).

In fact, it now seems that every piece of offline marketing tool you use, it should have some form of nod to your online presence. This can be as simple as ‘find us on Facebook’ or ‘follow us on Twitter’ etc.

And if we need to persuade you any further on the power of offline marketing, then we need to point you in the direction of some recent studies…

Role models – take a look at some HUGE global companies who rely more on offline, traditional marketing over and above online. For example, eharmony.com and Esurance.com use traditional offline marketing techniques to draw people to their businesses. These companies still invest a huge amount – if not all – of their marketing budgets in TV commercials.

The silver pound – don’t forget the spending power of the ‘older’ generation. A large proportion of the population are retired but with a pension, therefore they have the spending power. Even though the majority of the older population are becoming savvier when it comes to web, more of this age group can be reached via offline marketing. They are still responsive to TV commercial, direct mail, radio adverts and press ads too. If there was a group that would leap at the chance of a loyalty card or scheme, it is this age group.

You know your customers…

And so, keeping an eye on your customer demographics is important as this makes sure that your online and offline marketing are targeted in the right places at the right people, therefore you need to consider the tools that can bring these two forms of marketing together…

Tracking URLs

Using URLs – i.e. website addresses – that are unique to certain offline marketing campaigns is a great way of seeing what is working, and when. Use a unique code for each separate campaign (this is why you see codes etc. on various campaigns so that the business can track where enquiries and customers are coming from).

Social media traffic

A big factor in any company’s online marketing strategy is their social media presence and many companies have now realised the ability of social media to drive traffic to their company. And one way of doing this is to make sure that your social media platforms icons are on everything that you produce offline – and you could consider offering your customers who arrive at your destination via offline means a special offer.

QR codes

Mobile technology is huge. We have mentioned QR codes at the start of the article and we are going to look at these in far more detail. But basically, unique information – such as a % off code – is included in this QR code which, when your potential consumer scans the code using their smart phone, they will be taken to an online destination. The beauty of these codes is that they can literally be included on anything from a banner to a newspaper advert.

Your website address – everywhere

Just like you add the postcode to your address, your website address should, by now, be automatically featuring on every single piece of offline material, from your compliment slips to leaflets, adverts and the like. Many companies and businesses make the mistake of just adding the social media icons which gives the impression you are only online at these destinations. Whilst this is great for conversation, when consumers intend spending money, they need to have a feeling that they can trust you – and a website can do this.

Which marketing technique suits your company? Can you see it changing in 2015?

Social media trends in 2015

3rd December 2014 by Alan Leave a Comment

What should you be doing when it comes to effective social media marketing?

As you now, here at Locally we like to not just keep pace with developments, but outpace them too and so, once again, we have delved into the cupboard, consulted with our crystal ball and taken a look at what 2015 could offer in terms of social media marketing trends…

Why social media?

OK, let’s address the elephant in the room. You will see blogs and posts on our site that talk about social signals – the nods of approval your audience give you that may or may not be recognised by search engines.

Some people say that social signals are VERY important, some say they have NO BEARING WHAT-SO-EVER and some people say that, they COULD, MAYBE, POSSIBLY have some bearing but, maybe not a lot.

Here at Locally, we like the idea of people ‘voting’ or giving a nod of approval to content and so we like the idea of sharing our stuff across G+, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.

Whether you like it or not, ignoring social media could place you in a weaker position than your nearest online, local competitors.

BUT, before you all rush forth on our advice, and start creating competitions and statuses that bamboozle people into liking/sharing content, make sure you do not stray beyond the realms of acceptability (see previous posts, “Facebook is changing: an UPDATE”).

Social media – a trading platform?

At the end of summer 2014, we talked about Twitter acquiring CardSpring. This is an important development as quite soon, in the UK, consumers will be able to buy online, but support local businesses too. We love it when people support local business – it is, after all the cornerstone of our business – and so anything that merges the powerful world on online shopping and the local high street gets our vote.

Hence, we think that to ignore social media is ignoring a whopping proportion of potential customers.

But, your business needs to be in the right place in terms of social media platforms hence, gathering all the latest ideas and thoughts, this is what you need to be considering for 2015 when it comes to social media marketing…

If your website is not mobile-ready, then… oops!

It is not just us, here at Locally, saying this but all across Internet Land, experts and non-experts alike are telling you, imploring you, ordering you, that if your website cannot be easily read or used on a mobile device (phone, table etc.) then you are and will be missing a trick.

You only have to look at the figures of the upsurge in ownership and purchase of mobile devices to be utterly convinced.

So, for 2015…

Go from mobile ‘aware’ to mobile ‘first’. Make sure campaigns and content can be ‘scaled down’ for the mobile user but still delightfully ‘scaled up’ on the laptop or PC.

Priority level: RED – this is not something you can put off any longer!

Buying via the social world

Facebook – love it or hate it – leads the way in so many different facets of the online social world. And it seems that when it comes to people buying online, it is beginning to muscle in here too. America has the biggest and most encouraging figures; studies suggest that 6% of American adults spend their time on Facebook, with a spending rate of 10%.

These figures will send a shiver down your spine in that you will finally need to join the Facebook circus or you can up your game and start tapping in to this lucrative online market.

Priority level: AMBER (worth considering)

Content is STILL king

This should not be a surprise to anyone. We have been saying it for years, as have others. Customers like to read fun and informative stuff, and search engines like it too BUT, 2015 will ring some changes.

No longer will you just be blogging… think infographics, video, presentations etc. but, you can use the same kind of content. So blogging on changes in social media marketing in 2015 could also be produced as a Slide Share presentation…

Priority level : AMBER (although we think this will grow in stature throughout 2015)

Video – not just YouTube

The ‘traditional’ home of video and online clips has always been YouTube; other platforms have come close but not close enough… except for maybe Facebook. However, if you want to be really picky, the fact that videos auto-play in Facebook is probably why this platform can now say that they outshine YouTube in the playability stakes.

But, ignoring this trend will see you miles behind your competitors. So, don’t just make videos and plonk them on YouTube. Consider the vines that are becoming popular too.

Priority: GREEN (if you are looking for new creative ways, then this is the outlet; it may not be suitable for all businesses so do your market research before you spend your budget)

The right social place, for the right audience

If nothing else, keeping a hold on where your audience is at will be the essential driving change in 2015. What this means is that the traditional social platforms may not completely rule the roost by the end of 2015 although, where your audience will be at is not clear. And, as hard as we polish our crystal ball, we cannot see either.

Younger audiences are tipped to navigate away from Facebook to ‘younger’ platforms, whereas older audiences may navigate away too but who knows where? What this means, of course, is that you need to be on top of your game as your audience could splinter, making connecting with them could be more complex.

Priority: RED – be informed where your audience is at, and stay informed

What are your plans for social media marketing in 2015?