Aug 12, 2017 | Blog, News
Using hashtags to grow your audience
Everyone wants more Twitter and Instagram followers. Whether you’re trying to grow your personal or business account, it can be challenging to grow your audience. Trying to stand out on an application that has over 600 million users is not an easy task at all. One of the best (and often misused tools) is hashtags.
But before you use hashtags, let us have a quick look at what is hashtag and why do you need to use this. A hashtag is the pound sign (#) and in social media it is used to draw attention, to promote and to organise content around a particular topic. Instagram (and for the most part Twitter) is a medium where hashtags are required for content to be seen. The thing about hashtags is that using the right one can increase you visibility immediately and increase engagement with your audience. Just make sure that you use a hashtag that is in line with the content you are posting.
Instagram has been the popular social media platform in Australia. Australians love using Instagram, especially during weekends. Australian women dominate social media channels with a booming of 58% using Instagram videos and 66% using Instagram images (Datafication). The hashtags that they have used and become popular in just a matter of 24 hours were #australia #cute, #fun, #sydney, #love, #sydney, #lol, #fitness, #music, and #instagood.
Like any other social network there are ways how to use it (and importantly how not to) so let’s check how to use a hashtag and how can it help to grow your audience.
- Don’t forget to use the right hashtag. If you use the right hashtag on your content then you are more likely to reach and discover new users. It will be easier for your audience to notice your photo if you use a specific hashtag that is trending. Just remember to make it relevant or your will be shadowbanned.
- Timing of your Posts. Yes, you have outlined what you will post but consider also when the right time to post it. When is your target audience likely to be online?
- In addition to using branded hashtags (#yourbusinessname), try using industry specific hashtags, and even more general ones. If you wan to know what to use, do a quick serch in Instagram and see how many posts come up – that will tell you what is popular and what isn’t
- Share your daily activities. Want to catch the follower’s attention? You can give glimpses and tell what you’re actually doing. This is a great way to make your audience feeling inspired.
Instagram allows users to post up to 30 hashtags but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to use all of them. It’s all about engagement and you need to publish when your audience is active. And don’t forget to measure your efforts so you can tweak your content. Always remember that using a hashtag is easy but you have to make sure that it is relevant and accurate in order for you to be noticed and in time, you will see that your audience is increasing.
If you want help getting more out of your social media marketing, please download our free step by step guide today!
Aug 5, 2017 | Blog, News
How Often Should You Email Your Database?
One of the strongest ways for companies to engage and to communicate with their customers is through email marketing. By using email, they can keep in touch with their clients and inform them about their services and new products. The use of email marketing can amplify a businesses’ marketing strategy through nurturing existing contacts.
So how often do you need to send out your emails to your clients?
Based on Australian research, one possible reason why customers unsubscribe is because you send too many emails with not enough valuable content. Some people consider these emails as spam. Companies should be careful in sending emails to avoid their accounts from being reported. In Australia, there are strict rules that need to be followed to comply with the Australian spam laws. The following are the three simple steps that will help you do responsible email marketing and abide with Australia’s legislation.
- Make sure that you ask for the person’s consent before you send this type of marketing. This is mostly done through Opt-in mailing lists.
- In any email marketing, you should always remember to identify the organisation which is responsible for the sent emails.
- The customers must have an option to unsubscribe with the emails sent to them.
Although there is really no hard and fast rule on how many times you should email your database because it depends on what you are trying to accomplish, you should always err on the side of caution. Regarding on how often you should send emails, there are some guidelines that you can follow in order to make sure that you’re still on track when it comes to updating your database.
- Send email a minimum of once per month. If you blog once a month, or have monthly offers for your customers, this is the perfect frequency for you. Make sure you commit to once a month, and no less, as you still want to remain front of mind for your database
- Send email a maximum of once per week. We recommend sending emails a maximum of once per week, unless you have breaking news or something urgent or compelling to say. When you send out emails in a daily manner, your customers will simply unsubscribe you or even report the emails as spam.
Clearly, there is really no perfect answer on how often you need to email your database. But one thing is for sure, whether how many times you send out, daily, weekly, or monthly, you have to remember that the content is the key to make your email marketing strategy effective. Always make it a point that your email provides quality, valuable content.
If you want help getting more out of your social media marketing, please download our free step by step guide today!
Jul 29, 2017 | Blog, News
Using Twitter lists for your business
A great way to organise, recognise and interact with different segments of your audience is by using Twitter lists. If you follow more than a few hundred people on Twitter, you might want to categorise those you follow into more easily digestible chunks. In Australia, there are more than 2.9 million Twitter accounts, so chances are you’re seeing a lot of content you may not want to read.
Twitter lists organise Twitter handle into separate groups that you choose. For example, you can create lists of influencers in your industry. They enable you to read and interact with tweets based on the various categories, which removes tweets you don’t want to read right now. But how do you create a twitter list? Simply follow these steps:
- Go to your Twitter avatar and click Lists
- Click on Create List
- Name your Twitter List and Add a Description, set the Privacy and then Save
- Search for people to add on your list
- Check the box of the Twitter list and the person has been added
- Go to your profile and click on “Lists” tab to view your list
Now that you know how to create your Twitter lists, let’s know how some ways you can use them in your business.
- Twitter lists can help you monitor your competitors. You can keep your competitors Twitter accounts on one list so that you can monitor what content they are producing, and how they are marketing their business
- Having a Twitter list is a smart way if you want to engage with media and popular bloggers. One way or another, you have a business and of course, you want to be known and be noticed.
- Twitter lists also strengthen your relationship with your customers. Why not create a VIP list of all your clients, where you can easily nurture you relationship with them.
- It can also give way in engaging with your employees.
- Having a Twitter list can also develop resources for your potential clients. You can create a list that includes opportunities and helpful ideas for your target audience.
Australian businesses also use Twitter in order to reach their target customers. Even the large corporation like Telstra uses Twitter alongside with small businesses like local cafes.
Twitter lists are a great way for you to keep your prospect clients organised. It can open up a whole new world of networking and engagement. Social media is about building and engaging communities and by creating a Twitter list, you build a community of people with the same interests and likes.
If you want help getting more out of your social media marketing, please download our free step by step guide today!
Jul 23, 2017 | Blog, News
How to use Youtube to grow your website traffic
There are a lot of ways to get people to visit your site even if they haven’t heard of you yet. One way to increase your audience and to drive traffic is through the use of video (if you’re not doing this already). Whether it is just a simple video blog, a how to video or just a product review, the best place to host your video this is Youtube.
Youtube is the second most used search engine in the world, after Google (which actually owns Youtube!). As it’s a free, and relatively easy platform to use, Youtube can help you reach new people, as long as you produce interesting content. Let’s see how to use this powerful video website to grow your website traffic:
- Add call to action. Once someone has watched your video, you want them to do something else. This is where having a strong call to action comes in. It can be something as simple as ‘Share this video with you friends’ or even ‘Click on the website below to find out more’. If you do use a call to action that involves taking your subscribers to your website, make sure the landing page is consistent with the messaging in the video, that way you keep your audience engaged.
- Make the most effective use of your video metadata. It is the underlying description about your video, so make sure to write the title and description for every video you post and include keywords that are appropriate on the video. Think about how your audience will be searching for the content you are creating, and develop your descriptions around these.
- Use Playlists. To achieve a higher visibility on the content of your channel, having a playlist is critical. Playlists organise your videos into groups based on the topic you have created. But always take note of having a description and keyword for your playlists, in addition to having them for each individual video. By doing this, the videos you have uploaded will drive traffic if you have a keyword rich descriptions in every group of videos you have.
Youtube is the bomb for getting brands noticed. If you’re still having some troubles driving more traffic in your website, consider using Youtube. But you have to remember that your goal is to build a community of followers so don’t forget that the most important factor to consider is creating a relevant content and valuable videos to attract the right viewers. Using Youtube is one of the great ways to drive traffic to your website just be sure that you set up your videos properly.
If you want help getting more out of your social media marketing, please download our free step by step guide today!
Jul 17, 2017 | Blog, News
Using Google Analytics to understand website traffic
Google Analytics is one of the top and most powerful tools for monitoring and analysing traffic on your website. The metrics it provides, give you valuable insights into website visitation and also behaviour – ie, who is coming to your website and what they are doing when they get there. It can also tell you how users are able to get to your website and the content they are interested in.
So what metrics do you need to keep an eye on to understand how your website is performing; and that will help you to get more traffic to your website? These are the things that you should be focusing on so that you will know what to do next with your campaign or with your site.
- Keywords. It is very important to know which keywords drive the most quality. By knowing which keywords have ranked high, you can work on these keywords and use it more on your website in order to make it easier to rank higher in organic search.
- Amount of Visits. It is essential to know the days and time that you have the most visit on your website. Having the knowledge of these important dates and time allows you to publish more content on that day where you will be getting more attention on your website.
- Top Pages. Understanding which page (or pages) is effective and performing well, will help you to know what type of content people are most interested in. You can use that information to then create more of that type of content.
- Referring Sites. Knowing what websites which are sending the most quality of your site, for example, which sites have mentioned your blog, your product or a social media channel that links your site is important. This is because, once you understand where your traffic is coming from, you can spend more time and resources in focusing on those sites and spend less time on those sites that are not performing well.
- Overview of Visitors. When you know who your visitors are and their intent in visiting your website, you will know what interests them and you can tailor that in your content.
Google Analytics is great and is free. It has a number of features that allow you to review how well users are interacting with your content and site. This is very important because you can identify how you can improve your site and quickly adapt.
If you want help getting more out of your social media marketing, please download our free step by step guide today!
Jul 11, 2017 | Blog, News
Why post your blogs to social media more than once
So you own a business, and want to create some interest about what you do? Or perhaps you want to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry? Blogs are a simple and effective way to promote what you do in an education way.
A simple definition of blog is that it is a journal or a diary that is on the internet. People create blogs because they want to express themselves; they want their voice to be heard. Sometimes, they wanted to share something about something that they love. And you love what you do, so why not share it!
So you’ve gone ahead and created a blog, now you have to share it with your audience. And social media is the perfect place to share your wisdom. But how often you should post your blog on social media? Is it relevant to share your content more than once? Let’s take a look at why you have to share your blog more than once.
- More traffic. Sharing your blog once will reach some of your audience. Sharing it multiples times will make sure you reach more people. Remember to give it a new introduction each time.
- Reach multiple time zones, especially if you have customers across Australia, or even the world. By resharing or retweeting your blog post, there is a definite possibility that you will be able to reach those who missed your post the first time around.
- Gain more followers. If your blog is engaging, your fans are likely to share it – which means people outside of your community will see your content. If they like your content, you’ll get some extra followers! Also, once you repost your blog, especially if you have evergreen content, it will still be relevant to others even if you posted it few weeks ago.
Now that you know the reasons why you have to share your content more than once in social media, you can use this as an advantage but just make sure that you won’t over do it. Also, make sure that you have different techniques once you repost your blog because if it is always the same format or the same title, your content will look tired. Just always remember than once you create a blog, this will speak about you and you wanted to build credibility and earn people’s trust.
If you want help getting more out of your social media marketing, please download our free step by step guide today!
