5 Ways to Run Social Media Contest

5 Ways to Run Social Media Contest

Social media contests are the most trending activity on social media. In a way we can say that contest is one of the most emerging way to increase footfall on your social media platform. Running a social media contest is a new way which boost up your business, also it increase list of subscribers, get new twitter and facebook followers plus one can get more re-tweets and likes on the page and can create a fun experience in the process. In this blog, we are sharing 5 recommendations, choices for you to consider, and options to keep in mind when you’re running or going to run a social media contest for your own business.

-           Know what you want

Are you trying to get newsletter subscriptions, expose certain products, gain brand recognition, or drive up Facebook fans? Knowing what your goals are will guide the process.

-          Choose the type of contest
     
      Sweepstakes contests are the easiest to enter, with the lowest barrier of entry. Photo or video contests with fan votes get the most engagement. Caption contests or quiz contests are other options. Winners can be randomly selected, picked by you or a panel of judges you select, or voted on by other readers.

-          Decide how long the Contest will Run

If you’re running a photo or video contest, stretch contests out longer by having several rounds of voting. Even if you don’t have a huge budget but just want to spur some engagement, you can also do a flash contest. These contests – often one-day contests done every week or two – brings small bursts of engagement without emptying your marketing budget.

-          Choose a Platform

Decide whether you want the contest to run on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Choose one and stick to it, though you can still cross-promote your contest on other social networks. Want an all-encompassing campaign? Popular options for contests include Rafflecopter, Offerpop, Votigo, PunchTab, PromoSimple and Giveaway Tool. Many have free trial plans or versions that are free for up to a specified number of entries. Some have forms and templates.

-          Create a plan for Artwork

Depending on which platform you use, you may need to set aside some time and resources to create artwork for the contest. Some images need to be customized for different platforms.

6 Ways to Conquer Facebook Marketing

           6 Ways to Conquer Facebook Marketing

Talking about social media world we are living in, it is everywhere around us. One moment we use Facebook and the other moment we start using twitter or other app like Instagram or Snapchat. Social media platforms have a massive presence of online users.  And this has turned these platforms into a stage which have huge potential in terms to disseminate information to a larger section or in other way round to get the public know about the product or services that we are offering as a business. But game changes when it becomes business page rather than a personal profile. And to name every single social media platform we have, has its own set of rule to conquer the platform be it Facebook, twitter, Instagram or any other Social media platform.

When it comes to promote the brand and do the marketing for it on the digital platform, we need to have the set of rules.  Facebook has its own arena, and has its own rules and regulations to stay in the race.

Facebook is a much changed medium in comparison to what it started with. It has grown bigger and still growing.  There are pages, groups and ads to look for the marketing thing. But to make the maximum utilization of the medium varies on several factors. When you have idea of the Facebook tools, you need to use it to the maximum to get the best return on investment from Facebook marketing. There are some strategies and rules to be followed for marketing strategy for Facebook.

Awareness about your Target Audience

Knowing your target audience on a specific social media platform like Facebook is necessary to go ahead with the marketing plan. There comes the role of Facebook demographics and the brand intelligence about customer’s profile which will help you to know where your target audience would be. Facebook audience insights further helps you in getting the minute details about your target audience. This is really helpful when you need to determine what kind of content would be the effective for your business.

Selling should not be on Priority

Facebook algorithm was changed at the end of the year 2015 favoring the brand content rather the content that drive sales and thus it changed the way a post should be posted. Facebook wants the post should have the content that can be seen, read, like and share by the online users of the Facebook. So a post should not directly aim to sell. Post the content that helps the brand to put in front of the new eyeballs and extend the brand awareness on Facebook

Content is the Master Key

Facebook post should engage the audience and encourage them to participate in your Facebook conversation and help the brand by sharing the content. Content of posts should update the consumer and let them help the word.  In order to get the maximum reach, the post content is the most important thing. On Facebook, here are four ways to present your content i.e. Videos, pictures, link and the text. As per the study of Socialbaskers, video is the most engaging content followed by the text, links and pictures. Before posting, do invest your time to analyze your audience and its behavior towards your business. Another thing to keep in mind is that post the data that would have the interest of public. The post should be catchy and should grab attention of your audience from first three to four words of the post. Online users have less attention span, so it is wise to maintain the content of post succinct and useful to the user.

It is also advisable to respond on the post. It is not fair on your brand image if you are not responding on your posts if there is anything asked by the user.  You need to be frequent in terms of reply if any conversation is started under your brand page

Pinned Posts

A pinned post shows always at the top of your business page and would not come down even if you post any new content.  And thus it helps your potential followers to like your page. If you want to share some information regarding any campaign or activity, you can pin it and let the users know about it.

Space out Your Post

Facebook posts should be done at regular intervals. Post has the chances to make it to the top when your target audience is the most active. Some research is to be done to know the behavior of your target audience.  In general, the research concludes that the most appropriate time to post on Facebook is Thursday or Friday in afternoon 1 to 3 PM. Make a plan for your Facebook posts and create a road map for covering number of topics. For e.g. if you are in the fashion industry, you need to post updates about the fashion vogue and all. Make a content calendar and assign what to post on different days of the week.

Hashtags on Facebook

Hashtags is not the sure shot formula to get the maximum number of views. Because on Facebook, post without hashtags perform better than the posts with hashtags. So you need to consider the use of hashtag to do the branding on Facebook. Some brands do use Hashtags because they are synonyms with the brand.

5 Social Media Marketing Trends

2016 turns out to be a wonderful year for all the social media marketing industry. Trends of social media marketing has changed a lot in this year. People from different age groups warmly welcomed the new technology to enter their world. Social media is now providing new shortcuts and easy steps in this era of technology, especially to the people who use it as a tool of marketing.

Here are few new social media marketing trends which people are using worldwide to create a better communication level with audience.

Click Bait

Very few of you is familiar to this term but a lot of people are not aware of what click bait is and how it works. Click bait is an expressing term which describes the web content, the aim of click bait is to generate online advertising resources, which mainly focused on the quality and authenticity of the content. In simple words click bait consists sensational headlines and eye catching pictures to attract clicks. Click bait headlines typically aim to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make the reader curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content.

Inter Platform Connect

Inter Platform Connect is a simple name which basically refers to social media websites and the main aim of social media website is to connect people with each other. It’s been quiet long that social media websites are gaining good hype. People wants to share, express and communicate with the help of social media website. Similarly, for social media marketing it works like a bridge which connects your brand with people and develop a relationship of trust.

Carousel Ads

People these days are so indulged with social media marketing also in this year we have observed a number of people who are getting influenced by the Carousel ads. Carousel ads are an ad format by which several product images are displayed and rotate within the banner. The consumer can have interaction with each product. It’s not a new feature on social media but in past one year people used it so frequently to grow their business and to gain followers.

Promotions

Let’s start with history, in the past we use to do the promotions by usually going out and telling each and every person about the product to create word of mouth among people. By doing promotions we raise the number of customers and make them aware about the brand, to generate sales and to create loyalty towards the brand. But social media marketing changed the entire concept of the promotions as the brands started doing promotions online and promoting the products in the social media groups. Social media marketing created a scenario in which the communication between the customer and brand develops online.

Stay Live

When it comes to social media marketing then one should always stay live and updated on the social media this is the new funda of google generation. Similarly few social media websites comes up with the concept of stories and live videos in which the people started updating about their life. It gives a positive start to the social media marketers, brands started putting live videos and stories of their products and new releases. This trend gave birth to a new way of marketing on social media websites.

5 ways to gain mileage through content

In the digital age that we live in, web content has evolved as one of the crucial part. One of the major marketing strategy approaches is creating and publishing appropriate, genuine and valuable content in order to attract audience, further deriving profit. Thus, various business owners opt for content writers who can enhance their online presence through attractive and significant content on their website and other online portals.

However, web content writing can become a very monotonous job especially for someone who is new. Given below are few tactics to enhance your content and increase visibility.

1.     

      Choose Your Platform:

At the very beginning, you need to understand your target audience. Your platform will decide the type of content that you need to frame. If you phrase your content for a specific group of audience, you cannot expect a huge number of readers or followers. You need to know that in this fast paced generation, people would not want to read content that does not interest them or benefit their business. Thus, there are certain norms that you must note – Is your content informative? Is it genuine and free from plagiarism? Do you need to address to casual or professional audience? Therefore, focus on what you intend and create your content accordingly.

2.      Share On Social Media:

If you are looking for genuine followers you need to share engaging and informative content through different social media channels. From Twitter to Google+, LinkedIn to Facebook and from blogs to public forums, a strong content attracts wide followers from across the globe. Inspire people who follow you and give them what interests them, this will further boost your visibility and let you hop into a wider social radar.

Similarly, if you are planning on posting your own blog, you need to draft content that is easily readable. Your content must be attractive enough to make your readers inclined in sharing it. Always remember to make your content sharable.

3.      Be Interactive & Discuss:

Only posting articles and sharing statuses is not enough to enhance your brand or business. A certain article might attain the highest number of readers but you cannot guarantee its consistency. You need to maintain a conversation by managing and replying to the comments on your posts. Interact with your followers, acknowledge their views and opinions and get the masses engaged.

As we all know that social media is a packed out place. Hence, in order to acquire attention you need to be exclusive, innovative, authentic and receptive. A healthy and dynamic discussion always attracts much attention than a standard post.

4.      Connect With Thought Leaders:

If you are planning on publishing an exclusive piece of article or blog, connecting with the thought leaders in your field might advance your reach. Request them to comment on your article. You might not receive everyone’s response, but one share through a thought leader is sure to get you attention. This way, you enter the radar of other reputed audiences. Moreover, if your approach is inconspicuous and indisputable, they might also share and spread your content amongst other renowned readers. This is one of the best ways to reach out for audience within your target group.

5.      Optimize With Keywords

Keyword is the key to increase visibility of your content in any search engines. Try using the right and required keywords on your article to be found easily through Google. Implement SEO to optimize your content. You need to remember that content marketing does not end with drafting the content. If you want to acquire the best profitable result for you or your business, through your content you need to increase its visibility through the right words. Therefore, understand your audience and draft your content accordingly with the perfect keywords.

To conclude, content writing is an art. Writing for the web maybe your forte, but you need to understand that SEO optimization needs some extra bit of fundamental understanding. Your visibility and reach depends on the quality of your content and SEO. So, make them interesting and let it grab attention!