Which Social Media Platforms Should Your Business Be Using In 2021?
It's no question that businesses need to be using social media to market themselves in today's highly digital world. However, what may be less clear is which platforms are best for each unique business. The best platforms for you will be determined by examining certain areas of your company and your customer. Are you wondering what social media platforms will be most effective for your company? If so, keep reading. In this guide, we'll go over some tips on how to pick the best social media platforms for your business as well as the main channels companies use to market their business.
Narrow Your Choices
There are tons of social media platforms out there, but to narrow down your options you should consider the most popular options. When using social media platforms for business, you want to focus on the most widely used platforms that will allow you the most exposure. The social networks that have the most active monthly users are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
However, it may be unrealistic, and unproductive, to use all of these platforms. To chose which ones you will use, you should determine what your social media marketing goals are. This will help you figure out which platforms you will use as well as what kind of content will relate best to your customer.
You should consider what audience you are aiming to target to use the channels that they are active on. A great way to figure out where your target audience is hanging out online is to conduct a survey. Additionally, different kinds of content work better on certain platforms.
Think about the kind of content you usually create and figure out what channels work best with this content type. The kind of content you should be using to promote your business will depend on the industry you're in, your brand, and your target audience. The best content for you may be blog posts and articles, or it could be video and images.
Figuring out where your target audience is already exploring online as well as what content types work best for your brand will help you select the best social media channels for your company.
Comparing the Top Social Media Platforms
Once you've done the work above, you can go through and compare the top social media platforms to find the best one for your needs. To help you decide, we've broken down a few of the top platforms and what kind of content types work best on certain channels. Figure out what channels businesses like yours use to find a platform that is popular among your industry and audiences by looking at these very different channel options.
Facebook is the most popular social media channel and is a great tool for lead generation. With a wide audience and advanced targeting tools, you can use Facebook to customize your advertising campaigns to reach your target audience. Facebook is, at its core, a place to be social.
For this reason, it's also a great place to build connections with your audience. You can do so by humanizing your brand and sharing content that will gain loyal followers that you can turn into customers. Additionally, this channel allows for many different content types.
While this platform is incredibly popular, it also means that it's incredibly crowded. For this reason, you want to make sure your content stands out from the rest to catch the eyes of users. Instagram is similar to Facebook but is more image and video-based.
If your business is about immediacy, Twitter is a great option for you. This is a great spot for reaching audiences with updates, breaking news, announcements, and other important information. Most Twitter users are under the age of 50.
The best type of content for this platform is concise textual content that is easy to digest. You can also link articles, blogs, and listicles to this platform that others can click into to read on further. If you have a blog section of your site, you can post them on Twitter to generate leads to your website.
While images perform well on this platform, it is one in which text reigns supreme.
LinkedIn is a great platform for certain industries and is the best option for B2B businesses. This is a great option for those with the goal of generating quality leads. If your company often creates, uses, or shares editorial content, LinkedIn is a great option for you.
Many use this channel to establish themselves in their industry. By establishing your company as a thought leader in your industry, you can build great brand authority. Building this kind of authority works to boost the trust and loyalty that followers have towards your company and your product.
This is also a great platform for engagement, as you can easily converse with others on certain topics. This is a site used by professionals, and users tend to be between 30-49 years of age.
Determine the Best Social Media Platforms for Your Company Today
When it comes to determining the best social media platforms for your business, you will want to keep your audience, industry, and content types in mind. Before creating a social media marketing plan, make sure you've done the work to find the best platform options for your company.
Are you looking for professional assistance with your marketing strategy? Contact us today to get started.
The Do's and Don'ts of Advertising on Social Media
There was a time long ago when social media was strictly used for catching up on the latest gossip, sharing memes, and finding new friendships. Since its humble beginnings, social media has risen to universal heights and is now an essential part of every savvy business plan. Advertising on social media is an essential tool in every business' arsenal, but it requires a fair bit of sharpening as well. Even though social media is becoming an integral part of running a business, it is all too common to see them fail to use it time and time again.
So how do you avoid the fate of the internet collectively canceling your business? Well, here are a few do's and don'ts to help your next social campaign get off to a great start.
The Do's of Advertising on Social Media
First, we'll discuss the best and most efficient practices in social media marketing. These are the tips that you should follow closely for a successful foray into social media.
Post Regularly
This first tip may seem painfully obvious, but when you're running a business you may have a lot on your plate. It's important to make sure that your social media presence has no lag in content. The attention span of the average person has declined to an all-time low of only 8 seconds. With such a short attention span, it's essential not to lose the spotlight. Posting between 3 and 5 times a week is a good starting point.
Keep Those Captions Varied
The only thing worse than not posting for your business is posting the exact same thing over and over. Switching up the length of your posts looks more organic and is much less annoying for your followers or customers. Researching the specific social platforms you are utilizing is also a great practice in this regard. Some platforms require captions that are short and sweet while others may receive more long-winded posts better.
Interact With Your Followers
What is the point of social media if you aren't being social? Being connected with your social media followers will show potential customers that you truly care about your business's reputation. This means answering messages quickly and respectfully, interacting in the comments, and being active on your followers' posts as well. Remember that promoting your business doesn't end with hitting the send button on a post.
Write the Posts Yourself (Or Hire Someone That Can)
Social media users will sniff out lies and insincerity from a mile away. It's important to make sure that your posts are genuine. Most of the time this means having your hand in the social media advertising because you will know how to best connect with your followers or customers. In the event that you don't know how to do this effectively, make sure you hire an ad agency that can work with you closely and ensure success.
The Don'ts of Advertising on Social Media
Understanding how to advertise on social media can help keep your business in a positive light and will prevent its name from being dragged through virtual mud. Here are the biggest no-no's of social media that should be avoided at all costs.
Writing Like a Robot
Don't write like a robot. That writing is boring. No one will read it. Do you see how annoying that was? Personality is everything and posting on social media requires a certain amount of finesse Tone can be tricky, especially if you are writing in a strictly professional manner for your business. Make sure to all social media advertising in a more conversational manner to encourage discussion.
Abusing Hashtags Is #Wack
Alright, hashtags are useful tools for most social media platforms. With that being said, no one wants to read a post with 20 or even 50 hashtags hanging off the end. Using commonly searched hashtags is a great way to boost visibility on a post, but making your own hashtag is pointless. This requires a bit of research as each industry will have different effective hashtags. However, even using a whole bunch of effective hashtags will make your posts look like spam. You will most certainly lose a lot more viewers than the hashtags will bring.
Rushing and Misspelling Can Spell Death
While social media can be a great benefit to any business, one wrong move can sometimes land you in some hot water. There are plenty of cautionary tales of businesses posting something offensive or incorrect and this can seriously impact your brand's reputation. Being sure that you aren't touching on a sensitive topic shows good social awareness. Spelling is also an extremely important aspect of posting on social media. Making sure to use proper grammar and spelling exudes an air of professionalism and grace that attracts followers to your content.
Using Every Social Platform Is Too Much Work
While there are many platforms to utilize, you will find that promoting your business on every one of them is a whole bunch of work. Most of the time, the nature of your business will determine which platform will be best for you. For example, an engineering firm will probably see no need for a Pinterest account. It is a million times more effective for a business to use the platforms that make the most sense. Choosing social media platforms that aren't the right fit will most likely hurt productivity.
Grow Your Business the Right Way
For many business owners, the step into social media can cause anxiety. Knowing the do's and don'ts of advertising on social media will help you grow your business to new heights and instill some much-needed confidence.
Are you looking for some help with social media advertising from us here at EraserFarm? Drop us a line and we'll set up a time to chat!
Beginner's Guide to Integrated Marketing Campaigns
Integrated marketing campaigns make sure your brand is communicated consistently to your target customer. You want to ensure that your brand is telling a story to your customer across different social media channels and different devices. This story needs to be consistent to avoid confusion but also symbolize what your brand can do for your target market. This is why integrated marketing can help you reach new potential customers. It can help your brand hit all points for a seamless experience. If you're unsure of how integrated marketing campaigns can help your business, this guide is perfect for you. This article is the beginner's guide to integrated marketing campaigns.
What Integrated Marketing Can Do for Your Business
Before jumping into what integrated marketing can do for your business, it's important to understand the basics. Integrated marketing, at its most basic, is about making sure the brand is hitting every point in the campaign. It should be a seamless experience for the consumer. It's integrating all of your channels, and making sure they are staying on brand, communicating the same message to your core audience. Your team should be collaborating to make sure that everything is consistent. When you have a unified approach, it can create an effective integrated marketing campaign that results in more leads and more sales. Now you have a basic understanding of what integrated marketing is, it's important to see how it benefits every facet of your business.
Understand Your Target Audience
Your target audience is who your integrated marketing campaign is for. You need to know how you are going to help them and what their problems are if you want to create an effective marketing campaign. Your target market's problems are what will guide your campaign. Everything should revolve around your target market, especially how you are reaching them and what kind of content you are putting in front of them. Integrated marketing is about making sure your content is visible across all channels, which means it should be hitting every kind of customer. It should make them feel connected with your brand. This is why it's important to evaluate and define your target market before you create an integrated marketing campaign. You need to know how you can help them.
Elevate Your Brand
Integrated marketing also elevates your brand. It makes it more visible and consistent when it's seen on different social channels. When every campaign is consistent with what you advertise and post on channels, it makes people understand what your brand can do for them. It makes your brand memorable. It elevates your brand above your competitors because you are showing how your brand is everywhere. You are sending out the same message and sending it out everywhere. When you have a consistent branded message, it gives your business more authenticity. It also creates trust with your target market.
Your Team Benefits
You will also find that integrated marketing benefits your employees, your team. It helps them avoid confusion because you have a unified approach. In addition, your team knows what it needs to accomplish. They know what the overall goal and message of your brand are and how they can send that message out to the core audience.
Improve Your Revenue
When you have a unified vision with your team members and your brand is consistent, it can help increase your revenue. Your target market will trust your business more because it's more visible. This will result in more website traffic, more leads, and more conversion. Being present everywhere also means that you have a higher chance of converting more visitors, which can also help you increase your revenue.
What You Need to Consider
While it's great to look at the benefits of integrated marketing campaigns, you also need to consider some of the strategies involved in this approach.
Here's a look at some things you need to consider with integrated marketing.
Your Content
Your content needs to be consistent across all platforms. When you have a consistent message, it helps avoid confusion. This means your blog content needs to be the same as your social media content. Your advertisements also need to have the same vision.This also means making sure you are using every outlet to communicate your content. You are using video, plain content, webinars, and more.
Being Consistent
Whatever story you decide to tell your target market, you want to make sure it's consistent. You want to tell that same story across multiple channels. The story should be about how you are helping your target market overcome a problem. This is why it's a good idea to communicate your message as consistently as possible so your target market who hang out on different platforms understand what you can do for them. It also gives more consumers an opportunity to sign up for your offers and become leads.
Now You Know Everything About Integrated Marketing Campaigns
Integrated marketing campaigns are a great way to make your business more visible to make your brand more exposed to your target market. But in order to get to that point, you need to make sure that you know everything about your target market. You need to know how to communicate your brand consistently. This requires figuring out what channels are going to benefit your brand the most. You need to assess what your budget will be when you create integrated marketing campaigns.
If you want help with your marketing campaign, you can contact us here.
This Is the Difference Between Marketing and Advertising
Marketing and advertising seem to go together in people's minds as much as peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookies. But if you are an SME looking to invest in promoting yourself, you would be doing yourself a great disservice if you were unable to identify the key differences between the two. In fact, not isolating and using these vital areas correctly could mean slow sales and the lack of that all-important customer interaction to generate future business.
Let us break down for you the clear difference between marketing and advertising and explain how you can utilize both to ensure success in your business.
What Is Marketing?
Although it may seem rather vague the roots of marketing are in fact very simple. Marketing's main focus is making sure that the product or service develops a link to the customer. Many things can make this happen, meaning advertising is one of the many tools to be found under the broad umbrella of marketing. Other branches of marketing would include things such as product and brand design, market research, and data mining.
The goal? Starting a conversation with the customer and leaving the door open for future business. You should be present in your target audience's mind when they need you. It is clear to see then that marketing involves playing the long game and not leaving anything to chance. This is understandable as the time it takes for someone to get familiar with what a brand represents and then know where to turn to when they have that need takes time. But when an effective marketing strategy is put in place, when people do turn to you it normally is for the long haul. In order to achieve this the fundamentals of marketing are always utilized. These are known as the 4 P's: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.
Knowing where and how to strike your blows by targeting your core audience, presenting them with a product or service that you know they will be interested in, at a price that you know they will be happy to spend, makes up all the key elements of a robust marketing plan.
What Is Advertising?
Advertising has one simple purpose, to raise awareness about your brand, product, or service. It makes up that crucial final P out of the 4 pillars of marketing, promotion, making it a single strategy.
This may be done in a variety of ways however one common factor would be that you need to buy this visibility, be it through TV, radio, or on the internet via Pay Per Click (PPC) services such as Google or Facebook ads. Additionally, there is usually an advertising campaign that runs for an intense time period.
A good advert sparks curiosity and can be the hook needed to entice your customer. This aspect is vital and used to be the primary way of informing your clients of your service or product. But if you were to focus solely on advertising as a business, thinking that it is the main way you will get customers, you would be selling yourself short. How could this be illustrated?
The Key Difference Between Marketing and Advertising
Imagine you want to catch fish. If you were to go out and cast your net every day, you may be successful. Some days you would catch more and other days you would catch less. But importantly you were out there doing the work. This is like advertising. However, what if you make a plan to ensure that you fished at the optimum time. You checked your location to see where most of the fish were, and at times changed your approach by using bait to catch the fish, how much more successful would you be? No doubt you would agree that the second option would be more effective. This essentially is like having a marketing strategy. In marketing, you still advertise however it is a much more measured approach.
This is all the more important today as the average customer has changed drastically. Due to the advent of the internet experts estimate that we see upwards of 5000 adverts a day. So making your business stand out among the white noise of modern-day advertising requires a lot more effort on your part. As the marketing guru, Seth Godin says "In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible." Marketing is also measurable, with you being able to use the information from your interaction with people to your advantage either by adapting your advertising strategy or even your product.
The film industry does this regularly with test screenings. Pretty Woman, Titanic, and Sunset Boulevard are all famous examples of movies that used their marketing strategy to change their final product and with successful results.
Key Factors in Marketing Strategies
So what methods and practices would be best for your business? Well, good marketing adds value to the customer but great marketing also means you start to optimize your leads. This is again one main difference between marketing and advertising. Marketing and not advertising alone drives business. A great example would be something like online content creation.
If you are consistent in providing good content on a platform like Instagram or Facebook then you will start to have interactions with potential customers. But not just any customers. These are people that you know are actually interested in your business. This is a great choice for SMEs because it can be relatively cheap to do however can yield a core customer base. Each business is different however, therefore taking the time to understand your customer base will determine the best route for you and your business.
Making Them Work for You
If we were to give you one piece of advice about the use of marketing and advertising it would be this. Use both of them! The difference between marketing and advertising is that one is developing your business and the other is purely presenting it. Remember, advertising without marketing your business would be like getting in a car and hoping that you have enough gas to get you to where you want to go. By doing both you can have peace of mind that you will be able to reach your final destination.
To guarantee that your business will reach the heights that you want it to, you can rely on EraserFarm to give you all the advice you need to map out a successful marketing strategy or advertising campaign.
Contact us and we'd be more than happy to help!
7 Reasons to Hire a Marketing Agency in Florida
The average US business spends about 11 percent of its total budget on marketing. That's a lot of money, but when done right, efficient marketing can significantly boost your visibility in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
As a small business, marketing costs can become overwhelming, especially if you have an in-house marketing team. Thankfully, there are marketing agencies that can help ease the burden of marketing. Partnering with the right marketing agency in Florida can help keep you streets ahead of the competition.
The demand for outsourced marketing services has skyrocketed over the years, thanks to the convenience and reliability marketing agencies afford companies. But exactly what benefits should you expect by choosing a marketing agency over an in-house marketing team?
In this post we'll discuss what you stand to gain by working with a Florida marketing agency and how to choose a reliable one.
1. It’s More Affordable
The total cost of recruiting, training, and maintaining an in-house marketing team can be expensive. Few SMEs can comfortably afford it.
Hiring a full-time marketing manager, graphic designer, content marketing expert, web designer, and social media manager can set you back hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. When you outsource marketing services, you pay only a fraction of what you’d pay an in-house marketing team. Even better, you get to forget about employee health care benefits, paid vacations, and so on.
2. You Benefit From Unparalleled Experience
Top marketing firms usually have a team of experts who are highly experienced in different marketing approaches, including video marketing and social media marketing.
A reliable marketing agency brings a wealth of specific knowledge on a variety of issues. They know how to address a diverse range of challenges and scenarios that you’ve probably never faced before. With such a team on your side, you are guaranteed immediate results for your marketing efforts.
3. You Get Access to Cutting Technology and Marketing Tools
Investing in the latest marketing infrastructure and tools can a highly cost affair for a small business. Training your marketing team on how to use these tools also adds to the costs.
The best marketing agencies continually invest in the latest technology and software to enhance efficiency, performance, and productivity. When you hire such an agency, you get to benefit from this technology without having to purchase it yourself. You gain access to premium-level software, services, and analytical data reports minus the charges.
4. You Maintain Staff Efficiency
Many small companies try to bypass the costs of hiring an in-house marketing team by giving marketing tasks to their existing staff. The problem with doing so is that you overburden your employees. With all that burnout, efficiency goes down, and productivity will inevitably suffer in the long run.
Besides, when you involve so many people in your marketing efforts, your entire marketing campaign likes consistency.
Hiring a competent digital marketing professional can help you optimize your marketing strategy while allowing your staff to focus on what you hired them for.
5. Scaling up Your Marketing Strategy Is Easy
As your business grows, you may need to scale up your marketing efforts. With an in-house marketing team, the only to increase output is to employ more employees, which is both costly and time-consuming.
Marketing agencies typically have readily available workers who they can deploy at a moment's notice in case you need a bigger and bolder internet marketing strategy.
In addition, these agencies already have the skills and experience required to help companies scale faster. For instance, if there’s a need to start using social media ads, you won’t need to train someone on how to do it. The digital marketing agency you hire will already have the resources to get it done.
6. You Get an Outside Perspective
When you work with an in-house marketing team for years, you tend to have tunnel vision. You hardly get new marketing ideas, which can slow down your growth. Sometimes, your employees may hesitate to express concerns over your stale, inefficient marketing efforts for fear of their jobs.
Forward-thinking companies, however, are always open to new perspectives. A top marketing agency can inject the fresh inspiration you need to turn your marketing campaign around. These marketing professionals are skilled in looking at your company from the consumer’s perspective and can help you implement what works.
7. You Get to Enjoy Built-in Incentives by the Agency
Every reputable marketing agency knows that delivering great results boosts their resume. Each new client they work with is a potential reference.
You can thus rest assured that when you partner with a marketing agency, you have someone who’s deeply invested in your success. The more fruitful your marketing efforts are, the better your marketing partner’s future opportunities are.
How to Choose the Best Marketing Agency in Florida
Now that you’ve seen the benefits of hiring a marketing agency, chances are you’d like to hire one soon. Here are a few tips to make sure that you get the right agency for your business.
Consider Location
Choosing a marketing agency based in your area is generally the best move. Chances are you’ll need to hold in-person meetings with your marketing services provider, and the last thing you want is to drive four hours to another city to do so.
Hire Experience and Expertise
How long has your potential marketing agency been on the field? Do they have experience marketing the product or service you offer? What is their success track record?
The answers to the questions above can help you choose an agency that best suits your marketing needs.
Consider Their Prices
One of the reasons you’re hiring a marketing agency is to make marketing more affordable for your company. While you don’t want to go for the cheapest marketing services in all of Florida, you also want to avoid agencies that charge extortionate rates. Find an agency that fits within your budget.
Choose the Right Marketing Agency in Florida
Your marketing efforts can make or break your business. One way to build and sustain an affordable, robust marketing strategy is to work with a reputable marketing agency in Florida.
Are you interested in reliable digital marketing services? Please contact us today.
7 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Marketing Agency in Tampa
Here's the deal: the demand for marketing agencies has risen by a whopping 5% over the last couple of years alone. So, if you're wondering how to get the best references and reviews, it's time to get in touch with an advertising agency near you as soon as possible.
Want to know why your regular blog posts aren't drumming up much business?
If you run a business in Tampa, FL, and need help with marketing, a professional team can help. Here are the top seven factors to consider when choosing a marketing agency!
1. Location, Location, Location
When it comes to choosing the best marketing agency in the biz, it's all about location, location, location. What we mean by that is that you want to choose an advertising agency that's nearby, particularly if you live in the Tampa Bay area.
That's because adding travel costs to an already priced to build can be enough to put you over the edge. Plus, holding in-person meetings will be much more convenient for you. As a result, taking the closest marketing agencies can lead to lower stress and higher productivity levels.
2. Compatibility Is Key
Believe it or not, compatibility is key when it's time to finalize your partnership with a new marketing agency. Some things to consider are whether or not their objectives or mission match up to yours. If you don't hold similar values, you and your business might not be the right clients for them.
Also, think about whether you and your new advertising agency have any similarities. Although it might be hard to tell when you first meet, putting your brand first will help you figure out if it is a good fit in the end.
3. Basic Background Checks
If you haven't conducted a basic background check on your potential marketing company yet, you're already making a big mistake. This classic rule of thumb should be followed every single time you decide to work with a new business partner.
This is great for analyzing everything from the advertising agency's:
- Personnel count
- Financial position
- Managerial stance
Not only that, but you can also get a better idea of the agency is a part-time or full-service one. Of course, if you want to hire a part-time advertising agency, conducting a background check is even more necessary.
4. Classy Clientele Lists
The fastest way to get to know a marketing company is to look at its clientele. This can easily show you the level that the potential organization is functioning. Needless to say, those with impressive clientele lists are often the most reliable.
The higher-end your business is, the more like that you will choose an ad agency that is very well-known and popular. Finding one with a similar customer base to your company is another great life hack as well.
5. Big Projects at Budget Prices
Before you get into business together, you should think about both you and your partner's financial positions. That's because it's possible to hire a marketing company that you can afford. On the other hand, you don't want to hire an advertising agency that's so expensive that you'll be at risk of going out of business either.
What should you do? The answer is simple: do your best to find one that fits within your company's financial budget. In addition to this, the advertising partner you choose should have a solid position financially as well.
While you're at it, you might as well view the payment processing procedure for your marketing agency too. Once you understand what their requirements are, you'll be able to meet them without a hitch.
6. Credibility in the Tampa Community
Another thing to look out for is that the advertising agency of your choice has high credibility within the Tampa community. As we talked about above, the customer of the organization is a big factor that shows how authentic they are. Therefore, the image, integrity, and authenticity of the business should be considered thoroughly.
This can easily be done by looking up their past business records. Also, you should be able to access the companies information history via their website too. Problem solved!
7. Excellent Experience and Expertise
Last but not least, it's time to talk about how vital excellent experience and expertise are in business relationships. In case you didn't know, some agencies choose to focus on a specific aspect of marketing that may not line up with your company's vision.
In that case, it pays to hire a business that is somewhat similar to how you advertise your brand. But that's not all.
Consider the years of experience that your future business partner has in the industry as well. Trust us - this will save you both a ton of time and money in the long run.
Curious About Choosing a Marketing Agency?
Still curious about choosing a marketing agency you can trust?
If you're nodding your head yes, we are here to help you out.
When it comes to creating a solid digital marketing strategy, we are practically experts. From location to background checks, we've got everything you need to choose the most amazing advertising agency for you.
Feeling stumped on how to find the perfect marketing agency in Tampa?
If that is the case, we've got you covered. Not only do we understand advertising, but we know how to complement your brand voice too. As if that's not enough, we also have the experience and the expertise you need to succeed.
Want to learn more about different types of advertising? Contact us to find out how to target an audience today!
Small Searches For Innovative Uses Of Media In Places Big Can't.
You’ll all be happy to hear this will be a shorter blog than most. But, in my opinion, a valuable and important one, nonetheless. The use of media to your advantage creatively. Oh sure, I could make this longer by using really prodigious words to pontificate and expatiate my point but that would be a rather diaphanous display of elaborateness, don’t you think? I’ll stick with what I’m good at. Small stuff. Like words.
So, onto my topic. When I say finding innovative uses of media that big can’t, I am not implying that bigger shops can’t. They certainly do it and do it exceptionally. What I am saying is Small can get into the nitty gritty for clients trying to squeeze every last drop out of their smaller advertising budgets. Big simply cannot operate in that space profitably. Small can operate in both.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Instead of standard posting, which is all well and good, why not play with the space you’re in. There are so many things you can do visually and breaking the Facebook or Instagram wall is one of them or using the Pinterest environment to surprise and delight your customers, like this Bonefish Grill ad we created that looked like 2 ads in one.
A traditional medium, yes. But not an excuse to not look for new ways to optimize your messaging beyond the, well, traditional ad. Try playing with page numbers of the magazine or running a classified like we did for Intrepid for roughly $200 that garnered a flood of calls into the sales team leading to several boat sales. Or how we created an insert on a cocktail napkin? Or how about instead of a full-page ad, is there an idea in dispersing your messaging in small spaces around a single publication? Thinking this way could get more bang for you messaging buck.
TV
We’ve taken existing footage of food porn that everyone does and simply tweaked the audio to be highly unexpected based on an idea that grabbed attention immediately. It’s as simple as that. FedEx did a wonderful Super Bowl spot years ago using just the color bars saying they used another service to ship their commercial and it never arrived at the TV station.
DIGITAL
Lots of opportunity here. And lots of great work being done here all around. I am particularly fond of a standard display ad created by Pringles that just grabs you and keeps you clicking. Small price. Big reward. Even little ol’ us created some more engaging standard-sized banners to help save the African Elephant. Or turning your mouse into a magnifying glass to find the reclusive North American Gray Wolf.
DIRECT MAIL
Boring? Why does it have to be? We do quite a lot of direct mail for our client KFB Law and we always try to make the piece interactive and fun and now even link to an online landing page to further the experience on their website.
Well I believe I need to stop because it seems this turned out to be a long blog after all. So, to all out there, please allow me to extenuate my sincerest reparations in audible form. Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
If you’d like to see how we can do this kind of work for you, let’s grab some coffee, say hello and discuss a project we can work on together. Email my partner Cindy at cindy@eraserfarm.com and let’s get to it.
8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Avoid for Small Businesses
Businesses, both big and small, need to have a social media presence. Most companies know that social media can play a crucial role in generating leads and building brand awareness.
However, many startups and small businesses struggle to grow consistently on social media. Often, this isn’t due to lack of effort but the common social media marketing mistakes they make.
Whether it’s missing the point of social networks or oversaturating your content, small business marketers sometimes miss the mark. Before starting to advertise your business, it’s best to learn these 8 social media mistakes you’ll want to avoid when marketing your small company to customers.
1. Creating Many Social Media Accounts
Signing up for too many social media platforms─ especially when starting out─ can be a recipe for disaster. For small businesses, it’s more effective and much easier to master just a few platforms before branching out to more.
If you rush to create a presence on every social media platform out there and start publishing incoherently on all of them, you get confused. Then, you may consider abandoning some of your platforms, making things worse. This kind of behavior does nothing but boost your mistrust level with your audience, which is never good for business.
2. Not Having a Social Media Marketing Strategy
In Benjamin Franklin’s words, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” Businesses without a social media marketing plan often find it hard to provide useful content to their audiences.
Without a clear social media strategy, you’ll find it challenging to know what to post, when to post, and what your audience likes and wants. Communication with customers might start to feel disjointed and confusing. A good social media strategy includes providing useful and engaging content that inspires action.
3. Deleting Negative Comments
Do your business a favor and be transparent. One of the common social media marketing mistakes small businesses make is deleting negative feedback. You need to show your audiences that you’ve got nothing to hide to build trust in your company
It’s best not to delete any negative comments and instead respond appropriately and as soon as possible. Negative feedback online provides an opportunity for you to engage with the user who left the comment and turn everything positive. Be respectful to whoever makes a comment and address the issue head-on.
4. Failing to Create Brand Consistency
What’s so unique about your brand? Let it shine through all your content. If you care about building a powerful brand that lasts, you need to focus on the consistency of your brand.
Don’t confuse consistency with monotony—if you're going to repurpose your content make sure you do it appropriately.
You should switch up your content, test different formats, and maintain variety. All the while, your content should remain consistent with your tone of voice, brand mission, and general look and feel. Being consistent also includes keeping your promises.
5. Buying Followers
While all social media networks don’t allow users to buy followers, the urge to buy followers might become more if you don’t have the numbers. Although several thousand followers can be purchased for a few dollars, you don’t want to go that route. Instagram and Facebook algorithms hate this activity.
In the past few years, there were so many fake profiles selling followers that even official ads attracted fake likes. Due to this, platforms like Facebook was forced to deactivate more than 2 billion fake accounts. Also, remember your ultimate goal is getting conversions, not building a subscriber count.
6. Promoting Yourself Too Much
Social media is typically about socializing and communicating. Not many people like promotional content ─ most people hate being sold to. If you decide to spend most of your time promoting yourself, you could lose social media followers.
Since your business needs to sell, use promotion subtly. While it’s okay to post promotional material now and then, the more engaging your posts are, the more sales you’ll attract. Don’t forget to set aside some of your time to interact with other people’s content, add value, and not just push yours down every follower’s throat.
7. Not Connecting and Networking
If you have many random followers who have little to contribute and don’t embody your ideal audience you will not yield the expected results. You want to draw in and engage potential customers, professionals, and peers with similar views and interests. These are the kind of people who will likely contribute to the success of your marketing efforts.
Make sure that your interactions are meaningful. That’s the true meaning of networking ─ adding value to relationships. Always find time to engage in discussions and send personalized messages.
By doing this, more people will likely pay attention to the things you say.
8. Following Every Trend
It’s not that you shouldn’t publish a buzzworthy post, but there’s a specific time and place to be trendy. If you’re a tech company, for example, posting about the latest baking style and over-capitalizing on movements to appear “youthful” can confuse your audience.
Jumping on social media trends and posting irrelevant content is perceived as a gimmick. It plants you in a sea of other people who jump on the bandwagon. By blindly doing what every other business out there is doing, you’re devaluing your unique voice and pushing away prospects who followed you for your individuality.
Trends are still useful in social media. But first, know what everyone is talking about and decide whether or not it’s relevant for your small business. If the trend seems to benefit your business, use thoughtful ways to join the conversation.
Be Sure to Avoid These Social Media Marketing Mistakes
Because billions of people use social media each day, social media marketing remains one of the best ways to expose your company to a large audience. However, only a few small businesses do well when it comes to using social media in the right way.
As you can tell from the list above, all of these social media marketing mistakes can be avoided. All it takes is understanding your mistakes so you can handle them.
For assistance with mapping out an effective social media strategy for your brand, feel free to contact us today.
Small Is The New Big
If any of us remember Jerry Maguire’s late night, pizza-induced rant that he insisted was just a mission statement, well, this really isn’t that at all. It’s just the musings (hopefully not too rambling) of a creative director and writer who’s worked in the industry for too many years to remember. I’ve learned a lot, some the hard way, but I’ve also been blessed with working with many great folks and large agencies around the country.
After all of that I decided to start my own little agency. Six years in, I’ve realized why being smaller is something I love, and I believe is too often overlooked by many clients - simply because of appearances. Think about that for a second. As technology marches on, things have gotten better because they’ve gotten smaller. Computers. Devices we listen to music on. Cars. Planes. Things are becoming more efficient and faster and more responsive simply by going small. So, with that, if you’ll permit me, here’s why I think now more than ever, small is better than big for today’s advertising agency and their clients.
SMALL IS NIMBLE AND SHAPES TO THE JOB AT THE DROP OF A HAT
Small runs lean and mean. Here at EraserFarm, we are a small, experienced core group who, over many years, have developed long-standing, trusting relationships with many top-level strategists, creatives and experts. When a specific project calls for it, we are able to create a very specific, targeted and relevant group to work on that project - rather than having the same people work on every job they may not necessarily be as qualified for or experienced in. It also removes the heavy overhead clients are forced to pay to compensate for employees on staff. Conversely, small is able to scale up or down accordingly per assignment. That flexibility also allows us to change the business model when your competition changes theirs. And in the end, all of this helps small get into the tight little spaces that big can’t. And, come out with emotionally charged ideas that connect with people on a very human level. And that can turn your customers into salespeople as powerful advocates for your brand.
SMALL THINKS BIG WITHOUT BLOATING AD BUDGETS
A big idea that can survive the test of time doesn’t need to come with a big price tag. We’ve worked on TV assignments for global companies like Pacific Life and social content that’s distributed around the world for Outback Steakhouse. We’ve created work for national health organizations and restaurant chains like Arby’s and Bonefish Grill, gotten in the trenches with startups and local clients and partnered with our clients’ in-house creative departments too. We just don’t care about process or the way it used to be done. We are here to do the best work we can for clients in any shape or form that may take. It simply doesn’t matter what the size of the agency is. It’s the size of the thinking that the agency puts into each project without ever taking one for granted, regardless of what it is.
SMALL PUTS ONE FOOT ON THE NECK OF BUREAUCRACY AND KICKS AGENCY LAYERS OUT THE DOOR WITH THE OTHER.
One of the main reasons I wanted to start my own thing was being able to show our clients work I personally thought was worthy, without it being diced, sliced and minced up and left on the agency cutting room floor. Hey, if the client doesn’t like it, so be it. We have small egos and big, broad shoulders here. But at least we didn’t do them any disservice to not show them some thinking that could advance their brand message. That’s why we also think proactively on each client’s business and gather as an agency each week for creative thinktanks.
Know what else is great? Small means we can say whatever we want on our blogs like I am right now without repercussion. It means we answer our clients’ emails right away personally and answer our cell phone (which is on our business cards) any time of day or night. Trust me, I’m not kidding. And small works very closely with each client without putting B, C or D teams on it. Every job gets 100% from all of us because we all wear many hats here at EF.
If we define ourselves and our business in terms of how other agencies operate, we're living in an echo chamber. And, new ways of thinking will never surface to better serve today’s clients and the environment they exist in.
SMALL WORKS HARDER TO SURVIVE.
This is a no-brainer. We’re small, our rope is shorter and so you can bet your ass we will bust ours on every job to survive and keep chugging along. I’m convinced that when people become associated with an idea or company, the personal stakes get higher.
In the end, I truly believe an ad agency succeeds because they’re good. Not because they are big. You see, if you can look past just the size of an agency, you’ll discover a very valuable, powerful mindset like the one we adhere to every day at EraserFarm. And no matter how big we get, you can count on one thing: We will always keep rolling the way we started.
Small.
Let us prove it to you. Let’s grab some coffee, say hello and discuss a project we can work on together. Email my partner Cindy at cindy@eraserfarm.com and let’s get to it.