Posts from May 2024

Social Media & Digital Marketing May 2024 Roundup

Posted on 30th May 2024

We’ve come to the end of May, meaning it’s time for this months Social Media Roundup!

There has been a couple of new things that may be handy for you to make note of in the digital marketing world this month. Here’s everything you need to know…

New Ad Tools On TikTok

The TikTok World Event 2024 took place this month, and there were some new things announced regarding the TikTok Ads system.

First of all, they’re continuing to utilising AI to help creators with their advertising. This new suite is called ‘Symphony’, and is made for ad partners who will receive AI assistance with things such as writing scripts, producing videos, creating ideas, and more. TikTok began introducing all these features separately last year, but will be collecting them all into one place to make it easier for ad partners to access and use to their full potential.

They’re also bringing in a platform for marketing named TikTok One, which will act as a replacement for the current Creative Centre. TikTok One will make it easier to access TikTok’s built in marketing tools and new creation elements. As explained by TikTok: “Brands will be able to tap into this one-stop-shop to access TikTok creators, production partners, and insights, including TikTok Creator Marketplace and TikTok Creative Challenge. With TikTok One, advertisers will be able to access nearly 2 million creators, discover top agency partners and leverage our creative tools to implement and scale successful TikTok campaigns, all with a single log-in.” It will launch later in 2024.

They’re also improving AI and machine learning for Ad Targeting, and improving optimisation tools for those selling on TikTok Shop.

They’re also launching something called ‘Unified Lift’, putting all existing campaign measurement options into a single performance measurement – with TikTok saying “[Unified Lift will] empower advertisers to confidently maximize the results of their investments on TikTok. Unified Lift combines the power of Brand Lift Studies and Conversion Lift Studies to give businesses a comprehensive view of their total TikTok campaigns’ impact.”

Also announced were ad functions ‘Interactive Add-Ons for TopView’ and ‘Duet with Branded Mission’, both to help boost ad engagement and performance.

Chat Option To Close On Google Business Profiles

Google will shut down the chat and call history features on Google Business Profiles in July.

The tools were underutilised, but allowed users on Google Search, Maps and Shopping to get in touch with your business directly from listings by starting a chat from the display. The closure of this feature is being done as Google streamlines its business tools. Chat will be disabled in mid-July, with the feature shut down entirely at the end of July.

YouTube Rolls Out New Video Function

For those who use YouTube often, the platform will now be able to identify specific sections of videos where demonetisation or restrictions have been triggered so you can remove content that flags up on the system. They’ll also let you know if the problem lies with your thumbnail or title, as per YouTube “The way this will work is that when a creator uploads a video using our Self-Certification process on web uploads, and that video receives a yellow icon, they’ll have the option to appeal, and have one of our experts review the video. When that review is complete, the issues our expert found that led to a yellow icon (for either Limited or No Ads) will appear for the creator in Studio, alongside timestamps of where in the video they appeared.”

TikTok Management System Launched

Finally, we end this month on another TikTok update – they’ve launched a Management dashboard for Creators to use for analysis. It includes all of their analytics in one place, and is called TikTok Studio – another section that has been taken from the original Creative Centre. They said of the launch: “Whether you’re a seasoned creator, a newbie debuting your first video, or a small business balancing content creation while managing a business, TikTok Studio provides free, easy-to-use creation tools and centralized operational capabilities designed to efficiently streamline content workflow. Using their TikTok account to log in or sign up, creators can upload, film, edit, and post to TikTok directly from TikTok Studio and use tools like auto caption, photo editor, and autocut to polish their content with professional finesse.”

That’ all for May! Have a wonderful June and keep an eye out for more news in the digital marketing world next month.

Your social media tip for this month is: "I dont get many likes" 😢

"No one engages with my content"

All excuses people use to not post on social.

But you see likes, comments and shares can be vanity metrics.

Yes the more engagement you get the more reach you get, but there is also "lurkers". People who watch your content, value your content and consume it but they never engage.

To you it seems that no one is watching... but they are.

So, stop getting caught in the trap of craving social media engagement and instead concentrate on offering value, showing your expertise and knowledge and showcasing your ability as the best in your industry.

Dealing With Reviews On Social Media

Posted on 23rd May 2024

Reviews are a huge part of your social media presence. 49% of all consumers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from family and friends, with 91% of 18–34-year-olds feeling this way. These reviews have a huge influence on consumers, and being able to deal with them is an important part of ensuring you stay on top of your digital marketing performance.

Here’s how you can deal with reviews on social media…

Asking For Reviews

Don’t be hesitant to ask customers to leave a review on your website or social media page. If you want to prove your business can be trusted, then reviews are an integral part of your digital marketing efforts. In fact, 60% of consumers believe the number of reviews a business has is crucial when deciding whether to use its services – therefore, getting these from your audience is an important step to ensuring you’ve fully optimised your digital marketing strategy.

Dealing With Positive Reviews

If you’re receiving good feedback, then you need to acknowledge those people who have taken time out to leave a nice comment about their experiences. By doing this, you can easily boost your brand’s reputation, showing people you’re appreciative of their feedback and happy that you’ve been able to provide them with a good experience. By making a customer feel valued, you can also boost brand loyalty as you’ll begin to build a good relationship with them on a foundation of respect on both sides.

Dealing With Bad Reviews

Negative reviews are part of your online marketing journey – when a customer has a bad experience with your products or your business and they make it known, you must make sure you get things sorted straight away. It can be easy to find yourself getting annoyed by bad reviews especially when it comes to your business – after all this is something you’ve worked hard on, and when someone doesn’t feel positive towards what you’ve provided it can be quite upsetting. It can also put future customers off from purchasing, so clearing things up can help to manage your reputation.

In order to deal well with bad reviews, stay calm and professional – responding in an aggressive or negative manner will only raise the tensions more, which isn’t a good luck for your business. If you’ve heard the phrase ‘the customer is always right’, then you need to apply this to your business’ reviews on social media too. Be courteous, and offer help if needed. You should also consider taking the issue “offline” – this means out of the public eye, so you can have a conversation in a private chat about what went wrong and how you can rectify this if needed. This puts you back in control of the situation, and avoids discussions getting heated in front of the rest of your audience. By showing you can calmly deal with this situation, you’ll be able to keep your reputation at bay and show your audience that you’re genuinely committed to making their experience much better.

Dealing With Fake Reviews

You may not expect people to give you fake reviews, but they can be more common than you think. Fake reviews are exactly what they say – untrue and often negative comments left to damage your business. Some companies choose to manage fake reviews like they do with bad reviews or try to ignore them, but neither of these methods are the most effective ways to deal with this style of reviews. Instead, if the customer has a name, you can search your data base and find if this person has ever made a purchase from you. If they haven’t, and you can confirm their review is fake, leave a professional response stating that their comments aren’t real and mention how you know this. Clearly acknowledging that a review isn’t real will help you further with reputation management and assuring that your business isn’t being swamped by damaging comments from those who have never used your business before.

Reviews are a big part of building presence online and can help drive a customer’s purchasing decision. Get your customers to begin leaving reviews today and get a strategy in place that’ll help you manage your business online.

Facebook Vs LinkedIn: Which Is Best For Your Business?

Posted on 16th May 2024

Facebook and LinkedIn both have benefits for businesses looking to improve their online marketing efforts, but they both have features that may be more suited to how your business operates digitally.

Want to know which is best for your business? Here’s all your need to know about LinkedIn and Facebook Marketing…

User Base

Facebook is the bigger platform, with over 3 billion users compared to LinkedIn’s 875 million, but that doesn’t mean Facebook is the better platform. Whilst it has a bigger audience, both platforms were created for different reasons, with Facebook made for people to connect with friends and LinkedIn for professional connections. Knowing exactly who your target market is will help when it comes to selecting your platform for digital marketing, as you’ll be able to get a feel for which site they may populate the most.

Looking For B2B Marketing? Try LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, so if you’re looking to connect with like-minded business owners and use social-selling to get your business out there. Share thoughts with others in your industry, join groups that are relevant, and post content that’s valuable and insightful. LinkedIn was built for networking, so don’t worry about creating those valuable connections with people – they’ll likely be clued up on terminology and the ins and outs of your industry.

Facebook Is Best For B2C

If you would prefer B2C Marketing, you should take a look at Facebook. Facebook allows you to connect with your target customers and see what they think of your business. It also offers diverse targeting when it comes to paid ads, so you can reach out to the exact people who have an interest in your business and your products helping you build brand awareness, engage with customers directly and gather your insights through analytics.

LinkedIn Groups vs Facebook Groups

Both platforms offer groups, which are good ways to reach more people and build good relationships for your business.

LinkedIn Groups are a place for industry professionals to gather and discuss the goings-on in your sector. You can also share your own experiences, and the latest news from your industry. There are also people in these groups that may not be leaders, but professionals who could benefit from the advice you share. Take a look into some groups that interest you and see the style of posts and engagements they get before joining.

Facebook Groups also let you operate in a similar to LinkedIn, but you have to remember whilst you’re the professional, a lot of those in these groups won’t have heard the industry-lingo you know about so keep things a little more-simple. A lot of businesses create their own groups as an incentive to build brand loyalty and trust, offering those in there exclusive updates, discounts, Q&A sessions and more, and with over 400 million people in groups they find meaningful you can build a solid digital marketing foundation from Facebook just through your groups.

Facebook Ads vs. LinkedIn Ads

Facebook and LinkedIn both offer Ads, and whilst Facebook Ads are arguably the best out there on social media, LinkedIn Ads shouldn’t be discounted. LinkedIn Ads don’t have the same, low cost-per-click Facebook Ads do, but they are great - especially for Lead Generation adverts and reaching other Business owners. Facebook Ads are much more personalised, and have better targeting options that allow you to really narrow down you audience so you can be sure you’re reaching out exactly to the people who would be interested in your business and what you have to sell.

Facebook and LinkedIn are both great platforms to use when it comes to your marketing, but selecting the right one and building on it will help to grow your business on either platform and create a loyal base of followers and customers.

Why Your Business Should Be Using Social Listening

Posted on 10th May 2024

In the current digital landscape, social listening has become an easy yet under-utilised tool for businesses to use and pay attention to when it comes to their marketing online.

Understanding your customers allows you to stay ahead of trends, and can transform the way you create your strategies and market on social media. Growing your business is often one of your main priorities, and social listening can be a helping hand in doing just that.

Here’s why your business should be using social listening…

Make Your Customers Feel Heard

There are multiple ways to make your customers feel heard, whether that’s replying to their comments and messages, answering questions during live streams or even just acknowledging them with a like on one of their posts.

When your customers feel valued, their overall satisfaction will be enhanced as they’ll feel like their comments, reviews and questions have been acknowledged. It shows your business cares about the customer experience and lets you manage your reputation. Knowing how your customers think and feel about your business means you’re able to effectively address any concerns before the problem grows.

Research by Hubspot has found that 93% of customers are likely to make a repeat purchase with a business that offers them excellent customer service. Brand loyalty can be built by making customers fee heard – if they can see you’re actively taking on and applying their feedback to make positive changes for them and other customers, they’re more likely to become loyal to your brand and advocate for it.

Keep Track Of Growth

As your business grows, you may notice that you get fake reviews, more negative comments or find people are seeing genuine faults with someone you offer. This is where social listening comes in handy, as you can begin to address concerns that have been raised and change things to take things better. Positive management of your growth and your platforms will help you stay on top of all this. When it comes to fake reviews or angry comments, addressing them in a calm and professional manner and taking them out of the public space will let you directly solve any issues without drawing too much attention to it. Fake reviews should be investigated and cleared up as soon as possible, as not to affect your brand trust.

New Opportunities

If you’re running business and notice customers have complaints or suggestions, then you’ll be able to take this feedback on board and look to find ways to expand your business beyond what you’re offering, if budget enables. Say you run a course, and have an overwhelming number of applications but not enough spaces, you can use this interest to see how you could increase your business’ output and operations in the future.

Identify Pain Points

Looking at your products or services, do they solve your audience’s pain points? Social listening can be a huge help with this – looking at conversations your audience are having online will help you adapt your output in order to help solve their problems, and fill any gaps in your current marketing that could make the difference between success and failure. Use keywords to search for information and take a look at discussions that your audience are having to help you discover exactly what your business needs to be doing in order to get ahead of your competition and be the one people go to first.

5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Facebook Ads

Posted on 3rd May 2024

Facebook has over 3 billion users worldwide, and advertising on the platform can bring you a lot of sales and new audiences if done correctly. Facebook ads are one of the most popular forms of social media advertising, and can be a huge part of your digital marketing campaigns.

Here are 5 reasons why you should consider Facebook Ads…

Targeting

Targeting options on Facebook are some of the most advanced, with businesses being able to go for specific interests to narrow down audiences more than they already have by looking at things such as gender, age, location and job. Targeting is such a highly important of creating great ads due to its ability to make sure you’re reaching the exact people you want engaging with your business, giving you a better ROI.

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