Category "Social Media Marketing"

In a digital age where the success of small businesses often hinges on their online presence, social media platforms, specifically Facebook, have become invaluable tools. To expand the reach of your small business’s social media marketing campaign, you must optimize your Facebook audience. How can you leverage Facebook’s settings to reach your targeted audience more effectively? Take a look at a few key points below.

Why Facebook Is a Great Platform for Reaching Your Target Market

Facebook stands out as a robust social media platform that offers unique benefits for businesses. Some of the top examples include:

• Massive User Base: With billions of active users worldwide, Facebook provides a broad potential customer base to tap into.
• Demographic Diversity: Facebook’s diverse demographic range makes it easier to target and reach different customer profiles.
• Innovative Marketing Tools: Facebook’s comprehensive suite of ad tools and analytics enables businesses to fine-tune their marketing strategies for better results.

By harnessing these benefits, businesses can utilize Facebook as a powerful marketing tool to engage with their target audience and boost their online presence. 

Why Facebook Settings Are Important

Facebook settings offer a host of features that allow businesses to tailor their approach to reaching their desired audience. By properly leveraging these settings, you can optimize the reach of your posts to users who are most likely to be interested in your products or services. It enables a more efficient use of your marketing budget, focusing your spend on reaching people within your service areas rather than a scatter-gun approach that might reach users who, due to their location, could never convert into customers. How can you alter your Facebook settings to better target the right market? There are a few specific settings that you need to keep in mind. 

1. Narrow Down Your Target Audience

Your target audience is the specific group of people you want to reach with your marketing efforts because they’re the most likely to be interested in your products or services. To narrow down your target audience on Facebook, consider factors like age, gender, interests, and most importantly, location.

For instance, if you’re running a fitness center in a suburban area and want to attract more members, you might target an audience aged 20 to 50 years who are interested in fitness and health and located within a 10-mile radius of your center. By narrowing down your target audience in this way, you can make your marketing efforts more effective and efficient, increasing your engagement rates and ROI. Facebook settings allow you to target specific demographics to boost your overall conversion rate.

2. Make Sure Your Content Is Current

Another important strategy to optimize your Facebook audience is creating content that’s tailored to local interests and events. This is because local content has a higher chance of resonating with your target audience and thus attracting more engagement.

For example, you could create posts about local landmarks, upcoming local events, or relevant local news. If your business sponsors a local charity event, you could create posts about the event to build awareness and encourage participation. You could also create posts about local issues related to your industry, positioning your business as an engaged and invested member of the community.

3. Use Facebook Ads Manager

Facebook Ads Manager is a versatile tool that can greatly enhance your ability to reach your target audience. This tool allows you to refine your target audience based on specific locations, enabling you to target audiences in a particular city, state, or even country.

With the Ads Manager, you can, for example, target an ad to people living in Philadelphia, people recently in Philadelphia, or people traveling in Philadelphia. This level of precision can be particularly useful for businesses that rely heavily on local or regional customers, such as restaurants or retail shops. It also helps ensure that your marketing budget is spent on reaching the people most likely to become customers.

4. Leverage Facebook Local Awareness Ads

Local Awareness Ads are another effective tool offered by Facebook. They are designed specifically to reach more people near your business’s location, making them a valuable resource for local businesses.

For example, if you own a coffee shop, you can use Local Awareness Ads to reach Facebook users within a certain radius of your shop, enticing nearby potential customers with a timely and relevant ad when they’re likely to be thinking about their next coffee. This not only increases your visibility among potential customers in your vicinity but can also drive foot traffic to your store.

How To Know if Your Facebook Marketing Campaign is Working

The success of a Facebook marketing campaign is not always immediately apparent. However, Facebook provides a robust analytics platform that enables businesses to assess the effectiveness of their efforts meticulously. Some of the metrics you might want to track include your reach, engagement, conversion rates, and overall click-through rates. By keeping a keen eye on these metrics, businesses can understand what’s working, what isn’t, and how to refine their strategies for better results. How do you know if you are getting good results on these metrics? That is where we can help you.

Contact SEO Locale for Help With Your Social Media Marketing Campaign

At SEO Locale, we specialize in helping businesses optimize their social media marketing campaigns. Our comprehensive services are designed to increase your online visibility, drive traffic, and generate leads. With our effective social media marketing strategies and tactics, we can help you leverage platforms like Facebook to reach your target audience more effectively.

Moreover, we believe that your web design should seamlessly integrate with your social media tactics. That’s why we offer Philadelphia web design services that include the strategic placement of social icons.

Optimizing your Facebook audience is a critical aspect of social media marketing. It allows you to reach your target market effectively and generate valuable leads for your business. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Contact SEO Locale for professional social media management in Philadelphia and let us take your business to the next level.

Anything is possible within the realm of social media, making it one of the most powerful tools that can change society. For instance, a viral post could make or break your crypto exchange. A simple shill by a crypto influencer could bring new users to your exchange. And there’s more – from sponsored giveaways to influencer panels at corporate events, social media has become a crucial tool for marketing crypto exchanges. Let’s dive deeper into the role of social media in their marketing: 

Builds Awareness

More than half of the world has access to social media – a whopping 4.48 billion people. There’s no better way to market your cryptocurrency exchange than by marketing it through social media platforms. Your options are endless. You have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, among others. Creating a social media page for your exchange that showcases relevant content boosts your brand’s reputation. 

Opens Doors for Influencer Marketing

With the birth of social media, came the birth of influencers. Using influencers in your strategy is another way to market your crypto exchange. The secret to the success of influencer marketing lies in the message of the influencer. When added with a taste of their own branding, followers see authenticity. And seeing authenticity isn’t quite common on social media. 

Don’t confuse influencers with celebrity endorsements. While celebrities are also considered influencers, they gained their fame and following from traditional media channels like music, film, or sports. Influencers don’t necessarily have to be household names like Johnny Depp or Taylor Swift. In fact, you might be successful enough with your marketing strategy if you choose the right influencers in the crypto niche. You’ll find different kinds of influencers from trader gurus to NFT enthusiasts. And depending on the product or service you’re marketing, leaving the marketing to some influencers might just give your exchange the added boost. 

Inviting influencers to corporate events is another way to market your brand. They can share content about your event on social media, further enhancing your brand’s image. Your exchange can also partner with influencers to give away free tickets for other events. The options are endless, so it’s easy to see why influencers play a crucial role in today’s social media landscape. 

Increases Customer Engagement

Curating your social media accounts is one way to manage your digital presence. But there’s another benefit to wielding the power of social media in marketing your exchange: customer engagement. This creates an image of your brand, and not just a name. Of course, you must create relevant content that piques your customers’ interest if you want to heighten your engagement. Whether that be in the form of posting memes or responding to questions, both of these are methods you can use to improve engagement with your audience. 

Establishes a Convenient Form of Communication 

In a world filled with miscommunication, proper communication is now more important than ever. A main advantage of using social media is the ease of communication. Forget the costly phone calls or long emails, just create a social media page of your own. This allows you to connect with your followers instantly. Naturally, you’d have people in charge of handling your social media accounts – your customer service team. When it comes to handling customer concerns, they can personalize their responses based on the customer’s concerns which adds a layer of authenticity to your messages. This boosts your brand’s image and allows you to connect with your audience easily. 

Promotes New Products and Services

There’s no better way to promote your new products than by sharing them on social media. There are many ways you can go about it. You can start a teaser to hype up your followers for the release of a new product. Alternatively, you can also run a giveaway to the first users of your product or service. This is what exactly makes social media an effective medium for promoting your latest offerings.

Forms Partnerships

You can’t build partnerships without establishing your online presence. The first thing other companies would see about your company is your website or your social media pages. By digging through your company’s profile and content, a prospective partner would have an idea about your values. If you establish yourself as a reputable brand with your content, other companies are more likely to establish a partnership with your exchange. Hence, maintaining your social media presence opens new opportunities for your crypto exchange. 

Educates Your Audience

The jargon-filled world of cryptocurrency confuses many people up to this day. Not everyone takes their time to Google the ins and outs of crypto. That’s why Integrating educational content into social media content can help fill any knowledge gaps your users may have. It’s the one thing on the Internet that many people frequent, which makes it an effective tool for spreading knowledge about crypto. Share some tips on how to keep your wallet safe or some advice on how to avoid the most common cryptocurrency scams. This establishes trust, especially with many newcomers. After all, you can’t expect people to hop on board the crypto train if they don’t understand it. 

In Conclusion

To navigate the world of crypto marketing, one must learn how to leverage social media by understanding its role in marketing. From building awareness to educating users about the tech, it’s no wonder that social media is one of the cornerstones of successful social media marketing. 

Are you looking for a way to drive more traffic to your website? If you want to grow your business, you need to have a strong online presence. One of the ways to drive more traffic to your website is to put social media to work for you. Hundreds of millions of people use social media daily, and you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Social media allows you to develop strong, personal relationships with your target market, but you must make sure you follow all relevant rules and regulations related to the various social media platforms. Otherwise, you might have a difficult time getting noticed.

What are a few of the most important rules and regulations you need to follow regarding your Facebook page? Learn more about how to maximize your Facebook page for your business.

Facebook Has Strict Policies for Business Profiles

First, Facebook has two separate categories for pages. The first is a personal page, which you probably already have. The second is a business page, but you might be interested in starting.

If you decide to create a business page, there are several important rules you will need to follow. They include:

• You must comply with all relevant community standards.
• You are also forbidden from using your Facebook business page to share offensive content.
• You are also forbidden to use the names of any of your followers without their consent.

If Facebook believes that you have violated any of the standards above, it could suspend or shut down your business account. In addition, if you try to contact a bunch of people using a bulk message, Facebook could consider this spam. Then, they could decide to shut down your business account.

How To Create a Strong Business Profile on Facebook

If you are interested in creating a strong business profile on Facebook, there are several important points you need to follow. They include:

• Create a Business Page: Do not try to create a personal page for your business. Even though you might be more comfortable with the personal layout, creating a business page provides you with access to a variety of tools you can use to maximize the results of your social media marketing campaign.
• The First Impression Counts: There is never a second chance to make a first impression, and you need to make sure that your Facebook page makes a strong impression on the target market. That means publishing a profile picture that is warm, welcoming, and professional. Remember that Facebook also has limits for the number of pixels you can use in your profile picture, so make sure you follow those guidelines.
• Use a Call-to-Action Button: You need to include a strong call to action if you want to maximize your social media marketing conversion rate. There are plenty of buttons that make it easier for you to include a day CTA. For example, you can include a button that encourages people to watch a video, subscribes to your email list, or purchase a product or service.

If you follow these tips, you will be on the right track when it comes to your Facebook business page.

Always Double-Check Your Posts Before Posting Them

Always take the time to review your posts before they go up. There are plenty of tools that allow you to schedule your posts in advance. That way, you don’t have to manually schedule each post. On the other hand, if you have forgotten about a post that is coming up on your content calendar, take a few minutes to review it. Make sure it still says something that you want to share with your target market.

Work With Experts To Maximize the Results of Your Facebook Marketing Campaign

It is great that there are so many people who use Facebook regularly. It means that you have a strong target market that you can convert into paying customers.

On the other hand, this also means that Facebook is a very competitive environment. You have a lot of tasks you need to complete to get the most out of your business, and you might not be able to handle everything on your own. That is why you need to partner with experts who can help you get the most out of your social media marketing campaign. This is one of the best ways for you to build your brand identity and grow your business. Our team would be happy to help you.

Contact SEO Locale for Help With Social Media Marketing Management

If you are looking for professional social media management in Philadelphia, count on our team to assist you. At SEO Locale, we have a tremendous amount of experience with different types of digital marketing. We also provide you with access to expert social media and search engine optimization in Philadelphia, and we can help you get your name in front of as many people as possible. Do you want to maximize the results of your social media marketing campaign? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you!

Hundreds of millions of people use social media daily. Having a strong presence on social media allows you to connect with a wide audience of potential customers and clients. With so many platforms available – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and others – how can you make sure that you pick the right one for your business? And how can you engage your audience appropriately on these platforms? There are a few important points to keep in mind.

Analyze Your Current Level of Engagement

If you want your social media presence and engagement to grow, you have to analyze your current position. Knowing where you are right now will help you improve your strategy in the future. Therefore, take a look at a few key metrics, such as:

• The number of profiles you currently have on the major platforms
• The number of followers you have on those platforms
• The number of shares you get from an average post
• The number of likes and comments you get on each post

Every business is different, but there is a good chance that these numbers will be important to you. Tracking them over time will help you understand where you are succeeding and where you need to make improvements. 

Think About Your Goals

Before you can implement a new strategy, you need to consider your goals. What do you want to get out of your social media strategy? Of course, you want it to help you grow your business, but you also need to figure out how you will get there. Some of the goals you might have for your social media strategy include:

• You want to redefine your brand identity and change how people look at your company.
• You desire to gain new leads for your business by using social media to drive more traffic to your website.
• You want to collect feedback from your customers and clients about the products and services you have to offer.
• You want to educate your audience about various topics that could be important to them.

Depending on the goals you have, the strategy you use on social media will change.

Consider Your Target Market

Furthermore, you need to think about your target market. You probably will not talk to people who are interested in buying a new phone in the same way you might talk to someone who wants to go camping once per month. Who are you trying to target with your social media campaign? Thinking about your target market is important because it will dictate several important elements of your strategy, such as:

• The social media platform you will use to reach your target market
• The type of content you share, such as articles versus images and videos
• How often do you publish, such as once per day, once per week, or even once per month
• The voice you try to strike with your brand

Who are you trying to reach? How old are they? What are their interests? What are some of the problems that you are trying to fix? Make sure you think about this before you roll out a new strategy.

How To Create & Share Content To Maximize Engagement

Now that you have a solid idea of how to define your target market and your goals, it is time to think about how to reach your target market. First, you need to think about why someone might be interested in the products and services you have to offer. You need to address their wants and needs instead of focusing all of the attention on your business and brand. If you think of yourself as having a conversation with your target market, you will immediately have more success. Social media is not meant to be used as a broadcast service. Sure, it is helpful to roll out a few infographics and articles from time to time to highlight certain aspects of your business but to truly boost your engagement, you need to think outside the box. A few ideas that you might find helpful include:

• Host a contest from time to time for a gift card or a discount on a purchase.
• Pose questions to your followers to see what they think of certain ideas, products, and services.
• Test your audience’s knowledge base by holding a quiz.
• Share images and videos of your business and prompt your followers to share them.
• Have a customer spotlight where you can highlight how much your customers love your products and services.

Remember that people have shorter attention spans today than they ever had in the past. You need to find a way to hook them as quickly as possible. Then, be sure to keep their interest by posting on social media regularly. If you go a long time between posts, you might lose some followers who would otherwise be interested in your brand. If you put this strategy to use, you should see your engagement rates go up.

Contact a Professional Social Media Marketing Agency in Your Area for Help

Crafting a strong social media marketing strategy can be a challenge. You might want to reach out to a social media marketing agency in Philadelphia that can help you. At SEO Locale, it would be our pleasure to help you with all of your digital marketing needs. We can provide you with access to a local SEO expert that can help you by customizing your strategy to meet your needs, so call us today to speak to a member of our team!

Are you looking for a way to construct a strong digital marketing campaign? If so, you need to take a well-rounded approach. That is where hashtags and emojis can be helpful. They are a great way to drive views, likes, and shares on your social media campaign. They can be a tremendously important part of your brand, and you can use them to make your content more discoverable, particularly if you have a captive audience on your social media website. Even though hashtags were first used on Twitter, they are now used ubiquitously across all social media platforms. If you can master this digital marketing technique, you can stay one step ahead of the competition. Digital marketing companies in Philadelphia can help you get the most out of this marketing tactic.

The Benefits of Using Hashtags for Your Digital Marketing Campaign

There are several significant reasons why you should use hashtags as a part of your digital marketing campaign. They include:

1. Grow Brand Awareness

Hashtags are a great way for you to build brand awareness. If you target hashtags that people search for regularly, you will have an easier time getting your brand in front of the right audience. That way, people can start to get acquainted with your business.

2. Versatile Promotion

You can also use this digital marketing tactic to take advantage of versatile promotion opportunities. For example, you can use hashtags to promote new products and services you are offering. Or, you may want to use them to promote an event you have coming up. If you want to make people aware of something that is time-sensitive, you may want to use a hashtag campaign.

3. Collect Information In One Place

Do you want to know what your target market is thinking? If so, you may want to use hashtags. Because they are searchable, you can use them to get your audience to discuss a specific topic. Then, all you have to do is track the campaign to see what people are saying about it. If you want some insight into the mindset of your target market, this digital marketing tool will help you.

How Do You Use Hashtags Appropriately?

Of course, there are plenty of ways to construct a strong hashtag campaign. Some of the most important tips to keep in mind include:

• Make them easy to remember. Keeping your hashtags short and sweet increases the chances it sticks in the minds of your target market. If you make them too long, not only will your target market have a hard time remembering them but there is less of a chance that someone actually searches for that specific phrase. 
• Keep it relevant to your business. The terms in your hashtag should be relevant to the products and services that your business offers. People need a reason to search for that term in relation to your business. If you pick something obscure, you may not get the right type of traffic.
• Don’t utilize them too frequently. Too many hashtags can make your content difficult to read and your audience may not know which ones are most important. Try not to overdo it.
• Do some competitor research. Just as your audience will use hashtags to discover your products and services, you can search them yourself to see what your competitors are doing. You might get some good ideas from the competition.

Consider putting these tips to work if you want to get the most out of your hashtag campaigns.

Why Should You Use Emojis as a Part of Your Digital Marketing Campaign?

In addition to hashtags, you may want to use emojis as a part of your digital marketing campaign. Some of the reasons why you may want to incorporate emojis into your marketing tactics include:

1. Increase Search Volume

If you want to generate more traction, you can use emojis. They are like small pictures, and a picture is worth a thousand words.

2. Stand Out From The Crowd

You need to find a way to make your listing pop. Emojis can break up large walls of text, so use them to separate yourself from the competition.

3. Make Your Business More Personable

Sometimes, people forget that there are real people behind the brand. Emojis can remind them of that.

If you want your emojis to work well, follow these few tips:

• Make sure that the emojis you choose makes sense. Think about the content in the message or post, and make it relevant.
• Do not use them in serious situations. No matter which emojis you choose, they are going to feel a bit lighthearted. Use them at the wrong time and you may have a difficult time generating traction.
• Know what emojis mean before you use them. Not all of them mean what you think they mean, so you may want to check with someone else before you use them.

If you follow these tips, you can get the most out of emojis in your digital marketing campaign. 

Work With SEO Locale for Help With Your Digital Marketing Campaign

If you want to maximize the success of your digital marketing campaign, work with a digital marketing agency in Philadelphia. We are SEO Locale, and it would be our pleasure to help you with all of your digital marketing needs. We have an unparalleled level of experience in the industry, and we can use it to help you grow your business and boost your brand awareness. Contact us today to learn more about our services! 

It’s a constant challenge for small businesses to keep up with social media due to ever-changing trends and new platforms. There are several practical and on-trend ways by which you can follow the goings-on on social media. Just remember these quick tips:

1. Keep Up With The Latest Trends

Not all social media channels operate using the same algorithm and content. As an example, on Twitter, you should follow social media marketing influencers and take the time to read their tweets. You can always learn a thing or two from their content. Take advantage of relevant hashtags and other theme trends.

As another example, check out TikTok’s ‘For You’ page to see the latest trending videos. Don’t forget to check out TikTok for viral or trending content like audio, challenges, and hashtags that can come from there. 

2. Use Facebook Tools

Facebook Blueprint is a free online set of courses designed for people who specialize in social media. Blueprint makes it easy for SEO specialists, digital marketers, and social media managers to keep up with the latest trends. It has also allowed small businesses to acquire a nice share of followers and effective conversions.

Facebook Business Manager is also a good choice if you want to hone your usage of social media. It streamlines your account so you can easily check your notifications and messages. If you follow certain accounts that post about new social media trends, streamlined notifications will ensure you’re always in the loop.

3. Get Into Social Listening

Many small businesses appreciate that they were able to engage and answer their customers’ chats and queries during the quarantine period. It also made businesses more aware of their target audience and their preferences.

To implement social listening in your company, use your chosen social media management tool to create 3 search streams — one will be dedicated to your products and their spokespersons, branded hashtags, and brand mentions. Another is for your competitor’s products, spokespersons, and the like while the last stream is for hashtags and keywords that are relevant to the industry you’re in.

4. Learn From Relevant Resources

Podcasts can bring you plenty of varying perspectives on the latest social media trends. Check out podcast providers and see which among the bunch suits your specialization. Podcasts are great for catching up on current news focused on applicable topics related to your industry. They also feature special guests who can provide exclusive insights that you can apply to your marketing strategy.

Podcasts are a wealth of material and you can acquire plenty of valuable information from social media specialists and influencers through interviews, short accounts on the latest social media news, and case studies. Listen to episodes while you’re driving or relaxing at home.

Start Trending Today

Today’s trends in social media will be considered over by tomorrow. Plan some time in your schedule to learn and hone your social media know-how by checking out the latest news.

Keeping yourself updated with social media news and changes will also allow you to know the new rules and standards that these platforms operate under.

This is a challenge for businesses, but it can be done. If you need help, SEO Locale can lend a hand. If you want to take your social media marketing to the next level, get the assistance of a social media management company in Philadelphia. Expert digital marketers can help you turn potential customers into conversions. Get started with the best SEO in Philadelphia today!

Social media trends vary on different platforms; some behave differently from others. What could be most searched on Facebook may be different from what’s most searched on Twitter, and so on. When using social media to promote your business or website, optimize your social media marketing strategies for better exposure on the internet.

If you have some knowledge of SEO, then you already have a grasp of keyword strategies. If not, SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing the contents of your brand to rank you higher in search engine page results (SERPs). When search engine users look for something on Google or any other search engine, they barely go to the second-page results and focus mostly on what is displayed first.

The goal of your website content is to answer the search engine user’s questions to attract more traffic to your website. But how can you do that?

Optimizing Your Social Media Content

Identify the Keywords

Let’s say you are promoting a pool cleaning services website. For a search engine to know that you are under that category, you must use “pool cleaning services” or “pool cleaning business” within the content. If you sell pool cleaning products, then you must use “pool cleaning products” or “pool cleaning materials.” Keywords must be straight to the point and clear.

Remember, the goal is to create content on what a search engine user might ask for. Expanding too much or having too many words in the keywords might make your website go further down on search engine page results. Your keyword phrases must be short and precise.

Once the keywords are determined, you then incorporate them into your content. To optimize the keywords, they must be mentioned more than once within the content. Here are a few places where you can incorporate keywords into your social media content.

Use Keywords on Your Title, Headings, and Subheadings

Search engines can quickly determine which search queries your content belongs to if your keywords are in the title itself. It is the first thing that comes up in search engine page results, and it is how a search engine user judges if it fits their needs. Now, some content topics may be too broad or difficult, so you must analyze the scope of content to come up with a variation of the keyword that maintains its purpose.

Use Keywords on your Meta Description

The meta description is where you can describe what your content is all about. By putting your important keywords within the summarized description, Google can filter your content better to the most related search queries. Your content must not be wordy and easy to navigate for it to be user-friendly. If your introduction is good, then a user would continue reading the content.

Incorporating Keywords on Different Social Media Platforms

Platforms each have trend behaviors, and you must be knowledgeable on such trends so that you can optimize your content on search queries. You can never know which one is best among the others, but you can use more than one. Here are a few social media platforms and their behaviors on keyword searches.

Facebook

With Facebook having over two billion regular users worldwide, it is the most popular social media platform in the world. With that many users with sophisticated augmentation, you should take advantage of the interests of different audiences and specifically alter your keywords to fit those.

Twitter

With an average of 6,000 tweets per second, Twitter trends change fast. Utilize Twitter hashtags for your keywords to optimize search results exposure. Updating your feed often will help you stay relevant on Twitter

Instagram

Like Twitter, Instagram relies heavily on hashtags to promote products. Instagram also relies on its visual presentations, so putting your keywords in hashtags on your posts will help in product discovery.

Google My Business

GMB requires location-based strategies, since it is where a lot of brands go for local exposure. The best way to optimize keywords is to incorporate them with specific cities, states, or regions.

The best way to incorporate keywords into your social media content is to analyze social media trends and use them to your advantage. You can also find and monitor your competitors on social media, allowing you to make your content better than theirs. What are they doing right? What do they lack? Using social media as leverage for itself will help lead your business into a success.

Are you ready to learn more about building an SEO-friendly social media strategy or optimizing your website? Contact our digital marketing agency in Philadelphia today!

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were created to be enjoyable and convenient ways to connect users to their friends and family. But, with advancements in technology, constantly changing market trends, and the big shift from in-person interactions to online connections, social networking platforms eventually found themselves heavily utilized for business and marketing.

These days, social media is used by both small businesses and big corporations as a major means of reaching and engaging with clients all across the globe in real-time.

For small-scale entrepreneurs and those who are looking to start their businesses, social media is an incredibly handy tool for establishing connections with potential customers.

One thing most businesses fail to realize, though, is that while posting good content is key, the timing of your posts plays a very important part in casting a wider net.

Read to learn more about social media platforms and the best times to share content.

The Top Social Media Platforms for Businesses

Many social media platforms are utilizing many different forms of media available to consumers right now but, for businesses, the most important ones are:

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world. As it has the most active users of every demographic, this is the one platform business owners can’t be without.

Its interface allows businesses to create and share content in a wide range of media formats, including text, photos, videos, and stories. It also allows users to schedule posts for future publishing, which is perfect when doing bulk content creation.

Facebook’s design also allows customers to easily engage with businesses through comment threads and post reactions. On top of that, Facebook allows people to easily share content to their timelines or through private messaging for instant word-of-mouth marketing.

Twitter

Many celebrities, politicians, and other people of note utilize Twitter for sharing announcements, opinions, and recommendations. Because of this, Twitter has a user base of all genders belonging to a wide range of ages, social classes, and beliefs.

Twitter allows its users to publish (or ‘tweet’) images, videos, and short text posts with a 280-character limit in real-time. As Twitter’s design puts a heavy emphasis on conciseness, this requires users to create straight-to-the-point and witty content to attract the eye of other users.

Business owners can take advantage of Twitter’s interface that allows for the easy sharing (or retweeting) and quoting of user posts. Besides sharing, users can also like posts. These liked posts are archived in the user’s profile, which can serve as a bookmark for future reference.

Another feature that makes Twitter ideal for businesses is the ease of communicating with other users. Many corporations use this platform to engage with users, as well as for customer support purposes.

Instagram

One of the most downloaded apps in the United States, Instagram focuses more on the photo and video content and less on text.

Setting an Instagram account properly is just as important as knowing when to post. Businesses need to take advantage of linking their website and writing a good bio for their accounts as these are some of the first things a user sees when visiting an Instagram profile.

As a platform that prioritizes visuals, the key to making a good Instagram account is posting very aesthetically appealing photos and videos. It is important to make your Instagram grid appear cohesive, so crafting a strong visual identity for your brand is a must.

Instagram also recently added an update that enables businesses to directly sell and transact with consumers by hosting their online shops within the platform.

To be able to reach many people when starting on the platform, utilize popular hashtags to make your brand visible.

The Best Time to Post On Social Media For Optimal Engagement

Besides creating good content, it is also important to study the demographic you are trying to reach to identify the best time to post. Important factors to consider, besides age and gender, include habits and interests.

If you already have an existing social media account, you can also look into your top posts to determine your peak time for posting. You can sort through your analytics by certain metrics, such as engagement and number of likes and shares.

Keep in mind that each platform has its algorithm that may affect your post’s visibility. For Instagram and Facebook, it was found that their algorithms prioritize “recency” for ranking, so it only makes sense to post when your target market is online. These algorithms are revised occasionally, though, so business owners must adjust to that, too.

If you would prefer to leave the social media optimization and analytics to someone else, you can reach out to a social media management company in Philadelphia for help.

Facebook

Around 73% of Facebook’s nearly 3 billion users were found to log onto the platform every day, with 57% of users from the United States primarily using it for sharing content.

Through user data, Wednesday around 11:00 AM CST was discovered to be the peak time for general engagement, although 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM on all other weekdays are not far behind.

As for marketing your products, Facebook users are most receptive to posts about consumer goods on Wednesdays and Fridays, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with a distinct drop in interest before 8:00 AM. Meanwhile, media consumption sees a spike at 5:00 PM mid-week.

In general, individual consumers tend to check Facebook most right before work hours, during lunch break, and during downtime after work. Sundays typically see the least amount of active users.

Twitter

Unlike Facebook and Instagram algorithms, Twitter’s algorithm ranks tweets by potential user interest instead of in chronological order. With over 500 million tweets per day, businesses need to know when to post so as not to be buried under other tweets.

Twitter sees a jump in activity around 8:00 AM every day — weekends included — as users tend to use the platform as a news source, checking for updates right before starting their day.

As mentioned earlier, many corporations turn to Twitter for addressing customer support issues. Unlike Facebook, Twitter’s best day for business engagement is on Sundays from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. General engagement, though, still does best on weekdays from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Instagram

While Instagram does somehow show posts based on recency, it is also notorious for being unpredictable and does not present content in chronological order. The best workaround is to know what your target demographic’s peak hours are.

Like Facebook, Wednesday around 11:00 AM tends to be the best for user engagement. General engagement also peaks on Fridays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM but is consistently good on all weekdays from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

For marketing goods of any kind, Wednesday at 3:00 PM has seen the most movement, followed by Tuesdays to Fridays from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Moreover, Facebook acquired Instagram and has now established a cross-posting feature between the two platforms, which business owners should take advantage of.

Conclusion

For businesses venturing into the world of social media marketing, it is important to partner in creating good content with an effective posting schedule.

Different platforms see different activity trends from their users, and it is imperative to take note of your preferred platform’s peak hours, as well as studying your target audience’s online habits, to make the most of your social media experience.

In today’s world, social media is one the most effective marketing channel for any company. With billions of people handling at least one account each on a social media site, it’s critical for you as a business to be on these platforms as well if you hope to reach members of your target market.

However, building up your social media isn’t quite as easy as you might imagine. For one, you need to remember that there’s fierce competition out there. Companies in your field are also on social media, and there’s a significant chance that many of these firms have larger budgets than you. With that in mind, you need to play smart.

Thankfully, this one of the many benefits of digital marketing strategies. Social media is ruled by trends — things and concepts that are the most “in vogue” right now. Trends differ between social media platforms broadly, but some are generally encompassing. It’s important to consider these as you chart a course forward.

Live Streams and Sessions for Engagement

If there’s one thing that captured everyone’s attention in 2020, it was the COVID-19 pandemic. It forced life to halt to a standstill, and people were instructed to stay at home.

Nevertheless, life must go on, and social media played a significant part in this. To maintain social distancing but still connect with others, people hopped online. Meetings soon became a standard on Zoom, and companies turned to live streams on social media to optimize their operations.

Naturally, this led to a surge in the use of live streaming tools across all social media channels. For instance, Facebook saw a significant upsurge in its live streaming and messaging channels — especially in areas most hit by the virus, like Italy and the United States.

As a stat sheet from Facebook showed, the number of views on Facebook Live and Instagram Live doubled in just a week at a certain point.

In 2021, it’s pretty evident that we’re not entirely out of the woods just yet. Life is slowly beginning to return to normal, but the coronavirus situation continues to evolve. People and companies remain committed to communicating through their devices, and social media live streaming is still a prominent part of this.

If you’re looking to optimize your social media strategy, you can’t possibly do it without live streaming. While everyone remains at home, you could engage your followers with live streaming sessions and grow your audience base from there.

Stories as Instagram’s Top Content Source

Instagram launched Stories in 2016. While the feature had a pretty rough landing due to comparisons with Snapchat, it has since risen to become one of Instagram’s biggest hits. On average, 500 million people react with Stories daily on Instagram, and there’s no sign of them going away soon.

If you aren’t using your Stories, it’s recommended that you do so. Incorporate videos and pictures into the component — primarily videos, which seem to outperform other content formats on Instagram.

People tend to spend more time viewing videos on their Stories than images. You need to get on Stories now, and you need to do so with engaging videos.

Virtual Reality is Coming

Thanks to the stay-at-home orders and prolonged social distancing requirements, people have begun looking into alternative reality iterations. For now, virtual reality remains one of the most effective technology trends out there.

The allure of virtual reality is easy to see. It allows you to get the sense of actually being somewhere — or with someone else, even if they’re on the other side of the planet. In a period where people are forced to stay home, this is the type of development that we desperately need.

There are already signs that 2021 will see more integration between social media and virtual reality. Facebook is working on revamping its Oculus to allow people to connect with others, play games, explore, and more. 

As a business, you could leverage virtual reality to enable consumers to view what you’re selling. Industries like art, real estate, e-commerce, and more — those which deal with tangible assets and products — will undoubtedly benefit from this. 

Upwards Growth for Social Commerce

Over the years, we’ve witnessed a significant shift that brings social media together with improved user experience. This shift has led to the development of more tools to connect social media with seamless online shopping.

For instance, Instagram allows e-commerce companies to add product tags and embed checkout links for products on their pages. Facebook even allows you to set up an entire shop, encouraging people to browse what you’ve got and make purchases right from the platform.

If you’re a marketer, this is a significant trend that you should be working on. Data shows that around 54% of social media users use these platforms to research products before purchasing. With social media playing a more critical role in influencing purchase decisions, you could use it to optimize your sales.

With social commerce, you can significantly optimize your customers’ purchasing journey. Now, users will be able to see a product on social media and purchase it from the app directly. There’s no need to leave the platform, go back to the website, and then begin looking for the product again.

By allowing customers to purchase straight away, you’re improving their experience and also reducing the chances of abandoned carts and transactions. Putting a “buy now” link or button on your platform will improve your chances of making a sale on your own. If your business deals in selling, you’ll need an effective social media storefront that provides shoppable posts and easy-to-purchase links. 

Purposeful Marketing Campaigns

Social media has always been an excellent tool for driving engagement with meaningful causes. With the pandemic still going on out there, “meaningful causes” have taken on a new form. People want to lend a helping hand, and brands are also expected to do something.

This year, it’s important to lend a helping hand as best as you can as a business. With social media, it’s much easier and more comfortable to do so. You can use purpose-driven engagement and relief campaigns that help the most vulnerable of people, and you can use social media to increase your following while doing it. 

Collect leads from events or customers entering your store. A product like OnSpot Social has the software that will help you collect the leads so you can create some purposeful marketing campaigns on top of your current marketing.

At the end of the day, customers follow brands that they can relate to. When they see a more humane side of you, they’re bound to believe more in your message. 

Interested in developing your own social media marketing plan? Contact our social media marketing agency in Philadelphia to learn more!

Social media stories provide an avenue of opportunity that many businesses have overlooked. According to Facebook, over a billion people use stories across their social media platforms. These include Instagram and Snapchat. Many people access their stories daily, and it can be the way for you to take your business to the next level.

How Do Stories Work?

Social media stories are a separate feed that allows people to share full-screen vertical images and videos. They cater to people who want to focus more on this content, as made popular by websites such as Instagram. Platforms like Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook allow stories to appear for 24 hours.

While they are temporary, some sites like Instagram allow storage into collections for later viewing. However, it doesn’t derail from the advantage that stories provide. Stories are an avenue of content that is only available for a short period. The temporary nature appeals to a broad audience who doesn’t want to miss out on their favorite brands.

Since they are short term, they become more personal. It makes your audience feel like they are the first ones to experience your post. The full-screen aspect of it is also immersive. Stories have been so popular that at least 75% of all users access them regularly.

The Target Audience

Most users who access social media stories are from the millennial and generation Z eras. A study showed that more than half of all millennials frequent stories. At the same time, around 70% of generation Z uses them. This trend exists because the stories feature began on Instagram, which was already used by these generations. While stories are now more widely used, they remain as the majority of the audience.

There is an opportunity for businesses who have these age groups in mind. Around 25% of these users browse stories to learn about new products and services. It has become a selling tool that many can take advantage of. Not only that, it is these generations that are also becoming a significant part of the world’s purchasing power.

Stories also have a high lead rate, with around 15% of all viewers checking the links associated with branded stories. Since stories only last for a short period, your audience will view the image or video through to the end.

Using Social Media Stories for Your Business

While stories are a relatively fresh avenue you can take advantage of, many don’t know how to start. It is a different type of media, so you should use its strengths to your advantage. Here are some ideas you can use for your content.

Develop a Series

Creating a story series you update weekly is a way to connect to your audience and build your brand. You can use it for discussion, updates, Q&A, and more. The trick to creating a series is to find content that matches your brand. You may need a more creative name or be more experimental.

A weekly series helps people stay tuned to your business. Those who want to learn more about you will have something to look forward to. It builds brand loyalty and makes you more interactive.

Behind the Scenes

For most consumers, all they see is what is at your storefront. They view the website, the products, and the services. You can use stories to help bring people deeper and give them the information they might want. By doing so, you transform otherwise generic content into something more engaging.

Sharing insights into your business, crazy events, and even simple things you use can be captivating. People love learning more about the endeavors of people behind the scenes. It gives you personality and makes you relatable. Here are some ideas of what behind-the-scenes content can look like:

• Making the product
• Stories/Background about team members
• Favorites in your inventory

How-To Content

Content that brings value to its watchers is very popular. We see videos of instructional videos, tips, and hacks everywhere. They are a hit for a reason. Think about your ideal content and think about how you can help them.

If you’re a food business, teach them more about picking ingredients or give them fun facts. Give them an idea about how you create food and the history behind it. You can even cover local events and interact with your audience.

Promotions

People are always looking for deals. They are looking for value with their purchases. By providing promotions in stories, you give your audience a feeling that they got something only a few people were able to snag. It keeps them tuned in, and they will start to monitor your feed regularly. It opens the door for you to do more marketing or build your brand.

Promotions are also easy to do, as you won’t need a lot of resources to give them discounts. You can even add something unique to your promotion to make it stand out from your competitors.

Shaping Your Story Content to Success

When it comes to creating social media stories, it is important to keep up with trends. Learning more about what is popular at the time can help you stay in the conversation. Here are some other tips that can help you build a business.

• Post Regularly: Create a schedule and stick with it. You don’t need to post every day but go at a pace that works for you. If you stick with it, you start to build a regular audience.
• Social Media Challenges: Challenges appear from time to time and become a trend. You can use these challenges to your advantage and bring more visibility to your business.
• Hashtags and Advertising: If any avenues can bring in more people, do it. You may need to spend a little to advertise. Also, don’t forget your hashtags, as it helps people when they are doing searches.

Social media stories will be one of the defining features of social media moving forward. While you have the chance, you should jump on the train before everyone else does. We all understand the value of being one of the first in any industry. Doing so will help you yield the rewards.

Interested in learning more about optimizing your social media? Ready to start your business’s social media strategy? Check out our social media marketing agency in Philadelphia and start building your digital marketing strategies!