A Look Ahead

December 31, 2016

2017 is just around the corner (quite literally!) and it's important to always plan ahead. Last month we discussed the history of social media, so this month we're going to take a look ahead to see what the future of social media will hold in the new year. 2016 has been a year of shifts in social media, technology and digital marketing. The internet became all about video and every digital marketer is looking for a way to connect business outcomes to their social media efforts. So what's in store for 2017?

1. Live video – Live video took off in 2016, but it has so much more potential that it has yet to reach. There are already social media platforms taking advantage of this – Facebook Live, YouTube Live and Periscope Pro, to name a few, with Instagram recently releasing live video to US residents. Live video is a great feature for businesses to capitalize on. It is now possible for four hours of video to be streamed, and it can even be streamed to groups and event listings. It’s a great way to raise awareness of your brand and build a community.

2. Snapchat – As Snapchat's amazing evolution continues, it will offer more and more interesting new opportunities. Snapchat (now Snap) has transformed user expectations and major trends in the social marketing world. Now it’s looking to develop products outside its main means of exchanging messages, introducing real-world glasses to help users capture first-person visual information. Expect big things and huge marketing opportunities from them in the new year!

3. Inspiration & Imagination – These two things will be highly fashionable in 2017. Practical posts get a lot of consumer attention, while emotionally charged posts have a greater likelihood of circulating virally. But inspirational and imaginative posts are starting to become even stronger candidates for social media success. These are often artistic in nature, giving users something “pretty” as opposed to something pragmatic or reactive. It also forces a separation from any kind of company positioning or low-key advertising, giving users something truly valuable. In 2017, it will be valuable to forgo some pretense here, and just post beautiful images or sentiments.

4. Instagram – Instagram worked with hundreds of businesses to understand what was needed to enhance their Instagram experience, and three key needs became clear—stand out, get insights and find new customers. And the release of Business Tools brought with it business profiles, analytics, and the ability to create ads from posts directly within the app. As Instagram continues to enhance its ad product, we’ll likely see business profiles and tools continue to evolve in order to make it easier for businesses to drive traffic and revenue from their Instagram profiles.

5. Personalization is Key – The need for personalized and relevant content and advertising delivery becomes more important. Facebook re-targeting and adverts driven by identifying where you have been on the web and your interests are becoming the digital advertising tactic of choice for campaigns. Relevance is king for catching a distracted eye and online glance in a noisy world of data clutter.

The social media landscape is ever-changing and businesses must keep reinventing as time goes along. Stay up-to-date on what's new and what's best practices in your 2017 marketing plan and you'll have a fabulous new year! Happy 2017!

 

A (Fairly) Quick History of Social Media

November 29, 2016

As social animals, people have always relied on communication to strengthen their relationships. So when we can't chat face-to-face, we've come up with plenty of other ways to communicate (smoke signals, anyone?). Social media though has transformed the interaction and communication of individuals throughout the world. Social networking has become daily practice in some users' lives. The roots of social media stretch far deeper than you might imagine. Although it might still seem like a new trend, sites like Facebook are the natural outcome of many centuries of social media development. Let's dive in and see what we can find!

First there were the smoke signals, then there were letters, and then…the telegraph! In 1792, the telegraph was invented. This allowed messages to be delivered over a long distance far faster than a horse and rider could carry them. Although telegraph messages were short, they were a revolutionary way to convey news and information. Next came two of the greatest inventions ever – the telephone in 1890 and the radio in 1891. Suddenly we could talk to people who weren't in front of our faces – or listen to people who were elsewhere! What's the tie to social media here? The first blogs and podcasts came about via phone. No really. See, during the 1950s, phone phreaking (the term used for the rogue searching of the telephone network) began. This was done through the use of homemade electronic devices that gave people unauthorized access to the telephone system to make free calls. Phreaks were able to find telephone company test lines and conference circuits to complete their task. In this way, phreaks were able to hack into corporate unused voice mailboxes to host the first blogs and podcasts. Guess we've always wanted to share our lives, huh?

Next came along supercomputers in the 1940s, the birth of the internet in the 1960s (though the internet wouldn't be available for public consumption till 1991 – so if you're like me, you can say, “I remember those dark days before the internet, when we had to search phone books for numbers and real, live encyclopedias for knowledge!”), and 1979’s UseNet allowed users to communicate through a virtual newsletter. Internet relay chats, or IRCs, were first used in 1988 and continued to be popular well into the 1990’s.

The first recognizable social media site, Six Degrees, was created in 1997. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, such as Blogger and Epinions. We're already familiar with Blogger, but Epinions is a site where consumers can read or create reviews of products. Many online social sites were of the niche market, including sites for public policy advocacy and a social network based on a web of contacts model.

In 2000, social media received a great boost with the witnessing of many social networking sites springing up. This transformed the interactions of individuals and organizations who share common interest in music, education, movies, and friendship, based on social networking. Among those that were launched included LunarStorm, six degrees, cyworld, ryze, and Wikipedia. In 2001, fotolog, sky blog and Friendster were launched, and in 2003, MySpace, LinkedIn, lastFM, tribe.net, Hi5 etc. In 2004, popular names like Facebook Harvard, Dogster and Mixi evolved. During 2005 YouTube emerged creating an entirely new way for people to communicate and share with each other. By 2006, Facebook and Twitter both became available to users throughout the world. (That's right – Facebook originally started as a site for college kids only and grew from there!) These sites remain some of the most popular social networks on the Internet. Other sites like Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare and Pinterest began popping up to fill specific social networking niches.

Can you believe how far we've come? What does this have to do with business though? Engaging in social media will help strengthen the brand experience which will support brand building. A company is more attractive to customers if it has a well-built brand name, and social media is another way of helping in building a good reputation for your organization. Brand awareness starts with the experiences with the employees of a company. If a company is approachable, people-friendly, then the company must make itself visible by inclusion on the web. Social media becomes a good venue for discussions and becomes a classic goal of marketing and communications, just make sure you're adhering to the rules and etiquette of social media.

Now, there are a tremendous variety of social networking sites, and many of them can be linked to allow cross-posting. This creates an environment where users can reach the maximum number of people without sacrificing the intimacy of person-to-person communication. We don't know what the future of social media & networking holds, but we're guessing it'll be a wild ride!

——————

By Misty Layne

The 2nd Most Popular Holiday is Upon Us!

September 29, 2016

We must admit that it's our favorite time of year – beautiful fall colors, cooler temperatures, pumpkins everywhere…and HALLOWEEN! A lot of small businesses overlook Halloween as a vital piece of their yearly marketing plan, but you really shouldn't. Not only is this the start of the always-crazy-but-oh-so-fun holiday madness (and most businesses best time of the year), but Halloween is the 2^nd most popular holiday after Christmas. Plus it gives you the chance to really step outside your marketing box and try new things out (which is always fun!).

So, let's throw around a few ideas to get you started:

1. One of the easiest ways to get into the Halloween spirit and attract people to your business is by decorating your location with spooky or fall-themed touches. This also works online – change your Facebook and Twitter cover photos to something spooktacular or autumn-y for the month of October! (But do be sure to understand how your buyer personas are likely to observe the holiday to best target your blog, social media, emails, and other forms of content.)

2. If you have a physical location and are in a good spot, make your business a trick'r'treat stop. Parents want safe places to take their kids and businesses are always a good bet for that.

3. If there’s any surefire way to get your fans’ talking, it’s to ask them about their Halloween plans. Whether you’re calling for photos of costumes or images of their Jack-O-Lantern, inviting your audience to share their custom content in a contest can provide you with a wealth of resources to share on social media or your blog.

4. You can even create a dedicated hashtag for customers to share their creations or show off how they use your products on platforms like Twitter and Instagram.

5. Halloween themed contests are very popular, and there are no end to the possibilities both online and offline. RES.NET, a company that provides software and services to the real estate industry, has in the past hidden monsters throughout the Internet and their system for people to find, with a prize drawing for each monster found. The purpose of the contest is to drive brand recognition, as well as membership purchases/renewals.

6. One of the simplest ways to get your business in on the Halloween fun is to just incorporate popular Halloween symbols into your branding. Even a little jack-o-lantern or Frankenstein on your signage, website or store bags can show customers that you’re into the holiday and encourage them to visit you throughout the season!

Halloween is one of the few times each year when nearly any brand can be as silly, scary, or strange as they like, so take advantage of it! Get creative – even if you think there is nothing about your product or business that can be tied to Halloween, we promise, there really is. If all you sell is Post-It notes, then have a contest to see who can make the most elaborate, artistic pumpkin from them. If it's food you're offering, dive into fall flavors or give a dish a “frightening” name. The sky's the limit.

And if it's help you need this holiday season, Social Marketing Solutions has got you covered. We create a personalized plan for any company in any industry, and with three different levels of services, we have a plan to fit every business's needs at an affordable price. Call us at (973)265-2833 or message us today to get started! Stay spooky!

Happy 5th Anniversary, SMS!

August 16, 2016

 

Last month, Social Marketing Solutions, LLC celebrated FIVE YEARS of success! That's right, 5 years ago, in July 2011, Kelly Jones founded SMS and started out as the first representative of the team. Later that year, Kim Perry joined the team and helped manage and grow the company. The following year, SMS joined the Morris County Chamber of Commerce and stayed an active member for the next 3 years.

In the past 5 years, our all woman-employed company has had the pleasure of working with 3 interns from High Point University, Montclair University, and Susquehanna University, as well as 8 amazing employees! Currently we operate a team of three strong women, who manage customers in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon and California. Misty Layne joined the SMS team 4 years ago and has been a crucial part of SMS’s success. Working side-by-side with Kelly, she has helped to grow and develop both the company and its services. There have been a lot of changes over time!

When SMS first started, we only worked with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but we've now grown to include additional sites such as Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, WordPress, Blogger, MailChimp, and Constant Contact (and other social networks!). We now offer blog writing and uploading services, website edits and updates, and newsletter creation and distribution to our many customers. Within the past 5 years, we've worked with over 120 different businesses from a range of industries across the U.S. and even Canada! Some of our clients have included: NY Times Bestselling authors; realtors; lawyers; medical facilitators and practices; therapists; online stores; construction companies; payroll providers; fitness studios; dryer vent cleaners; movers & haulers; health product stores and seminars; mortgage brokers; flower shops; chocolate shops; marketing firms; furniture stores; schools; and home food delivery services.

We look forward to many more years of success and to growing our amazing team of women and roster of wonderful customers. We couldn't do it without you guys – YOU are the reason we're so successful. THANK YOU!

Client Spotlight!

July 30, 2016

 

We are incredibly lucky at Social Marketing Solutions to be able to work with some of the best companies and people out there. From clients we've been working with for years to the ones who are brand new, we work with a vast array of talent all around the tri-state area and we thought it would be great if you had a chance to meet some of them. Today we're introducing you to one of our newer clients, the Opthof Center for Psychotherapy, LLC!

 

The Opthof Center for Psychotherapy, LLC is run by therapist, Gerald Opthof, out of two offices – one in Westfield, NJ and one in Morristown, NJ. A graduate of Montclair State College, as well as Montclair State University, and with a doctorate in Forensic Psychology from Eisner Institute for Professional Studies, Dr. Opthof is a highly trained professional with a litany of credentials and accomplishments to his name.

His areas of specialty include:

•  Alcohol and drug addition and court mandated therapy

• Sexual problems, additions and relationship counseling

• Coping with depression, anxiety and pain

• Mental Health Evaluations

• Marital and couple counseling

• Coping with grief, loss, anger, stress and recovery issues

• Parenting and family conflicts/issues

• Adjusting back into a sober/healthy lifestyle

What I personally like about working with Dr. Opthof is – he gets it. Simply put, he is a great listener, and he is realistic in his practice. He supports people in rough times of their lives who are dealing with tough stuff, but he has a passion for getting his clients through the muck and over to a healthier and happier lifestyle.

A client since March of this year, Dr. Opthof has hired Social Marketing Solutions to oversee and build his Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, as well as website editing (yes, we do that too!). And since it's our job to hype our client, we're going to do just that – Dr. Opthof is participating in the Rock-N-Ride Fundraiser hosted by Road Recover Foundation on August 21^st! Dr. Opthof and his team are cycling in this event, which helps support non-profit Youth Programs and Community Outreach Events. Road Recovery helps teams and young adults who have been derailed by addition and/or or other adversities, but who want to embark on a path to a healthier future. So far, Dr. Opthof has raised $525 of his $1000 goal. Anyone can donate by simply going to the website below, every donation helps and he appreciates the support – https://www.crowdrise.com/rock-n-ride

Visit Opthof Center of Psychotherapy, LLC online via their website, Facebook, or Twitter! And keep checking back as we keep introducing you to more of our fabulous clients and sharing more wonderful social media tips and news!

It’s Time for Your Mid-Year Review!

July 1, 2016

Can you believe this year is already halfway over?! Where has the time gone? If you're like us, you've been busy this year – growing, building new client relationships, trying out new things in your online marketing – all things you set up at the beginning of the year in your 2016 marketing plan. How's that plan going by the way? Summer is the perfect time to review your marketing plan and strategies to decide what's working and what isn't. What's the best way to review your successes ? Let’s break down some ideas…

First things first, dust off your 2016 marketing plan. Take a look at the plan you put together back in January with ideas on how to grow your business this year, and goals you set to accomplish. Did you ever start that blog or newsletter, test a pay-per-click campaign, or launch a referral program yet? If so, what’s working best for your company, and what requires some more attention? How happy are you with what's been accomplished the past 6 months – have you seen any response to your marketing efforts? Go over each of the points and compare where you are now with where you projected you'd be. Are you on track to hit your goals and accomplish all that you have planned so far? Consider where you are now and decide what you want to achieve by the end 2016. While you're at it, do some spring-cleaning. Cut your least-performing marketing activities and stop wasting your time on a campaign that isn’t driving traffic. Marketing can be hit or miss depending on what you’re doing. Don't keep wasting time on marketing tools that aren’t producing successful results and overall improving your bottom line. You need to see a return on your investment, so if something or some site isn’t working after a reasonable amount of time, then move on and try something new.

Next, identify your audience. To succeed in marketing you need to be sure you are marketing accurately and to the right audience. Who are they? What do they read, what sites do they like, what companies do they follow? What are their wants and needs? How do they communicate with you and your business (i.e. social media, email marketing, phone, face to face)? Once that's identified, look at your company through the perspective of your target audience. If your marketing plan is layered with your ideal customer’s desires it should give you tremendous insight into what is working and what is not.

Think about how you can change and improve things. Try new initiatives in select areas and with select audiences. Update your website. You should be consistently adding new content to your website, as it's your online storefront, but if you’ve found yourself slacking so far, mid-year is the perfect time to give your site an overhaul. Add new content based on your 2016 experiences thus far – like success stories, client testimonials, or best practices. Also edit and disregard information that may have changed, and remember to switch up the wording and sentence structure throughout your website.

You can't let the year pass you by without making a few changes – again the goal is to see the return on investment so it is important to evaluate where your social marketing stands, and where you can improve. A mid-year review doesn’t have to be extremely lengthy – it just needs to identify some key points in where your audience stands, what they are interested in, what they aren’t in an effort to improve your online presence going forward.

We also invite you to open this 100 Point Mid-Year Marketing Checklist as a quick in-depth guide to what you should be looking for. After you've gone through and decided on what changes you'd like to make, remember that Social Marketing Solutions is here at all times to help your company have the best marketing campaign possible!

Speaking of that…check us out on our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Connect with Kelly, Connect with Misty), we appreciate your support (and we follow/like back, of course!)

        

The Orange Effect

May 3, 2016

We LOVE introducing you to our clients and sharing their successes with you! This month we want you to say hello to one of our newer clients (who has TWO locations), Orangetheory Fitness. Located in New Providence and Middletown, Orangetheory Fitness consists of heart rate based interval training in a fun and energizing group environment that actually burns calories after you workout. Cool, right? It's called The Orange Effect.

But HOW does it work? The long version? Well, it's a one hour, heart rate monitored, interval training that combines endurance, speed and power. Workout stations are switched within the workout and all groups (up to 24 participants) are led by a dynamic, certified Coach that gives you cues and trains you through the five heart rate zones using the terms "base", "push" and "all out", as your results are shown in real time on a screen above. This system and guidance keeps you from under or over training.
 

Spending twelve or more minutes in the "orange zone" creates an EPOC effect (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption), and this effect promotes fat burning for 24-36 hours post workout! Spend ONE HOUR with them, and reap the benefits right into the next day. What will YOU burn for?

But they don't just kick butt in the gym; they're also kicking butt on social media! Just last week they received two inquiries about gym memberships via their Instagram page! They're also 1200 strong on their Facebook pages alone and growing. We're extremely proud of everything they've been accomplishing with our social media guidance and can't wait to see what they do next!

Need help with your own social media? Just give us a call at 973-265-2833 and we'll get started on a customized plan today!

Successful Engagement – What’s It Look Like?

March 25, 2016

 

You already have a Facebook page for your business (and likely a Twitter handle and LinkedIn profile, Instagram and Pinterest accounts, and more) but are you actually engaging with your audience? What does successful engagement look like? It's comments, likes and shares of your posts, taking quizzes, entering contests, redeeming offers and writing reviews. You don't want people to simply “like” your page, then move on and never return. But how do you GET engagement like this? Simple – by putting in the work.

And it does involve work but perhaps not as much as you might think (and some of it is fun!). Post content that is relevant, timely and interesting. Most people spend an average of 15-30 minutes on Facebook so your time in front of their face is limited. Make sure you're noticed. Post information of value to your fan base and their friends. Educate your audience on something they may value. Posting photos and video also increases engagement. In fact, you'll get MORE engagement with photos and video than you will with any other type of content. So post ways to use your product…photos of “behind the scenes”…positive reviews and testimonials…videos on how to use your product – sky's the limit!

A few other things to remember:

1. Respond quickly to posts or reviews on your page. You may have noticed that Facebook monitors this and highlights how responsive you are on your fan page.

2. Don't over OR under post. Posting more than once a day is great – you'll show up in your audience's feeds more often – but show up TOO often and they'll be turned off.

3. Keep your page updated. Likewise keep your website and all other links updated. What's the point of having a great fan page, if a customer gets to your site only to find out of date information, etc.?

Facebook is an important tool when it comes to online marketing and you need to make sure you're on top of your engagement (by the way, this stuff works fabulously for other sites as well). Get the conversation going and if you're not sure where to start, give us a call. Make the best of the free (or nearly free) resources at your fingertips to exponentially expand your business!

Let’s Blab About It!

March 4, 2016

Consumers today are more visual than ever before. Studies have shown that people spend more time on your website on average if video is involved and pay more attention to social media posts involving photos and video. A practice that's growing in leaps and bounds? Live-streaming. There are so many ways in which it can be used – from webinars to product demonstrations and more – and easily holds attention. That means platforms for live-streaming are popping up left and right, so which do you choose? One of the latest ones to spring up is Blab.

What is Blab? Simply put, Blab lets you build a personal and business presence while creating community. How does it work? It lets you host your own live show or conference with up to four people engaging at the same time. The moderator has control over who's in the three additional video seats, but anyone who wants to tune in can use the right panel to chat and the left panel to tweet. Blab’s ease of use, simplicity and functionality give it the edge over other live-streaming platforms. It's also important to note that Blab’s time length is open-ended and most blabs last about an hour.

Blab is easy to use. It's an off-shoot of Twitter, so you just login with your Twitter account info. You also find people to follow by using their Twitter handles (and of course you can search by subjects, etc). To create a Blab, you push the “create Blab” button, give it a title and a few tags, then either go live or schedule a time for it to post and away you go! And when your Blab is done, you can upload it to YouTube or as a podcast on iTunes or somewhere similar.

Blab really is the next step in live-streaming and is an easy way to introduce yourself to the format. Check out the FAQs section on their site to familiarize yourself, then Blab away! And remember, when you need help setting things up in the social media world or get too busy to handle everything yourself, give us a call. We'll put together the perfect plan for your company and get all eyes on you!

Start the Year Right!

February 4, 2016

January is about to end (can you believe it?) and 2016 is off & running! That means it's time to create a social media marketing plan that details your business's social media goals and the actions necessary to achieve them. Do you know what a good social media marketing plan entails?

1. LISTEN: Tune in and listen to what people are saying about your company. This is how you can evaluate your current social media presence. It also helps you better understand what the competition is doing and figure out what people are talking about so you can join the discussion.

2. SET GOALS: The next obvious step is setting your goals for the year. Now that you know what people are saying, what's trending and what your competition is doing, what do YOU want to accomplish this year? You want to use social media to meet your audience's needs and capitalize on your company's strengths.

3. IDENTIFY OBJECTIVES & DEFINE STRATEGIES: Identifying objectives and defining strategies is how you'll decide to meet your goals for the new year. Breaking down each goal into the steps to achieve them, makes the bigger picture easier to accomplish.

4. IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE: Who are you trying to reach? Do you want to continue reaching your current market or do you want to branch out into new areas? Deciding this helps you tailor content to each market's specific needs.

And from there it's onto implementation! Social media is a wonderful (and necessary) marketing tool that businesses often don't understand how to use. Many ignore the above steps and simply hop on social media creating random posts or spamming people, which is why they rarely (if ever) see results.

So what's your plan for 2016? If you're still working on it and need a hand, give us a call and we'll help you figure out the perfect strategy. And if you find yourself having trouble with the implementation portion (too little time, etc), our social media managers can handle it, down to the last detail. We work with each company to create an individualized plan, so we're able to market it all, big or small!

 

 

 

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