As the name suggests, lead gen ads help B2C, B2B, or lead generation companies to drive more quality leads and boost their sales volume. But lead gen ads aren’t only useful for e-commerce websites. They can also be used to extract insightful customer information which you can use to create more laser-targeted ads. If you are not familiar with the ways to use lead gen ads, here are a few ideas that will help:

1.    Facebook contests

Facebook users love quirky rewards from a quick poll or contest. You can use the lead gen ads where users will participate from Facebook instead of visiting your website. The trick is to gather customer information by asking them to fill out the personal fields in your questionnaire or survey form to stand a chance to win a prize. You can also customize the questions if you are looking for a new slogan for your company or want the customers to decide the type of content they want to see. The idea is to capture custom information to engage with the audience further and initiate a conversation that ultimately leads to a conversion.

2.    Sign up for emails and newsletters

Creating an urge among potential customers can considerably increase the sales of your company. Integrate facebook ad leads with Gmail and send updates/newsletters. It’s the perfect ploys to make prospective customers visit your website. Lead gen ads have been highly successful in this regard. You only need the email address of the Facebook user to sign up for your mailing list. As soon as you acquire the email ID, you can send regular emails and news about your company and the types of products and services you offer. This will create the urge that otherwise would have remained dormant because the customer had an interest in the products, but didn’t feel the need to rush on it.

3.    Incorporate SEO into your Facebook Ads

What’s great about using Facebook lead gen ads is that it gives you a lot of options, and this means plenty of things to test and play around with. For example, you can set up multiple ads targeting different demographics and pointing to different pages on your website. You can conduct an A/B test to see which ads and pages convert the most customers. Another trick often used by SEO services in Chicago is pointing Facebook ads toward previous high-performers. If you have pages on your site that attained Google first page rankings but fell off, driving fresh, relevant, and targeted traffic can bring them back to life.

Lead gen ads have changed the way businesses reach out to their customers. These ads serve as a tool that can increase your sales volume by targeting your audience in ways that most likely leads to a conversion.

The post How to Maximize Facebook Lead Gen Ads for Your Business appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

The use of social media metrics

Before understanding how you can use social media analytics, it is essential to know the power of the social media platform. It comes as no surprise that customers prefer communicating with brands through social media, primarily because it’s fast and convenient. Any business should consider social media as an extension of their customer service, as responding to customer queries, comments, and feedback will ultimately boost brand recognition and trust.

But to fully understand how powerful social media can be, it’s imperative to learn the different metrics used to analyze the performance of your social media marketing campaign. These indicators point out the strong and weak points of your business, thus enabling you to develop a plan to make the necessary changes.

Continuous data-driven strategy

Millions of data pile up after promoting through social media for an extended period. Social media analytics will analyze the data and find out if your promotional posts are helping you inch closer toward your business goals. This process helps you identify whether you need changes in your content strategy. It is a continuous process of adapting to how the target audience responds to the posts and what you can do to improve their social experience.

Following the three-fold path to success

• Brand value – social media has become the best platform to share the brand personality of your company. Studies show that as much as 87% of internet users are more likely to share the photo of a new product or service that has been promoted through social media websites. However, the post should be unique and engaging enough to attract the attention of prospective customers. It is vital that the focus of the product does not take away the limelight from the brand. Otherwise, customers will search for similar products from the competition.
• Customer service – answering frequently asked questions on social media in the form of a tweet or a meme or even an interesting chat will improve the image of the company. The idea is to use social media marketing as a medium to reach out to thousands of customers instantly. A leading online tutor website does this effectively by allowing their GMAT tutors to communicate with potential students on social, which boosts their credibility right away.
• Customer generation – businesses that effectively use their social presence enjoy a 49% increase in the number of new customers they generate. This includes using social media not only as a means of a promotional tool, but as a way to engage with customers, get their feedback, and come up with the right action plan that will ultimately lead to higher sales.

It is easy to opt for different social media marketing strategies to promote your business. But unless you use analytics, you won’t be able to tell how effective they are. If you haven’t already, include analytics in your overall social media marketing strategy to get a clearer picture of what works and what doesn’t.

The post Using Analytics to Improve Social Media Marketing appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

This latest update is still in the testing phase and will roll out next year. According to Instagram’s statement, the creator accounts provide an attractive alternative to Instagram business profiles for influencers. An increasing number of creators use Instagram every day to grow their brands and connect with followers. But the existing tools currently available to businesses no longer meet their growing needs. Creator Accounts are designed to provide creators with the essential tools to help solve their challenges and find new ways to establish their personal brands.

Social media marketing experts feel excited about this update. According to Michael Del Gigante of MDG Advertising, ” “Instagram is all about resonating with your target audience. If you want to become an influencer, it’s imperative that you deliver what your viewers want to see.  With these new features, influencers are going to be able to create more targeted content that resonates with their followers and improves their reach. Overall, it makes sense for Instagram to cater to influencers as they are one of the biggest reasons for Instagram’s core audience to come to the platform in the first place.”

Instagram influencers can now rely on Creator Accounts to quickly connect with potential sponsors and business contacts as well. The message filtering feature, for one, makes it doubly easier to organize messages and separate the most important ones from other messages such as fan mail and spam. High-profile accounts suffer from flooded inboxes the most, so this new way of filtering messages is long overdue.

The influencer accounts will also be equipped with advanced analytics. Using valuable data to observe customer patterns, engagement rates, and buying behaviors will ultimately increase any brand’s personal relationships with their followers. Influencers will be able to track weekly and daily changes in their follower count, for instance. While Instagram business profiles have analytics built in, they can’t get into the specific details that will help creators improve their content and reach.

Aside from helping creators formulate more effective content marketing strategies, advanced analytics is also seen to increase account security. There have been many reports of accounts being more vulnerable to hacking simply due to a lack of complex analytics.

Many third-party tools claim to provide the same in-depth analytics that Creator Accounts will provide. But users have become wary of using such tools because they are prone to hacking. Cyber hackers often spoof these websites to get users to enter their account details and steal their Instagram profiles. The introduction of Creator Accounts means one less security risk for users, especially popular Instagram users who have given up so much to grow their accounts.

Instagram’s latest update marks an exciting time for the company and their users. It provides an all-in-one solution that takes away the need for third-party tools just to gather important metrics and insightful data about an influencer’s followers. The app continues to test Creator Accounts to identify potential additions that will prove beneficial for the platform’s highest-profile users.

The post Instagram Begins Testing of New ‘Creator Accounts’ appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

That may be because you don’t have a clear-cut budget. Whatever you do for your business, always have a budget to help you with money management.

Marketing is invaluable for a business to thrive. Therefore, a marketing budget will help you stay within your means and get the most out of your money. Before formulating a budget, you need to understand a couple of things about marketing.

First of all, there is a long-term and short-term marketing budget. With that in mind, the second thing you need to understand is what a short term budget is and what a long-term budget is.

Long-term budget

A long-term budget is one that will require regular payments for the same effort. For instance, if you’re running a campaign for six months, you’ll need to make monthly payments for the campaign to keep running.

Short-term budget

A short-term budget on the other hand often includes one-off payments. For example, if you implement a marketing strategy that doesn’t require additional costs to run.

How to set-up a marketing budget

•    Outline your strategy

It all starts when you outline your marketing strategy. The approach will guide you through formulating a budget. For instance, what marketing media will you use, do you need campaigns and promotional events?

These are some of the questions that your strategy will address. With a plan in place, you have a clearer picture of how to go about formulating a budget.

•    Set goals

Your approach only highlights what you’ll do, your marketing efforts to grow your business. However, the goals you set for the marketing efforts will guide you toward creating a budget that works for your vision and goals.

•    Define a timeline

How long will you be carrying out these marketing efforts? Remember, a short-term budget will be different from a long-term budget. Therefore, choose your marketing timeline carefully since it directly affects your budget.

•   Set a scalable budget

An approximate budget is essential because a fixed number will restrain you. A budget is meant to guide you through achieving your goals. With this in mind, always set a more significant amount to allow room for changes, additions and any other variations.

Moreover, once your marketing efforts begin to bear fruit, you can slowly increase your marketing budget to match your business growth.

•    Test your budget

At this point, you have everything you require to kick-start your marketing campaigns. What you need now is to test your budget. Get developers, SEO experts and reputable marketing agencies necessary to your strategy and find out if they fit within your budget.

During the testing stage, you get to pick those who fit within your budget, all this before implementing your marketing strategy.

Additionally, testing your budget should also include a test of your strategy. Is it a winning strategy or not? If you don’t generate enough leads during the testing stage, it’s safe to go back to the drawing board and re-strategize.

Conclusion

A marketing budget can be tricky since your expectations might not match the results. What you need is patience in your business and a smart, well-thought budget that doesn’t strain your business.

Always ensure that your marketing budget covers as many platforms and techniques as possible.

The post How to Set a Marketing Budget appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

According to the latest forecast by eMarketer, online video ad spending will reach $27.8 billion in the US. This will account for 25% of all US digital advertising this year. The most popular social media platforms top the list of the highest net video ad earners:

Facebook (including Instagram) – $6.81 billion

YouTube – $3.36 billion

Twitter – $633.3 million

Snapchat – $397.3 million

Facebook Rakes in the Highest Video Ad Revenues

This year, Facebook will lead the way in total video ad spending in the US to the tune of $6.81 billion or roughly 25% of the total expenditure in this category. In the US alone, Facebook enjoys a 90% control of video ad spending on all social media platforms. It’s essential to note that these figures consider Instagram video ad revenues as well.

For many marketers, this doesn’t come as a surprise. Brands now have a deep understanding of how video can effectively deliver their marketing messages while holding the attention of their target market. Any reputable online marketing agency now creates digital video ad campaigns for their clients, supplementing other popular techniques such as SEO and PPC. With both younger and older audiences spending more time with over-the-top media services, transitioning to video content proves an excellent investment for any brand.

Other Social Media Sites Refuse to Fall Behind

While eMarketer forecasts that Facebook will enjoy double-digit growth in video ad revenue through 2020, other social media platforms show promising performances as well. A staggering 60% of US Snapchat revenue is represented by video ads. Twitter is just a tad short, with 55% of its ad revenue coming from video. Interestingly, Twitter only accounts for a mere 2.3% of total video ad spending based on the forecast.

YouTube Trails Facebook in Net Revenue

Given the numbers above, it’s peculiar to see Facebook enjoying twice as much revenue as YouTube, the largest video sharing platform in the world. YouTube has been a major contributor to Google’s ad revenue growth over the years, but the platform has much higher overhead costs than Facebook. YouTube pays out a large portion of its revenue to generate targeted traffic. Moreover, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, doesn’t have a separate category for YouTube revenue.

Experts, however, claim that YouTube would probably beat Facebook in terms of gross revenue from video ads. Some analysts at Wall Street suggest that the total ad revenues of YouTube could reach $15 billion.

What’s Next for Video?

All these numbers reflect the power of video as an ad medium for brands. The effectiveness of video ads isn’t only proven by brands and marketers, but online consumers as well. With social media platforms and traditional websites publishing more video content, it’s clear that marketers should remain focused on video marketing and explore ways to leverage it to its fullest potential.

The post Video Now Accounts for 25% of Total US Digital Advertising appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Sometimes two volatile elements can come together to form something explosive, something that is completely unpredictable.  For many of us, this is social media.  Social media has given a public voice to millions of people and it has introduced a host of ethical questions on the way.  Ethical questions that few of us know how to answer.   For example, the rise of fake news on social media is a major issue.  So too is the possibility of a couple of CEOs (Facebook and Twitter) having complete control over social media information.   The second disruptive technology is blockchain.  The blockchain is a decentralized open source technology that allows global financial technologies to process without a single point of control.

Bitcoin, which is the very first blockchain, was all the rage but it has long since quieted down, at least as far as hype is concerned.  When it turned out that people would not be paying their car wash in bitcoin instead of dollars (the ins and outs of bitcoin are a bit complicated) the hype around bitcoin died down quite a bit.  But what happens if we combine social media and blockchain?  What you get is STEEM, a social media network that actually pays its users to post !

How exactly does STEEM work?

STEEM (which is technically owned by a company called Steemit but the network is shorthanded as STEEM) rewards posters with its own version of bitcoin for posting content. The central idea behind STEEM is simple:  The users who post content are the stars of the STEEM network and therefore they should be rewarded.  In today’s social media world, advertisers like discount codes Plusvouchercode, which gives consumers the power to save up to 70% on goods, pay to advertise to social media users, and thus social media users are not direct sources of income for networks like Facebook.

STEEM was founded by Ned Scott and Dan Larimerm, who also happen to be the founders of BitShares and EOS, which are also blockchain related products.  Users on STEEM do not actually just get paid to vote.  In practice, STEEM users get paid when other users upvote what they have posted.  In fact, STEEM looks a lot like Reddit.  STEEM actually pays in two forms of currency, Steem and Steem dollars  (Steem dollars are pegged to the US dollar so that they are free from the wild price fluctuations of crypto coins.)  The users of STEEM can also get paid to curate or discover content as well; even for things from a Vape Shop.  The curation process on STEEM involves voting on comments and content submission.

STEEM’s obstacles

So how is STEEM doing?  The answer might not be as exciting as one may think.  As of January 2018, STEEM only had 43,552 active users.  This doesn’t even come close to Facebook’s 2018 active users which were at least 2.23 billion worldwide.  But why is this?  Why would the users of Facebook not want to simply earn free money for their hours of “free posting?”  The clue to this problem lies in the complexity, expense and price uncertainty of crypto coins like bitcoin.  For one thing, dealing with a crypto coin is complicated and there is a steep learning curve involved.  The average person using Facebook doesn’t understand what a hash function is, which is the backbone of all blockchain transactions (a hash function or hash is a computer process that takes one input and creates a different value of a fixed size.)

When bitcoin was first hyped in the media, many of its advocates swore up and down that it would replace most debit card transactions. This never happened because dealing with crypto coins is not only more complex than using a debit card, but it also is not insured like your money in the bank is.

When something happens to our money in the bank, whether it be fraud or a mistake on our part, the transaction can be reversed.  This is not so with crypto coins.  If your STEEM coin is defrauded or if you sent it to the wrong “address” your money is gone.  There is also the matter of losing money in the process of converting in and out between crypto coins and dollars.  For these reasons STEEM, as good as it sounds, just cannot make it into the big time of social media.

The post Exploring the STEEM Social Media Blockchain – Will it pay to pay users to post? appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

In this guide, we’ll focus on Facebook Messenger, which has proven to be a useful marketing tool when leveraged correctly. Here are three ways to advertise your business using Facebook Messenger Ads.

1) Click-to-Messenger Ads

This is the most popular Messenger ads for marketers—and there’s a good reason why. Its primary purpose is to build a subscriber list and a loyal following by starting conversations with new people. Click-to-Messenger ads look like regular ads on Facebook, but you’re redirecting users to Messenger instead of your website or a landing page.

Also called Destination Ads, this type of ad can be customized by adding an image, video, slideshows, carousel, etc. Users can tell that it’s a destination and when they see a call to action button that says, “Get Started” or “Send Message.”

This UK software development company uses Click-to-Messenger Ads to target prospective customers. They take advantage of the fact that the ad can be used to target anyone based on their interests and behaviors. Knowing that their target audience is tech-savvy, the company strives to communicate where their customers like to communicate. And right now, that place proves to be messenger apps.

2) Sponsored Messages

Here’s something that adds a human element to your brand. Sponsored Messages offer an excellent opportunity to engage in one-on-one conversations with potential customers. Take note that you can only send these messages to people who have messaged you before, which means it can be effectively used to re-engage with those who have already shown interest in your brand.

Sponsored Messages look like an ordinary message on Facebook Messenger, but it comes from a brand instead of a friend. After creating your message, you can send it to everyone with an existing message with you, but you can decide to narrow down your list for better targeting.

3) Messenger Home Placement

This one isn’t a type of ad, but a new place that may prove more effective in capturing targeted leads. Your ads can now show up inside Messenger home rather than a specific conversation. The ads are labeled “sponsored” to set it apart from the other conversations of your audience.

What makes this new placement interesting is that those who click on your ad can be redirected to a landing page or inside a Messenger conversation. As always, you should experiment to see what works better for your business. Be particularly careful when sending clickers to a website. Since they’re already on Messenger, they might find the experience intrusive.

The post 3 Ways to Turn Facebook Messenger Ads into a Powerful Marketing Tool appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Evergreen content

Evergreen content can be described as content that is useful over time. For example, tips on how to replace a flat tire is an example of evergreen content. The process is the same for the majority of vehicles. At the same time, the tips provided will be valid for many years to come. As such, search engines and social media sites will grow your traffic over time.

Valuable posts are rewarded by search engines and the content you put on social media sends out “social signals” to the search engine.  These social signals give weight to your content.  Remember, the higher the perceived value of your content by search engines, the more traffic you get. Take note it may be impossible to create evergreen content all the time. However, if at least half of your content is evergreen, you are headed in the right direction.

Self-promoting headlines

A good headline is one that garners clicks. Apart from being easy to remember, it is also worth sharing. In fact, posts that go viral do so due to their headlines. A great way to do this is by using ambiguity. Find a way to make readers want more.

You can create a great headline by teasing them with a question. For example, if there is a new social media platform going viral, you can create a great headline. A good headline would say something like “Why X Is The New “Twitter”. A great headline would state something like “Is X The End of Twitter?”

Make it worth reading

Make sure your published content is worth reading. Humans who are happy reading your content on social media will trust you more. Additionally, it drives business results and boosts social sharing. People share compelling content and ignore crappy content.

Strive to publish content created to be valuable, interesting, funny, and useful. The content needs these qualities to be experienced by the target audience. Advertising content is only a step forward. Whether the content “runs” is almost certainly determined by its value. Great content on social media is a guarantee of great results.

Use Your Inner Creative

In most cases, people give content that is not “human.” It happens by providing content that does not speak to the reader. A good place to start is getting rid of the barriers between you and your readers. For example, formal language may not go down well with an audience in the gaming industry. However, it may go well with people looking for a service such as HVAC or construction.

Speeds kill competition

It is a challenge for a brand to keep up with current events in their niche. With this in mind, it is paramount to ensure you have content that keeps you updating your audience, especially on social media. You may find this to be a daunting task. It is not!

All you need to do is get a single person or a member of your team to check updates on your competitors. This can be done by getting updates on your phone or email whenever something new comes up. The same individual can be used to create content with regards to the new development.  These are some of the strategies that should put you ahead in the social media marketing game.

The importance of good grammar

One final note, proper English grammar is critical to any online written content. This is very important! Search engines such as Google have now added advanced algorithms that can sniff out and penalize bad or incorrect grammar.  Believe it or not, but proper English grammar can be tricky even for native English speakers. To make sure that your content is up to par, using services such as Assignment Expert is very effected to get English grammar help.

The post 6 Amazing Tips for Content Creation appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Being active on social media does not translate to success automatically. Staying up to date with current social media and marketing trends and applying them is the way to go. Today, social media and marketing go hand in hand, especially in this online world of competitive pricing. Knowing the most effective trends in 2018 will help your brand stay on top of things.

1. Live Videos

Live video content was big in 2017 and they continue to be popular in 2018. It has become so popular that the majority of brand executives consider it a crucial part of their marketing strategy in 2018. 80% of audiences prefer a live video as opposed to a blog. 82% of consumers would rather watch a video than read a post on social media.

Buffer’s report on the state of social media shows Facebook is the leader in live streaming. However, only 31% of business promoted their brands using live videos. Businesses need to understand how the trend can increase their engagement with consumers. They should start going live on their distribution channels and respond to comments in real time. This move will generate new leads and increase overall reach.

2. Chatbots

Chatbots have been in existence since the days of AOL instant messenger. Today, they are integrated into all social media platforms. These bots are used by businesses to communicate with consumers. For instance, the first year the bots were used on Facebook Messenger, the number jumped from 33,000 to over 100,000. The bots recognize certain key phrases sent by users. They then provide automatic responses that are programmed for a certain group of phrases or words.

It is a winning solution, and also a cost-effective alternative to hiring human customer support representatives. Juniper Research estimates that chatbots are going to save banking and healthcare industry businesses $8 billion a year by 2022. In 2017, the bots saved such businesses $20 million a year.

3. Evolving Influencer Marketing

A micro influencer is a person on social media who is not a celebrity but has a strong following. They usually have anywhere between one thousand to 90,000 followers. Influencer marketing is an old concept, but social media channels are using it differently. Companies have started increasing their credibility by partnering with micro influencers. There are some reasons why companies are partnering with micro influencers.

Studies show traditional celebrity influencers have 60% lower engagement rates than micro influencers. Therefore, micro influencers can make a company experience more than a 20% increase in weekly conversions. These influencers are also affordable compared to other advertising mediums. Followers trust the opinions of influencers. Spending money on influencer marketing is a great 2018 marketing strategy.

4. Social Media Paid Advertisements

Paid advertisements on social media are recommended for companies that want to maximize social media marketing. Social media platforms have millions of businesses paying for advertisements. It’s because it is easy to set up an advertisement that targets a particular demographic. Every business will love this kind of precision targeting.

Apart from reaching a target audience, social media allows you to set a budget. Options such as daily and weekly setups are available. There is also a plethora of options when it comes to the type of advertisements. This makes it easy for companies to experiment and determine the best ads for their brands. It is estimated that social media ads will surpass print ads by 2020.

Bottom Line
There are constant changes in developments on social media. As a business owner, who must always have an eye out for competitive pricing, you need to ensure you effectively reach your target audience and keep your finger on the pulse. This can only be done by staying up to date with the latest social media trends.

The post Top 4 Social Media Marketing Trends in 2018 appeared first on Social Media Explorer.