Make Your Holiday Marketing Stand Out

Make Your Holiday Marketing Stand Out
  • November 8, 2018

Make Your Holiday Marketing Stand Out

So, we’re seven days deep in November, but most stores have had Christmas decor and a holiday marketing plan in place since before Halloween! If you’re one of the ones grumbling about “premature Christmas decorating” or rolling your eyes at the sight of twinkling lights, glitter, and PURE CHRISTMAS JOY. First of all, shame on you. It’s never too early to get into the holiday spirit! Secondly, keep reading.

In the wild world of retail, the holiday season doesn’t wait until after Thanksgiving to kick off. In fact, it starts way earlier.

You see, holiday marketing is really no different than everyday marketing. Your brand should not exist to sell a product. Your brand should exist to solve your customers’ problems. 

People don’t care about your business. They care about their problems. Be the solution that they’re looking for.

Consumers start Christmas shopping as soon as Fall hits- some even sooner! So to make the most out of your holiday marketing, you need to be ready way before Black Friday rolls around.

So, do you know what it takes to get your holiday marketing plan working in time to capitalize on the holiday rush? I’m going to discuss how to approach your target audience and craft campaigns that show them that your brand has the solution to their problems!

 

Understand Your Audience

Like any marketing campaign, the key to a successful holiday marketing plan is knowing what you have to offer to the audience you’re selling to. And I’m not talking about the products you’re trying to sell. I’m talking about the thing that makes your brand the most desirable: value proposition.

Are your products or services more cost-effective than your competitors’? Higher in quality? Do you offer more options? Is your brand socially aware? More consistent?

An effective value proposition will:

  • Be brief and easy to understand
  • Tell others what you do
  • Allow your brand to be easily found in an online search
  • Explain how your product solves customers’ problems
  • Answer the question: “As your target customer, why should I give my business to you instead of your competitors?”

Specific value propositions attract specific consumers, so understanding what your value proposition is will help you identify your target audience.

In digital marketing, the competition is only a click, swipe, or tap away, so it’s vital that you pitch your brand to the right people in the right ways. Understanding who your value proposition attracts and why will give you the confidence to create a compelling holiday marketing plan that consumers can’t resist.

 

Win Them Over

While knowing your unique value proposition is beneficial, holiday marketing is an intense game, and standing out from the competition is typically more difficult during the most wonderful time of the year.

Whether it’s your needy Aunt Nancy or a stressed-out salesman, the appetite for your attention during the holidays is insatiable. And while it’s nice to be wanted, it gets exhausting.

For your brand to stand out amid the madness, customers’ attention has to be earned, not demanded.

If you can give customers a campaign they actually enjoy, you can break through the holiday marketing fatigue and create an experience that customers love. Try not to frustrate or overwhelm them. Create content that will warm their heart or make them laugh or smile. They’ll be grateful to your brand for evoking positive emotions and be more eager to buy from you.

Send a message that perfectly fits the needs of your target audience, and gives them an experience that will make their lives easier.

 

Think Ahead – Build Brand Loyalty

In the holiday rush, it’s hard to think ahead. The nature of the season can easily attract first-time customers, which is great, no doubt, but the goal is to keep ’em coming back in the first quarter of the new year.

To build your base during the season, strive to make sure customers have a smooth experience. Oftentimes, a spike in store traffic can also mean a spike in technical issues or customer confusion. Backtrack to last year and take note of any issues that can be solved ahead of time this year. Create a customer service plan specifically for the Christmas season.

When you take care of your customers, you’re building brand loyalty.

Another way to keep customers loyal is to invite them to connect with your website, email list, and social media channels. Post a balanced mix of engaging, entertaining, and informative content throughout the season and once the season ends. To put things simply, withstand the urge to ONLY promote in November and December. Your customers want a relationship with your brand all year long.

So, next time you walk into a store that is decked out in all things Christmas, don’t roll your eyes. Use it as a reminder that it’s time to get your butt in gear, and get to work on your holiday marketing plan!

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Social Media Optimization Step by Step

  • January 22, 2019

Social Media Optimization: A Step-By-Step Guide

Social media optimization (SMO) is the process of increasing social media engagement, driving traffic to your website, and boosting conversions via various social media platforms.
 

Social Media Optimization: How Does It Work?

Just like any form of digital marketing, a successful SMO strategy involves measurable goal-setting followed by making the necessary adjustments to increase follower engagement and conversions. This process includes crafting branded content that solves your target audience’s problems, engaging with other brands and/or followers, and utilizing social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to drive traffic to your website.

 

Who Is Social Media Optimization Right For?

Short answer? Everyone! 

Whether you run a B2B (business-to-business), a B2C (business-to-consumer), or a nonprofit, a successful SMO strategy will generate quality leads that convert!

Any reputable business will possess an established online presence on not only its website but across relevant social media profiles as well.

 

How to Optimize Your Social Media

 

1. Develop a Social Media Style Guide

Brands with the highest social media success possess a collection of guidelines to determine how their brand should appear on social media. If you already have an overall style guide for your brand, you can easily pull from that!

If you do not have a style guide, here are some tips to help you get started.

  • Write your company’s mission statement.
  • Clearly define your brand persona.
  • Pinpoint your key style guide components: voice, tone, color palette, design components, and logo usage.

 

2. Conduct a Competitive Analysis

A thorough competitor analysis will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your direct competition. Dig deep into their social media marketing data, and you’ll see what is and isn’t working for them, how you can use this to your advantage, and where you can fill in the empty gaps.

Here are a couple of tips for analyzing your business’s competitors.

  • Identify your top 3 to 5 competitors by researching brands and businesses that offer products and services comparable to yours, and locate their presence on all social media networks.
  • Review your competitors’ social media posts, content quality, number of followers, engagement, likes, and shares to identify the most compelling content based on your target audience.

 

3. Define Social Media Site Goals Based on Competitive Analysis

A strong competitive analysis should have given deep insights into competitor strategies and audiences. Use these insights to determine which competitor audiences are most relevant to your brand, and identify what your brand can do to effectively compete for your competitor’s target market’s business. From this point, establish a list of SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals to work towards.

 

4. Perform Hashtag Research

Adding hashtags to your social sharing is a great way to elevate your brand awareness.

Hashtag research should reveal the most popular hashtags used based on your industry, and engaging with the right hashtags lets your target audience know that you’re passionate about what they’re passionate about.

It goes without saying that your hashtags should be relevant to your brand. Another thing to remember is this – for a hashtag strategy that works, your focus hashtags should not be too broad. For example, HighClick Media is a marketing agency, but I would never use ‘marketing’ as a hashtag. Why? Because it’s too broad.

In fact, I just searched #marketing on Instagram, and 25.3 million posts are utilizing that hashtag. But when I look at the top #marketing posts, they’re all over the place. From a video of a personal trainer doing reps to a quote about being yourself to a random lady modeling a new jacket, none of these posts are relevant to my brand. Alternatively, upon searching #SocialMediaOptimization, less than 10,000 posts are utilizing this hashtag, and nearly every top post is completely relevant.

 

5. Optimize Your Social Media Profiles

Make sure that your business name on social media is exactly what users would search for if they were already aware of your physical business. Leave the nicknames or shortened names to your personal profile. Your business profile needs to be consistent with your existing brand. Take the time to review the remainder of your business information to make sure it’s filled out correctly and completely.

Review your social media images to determine their relevancy to your brand. Your profile image should always be your logo – no exception. Your cover image has a little more flexibility. I’ve seen high-quality business cover images ranging anywhere from a staff group photo to an abstract pattern. The key is to ensure that the cover image aligns with your style guide for consistency and brand recognition.

 

6. Share Quality Content with Your Followers

Your target audience is looking for content that meets their needs and solves their problems. When you give the people what they want, they begin to trust your brand. Use your competitive research for content inspiration!

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • What problems would my target audience still face after consuming content from my competition?
  • What expertise can I offer my target audience that my competitor can’t?
  • What resources can I offer to my target audience that my competitors haven’t?

 

7. Extend Your Brand Reach Beyond Your Existing Audience

Target new audiences with qualities similar to your existing audiences. Most social media platforms do not limit your promotion options to your immediate following. For example, on Facebook, you can choose to target your immediate audience and their friends, and it doesn’t stop there. You can also target users by location, gender, age, occupation, interests, and the list goes on and on!

Final Thoughts

Your main goal with regard to social media optimization should be to increase conversions by driving social media users to your platform(s), and ultimately, your website. This is done by building your social following, increasing their interest in your brand via quality content and engagement, raising awareness by nurturing your current audience and reaching beyond them to touch other potential followers, and analyzing your results to do it even better the next round!

To learn how HighClick Media can elevate your social media marketing, schedule a free consultation with one of our experts. We’d love to help you grow your business by becoming your outsourced team for all things social media optimization!

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Becoming HighClick Media

  • May 10, 2018

Becoming HighClick Media

Becoming HighClick Media

You may be wondering where in the world HighClick Media came from. Sure, we recently developed this alternative identity, but this isn’t our first rodeo.

In 2001, Joe Thigpen created DataGroup Technologies, Inc. (DTI). Offering web design and IT solutions, Joe began as a one-man show. The following year, DTI built its own data center to provide high-quality hosting. Since then, we’ve designed nearly 1,000 websites for a diverse range of businesses.

As the business continued to grow, we realized the need for digital marketing and began providing solutions to select clients. To date, we have assembled an experienced team of web developers, graphic designers, and digital marketing strategists providing services to clients in Eastern NC and beyond.

Locally, our brand is known as a regional IT provider, but we like to think big. We needed a new national identity. That’s when we established our new digital marketing component – HighClick Media – offering our premium services to the world.

The name says it all. We are committed to helping our clients receive the highest number of clicks or visitors to create the highest return on investment.

As a full-service digital marketing agency, HighClick Media can help your business with website design & development, branding services, pay-per-click advertising (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, social media management, marketing strategy, local marketing, ecommerce, and so much more!

With our seasoned team and our high-tech in-house data center, we are confident that we can provide better results that meet the specific marketing needs of our valued clients.

We’ll never stop growing. Come grow with us! Reach out to us today at 252.814.2150 or drop us a line here.

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Branding for Beginners

Branding for Beginners Social media marketing. Search engine optimization. Branding. Copywriting. When people find out the type of work that I do, they will undoubtedly

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5 Reasons Your Business Should Use Social Media

5 Reasons Your Brand Should Use Social Media

5 Reasons Your Business Should Use Social Media

Okay, business owners, I know what you’re thinking. “Why would I add one more thing to my already overloaded plate?” I feel for you, I really do, because social media can be super time-consuming! But, before you write it off, let’s discuss the significant role it can play in getting you significant results.

1. Everyone Uses Social Media.  Seriously, everyone! From my 13-year-old nephew to my 88-year-old grandma! From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter to aaallllll the other platforms, social media plays such a prominent role in our daily lives – and friend, it’s here to stay. Statistics show that 81% percent of the U.S. population has at least one social media account. Let me say that louder for the people in the back: EIGHTY. ONE. PERCENT!

2. Accessibility.  Think about how easily accessible social media is. It’s literally right at our fingertips, all day every day. Social media makes it ridiculously easy to share updates, post pictures and videos, discuss products, sales, specials, and so much more! Think of it this way – your business’s social media presence is in the pocket, purse, and hands of your potential customers!

3. Competition.  I have a confession: I’m a stalker, but not in a hiding-in-your-bushes kind of way! I’m a certified social media stalker through and through. Watching my competitors’ activities keeps me up to speed on what they’re doing and gives me extra insight into how I can advance. Monitoring competitors does much more than tell you what you’re up against. It can help you to formulate your own stellar marketing strategy. Keep your friends close and your enemies’ competitors closer.

4. Increase Brand Loyalty.  Effective communication can take your business to infinity, and beyond! The convenience and open communication social media provides allows the business to build deeper relationships with the audience. When people have an opportunity to respond to a business or provide feedback, it makes them feel like they have a voice, and when the business responds to the customer promptly and professionally, customer loyalty is boosted.

5. Increase Traffic and Conversions on Your Website.  Each time you link a social media post back to your website, you’re creating new entrances for viewers to get to your site. I’ll use HighClick as an example. I’ve been writing blogs and sharing them to our Facebook page. These posts get shared among HighClick’s Facebook followers, leading more people to click on our site to read the blog! More traffic = more opportunities for conversions. The more opportunities you have, the more closed business you get! It’s simple.

To sum it up, social media is an essential key to growing your business. It does take time to effectively operate a social media account, especially if you’re starting from scratch, but the results make it totally worth it. Try it, you’ll like it! Don’t hesitate to ask for help, that’s what we’re here for.

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5 Reasons You Absolutely Need a Professional Website Design

Why Your Business Needs a Professional Website Design
Why Your Business Needs a Professional Website Design

5 Reasons You Absolutely Need a Professional Website Design

First impressions matter! Fun fact: It takes only about 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about your website design. That’s 0.05 seconds for your potential customers to decide if your site, and ultimately – your business, is worth sticking around for or not.

Seriously, friends– 88% of consumers research a product online before purchasing. 88% of your potential customers will visit your website (and probably your competitors) before deciding if they’ll visit your business. Does your website do a good job of representing your business?

If it’s not obvious yet, I’ll go ahead and tell you: Your business *needs* a website.

No, not just any website; your business needs a professional website design. Because a website that’s boring or cluttered, takes forever to load, and doesn’t include critical info your potential customers are seeking, will hurt your business rather than help it. The appearance and usability of your website can make or break your business.

 

Here are 5 compelling reasons why your business NEEDS a professional website:

 

Credibility

Again, about 9 out of 10 people are going to search for their solutions online before they visit your store.

If you don’t have a website at all, chances are one of your competitors does. Where do you think the potential customer is most likely to go?

Having a website says, “I care about my business, and I’m here to stay.”

I don’t recommend using a free website-building platform, but it’s better than no website.

However, if you have a DIY freebie website that you built yourself, ask yourself, is it providing you with the image you envisioned for your brand?

Please don’t be that business owner that has a website online that says “Hey look, I used a free website builder!”

10/10 Very unprofessional. I’m telling you this because I love you.

With mindful planning, designed efficiently, and with your current and potential customers’ needs in mind, your website will offer a professional image and a great experience when visited.

 

Information

In its most elementary form, imagine a website as an online brochure that can be updated anytime.

A website is an effective way of reaching your customers to announce new services, products, upcoming events, or special promotions.

Some other forms of advertising can quickly become outdated, but your website can provide current information and news.

A website goes so much further than being an online brochure though. We have endless media outlets to showcase our skills, smarts, and products.

Not to mention integrating social media so you can share info on your site across numerous other channels, reaching an even wider audience.

 

Accessibility

A website is open 24/7, 365! A website gives you the ability to provide the convenience of seeing your products or services when your physical business is closed.

Also, with so many add-ons available, website visitors can contact you, schedule appointments and, if you’d like, purchase directly through your website.

We live in a crazy busy world. Convenience is such an awesome selling point!

 

Customer Service

A website can improve customer service, which improves loyalty, which guarantees your customers will keep coming back to you when they need your products or services.

It doesn’t matter what you sell, consumers love a personal touch. Sharing tips and advice to customers regarding your products or services can be a huge asset to your customer service.

If you’re selling hair products, you could provide styling tips that line up with each product.

If you’re offering insurance, you could offer advice on how to choose the right insurance policy based on their needs.

Last but not least, including a FAQ page allows you to address a lot of your customers’ questions before they even ask. Talk about customer service!

 

Ownership & Control

With a professional, self-hosted website, you own everything contained within your online space. If you ever decide to move to a different web host, you can take everything with you.

With free DIY websites, you’re not always able to take your content with you (at least not easily) when you’re ready to move on. Starting from scratch isn’t appealing in this case.

If you’re serious about the long-term prospects of your business, professional website design is the way to go. Professionally designed websites look better, work better, and are easier for business owners to deal with.

And to be frank, a cheap pre-made template looks like a cheap pre-made template, and it doesn’t have much room for improvement.

A professional website design requires tons of fine-tuning and technical knowledge.  But the impact it has on your digital marketing? Priceless.

If you’re ready to discuss building a website that thrives, let us know. We’re happy to help!

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5 Reasons Your Ecommerce Brand Should Consider Shoppable Instagram Posts

  • October 22, 2020

5 Reasons Your Ecommerce Brand Should Consider Shoppable Instagram Posts

According to Facebook, over 130 million Instagram users tap on a shopping post to learn more about a product every month! In addition, 500 million accounts visit Instagram Stories every single day! What’s the point? I’m glad you asked!

Simply put, if you sell products online – whether or not you currently have a presence on Instagram – you NEED to be taking advantage of the platform’s Shoppable Posts feature!

I Really Need To Up My Game Here (Deadpool)

In the not-so-distant past, the only way you could connect your Instagram followers with your products was via a link in your bio or by making use of clickable links in Instagram Stories. Those days are gone!

With the advent of Shoppable Posts, Instagram has made it easier than ever for online shoppers to fall in love with your products and quickly make them their own!

Oh I LIke That (Sloppy-Looking Guy)

Instagram Shopping provides your ecommerce business with an immersive storefront where people can easily explore your best products. With Instagram Shopping, you can share featured products through your organic posts and Stories, or have people discover your products in Search and Explore.

When someone taps a product on your post or a product sticker in your story, they’ll be taken to a product description page where they’ll see:

  • An image of the product from your post
  • A description of the product
  • How much the product costs
  • A link that takes them directly to your website, where they can purchase the product

Shut Up And Take My Money

If the stats above weren’t enough to convince you, here are five solid reasons for considering Instagram Shoppable Posts:

Now that you know why your brand can’t afford NOT to use Instagram’s Shoppable Posts feature, here’s a step-by-step guide for setting up your posts, straight from the source.

How To Set Up Instagram Shopping:

You Ready? (Rihanna)

Step 1. Make Sure You’re Eligible for Instagram Shopping.

Connect The Two Things Together

Step 2. Connect to a Catalog. You can accomplish this easily by either using Catalog Manager or by working with a certified Facebook Partner.

Sign Me Up

Step 3. Sign Up in the App. Once your account and catalog are connected, go to the Instagram app to sign up for “Shopping.” Go to your profile’s settings, tap “Business,” and tap “Instagram Shopping.” Follow the steps to make sure everything’s good to go and to submit your account for review. This process usually takes a few days, but sometimes it can take longer. You can visit “Shopping” in “Settings” at any time to check your review status.

Once you’ve been approved, you’ll receive notifications from Instagram and complete the setup in “Shopping” in “Settings” to start tagging products in your posts and stories.

So Let's Get Set Up

Step 4. Create Your First Shopping Post or Story. Now that you’ve set up shop, you can start adding product tags and stickers to your Instagram posts and stories. Start creating a post as usual and tap “Tag Products” to add a product from your catalog. You can feature up to 5 products per image or video post, and up to 20 products on multi-image posts. You can also go back and add shopping tags to old posts on your business profile. Stories can feature one product sticker per story. You can also adjust the color and text of product stickers.

How's That Going?

Step 5. Check Out Your Shopping Insights. Visit the “Insights” tab in your profile to see how your shopping posts and stories are performing. These insights can tell you more about what your customers might want, so you can offer more relevant products.

If I Can Do It, You Can Do It Too (Big Brother)

As you can see, the process is pretty simple. But if you’re a smaller organization, it’s possible that you might need a little help getting started with Instagram Shoppable Posts. Fortunately, the social media experts at HighClick Media are here to assist you every step of the way. Give us a call today at 252.814.2150 to set up a social media consultation. We can help you elevate your brand, one click at a time!

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Branding for Beginners

Branding for Beginners

Branding for Beginners

Social media marketing. Search engine optimization. Branding. Copywriting. When people find out the type of work that I do, they will undoubtedly ask all the questions about what it actually entails. Look – as a digital marketer, I could take you down the rabbit hole at any given time trying to explain what goes into it, but it would take hours… days… YEARS! Maybe not years, but you catch my drift. My goal for this blog as a whole is to help you get your feet wet and inform you of the importance of digital marketing, little by little, without totally overwhelming you.

So, today, we’re talking about branding.

What Is Branding, Exactly?

Well, I’m delighted you asked! Like most digital marketing terms, branding means more than just one thing, and typically, it means different things to different people. Some see branding as good public relations, and some believe it to be a simple logo or slogan. Branding can include both of these things and so much more. For me, your brand represents your business’s identity, enhances your culture, and extends your value proposition. Your brand is your personality, your story – a story that cultivates your vision, influencing your mission. The strongest, most successful brands use a distinct direction and a powerful message to guide the creative and visual aspects of their brand.

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”
~ Seth Godin

Mr. Godin is totally onto something here. You must communicate your story clearly so that your audience can pick up what you’re putting down. The goal is for your audience to develop a positive feeling and a grasped concept regarding your brand. Your brand is your foundation. It is the fundamental ground that upholds your values, message, mindset, and more.

When Evaluating Your Brand, Keep These Tips in Mind:

  1. Invest in Discovery: Conducting a brand audit is the only way to review where your company’s brand stands today. Check out your brand’s past history. What’s working and what’s not?
  2. Be Confident in Your Direction: Ensure that your employees (especially those with leadership roles) have a firm grasp on the vision and mission for the company. This may not be fully mapped out before you begin a branding process, but having some sort of concept in mind is beneficial.
  3. Keep an Open Mind: Let go of your preconceived notions and restrictions, as they may be holding you back from brand growth and direction. Immerse yourself in any and all ideas, even if in the end, the reins are pulled back. Being open-minded will allow you to reach and exceed your creative potential.
  4. Work with a Third Party: Branding or rebranding is difficult for any company. Sometimes you’re just too close to your own brand, and an outsider’s perspective can give you the fresh insight you didn’t even realize you needed.
  5. Enjoy Yourself: Branding is important stuff, and falling into a state of constant stress and worry is easy to do during this process. But if you have fun with it and work with a proven agency or consultant to guide you through the madness, your journey will be all the more positive and exciting!

So, are your wheels turning yet? Do you know what your brand stands for? How well are you communicating your story? Is your brand strategy aligned with your marketing plan? If you’re unable to answer these questions, or you think it may be time to revisit your strategy, we’re here for you!

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Millennials Mean Business

Millennials Mean Business
Millennials Mean Business

Millennials Mean Business

I Have Never Met Someone Who Doesn’t Have an Opinion on Millennials.

We are condemned for our love of avocado toast (it really is good – you should try it!) and pinned as the self-absorbed generation.  But, on the flip side, we are known for being open-minded, collaborative, tech-savvy problem solvers. Making up a quarter of the U.S. population, it should come as no surprise that Millennials have a huge impact on brand marketing.

Who We Are:

According to the Pew Research Center, if you were born between 1981 and 1996, you are a Millennial. There are currently over 76 million Millennials in the United States, and this number just keeps growing. More diverse than other generations, nearly half of Millennials are people of color.

Having been raised in a damaged economy, we are drastically more socially and technologically connected than any other generation. It’s true; We are the generation of iPhones, social media, apps, and streaming.

To put it plainly, we have a different perspective than the generations before us. Millennials are all about transparency, culture, and moral responsibility.

Our Generation Stays Connected

A whopping 86% of Millennials stay updated on brands through social networks – 82% of us are active Facebook users, with Gen X not too far behind at 76%. Not only that, but we are 2.5x more likely to adapt to new technology earlier than members of older generations.

The Millennial Income

A minority of this generation is wealthy, but for the majority of young adults, this isn’t the case. The average Millennial today earns $10,000 less than young adults in 1989.

help me im poor - Millennials Mean Business

Millennials Are a Health-Oriented Generation

We tend to make healthier eating choices and develop stronger exercise habits than prior generations. Using fitness apps and the internet helps Millennials research the healthiest options – and we’re willing to spend more on compelling brands.

How Millennials Shop

We are more likely to search for a deal. Nearly half of us use our smartphones to search for a better deal on a product while in-store, and 92% have made a purchase on their phone. Approximately half of Millennials spend 1 to 3 hours researching their finance options before making a major purchase. More brand-loyal than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, 69% of Millennials have chosen the same brand for a major purchase in the last year. When Millennials were asked if they would try a new brand when making a major purchase, only 17% said they would.

Millennials Perceive Your Brand Differently

We appreciate brands that are truthful, ethical, and unrestricted. Seeking products and services that improve their lives, Millennials enjoy interacting and engaging with brands on a personal level. Thirty-six percent of Millennials expect an interactive experience when looking for solutions.

All of this matters to your marketing.

Having such remarkably different characteristics, tastes, and expectations than prior generations, Millennials challenge stale marketing tactics, emotionless branding, and lackluster customer service. They want their voices heard, they want to trust your business and they are looking for a brand that will be an experience.

If your audience is young and you lack a creative strategy for marketing to this fresh generation, reach out to us to schedule a meeting with one of our marketing geniuses! Marketing to Millennials is one of our specialties!

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How to Turn Your Followers Into Clients

How to Turn Your Followers Into Clients

How to Turn Your Followers Into Clients

One of the best ways to reach potential customers is through social media marketing. Social media allows you to build a brand presence, reach a wider audience, and engage with current and potential customers.

However, many business owners make some of the same mistakes when getting started on social media. For instance, they might limit themselves to creating awareness on a single platform. While this isn’t entirely unreasonable, you could be targeting the wrong audience.

Maybe this particular scenario describes you…

You’ve worked hard to build your follower base over time. Your content is amazing. You’re always sharing the best advice you can find. But something still isn’t right. Your conversion rate is low.

You’re finding it challenging to turn loyal followers into returning clients. This may be due to a number of reasons. But ultimately, it boils down to poor marketing strategies and tactics.

Luckily, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll explain how to convert your followers into clients as well as how to generate tons of leads via social media channels. Excited? Let’s dive in!

Start a Conversation

Create Unique Content

One of the most critical steps in converting followers into customers is to create unique content.

While it’s a good idea to consistently post on your social media accounts, if you keep posting the same kinds of content, you will quickly become ignored. Try to come up with some new and innovative ways to engage with your followers and potential customers.

If you can think of a way to reach out to your customers in a way that’s more interactive, go for it! You’ll find that this is one of the best ways to get more people interested in what you have to offer.

Don’t be afraid to try new things and invest time and money into developing new strategies for engaging with your customers. When everyone else is posting about the same boring things, your posts will stand out from the crowd.

Create Contests and Giveaways

Creating contests and giveaways is a great way to generate viral marketing for your business. Encouraging people to talk about your business by creating a contest can go a long way toward attracting more followers, clients, and customers.

A successful contest must have an objective that entrants can strive for. It should be fun, and engaging, and should also be easily measured. An excellent example of this is a contest to get the most tweets or Facebook likes.

To make the contest more enticing, you can offer prizes for the winner or runners-up. Be sure that your contest is easy to enter so all your followers will want to participate.

To further increase the number of entries, you could offer additional prizes for entrants who are creative enough to submit creative content such as photos, videos, or blog posts related to your product or business.

Turning followers into clients is more attainable than you might think. While you may assume that your content alone is enough to entice your audience, that isn’t always the case.

Today, social media platforms are littered with brands competing for brand awareness. In order to succeed at converting your followers into clients, you’ll have to be unique in your approach to positioning and branding your business. It’s essential to identify your unique selling proposition and maximize it effectively.

One of the easiest ways to turn followers into clients is by starting a conversation with them. Rather than merely posting content for the sake of doing so, engage with your community and ask relevant questions.

Be sure to respond to any comments or questions that visitors leave on your page. In doing so, you will show prospects that you’re interested in them – and that they’re being heard and valued by your company. This will help build trust with potential customers and make them feel like they’re more than just another potential sale.

To start a conversation with one of your followers: first, take a look at their profiles to see what types of things interest them and which companies or organizations they follow. Then, use that information to start a conversation with them.

Don’t introduce your website or product into the conversation directly when you do this. Demonstrate that you are an authority on the topic by giving more information than is asked for – and then mention your company as if it were an afterthought.

Build Relationships with Influential People in Your Industry

Like any other business, it takes money to make money – and social media is no exception. The problem with social media is that you can spend a lot of time and energy engaging with people for “free,” but there’s no guarantee that any of the relationships you build will lead to sales.

The secret to making sure your efforts are worthwhile is to focus on connecting with influencers – people who are capable of influencing the people you want to reach. There are several ways you can go about doing this.

Start by identifying influencers who are actively focusing on your particular niche or industry. You can learn more about them by searching for their names on LinkedIn, reading their blogs, and following them on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Take a closer look at prominent influencers’ social media accounts and see if they are posting links to content that’s relevant to your business (and your potential customers). You might also be able to find them by seeing who’s active in groups relevant to your niche or industry.

Once you’ve identified these influencers, engage with them by liking or commenting on their posts. Even if they don’t reply directly, they’ll see that you’re interacting with their content – and this might lead them to engage with yours as well. It’s a good idea to comment positively.

Take Advantage of Trending Topics

Businesses are often afraid to jump into a trending topic out of concern that their involvement will come off as inauthentic.

The fact is, if you’re not leveraging the opportunity that comes with trending hashtags, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to increase your awareness.

There are several ways to get involved in the conversation without forcing. If you want to be seen as an active participant, research the trend and make sure your answer is helpful and relevant to your target audience. Convince people that you’re an authority in their niche.

Once you’re recognized as an expert in the field, try linking your response to your business or industry. If you have something valuable to contribute, take the time to write out informative blog posts for the same. Ideally, your blog post should also point to your products or services as an ideal solution to readers’ problems.

The Bottom Line

Before you can convert followers into paying clients, you have to get them to know, like, and trust you. Building a social media following is time-consuming and requires a great deal of patience and consistency.

Once you’ve attracted your potential clientele, start sharing your work in subtle ways that encourage followers to contact you without forcing your work down their throats.

If you’re struggling to get started with social media marketing or you need help building your follower base and converting them into customers, HighClick Media is here for you!

We are a full-service digital marketing and web design agency, dedicated to helping grow businesses of all shapes and sizes by implementing comprehensive marketing solutions. Our talented team of creative thinkers, innovators, and digital marketers bring extraordinary skill to every project, positioning your business for blistering success.

Whether you’re looking for a website refresh, social media marketing, or brand development, reach out to us today by calling 252.814.2150 or dropping us a line here.

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Guest blogger Margie Heaneythe writes high-quality content and helps manage social media marketing efforts for Get Plus Followers. She helps save social media marketers time and money by finding active and engaging Instagram users for their personal profiles or business pages. Margie is proud to partner with LearningFuze, a premier coding and data science boot camp offering part-time or full-time courses, available in person or online.

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