Category: Blog

By now, you likely know the power of social media to grab your audience’s attention and help promote what you do each day. Facebook is an important driver of social media marketing, especially with its ability to schedule events, boost posts and target your audience specifically. Are you using Facebook to its full potential?

Enter: Facebook messenger.

Mark Zuckerberg recently shared that 800 million people now use Facebook messenger! This tool can help make your social media plan more dynamic by adding another level of ability to reach your customers.

Here are a few of our notes on Facebook Messenger marketing:

1. It’s a great tool because you can private message your customers even without being friends, or them ‘liking’ your page.

This allows you to help customers in real time with any questions they might have – for example, if someone needs directions, hours of operation or more. You can also suggest services, reach out to the customer on a personal level, or handle complaints. This is a great way to take your conversation from public on your Facebook page to 1:1 through messenger.

1. Be timely with your responses, or create a saved reply.

You may notice when you look at your page, or another local business, you’ll see a score on how fast this business responds to messages. If your work keeps you away from Facebook, you can create a saved reply to let customers know what number they can reach you, and an appropriate time they can expect a response back. Check out tutorials on Youtube on how to do this to set yourself up for success.

3. Use messenger to learn about your customers

Check the left-hand side of your message, and you’ll notice personal details of the person messaging you – from the inside of your message! You’ll learn who the person is, if they liked your page, and when and any previous time you’ve communicated. You’ll also be able to see where this person works, went to school and where they’re from.

We hope our entry-level overview of Facebook messenger has broadened the way you look at Facebook as a Marketing tool. For a first step, check out your page and make sure you haven’t missed any messages! Next, set up a designated person on your team to respond to messages, or set up an auto-reply. Lastly, see if you have anyone who you would like to connect to via messenger, perhaps inviting them to visit your location again.

Happy Messaging!

If you need help with promotions or advertising, contact Southern View Media to find out how we can help with your business’s marketing goals. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit WWW.SOUTHERNVIEWMEDIA.COM. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answers your questions.

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “Get Online or Get Left Behind!”

It’s the age of the Internet. That means that, aside from having more and more information available to us at any given time, that our screens have become an extremely visual place. Think about it, with screen sizes increasing on tablets and smartphones, resolutions increasing on computers and countless other tech updates, what a person says online is now just as important as the photos that go along with it. In fact, it can even be argued that photos are more important – because they’re instantly seen and host a lasting impression (whereas text has to be read), visual aids are a growing importance within the virtual world.

The same goes for your website, and the pictures you’re putting on it. When using photos that are blurry or of ill quality, customers will get a sense of low quality as soon as they enter your site. To avoid this potential issue, you should be using high-resolution images for your website. Talk with a photographer or web designer about what will be best for your specific design. In general, however, the higher the resolution, the better, as photos can be resized and made smaller to fit specific spaces.

Next, consider the subject matter of your photos. What’s seen in each image? How does that image reflect upon your business? In this light, you want to be sure to pick photographs that are dynamic, yet still relevant to your industry. This way you can avoid static pictures that look like they came straight from a cheesy stock catalog, but aren’t going too unique that you scare away your target market.

Another design criteria to look into is that of size. Your images should fit within the design and limitations of your website. These sizes were put into place by a designer to best represent screen size, proportions, and more. Many websites will even have photos that “slide” or change with time or that adjust automatically, depending on the viewer’s screen. This is a growing practice among web design and one that embraces the mobile user.

In contrast, photos (or websites) that aren’t made to be responsive, or are incorrectly cropped for a design, can throw off an entire site’s look and feel. This step in and of itself can make a section that looks as though it was poorly put together, or that it’s hard to use – whether or not that’s the case.

To ensure this doesn’t happen to you, or your website, look to the help of trained professionals instead. Talk to them about website and photos sizes, resolutions, pixels, or any other factor they believe would help your images to become a higher quality. As always, we’re here to help!

As digital marketing experts, we can help you choose the best pictures to represent your brand online, through social media, and more. Whether you’re just looking for advice, or would like to be walked through the entire process, we can help get you where you need to go.

If we told you the heart of a business’s success rests on their marketing plan, would you believe us? Well, it is true. You also know that there are companies out there who specialize in marketing and offer their services to help other businesses, right? Outsourced marketing is becoming a more common business practice. There are many benefits of outsourcing your organization’s marketing. Keep reading to find out what they are.

Cost-Effective

Outsourcing marketing costs a significant amount less than hiring one full-time executive. Plus, when you outsource your marketing, you get an entire team of marketing professionals. These employees will conduct research and implement marketing strategies that will work for your business. Not only will you save costs on employees, but you will save money on software as well.

Time Management

Just last November, Small Business Trends reported that small businesses spend an average of 20 hours per week marketing their business. That’s a lot! This comes from the sheer amount of channels available now to you to reach your customers (and potential customers). When you allow your marketing to be outsourced, you can focus actually running your business.

Access

You should still have access to all your organization’s marketing data and findings. Most marketing companies send weekly or monthly reports including updates and analytics regarding your business. Additionally, hiring someone outside of your business can help you gain an outside perspective that someone who works there on a daily basis may not provide.

Latest Technology and Trends

Most marketing experts spend a lot of time learning new skills and finding out the latest trends in marketing, especially digital. To say that digital marketing is ever changing would be an understatement. There are always new programs and software created just for the marketing expert. When you outsource your marketing, you won’t have to stay up-to-date with these trends because your marketing experts will have it handled for you.

Focus

By outsourcing your marketing, you will get to focus on the core of your business. It will give you more time to focus on other things that are important in your company. Trust that your marketing is being handled by the right team of experts.

Experience

Marketing agencies are experts in their field. Most agencies work to provide their clients with the best marketing plan optimized to suit their business. They know how to achieve business results, no matter the type of business that has outsourced their marketing.

Marketing is a vital part of a company’s success, growth, and overall stability. Investing in strategic marketing for your company will be fruitful. If you think outsourcing your marketing is best for your business, then keep us in mind.

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic marketing plan, call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions.

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”

Are you utilizing LinkedIn to the best of its capabilities? Are you posting content that will attract potential clients to your business? If not, you definitely should be! If you are not sure how, there are some strategies you can follow to attract clients.

Develop Connections

The people you meet on LinkedIn are called connections. Those who you have directly connected with are considered “first-degree connections”. These connections are in your immediate network. You can increase your network by clicking “Add Connection” and giving LinkedIn access to your email or by providing emails by pasting them in.  The warmer your first-degree connections are, the more possibilities there are! Here are some ways to improve your LinkedIn connections:

Message them when you can.

Connect and interact with them on social media.

Meet up with them for lunch or coffee.

Watch Your Newsfeed

Most people ignored the LinkedIn newsfeed, but did you know that you can filter the newsfeed to show only news from your new connections? Watching your connections can provide you with competitive intelligence. It may also be a reason not to connect with competitors on LinkedIn.

Get Introduced

You can also filter your newsfeed by recommendations. If someone recently gave or received a recommendation, you may have a better chance succeeding at an introduction to the person who made the recommendation! If someone gave or received a recommendation, that means there is a lot of positivity in their relationship. This may provide you with a better chance at succeeding with an introduction.

LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers for New Business

LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers is a great place for you to find potential clients and to build new relationships. You can answer questions from individuals who are potential prospects to demonstrate your knowledge, value, and expertise. Consider it a preliminary job interview! You can also use LinkedIn Answers to ask questions that may show potential clients by drawing them out! You can ask about their challenges, frustrations, or what is currently holding them back. From there, you can begin building a relationship with them. Just be sure that you are helpful and not sales based. If your company has not started its own LinkedIn Group, you should consider creating one!

The above are just a few strategies for prospective clients on LinkedIn. You can use these techniques to build on them or you can try applying your own methods. LinkedIn is a great tool to find prospective clients for your business and if you are not utilizing it as such, then you are missing out!

Find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence by calling us today at 251-583-2605 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions.

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”

When your business has a website, it takes work to make it successful and to drive traffic to the actual site. Google Analytics is a great tool when it comes to tracking and reporting your website traffic. Google Analytics is made up of all different codes and tools that make it successful. Today we are going to discuss the UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes and why they are important to your business and the success of its website.

First, what is a UTM code? It’s a code that can be attached to a custom URL or link to track a source, campaign name, or medium. UTM codes allow google analytics to not only see the amount of website traffic but also where this traffic is coming from: how did they get to your site? Whether it be from a newspaper ad, television ad, or different social media accounts. Google has a URL builder that makes attaching a UTM code to any URL simple or you can build a UTM code manually.

Why are UTM codes helpful? If you have multiple social media platforms where you are trying to engage with customers, it might be hard to keep track of which social media sites are driving the most traffic to your website. UTM codes help organize and keep track of that information. They can also help you track revenue. UTM codes can save you a lot of time in the future if you use them strategically.

UTM codes typically answer three main questions when it comes to your website’s traffic:

1. Where is the traffic coming from?
2. How are they getting here?
3. Why?

Some examples of what UTM codes can look like are “utm_source”, “utm_medium”, “utm_content”, and “utm_campaign.” Keeping track of your businesses website traffic from campaigns and social media accounts is a big step in measuring the success rate of engagement.

Check us out and see how we can help with your business’s digital presence. Visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-517-9425

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”

Have you heard the term network marketing often? We’re sure you are aware of the term, but do you know what it means? Network marketing is a type of business opportunity that is popular amongst people who are looking for a flexible, part-time business! Some businesses that offer network marketing opportunities are Avon, Mary Kay, and Tupperware. Network marketing programs typically have a low upfront investment of a few hundred dollars for you to purchase a product sample kit, and then you have the opportunity to sell a product line to your friends, family or personal contacts.

Social Media and Network Marketing

If you decide to do network marketing, social media could be your greatest asset. By utilizing social media to promote your product, you are no longer confined to your town, city, or even country. You could reach thousands of people if you do it correctly. This gives entrepreneurs in the smallest towns around the world can build a business without spending all of their time or money traveling in order to build their business. Social media allows network marketers to think bigger and expand their business to reach places that were previously unattainable.

Maintain Relationships

Utilizing social media not only allows you to expand your reach, but it also helps you to strengthen and maintain relationships. This is important because you need to maintain relationships with your long-distant team members and customers. Social media provides you with a way to maintain these relationships on a consistent basis. You are able to keep in touch through messages of encouragement, tips, best practices, or current promotions. Of course, you can do all of this through email or phone calls, but with social media, you can post comments wishing a happy birthday and foster those relationships.

Build A Brand

One of the greatest things about social media is that you can build your brand. By building your brand it helps show what you stand for, your interests, and it allows you to attract those who have the same interests. People will find you through your similarities and ideals which will help attract them to you and your brand. Your brand will help you to introduce you to more people than you will ever know what to do with.

While old school strategies of meeting individuals in person is still a great, effective way to do network marketing, social media is available to help you go a step further!

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”

Online reviews can sometimes feel like a blessing and a curse. One day you receive three five-star reviews, and then the next day you receive a comment like “I would give you zero stars if possible!” No worries, we have ALL been there at some point. This typically causes you to question if online reviews are really important, and should you care what someone says on the web? If you are wondering…yes! Online reviews are important! Keep reading to find out why.

People Check Businesses Online 

Did you know that 90% of people check out a business online before they choose to visit it? Therefore, online reviews can be vital to the decision making process a consumer goes through when choosing whether or not your business is their future destination. So, whether or not you like online reviews, people are reading them. Too many negative reviews could cause consumers to steer away from your business.

People Trust Online Reviews

According to a study in 2014, 88% of respondents trust online reviews as much as they do personal recommendations. This data alone says enough to show that you should definitely be taking those reviews seriously and managing them!

Increase in Sales

Positive online reviews can help lead to an increase in sales for your business. This is applicable whether your business is global or local. The more positive reviews you have, the more likely a consumer is to visit or purchase something from you.

Expectations

Online reviews help give you an insight as to what your consumers expect from you. It is important to take these online reviews and get feedback from them to see if there is a trend in the customer experience that is negatively impacting your business. You never know, some consumers may just offer up a few great ideas that could be highly beneficial for your company!

Online reviews can also have a positive impact on your company’s search rankings online. The more positive reviews you have, the more likely you are to show up on Google’s search engine on the first page! This could lead to more business and sales. If you aren’t convinced that online reviews are important, or if you are in need of someone to manage your online reviews, Southern View Media is happy to speak with you further about your needs! Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’ digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-517-9425 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We will be happy to answer your questions.

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”

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Visit any social media platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and you’re likely to see a post or a tweet followed by a hashtag (#) along with a phrase that is used to promote the business or a user’s page. How are these little guys useful? Will they help your social media posts be more popular in an internet world filled with selfies and cat videos?

What is a Hashtag

Simply put, hashtags help direct users to your social post when they search for content related to what you have posted. With the first hashtag being introduced in 2007 by former Google developer Chris Messina, it’s incredible to think how this little symbol has evolved from an idea to what is now widely using icon in social media.

Promoting Your Post

By using a hashtag correctly and creatively, you’ll be able to generate more traffic to your post. Business owners find hashtags especially beneficial since they help introduce them new customers while also increasing their online presence. For example, a search for #coffee on Facebook will show photos people have posted of coffee but also pages and events with the same hashtag will generate.

Increasing Social Media Engagement

Along with generating new customers, hashtags will also increase social media engagement meaning the more people who follow your business will be more likely to ‘Llike’, ‘Share’ or ‘Comment’ on posts made by your company’s profile. The more that is shared by users will help your business gain traction therefore, increasing your presence online.

Organize Content

Another beneficial item a hashtag provides is the ability to help categorize content based on relevant topics. This will allow users to search content based on what you have posted. People can start conversations based on what you have created and you may end up with a trending topic.

If you do end up with a trending topic, more and more users will become aware your business’ profile and will increase traffic to your page. This can be very beneficial but it is important to keep your hashtags updated. This will also you stay current with trends within your industry.

Also, creating a trending topic can make your post stand out. Trends include sporting events, holidays, and local activities including festivals or concerts. Your content will become more searchable and make your profile stand out among other businesses participating in the event.

Benefits for your User Profile

Also, adding a hashtag to your profile on Twitter, Instagram and/or Pinterest will make you more searchable among users by allowing your profile to pop up first, increasing your exposure to new users. Make sure to add a request asking people to follow your page or to share your post.

Among the most important things to remember is to spell your hashtag correctly. Do not make the hashtag too long or too wordy. Most people don’t want to type out long drawn out hashtags. Users prefer short, catchy phrases (#throwbackthursday), and abbreviations (#tbt) are easier to search.

Remember for your audience. Keep it simple and creative, and enjoy the new traffic to your social media space.

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions.

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”

Just as the world has changed dramatically in the past few years, so has the marketing world. Google AdWords is one of the largest platforms that has helped to create this change in marketing. It is one of the most, if not the most, effective methods of online paid advertising available to businesses. Google AdWords is used by businesses that range from small mom and pop shops to large corporations. When used correctly, Google AdWords has the potential to send a large number of prospective consumers to your products or business. If you aren’t using Google AdWords, below are the reasons why you should.

Increase Leads
Google AdWords allows you to focus on the individuals who are searching for the products you have to offer. You can refine your campaigns so that only those who are searching for your services are sent to your website through the AdWords platform.

Flexible Marketing
One great thing about Google AdWords is that it is an extremely flexible marketing platform. You can turn the platform on and off in order to use it when you want to run the campaign. It is also compatible with a multitude of software systems. For instance, you can analyze the data from your campaigns using Excel spreadsheets, Google AdWords is easily customizable and allows you to target people in different locations, people using different devices, and people that use other websites like YouTube.

High Return on Investment
When it comes to Google AdWords, you only pay for the ads that people click on. However, it can take some time and you have to find what type of campaign best suits your business. You will have to continually check and track your campaigns in order to ensure they are effective.

Fast Results
Google AdWords shows easy-to-understand results and reports about your campaign almost immediately after it goes live. It will show you the number of clicks you are receiving, what keywords cost you the most, and more.

If you are interested in implementing Google AdWords into your businesses marketing strategy, Southern View Media can help you get started. We believe that AdWords is one of the best and most effective digital marketing platforms when it comes to driving new business to your company.

Contact us to find out how we can help with your business’s digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic and affordable plan, call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit www.southernviewmedia.com. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions.

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”

In 2018 Facebook yet again changed its algorithm. In one of the most important changes, the social media giant aims to promote more “meaningful content.” So, what exactly does this mean? For one, Facebook reactions are driving your posts to get more visibility. You may not even be aware of this. With that, gone are the days of simple “likes’ that help you reach your audience. Now, what does this look like for businesses like yours, small and large alike?

How do Facebook Reactions Drive Your Posts to Get More Visibility?

Facebook assigns value to posts, responses and reactions. Then, it pushes the posts with the highest value to the top of the News Feed. This little-known fact can help you get more engagement. First, when Facebook announced Reactions in 2017 they said the values would be equal to likes, unlikes and, well, the like! Now, the value of Reactions is greater than that of other responses to posts. Your Facebook assigned value will be higher when you have more Reactions. This can push your post to the top of the News Feed. This small detail is really important for businesses that depend on Facebook for their bottom line.

 

Did you know that Facebook assigns value to posts and reactions?

 

Why the Change?

Now, many people wonder why this change came about. First, Facebook believes many people respond to a post without really reading it. We’ve all been there. This is true. Scroll through. Like, like, dislike. Done. Engaged. Right? Wrong. In Facebook’s pursuit to provide a truly personalized experience, it has uncovered the value in Reactions. People in reality read through a post much more thoroughly to give a Reaction. Instead of a response.

Think of these top 5 post Reactions. Isn’t it easy to see how we need to really read a post to chime in appropriately?

 

1. Ha Ha!
2. Wow!
3. Crying, so Sad!
4. Happy!
5. Angry. Grrr.

What’s in a Like?

Even more, likes are ambiguous. Vague. Someone may post that their beloved pet is in critical condition at the vet. They get 100 likes. That like can mean, “we’re with you, man!” It can mean, “I don’t like dogs anyway.” It can also mean “I didn’t really read this but you are my friend so I am slapping a like on for support.”

Facebook thinks: “Do you like me? I mean really like me? Then say so.”

 

How can you get more Reactions to your posts?

If you look over all of the Facebook tricks and tips one theme is clear. Provide engaging content. This leads to more Reactions. First, step away from your product. Give your audience content that moves them beyond you. But, this will indirectly engage them with you. Sneaky? Maybe. But audiences demand it. Think of the top brands you follow. Many that are soaring with Facebook success spend at least some of the time not talking about themselves. They may post about a recent celebrity’s passing. Relevant. Moving. Not about them. And yet, leads back to them.

 

Getting more Reactions takes a practice. Let the experts do it for you. Southern View Media has the expertise in social media. We are up on the latest changes. And, we’ll keep you moving as swiftly as they do. Call Southern View Media to find out how we can help with your business’ digital presence. For a free consultation to formulate a strategic marketing plan call us today at 251-583-2605 or visit WWW.SOUTHERNVIEWMEDIA.COM. We are a Google Trusted Agency and will be happy to answer your questions.

 

© Southern View Media 2018: Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved. “We Put You Online So You Don’t Get Left Behind.”