Category: Social Media

Since the beginning, social media has been a phenomenon that has taken the world by storm. Having relevance on social media is the key to attracting and maintaining an audience. The world of AIM and Myspace seems like one we lived in so long ago. These platforms have procured a more powerful influence than many of us could have ever imagined. 

Trends are made and then declared “untrendy” seemingly as soon as they begin on social media apps. If caught outside the facet of what’s popular, you can easily be seen as “irrelevant”. This may seem brutal, yet it shows us that our modern society is constantly changing, especially online. The positive of this is the ability to message a company without ever having to speak to them on the phone. This is heaven for many anxious young people, yet foreign to many of those who once relied on phone calls for so many interactions.

Maintaining Relevance on Social Media

How do businesses maintain successful social media accounts, grow, and yet still stay relevant? Of course, a successful business always takes priority, but these two concepts are intertwined. 

As a business owner, social media needs to become an instrumental part of your success. An outdated social profile could cause people to think your business is closed. Plus, those who do not feel comfortable calling your business, will not be able to message or email you.

The struggle for relevance on social media seems like an uphill battle when it comes to committing large amounts of time to the research needed to maintain a successful social media campaign. A large problem with this commitment is that there isn’t enough time to monitor and research trends and consistently post on social media while running a productive business. 

The Necessary Trend Research

Is trend research necessary? Why can’t I simply post business updates on my existing social media when needed? The short answer to both of these questions is yes. The long answer is more involved. Posting on social media is simple, but making it an effective use of a business owner’s time is another issue altogether. This is where research and forethought become essential.

Social media trends are a large part of relevancy. The average person spends 144 minutes on social media per day, and they’re looking for what’s trending. The struggle is to become involved in a trend while it’s still relevant. If the news is reporting on a trend, then it is likely it is already dying out. By the time a news company commits to verifying the information within the trend, the social media app as a whole may have already moved on. One example of this is the ALS ice bucket challenge. While obviously one of the most important and beneficial trends to come from social media, if you participated in it today, you wouldn’t be participating in something that is actively trending, and people likely wouldn’t find your post.

Social media, for better or for worse, has seemingly lessened the attention span of millions. From 2000 to 2015, the average person’s attention span has decreased from 15 seconds to eight seconds. Among multiple devices and millions of sources for consumption, you must first attract a user, and then manage to grab their eight seconds of attention. If you come into a trend late, the attention held for it will already be exhausted. This is why research has become monumental within the social media space. 

The Agency Approach

The job of a social media department in an agency partially rides on the concept of ensuring their clients stay relevant. Constantly monitoring trends and staying up-to-date on industry news are the catalyst for this. Often, this is achieved within a much more affordable price point than developing an internal social media team in your company.

Technology is frequently changing, and for many, once they’re finally comfortable with an app or feature, it is already becoming out-of-date. How do you as a business owner conquer this?

• Use and understand multiple social medias 
• Monitor publicly reported changes 
• Interact daily with your followers and post multiple types of content
• Create graphics and posts that will engage people from multiple perspectives
• Analyze your results over time and make changes to your actions based on results
• Create and monitor advertisements
• Repeat

Unfortunately, many business owners simply do not have the time for this.

How an Agency Can Keep You Relevant on Social Media

How do ad agencies conquer this effectively? All of these steps are part of their daily routine. Social media is constantly consumed in both a professional and personal aspect by most specialists. Consider an agency as simply hiring an expert. Just as you may hire a professional to paint your house versus buying all of the supplies and learning through trial and error.

Hiring an agency is almost a no-brainer when considering if you should sacrifice the time to dedicate yourself to continuous research into the social media world while simultaneously running and innovating your business. Agencies are an effective use of your money and your tremendously important time. The battle of staying relevant in the essential world of social media is best won by someone constantly engulfed by the ongoing research, leaving business owners to continue to do what they do best — be successful.

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm is made of experts well-versed in social media research and content creation. We would love to conquer the world of ever-changing social media and research for your company, and help sky-rocket your business’s online presence and social engagement. Contact us for more information.

Social media marketing has become a favorable opportunity for all businesses and continues to with the growing rate of social apps. Social media apps like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok have made a significant staple to businesses today. Despite being familiar with these social platforms, there is a deep understanding when using these social media apps for business purposes. 

Are you wondering why your current tactics are not helping your online presence? Perhaps connectivity with your audience is lacking. This compelling factor can ultimately reflect your business as a whole. Digital marketers understand these strategic aspects amplify your business image through a concept known as engagement. This concept builds a connection with your audience that fundamentally keeps current customers and captivates future customers. The online world opens the doors for businesses to target users to formulate a community that becomes advantageous in the long run. 

This online community is advantageous to a business because it brings forth a positive experience to those seeking your products or services. Your image is portrayed through how you respond either verbally or through your actions online. The more involved you are in your community the more your audience will want to be involved. Whatever goals you have in mind for your business on social media, stay creative, and find what works for your brand image. 

Whether your business runs on a more lively or professional tone, engagement is a powerful aspect that entails both in the digital marketing world. Think of the concept engagement as a get-together where you’d expect the event to be inviting between you and the guest. Furthermore, you would most likely want to stick around if your presence is going noticed. If not, then you will refuse to stay. 

Ever Wondered How This is Measured? 

On each platform, you have the opportunity to stay engaged with your current audience or the audience you seek to target at any point. Engagement on any social media platform is measured through likes, comments, and shares. Other forms of interactions employed are within a business page, posts, or direct messaging. Overall, social media engagement grows any time a user socializes with your business’s social media platforms.   

In an effort to increase engagement, a business can do so through the use of their content. A well developed strategic plan of content creation can increase the engagement you’ve been looking for. A business can express its services or products every day, but this can get you nowhere. It is important to express connectivity with posts that are interactive, informative, or relatable. Refraining from marketing posts and incorporating content like videos, polls, questions, or games that pertain to your industry is a neat way to spark engagement. 

The Significance Engagement Has on Your Business 

If you fail to incorporate engagement on your social platforms, much success of your online presence can be deteriorating to your business. People in this generation find it easier to seek information about a business on social platforms because of the easy accessibility to finding your page. Your social media platforms define what your company stands for and enables the reputation it will have. Make sure that your stance is neutral, up to date, and incorporate this significant concept of engagement. 

Here at The Ad Leaf LLC., engagement is one of the many remarkable aspects of our social media marketing efforts. Our social media team works strategically to conduct the best results for you and your business marketing endeavors. If you are looking to increase your brand’s image through social media marketing, leave it to us experts to take care of your needs. We look forward to growing your business. 

Over the past two decades, social media’s rise has created a drastic shift in how companies market to their consumers. However, every few years, a new platform has popped up and changed the landscape regarding how digital marketers approach their advertising strategies. The latest of these platforms to have caused this change is TikTok. This short-form video platform rise is thanks in part to its unique algorithm, known as the for you page. The for you page provides its users a personalized experience, unlike any other major applications.

This has made TikTok the fastest growing social media platform of the decade, with over 700 million active monthly users across the globe, and in August 2020, it eclipsed over 100 million quarterly users in the United States, according to TikTok. Also, the majority of their userbase is under the age of 30 years old. So, this opens companies up to the younger demographics in a place that they natively frequent.

However, TikTok is still growing and has not matured like the four major platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn), which means that it’s not saturated with advertisers, so it is the best time for companies to take advantage of its marketing aspect.

Developing a Strategy

The development of a TikTok strategy and its implementation can help businesses grow their consumer base in those younger demographics. However, it necessary that they present content in a way the younger demographics prefer. This is because they have learned to tune out traditional advertisements, but that is where TikTok thrives with its organic-centered content. Developing an organic strategy that highlights a company culture and the behind-the-scenes action allows the users to connect with a business at its core.

You Have the Views… Now it’s Time to Engage Your Audience
The content creation and posting portion are now up and running. However, that is only the first part of the battle of not only attracting but, more importantly, retaining the audience’s attention, which keeps them coming back to your page. This rapport-building is essential as it helps establish that ever meaningful relationship that can convert them from fans to actual customers. So, the key to this is being readily available to engage in the comments quickly and then expand your reach by interacting with your followers. This interaction shows you care about them as much as they care about your brand.

Leveraging Goodwill
Once those users have connected with your brand and like what value you are providing them, it is now time to convert them into consumers by slowly introducing your product or service into your feed.

We Have Organic Success… What’s Next?
Your business has built that organic following and has seen some conversion, but now you want to take it to the next level as you have developed an audience that you believe represents your target market. How do you scale this to that overall demographic?

Paid Advertisements
TikTok ads are still relatively new compared to their main competitors, which means less competition and more chances to get your content to that audience you have developed via your organic outreach. So now this pivots some of your attention to that development of your paid strategy that will focus on selling your product or service but remember that you still must interact organically with your primary consumer base. This necessary organic interaction exists because if you stop doing it, they will feel ignored and potentially start engaging in a harmful way with your page, which could turn others away.

How do I Achieve This?
This is a lot of information and ideas on building a winning strategy on the newest social media darling. However, you feel overwhelmed and do not feel like you have the time or knowledge to achieve your growth goals without guidance from the marketing world?

TikTok Strategy
Well, this is where we can help here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC., as we have begun the process of developing a strategy that will put you at the forefront of the TikTok platform and its business users. We know that knowledge is most of the battle that causes people to take on a new platform. So that is why we are willing and able to provide you the guidance needed for you and your team to execute a unique strategy that takes your TikTok strategy to the next level?

CONTACT US
So, looking to get started on becoming that next company that has a big break on TikTok? Well, then give us a call here at The AD Leaf Marketing Firm LLC. at 321-255-0900 and schedule a free consultation with our marketing team and let us and our social media specialists get you where you want to be!

Digital Media: 

Since the rise of social media in the early 2000s, marketers, and companies saw a new avenue to market their products and services to a much larger audience. An audience much larger and easier to reach than traditional marketing channels. Social media gave marketers a fabulous way to measure the success of paid media campaigns: analytics. Analytics has given marketers a unique tool to see tangible evidence that their efforts are having an impact.

According to the 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Marketers have identified two key benefits to social media over the last 5 years. 

86%  of marketers found their social media efforts have generated far more visibility

78% of marketers found their social media efforts have led to more traffic to their brand’s social media.

Digital marketing has been on the rise as technology becomes more apparent in our daily lives. Digital marketing will only become the dominant form of marketing in the years to come as technology advances. As it is only 24% of Gen-Z watches cable tv and Millennials only 41%. 

Gen – Z is becoming known as the “cord-nevers” since they are the first generation to grow up in a purely digital age. They don’t watch cable because they grave content and are more likely to grave videos over other forms of content. Which puts traditional media outlets in a precarious position. 

Traditional media:

While traditional marketing is still effective (for now) it is however nothing new. We have seen it in one form or another whether it’s from a tv commercial, print material in big box stores, a billboard while driving, or a magazine in the doctor’s office when our cell service won’t connect. 

All though traditional media has evolved over the last 20 years the fundamental aspects remain the same and it still remains limited in the digital age and with an evolving consumer base. Some forms of traditional marketing will outperform others, radio segments and podcast advertisements will outlive tv commercials as more people move to podcasts to get updates on current events in the world instead of the mainstream media. As it is, over 63 million Americans listen to podcasts each week. This presented a greater opportunity for podcast advertising. Currently, Podcasts are projected to generate 1 billion in revenue by 2021; according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). 

Who Will Win?

Both traditional marketing and digital marketing use the 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Price, Promotion, Place. 

Traditional media uses this as an integral part of creating a sales funnel and planning marketing campaigns. While traditional media can do well with price, product, and place it lacks in the fourth P: promotion. It’s too easy to ignore it and it doesn’t connect with people, it’s just there. Digital marketing, on the other hand, is very different and it uses the 4 P’s of the marketing mix effectively and in a unique way and at most times better than traditional marketing. 

The drawbacks of traditional marketing are that it does not reach about 50% of its audience, it’s more costly, you can’t measure your ROI, and can’t measure consumer feedback. As it is more marketing across all industries are shifting their efforts online, most consumers now do their product research online before making a purchase.

No matter what industry your business is in you will need to establish a digital presence and actively work to build your digital marketing strategy. We have already seen big box stores such as Sports Authority, Toys R Us, and Sears file for bankruptcy because they could not understand the importance of Digital Vs Traditional Marketing.

In the marketing industry, one of the most common concerns with business owners is leads. They want to ensure, matter of factly, that hiring an agency or firm to manage their social media content will result in viable leads. 

Will consistently posting content on social media platforms result in leads? Likely, yes. However, this is not fully the point of upkeeping social media platforms, and it may take time for this result to occur. Your social media is almost entirely about creating awareness and trust with your audience. Consider applying these topics to your current perspective on the purpose of social media:

• Brand Awareness

One of the most paramount aspects of why your company should have social media is brand discovery. 60% of Instagram users say that they’ve discovered new products while using the platform. If a potential customer doesn’t know of your company’s existence, they’ll never become a customer. Being discovered on social media means that you are now on their radar. 

An example of this would be a user scrolling through hashtags and stumbling on your plumbing company. Currently, they don’t need any plumbing services, so they may not follow or message your company, but now, they have seen it. Next time they have a plumbing problem, they may think back to that time they found your social account and search for your company again, potentially leading to a phone call or website click to inquire about your services.

• Make Your Company Relatable

Human beings are constantly seeking connection. When people see your company standing for something, sharing something, they start to form trust. This may happen consciously or unconsciously. 90% of people use social media to communicate directly with brands. This is largely due to this humanization of your company through these platforms. Many people are uncomfortable with calling a company and speaking to a stranger, so social media becomes that missing link between human connection and gaining information about a product or service. 

Sharing photos of your product or service in action on an authentic level is something your potential customers typically would not get elsewhere. Seeing your staff and company culture forms the start of a basic human connection with your company. Testimonials from other people immediately increase that level of trust as well, which is something often found on your social media. Now, people know a real, living human being has interacted with your product, and that has more meaning than the number of followers or likes on your page. 

• Growth

74% of consumers use social media to make a buying decision. One of the best ways to create actual, tangible numbers that you can notably say is making a difference for your company is advertising on social media. Advertisements are highly targeted, meaning that the algorithm on the social network is showing your product or service to a very specific group of people that are likely to be interested in it. However, showing this advertisement to a user isn’t usually enough. Depending on the price of your product, most people prefer to do research on the company before spending a large sum of money. Here’s where your social media page comes back into the narrative. 

A common type of advertisement is a traffic ad, meaning that once an interested user clicks on your ad, they’ll be redirected to your website. Your website should have a lot of information on your product, who you are, your mission, etc. If they like what they see, they’ll continue their research. This will lead them down the road of searching for reviews and real photos of your product and service at work. They’ll search to see if they feel that they can trust you and will generally make this decision based on your social media, if that is where they first found you. 

This is one of the reasons that your social media is essential. It cannot be simply regurgitating photos from your website. You need to be distinguished as a thought leader, as empathetic, as an expert. This is portrayed over a period of time, and will be seen in a matter of minutes as a user scrolls through the past several months or years of your company’s social media.

• Top of Mind Awareness

We’ve talked about brand awareness, but now we should consider a subsection of this, top of mind awareness or TOMA. TOMA brings all of these points together. If you’re the plumber that was discovered by a social media user, you want to be the absolute number one plumbing service that comes to their mind when they need these services. For example, if you get injured, you may say you need a Band-Aid. This is a brand that holds the spot in the top of your mind for the bandage industry.

Once your brand has been discovered by a social media user, this is where the process starts. Slowly, they’ll begin to recognize your brand and gain the trust that we’ve talked about before. Company growth is a large step on the path to top of mind awareness as well. The more your brand becomes recognized and tested by potential customers, the more they will consider you a leader in your industry, and this is where you will procure viable leads and successful sales.

The Ad Leaf Marketing Firm LLC has been in the industry for almost a decade and kept up with every trend on Social Media in Business with careful detail. We would love to have you as a client and start taking your brand’s presence on social media to the next level.

The social media scene had remained relatively the same for the past several years. One of the only significant interruptions since the rise of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram is the quick and overwhelming popularity of the app TikTok. TikTok has a unique algorithm that allows creators to rise to popularity at more rapid rates than ever before! Since the app’s creation in 2016, it has gained over 800 million users worldwide. If your brand does not participate on TikTok, don’t worry. The app can still be used to promote your brand without even having an account.

TikTok’s algorithm allows users to see the posts of creators, even when the users do not follow them. This stands true to other apps, but for TikTok, it happens at an unprecedented level. Most users mainly view content made by creators they don’t follow. This is due to the “for you page” which is the most commonly used feature of the app. It shows content to the user that the algorithm predicts they will be interested in based on their previous interactions. This is a huge win for brand promotion! For example, if you pay a creator to promote your product, more people than just their followers will see it. However, it can be expensive.

For creators with large followings, a good portion of these followers will also follow them on other apps such as Instagram and Twitter. 

Why is this important for your brand?

• If someone takes the time to follow a TikToker on another social app, they are a more dedicated fan who wants to keep up with the influencer.
• They often purchase the merchandise of these influencers and are more likely to trust their opinion.
• Since only a portion of their fans will follow the influencer on these other social media platforms, their follower count is typically lower.
• Due to a lower amount of followers, securing a brand deal on their Instagram account will be less costly.

One example of this is the TikTok creator @nmillz1. He has amassed more than 2.2 million followers on TikTok in a short amount of time, but currently has only 270 thousand Instagram followers. Charli Damelio is arguably the most well-known TikTok creator securing high-profile sponsorships frequently. She has 90 million followers on the app, while having 30 million followers on Instagram, or one-third of her TikTok fan base. This case is interesting because many people who do not even have TikTok know of Charli, and she is considered to be one of the only creators from the app to rise to actual celebrity status. Her case especially identifies that people who follow a creator on TikTok often do not hold enough interest in them to follow their other social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

This gap allows you to capitalize on TikTok’s extreme popularity in a less costly way to a TikToker’s most dedicated fans. You can do this by proposing a brand sponsorship through Instagram. A brand sponsorship is much more costly than just posting an advertisement for your product, but seeing the brand talked about by someone the fans look up to will likely result in more sales and engagement for your brand.

What Does It Typically Cost to Hire an Instagram Influencer?

• 2,000 to 10,000 followers – $75 to $250
• 10,000 to 50,000 followers – $250 to $500
• 100,000 to 500,000 followers – $1000 to $3000
• Over 500,000 – $3000 +

Large TikTok influencers will either charge a high flat fee, or they will charge per view to promote your brand. According to TalentX Entertainment, a management company for 32 influencers, they charge $0.01 to $0.02 per view on TikTok. The problem lies within the fact that as a brand, you can not control how many views a TikTok post will get. Someone with only 10 followers can post an extremely viral video and get millions of views, while someone with 100,000 followers may only get a few thousand views. The algorithm is very unpredictable and is not publicly released, resulting in a risky investment for marketing. Instagram, on the contrary, is very predictable. An influencer will maintain roughly the same amount of engagement on their account, so you know what you are investing in.  

Going back to the TikTok creator @nmillz1, his TikTok videos frequently receive several hundred thousand views, which would result in costs roughly at $5,000 to $10,000 or more, while a sponsored Instagram post would be less than $3,000 and seen by more dedicated fans who trust the influencer. 

In summary, your brand can capitalize on TikTok’s rise to the top without even interacting with the app. If you are considering a brand promotion with an influencer, a TikTok creator’s Instagram page can be a great resource for you.

Sources:

https://www.digitalmarketing.org/blog/how-much-does-influencer-marketing-cost

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/heres-how-much-brands-are-paying-for-sponsored-content-on-tiktok-youtube/346290/#close