5 Tips on How to Generate Business with LinkedIn

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Studies show that 50% of LinkedIn users are likely to buy from a company they connect with on a social platform.

1. Look Sharp & Be Active. It is important to have a recent picture that is not blurry and does not have other people in the photo. You must also have a filled out profile. "An engaged profile is as important as a business card or a website."

2. Dig Deep. Do your research. Use LinkedIn as a library. A good idea is to utilize LinkedIn before you make a cold call. it will cut down on prospecting and lead you to the big players.

3. Stay in Touch. Maintaining LinkedIn relationships is just as important as developing them. Repeat customers come from those who feel valued.

4. Be Responsive. Do not sit on LinkedIn messages. You answer your emails, do the same for messages from connections within LinkedIn.

5. Use it Often. Use LinkedIn regularly and to get in the habit of going there often, try to log in once a day. It's very important to main active and nourish the relationships. Another resource is to join a group. Here you can gain value insight in your field from peers.

Read the full article that inspired this post here.
                                                                      

Four Reasons Why Businesses Should Use Snapchat

"With over 100 million daily active users and 400 million snaps per day, Snapchat is one of the fastest-growing social networks. As you might already assume, 71% of Snapchat’s U.S. users fall into the 18 to 34 age range. Even if your audience doesn’t fall in that demographic, Snapchat is becoming a vital part of global marketing strategies."

1. Provide Access to Live Events. Many companies that utiilize Snapchat are B2C brands, but Hubspot, a B2B company, found a way to use Snapchat as a marketing and a recruiting platform. They send Snapchats to showcase speakers who come into the office or just have fun making jokes around the office.

2. Deliver Private Contents. Rent the Runway is a prefect example of delivering private contents. As soon as new arrivals come in, they showcase the items by having employees try them on so customers can see how the garments fit before they even hit the website.

3. Offer contest, perks or promotions. A great way to build a Snapchat following is to hold contests, offer special promotions  or other perks that customers cannot find on any other platform. Making Snapchat a place for special content makes is more valuable.

4. Partner with Influencers. One of the best examples of partnering with influencers was done by Sour Patch kids. Logan Paul, a teenage social media star, took over the Sour Patch Kids Snapchat for a day and told his followers to make sure to follow the Sour Patch Kids account so they could see his "sweet and sour pranks." By partnering with influencers, companies can spread awareness to a demographic that's hard to reach through traditional media.

For more information, check out this article from Social Media Examiner.

5 Reasons To Use Pinterest For Your Business

According to Kihya Beitz from Strong Coffee Marketing, many businesses are wary about using Pinterest for business, but shouldn't be!  There are many positive reasons that companies should be utilizing this social media network for their business, after all Pinterest is the fourth largest traffic source in the world.

1. Pinterest converts more browsers into buyers. Pinterest helps to reduce the number of steps it takes to get from discovery to conversion and makes it easier for people to get straight to the source.

2. Pinterest drives traffic (and lots of it).  It is more effective at steering traffic back to a website than any other social media source.

3. User engagement is ridiculously high. Users on Pinterest can 'like' and pin content and easily share things with small groups of people.

4. Pinterest integrates with your website, Facebook profile, and Twitter account. This enables users to automatically post new pins to their news feeds for others to see on Pinterest and across other platforms as well.

5. Discover what your audience loves. One of the beautiful things you can do with Pinterest is use it to see what is trending right now.  You can follow anyone who follows you to see what inspires them and you will have a first-person look into their mind.

For more information, check out this article.

5 Reasons Why Your Company Should Be On LinkedIn

LinkedIn has become a powerful tool for individuals and companies looking to make new connections, maintain old relations, generate leads, and build their brand. While it’s an important platform for all businesses, LinkedIn can be a true game changer for B2B (business to business) companies as well..

1. LinkedIn is even more important to B2B marketers than Facebook.

According to a 2015 Social Media Marketing report, LinkedIn has surpassed Facebook as the #1 most important social platform for B2B marketers.

2. LinkedIn is the third most used social platform among business owners.

A whooping 62% of business owners have reported that they use LinkedIn, and an additional 22% says they plan to use it in the next year. In other words, using LinkedIn as a valuable business tool shows no signs of slowing down.

3. LinkedIn is one of the most effective ways to recruit new talent.

Job boards and career websites have typically been among the top channels for finding qualified job applicants, but over the past 4 years, the use of social professional networking sites has exploded. "According to LinkedIn’s own research, these sites (one of which is LinkedIn) have seen a 73% increase in job recruitment usage, compared to a 15% increase for internet job boards and a 16% decrease for staffing agencies."

4. LinkedIn gives your brand increased search visibility.

A properly optimized LinkedIn profile and company page increases your chances of ranking in a Google search. This gives you more valuable real estate in the search engine results. To ensure you’re ranking in the search, make sure to:

• Use relevant keywords in your personal bio and page description.
• Use descriptive wording in your job title and company name.
• Complete all fields in your profile and company description.
• Include links to your website, social media platforms, and blog in your profile, description and posts.

5. LinkedIn posts have the potential to reach all your page followers.

Unlike Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn has no filtered feed. When you post an update to your LinkedIn company page, it appears in your followers’ feeds, regardless of how often they have interacted with your posts in the past. However, this doesn’t mean that all of your followers will actually be on the platform when you post. It is important to post regularly to maximize your reach. According to LinkedIn, businesses should post 20x per month in order to reach approximately 60% of their audience.

For more information on the benefits of LinkedIn, read this article. 

How to Build Your Brand with Instagram

Instagram is easily at the top of the social media mountain right now. That age old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words" has never been more true in today's social media landscape. Forbes has recently updated that saying stating, "These days your picture can be worth thousands of dollars." While Instagram is great for following friends and celebrities and discovering your next getaway, most importantly, Instagram is great for driving brand awareness. Here are 5 tips on how to build your brand with Instagram:

1. Promote Your Social Media Presence. Great, you have an Instagram account. Now what? Let people know! Post a Facebook status, tweet and even blog about your Instagram account. Add "follow" buttons on your website and even in your email signature.

2. Gain Followers. "The more followers your account has, the more credible, popular, and irresistible your brand appears to be, leading to the questions: Why does this account have so many followers? What do they offer that’s so appealing?" How can you obtain these followers? It may seem strange, but you can buy them. On websites such as iDigic.net, you can spend $10 and get about 1,000 followers. It may seem odd, but it will certainly make your account look credible.

3. Post Various Types Multimedia. Mix up your account with images, videos, and gifs of behind the scenes snapshots, office happenings and employees hard at work or play. This humanizes your brand. Show your followers who you are.

4. Optimize Your Post. There are a few aspects that go into this tip. Make your account public so anyone can view it. try adding locations to your images so people can see where you are, especially during events. Be clever with your captions and use popular hashtags. Most importantly, use high quality pictures. This attracts attention, but also promotes a steady brand identity with an enhanced view of your product. These three apps with help edit your images to perfection: FaceTune, Afterlight, and Snapseed.

5. Know Your Target Audience. "Study your audience and determine what it is they want to see, when they want to see it, and how they want to see it." As for when they want to see it, many people have already done this research for you. According to one study, people want to see Instagram posts anytime Monday through Thursday, except from 3:00-4:00 PM.

For the full article, check out LinkedIn.

These 7 Easy Tips Will Take Your Facebook Page to the Next Level

1. Post Photo Quotes. Photos tend to receive up to 53% more likes than text-only posts (some estimates are even higher), so the next time you post your #MondayMantra add a picture as well.

2. Ask for Likes Versus Comments. Ask your followers to express a view or opinion by liking a post. For example adding, 'Tap the like button if you agree!' at the end of the caption.

3. Remind Your Followers You Appreciate Them. No hidden motives here: just remind your followers that they are what makes your business great.

4. Use Humor. Who doesn't love a good joke? Don't be afraid to post a joke or a meme, or share something fun that happened at the office.

5. Don't Forget About Weekends. "Just because you restrict your work to weekdays doesn’t mean your followes don’t want to hear from you on the weekends! You may even find them to be more engaged on weekends as they have more time and are more relaxed."

6. Show Behind the Scene Photos. Get personal with your followers. Showing behind the scenes pictures will make followers feel like they really know who you are as a company.

7. Use Long URLs. "People are much more likely to click on a link when they know exactly where that link will take them."

For more Facebook tips, check out this article.

Use These 5 Tips to Create Incredibly Catchy Headlines

When writing an article, the headline is the most important aspect. Did you know, on average, five times as many people read the headline as they read the body of an article?! Below are 5 helpful tips to writing your next headline.

1. Use Numbers. On every magazine cover, there is at least one article using numbers. People typically only remember three to five points, but sometimes a really obscure number like 19 or 37 can catch people’s attention.

2. Use Interesting Adjectives. Such as: effortless, fun, free, incredible, essential, inexpensive, easy, helpful, important, etc.

3. Use Unique Rationale. Avoid using the word "thing!" Instead try: reasons, ways, ideas, lessons, tricks, facts, principles, etc.

4. Use What, Why, How, or When. These are trigger words. A trigger word is a word that initiates a process or course of action. These words can help persuade a reader.

5. Make an Audacious Promise. What you want to do is dare your reader to read the article without over-promising. So be bold and deliver what you promised.

Check out this article for more information on catchy headlines.

Five Twitter Tricks for Your Company's Feed

Twitter can be a tricky social media platform. With only 140 characters per tweet, using your words wisely is key. We found some helpful tips from Audience to get the most out of each tweet.

1. Make your tweets 140 characters of enticing content. "Tweets are the ‘front page’, which will draw people to your website, your blog, or the checkout basket of your online store. Treat your Tweets with the same care and attention you would a headline: short, focused, and typo-free."

2. Give Twitter users a good reason to follow you. Make your Twitter a place for followers to find discounts, exclusive content, and insight into your business that can’t be found anywhere else.

3. Establish your business as a source for industry info. A great place for facts and statistics is on Twitter. They are short and sweet, and a great way to build a strong, trustworthy Twitter presence.

4. Share highlights from events and conferences. Live tweeting during an event or conference is a fun way to engage your followers. Post behind the scenes photos to make your followers feel like they really know your company.

5. Use Twitter to spread your brand message.  Don't forget to engage in Twitter chats, respond to your followers, look up hashtags or keywords related to your industry, and offer your thoughts on a relevant topic.

Step Up Your Instagram Game with These Easy Tips

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms available. With millions of users and images, what can you do to stand out? We sought out this article from Mirror for tips and tricks on how to step up our Instagram game. Here are the tips we liked most:

1. Cropping Matters. "How you crop an image can have a major impact on how the image is perceived by viewers." Using simple techniques, such as the "rule of thirds," can draw a user's eye to the subject.

2. It's All About the Angles. Everyone has seen the image of the table food shot. In the end, how you angle your photos can have an impact on their tone and feel.

3. Filter, Filter, Filter.  "There are currently 40 different filters available. Not all of them are available by default but you can turn on the options for the extras by scrolling to the end of the filters list and selecting ‘Manage ’." While applying filters can be fun, be careful not to over filter. No one likes an over processed picture.