Marketing Makeover: 4 Strategies to Help Grow Your Business

Need a marketing makeover? Here are 4 ideas. Credit: Megaphone image via Shutterstock View full size image

As your small business grows and evolves, you'll probably find that some of your promotional tactics are no longer as effective as they once were. Your business — and the world around it — is changing all the time, and the occasional marketing makeover could be just what your brand needs to get back in the game.

"Your marketing needs to keep up with your business," said Hunter Hoffmann, head of U.S. communications for small business insurerHiscox. "Most small businesses evolve or pivot from their initial focus as they react to what works in the marketplace. You can use this opportunity to put more resources to your most effective tactics, cut some of your less successful initiatives and try something new."

Hiscox recommended these four strategies to refresh your efforts and boost your business growth if your marketing has become stale:

• Get organized with mobile apps. Apps are valuable tools to help small business owners manage their operations on the go and maintain their presence in the market. Think about adding productivity apps that will really help you grow your business. A cloud storage platform like Google Drive lets you edit files across PCs, tablets and smartphones so you can maintain consistency across devices. Need help remembering everything? Apps like Evernote sync your notes, photos and documents across all platforms.
• Increase your LinkedIn activity. LinkedIn has a lot to offer small business owners, if you know where to look. Take advantage of LinkedIn groups, which can help you virtually network and stay on top of industry developments. You can also directly message fellow group members even if you're not connected to them. Syncing your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts can also help you increase your visibility without increasing your workload. But before you become more active, revisit your profile.  Make sure it's up-to-date and that you have the right picture and headline to represent your business.
• Send out a company newsletter. It's easy to send out newsletters to customers using email marketing programs like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. Your newsletters should include content relevant to your customers that helps establish you as a thought leader in your space. In your newsletter, feature articles that are relevant to your field from other sources, and then add some of your own tips. With link tracking and social sharing, you can quickly see which content generates the most interest. Be sure to include a way for customers to get in touch with comments or suggestions, which could provide some good topics for future articles. [For a side-by-side comparison of the best email marketing software, visit our sister site Top Ten Reviews.]
• Start building an army of brand ambassadors. Brand ambassadors are people who love your brand and can't stop telling other people about how good it is. First, track discussions about your brand, industry and competitors on social media, to see who's already talking about you. The next step is to create relationships that are beneficial for you and your brand ambassadors, and create measurements that connect their activities with sales. Some tactics for turning a fan into a true brand ambassador include giving friends and family discounts they can share with their network, offering exclusive blogging opportunities and sending targeted shout-outs on social media. 

Originally published on Business News Daily.

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10 Social Media Selling Solutions for Small Businesses

Social media is the new e-commerce platform. Credit: Social media image via Shutterstock View full size image

Social media e-commerce has taken off — and it's showing no signs of slowing down. With social media selling, anyone can become an online merchant without having to invest in a website or give online marketplaces a cut of their profits. Here are 10 social media selling solutions to help you get started.

1. Soldsie

Want to sell on Facebook? The Soldsie Facebook app turns the social network's comments section into an e-commercepowerhouse. Typically, customers make purchases on Facebook by messaging sellers or leaving their email addresses. Instead, Soldsie's "Comment Selling" system eliminates all the back-and-forth communication by streamlining transactions. To start selling, connect Soldsie to your Facebook page, and upload product photos. These posts become your storefront, where fans can simply comment "Sold" to make a purchase. After commenting, they'll automatically receive an email invoice and proceed to checkout via PayPal or WePay.

2. inSelly

Instagram isn't just a photo-sharing platform; it has also become one of the most popular online selling tools available. inSelly, an Instagram marketplace, facilitates the process by aggregating Instagram listings (using hashtags) and making them searchable to anyone around the world. Because it's a third-party platform, you'll first have to connect the app to your Instagram accounts. Next, add your contact information, pricing details and PayPal email address to start making sales and receiving payments. ['Buy Button' Could Make Twitter Your New Storefront]

3. Hashbag

Hashbag is another Instagram selling tool that provides a centralized place to showcase Instagram listings. Sellers get their own storefronts on the Hashbag marketplace, while buyers search for items using hashtags. To start listing, first Instagram a photo of your product with the hashtag #forsale. You'll automatically receive an email asking you to log in to Hashbag, where you'll be able to set your price. The listing will then go live, and buyers can start making purchases via PayPal.

4. Chirpify

The hashtag is the universal language of social media, making it a powerful social selling tool regardless of the platform. Chirpify, a social commerce platform, takes unique campaign hashtags — referred to as "actiontags" — and uses them to enable purchases across multiple social networks. First, customers see the actiontag on social media, print, television and other marketing channels. Next, all they have to do is post the actiontag on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to activate a purchase. Chirpify then responds immediately to collect payment and instantly convert sales.

5. Beetailer

Even if you own an e-commerce website, cross-selling products on social media is a great strategy to boost sales. One service that makes this possible is Beetailer, which lets online merchants import their store into Facebook. After the initial migration, the system is basically hands-free — it requires no installation, configuration or maintenance, and products are automatically updated based on the website's inventory data. Included in the service are marketing tools like campaigns and promotions, detailed analytics, and integration with existing checkout systems.

6. Heyo

Designing Facebook page campaigns can seem like rocket science for people who aren't tech savvy. Heyo simplifies the process with a drag-and-drop campaign builder that anyone can use. The service works a lot like do-it-yourself website builders: Start by choosing a template, and then edit or customize elements to fit your campaign and brand. Whether you're running a contest, promotion or special deal, campaigns built on Heyo can then be easily plugged into your Facebook page — no coding necessary.

7. Fanchimp

Automation is key to saving time and money. Fanchimp lets businesses automate Twitter and Facebook selling by enabling them to schedule posts and promotions. Although there are already services that have the same scheduling capabilities (HootSuite, TweetDeck), what makes Fanchimp different is that it connects directly to your online store. Just log in to the system, and you can choose which products to promote, and when to promote them, directly from your inventory. Fanchimp can also set posts to go live at the optimum times and intervals for maximum viewership.

8. Poshmark

Although Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are the most popular social selling platforms, there are niche marketplaces that also function as their own social networks. One such marketplace isPoshmark, a website and mobile app for buying and selling fashion. Like on Instagram, sellers first take a photo of each product and post it to Poshmark with the item and pricing details. Customers can also like listings, as well as leave comments and follow sellers. Unlike Instagram, however, customers can make purchases directly through the service via the Buy button. Poshmark takes care of all the back-end processes, so the only thing sellers have to do is ship the item to get paid.

9. Facebook for Business

Facebook for Business is the one-stop shop for finding out which types of Facebook selling campaigns will work best for your business. The service lets you create Facebook pages and purchase Facebook ads, as well as integrate Facebook into your website or mobile app. Facebook for Business helps merchants create buzz, find new customers and drive sales, using one centralized hub. The service also includes analytics tools that provide key insights and measure campaign performance.

10. Pinterest for Business

There's a saying that consumers don't trust brands; they trust their friends. That's essentially the principle behind Pinterest for Business, which lets businesses create Pinterest accounts as a brand. In addition to pinning items just as regular users can, businesses can add the Pin It button wherever their items appear on the Web. For example, e-commerce website Etsy added the Pin It button to each individual listing — when Pinterest users click on the Pin It button, the corresponding Etsy item will be added to their Pinterest boards for their followers to see. These pins include the seller's shop name and pricing information, so viewers know the item is for sale. The idea is to drive traffic, grow followers and ultimately boost sales based on other Pinterest users' recommendations.

Originally published on Business News Daily.

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4 Ways It's About to Change

Any discussion of marketing in 2014 starts with one word: content. Creating unique and engaging content — from blogs to Facebook posts to email newsletters— has been the key to scoring customers for several years running. But where is this trend of "brand publishing" headed?

A new report from Contently — a site that connects content-hungry brands with the journalists who cook it up — outlines four major trends that are shaping the future of content marketing.

The predictions by Joe Lazauskas, editor-in-chief of Contently's digital magazine "The Content Strategist," and Contently's COO, Shane Snow, are based on observations about where brand publishers have taken content marketing over the past year and what they're asking Contently to do for them right now.

Greater transparency

When it comes to advertising, old habits die hard. While many brands have jumped on the content bandwagon, some are still churning out what Snow, in a recent piece for AdAge, called "thinly disguised advertorials." You know, the ones that look like real articles but are actually sneakily placed product pitches?

While such shameless plugs might have worked in years past, they're simply not going to cut it in the years to come, Lazauskas said.

"There are way too many lightly-branded sites out there that dubiously push a brands' products, and those brands will start getting called out for it this year,"  Lazauskas wrote in a Contently post. "On the flip side, brands that create great content and put their name on it will win consumers’ trust."

A focus on results

What is content marketing really doing for business? That's the question that brands who have committed to the publishing trend will want answered in the months ahead. Contently predicts that, this year, the pressure will be on marketing teams to prove that publishing efforts are paying off.

But how will marketers measure the results of brand publishing? Rather than fretting over "vanity" statistics like page views, many brands will likely focus on dollar signs.

"B2B brands will closely track pipeline value, and B2C brands will want to measure consumer sentiment," the Contently report states. "The best short-term proxy for either right now is going to be quality time spent with the brand, and that will be driven by creating content that people like to spread." [4 Content Marketing Secrets Every Small Business Should Know]

Distribution gets sorted out

Great content doesn't count for much if no one sees it. That's why the folks at Contently predict that, in the near future, brands will turn their attention to distributing content more widely.

"The newspaper companies used to have two things that gave them control of the world's information: printing presses and delivery trucks," the Contently report says. "Tools for creation and publishing online have given brands the virtual press; this year and forward, they're going to need to start investing more intelligently in the trucks."

Two distribution options in particular have brands riled up right now: buying content (which gets distributed on someone else's site) or making content (which gets distributed on the brand's own site). As Snow said in a recent Contently post, in the months ahead brands will have to formulate their own unique strategies for owning and sponsoring content.

Content gets even better

As more and more brands enter the content marketing space, the race to tell the best stories is bound to heat up. This is good news for consumers, who will be the main beneficiaries of these higher standards for storytelling.

"The brand publishing arms race will escalate," Snow said in aContently post. "As brands invest in creating better and better content, they'll battle to one-up each other. It should be fun to watch."

Originally published on Business News Daily.

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