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Oct 19 2018 
Social Media Adverts: Why does your business need it?
Gone are the days when brands would scoff at having social media promotions. We have successfully stepped into the age where each brand needs to have a strategy to promote itself through social media, thus leading the brand to reach its maximum potential possible. A specialist team, a plan of action and separate budgets, social media is slowly moving into playing a very important part from a marketing viewpoint.
Why? We as millennials have moved from ‘I will ask dad about it’ to ‘just Google it’. Over billions of users are reported monthly through social media portals. Searching for the latest thing to buy, to eat, to do, people today are using their smartphones for looking at options as well as using the devices for approaching the brand for purchase. We truly have become a generation that ‘look online’ to lead our lives.
via mrs.digital
That’s from the customer’s point of view. What about a brand’s perspective? How do you get noticed in this plethora of options, especially if people aren’t looking for you? How do you, as a brand, grab their attention saying, “Hey, if you’re looking for options, I exist!”
Advertisements or ‘ads’ are now available on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even YouTube, which generates not just viewership but also helps translate a good chunk of this viewership into an actual business.
So, What do these ‘paid promotions’ do for your business?
1. Information and broadcasting
You have billions of prospective customers and many thousands of competitors on the same portal, doing the same things as you are. How do people know you exist in this sea of brands?
The first step of turning a person into a prospective buyer is letting him know the existence and the details of your brand. Organically your audience will grow at a steady pace but by putting some money behind your posts, you can reach a wider audience in a short span, thus helping you attract more leads.
2. Affecting decision making
With thousands of brands competing for that attention everyday in every way, how do you tip the scale in your direction? With targeting the right audience with your ads, you can leave an impression in the mind of a buyer. Subconsciously they appreciate your effort and eventually what you are selling.
via intenseblog.com
Whether they see your ads on multiple platforms or multiple ads on a single platform, subconsciously, your brand identity gets stuck with your audience.
3. Higher returns with your budget
With traditional advertisements, there are more misses than hits. They cost you a bomb and the chances for it to result in leads are slim. There is no clear targeting, whereas with social media adverts, you can precisely set your audience, thus increasing your leads as well as you save on the lead cost.
via hookagency.com
4. Retargeting existing customers
A lot of times your customers might just add your products to the cart or view certain products but not make the purchase. Through social media retargeting, you can reach out to them again, get them to review the product(s) and help push the sale further.
via varstreetinc.com
With varied options available through multiple channels, your prospective customers can change decisions before you can blink your eye. So turn to social media advertisements to make you the last decision they make before they
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Oct 17 2018 
Social Listening – Why is it important for your business?
As individuals, we might or might not be social media driven. Twitter may feel like a waste of time, latest filters on Instagram and Snapchat are alien concepts and Facebook may have run its course in your life.
But when we think of a brand, be it ourselves in the capacity of social influencers or a product/service selling brand, social media today is the key tool. From grabbing the attention of potential customers, promoting the latest creative; for that matter, even solving doubts and grievances of your existing customers, social media is a very important weapon in your arsenal.
Yet, with multiple portals providing different tools, how do you keep a track of who’s talking about your brand? Good, bad, neutral; everything that’s being said about you, should be in your knowledge. But the question remains: HOW?
Social Media Listening shows you real-time data of what is being said about you, without you having to go on individual platforms and searching for your name or product. A one-stop monitoring of all your social media pages, it gives you precise data of the mention of your brand, as it’s happening. Further analysis of the trends that have been set off by your metrics also are a click (or maybe a few clicks) away.
Here’s why social listening is a MUST-HAVE for your business:
1. KNOWLEDGE OF BRAND
You can find out how your business is perceived by your audience, as compared to your competitors. The stats can also be converted into reports that inform the clients, investors, for that matter, your own team of how and how much is your brand impacting your customers.
via immgsm.ac.za
2. TIME – SAVING
Brand tracking is easier as it helps you monitor multiple portals through one platform, saving time and the extra effort of going to each social media account separately.
via slipflop.com
3. AWARENESS IN REAL TIME
Getting that real-time data is vital for your business. Paying attention to not just where you’re tagged but also everything that’s mentioned about you, so you don’t have a FOMO moment when it comes to your brand.
4. FUTURE PLANNING
Having this information in hand also helps your marketing and sales team to plan their strategy. You can take notes of things that worked or did not work and accordingly move ahead with your plans.
5. FIND YOUR TRUE FANS
Word of mouth is the best way to grow your business. Through social listening, you can find the people who are advocating your brand and can reach out to them to help push your business further. These could be either your customers or an influencer.
via vimeo.com
As social media is a real-time industry, being conscious and aware all the time is important for your business success. With social listening, you can be on top of things and take your brand to a new level!
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Oct 15 2018 
Make your Instagram, Grid-friendly
Social media today, is dynamic. Trends are changing rapidly to grab the maximum attention. From worded content, to picture content and videos, digital-info consumption is evolving continuously. Instagram is about pictures & videos and we all keep looking for new ways of attracting potential digital traffic to your account and have them press that ‘follow’ button. The latest trendsetter with Instagram is the ‘grid’.
Grids are nothing but a set pattern which helps page owners attain the look that they have envisioned for their brand/page and eventually helps attract the digital traffic that your brand page is aiming for. Also, it’s always easier to work in a routine and Instagram grids are here to do just that. Specially if we are aiming to be the gen-next influencers that want the Instagram page to attract not just viewership, but also economic gains and business prospects.
3 CREATIVE (AND EASY) HACKS TO MAKE A GRID
1. CHECKERBOARD
Content that is ‘tile’ style. Make a visually appealing theme, alternating your posts between either two theme colours or alternating between a minimalistic slide and busier slide. Think of a pattern that resonates with your brand theme, showcases your CTA (call-to-action) and convinces a viewer to respond immediately. Not very difficult to maintain, just remember to alternate your posts correctly and the grid will maintain itself
via schedugr.am2. HORIZONTAL LINES
Do you want your Instagram page to tell a story, appealing to the people who are scrolling through your page? Travel, restaurant and pages that put up elaborate and picturesque posts, turn towards this style of planning their Instagram posts. It requires careful editing techniques to make a picture into 3 or 6 parts, maintain continuity in all pictures but also has a maximum impact on a viewer about to scroll down through your account
3. VERTICAL LINES
Only if you are prepared to be very very VERY committed to maintaining a grid, look no further. This grid simply requires you to maintain 3 equally attractive rows of content. Your visitors are now hooked on to the creativity (with discipline) exhibited and will keep scrolling down to look further into your brand and the variety of information you offer
via refinery29.comOther than the above, themes can also be maintained with a singular colour background or a single colour border. Something as simple as a plain white border can also help sustain a theme or grid.
Instagram grids give your visitors, instant gratification. A few scrolls and they get the gist of what your page is all about, your highlights and takeaways. Well-maintained grids in Instagram pages give that extra nudge to your visitors to not just ‘double-click’ a few pictures here and there but also add your account to their must-see list.
So choose your grid and start planning now!
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Jan 15 2018 
For an Instagram Story hotter than Celebs
Social media is a something we are all familiar with along with continuously being bombarded by it. It no longer just connects people across regions and backgrounds, it has also developed a life of its own now, is vital in today’s tech heavy society.
via GIPHY
With the advent of applications like Instagram, it is all about being seen for even the most mundane routine activities. Although Nobel winner Malala Yousafzai famously said, “What is interesting is the impact and power of social media. So, we must try to use social media in a good way”, it is now also being used just to update, with the positive purpose behind it not always crystal clear.via GIPHY
From what you eat to where you are and who you’re with, Instagram helps you show case it all. Be it the 24 hour story that you can post to the location tags for your pictures or even the innumerable filters that it has, Instagram has undoubtedly transformed the way we see and use social media. As of 2017, Instagram has about 800 million active viewers. It is seen as a great interactive and wide reaching platform to post pictures and gather the attention that you need and want. You could be a blogger, a baker, a makeup artist or even a regular person wanting to express yourself, Instagram suits us all. It has a niche for everyone making it very inclusive.via GIPHY
Any Instagrammer (as we like to call ourselves) would be aware of the basics involved in sharing stories on Instagram. However, there is so much more to it! There are secret tools on Instagram that could make your videos more innovative and appealing. Following stories on Snapchat, Instagram launched its Story feature in August of 2016 and since then it has exploded. Research has estimated that about 250 million Instagrammers have begun to share stories on Instagram.via GIPHY
As a result of these stories, people’s time spent on the app has consequently increased from 24 minutes to 32 minutes. As we all know, some stories stand out from the rest making us view them multiple times. What is the special thing that sets those apart? Many brands and celebrities know how to work their stories and gather the attention of the viewers. Though it isn’t that simple, there are a few hacks that you can use to make your Instagram stories stand out too.Here are some tips and tricks to help your Instagram story stand out:
1. Make use of stickers. Instagram releases new stickers almost every day so make sure you don’t miss them and use the appropriate ones to “jazz up” your content.
2. Increase the views that your story receives by allowing people to share them with others.
3. Use the pen option to add more dimension to your story.
4. Add a funky & appealing background colour to the picture in your story, making it more attractive.
5. Ensure that the text in your story is interesting & appealing to readers and ensure that you make the text look funkier.
6. Lastly, you could either add music to your story or mute your story, depending on what you fancy and what suits the storyline.
Voila! Here that’s about the secrets of making your story and Instagram sensation! Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? So then, why not use these simple tips and make your story stand out in the best way? -
Jan 11 2018 
Influencer Marketing: Learning from the best
Climbing up the ladder of modern, client-engaging marketing strategies has been the steady player called influencer marketing, the buzzword-laden mystical tool that has become handy to many marketers. For someone new to the marvels of micro-influencers, one can understand influencer marketing as the unique brand endorsements done by social media influencers that involve a more personal taste and widespread customer engagement, not just detached branding.
With 94% of marketers claiming it to be an effective marketing strategy, it won’t be wrong to say that influencer marketing had taken 2017 by storm. However, the catch here is to know what buttons to press and what doors to close to avoid the analytic difficulties in gauging the success of an influencer campaign.
Irrespective of the scale, brands can leverage the power of influencers to suit their goals and needs. Let’s look at some of the best influencer-driven marketing campaigns and understand what the intricacies of acing influencer marketing are:
1) Sperry:
The boat shoe brand Sperry had reached out to over 100 influencers on Instagram who had actively endorsed their products, collaborating with them to form visual content suitable for client engagement and better brand image.
2) Hallmark:
Hallmark’s winter collection was a success because of the family sentiment it grasped of its customers through the influencers. These influencers were predominantly family-oriented on Instagram and they endorsed various products by actually wearing them in the pictures, posting links for the followers where they could buy the same.
3) Old Navy:
The clothing line had a famous social media influencer Meghan Reinks appear on their Instagram, YouTube and Facebook ads, showing the viewers how to style clothes for various occasions, using pieces from the brand, in her trademark comedy style. This appealed to her followers extending over a million, gaining valuable customers for the brand.
These are just some of the examples as to how influencer marketing can prove to be a game changer for your company. Believe it or not, the year is at the verge of changing, literally and from the marketing point of view too! Take the correct steps and you will flow with the change in the best way possible!
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Dec 18 2017 
A Horn of Plenty or A Pandora’s Box?
As we all would agree, we live in an ever growing digital world, where life without social media seems impossible. Our vocabularies are familiar with the names YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and so on, and that seems only natural in today’s tech driven world. I can’t remember the last time I spent the day without accessing social media.
The ease with which we can access these platforms has made us familiar enough with them, however, it’s unfortunate that the familiarity can sometimes border on addiction. We tend to get our daily dose of news, entertainment and even validation from social media. In such a situation where our daily awareness comes from social media, how far-fetched is the concept and effect of manipulated news in our life?
The well-known proverb “no good news is news” can maybe be rephrased today as “all news is not true news”. Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that all your information was fabricated. I am fairly confident that most of us would experience shock and surprise. What is most surprising is the fact that although most adults are wary and suspicious of the information that they receive from these platforms, they still continue to look to the same for updates in our daily routine.
“Fake news”, as we all know, is a term popularized by President Donald Trump to define the ‘sold news’ system of social media. Though we may disagree on this simple generalisation we need to admit that there is an iota of truth to this term as well. To be honest, none of us are aware of the amount of fake news that we experience every day. So, it is only natural that we are suspicious of the news that we receive, especially from social media.
In a study conducted by Reuters about the scepticism surrounding news and media, only 24% of the sample vouched for the news that they received from social media, and 40% vouched for mainstream media. There is a sense of suspicion and doubt in both, but, social media was found to be more unreliable and for the right reasons. It is high time that people receive “true news” for we deserve to know the truth.
However, we do need to note that social media has a broader scope and does help cover sections of the news neglected by mainstream media like the LGBT community, the migrant crisis and so on and so forth. We do need to admit that news on social media does go into areas that are not dealt with by general media and surely has a valid & ever expanding purpose. We only wish that it was more validated & authentic and hence a reliable news source for those who access it.
As the Maya Angelou quote says “Know better, do better”, maybe online media should realise its roles and responsibilities and fulfil our needs of transforming into citizens of today.
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Jul 20 2017 
Does Your Social Media Campaign Have These Five Components?
Social media is not about putting up random posts on any given platform. No way. It’s an art. And, believe it or not, it’s an art that is actually driven by a lot of strategy – that is what differentiates successful social media campaigns from average and unsuccessful ones. If your brand is new to social media, here are five important components your SM campaigns should contain, if you want the best results.
1. Show Some Variety
Do not post the same exact type of content every single day. It get’s ridiculously boring for audiences, and they are going to quickly stop hitting “like” if things get monotonous. Mix up your content – quotes, trivia, look-books, testimonials, behind-the-scenes, media coverage, funny bloopers. Yep, the possibilities are endless, so don’t get lazy!
2. Mix It Up
It is important to understand that social media portals allow you to post both stills and moving images. So, make sure you don’t constantly only post graphics; instead, add some videos or short boomerang clips. You can even use Facebook LIVE, if you’re feeling up for it! There are also “story” features you can try out in Facebook and Instagram. Keep your audience on their toes by creating a social media campaign that’s like a well-choreographed dance!
3. Make Special Days Feel…Umm…Special
Trending topics are called trending topics for a reason – they are topical. So, don’t behave like an old fossil, and get with the program. Make sure your social media calendar takes into account both trending topics and special/official days and figure out if your creatives can address them in a relevant manner. Stay on top of trends so you can be one!
4. Get Interactive & Seduce
You need to seduce your audience. How? Try giving away freebies and running exclusive promos for your fans. Not only will they feel rewarded for their loyalty, it’ll also keep them engaged and glued to your social media pages. Keep your audience hooked!
5. Spend Some Money
You need to spend some money on paid promotions. Unless you already have 15,000 organic likes and are a hot topic, you need to invest in yourself before others invest in you. Take time out to allocate a certain budget to buy relevant page likes, boost wall posts and run carousel ads that redirect fans to your Website for sales.
All Image Courtesy: giphy.com
If all of this seems like too much work for you to handle on your own, don’t you worry. Get in touch with our social media wizards right here.
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Jul 18 2017 
In-House, Or Hire? 5 Questions to Determine If You Need a SM Agency
Every start-up CEO has to answer this difficult question at some point – Should I hire an external agency to handle my social media, or should I handle things in-house? Now, if you had a chicken laying golden eggs every single day, then the obvious answer would be to hire the biggest and best agency in the world to focus solely on your social media. But, clearly you’re not a character from Jack & the Beanstalk, so let’s get real.
1. Are You Even Qualified?
Do you actually have real know-how of how the social media world functions? Are you technologically savvy? Can you optimise social media ads effectively? Are you a witty copywriter? Do you have graphic design skills? There’s a new platform launching all the time, and existing platforms keep rolling out new features. If you have a solid grasp on social media marketing, combined with good copywriting and graphic designs skills, then perhaps you actually can handle social media on your own, until you have more resources at your disposal to hire another entity to take over. However, if you aren’t multi-talented at social media, copywriting and graphic design, then cutting corners to save money might damage your branding and back-fire by costing you a lot more in the long-run. It is always best to set things right from the start.
2. Do You Have Enough Humans On Board?
Now, even if you or your tiny, close-knit team has the creative and technical skills to handle social media decently, do you actually have the time to dedicate several hours every week to this important job? Social media requires consistency, because it’s an ongoing dialogue between you and your audience. Posts must go up every day. Hash tags must be tweaked on an ongoing basis. Messages must be monitored and replied to in a timely fashion. Analytics need to be checked regularly. If you don’t have someone who can set aside ample time to these tasks, then a social media agency will offer much needed extra pairs of hands and minds, so you can focus on more pressing concerns.
3. Do You Have Extra Money?
Is your business performing pretty-well? Did you strike a pretty big deal or sale? Is someone ready to invest a substantial amount in your company suddenly? Did Santa Claus just visit you early (please send him to us, too!)? If you have an extra source of cash flowing into your business, then it is always advisable to hire the pros to do the job. Nothing can beat that, so don’t be stingy!
4. Is PR & Influencer Marketing Costing You Your Kidneys?
Are you placing a higher emphasis on PR and tie-ups with thought influencers in a particular campaign phase? If yes, and it is costing you an arm and a leg, then cutting costs by handling social media in-house might not be a bad idea. Once you have more funds in place and/or the cost of investing in PR and thought influencer tie-ups go down, you can always allocate that budget back to social media. Temporary roadblocks can be worked through!
5. Are You Still Beta-Testing?
Are you still in beta-testing mode? (Goodness, hurry it up!) If yes, then it is probably not a good idea to put in too much money on social media until all your ducks are in a row, from your Website and marketing materials to your products and photo/video shoot files. It is best to invest in roping in an external agency when you are truly ready to intensify social media in full swing.
All Image Courtesy: giphy.com
If you are thinking of hiring a social media agency to act as a one-stop solution for business, go ahead and drop us a message right here.
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Jul 13 2017 
Boost Your E-Commerce Sales with THESE 4 FB Ad Tips
It has become fairly simple to setup an e-commerce business these days. Yes, curating and/or manufacturing products is no easy feat, but once that’s in place, getting a Website up and running, along with a secure payment gateway is fairly doable. However, just because you’ve launched an e-commerce portal doesn’t mean sales will happen automatically. It isn’t magic. Regardless of what you are selling, there are bound to be numerous competitors, and most of them are probably investing a lot more in PR and social media marketing than you are, if you are a newbie. However, with these four important Facebook advertising tips, you can certainly change things up for the better. Here’s how! –
1. Build Carousel Ads
Many people make the mistake of simply running Facebook ads to boost page likes, or they will boot individual wall posts. This is not really going to help drive sales that dramatically. However, carousel ads are an excellent option – they allow you to showcase multiple product images in one ad that pans left and right. For example, a lot of ads you’ll see for online shops like Koovs and The Label Life are carousel ads. You can incorporate various images and smart copy to drive the message home smartly, and your ads can redirect visitors to your Website, instead of your Facebook page, to increase the odds of potential purchases.
2. Run Multiple Ad Sets
It is highly critical that you run multiple ad sets at the same time. Label each of these ad sets properly, and include details such as the month and/or week the ads are designed for and if there are any particular cities each carousel ad is focussing on. Within a few days of testing out various carousel ad sets, you will be able to determine which ones are giving you the maximum ROI, and you can phase out ineffective ad sets accordingly.
3. Monitor Sales & Analytics Closely
Setup Google Analytics with your e-commerce portal so you can monitor how your ads are converting in sales in real-time. Analytics will show you how much traffic and sales are increasing in real-time based on how many ads you are running. Often, you will see a pretty strong correlation between FB ad budgets and sales. You can also keep track of which products are selling faster to adjust your carousel ads to push out certain products accordingly.
4. Refresh Creatives Regularly
It is important to change up creatives and copy used in Facebook ads at regular intervals to avoid fatigue. While it is okay to have one consistent master set that is tried and tested, make sure there is at least one ad set that is being updated with new images at least once a month. The last thing you want is for potential customers to become immune to your ads and tune them out entirely. Keep things exciting, innovative and fresh.
All Image Courtesy: giphy.com
Now, while this isn’t really a Facebook ad tip, we would like to point out that a lot of companies start receiving a lot of product-related inquiries through Facebook messages when they run ads. So, do not neglect checking your message folder regularly, because you might miss out on a lot of business if you slack off. Customers like timely replies. Put yourself in their shoes!
Need some help in designing and running Facebook ads for your e-commerce portal? Contact us right here.
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Jul 11 2017 
6 Reasons Why Instagram Stories are Beating Snapchat Stories Left, Right & Centre
If you are a social media junkie and/or a social media professional, you probably have every possible social media app downloaded onto your phone. However, building a good social media strategy doesn’t mean being everywhere, it means being on the right platforms in the right manner. “Stories” seem to be a feature that every app is starting to adopt, from Facebook and WhatsApp to Instagram and Snapchat, however, if you are feeling you are spreading yourself too thin by being everywhere, you may just want to focus on Instagram stories. Here are six reasons why Instagram stories are, in fact, beating Snapchat stories –
1. More Number of Users
There are roughly 300 million daily users on Instagram and only 166 million daily users on Snapchat. And, Instagram stories itself have more than 200 million users per day. These numbers pretty much speak volumes. Instagram helps marketers reach a much wider audience than Snapchat possibly can, simply based on the number of users.
2. Easier to Search
It is a lot easier to stalk, umm, search, for people on Instagram. Snapchat’s search function makes it very difficult to find and follow someone compared to the very user-friendly Instagram. You need Snapchat IDs and/or scan codes to find people, whereas on Instagram, all you need is the person’s name and you even get suggested account recommendations regularly, based on your likes and comments. Pretty neat!
3. Tagging Along
Instagram allows to you to easily tag people – this enhances visibility and reach. And, you can also share external links in Instagram stories, which allows brands to add essential information, such as their website links, blog links and/or other social media profile links. This feature gives Instagram stories an extra edge in terms of usefulness when it comes to marketing outreach.
4. High Quality Videos
On Instagram, you can easily upload videos saved on your phone – this means you can upload high quality content you have curated! The last thing you want is for your brand to put out shabby, pixelated videos.
5. Better Analytics
Instagram provides more data about followers, website clicks, impressions, reach, engagement, demographics, etc. All of this information is very important for marketers to track.
6. Wider Influencer Platform
theAmplify’s CEO Justin Rezvani says, “on average, our influencer community is seeing a 28% higher open rate on Instagram than Snapchat.” If you are a marketer, we are sure this statement definitely got your attention. Because of the larger audience base Instagram has, influencers find it much more rewarding to use Instagram stories. Snapchat shows only a few influencers on their discover section, whereas Instagram’s explore section makes it much easier for influencers to reach more people through recommendations.
Let’s face it Instagram has really implemented the stories feature in a smart manner and it is very user (and marketer) friendly. Snapchat is better for its initial intended purpose – sending private images and videos. Although, Instagram’s new disappearing message and image feature might just make things even more dismal for Snapchat in that department, as well. We’ll have to wait and watch!
All Image Courtesy: giphy.com
Comment below to let us know your thoughts – do you prefer Instagram stories or Snapchat stories? Do you have a useful social media tip you’d like to share with us? Comment below and let us know!
