The holiday season may look different this year, but it remains one of the busiest times for consumers and businesses alike. Small businesses and major retailers are doing everything they can to bring in sales despite the new challenges 2020 has presented, including utilizing holiday social media trends. With a shift to e-commerce and digital marketing, having a strong social media presence is key for any business to have a successful holiday season and new year.

With so many different platforms at our fingertips, it can be difficult to know where to begin outlining your social media strategy. Luckily, the social media experts at Exults are here to help identify holiday trends, what’s doing well this year, and what’s likely to continue seeing growth. 

Here are some holiday social media trends your company can take advantage of this season:

Start Making Video Content

Video content has been increasing in popularity for years, and 2020 proved a big year for platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Because of this, brands have begun to embrace video content more than ever. If your company hasn’t delved into this category yet, the holiday season is the perfect time to do so. 

Video is a compelling and visual way to get your messaging across and expand your following. The important thing about creating videos is to avoid being too salesy. Content like this should be about providing value and entertainment. Once you’ve got your audience’s attention, reach and sales will follow.

There are plenty of platforms for creating and sharing videos. TikTok and Instagram Stories have become must-haves over the past year or so, but YouTube is a staple in this category, particularly when it comes to long-form content. 

Which platform will work for you depends on where your audience is most likely to be and the kind of message you’re hoping to get across. For the holiday season, you can use videos to promote any sales and deals you’re having, as well as to spread cheer and talk about how you’re celebrating.

Promote the Act of Giving Back

The holiday season is all about giving, and charities could certainly use the extra hand this year. With so many struggling this holiday season, your brand can pitch in to help. This can take many forms — from hosting a toy or food drive to collecting donations for the charity of your choice. Whatever cause your company chooses to focus on, promoting on social channels is a good idea.

First, highlighting what you’re doing to help your community will endear people to your business. It never hurts to be associated with goodwill, especially as people look for local businesses to support. In fact, a recent study from Zeno demonstrates that consumers are more likely to shop at companies with “purpose.”

Promoting what you’re doing on socials will also enable you to involve your customers in the process. Not only will they get to know your brand by participating, but collecting toys or food might bring them into your store. It’s a win-win situation.

Show Your Staff Some Love

Donating to charity isn’t the only way to show appreciation this year. Another way to spread the love this holiday season is by highlighting how much you appreciate your staff. Presenting a united front to customers is always important, and that’s especially true after this year.

Post a status update, story, or video thanking those who have continued to show up for your business all year. If you plan on hosting some kind of holiday party to thank your staff (virtual gatherings work too), you can also take a picture and share that to social media. It will show your customers you have your priorities straight, and it will make them feel involved.

 Get Festive on Your Stories

We could all use some extra cheer this year, so don’t be afraid to get festive with social media stories. With many consumers having a quieter holiday season in 2020, your followers are bound to appreciate any festivity that comes their way. Instagram’s story feature is probably the most popular, but Facebook and Twitter also enable brands to share stories.

As for what to share in your social stories, your company can and should mix it up. If you’re running promotions or deals, your customers will no doubt want to hear about it. The same goes for any charitable events you’re hosting or supporting. 

It also can’t hurt to show your followers how you’re celebrating the holidays. Posting your store’s decorations or any festive projects you’re doing at home will give your feeds a personalized feel. Personalization often strengthens customer loyalty. Your customers will get to know you better through your stories and feel like they’re celebrating the holidays alongside you.

Even just wishing your followers “Happy Holidays” or “Happy New Year” on your stories can go a long way. You want your customers to feel the warmth and positivity often associated with this time of year. If your brand can give them those feelings by taking advantage of holiday social media trends, they’re more likely to return!

The post Holiday Social Media Trends: The Best Strategies for Improving Your Social Media Presence appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

You’re on a mission. You’ve even imagined your campaign’s gone viral. If only that could come true.

Having the right plan in place is going to help. So, let’s get organized. Follow our top four tips and you’ll be well on the way to giving your social media campaign strategy your best shot.

It’s time to get connected. Let’s get the show on the road.

1. Set Clear Objectives

You need a plan. That means giving yourself clear goals. These could be anything from direct sales to a boost in awareness of your product. You’ll also need a mechanism to measure the success of these goals.

Decide who your target market so you are sure to attract the audience you want. Think about the age, location, income, and type of work of your ideal client.

Give some thought about where you are right now in terms of social media. Where are you most active? Are all your networks up to date with great photos and copy? Who are your main competitors?

Have a short mission statement which focuses on what you want to achieve. It’ll help you decide on what to share and the type of content you’re going to create.

2. Understand the Rules

Make sure you are familiar with any guidelines for running a promotion on your chosen sites. Facebook, for example, has strict rules you must follow.

There are many apps that may give you assistance with running your campaign. Many are even free and can help you reach another level with competitions, coupons, and other offers.

Think about SEO. Every social media outlet has its own search engine. So, before you even begin your campaign, make sure you come up with keywords you want to rank for socially. You can then incorporate these into your posts.

3. Let the Fun Begin

You have your mission statement and you know who your audience is. Now is the fun part. You can begin to create engaging content for your social media channels. Think pictures, videos, blogs, and soundbites.

Make sure your content forms match your mission statement, and that you have the necessary skills to create them.  You may also need to create a landing page so that visitors know they’ve come to the right place.

Make a schedule on your calendar. Decide which days and at what times you are going to post content. Establish the type of message you’re going to send out and when.

4. Adapt Your Social Media Campaign Strategy

Engage with any social media influencers you have already approached. Their help could be vital. Be prepared to adapt your campaign if that’s what their advice is.

Make sure you use social media management tools available. Failure to do so is going to cost you a lot of man-hours.

Follow up regularly with all your new contacts.

Putting In the Work

A successful social media campaign strategy requires a lot of effort. No pain, no gain.

We are the experts. If you need help with your campaign, contact the team at Exults for a quote today.

The post 4 Tips for Creating an Effective Social Media Campaign appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

With even small businesses now spending around $75,000 a year on digital marketing, it’s vital for everyone to find ways to cut corners without cutting quality.

If you’re not putting a social media campaign strategy together for your brand, you’re missing out on an inexpensive way to engage with your audience. You could connect with millions of new people for free with the right pitch.

Here are three reasons to prioritize social media campaigns this year.

1. Go Viral

One of the most obvious ways that a social media campaign drives new clients to your business is when your posts go viral. By looking at the type of content that people want from brands like yours, you get an insight into what you should be creating. Study other brands in your market and see what types of posts get the most feedback and engagements

When you craft your own campaign around what people like, you’re sure to capture a completely new audience. There’s no perfect algorithm for getting the same people to respond to your posts every time. That’s why it’s important to offer variety in your posts so that you’re always catching new people in your net.

2. Humanize Your Brand

With a social media campaign, you get the chance to let people see behind the curtain of your company and your brand. When you humanize your brand in a sincere way, you give your audience the chance to see who’s really behind the brand that they love. In this era, audiences expect more from brands and expect to be able to learn about them in new and sincere ways.

If you make the effort to humanize your brand, you give people a stronger connection to how your products and services come about. This allows them to see their place in your world and to want to share their positive feelings with their own audience.

3. Show Powerful Connections

One of the best things about social media is the ability to send a photo to millions of people in the click of a button. When you have this power, you can show your audience things they would have to have visited your offices in the past to find out.

If a celebrity uses your products and services, share that with your audience to tell them how great your brand is.

Even better, just share some of the photos of your best and most loyal customers. You’ll win their favor and make them happy they work with your brand. When you show customers that you appreciate them, you’ll win lifelong loyalty.

The Right Social Media Campaign Drives Sales

If you’re not making social media campaigns your top priority in the next year, you’re going to leave money on the table. There’s a lot to gain from a strong social media campaign and with the right approach, you’ll connect with a whole new audience.

To better generate leads with social media, check out our latest guide.

The post Top 3 Ways a Social Media Campaign Can Drive New Clients to Your Business appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

With the average small business now spending more than $75,000 a year on digital marketing, spending is only going to go up.

If you’re not constantly updating your digital marketing strategy, you’re going to fall behind. You need to have a strategy that takes into account what your customers want, or you’re going to fall flat on your face.

Here are three things to keep in mind when updating your strategy for 2019.

Stay Social

One of the best tools you have access to as a business owner is all the free advertising you can get on social media. With the help of social media, you can test out ideas with your digital marketing strategy in real time and see real results. Rather than having to guess whether you’ll be able to connect with your audience, make it happen on social media.

With social media, you get the opportunity to make powerful and directly targeted campaigns that work to connect with audiences of all types. Want to make something targeted to working-class women in Toronto? You can do it with social media.

Looking to try out a new flavor of your product in Ohio? Social media helps you figure out what kind of response you’ll get.

Start a Blog

When people use search engines, they’re either looking for a specific product or the answer to a question. When you start a blog, you get the chance to capture both audiences with your writing, offering answers to questions with your products and services as the solution.

When you start a blog, you also get the chance to increase your ranking on search engines. Search engines reward websites with lots of regular updates with higher results than other sites. They look for keyword intent and the context that you use terms in.

They’ll also be looking to match searchers with local results, so mention where you’re located as often as is relevant.

Don’t Give Up On Email

While it might seem slightly outdated, email is still a viable way to connect with your audience and run a promotion. When you maintain email as part of your digital marketing strategy, you connect with the people who’ve opted into what you have to offer.

When you connect with your customers via email, it feels more personal than social media.  Since it means you’ll reach them directly, you need to handle this contact information with care and target customers only with what they care about.

Your Digital Marketing Strategy Is a Moving Target

The metrics for success when it comes to digital marketing are constantly changing. If you’re not ready with a flexible and agile digital marketing strategy, you’re going to fall behind in the dust your competitors create. Use the three methods above but be ready to shift your content at a moment’s notice.

Check out our latest guide to ensure you’re also using best practices with paid advertising.

The post Ring in the New Year: What Your New Digital Marketing Strategy Needs to Look Like in 2023 appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

In order to gain lead generation, it is imperative to implement customer reviews on your website for multiple reasons.

If you are hungry for more leads, these five reasons will show you exactly how user-generated content can gain you those leads you’ve been craving.

Increases Brand Trust

It is difficult for consumers to make purchases solely on companies’ promises. Customers have ample places to conduct their business, so why should they give you their money over your competitor down the street?

Customers want to be something other than your company’s guinea pig. They want to purchase a product or a service that they know will get them their money’s worth.

So, how do you ensure that customers trust you? You don’t. Previous customers do.

They do this through their online reviews and testimonials. Reviews show that your products or services work and that your promises are real.

Boosts Online Search Rankings

Search engines are all about their algorithms and coding. However, they know how to promote companies with a humane element, aka reviews.

These reviews show search engines that your company is both trustworthy and legitimate. Your company will receive a higher ranking by proving this to search engines.

Differentiate Your Business From Others

Look at this aspect from an outsider’s point of view. If you were going to hire a personal accountant and narrow your search down to two candidates — one has reviews, and one does not. Who are you most likely going to choose?

The one who has reviews because this conveys a higher sense of professionalism and trust. You want to set yourself apart from your competitors in any way, shape, or form, and online reviews are a great way to do so.

Promotes Relevant Content

Google loves content, there is no surprise there. But having a review or testimonial page on your website makes for great content. This relates to getting a higher search ranking on Google.

The more reviews you have, the more content pages you have. And the more content pages you have, the better you rank on Google, which is just waiting to send your company more leads.

Displays A Human Element

Despite all the technical benefits, having online reviews for your company will show that you care about your customers. Authentic reviews allow you to interact with your customers and thank them for their patronage or apologize for their negative experiences.

You can even use these reviews to steer customers back toward your company if their initial experience wasn’t positive by apologizing and offering to fix their problem.

Online Reviews Are Key For Lead Generation

All in all, having online reviews on your website is vital to your company. Not only will it increase lead generation, but it will also allow you to hear your customer’s feedback.

This can help you to yield a better customer experience, which can drive even more customers to your door. Online reviews are a win-win when it comes to your business.

Are you looking for more advice from digital marketing experts? Take a look at our top tips to learn more.

FAQs

Why are customer reviews important for marketing?

Positive reviews can enhance a company’s social credibility and create favorable impressions on potential customers. Positive reviews can instill trust in your business for potential customers, who may feel more at ease making a purchase knowing that others have had positive experiences.

What are the benefits of responding to customer reviews?

When considering buying something, customers are interested in both customer reviews and the perspective of the business. Responding to reviews can help companies handle negative feedback, establish consumer confidence, improve ratings, and boost sales.

How do positive reviews impact a business?

Positive reviews contribute to establishing trust in a business and its merchandise, potentially leading to a higher chance of customer transactions. Research has indicated that customer feedback significantly influences sales conversion rates.

The post Why Are Reviews Important? The Benefits of Customer Feedback appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Add that number to the user bases of other popular social media platforms and you have a compelling reason to make sure your organization has a social presence.

But just being present on social is a lot different than being successful on it. To start generating the social media success you’re looking for, our team of experts has put together this rapid-fire list of 6 social media marketing trends you should be aware of.

1. Video is King

Gone are the days of people wanting to read long status updates. Today, people want information fast.

And what’s more, they want that fast information via video.

Video usage has exploded on social to the tune of 8 billion video views a day on Facebook and millions more across Twitter and Instagram. Your company should take note and start making video part of its content plan.

2. Live Streaming is Growing

Many of the most popular social media apps have live streaming built in, but few businesses leverage it.

We recommend getting ahead of the curve and starting to engage with your customers live at least once a week to stay topical and interact with your audience in a unique way.

3. Influencer Marketing

Stars aren’t born at studios in Hollywood anymore, they’re born online. These Youtube/Instagram/Tumblr stars are called “influencers” and guess what… they’re for hire.

Consider reaching out to a relevant influencer who operates within your niche and get partnered with them on the social media marketing front to expand your reach.

4. Paid Exposure

Social media used to be the platform people would go to for free marketing. While it’s still possible to get traction for free on social, it’s getting increasingly important to pay-to-play.

Putting a little ad spend towards social can make hyper-relevant content rise to the top of very likely to convert customer’s feeds. Believe us when we say that the investment is well worth the reward.

5. Diversification is a Good Thing

We’ve all heard the saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” It makes it seem like being diversified is a bad thing.

On social, it’s becoming a progressively more necessary thing.

Key audience segments are starting to dilute from the biggest social platforms (Facebook, YouTube) and migrate towards a handful of smaller ones (Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, Pinterest).

To make sure you’re maximizing your reach, it’s important to start thinking about having an effective presence on multiple platforms.

6. Mobile has Taken Over

This point is far from new but is always worth mentioning. Growth in the number of social media users that access platforms via mobile devices dwarfs desktop growth.

That means you’ll want more of your content to look great and be tailor-made in some cases for mobile to really stand out!

Wrapping Up Social Media Marketing Trends

If you’re looking for a way to make waves on social, we recommend taking our social media marketing trends to heart. If you’re looking for a way to transform your social media presence into a lead generating, growth-inducing machine for your company, we recommend contacting us.

At Exults, we specialize in helping organizations like yours maximize their digital footprint to cut through today’s clutter, locate more customers, and skyrocket revenue.

Learn more about the value our team can bring to your by getting your free consultation today!

The post 6 Social Media Marketing Trends You Can Take Advantage of Now appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Instagram launched in 2010 and now boasts over 1 billion monthly users. They know what they’re doing when it comes to attracting and keeping an audience. Constant improvement and new updated features are partly responsible for that growth.

Keep reading to find out more about the Instagram update, “recommended posts.” We’ll also talk about what Instagram can do for your business brand and why you should include it in your marketing plan.

Instagram: Recommended Posts Update

Have you heard about the recommended posts update? After Instagram tested the feature on select accounts, they secretly released it on a full-scale basis. Here’s what has changed.

In the past, recommended posts were separate from the user feed. They were still there, but only accessible from a dedicated tab. This option let the user choose whether to view them.

With the new Instagram update, recommended posts now show up right in the user feed. They come after unseen posts from people you follow. This new feature increases the likelihood that the recommended posts are getting exposure.

The “Recommended for You” section suggests three to five posts which the accounts you follow have liked. Beside each post is a follow button, making it easy to get new followers if they want your content. The only choice users have at getting rid of the recommendations is to hide them temporarily.

Recommended Posts and Social Media Marketing

While some individuals on Instagram are complaining about the new update, chalk it up as an advantage for business social media marketing. It offers more significant exposure to content.

It also provides a potential increase in followers since the follow button is right there. Users don’t have to click through to your profile to follow you.

These types of updates contribute to Instagram becoming a more valuable platform for marketing purposes. In fact, Instagram also recently introduced the ability to follow hashtags as well. Both are effective features for business use.

Why Use Instagram in Your Marketing?

With the enormous active global user base and business-friendly features, it’s vital that you don’t skip this social media platform in your marketing plan. Besides having a large number of diverse users, Instagrammers spend lots of time in the app too. 60% visit daily and 35% visit many times per day.

Without using hardcore selling techniques, Instagram allows businesses to:

• Showcase Products
• Humanize Their Brand
• Recruit Talent
• Gain Exposure
• Inspire Users

Did you know that 70% of the platform’s users have already used Instagram to look up a brand? And that 70% of the most popular hashtags are brand names? Another interesting Instagram fact, brand engagement is ten times higher than on Facebook.

Instagram is great at turning passive lookers into buyers; you just need followers and quality content.

What’s the Bottom Line?

With updates such as the recommended posts feature, Instagram is becoming a must-have platform for business. If your company isn’t currently using Instagram in its marketing, why not?

Need help formulating and executing an e-marketing strategy for Instagram? Contact us; we’d love to help.

The post The Latest Social Media Marketing Tool: Instagram’s ‘Recommended Posts’ appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

You need to pour time and money on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Trust us, it’s worth it. For your dollar, there isn’t a more efficient or effective way to reach the people you need to reach.

Here are some social media campaign ideas you can use right now.

Social Media Campaign Ideas

There are over one billion [with a “B”!] people on Facebook. That’s basically everybody on the internet. More than 100 million people a month use Instagram.

1 .Use Both Sites

Facebook owns Instagram, and there is a huge cross-promotional advantage because of it.

In fact, to advertise on Instagram, you simply use the Facebook advertising platform. The business portal is hands down the most sophisticated and specialized of any on the net.

On the Facebook / Instagram advertising portal, you can select as specific a demographic as you can think of. Not activity level, health, whatever. You can pin down keywords or zip codes, and combine them with your demographic.

There is an almost unlimited number of ways you can target users on Facebook and Instagram.

2. Play in a Sandbox

Facebook Creative Hub is their sandbox system for making ads on Facebook or Instagram and viewing them before you send them out in the wild. This is a place you can create mockup ads before you pay for them. You can press your ad into a live Facebook feed to see what the would look like under any condition.

Create a mockup, view it on your desktop, view it on your cell phone, check it out on a bunch of different devices and make sure it works.

3. Use the In-Stream Network

Facebook has its own affiliate network of hundreds of thousands of sites where your ads can appear. It’s called “Audience Network”, and it’s more sophisticated as Google AdWords, although the reach and efficacy are about the same.

4. Experiment with Different Formats

There are multiple ad formats on Facebook and Instagram. You should utilize most of them.

Image – The principal ad on Facebook is an image. You can also ad searchable text to this type of ad.

Video – A good idea when you place a video ad, is to also use text in the ad to promote your message. Facebook won’t ship your video ad to a device that won’t play video, but they can’t control if the user has the sound up or isn’t listening!

Collection and Carousels – These are similar to image ads, except you can display more than one image in a scrolling manner. Collections show through once, while carousels roll indefinitely.

Slideshows – These are really video ads, optimized for users with low bandwidth. They include sound, but only show a few frames of images.

Canvas – Canvas ads capture the full screen of the device. They are placed in front of premium content and other places where users really want to see something full screen.

5. Get Creative

Ultimately, you’re trying to get noticed. So do that! Social media engagement only happens if your customers remain interested.

Experiment with different strategies until something sticks.

Facebook is Your Friend

Test your social media campaign ideas on Facebook. It’s not the only social site that your customers are using, but it’s the biggest.

Contact us if you want help developing a killer social media strategy. Online marketing is a full-time job but it doesn’t have to be yours. Let the experts handle it.

The post 5 Unique Ways to Advertise on Social Media appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

On Wednesday evening Chief Executive David Brandon finally told its employees that Toys R Us is planning to sell or close nearly 800 of its U.S. stores, a collapse that threatens up to 33,000 American jobs.

After filing for Bankruptcy in September 2017, Toys R Us struggled with more than $5 billion in debt from a leveraged buyout.

The big-box retailer was once the go-to place for kids looking to pick up the latest toy or video game, so what happened?

The company’s fate spiraled after it was toppled by external forces and didn’t fight back. Although Toys R Us created the cultural phenomenon of a huge warehouse for families to adventure with their children to choose their favorite toys, this became outdated when online shopping became prevalent, easy, and hassle-free. If you can avoid the unavoidable crying, begging temper tantrums of your kid wanting everything they see in an expensive toy wonderland and instead have a package delivered in two days to your front door, then it’s a no-brainer.

As experts of internet marketing, it’s crucial to highlight the missed opportunity that Toys R Us didn’t leverage to their advantage – online presence. It’s the 21^st century in America, and people want what is fast and easy – online shopping.

Amazon Prime is based on out-of-town warehouses for fulfilling online purchases. Toys R Us had the means, buying power, and brand to become an online retail powerhouse but didn’t make the moves to do so. With a strong digital presence utilizing online advertising and social media, the toy superstore could have avoided its own demise and thrived in the world of e-commerce.

Utilizing their established brand as a toy retailer, Toys R Us should have taken advantage of their product range to capture consumers at the end of the buying journey through paid online advertising and optimized product pages. With sponsored search, or PPC, the toy retailer could have targeted lucrative demographics like families with 2-3 kids or couples expecting – the possibilities are endless when it comes to targeted marketing online.

In addition, Toys R Us should have utilized social media advertising to keep their brand in front of the minds of parents. By keeping a strong and healthy social media presence, Toys R Us would’ve stayed relevant and fostered the emotional connection between consumers and toys. Let’s face it, the kids that once dreamed of play time and birthday presents from Toys R Us are now the mothers and fathers that Toys R Us is marketing to now.

Through remarketing via Google Adwords and Facebook Ads, Toys R Us could have targeted consumers who had visited their website before, looked at specific toys, or even liked their Facebook page.

In addition to digital marketing, Toys R Us could have rewarded customers by capitalizing on already born loyalty to the brand. With rewards and referrals programs, like Perxi, it is possible to show customers how important they are to you by offering discounts and free gifts. It’s much more valuable and much easier to market to an existing, loyal customer than to market to a one-time buyer.

If Toys R Us had adopted internet marketing strategies and stayed afloat with the big dog competitors like Amazon, Target, and Walmart, the brand would have thrived and remained king of the toy land jungle.

If you are interested in boosting sales with an established online presence and strategic digital marketing strategy, contact Exults Internet Marketing Agency today!

The post Toys R Us Out Of Business Due to Lacking Digital Strategy appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Customer Service

The first place a disgruntled consumer will go is often the internet. Tweeting, for example, allows them to vent their aggravation and warn others about poor corporate responsibility, shoddy products, and other pitfalls. E-commerce companies and other businesses must monitor online activity carefully at all times by using hashtags and web searches around the clock.

Handling consumer issues in public via open social media platforms, viewable by anyone and everyone, shows an honesty and transparency that only the internet can provide. Many companies have turned a potential publicity disaster into a positive message via the social media platform. Some even seek out new customers by scouring the internet for angry posts to use lucratively.

Personalized Presence

Social media platforms allow faceless corporations to become real people online. While a company website is expected to be professional and static, social media allows businesses to post ever-changing lively and humorous content that wins both the hearts and minds of their customers.

Free Advertising

When a funny or clever post on social media goes viral, literally millions of people may see your message. They don’t care if the source is a company or an individual, so long as it’s an interesting message they want to share. Also, it’s easy to promote your brand and display corporate responsibility at the same time by offering donations for every Facebook repost or retweet.

Social media is more than a diversion for bored office workers — it’s a direct representation of your company that every customer can embrace. Modern marketing requires a social media presence. The professionals at Exults can help you determine the perfect strategy for your e-commerce business.

The post How Social Media Influences E-Commerce appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.