social media marketing

Social media marketing opens up a whole world of possibilities for small businesses to get their voices heard. 

However, with any tools, there are some mistakes to avoid. The key is to understand the platforms that you are using; that way, you know exactly how to get the results you wish. 

Want to learn more? Keep reading to find out the five social media marketing mistakes to avoid for small businesses. 

1. Not Having a Content Strategy 

When you are a small business, it is imperative to post to make an impact on your audience. 

If you post just to post, the content can suffer. The best way to optimize your use of social media marketing is to create a content strategy. This way, you know what you are positing and the effects it will bring to your business. 

A content marketing strategy also allows you to build a rapport with your target audience, which in turn can save you money since you won’t be spending your funds overly broad-advertisements. 

2. Not Diversifying Your Platforms 

No social media platforms are alike, and it is essential to expand and diversify the various platforms offered. 

For example, you may see a more significant response from Instagram than Facebook or even maybe start a YouTube channel for your business. Having multiple avenues of social media is always better because it allows you to broaden your audience by being on various platforms. 

3. Lack of Brand Image

Your business’s brand image is the fingerprint that identifies who you are to your audience. 

Without a cohesive brand, it is difficult to market, since all of your content blends in with the rest. With a punchy brand image, you can stand out from the crowd and gain significant traction on social media regardless of your business. 

Consumers like content that is unique and streamlined, so if your brand is on point, your content will mirror that. 

4. Lack of Audience Interaction

When you use social media for your small business, you are inviting yourself to interact with your audience. Consumers may pose questions or inquiries, and it is critical to interact with these individuals. 

Consumers like to see that there is an actual person behind the screen, and taking the time to interact (when applicable) is an excellent way to build rapport with your audience and help them. 

Don’t ignore your audience; a good rapport is a key to steady growth. 

5. Not Tracking Your Progress

With the tools available, it is vital to track your progress. 

By tracking your progress, you are providing yourself with a benchmark to reach and even surpass. By using business tools built into social media and even devices outside of it, you are allowing your small business to thrive. 

By not tracking your progress, you will be unaware of what campaigns stick and which ones don’t. It can create a disconnect between your business and your audience, leading to uncertainty of how to grow. 

Track your progress and see how your small business can grow. 

Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

With these five mistakes, you will know what social media marketing mistakes to avoid. With this knowledge, move forward with a steady plan to grow your small business by using social media as a tool. 

Want to learn some of the superb services we offer to help your business flourish? Drop us a line or check out our work for more information.

google best practices

If you want to drive people to your business’ website, then you need to rank high in Google results. If you want to rank high in Google results, then you need to understand and apply SEO strategies.

Google is a wonderful tool to help your business succeed. However, many people are completely unfamiliar with Google best practices, and as a result, their company ends up buried on page five or later of the results on any search.

There are many things you can do to fix this. SEO sounds complicated at first, but really, it is quite easy to understand. With a few tweaks, you can help your company’s website to move up in results immensely, and you’ll get more business as a result.

Read on to learn more about how to make your website appear higher in Google website rankings. 

1. Publish High-Quality, Evergreen Content

Perhaps the most important of all Google best practices is to make sure that the content you publish on your site is of high quality. Write in-depth, long-form posts about various topics to demonstrate your authority in your field and also to provide the best possible result for the person searching.

Creating evergreen content – that is, content that is relevant for now and in the future – will help you to establish an even stronger, long term spot in Google results.

2. Include Backlinks 

Linkbuilding is an art, but it is a crucial focus of SEO. By inserting high-quality, authoritative links into your posts, you will improve your search engine visibility. Don’t overdo it though; find a happy medium. 

3. Use Strong Keywords and Keyword Phrases

The use of strong keywords will also help you to help your site to rank high in Google results. Research keywords and keyword phrases that are related to your business. Purchasing access to ranking tools is often well worth it. 

4. Focus on User Experience 

One way that Google determines your site’s ranking is by analyzing the overall user experience. It does this in several ways. One thing it measures is user dwell time, which is how long a user stays on your site. Another factor to determine ranking is click-through rate, or how frequently users choose your result over others to find the answer they seek.

Further, sites that rank high are easy to read, include relevant links and offers on their page, and contain multiple options or ways for users to absorb the content. Include a combination of all of the above for optimum success.

5. Give Video a Try

Video marketing has been proven to be successful, but few marketers put it into practice. To make this strategy work for you, keep your videos short but informative. Integrate them into the rest of your site content, and make sure both the audio and video quality are high. 

Try These Google Best Practices for Success

These are just a few great ideas for SEO success. There are other Google best practices to try, but the above are great places to start and they are five of the most effective options to try. These will keep you busy for a while; in a short time, you’ll be amazed at the improvement in rankings that you see. Good luck!

If you would like assistance in or advice about digital marketing, we would love to help you out. Please contact us today.

Choosing The Social Network That's Right For Your Business - Digi Brand Studios NJ

Social media marketing is an excellent form of small business marketing – it draws in new customers and spreads the word about your company. However, you don’t necessarily need to be on every social media network, particularly if you are a small business. Social media marketing costs money and can also be time-consuming, so you will want to focus on the social networks that make the most sense for your company. Finding the right social media network depends on the demographics of its user base and how well that matches up with your target audience. Here are some of the most popular social media networks and the applications they are best for.

Facebook

Facebook is a social media network that virtually every business needs to be on, regardless of what industry you are in. Facebook has a huge reach and attracts a wide range of demographics. They also have a very in-depth marketing program, which you can use to reach your target demographic. Facebook also works well for a wide variety of content – you can share photos and videos, and you can also post text updates and ask your customers questions.

Twitter

Twitter’s 280 character limit means that businesses have to get creative with their updates. If your company has a sense of humor, you can use Twitter as an opportunity to really show that off with quippy, shareable posts. You can also use Twitter as a way to engage with your customer base and answer questions.

Instagram

Instagram allows you to post photo and video content, so it’s great for businesses with visually interesting products or services. The user base of Instagram tends to skew towards a younger, hipper crowd, so if that’s your ideal customer, you should be on Instagram. Instagram’s user base also tends to live in urban areas, so if you cater more towards suburban or rural customers, you may not find as much success. Instagram is also much more effective for B2C companies than B2B companies.

LinkedIn

If your business is B2B or caters to working professionals, you need to be on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a very professional environment, and well-crafted posts on this network are a great way to boost your brand image and generate high-profile business. Since most LinkedIn users are on the platform for careers and networking, it isn’t as effective for B2C marketing.

YouTube

YouTube is an effective marketing channel for anyone because it has a huge user base, comprised of people of all ages. However, putting together great video content requires more time and money than posting on other social media platforms. If you want to make a slightly bigger investment in your social media marketing, YouTube is a great way to do so.

At Digi Brand Studios, we develop effective and affordable digital marketing strategies for small businesses. Since small businesses are our specialty, we are very familiar with the unique challenges that small companies face. Not only can we help you develop an effective social media marketing strategy, but we can also help with SEO, content marketing, and other forms of digital marketing to grow your business. Contact us today to learn more about our services.