Myths and legends about social media

Social media changed the way we interact with each other. More importantly - it changed how businesses communicate and sell to their clients. In today’s world, it is almost impossible for a brand not to be active on different platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. The presence there is integrated into the marketing strategy of the company. There are tons of details about the target audiences, the types of posts, the tone of voice, and many more. 

It is fair to say that social media changed our lives and boosted the area of digital marketing in a way never seen before. However, there are several myths and legends about the networks that are still going around to this day and in this article, we are going to break some of them. In the following lines, consider us the “Mythbusters” of digital marketing. 

Myth #1: You should be present anywhere

Up to this day, a lot of people consider that they should be present everywhere and try to maintain accounts on all social networks. This is something that is not necessary. Depending on their target audience and type of business, companies can choose several channels in their marketing strategy. If they identify additional ones along the way, that is okay. 

It depends on the type of business you have. If you are selling clothes, then you want to be active on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. However, there is no point to be on LinkedIn with the same offers. People are there for other things and expect other interactions from this type of social network. Another mistake is that people rely on the same strategy for each of their pages. You have to adapt to the types of posts you can share, see what works best and brings you followers and engagement. And most importantly - that achieves your goals. 

Myth #2: You have to share engaging content at all cost

Some people consider that their pages must have a lot of likes, comments, and interactions. And while that is true, it shouldn’t be done with any type of content. For example - if you are a restaurant that has a social media page and shares pictures of cute animals you are probably going to receive a lot of engagement. However, it will be from people that like cute animals. Not from potential customers that will come and eat in your place. It is the same with other types of thematic content. You can use it, but you have to modify it from the scope of your business. Any page can post a funny picture - just make sure it is in line with your business area and target audience. 

Myth #3: I work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I am going to post at that timeframe

This is not that common myth. A few years ago it was and people considered that they can be active on social media from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and post regularly there. However, if you look closely, you will see that successful brands are active almost 24/7. And while some posts can be scheduled, for others you have to be the first one to reach. This is very important for media companies - whoever is the first is guaranteed the most likes, shares, and comments. 

You have to understand that people are online all of the time. And that is something they expect from brands as well. Today the brand follows the client, not the other way around. 

Myth #4: Social media is used by young people only

Once they started over 10 years ago, social media was used mainly by young people. Now, this is just a myth. What can be considered to be true is that young people prefer specific social media platforms. TikTok and Instagram are just two examples. Facebook and LinkedIn are left to professionals and the majority of people there are not students. This is not “a young man’s game” if we have to put it in a way to reference James Bond.  If you are interested in specific numbers and demographics, sproutsocial.com has compiled an amazing list of people from different age groups using each platform the most. 

Myth #5: I don’t need investments or expertise to achieve results

Social media is very complex and if you want to be successful you must hire professionals to help you. It is almost impossible to achieve results on your own. And there are several reasons for that. You can share posts and stories on your pages. However, social media has to be part of the overall marketing strategy you have. The SM networks should be chosen based on the type of business you have, the goals you want to achieve, and your target audience. The different platforms have constant actualizations and change their algorithms and functionalities. For a person that doesn’t have the proper background, this information will be hard to track. And those factors are crucial for how a business will perform on social media. 

Myth#6: Social media is marketing with no cost

In the early 2010s, some marketers referenced social media as a place where you can promote your business without investing in ads. This wasn’t true back then and it is not true today.  If you want to be successful you need to deliver amazing content to your target audience on that social network. And here we come to the content plan and the strategy for social media ads. What and when to be published, what types of ads to be prepared and run. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. It is complex and it costs money. Some marketers still reference social media as “marketing with zero budget”. Well, they don’t know what they are talking about. 

Those are the six main myths about social media that still can be witnessed today. If you want to be successful you have to be active on social media today. The best way to achieve results is to work with professionals. If you want to learn more about how you can take advantage of the potential that the social networks have, feel free to contact our team.

by Venelin

LinkedIn for Business - A Beginner’s Guide (part 2)

A little while back I covered the basics of LinkedIn marketing in a blog post. Now it is time to move on with the subject and go a bit deeper into this social network for professionals. In the first article, I walked you through the process of how to create a page for your brand, what are the benefits of the social network, and what can you do to grow your audience. 

Now I am going to tell you more about how the algorithm works, what’s the process of post creation, and I’ll give you some tips and tricks that will boost your performance. Let’s see how to make this social network work for your brand in the best way possible!

Important things any business should know about LinkedIn 

To achieve results, you should be aware of the way things work. I am going to walk you through the most important details you should be familiar with when maintaining and growing a business page on LinkedIn. 

How does the platform work?

Since it is a professional platform, the content generated on LinkedIn is less than the one on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This means that you have better chances for organic visibility. The algorithm is constructed in such a way that you will be able to see things people in your network have commented on or liked. This goes both ways - once you like or comment on something, your connections will see it as well. 

The perfect size exists

LinkedIn, as any other social media channel, has specific sizes that work best for posting. Based on my personal experience in managing our clients’ pages, the perfect sizes are the following: 

• Image (square) - 1200 x 1200px; 
• Image (portrait) - 1080 x 1350px;
• Page update with a URL (shared link) - 1200 x 627px;
• VIdeos - up to 4096 x 2304px and in 10 minutes of length. However, 1920 x 1080px looks nice as well;
• Documents - they can be in the format of PPT, PPTS, DOC, DOCX, and PDF with a size up to 100MB and content up to 300 pages. The size can be standard A4, as well as 1920 x 1080px or simply a square. Keep in mind that if there is too much text or if the font is too small, important details might be missed on mobile devices.

Despite these recommendations, images with a resolution of 1920 x 1080px perform as well. You can experiment with that and check if the visibility and results will be better. 

What are the types of posts on LinkedIn?

When you make a post on LinkedIn, there are some small things you should know very well. All available types of posts are only accessible once you press “Start a post” on the page newsfeed. If you don’t, you will only see the four most popular options for posting: 

• upload a photo;
• share a video; 
• start a poll; 
• write an article. 

Also, there is the option to add attachments to your post if you need to share something specific such as a document. Now that I mention them, docs are very interesting types of posts on LinkedIn. They appear in a way that lets users interact with your page. LinkedIn turns them into small presentations that you can swipe through. This means you can share interesting information about your audience in an interactive way. The continuous interaction automatically boosts the engagement of the page, making the documents the best type of posts you can share (of course this could be different for your business).

Another specific thing is related to video posts. It is better to upload the video file directly on LinkedIn rather than sharing а URL with the same video from YouTube or Facebook. The performance and visibility will be much better. Otherwise, LinkedIn will consider the post as a “shared link” and we all know how that works across all social channels. Moreover, if you upload the video directly, you’ll be able to see some interesting data not only about the views but also about the people who have watched it.

What is the proper length of the posts on LinkedIn?

Another important thing that should be considered is the length of the posts on LinkedIn. An article from influencialmarketing.com outlines that around 100 words are the best for post descriptions. My experience shows something similar, but the measure is different - up to the 3rd row. After that, you will be hit with the “see more” option. And I’m sorry l have to be the one to tell you - people don’t click on that.

If you want your posts to be more engaging, keep your recommended length. The best copy is the one that tells you a lot with a few words. When you have a proper post description + an engaging title, people will interact with your publication for sure. 

Use #Hashtags 

Let me tell you something - the proper usage of #hashtags on LinkedIn makes the difference between the good and best. As people from the social network themselves put it - this is a great way to stay on track of important topics related to your business or brand. 

When you establish your page, you will be invited to mention three hashtags that are relevant to your business. Make sure you fill them correctly. From time to time, you will get notifications when a topic with one of those hashtags is being discussed. And you can take part with a comment and share your opinion on the behalf of your page.

When you post and include hashtags, the people that follow the topics related to them or search by # will see your publications. This can be a powerful tool - use it to position your page online. 

Take advantage of LinkedIn for your business

I have to tell you - LinkedIn can be a game-changer for your business. Many brands use it to drive sales for their business or position themselves in the sight of professionals that fit in their target audience. It is great for anyone that works in the field of B2B (and not only). If you want to learn how to succeed using LinkedIn as part of your marketing strategy, feel free to contact me and my colleagues from Markception Digital. We’ll be happy to tell you more.

by Krisi Yakimova

Do's and Don'ts in Social Media Customer Service

Congratulations! You have a lovely product or service, a great marketing strategy, and are producing engaging content that people interact with. It may seem that you have it all figured out. Not so fast! In this article, we are going to address a crucial problem that most businesses nowadays face. And it is how to ensure that they have outstanding social media customer service. Together we are going to explore the best 5 practices and the worst 5 mistakes any brand can make when taking care of their customers. This is a perfect read for all the businesses and marketers out there that want to check if they are doing things right and want to improve their customer care. 

The 5 biggest mistakes in social media customer service

We are going to start with the bad examples to give you the chills. Some of these are quite common, while others are huge red flags that something is wrong with the customer care unit. And if you think this is not so important, you’d better reconsider - according to helpcare.com, 60% of all customers say they will choose the competition if they face bad service. 

Lie to a client

As it is said - you can fool some of the people some of the time. However, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. You should never lie to a customer. The most important thing for any brand is trust. And once you lose that you can never get it back. Another valid point - if you get caught lying, people will hear about it. Helpcare.com claims that 90% of customers share their negative experiences, and you can imagine how vocal they are going to be if you lie to them and they find out.  

Don't leave comments under posts or ads unanswered

There is a good chance that if someone leaves a comment on your page, it will be negative. Users want to express their opinion, or even ask a question, and they see the comments as the perfect way to do that. If you are not paying attention to them, you are making a mistake. Comments on social media can offer valuable feedback, and give you ideas on how to improve your business. 

Of course, some will not be relevant or will be just “hater” comments. You have the option to hide them from the comment section for the other users not to see them. We don’t recommend that you delete any comments. That can make people angry in no time.

If you handle an issue with a client in the comments of your page in a good way, a lot of people on social media will see that and you will leave a good impression. However, the perfect social media customer care specialist knows when it is time to transfer the conversation with the client on a personal message. 

Leave a client angry or unsatisfied 

Often if a client is turning to customer service, they will be confused or angry. Turning an angry client into a satisfied one is a piece of art that only the best people know how to do. However, leaving a client angry or unsatisfied after he had an interaction with a customer care representative is a very alarming sign that something is not right. People should feel satisfied even when they don’t have their needs met. 

Apologize for the experience they've had even though you know they may not be right. Try to calm them down and tell them you'll do everything you can to help. Never give exact promises, however. By doing these small things, even if the client was not happy, he or she will have had a positive experience with customer support. 

Make the client wait for a long time

Clients usually want their issues to be resolved (or their questions answered) quickly. The worst thing you can do is slap an automatic answer on your social media pages and make the person that wrote wait 2-3 days before giving them a reply. One of the best ways to ensure poor customer service is not to reply in time. 

Remember how Richard Branson turned this into an advantage? Every person that waited more than a specific time to reach customer support received some amount of money. And people were happy. You can consider some discounts or other bonuses as an apology to people that waited a long time to have their questions answered. 

You think you know it all 

The worst thing you can do in social media customer service is to think you know it all and have the best answers and procedures in place. You should constantly look for ways to improve your work and your team. Working in Social Media can be stressful, working in social media customer service can be double the stress. Make sure that you provide your team with the support they need for that as well. The emotional state of the person providing customer care is a key factor in resolving issues with angry clients. It is not only about the professional skills of the team, but also their emotional state as well. Take care of that. 

Research for new ways to increase client satisfaction and provide additional training for the team that handles social media customer service. Look for good practices all around on that specific matter. 

Top 5 things you can do to make your clients happy with social media customer service 

We have to say that most of the things in the top 5 of what you should do are just the opposite of the ones mentioned above. Great customer service is not rocket science. When you think about it, the steps to achieve are quite logical and should be a must for any business. 

Be quick and precise with your answers 

If you can provide your customers with quick and precise responses, they will be happy. Resolving issues and answering questions promptly will show them that your business cares about customer needs. This will make the brand more trustworthy and reliable. Even if resolving the issue takes some time, the client will be happy that someone got to him quickly and is taking care of his problem. And if you manage to do it the right way, there's a pretty big chance that the customer will give you another shot.

Do a follow-up on the clients

A lot of businesses never do this and they sure are missing out on a lot of potential benefits. Your social media customer service team should always check out how the clients feel after they have interacted with the brand. Here are just some cases in which you should consider doing a follow-up: 

• Check if their issue was resolved and if they are happy with the answer they got; 
• Check if everything with their purchase was okay and are they happy with their overall experience;
• Check if their question was answered and if you can do something more for them. 

Doing a follow-up can help you build customer loyalty. Besides that, you can get some great insights and ideas from the feedback you receive. 

Have a positive attitude

Remaining with a positive attitude even in a situation with a difficult customer is a must. You should aim to cover the following 3 pillars of great customer care: 

• Be positive; 
• Wait for the customer to explain the problem; 
• Have a problem-solving approach. 

Let’s integrate them into an imaginary chat. An angry and frustrated customer reaches you. You respond by being positive and polite. After that, they explain their problem (sometimes in an angry manner). Wait for them to explain, take mental notes, and while they write, think of ways to address what they are complaining about. When they are finished thank them for the feedback and propose a solution to the problem. After they have let it all out, they will be more perceptive about your proposal. 

Remember - customer service can sell!

Many people are ignoring this option and this is just insane! When you provide great customer care and people are happy, they will listen to recommendations from you. Imagine someone asked about the size or color of a dress. After you take care of their needs, you can always throw in a line like: “Do you know that this bag or these shoes go great with that dress? Now we have it on 20% off and people are crazy about it!”. 

Small things like that can turn social media customer service into a sales booster for your business. Nowadays, everyone sells in one way or another, from accounting to the actual salespeople. Don’t miss out on good chances to get more purchases. 

Have a tailor-made approach. Create a custom response for each client and be personal

Even big brands don’t go the extra mile for their clients. If you do it, you will forever win their hearts. In most cases, there will be an answer that most people responsible for customer service just copy-paste and send to different unhappy clients. Use the personalized responses and try to understand the problems of the people that write to you. If the situation is serious, give them a little something to feel better, like a discount code or a coupon. And when you put your name in your answers, this creates a feeling that there is at least some personal touch. 

They are going to love it! Small things matter the most. Even if you think they don’t. This might take some extra time and effort, but it is going to pay out for sure. 

Those are our top five picks for social media customer service don’ts and do’s that every business should be aware of. Do you agree? What are the biggest mistakes and good practices in this area that you have seen? Let us know! Leave a comment below or reach out to us. We would be happy to hear your story and give you some advice.  

by Venelin

What is Influencer Marketing and How to Choose the Right Influencer Type for Your Campaign?

Given the accelerated digital growth that we all went through in the last couple of years, we can safely say that anyone with a smartphone and Internet connection could become an influencer. Although not every influencer can be appropriate for your marketing campaigns, partnering up with the right ones will set you on the path for growth and success.

Influencer marketing happens when popular (and not only) communication platform users with recognizable accounts promote brands and businesses in exchange for free products and services, or financial gain. This form of marketing has been around for years now and businesses continue to rely heavily on it in 2021. In fact, according to Big Commerce, 9 out of 10 brands use influencer marketing. Furthermore, The State of Influencer Marketing 2021 report finds that the influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $13.8 Billion in 2021. Because this form of marketing is quite popular and effective, we’ve decided to dive into the topic and give answers to what exactly does it mean to use influencer marketing and how to choose the right influencers for your campaigns.

What is an influencer?

Although you can find thousands of influencers on all sorts of media platforms: blogs, social media, YouTube, podcasting platforms, and others, according to backlinko.com, over 90% of influencer marketing campaigns take place on Instagram. But what exactly does it mean to be an influencer? Well, as influencermarketinghub.com puts it, you can consider someone an influencer if they have the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their followers. In that sense, celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato can be perceived as influencers just as much as ordinary Internet users who have grown their follower base and popularity organically through consistent posting and engagement with their followers. Additionally, influencers are often experienced in one or two main topics, which allows them to grow a following in a specific niche.

Influencer Marketing Tip: Your goal should be to collaborate with influencers that are competent on topics related to your business. For example, if you are selling shoes, you need to be on the look for fashion influencers. If you are offering short-term accommodation services, it’s best to partner up with travel influencers.

Based on the number of their followers, influencers can be divided into five main groups:

• Nano-Influencers have the least amount of followers. Their audience is usually composed of 1 000 to 10 000 users, which means that working with them won’t grant you the widest reach possible. That being said, because of their authenticity and ability to produce highly targeted content, users can relate to nano-influencers’ posts and creatives easily. Nano-influencers have the highest engagement rate out of the five influencer groups. As marketingdive.com shares, Influencers with 5 000 to 10 000 followers have an engagement rate of 6.3%, and those with a following of 1 000 to 5 000 have a rate of 8.8%. Another benefit of working with nano-influencers is the fact that they don’t require expensive fees. Collaborating with them on Instagram will cost you between $10 and $100 per post (or simply a free gift could be enough, for example, one of your products or services) as noted by Andrew Macarthy.
• Micro-Influencers are creators who have between 10 000 and 50 000 followers. Although their reach is wider than nano-influencers’ they still have a significantly smaller audience than mid-tier, macro, and mega influencers. That being said, 92% of customers trust a micro-influencer more than a traditional ad or an endorsement from celebrities and 82% of consumers are likely to buy products recommended by micro-influencers, according to ana.net. If you decide to collaborate with a micro-influencer on Instagram, then you should be prepared to pay anywhere between $100 and $500 per post.
• Mid-tier influencers usually have a follower base consisting of between 50 000 and 500 000 users. As the name suggests, when it comes to popularity mid-tier influencers stand right in between the widely popular influencers and the more niche-oriented less known creators. Therefore by choosing to work with them you get the best of both worlds - a relatively high engagement rate, as well as a decent reach. When it comes to pricing, a single post in collaboration with a mid-tier influencer can cost you anywhere between $500 and $5,000 per post.
• Macro-Influencers have an impressive amount of followers - usually between 500 000 and 1 million users. Those influencers are well-known not only on the web but often also in real life. They could be a reality TV star, an established expert, or a top-performing sports player. Despite the high reach macro-influencers' follower base provides, engagement rates associated with campaigns in collaboration with them tend to be low. According to mmi-analytics.com, it is 6.2% on average. If you decide to work with a micro-influencer, it will cost you $5,000–$10,000 per Instagram post.
• Mega-Influencers are the “big fish” of influencers. Think Beyonce, Shane Dawson, Christiano Ronaldo, and other celebrities. They are followed by more than one million users which grants them incredible visibility on social media. Collaborating with mega-influencers ensures great reach, which makes them the perfect choice for awareness campaigns. However, more often than not, mega-influencers have a low engagement rate of 4.96%. Because of their vast popularity, the price for collaborations with mega-influencers is very high - usually more than $10,000 per post.

Influencer Marketing Tip: If you want your influencer marketing efforts to be successful, you need to carefully analyze the specifics of your target audience and choose influencers who can grab the attention of your customers. You need to decide what type of influencers to work with based on your audience’s demographics and interests. For example, if your ideal client is a talkative, young woman, who cherishes the importance of personal connection, it might be best for you to partner up with micro- or nano-influencers because they often spend more time engaging with their followers and usually create consistent, highly targeted content.

Influencer Marketing’s Impressive Numbers

Marketers and business owners alike continue to use influencer marketing in their campaigns as we see daily. In fact, nearly 68% of US marketers from companies with 100 or more employees will use influencer marketing in 2021, and influencer and other paid content will represent 20% of US agency and marketing professionals' digital ad budgets in 2021, as reported by Business Insider.

We shouldn’t be surprised by this data, however, because influencer marketing can help you achieve your business goals and see great results pretty quickly. Since influencers are already established authorities in their field, they are liked, followed, and trusted by many users. We could argue that some followers even perceive their favorite influencer as an idol and a role model. Therefore, when you collaborate with a respected influencer you get the chance to communicate with a very dedicated and responsive audience. Furthermore, through influencer marketing, you are able to reach an audience that is already interested in what you offer (just don’t forget to collaborate with relevant to your business influencers).

How to choose the right influencers for your campaigns?

Whether you plan to organize a giveaway, broadcast a live video stream, grant access to your social media account for a one-day takeover, or simply publish a single post that promotes your business, choosing the most suitable influencer/s for your campaign should be your highest priority when it comes to influencer marketing. There are several key points you need to consider when making this decision:

1. The platform on which the influencer is active: If most of your customers are active Facebook users, choosing an influencer that only uses TikTok is not going to be the wisest decision you could make. That is why it’s important to research your customers’ social media behavior and settle on a platform (and influencer who’s active on it) that is often used by your target audience.
2. The type of influencer based on his/her following: If you have a huge budget on your hands and your campaign’s goal is to spread awareness, then mega- and macro-influencers might be the best option for you. However, if you don’t want to spend a lot of money and your campaign targets hyper-niched audiences then nano- and micro-influences will do. It all depends on the goal of your campaign, your target audience, and your budget.
3. The expertise of the influencer: Your campaign’s message should correspond to the original content the influencer usually creates. So, for example, if your campaign promotes real leather clothing, it might not be wise to contact influencers who are outspoken animal rights defenders.
4. The demographics of the influencer’s audience: Think about whether this influencer’s followers resemble your target audience or your buyer persona. You have to be sure that the people who will hear your message are also interested in your products. Therefore it’s crucial to choose an influencer who is directing his/her messages towards a similar audience to yours.
5. The influencer’s authenticity: You need to be sure that the follower base of your chosen influencer is authentic. As you may know, there are all sorts of platforms that offer paid followers or paid engagement and some influencers take advantage of those deals. This means that even if a given influencer has a lot of followers, their audience is composed of people who aren’t interested in the influencer’s content. And you definitely don’t want to spend money on collaborating with someone who is communicating with an uninterested audience. You can easily check if there are any drastic changes in a given influencer’s follower base by visiting socialblade.com. In case there are, it’s almost certain that the particular influencer went on a follower shopping spree recently. Additionally, through Social Blade, you can also see the engagement rate of your chosen influencer. It’s not a good idea to collaborate with influencers who have an engagement rate of less than 5%. (NB! Don’t be tempted to buy some fake followers yourself! It can actually harm your social media presence more than it could boost it, trusts us!)
6. The reputation of the influencer: Don’t collaborate with influencers who are not well-liked amongst social media users, who have participated in public scandals, or who spread rumors about other recognizable people on the internet. After all, your brand name will be associated with this person. That is why you want to choose someone who is competent, polite, and avoids drama.

Influencer Marketing Tip: A very important aspect that you must consider is whether you want to create a B2B (business-to-business) or a B2C (business-to-consumer) campaign. While your B2C campaigns could be light, fun, and entertaining, you must take a slightly different approach when it comes to B2B influencer marketing campaigns. You should still aim to have creative content, but it’s important to choose an influencer who can target audiences with deep industry knowledge and who can communicate freely with corporate buyers. Additionally, when it comes to B2B influencer marketing, you need to carefully consider your campaign platform. For example, it will be easier for you to find and collaborate with thought industry leaders on LinkedIn than on Instagram or TikTok.

If you are still not sure what influencer marketing is, or how to choose the right influencer to collaborate with, you are more than welcome to contact us for a free consultation. As a digital marketing agency, Markception empowers businesses to grow in the digital. We’ll be glad to assist you with any marketing struggle you may have - from planning, through implementation, to analyzing.

by Krisi Yakimova

LinkedIn for Business - A Beginner’s Guide (part 1)

LinkedIn for business allows you to reach other brands, entrepreneurs, professionals and soon freelancers with whom you can build a meaningful network and credibility as well as gain valuable insights about your industry. Read more

by Krisi Yakimova