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How to use different social media platforms

The different social media platforms and how to use them

09/20/202104/25/2019 by scmarketing

Social media is one of the many tools of digital marketing. It is a quick way to get your message out, cost-effective and an efficient way to promote your business to potential clients and consumers. You’re able to reach out to prospects at the click of a button. Social media also helps you to engage with your audience through an open line of communication. But with so many social media channels out there it is important to utilise the right social media platforms relevant to your business to get the most out of it.

Take a look through some of the most popular social media platforms and see if there’s something for your business:

Instagram

Via Instagram you can discover new trends, people, and businesses through sharing images to followers. You can use hashtags to spread the reach of your messages to people who are interested in the type of content you produce. Ensure you post regularly with hashtags and note what posts get the most likes or comments to guide you in future posts. Think visually and create a themed Instagram feed to really help showcase what your business is about. Instagram is very popular with engagement on Instagram 15 times higher than it is on Facebook!

Facebook

Facebook, some might say, is slowly coming to the end of its popularity, but this doesn’t mean you can completely overlook it, especially if you are trying to appeal to a slightly older audience. You can easily add links to blogs or upcoming projects or create events. You can also use Facebook messenger to interact with your audience and fill them in on any news they may find interesting. You are able to create live videos to further engage your audience. It’s more consumer focused so getting that tone right for your audience is key.

Now there’s no excuse not to network. Linkedin is a business2business channel with networking at its core allowing you to connect with other professionals, clients, colleagues, prospects and employers. You can promote yourself by showcasing your achievements and what your business is about. Produce engaging content to encourage likes, shares and connections. LinkedIn helps boost your business brand and profile.

Snapchat

Snapchat allows you to post live photos or videos instantly to your audience. These stay online for 24hrs, so it is important to upload every day. You post via ‘Stories’ which can be viewed by anyone subscribed to your Snapchat. Snapchat is great if your target audience is slightly younger as 71% of Generation Z (born between 1995-2015) use Snapchat daily. To ensure a successful Snapchat following, promote your Snapchat account on other social media channels.

YouTube

YouTube can be used to discover new things going on in the local area, nationwide, or even globally, so it is perfect for whatever audience you have. To get views you need to have an enticing title and thumbnail. You also need a continuous flow of content, perhaps once or twice a week. You are also able to use tags, keywords and categories to help your video appear higher up in YouTube searches.

Twitter

With a Twitter account your bio is a quick opportunity to showcase what your brand is about in 160 characters. Track when is the perfect time to tweet. Twitter peak hours tend to be around 1-3pm on weekdays, the worst times to post are after 8pm and after 3pm on Fridays. Content needs to be regular and more often than other channels. Like other channels, spread your reach with relevant hashtags – but not too many on this channel.

Keep it relevant

The most important factors to consider when it comes to using social media marketing is to post frequently, connect all your social media channels together through links, and engage with your audience. Utilise all the channels at your disposable, as long as they are relevant to your business, and set aside time in your day to work on your social media platforms.

Social media marketing agency

If you need help and advice on using social media and a successful marketing tool, then get in touch with Smart Cow Marketing. Digital marketers based in Croydon, we can help create a professional marketing plan tailored to your business. Call us on 020 3137 1826

Keyboard being used to perform email marketing

Top Tricks: Email Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

12/13/202104/25/2019 by scmarketing

Email marketing campaigns are an effective and personal way to connect with clients. Each campaign can be tailored to your business, the campaign cause and your target audience. A successful email campaign could take your company to the next level, increasing awareness, business, and profit.

Here, Smart Cow reveals some inside tricks on creating an effective email marketing campaign.

Keep information on the email concise. Concise emails mean readers are less likely to lose interest and move your email to the trash folder.
Create relevant campaigns. Your audience does not have time to read through information completely unrelated to them. Research your target audience and plan the best way to grab their attention.
Make a note of what works and what doesn’t. Don’t waste your time copying old formats which don’t get clicks, be innovative and creative.
Add links to your social media channels. This gives the recipient the opportunity, to follow your social media easily which means they will stay informed in your business and your business will be kept in mind.
Be creative in the subject line. The subject line can be the deciding factor in the recipient finding out about your business or not. Keep it short, sweet and to the point.

Email marketing agency Croydon

Smart Cow Marketing can create email marketing campaigns for your business. Conducting effective marketing campaigns requires large amounts of time and expertise. To ensure that your email marketing campaigns do not go to waste get in touch, and find out how Smart Cow Digital Marketing can transform your business.

Beginner’s guide to creating great marketing content

01/30/202304/25/2019 by scmarketing

Content can come in the form of blogs, social media posts and email campaigns, in fact anything that contains information and is being directed towards the audience is content. Content forms part of your inbound marketing strategy and plays a significant role in making your business successful, so here at Smart Cow Marketing we have compiled a mini beginner’s guide to creating great content.

Know your audience

It’s much more effective when you create content you know your audience will love and be interested in. This may require some research such as looking into how competitors construct their content or marketing campaigns. Think about the type of consumers you want to attract and tailor to their interests. Characteristics to think about will be:

Age
Gender
Location
Lifestyle

This way you will know what content would be appropriate. We would always recommend creating a persona of your target audience so that you can refer back to this when drafting content. Take a look at our blog on creating an online persona to help.

Make sure content is relevant

Not only does content need to spike interest in the audience, but it should also be relevant to your product or service. Try and make blogs or social media posts relate back to you. For example, we might say; ‘At Smart Cow we are experts in the field of digital marketing and creating relevant content, hence, why we have put together a guide for new content creators.’

Always have a call to action

At the end of your blog or social media post always put a call to action. Remind the audience that your company offers a service or product they may well be interested in. A call to action may include an email, phone number, link to a contact form, or simply might state to visit your website. For a real example of a call to action see the bottom of this blog!

Sound interesting and creative

Make sure the topic you are writing or posting about is interesting and compelling, certain to grab the audience’s attention. Irrelevant blogs or posts will go unnoticed by potential clients. This means making sure content is new and shows off your voice and opinion that will capture your audience.

Content to get you noticed

It’s worth remembering that your content needs to be seen be search engines which in turn helps you rise in search rankings and found in search by your potential customers. It falls under the umbrella of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). By taking on board the tips here and incorporating keywords that you wish to be found for will really help with your business reach that all important page 1 of search.

If you need a hand with creating content which exceeds expectations get in touch with us at Smart Cow Marketing, a content marketing agency in London.

The Cultural Phenomenon of Contemporary Gaming at the V&A

02/19/2019 by scmarketing

The V&A Museum has a ground-breaking exhibit on contemporary video games. Its aim in designing this exhibit was to diverge for the dull, repetitiveness or other video game exhibits which involved a lot of text to read and looking blandly into glass cabinets. At Smart Cow Marketing, we admire technological advancements and creative new ideas, which is exactly what V&A has offered us. They have created an immersive experience for the audience, all about the development of video games.

The exhibit begins in the noughties (because that’s when it starts to get interesting). Games included are the likes of League of Legends, The Last of Us, and Minecraft, it also includes companies such as Sony and Nintendo. The backstories and information of all these and more are presented to us through; mood-boards, photographs, prototypes, commentary, character sketches, all shedding light on games in the way contents of glassed cabinets would never do!

This exhibit gives you the opportunity to look beyond the game and end product you end up with. The Guardian describes video games as the ‘marriage of art and technology’, and V&A captures this in their display, through looking at video games as a cultural force.

We understand the immense amount of time and consideration it takes to showcase and market a product or service, and we admire V&A for coming up with a unique and innovative way to showcase video games development through the years. At Smart Cow Marketing we can help you come up with the best creative and digital marketing techniques to have your business stand out against the crowd.