Seven Creative Ways to Amplify Your Social Media Impact

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Social media serves as a vibrant battleground for attention in the digital age. Businesses, creators, and casual posters strive to carve out their niche and captivate audiences. However, how do you stand out with millions of posts flooding platforms daily? This article from RTJ Online guides you through innovative strategies to spice up your social media posts, ensuring they draw attention and foster engagement and growth.

Forge Alliances with Influencers
Partnering with influencers is one effective strategy to amplify your social media presence. These partnerships can significantly extend your reach, bringing your content to a freshly engaged audience. Influencers, with their dedicated followers and established trust, can introduce your brand or message in a more relatable and appealing manner. Collaboration might take various forms, from joint posts and endorsements to hosting events or giveaways. Choose influencers whose brand values align with yours to maintain authenticity and maximize impact.

Utilize Trending Hashtags
Integrating trending hashtags into your posts can remarkably increase your visibility on social media. Hashtags act as clickable links that group similar content, making it easier for users to discover posts about topics they’re interested in. To leverage this, research and use hashtags that are trending but relevant to your content. This strategy ensures that your posts are not only seen by more people but also by those who are genuinely interested in your message or offerings.

Enhance Posts with Compelling Visuals
Utilize eye-catching visuals like crisp images, captivating videos, and detailed infographics to ensure your posts capture and hold your audience’s attention swiftly. Visuals often communicate more powerfully and quickly than text alone. For your videos, you can use an online video creator to add compelling audio tracks, adjust the playback speed, and incorporate animations, enhancing your content’s interactive quality and memorability. By embracing these visual tools, you can significantly elevate the appeal and effectiveness of your social media posts.

Keep Your Content Fresh
To keep your audience engaged over time, you must rotate your post types and themes regularly. This variety keeps your feed dynamic and exciting, encouraging followers to return. Different post types can cater to your audience’s diverse interests, whether a behind-the-scenes look, a tutorial, a customer story, or a product showcase. Consistently introducing new content types prevents your social media presence from becoming stagnant or predictable, keeping your audience excited and engaged.

Engage with Interactive Content
Creating interactive content, such as polls or quizzes, invites your audience to participate actively rather than passively consuming your posts. This type of content can provide valuable insights into your followers’ preferences and opinions, which can guide future content creation. Interactive posts are more likely to be shared, increasing visibility and engagement rates. The direct interaction can also strengthen the relationship between you and your audience, building a community around your social media presence.

Encourage Participation through Giveaways
Running giveaways or contests is a powerful tactic for engaging your followers and attracting new ones. These activities encourage interactions through likes, shares, and comments, boosting your post’s visibility in social media algorithms. Make your giveaways enticing with worthwhile rewards and simple participation criteria to ensure maximum engagement. Collaborating with other brands for giveaways can also introduce your content to a broader audience.

Share Your Successes
Celebrating milestones and sharing success stories can resonate deeply with your audience, fostering a sense of community and achievement. Whether you reach a follower count, launch a new product, or receive an award, sharing these moments invites your audience to join the celebration. This humanizes your brand and shows appreciation for your followers’ support, enhancing their loyalty and engagement. You should feel connected and valued as part of this community.

Conclusion
Enhancing your social media content with creativity, strategic planning, and direct interaction can revitalize your platforms into vibrant, engaging spaces that foster growth. As you adopt these innovative methods, you’ll find that every post becomes a unique chance to connect with and expand your audience authentically. Focus on making each interaction memorable, turning your social media efforts into catalysts for increased follower engagement and broader reach. This potential for growth and expansion should leave you feeling optimistic and motivated.

By Ed Clarke of Social Health Today & Reginald Jackson

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How Will You Brand Yourself?

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When you think of branding or brand, often you think of a rancher who takes a hot iron in the shape of a logo or a name representing his ranch and stamps it on the side of his livestock so everyone will associate that cattle with this rancher. The same is valid with branding yourself or your business venture. If you are thinking of starting a small business and you’ve identified the market, and you’ve found a niche – or a position that you feel comfortable with, now you need to consider how you will brand yourself. Even without a business and you have something to stand for or something to promote, whether an idea or a cause, you can still brand yourself. What will others see as your brand?

What Is A Branding?
Branding is creating a distinct identity for your business or yourself in the mind of your target audience or people in general. The practice of branding – in the original literal sense of marking by burning – is thought to have begun with the ancient Egyptians, known to have engaged in livestock branding in ancient times. Branding was used to differentiate one person’s cattle from another’s using a distinctive symbol burned into the animal’s skin with a hot branding iron.
In the modern era, the concept of branding has expanded to include deployment by a manager of the marketing and communication techniques and tools that help to distinguish a company or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting impression in the minds of customers. The key components that form a brand include a brand’s identity, personality, product, and design.

Misconceptions About Branding
Marty Neumeier, author of “The Brand Gap,”- defines a brand this way: “A brand is not a product. It is not a promise. It is not the sum of all the impressions it makes on an audience. A brand is a result. It’s a person’s gut feeling about you or a product, service, or company. A brand is a reputation, your business reputation.” In other words, what reputation will your brand create?
There are two types of brands, but they both accomplish the same thing: a personal and a business brand. Let us examine the difference between the two.

Personal Brand
In a personal brand, you are simply branding yourself. For example: If you are an expert at something or want to sell yourself as such, then you might want to think of going with a personal brand. In other words, you are selling yourself. You can set up a blog, website, or a column of some sort and build a following of “you” and promote your expertise from there.

Business Brand
Business Dictionary.com in regard to the word brand states: “The entire process involved in creating a unique name for a product, good, or service in the consumers’ mind.” In another word with a business brand, you are promoting the business itself, whatever that business may be. If you are selling a product or service or if you are building a “brick and mortar store,” on or offline, then you might want to think of a good business brand that will identify something unique about your business.

What Branding Accomplishes
Shayna Waltower a guest writer for “Business News Daily” or BND wrote the benefits this way:
1. It establishes your credibility. They see you as a trusted authority within your niche.
2. You are seen as an expert. A strong brand reflects your expertise in your field.
3. It sets you apart from the competition. Remember your brand is what makes you unique. It can show people how you stand out on a cause or how your business differs from other companies.
4. It demonstrates your value to others. Your brand highlights your personality, passions, and motivation so potential customers can see and relate to it. It gives them an experience instead of merely a product or completed service.
Branding is the process of creating a distinct identity for yourself or your business in the mind of your target audience or others in general. What will your brand accomplish for you? Your brand may seem like it consists only of elements such as logos and colors, but your brand is actually the entire identity of your business. According to Forbes: “Your brand gives you personality.” Branding can help build trust.

One advantage of a personal brand is if you feel that in time you might want to promote something else or branch off from your original niche in some way, then you can do so without having to re-brand so-to-speak because it can be accomplished with the same brand or reputation.

But if you are building a business and just want to stick with a certain name or brand, then you may want to go with a business brand. One advantage of this is in time the brand itself will take on value if you decide to sell down the road.

How Will You Brand Yourself With Social Media?
Using social media platforms and tools is relatively easy to get your brand “out there!” Just use your accounts with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others to promote your brand online. And it’s free! Digitalmarketinginstitute.com states: “regularly share content to different platforms and keep them positive & engaging. Also, identify your area of expertise. Everyone is an expert at something – whether it’s how to create and distribute great content or having a comprehensive knowledge of your favorite TV show.”
With Facebook, you can create a Business page and invite your followers to view it. Use Twitter to “tweet” your brand or message several times a week. You can use social media tools such as Sprout, Buffer, or Hootsuite to schedule your tweets and blog posts. Or plan it on the platform itself. If you have a business, use Pinterest to create a “Board” as your primary category and then “Pin” photos or information pertinent to your business. Linkedin is a popular site to promote your business and build a following to engage with and share content with others to promote your brand. Foursquare is another social media platform to target local customers by building up local followers and engaging with them as well.

Do Your Homework:
There is plenty of information out there that will provide you with tips and ideas as to how to brand yourself. There are several blogs on branding, what taglines you can use, and websites that will help you to create your logo. Just do a simple search. Give it a lot of thought. Because when it comes to starting a business, there is nothing more important than how you brand yourself.

Conclusion
If you decide to use a logo, an image, a tagline, or a catchy phrase to represent your brand and to promote it on social media then that’s good. No problem. But how you brand yourself will determine how you or your business is well perceived in the eyes of others, as an individual or an established entrepreneur.

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How to Choose a Powerful Business Name

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Are you planning on starting your own business? Congratulations- what will you name it if you don’t know for sure? Remember, a business’s name is the first thing consumers or investors will see. You only have one chance to make an excellent first impression. The way you pick to brand your business will have a significant impact on its success. Therefore business owners worry about coming up with the right name for their business. This article will show how to create a memorable name that will set you apart from your competitors and build brand recognition.

1. Select a scalable and future-proof name
If your business’s name becomes too particular, you can end up with a false name when you broaden your services. Choose a scalable name that will allow for growth and development in the future. It should evolve alongside the business, remain relevant, and be adaptable for different products and brand expansions.

2. Select a name that is descriptive, simple to remember, and spell
Use words that are easily associated with your product or service, the goal of your business, and what customers can anticipate from your company. Avoid using difficult-to-remember acronyms and stick to essential, memorable words. Select a name that is not too long or difficult. It must also be simple to say and remember. It can otherwise be disastrous for your business.

3. Use A Name Generator
Use an online tool to research a memorable name for your company. Utilizing a business name generator like Namify or Businessnamemaker.com will guide you in creating a name that will help brand your business.Namify’s technology searches for meaningful words and gives you options that will appeal to your target audience. Regardless of your product and service, these tools have name generators for each industry category, whether you are a brick-and-mortar or an e-commerce business.

4. Ensure that you can use the name in your logo, slogans, and taglines
Brand consistency is essential for success, and it all begins with the name of your business. The title should complement the rest of your branding elements, such as logos, taglines, and slogans. You should be able to translate/communicate your name using design elements such as icons, logos, and colors.

5. Select a name that has some meaning and offers a purpose
The business name should convey your brand identity, generate a positive image, and foster a good emotional connection. Determine what you want to accomplish before picking a business name. You’ll be able to identify the ones that fit the picture you want to build using a few characteristics of your business and brand.

6. Choose a name that has no registered trademark
You can begin your research by conducting a general web search for businesses with similar names. If another company has trademarked a name, violating that trademark can result in legal action against your business. You can also obtain a letter of authorization from the trademark owner to use it.

7. Select a name that is web and SEO friendly
Do your homework to see if you can secure a domain name and social media profiles that match your business name, as they can affect your online presence. Potential customers’ ability to be found is part of having an SEO-friendly name. Your business name will, therefore, have a higher rank on search engines.

8. For Example Coolhats.com
If you promote and sell strange and unusual hats, you can name your business coolhats.com. You are finding suppliers to support your business and brand- which would be an added adventure to your hard work and promotion.
Or perhaps a wine store with a logo of a bottle of wine being uncorked that can design appealing t-shirts to sell and create advertising, which you could name something like-truebrew.com.

Conclusion
No doubt, choosing a mighty name for your business can be challenging but truly rewarding. With the right approach and tools, you can select a full business name that will distinguish your business from all the rest!

By Reginald Jackson

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Leveraging Instagram to Promote Your Product or Brand

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Instagram is one of the most popular social networking sites on the internet; it is also a great place to have a virtual market stall! If you want to promote your products, services, and events, then you should invest some time and effort into promoting your brand. Instagram has been growing at a staggering rate in the past few years, taking over Facebook as the most popular social media site in the world. Stories in tools for Instagram are also trending. It’s also one of the most popular social media platforms with millions of users every day. Even if you have very little time to market your business, you can still create a compelling Instagram account to start your social media marketing journey.
For some time, Instagram was referred to as an ‘Instagram for the photo-only site. However, in 2017 it was reported that the feature has grown beyond the photo-sharing medium. Instagram now allows businesses to run live videos, while a few weeks ago, the feature was updated to allow the creation of video stickers. Instagram is an essential part of your social media marketing strategy. Posts creation is an essential part of using Instagram that without which Instagram is just an app and nothing else. Let’s review a few tips for creating better posts on Instagram:

Use the latest Instagram Analytics
If you are serious about social media marketing, you need to know which demographics are searching for your business regularly. This can be done by using the latest Instagram analytics tools. It gives you a better insight into your business and products and also gives you a better idea of creating relevant posts.
Tracking which geographical locations customers are searching for your business and how often they visit your website will give you a better insight into your customer base. While building a social media audience is critical for effective social media marketing, understanding your customer is also important.

Social Media Metrics
Not all social media networks use analytics, yet there is a lot of information available on each platform. While social media marketing is all about building an audience and converting your fans to fans, there is more to it than simply commenting on and replying to other users’ posts. For example, your competitors are creating amazing posts every single day and you need to follow them to stay up-to-date with the latest trends.
A great social media marketing tip is to add a poll to your social media posts. When people take part in a poll, they usually share the post and potentially make a few new followers. If you are feeling adventurous, try asking questions about your business and invite your followers to share their opinion.
This tip may be considered old-fashioned, but it can be effective!

Post at Predictable Times
Instagram operates a 24-hour news cycle, in that customers will often look at your Instagram account throughout the day. Therefore, you need to get your post out at a predictable time each day to get the most exposure from it.
Not all the content on your account will be worthy of a post, however, it’s all about producing content that resonates with your followers and that you can promote to your followers at any time.

Use Effective Visual Platforms
For the most effective Instagram marketing strategies don’t go overboard. Instagram is all about showing followers how you market your business. It’s about showing customers that you are a company that values the visual side of social media and that your brand will give your customers that extra bit of visual wow factor.
Visual images are the best way to connect with followers and show them what your company is all about. Don’t use Instagram to show followers how your company will solve their problems, this is the stuff that competitors can do better. Show them that your brand is beautiful, with a range of inspirational photos that they can admire and be inspired by.

Customized for Your Social Media Audience
Regularly, people can have a look at their Facebook and Twitter feeds and see a variety of posts from a range of different people. On Instagram, however, there are only a small number of posts that are a perfect fit for each individual.
As such, you must create your Instagram account in a way that you can maximize the audience for your posts. An easy way to do this is to try posting several different photos and then select the ones that work best for your audience.

 

 

Getting The Most Out of Instagram
Instagram provides numerous incentives for your followers. Some of the most effective incentives are to promote a product or a series of products in exchange for a follow. Other incentives are to share a post with a specific number of followers, which will help to attract their attention. It’s important to try to inspire your followers to share with a specific number of followers.

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The Secret to Market Research-How to Find Your Killer Niche!

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thinkingThis is where it all starts! The idea, the thought of going into business of your own. What are you going to promote or sell? Well if you already have an idea, that’s good. But if not-that’s okay too. Because with market research or niche marketing, I’m going to show you the secret of finding a unique brand or niche-to promote online with enormous success. Here’s how it works:
What Is A Niche?
A niche is define as a situation in which a business’s products or services can succeed by being sold to a particular kind or group of people. In other words it zero’s in to a specific group, making them special or exclusive. Weight Loss is a broad category for example, tremendous competition to compete with others. But if you can narrow it down to a special group or situation maybe like weight loss for post-pregnant women or overweight children under 12, then that becomes a niche under that broad category. And that idea will be your keyword and part of your website URL.
A killer niche is something really unique, something nobody has thought of-but you!
Market Research
Market research, or niche marketing, is simply a process of collection and analysis of data to find what people are looking for. What do everyday people want? How to create a new market, something different.
Where Do I Start?
Start by asking yourself: What is something you know about well? Something that you are passionate about? This is where you are going to start searching for keywords.
Yes the one key is keywords. The other is the competition. You don’t want to have to compete with a million other websites of your niche, and you certainly don’t want to have to compete with the “big dogs” either! So what are you going to do? Here are 4 methods that will aid you in an effective market research, to where you can find that one unique niche.
Google Ad-words
It use to be that one way of doing market research was just starting an Google Ad-word campaign with pay-per-click(PPC), and you would be able to determine what keywords is getting you good traffic, providing of course that your campaign was a successful one. With Google Ad-word you’re having to pay every time someone clicks on your ad. But the Internet is always changing and things isn’t what it use to be years ago. Now there’s a way to perform market research that is free!
Keyword Search
Once you have an idea of what your potential niche is going to be, then just do a simple keyword search. One tool you can use is Google Keyword Tool, which is a free tool. Just sign-in enter a keyword and it will show you a list of other keywords you can use depending on two things: The number of search, and the competition. You want the search volume to be high, but the competition to be very low. Once you locate a keyword with more than 1,000 searches per month or more, and at the same time the competition is at its lowest-then you may have discovered what I call a “potential website keyword.” In other words, a potential niche that you center an entire website around! But more on that later.
Amazon Bestsellers
Another market research strategy is the use of Amazon.com. Amazon has emerge to one of the biggest places online where you can find what people are looking for when it comes to information. So just go to the books section in Amazon, select a category, then select at the top the word “Bestseller.” Now you have an idea of what people are interested in. Take notice of something that you can use as a niche to promote as a product, service, or information to sell online. Now your potential niche becomes a keyword to do a keyword search as described above.
Trends.
What are the current trends? What are people talking or asking questions about? Trends can be an effective market researching strategy as well, if you can get an idea on what’s the next hot thing that people are going to want to get their hands on. Just remember, the Xbox, the iPod, and the Mac-book, as an example, were all just a trend at one time. Once you get an idea, again, do your keyword search. The best way to keep up with trends are websites like http://blogpulse.com/trend or http://google.com/trends. At http://boardtracker.com you can follow what people are talking about and  http://technorati.com keeps up with the latest technology in electronics.

Building A Site
Before you launch your site though, it’s important that you make your keyword part of your domain name. In other words you are going to build your whole brand around that one “killer” keyword, due to good research marketing. You can use your site to either sell a product, services, or information? Whatever you decide, I would suggest that you create a blog with your site and off-the-bat, write 3-5 articles on your niche-using your main keyword and start driving traffic to your new site.

Even though market research takes time and effort, it is all well-spent, because sometimes you may be surprise as to what you will decide on a niche. So get busy and go find your “killer” niche now, and be sure to leave a comment below please!

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