Countdown of the Top Articles in 2017
DIY Sprocket Solutions
The year is winding to an end and it’s time to take a look back at the most popular articles in this series from 2017. Which were your favorites and which did you miss? Catch up on them all below!
5 Free Ways to Boost Your Social Media Marketing
If your social media marketing budget is nonexistent, but you’re still trying to succeed online, you’ll have to get creative. There are a million options across all of the networks when it comes to paid advertising, paying for views and paying for followers. This doesn’t mean that you can’t still be successful. It just means that you need to consider the things that will help your business stand out and then focus your time and energy on them. These things will go a long way to putting you ahead of your competition and helping you to be visible to customers.
Prepare for Google’s Mobile First Index
Smartphone use for internet search has exploded over the last few years. Previously, Google has analyzed content for ranking of search results primarily from the desktop version of a website vs a mobile version. More and more people are using mobile devices every day to search and navigate the internet. Because of this, Google has decided to change everything around and start prioritizing the mobile versions of websites. This new index will be rolled out over the next few months. It means that there will be big changes for marketers and website owners to prepare for.
Micro-Influencers: Social Media Marketing
We now live in a time where people trust social media platforms as a sort of news source. When it comes to social media marketing, and specifically when it comes to brands on social media, authenticity is key. Social networks are giant now. It’s clear that businesses need to have an online presence, but this means that the waters are a little diluted. Influencers can offer a lot of benefits to brands trying to reach more followers and new audiences. It’s not just influencers in general that businesses should be focused on. Micro-influencers may be an even more valuable tool to small businesses on social media.
Using Expert Roundups to Boost Content Marketing Reach
As a content marketer, you are continually creating and churning out fresh and relevant content about your specific industry. Collaborative content marketing, guest writing for another blog or having guest authors featured on your own page, is always a great option for spicing things up and reaching new readers. If you want to go a step beyond guest blogging, consider the benefits of writing an expert roundup.
Using Canva to Create Facebook Ads
Canva is an excellent, and free, graphic-design tool. It’s a great asset because it is easy to use and provides access to over a million photographs, graphics, and fonts. For social media marketers, it’s an amazing app that allows you to create great images for all of your different social media accounts within minutes. Canva already has pre-made templates that are the correct sizing for the different platforms. This takes a big chunk out of the work for you.
Social Media Marketing: Using Social Network Revamps
With such a large variety of social media platforms in the market, it can be a tough job to keep up with all of the various updates, additions, changes, and redesigns that all of the different networks have going on. As a social media marketer, or just a business on social media, it is a good idea to keep an eye out for these changes and what they can mean for your business or strategy.
What to Expect From a Social Media Marketing Consultant
Outsourcing the social media marketing for your business can be a great idea. When you’re busy actually running a company, it’s hard to maintain an effective social media marketing campaign. You’re shorting your business in a lot of ways by not maximizing your online marketing efforts. It makes sense to find a consultant or company that can take the social media management off your hands. The problem people have is knowing exactly what they should expect from a social media marketing manager.
Consistency is Key in Social Media Customer Service
Handling customer service across social media channels is somewhat expected in this hyper connected time. Many customers are looking for instant feedback and response when they have an issue or a question. If your business is represented online, which is absolutely necessary in this day and age, then you have to have a customer service strategy in place as well.
Content Marketing: Your Content is Your First Impression
For businesses that dive into the realm of content marketing, you are taking on a certain responsibility. If you are writing a blog or creating articles surrounding your business and industry, people are looking at you as an expert on that topic or in that field. In most cases, having a byline gives you some semblance of authority. Maybe this gives you the impression that your job is easier to execute. People are going to think that you know what you’re talking about –so the pressure is off to create truly valuable content. This couldn’t be less true. Mediocre content can potentially hurt your business more than no content at all.
The Impact of Google’s Mobile Intrusive Interstitials Penalty
Google announced that they would be applying penalties to sites that utilize problematic interstitial ads for visitors. These are ads that pop up and take up a considerable amount of screen space. At times, especially on mobile devices, these ads can be nearly impossible to get around. It’s something that site visitors complain about and get frustrated with time and again. Google has decided to penalize the offending sites by dropping their ranking on the search engine.
Breanne Bannon
Breanne is a Content Writer, Social Media Marketeer, and Sales Associate for Sprocket Websites.
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