2014 End of The Year Wrap Up!

DIY Sprocket Solutions

As 2014 winds to a close, let’s take a look back before jumping into 2015! We pumped out an article at least every other week for you the whole year through. Let’s glance back at the top 10 DIY Sprocket Solution articles of 2014. Just like last year folks –see the ones you missed, the ones you loved, and the ones we really had no clue would become so popular.

Technology seems to be a living, breathing entity. As marketers, we are constantly watching as the parameters change, the norms become distant memories, and the things we never thought we'd be marketing with are now front and center. Take Snapchat for instance.

We’ve talked about networking before folks. We’ve pushed you in both the conventional and unconventional networking directions. Now how about a few “new” ideas for you? We are social beings; networking (whether we’re good at it or not) has always been and will continue to be extremely important to the success of your business, brand, and growth. If you’re uncomfortable –get comfortable. Or at least fake it till you make it. For those still shaking in your boots, checking for pit stains, and wiping off sweaty palms here are a few new, slightly less pressure, ways to network.

Nobody wants to be pitched to, sold to, advertised at, etc. We’ve been there. We’ve seen and done that. We are in the age of fast forwarding through every commercial –to the point where watching live TV can be downright painful. We skip computer ads. We hang up on telemarketers. We don’t have time for that. We know what we want and, if we’re looking for a certain product or service, we’ll go find it for it ourselves thank you very much. Enter content marketing.

I don’t have to drone on and on about how important it is that your business is on social media. Chances are, if you’re reading this article, you’re already set up with at least a few different outlets. But, now that you’ve stuck your neck out there and made yourself available to your customers and the world, you’ve also opened yourself up to the scrutiny.

We talk a lot here about the importance of social media marketing, but how are you measuring your efforts? To figure out what is working and what isn’t it makes sense to test out a social media measurement tool rather than investing in expensive metrics that you don’t need or use.

The past few weeks I’ve been dipping my toes into the paid advertising arena on social media, trying out a few different methods and testing the waters. I’m no expert by any means –extreme beginner alert. However, with a few weeks under my belt, I can tell you what I have found so far. Results.

Now that the New Year is here, the internet has exploded with goals and resolutions for 2014. Setting goals is never a bad thing –maintaining your goals for the entire year is a whole other ball game. So let’s take those yearly goals, and let’s bump them up a bit.

Let’s face it -we’re not all best buddies here in the business world. We may work alongside each other, we may share similar passions, we may have the same goals, etc. We are also competitors. Instead of distancing yourself as much as possible from the competition, why not try to learn a thing or two about what you can do differently than them? Perhaps even better than them.

Businesses are continually encouraged to keep up with the beast that is social media marketing. More accounts to manage, more users to target, more followers to gain, more engagement, and more content to push. For companies with multiple social media accounts (ex: a Facebook page, Twitter page, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, etc.) managing all those pages by single handedly logging into and updating each one is daunting. Add to the mix businesses like ours that help other companies manage their social media accounts and you’ve got one huge project (and one huge time suck) on your hands. Enter social media management tools.

Infographics have been huge for awhile now. It’s not difficult to tell why –they are great visuals that usually pack a lot of easy to read statistics or facts. Infographics are a great visual cue for the content that you’re providing to your readers. Many times, the infographics themselves are substantial enough to work as relevant content of their own.

Okay, so, things we’ve learned: you really enjoy lists of 5. No, seriously. 4 out of the top 10 articles of the ENTIRE YEAR are lists of 5… Maybe I should have titled this the “Top 5 Articles of 2014…”

So now it’s your turn, what lists of 5… I mean articles… are you hoping to see from us in the future? Any topics you want us to dive into in 2015? Comment below.

Also, just the same as last year, thanks for reading. Page views make me feel less like I’m talking to myself.

Breanne BannonBreanne Bannon

Breanne is a Content Writer, Social Media Marketeer, and Sales Associate for Sprocket Websites.

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