Business Beginner

YouTube is an incredibly powerful and still often underestimated platform for versatile digital marketing. Video marketing is getting better and more common every month and it's obviously here to stay. Look at the success of the almost purely visual platforms such as Instagram , Snapchat, Pinterest , Tumblr, and even the recently deceased Vine. Even Facebook and Twitter have been growing much more visual each year, with video becoming more prevalent each day. YouTube may be "old news" to some,  not as shiny and new as Snapchat or Instagram, but it can still be a game-changer. I happen to also strongly believe it has much greater monetization potential, when in the hands of the right marketer. It's a staple for comprehensive digital marketing strategies, but it can also be a primary platform for many successful businesses. Unique and high quality video content is also growing and in further demand. We are all aware that there are many "YouTube Celebrities"...

While the majority of business leaders and marketers are well versed by now in social media marketing , not everyone is on board yet. There are still a lot of companies, C-Suite level executives, and "old school" workers that aren't aware of what social media marketing platforms really offer. Or their knowledge and experience may be stuck 5-10 years in the past when Facebook, Twitter, YouTube , and LinkedIn were the only real players and things were much different! Most business professionals know the benefits of social media marketing, but below I've written a simplified outline on the various social media platforms that are reshaping the world of business today. You'll also find many links to more detailed and advanced articles I've written on individual platforms, strategies, and case studies. Facebook: Facebook, founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and publicly held, is the largest social network with about 2 Billion users worldwide. Over the past 5 years Fa...

Pinterest has been a popular social media platform for many years now and it has been successfully adopted by hundreds of thousands of businesses and entrepreneurs during this time. But not all marketers have gotten on board or fully utilized this versatile medium.  In fact, Pinterest seems to be one of the platforms that many companies choose to skip in favor of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn , YouTube, and even our mediocre friend Google Plus! I'm not saying you should ditch any of these tried and true platforms (except perhaps the lowly Google+ ... even though I personally use it almost daily to cover my bases), but you should give Pinterest a fair shot and maximize its potential. When most people think of Pinterest they usually think of DIY projects, design ideas, weddings, fashion, and fitness... but that's kind of like thinking  YouTube is just for cat videos, or that Instagram is just for Selfies (wait it's not?). Don't let this close-minded perspective...

No I didn't hit my head and imagine I was back in 2011. We all know Google+ never materialized into a serious competitor for social media supremacy with its past and current rivals of Facebook , Twitter, or LinkedIn. I'll also admit Google Plus should never be the cornerstone or even a focal point of any sort for any social media marketer. In fact, over the last 6 years I've mostly used G+ as an undiscriminating dumping ground for all of my content. And honestly I could care less about Circles and Google Hangouts.  So why am I writing about using Google Plus marketing to help grow your business? Because it works!! It can help support your digital efforts and it provides a strong ROI (no cost and minimal time). It really comes down to the ease of connecting, minimal time investment, and SEO benefits that G+ can provide. It also fits with my overall theme of using every free weapon at your disposal in an increasingly crowded and competitive social media marketing landscape. ...

Every year the social media landscape shifts as new trends emerge that shape and mold it in different ways. For savvy businesses these trends represent an opportunity to get ahead of the pack and make their mark while engaging a wider audience in the process.  There are already several very noticeable trends that are shaping social media marketing this year. Out of them the 3 that seem to be playing the biggest role are: Live Video  Although live-streaming is nothing new, it is only over the last few years that it has started to be introduced on social media with platforms such as Periscope leading the charge. Now that Facebook has joined in with Facebook Live, and Twitter and Instagram also have their own live video features – the game is truly afoot. Already live video has been shown to increase engagement levels and attract more viewers who stay and watch for longer. In short it is a trend that is likely to define social media marketing for some time.  Social Messag...

Instagram can be a daunting place; there's a huge amount of competition meaning it's easy to put hours of work in with minimal results. However, there are a great variety of tools that can be used to optimize your Instagram strategy , both saving time and leading to quicker growth. Here we outline our favorite 4 tools to supercharge your Instagram page. 1)  Later.com  A huge difficulty with managing an Instagram account in maintaining a regular posting schedule. Creating content is hard enough in itself, but remembering exactly when to post, as well as writing out descriptions and adding tags, can be a real drain on your productivity.  Later.com is an Instagram scheduler that allows you to overcome this problem. You can upload all of your content at a single point in time and set the exact date and time for it to be posted. This also helps with optimizing your posting times as you can see stats on when a picture was posted and how much engagement it received, allowing y...

Every business requires analysis and monitoring of the practices they carry out. Social media networks play a major role in creating business brand awareness worldwide and driving more traffic to the company. This is why it is an essential part of business and marketing that must be monitored to find out its positive and negative impact on the business. Social media can tell you a great deal about your brand, your competitors, and your target market... if you're actually paying attention.  Social media monitoring and listening is crucial for you to get the most out of your digital marketing. Whether it's a small sized business using the social media marketing services or an RAK free zone company formation project using the social media for business success, every business company can benefit from monitoring its social selling strategy  What Is Social Media Monitoring?  The social media monitoring is the business intelligence that sketches a customer response picture in ...