Facebook Reels: How SMEs can Maximize Video Content for Their Businesses
By Victoria Oladipo There is a current rise in the use of video content for content creation and for sales. Several statistics have been made for video content. 87% of marketers have said that Video content has helped them increase traffic and generate more users to their products Creating video content is a form of marketing that uses videos to promote and inform people about your product or service which is a good idea. It boosts engagement on your digital and social channels, educates your audience, and gives you a new way to reach out to them. Tiktok and Instagram reels have a bigger push for video content recently. Meta introduced reels to Instagram and it acted as a competition to TikTok. According to TechCrunch, Meta introducing reels to Instagram has been one of the fastest growing content formats so far and has been one of the huge contributors to Instagram and is now growing rapidly on Facebook. ALSO READ: Is Digital Marketing Excusable For Tech Start-Ups? The introduction of Facebook reels will help more SMEs and content creators reach a new audience, drive traffic and build amazing communities. Reels will also show in the users bar and people will get to see your videos whether they follow you or not. Facebook also introduced reels with a play bonus to reward the biggest creators with a play value. Although this Bonus Program is currently available to creators in the US, Facebook has promised to release it to other countries in the coming months. Another big advantage of the Facebook reels is that it gives your brand more personality than it has shown formerly. You become more creative and give life to what you’re promoting. The opportunities reels give your brand is very endless, like the use of AR shots, fun promotions, or sharing the behind the scenes of your product packaging or product process. All those are what gives life to your brand. Finally, the ROI for video marketing is great for conversion and sales which is built from trust. If pictures already bring conversion and sales, imagine what motion pictures will do for your brand. Video content is likely to ignite and provoke emotions for your audience. The best part of it is the traffic your brand gets to have and the sales it converts to for you. You can send us a message to provide quality marketing services for your businesses.
How to Build a Social Media Strategy in 2021
We’ve seen so many businesses going into social media abruptly. They have a basic idea on what to do on social media, but they simply do not understand how to begin or where to even start from. Some businesses just employ an intern and give them access to the company’s social media accounts for them to do whatever they want, because they are young and perceived to be social media savvy. However, we’ve gone past that stage of posting on social media and hoping it gets attention. Every business must have a well-detailed social media marketing strategy that creates a pathway for growth that’s inevitable. Because if you don’t, your competitors will prey on your weaknesses and garner more traction and engagement than you. Here is our 5-step social media strategy for businesses in 2021. 1. Set a realistic social media goals A problem most businesses face on social media is that they spend so much time setting unrealistic targets. Today, they’ll like to hit 1,000,000 views on YouTube, tomorrow they want to get 100,000 followers on Instagram While this may be possible, does this fit well into your business planning as a whole? Ideally, you should set strategic goals that can complement your overall business objectives. Make sure your goals are: – Specific – Measurable – Attainable – Relevant – Time-bound The SMARTer your goals are, the more easy it will be for to meet them. 2. Decide your social media target audience One common mistake made by businesses on social media is that businesses often think everyone is their target audience and everyone will like them. False. Social media isn’t a merry-go-round where it’s all fun and stuff. Look back at the goals you set in step 1. There is no point having an audience who can’t engage with your content or help you meet your business goals. Most times, you want your social media followers to be prospective customers. So you need to have a target group (age, location, gender, interest, etc) Check how competitors are using social media A lot of businesses don’t just operate on their own. Of course, there will be competitors who have the same or similar business with yours who also use social media. You’ll need to know what they are doing. What are their content types? Whom are they targeting? What social media platform are they trying to dominate? Feel free to conduct a competitor analysis to help you get a better understanding of their strengths and weakness. By doing this, you’ll be able to understand what potential customers expect from business in your niche. Tools like sprout social and SEMRush can be used to spy on your competitors and find out their best performing content. This will inspire you to create and share similar, but better content. Plan the types of content you will share To be successful on social media, you definitely need high-quality content. Content that organically gets traction and engagement. One mistake business make is that they always thing it’s appropriate to share excessive sales content. Nobody likes being sold to, remember that. People are on social media to have great conversations from content that inspires them. People are on social media to be social – they never intended to be bamboozled with promotional content. Therefore, you need to strike a balance with the content you share on social media. Let there be a mixture of entertaining and educative content, with a very little percentage of sales content included. You can also share user-generated content, so that your audience feels more in tune with your business. By doing all of these things, you start to understand the types of content that works best for your target audience. Create a social media budget Let’s be factual. You need a realistic budget to grow your social media accounts. Because as with other forms of marketing, social media marketing is quite essential for most organizations. Therefore, you should allocate a budget to it. There’s absolutely no way the success of your social media will happen without having some some of budget to run promotions. It is all part of the social media strategy. What you should not is that you don’t need to spend more than your business earns. Make sure you have a KPI for each social media account, and calculate your return on investment (ROI), bearing in mind the goals you set out earlier in your strategy. Just make sure you consider how much you intend to spend on all your digital marketing channels. Then ask yourself how much of that budget you are prepared to devote to social media. ALSO READ: 8 Facebook Advertising Goals and What They Actually Mean
Follow These Secrets to Make Viral Video Content
What if there’s some special formula that can help you create a viral video that surprises your audience? *Stares into the open space* What if you could discover that special recipe that gets your videos trending over and over again? I can say for a fact that content creators as well as small business owners have been searching high and low for that magic formula that will cause a transformative change to the way they create and publish videos. First off, what exactly is a viral video? Have you come across that video from doggface that went viral on TikTok, and made its way to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook? It was short, sweet and quite creative! His success today is really paying off and we can all agree that viral video changed his life. Viral videos tend to get attention so very fast and are shared so many times on social media, reaching a massive audience who may never have seen your content before. In some cases, international publications pick up these viral videos and that is when it starts to spread like wildfire. So, how can you make a viral video? Okay! This is the hard but interesting part. Some videos go viral organically, others take a lot of work and planning. Creating a viral video is like painting. Having the right colors, making the right strokes are like the important elements to getting it right – but you’ll struggle a few times when starting out. As you move along, you get better at using your equipment and master it’s uniqueness – the painting starts to come alive till you make a masterpiece. ALSO READ: 8 Content Ideas for Instagram Reels #Know your audience This goes further to say that you should also know what your audience wants. In most cases, businesses create videos to educate their viewers about new launches and features. What matters is the concept of the video and how it relates to the everyday human. When you create relatable videos, that resonates so deeply with your audience, you can guarantee the success of that video. #Focus on one message Make it simple, clear and concise. These are the kind of videos that works wonders. Because when it comes to creating highly sharable content, your message must be clear from the onset. So before starting, define what your video is all about and focus on getting that message across as distinct as possible. #User powerful storytelling Use the power of storytelling to create strong emotional connection. Your video can portray a challenge you’re facing and how you overcame them and got successful. Viewers can see how you fall, but you stand up and try again. Through powerful storytelling, it gives viewers the affirmation to keep watching every second. In summary, your video can present a problem and then showcase a quick solution. #Keep it short and sweet You know how they say people on social media have very short attention span? In fact, this study by Microsoft corporation says that the human attention is now less than that of a goldfish. So this means our attention is increasingly in demand. Literally everyone on the internet is fighting for their share of the human attention. Just like social media, viral videos are disruptive. Nobody ever goes looking for viral videos on social media. They simply appear on your feed and grabs your attention. This is why short videos are highly effective. #Offer value You need to focus on giving something valuable to your audience. Ensure that every content you put out there is geared towards “giving”. In everything you share with your audience, go with an attitude to give value, not with an attitude of just getting. This is the right attitude, right mindset. Videos with potential to go viral are intrinsically useful to your audience. So whether you’re entertaining, educating or informing, just make sure your videos are super helpful to those who watch it. Summary Use these secrets to create evergreen video contents. With serious work, creativity and a dash of luck, you’ll go viral soon and very soon! Share this article if you found it useful 🙂
10 Tricks to Help you Sell Better
A good sales person always has the room to grow and improve their selling skills. This is why businesses should also focus on investing on their sales team, motivating them to learn more and research about the selling industry. The ultimate goal will be to use all of the information gathered to get better at selling. I know salespeople are always looking for ways to learn, especially when there are set targets breathing down their throats. So we’ve decided to share these few tricks to help you become the best salesperson out there, Know your market You can’t be an effective salesperson if you do not know and understand who your customers are. Where do they live? What social media channels do they spend time on? What’s their favorite chilling spot? What problems are they facing? What’s the best way to solve them? Like really understanding what tickles their fancy. Understanding your market will give you the benefit of positioning your brand or service as the solution to their problems. Use data to your advantage Whether you’re a small company or a large one, data can add some tremendous efficiencies to the way you work. What should you do? Pay very close attention to your metrics and reports. That way, you have a clearer view on what’s working and what isn’t. What’s impacting your sales numbers? Why is your sales number declining? Data doesn’t lie, so checking your numbers is a critical component to your sales growth. Listen to your prospects For you to be really effective at selling, you need to listen more to your prospects. Focus on becoming customer-centric, and use social media to do just that. If you really want to sell like crazy, you need to care a lot about your prospects. Not just the surface type of care, but one that forms a stronger bond. That way, you’re having healthy conversations that helps build trust, loyalty and closes deals faster. Just build trust We get that building trust can be difficult, especially when you’re trying to sell a product or service to a customer for the first time. In today’s business world, it is very critical to create relationships and build trust with your prospect. And once trust has been established, you’re much more likely to win the relationship. Help more One truth is, features alone can’t help the customer. What the customer is really keen on hearing is, “How does product X solve Y for me?” They just want to know how what you’re selling will highlight and address their challenges. Know this differentiation and rather than focus on the features alone, you should really think about what the customers stands to benefit more. How is this product aimed at solving one or more of their pain points? Picking the right price One way to do this is to do a quick research on the prices your competitor is offering. If the price of your product is on a high side, make sure you over deliver quality to your buyers. Most times, prices can be determined by the perceived value of your product. Therefore, if you can make your product look superior to that of your customers, you can charge higher. Effective presentations sell Look, selling is great! But presenting your product in the most creative and compelling way will help you sell x3. This is easy to do on a PowerPoint presentation. Cold call, but do it sometimes We get that cold calling potential customers can sometimes be difficult. Doesn’t matter if you are doing it in person, or on the phone, just make sure you’re warming that potential customer with relatable discussions. Even if your product is new to the market, you might actually start to get some awareness by calling potential customers. Take advantage of social media Social media is like a world of endless possibilities. It provides so many creative ways to get your product across to your customers faster than ever before. Social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are all free. Use them to build relationships with your customers through creative content. Have a clear sales message Let your message be so clear, that it tells your customers exactly what your product will do for them. Don’t mince words, Be specific. If the product you’re trying to sell has multiple benefits, create different sales messages for different customers. What strategies have you implemented to increase your sales? Feel free to share them in the comments.
These Mistakes can Kill Your Social Media Account
Mistakes happen very often on this social media space. Some people believe that growing a social media account to a reasonable amount takes only a few days. Others think social media is all about interaction, connecting with people and building relationships. Truth is, there are so many misconceptions with social media and what it does (or can do). What I do know is, you need a good strategy to grow and manage any social media account. ALSO READ: 5 Critical Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Businesses But first, what are those mistakes to avoid? Follow to unfollow: When you follow to unfollow, what exactly is the aim? What is the purpose of that one single action? Incase you didn’t know, when you keep doing this, you’re flouting the policies guiding the social media space, and this will gradually take a toll on your engagement. Ghosting: Ghosting on social media means inactivity. Simply put it as disappearing. Or in many cases it means an inconsistent presence on social media. Today you make one post, and the next time you’re seen active is 30 days later. Remember, the algorithm favors consistency and you need the algorithm on your side. Spammy comments: Now that you’ve decided to become active on social media, should there be any reason to force engagements by using bots to like and comment on posts? absolutely not. Doing this makes your social media account lose credibility and value. At the worst case, you may actually have your social media account blocked. Repeated content: Posted it once and it didn’t get traction, so you posted and kept posting it again? Well, what’s the assurance that would bring about the engagement you’re looking for? Your followers don’t need to hear from you every second. Give room for your content to travel far, be consistent and stick to a content time frame. Not being social: The best way to use social media is to be social. You’re supposed to have fun with the experience, share your journey, learn and inspire others. Yes, you can use social media to get a job, meet business professionals, or find the love of your life. The point is you should be social, find new ways to have fun and connect with amazing people. Follow us on social media to get all the good stuff we talk about: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
8 Facebook Advertising Goals and What They Actually Mean
Facebook has recently updated their entire layout, the user interface looks more friendly, and the best part is the Ad Center on Facebook pages. Now, advertisers have a concise range of choices when it comes to running ads. In this article, you’ll learn 8 Facebook advertising goals, what they mean, and how best to use them for your next campaign. 8 Facebook advertising campaign goals What is a campaign goal? This simply means what action you want people to take when they see your advert. Realizing what your campaign goals are, is the first step you must take when creating a new campaign. ALSO READ: 6 Online Businesses You Can Start Now Get more messages This ad goal aims at getting people to send you messages on messenger. Facebook shows your advert to prospects who are more likely to require further information before they convert. So when you’re trying to sell a product and you want customers to send you private messages to discuss about the price, quality, or delivery of the product, get more messages campaigns are ideal. Build Your Business If you want people to learn more about your business, this option is your best bet. Facebook will display your advert to people with the same or likely interest as your business and directs them to a landing page. E.g. Through the learn more button. Get More Website Visitors Want more traffic to your blog, website or app? This the the ad goal you should go for. Your advert would be charged based on link clicks. Remember to optimize your landing page for conversion results. Boost a Post This is one of the most popular advertisement goals on Facebook. If your goal for that advert you’re about to run is to get likes, comments or shares, Facebook will show your advert to the maximum audience each day. In less than 5 clicks, you’re good to go. Boost an Instagram Post This also works like the Boost a Post option, but the difference here is that you can boost an Instagram post right on your Facebook page. This works when you’ve linked your Instagram account to your Facebook page. Get More Leads I’m such a huge fan of the lead generation goal because it is so easy to use and can be really versatile. When you create a lead generation form, people interested in your advert can fill the form (capturing their contact details like email addresses and phone numbers). In essence, you can use this ad goal to build your email list, drive downloads, or give exclusive access to discounts. Promote Your Page This objective is super straightforward. Promote your page and get more likes. Simple! This is only available for your Facebook page (Not available for Instagram). With this goal, you can optimize your Facebook page likes but you may be charged for impression or likes depending on your bid. Get More Calls This advert goal is pretty self-explanatory and serves its purpose. Great for promoting your business to get more calls from prospects interested in what your selling or the services you’re rendering. Develop a habit of testing out different campaigns to determine what works and what doesn’t. What advert goal would you be testing first?
Creating a Content Plan in 5 Easy Steps
As with most online activities, content creation involves a high level of creativity. I mean, you don’t just want to create something that is below standard because you want to meet your daily content task. This is where a content creation plan comes in. One amazing benefit of this is that it helps you create timeless content and ultimately, you become an effective creator. The internet of course gives everyone the free will to create and publish. So most people just create and publish. But you’re not just like most people, you’re different. And different people create different content. In this article, you’ll learn how to create a content plan in 5 simple steps. Shall we? RELATED: 7 Things That Make a Great Content LISTEN If you’re really going to succeed in the long term, you must pay attention to what people are saying in your niche. Listening to your audience can help you plan high-quality, effective and consistent content. When you listen, you can be inspired to create content that solves the pain points of your audience. SET YOUR GOALS If you’re not setting goals, you’re setting up to fail. For every content you create, there should be a goal set for it. Why are you creating this content? What does your brand stand for? How can your content be useful to others? These goals drive and motivate you to never lower your standards. CREATE YOUR KPI Measuring your successes helps you determine what types of content are working and the ones that aren’t. If you don’t evaluate and measure, you’ll never know IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE Everyone is not your target audience (you’ve probably heard this before). Who is your target audience? Where do they meet? What kinds of content do they like? Identify your minimum viable group and serve them! CREATE YOUR CONTENT CALENDAR & AUTOMATE Of course, this is the last and final step. Using a content calendar and automating your content helps you stay up to date and it gives you the ability to never miss an important date. If you may have forgotten to post on certain days, an automated content calendar will solve that problem. If you manage several social media accounts, you can understand how overwhelming it can be when you’re doing everything manually. Automation saves you time. What else would you be adding to these steps?
DigiNext: The Marketing Experience Summit | Nov. 26th 2020
Are you ready to be part of a life-changing event? Join this visionary and actionable virtual summit to learn the latest highly-effective marketing strategies (through best practices and real-life scenarios) for driving and maximizing your marketing channels now and beyond. About DigiNext: This is a One-day free Marketing Event led by industry professionals with proven track record. Covering topics ranging from Digital Marketing, Content Creation, Growth, Brand Communications, Content Marketing Strategies and Digital Marketing Trends for 2021. Each panel session offers valuable advice to skyrocket your marketing initiatives and improve your existing marketing channels. At the end of this event, attendees will have loads of tactics they can implement to generate quality results. To register, you need to complete the form below. LIMITED SLOTS AVAILABLE! Loading… See you at #DiginextSummit
8 Content Ideas for Instagram Reels
Creativity is what we absolutely love to see and short videos can really give you more room to try out these new ideas. Let’s dive in! Behind the Scenes Compile your daily process of getting the perfect Instagram content or a quick product shoot and turn it into BTS clip for your reels. Tutorials We all love some tips and hacks. You can share quirky IG stories, create quick graphic designs or short photo editing hacks. Basically anything your audience can learn from Food Recipes Short videos about food are always so nice and enticing. if you love cooking, share a 15sec on how to make a quick meal and watch people start craving. Travel So many people do miss the travel life for sure. To rekindle that travel fire, you can share bits of your previous travel experiences on reels while we keep our fingers crossed for the world to recover. RELATED: Instagram Reels: Everything You Need to Know Beauty Routine Another fun Reel idea you can recreate is to give your followers a glimpse into your beauty routine. Whether it’s a morning or nighttime routine, feel free to share how beauty committed you are. Join a Challenge From the #DontRushChallenge to #RenegadeChallenge, online challenges have taken social media by full storm. But guess what? You can join in on the fun and share your entry on reels! DIY There are those days we’ve tried to fix something and we just couldn’t. Well, If you’re a creator, and a skilled one at that, you can share one or two creative DIYs for your audience. Animal Content Got a cute puppy or a funny cat? People love these types of contents. We love our pets and some animal facts. If you can, share some helpful tips for fellow pets’ owners, or funny video of your pet’s reaction to your favorite song. Did you find this useful? Share it!
Places to Learn Visual Storytelling for Free
Storytelling has now become more popular when it comes to content creation. It is always exciting to tell a story, what’s more interesting is doing so in a creative way. If you’re looking to enhance your visual storytelling skills, let’s get on with it. SKILL SHARE There are so many free courses on Skill Share to help you find and explore your creativity. COURSERA Coursera is popular not only because they collaborate with leading universities, but also because they offer tons of free courses for visual and digital storytelling. edX On edX you can learn about storytelling with online courses and engaging lessons! Whether you’re a digital marketer or a graphic designer, there’s a free course for you SEE ALSO: 5 Free Digital Marketing Certifications Canva Design School As we already know, Canva is a great resource for creative visuals and graphics. But what you should also know is that Canva has a design school dedicated to help you make beautiful designs. ALISON Get free visual storytelling courses on Alison to sharpen your skills. Not only are these courses courses on demand, but they are engaging and resourceful. The internet is filled with lots of free resources to help you grow in your storytelling skills. Which other platforms should we add to the list?
