Many marketing departments have a cookie-cutter process for sharing content on as many platforms as possible. Fortunately, there is a better way.

We all know that it’s a good idea to be active on social media as part of our marketing efforts. But too often, the way we do that is like throwing spaghetti at a wall, hoping some of it will stick. Instead, more effective use of your marketing time and money is spent on the right platform. But how do you choose the right social media platform for your business?

Why Do You Have to Choose?

It might seem like more platforms are better for your marketing, but as in most business efforts, the Pareto Principle explains why you should choose 2-3 social media platforms rather than try to use them all. You are probably familiar with the Pareto Principle, commonly referred to as the 80-20 precept. It states that 80% of your outcomes result from 20% of your efforts.

The important takeaway for this is that you become far more efficient (thus profitable) if your figure out which efforts give you the most benefit. So focus your energy on those things.

Not All Social Media Platforms are Created Equal

For example, retirees, stay-at-home parents, and 15-year-olds aren’t likely to be on LinkedIn. Likewise, Tik-Tok isn’t the ideal place to look for employees. And Pinterest is a far better place to find craft ideas than Facebook.

As a social media consumer, you likely know which platforms you enjoy and for what qualities. Yet, many marketing departments have a cookie-cutter process for sharing content on as many platforms as possible. There is a better way.

What Audience Do You Want to Reach?

It’s essential to be very clear on who you are trying to reach. So, for example, if you are a fitness company for women over 50, and your goal is to find clients who want to take classes, you wouldn’t target men in their early twenties.  And who you are targeting matters because you can then use the social media platforms where they are most active. So here are some broad statistics on this demographic:

By Gender—Women

75% use Facebook

63% use YouTube

By Age—Adults 50-64

70% use YouTube

68% use Facebook

It’s important to use platforms on which your audience will practically stumble over you each day. For example, looking at gender and age alone would indicate that Facebook and YouTube are where a fitness company for women over 50 should be spending their social media efforts. But it is more complicated than that.

What is the Tone and Personality of the Platform?

Does it match the tone and personality of your company? And what are some of your company’s broader goals? For example, if you want to find clients who want to take classes, you can go the Facebook route, maybe posting an encouraging post or a mini-lesson each day to give potential clients a taste of who you are. But what if you want to build a community? You can start a Facebook group for that community. Or you could venture into the realm of Tik-Tok, which is known for its strong communities.

Do You Have the Skills to Match the Needs of the Platform?

Depending on which platform you use, you will need to have specific technical abilities to take advantage of its benefits. For example, to have a successful account on video platforms like YouTube and Tik-Tok, you need to have a charismatic personality that comes across well on camera, decent video taking abilities and equipment (newer smart phone’s work for Tik-Tok), and the ability to edit video well. In addition, LinkedIn requires the proper use of keywords. And for any social media platform, you should understand the unique algorithm that favors one type of content over others.

Need Help with Your Marketing?

Our Digital Marketing team has you covered. Find out how we can help your audience see more of you!

Contact us today!

The post Choosing a Social Media Platform for Your Business appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Automated messaging offers a lot of benefits to business owners who wish to use it. Best of all, it is easy to set up. While you can integrate this functionality into your website by embedding Messenger into your site using a plugin or through Facebook’s integration, this article will only focus on automation through Facebook Messenger.

Getting Started

• To automate your Messenger, you must have admin access to your Facebook business page.
• On the left-hand side of the page is a column of options. You will want to click on “Business Suite.”
• Now you will be looking at your inbox.
• From your Inbox, you will be able to see your messages from both your Facebook and Instagram accounts.
• Just below the Facebook and Instagram links on the left-hand column, you will see “Automated Responses.”

Instant Reply

There are several things we can do within this feature. Let’s start with “Instant Reply.” Instant Reply will pop up when someone first attempts to message you.  It can do anything from alleviating the frustration that customers often feel waiting for you to respond to steering your visitors in the right direction. For example, if you primarily use email rather than Messenger, you can let them know that with a link to your email address.

Personalized Response

There are some great features built into Instant Reply. For example, you can personalize the message by having their name automatically inserted in your response. Messenger pulls this directly from their account. It will instantly add warmth and humanity to your automation.

Embedded Links

Then, you can write whatever reply you would like to go out to the people who message you. You can embed links, including your website. Note that you can only link to your main website, not particular pages. These links will not look like links as you create them on the backend, but when you send them in Messenger, they will show up correctly. You should always do a test run to check it out to be sure everything looks right.

Away Message

Many businesses like to have an after-hours message letting their visitors know that their business is closed for the day. Often these messages include business hours and the assurance that they will return and reply and when to expect the reply.

Frequently Asked Questions

This is another place that business often post their hours. You can also add service costs, how to schedule an appointment, Covid policies, or anything else people may have questions about. It is ideal to have questions to answer with a link to a page on your website. This will be efficient for the customer and will improve your web page’s ranking over time. Keep in mind that you can only use four FAQs in a conversation, so choose your four best questions.

Contact Information & Location

Thankfully, you do not need to include “Where are you located?” in your Frequently Asked Questions. Messenger knows this is such a common question that they have added it as an automatic option. If you choose to turn this on, it can give directions to the person needing your location.

Contact Information is another option. With that, you could link right to your Contact Us page on your website or have your phone or email address.

Schedule Appointments

If you schedule appointments through Facebook’s appointment scheduler, you can add this feature to your automatic messaging.

Finally, save your answers, and you are all set!

Need More Answers to Your Marketing Questions?

Iceberg Web Design has them. We specialize in website-based solutions to your business needs. We build custom websites, turn-key websites and have a host of services that can improve your ability to communicate your message. Contact us online today or call 763-350-8762 to learn more!

The post Let Facebook Messenger Automation Work for You appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Follow the Advice of Content Marketers

Content marketers know their business. That’s why when 86% of them are doing this as part of their content strategy. It pays to consider that ‘it’ worth doing. What are they doing? Blogging! “Businesses with a consistent content or blog strategy receive twice as much email traffic as those without. Plus, more than 55 percent of marketers say they’ve gained new customers just by blogging.” [1]

How Much Work Goes into a Writing a Blog?

Content can be anywhere from 500 to 1200 words on average, depending on your audience and what kind of marketing you are doing. The average blog post takes nearly four hours to complete. What goes into that time?

•     Research
•     Writing
•     SEO Crafting
•     Editing
•     Image Sourcing
•     Final Draft

It can be time-consuming, but it is worth it. A professionally written blog can bring in business and increase name recognition across the web.

SEO Services 

If you include SEO services with your online content, you are doubling down on a marketing masterpiece. With SEO services, your blog can be posted to social media and Google My Business in front of the right audiences at the correct times to increase traffic to your site even more. 

Will it Hurt to Ditch my Blog? It’s Not That Great. 

YES! If you get rid of your existing blog, Google’s algorithms will see a sudden elimination of content from your site. Your site’s SEO will drop like a rock and won’t recover for a long time. 

If you are unhappy with your blog, the best thing you can do is hire an SEO professional to manage it. They can slowly change each post to a new, improved version, keeping the URL intact. That is important since Google likes changes to content (not URLs), but it wants these to be slow changes.

Getting Help 

Then, you can outsource your blog writing to a professional blogger so you can work on your business while they work on your blog. Companies who blog get 97% more links to their websites.[2] Why give that up? At Iceberg Web Design, we produce professionally written SEO content every day for our customers. Contact us today to find out how we can help you. Read our reviews! 

[1] Lin, Ying. “10 Blogging Statistics You Need to Know in 2021 [Infographic].” Oberlo, Oberlo, 26 Feb. 2021, www.oberlo.com/blog/blogging-statistics.

[2] Ouellette, Coral, et al. “Ultimate List of Blogging Statistics and Facts (Updated for 2021).” OptinMonster, 6 Jan. 2021, optinmonster.com/blogging-statistics/.

The post Why Keeping Your Blog is Important appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Small businesses have several options in addition to engaging website development to promote products and services. You have paid options such as Google Adwords that provide a quick and profitable return on investment. Organic search engine optimization marketing strategies like blogging build the level of customer trust that prompts action.

Then, we have the most effective online marketing option: Social media marketing.

How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Small Business

Entrepreneur estimates that more than 950 million people access Facebook every day. The popular online entrepreneurial blog has presented statistics that demonstrate small businesses comprise a rapidly growing percentage of the daily Facebook users. What does that mean for your small business? Well, social media has become more than just selfies and friend requests. It’s how we shop, how we communicate, how we stay on top of current events. Moreover, social media is the online version of where we leave reviews for the businesses we trust.

Our Minneapolis web design firm knows how to make social media the phase two of your Internet marketing program.

Start Conversations by Asking Questions

Everyone has an opinion and Facebook posts represent the ideal online place for customers to present their opinions. Ask Facebook fans of your small business to provide insight on topics that pertain to your small business. For example, a local independent restaurant asks customers to vote for their favorite restaurant menu items to win one-on-one cooking lessons with the chef.

Share What You Know

The most effective way to build customer trust involves sharing what you know. Upload Facebook posts that help customers solve problems. The pithy posts can simply be recipes for enhancing health or suggestions on the tools to use for working on home improvement projects. Videos represent the best way to create “How to…” content for the social media phase of your online marketing program.

Customers Want Value

Social media content must provide your customers with value, from sharing white papers to offering limited discount specials. Consumers want to learn how your products and services benefit them. Short text/video content uploads on sites such as Facebook and Instagram do the best job of creating customer value.

Sell Your Brand Visually

Although your small business website should comprise a content-focused approach to gaining customer trust, the phase two of your digital marketing program should include more attention grabbing visuals. Pinterest makes the perfect phase two platform for presenting visuals that customers immediately identify with your small business brand.

The Phase Two Golden Rule

American Express recently presented a blog post emphasizing most of your social media posts should share information that helps customers solve problems. The one in seven rule states that only one in every seven of your social media should promote your business. The other six posts should provide value for customers. This rule applies on Facebook, as much as it applies on Twitter.

One Post, One Social Media Platform

Several tools allow you to write one post and then upload the post to multiple social media platforms. Customers that see duplicate posts on different social media platforms typically look elsewhere for products and services. Avoid presenting duplicate content to build the level of credibility customers need to conduct business with you.

Small businesses that operate in the Twin Cities need a Minneapolis social media consultant that knows how to implement effective phase two online marketing strategies. Iceberg Web Design can help you increase your online reach, attract new customers, and engage your current clients. Now through February 29th, receive a FREE SEO Keyword Research report with your in-person social media consultation.

The post Social Media: Your Website’s Phase Two appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

You might be wondering how often should you post to social media – after all, you want to maximize your exposure without annoying your followers.

In this short guide, we will show you exactly how many daily posts are recommended on each social network.

How Often Should You Post to Social Media’s Most Popular Platforms?

Earlier this year, SumAll and Buffer teamed up to compile data to answer this very question.

Before diving into the results, it’s worth taking a peek at this quote from Gary Vaynerchuk:

“One is better than zero.”

– Gary Vaynerchuk

Something is always better than nothing.

In other words, please do not interpret these numbers as absolute directives. For example, if you only have the resources available to post to Facebook once a day, do not think of it as a waste of time.

Similarly, if your business only has the resources to manage one or two social media accounts – go for it! Every business starts somewhere, and you can always add more platforms as you go.

Facebook [2x Daily]

Post at least twice per day to Facebook. Although you are welcome to post more often, engagement tends to be highest on the first two posts.

Twitter [3x Daily]

Twitter users are a little more forgiving than their counterparts on Facebook. Engagement is not statistically likely to decrease until your fourth tweet of the day.

Google+ [3x Daily]

To maximize your average engagement per post, you would be wise to post to Google+ at least three times daily.

What’s interesting about this platform is that consistency counts for more than sheer volume. In other words, even if you intend to post to Google+ just twice daily, make sure those two posts happen consistently and around the same time.

Instagram [2x Daily]

Instagram is one of the few platforms on which more is better. Post as often as you can! Just work to keep it consistent. Two posts each day is a good guideline to start.

Pinterest [5x Daily]

I hope you like Pinterest, because studies show that the brands that post the most often get the most followers and engagement. If you want to get in the game, aim for at least five posts a day to start.

LinkedIn [1x Daily]

What’s great about LinkedIn is that 60% of your audience – whether followers or connections – are likely to see your new posts. Largely for that reason, one post every weekday is plenty.

“I Just Don’t Have Time to Post to Social Media Every Day!”

How often should you post to social media may be a secondary consideration at the moment – especially if you’re swamped! After all, business owners should focus on what they do best, which is running their business.

If you find yourself wanting to explore social media further, or simply needing help to make it happen each day, Iceberg Web Design is here for you.

We offer a number of different social media solutions designed to serve the needs of your business.

Email samarah [at] icebergwebdesign [dot] com, call 763-350-8762, or contact us to get started.

The post How Often Should You Post to Social Media? appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

It should come as no surprise that four out of five businesses increased their budget for social media marketing in the past four years.

Social media is more than a fad or a passing trend – it is the new norm in terms of how people communicate, how they research things to do, find information, and make purchase decisions.

While there is still a place for more traditional advertising – including newspapers, television, radio, direct mail, and more – there is no denying the necessity to be visible where your customers are looking.

In this short post, we will review the three steps to setting a budget for social media marketing.

1. Begin with Your Overall Marketing Budget

More often than not, a marketing budget is expressed as a fixed percentage of gross sales.

Studies show that small businesses with annual revenues less than $5 million will generally set a budget somewhere around 10%.

More established businesses may allocate up to 20% of their annual sales.

If your business is brand new, creating initial awareness might call for an investment exceeding your projected annual sales.

In any event, before you can budget for social media marketing, you need an idea of how much you are working with for the entire year.

2. Allocate a Percentage to Internet Marketing

The term ‘internet marketing’ refers to a number of different things, such as email newsletters, blogging, pay per click ads, and search engine optimization.

It is estimated that most businesses in 2015 will devote more than half of their marketing budget to the internet.

If your business generates most of its revenue through online activities, it would be a great idea to dedicate the majority of your marketing budget to the internet. If, on the other hand, you run a local brick and mortar business, a quarter of your overall marketing budget may suffice.

3. Allocate a Percentage to Budget for Social Media Marketing

Surveys indicate that the most businesses in 2015 will allocate roughly one quarter of their internet marketing budget to social media.

Why so low?

The main reason is because an effective social media strategy is supported by content creation. Because producing high quality content – including writing – can be very expensive, a large portion of the internet marketing budget needs to go there.

On the flip side, surveyed businesses reported nearly half of their leads generated in 2013 originated through social media.

“What Do I Do with My Budget for Social Media Marketing?”

That is a great question – and one that often confuses business owners.

I mean, if Facebook and Twitter are free to use, what’s the budget for?

This is where Iceberg Web Design can really assist you in building a solid social media marketing plan based upon your available budget.

We offer a number of different social media services to drive the results you need.

Why not or contact us so we can discuss your marketing objectives? Send an email to samara [at] icebergwebdesign [dot] com, or call 763-350-8762.

The post Here’s How to Set a Budget for Social Media Marketing appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.