HOW TO INCREASE SALES WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

by Octane Online Marketing | Sep 21, 2022 | Careers

Social media can be a powerful way for businesses to reach consumers.

It can build loyalty, drive leads and sales, and increase traffic on your website. Over 75% of internet users are on social media – so why aren’t you getting more sales? If you are a business and want to improve your social media presence, connect with more followers, and boost your sales and ROI, take a stroll down this page.

• Good Strategies & Good Campaigns

Having a social media presence without a marketing strategy is like having no plan at all. You need a game plan. Who are you selling to? What are you selling? What are your sales goals? How many followers do you have and how many do you exponentially, realistically expect each month? Create campaigns that will engage audiences who are receptive to your product or service.

• Stay active

Don’t “set it and forget it.” You will increase the number of your followers by interacting with them. Remember, social media is a two-way street.

Message your followers, get feedback, and offer discounts with promo codes that will drive customers to your website. Give your audience tips and advice, post photos of happy customers, and offer free giveaways, post-holidays, and special events. There are many ways you can connect with your audience and keep them engaged. Make sure there’s a link to your website on the ads and blogs you post.

• Increase Traffic to Your Website

Discounts, promo codes, and adding links to your social media posts will drive followers to your website. Include blog posts, videos, graphics, GIFs, and photos. According to Content Stadium, there are specific ways to engage users and increase followers for each social media site:

Twitter: Because users tend to dip in and out of Twitter across the day, you can post your top articles (your “greatest hits”) on rotation multiple times per day. This ensures people see a lot of high-quality content whenever they tune in

Facebook: The algorithm doesn’t like you to post the same articles multiple times a day. So here it’s best to only publish a smaller number of top-quality posts.

Instagram: Instagram is best used as a shop window for your visual content. But the link-in-bio strategy can still drive significant traffic to your website. The Economist posts around 8 times per day on this platform.

LinkedIn: The Economist adopted a conversation-based strategy for LinkedIn, encouraging comments and shares. This means that they can post less (around 8 times per day), but still have high levels of social media referrals.

TikTok: Engage with your audience, stay consistent, leverage influencer marketing, and encourage user-generated content.

If you are busy and don’t have a lot of time, the team of experts, consultants, and strategists at Octane Online Marketing will help you build and leverage your social media platform to meet the complex needs of your business. Our full breadth approach will support and meet your objectives, including planning, executing, and analyzing campaigns. Contact them today for a free social media power session.

How To Avoid Facebook Jail If You’re a Conservative

by Octane Online Marketing | Sep 21, 2022 | Careers

The midterm elections are right around the corner, and if you have an opinion that’s different from Big Tech – aka the Democrat Party, be careful. Big Brother is back – and they’re watching you.

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are the biggest threats to free speech After all, if they can ban Donald Trump, they can ban anyone. There was a glimmer of hope when Elon Musk announced he was buying Twitter, but as soon as he backed out, the hammer came down.

Certainly, there is a valid reason to censor some content; violence, threats & pornography – but free speech is the foundation of this country.  Conservative opinion is constantly being monitored and flagged. What Big Tech considers “hate speech, ”going against community standards” and “misinformation” is – for the most part -outrageous.

Currently, Facebook has 15,000 “content moderators” who monitor content. Content gets flagged either by someone reporting an “offensive” post or by an “enforcement bot” that targets keywords. Many times. enforcement bots are inaccurate, but they are deadly, nevertheless. There are pain point negative words like “fear, “stress”, “overwhelm” “suicide” and terrified.” Then there are hidden political words like “Nazi,” “dictatorship,” “Hitler” “regime” “weapon” “whore”, “guns” etc.

This is not to be confused with algorithms that control the content of news feeds. Essentially, a Facebook algorithm is a finite list of instructions that evaluates every post. It scores posts and then arranges them in descending, non-chronological order of interest for each individual user. This process happens every time a user—and there are 2.9 billion of them—refreshes their feed.

Facebook was accused of altering algorithms in the 2020 election, only posting pro-Democrat and negative Trump news feeds. Guess what? They are still doing it (as is most of the mainstream media) and this is another form of censorship.

The world isn’t fair. The World Wide Web is even more unfair. But there are ways to circumvent the conservative bias of Big Tech. Here are a few ideas:

• Memes are still effective ways to share your message – although enforcement bots are getting more sophisticated at targeting words on memes, it is still a safe way to make your point.
• Don’t accept new friendship requests, unless they have 5 or more mutual friends. They could be trolls who will monitor and report you.
• Keep arguments with liberals down to a minimum. They get offended easily and will report you at the drop of a hat.
• Avoid joining groups unless you are sure of their political affiliation. For example, joining a group like “Being Liberal” may be fun if you want a debate, but it will definitely cause someone to report you. This is also true with Democrat candidates. If you have an opposing opinion – and you do, of course – be careful how you craft the message. Calling a socialist a Nazi could land you in Facebook jail. Plus, liberal MSM outlets like ABC.com, NBC.com, and CNN can report you.

• Keep your sharing to a minimum, especially if it is a conservative message. If you’re sharing something positive about Trump, a Trump hater may see it and report you.

Twitter is much more partisan. We’ll talk more about Twitter in another article. But if you follow these simple guidelines, you should be able to safely survive the midterms without getting suspended, blocked, or winding up in Facebook jail.

IS SOCIAL MEDIA HARMING OUR CHILDREN

by Octane Online Marketing | Sep 21, 2022 | Careers

It depends on who you ask. The answers are: “yes,” “maybe,” or “hell no.” The questions are: “ how,” “why,” and “what can I do?”

First, a little background about teenagers and social media. The landscape is always changing with teens who are on the leading edge of this space. TikTok is now the top social media platform among teens ages 13 to 17, second only to YouTube. Facebook has plummeted from 71% a few years ago to 32% today, according to a Pew Research survey.

On the plus side, platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram can be lifesavers for teens who feel isolated or marginalized. Pew Research says social media gives them the ability to instantly connect with others. But there’s a negative side like bullying or feeling pressure to present themselves in a different way.

Influencer marketing is another plus. According to Vox, a teen influencer who has between 10,000 and 50,000 followers, can make anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000 a year. Social media influencers with millions of followers can earn thousands of dollars with one post.

So, what’s the problem? Social media sounds harmless enough, even beneficial. Many think otherwise.

Newport Academy, a world-renowned mental health treatment center, says the impact of social media on youth can be extremely detrimental to mental health. Specifically, social media and teen depression are closely linked. And overuse exposes teens to cyberbullying, body image issues, and tech addiction, and that means less time spent doing healthy, real-world activities.

Social media is a big reason teen depression has increased over the last decade. Surveys show that teen depressive symptoms and suicide showed exponential increases, especially among females. Teenagers who spent more time on social media were more likely to have mental health issues. Those who spent more time on unplugged activities, like in-person social interaction, exercise, sports, homework, and books were less likely to experience these issues.

Over the last decade, this theory has been confirmed by more research linking teenagers’ use of social media with increased depression. For example, in a 2018 study, 14-to-17-year-olds who used social media seven hours a day were twice as likely to have been diagnosed with depression, have been treated by mental health professionals, or take medication for psychological or behavioral issues.  

Law firms are now suing popular social media sites because they may have contributed to teen suicide and mental harm in teenagers and children. Seeger & Weiss law firm says social media companies should be held accountable for dangerous practices that manipulate minor-age users. Lawsuits may force companies to be held accountable for wrongful deaths and other harms.

They contend that while teen social media use has risen almost 97%, mental health concerns have also risen. Between 2007 and 2018, social media may have contributed to an increase in the teen suicide rate almost by 146%. Social media use may contribute to:

• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Body dysmorphia
• Sexual exploitation
• Self-harm
• Suicide

So, what’s the solution? There is no definitive answer. Social media and teenagers are tied together as tight as a double knot. If anything, the inseparability will get stronger.

Parents can monitor their children with apps like Bark, KidLogger, or Google Family Link  – but do you have the time, and do you really want to spy on them? Maybe you need to make time if you think your child needs help. How about a good old-fashioned talk? Confront and comfort your child. Encourage open communication. It’s always been difficult to have a heart-to-heart with a teenager, but it’s even more important today, so they won’t seek help from someone you don’t know, or they might not know, on social media.