The post A Quick Guide to Social Media Marketing appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>Here at NetMaxRes, we know that social media marketing is key for generating leads, raising brand awareness and developing relationships with existing or potential customers.
When managed successfully, social media provides a platform for excellent, responsive customer service, community engagement and social selling activities that help generate interest and create relationships with customers.
Social media is an essential component of every marketing plan. With its great potential this type of marketing can help you achieve many of your business’s marketing goals, such as:
Once your business is ready to have an online presence, you should develop a social media strategy, ensuring you are sharing engaging content and maintaining a consistent brand image, whilst using your page to correctly promote your business.
Social media is no longer a place where you only interact and socialise with friends and family but is now a key component in promoting your business. Due to this trend, customers are now able to engage with brands whenever they please.
If you have not been using social media for your business you are really missing out! At NetMaxRes, we place social strategy at the centre of all our marketing campaigns. We produce engaging, meaningful and targeted campaigns, reaching the right people at the right time to grow your business.
Contact us today on 01483 789 434 or email us at [email protected] for further information on our services.
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]]>The post How to keep up to date with trends in the digital sector appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>Knowing the trends and changes coming up will put you ahead of the competition, will give you valuable credibility, and will sit you on the road to digital success.
Below are 4 ways to stay up to date.
Blogs
This is our favourite way of learning what’s new and exciting in the sector. Regularly reading a range of articles on digital will give you a sense of the direction new trends and technologies are taking. There’s a huge range of blogs out there, so it is tricky to know where to start. Here’s a small selection that covers a variety of subjects within the digital sector.
Social media group
We love Linkedin groups. They seem to be less well-known than Facebook groups, however with the more professional audiences, you can be sure they contain treasure troves of useful articles and ideas. Simply search for your area of interest, find a group that looks interesting, request to join, and get scrolling!
Email newsletters
Don’t always be perturbed by the dreaded website sign-up form or checkbox, they can be game-changers. Email newsletters are controversial. Some people love them, using them as a tool to stay up to date and informed, some people hate them, seeing them as unwelcome clutter in their mailbox. We sit somewhere in the middle. Having a small yet varied selection of newsletters coming into your mailbox each month acts as a valuable pointer to what’s coming up and what might be worth reading more into. You can make this significantly easier for yourself by setting up an automatic forward to copy these into a specific folder in your mailbox. Then, when you have time to read through, they are all in one location.
Be inquisitive
The best way to keep up to date is also the simplest – talking to people in your industry and asking the right questions to potential customers will give you a foresight into common problems and challenges. These challenges will have been faced by people across the digital world and people will have written about potential solutions. The more your research these, the more rounded a picture you will gain of your digital surroundings. The clearer the picture, the better placed you are to adapt to changes in the digital world.
The digital sector moves quickly, and it can be daunting trying to keep up to date with the latest goings on. The above suggestions are just a few ways you can stay ahead of the game, but if you would like to learn how an agency specialising in digital strategy and creativity can help your business, why not get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
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]]>The post Why you need a Google My Business page appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>Google themselves explain it pretty well: “Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organisations to manage their online presence across Google, including search and maps.”
What does this actually mean? Well, this means that whenever you need to change business information, such as address, contact information, business hours, etc, all you need do is update your Google My Business information and it will update across all your Google touch points.
Google My Business also gives you the added bonus of a business profile on the search results page. For examples, when you search for a company, such as NetMaxRes Marketing Agency, you will notice a business profile on the right hand side (desktop) of the Google results page. This is your Google My Business profile, looks good doesn’t it!
Visibility
Credibility
Accessibility
A Google My Business page is free to set up. You can find instructions on how to do this at: https://business.google.com
A Google My Business page is a must-have tool in your digital arsenal. If you need advice or help setting this up, or coordinating this with the rest of your digital strategy, why not give us a call, we’ll be happy to help.
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]]>The post Nobody sharing your content? This could be why appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>Feel like your social media posts are falling flat? With little to no engagement and no shares or retweets it may seem like all the effort you put into making your content is going to waste. Here is our advice on how to boost your content naturally without having to put a budget against it.
Remember your target market.
There are two main reasons why someone will want to read your content; because it’s entertaining or because it’s educational. For the vast majority of people your best bet is to create something dynamic and funny. However, if your content is B2B you need to make sure your content is something that will educate the reader but also not give away trade specifics. For example, if you were to post a step by step technical guide on how to set up a particular type of campaign for free – not only will it alienate the general public, other industry professionals will be unlikely to endorse it by sharing it. This brings me to my next point.
Realise the different motivations for people reading and sharing your content.
As I’ve said, people will read your content for two reasons: firstly, if it teaches them something, and secondly, if it’s entertaining. The reasons why they might share this for the rest of their friends to see are completely different.
People may click on your link, or read and ‘like’ or ‘favourite’ your post, but they won’t share it unless it’s something they want to put their name to. They may agree with the post or find it entertaining, but more importantly they want everyone else to know they agree with it too.
Ultimately, people share content because it makes them look good. Bear this in mind when thinking of a title and attaching a photo to your work.
Figure out what your objective actually is.
This sounds obvious, but it’s important. Although inextricably linked, there is a difference between posting content to promote brand awareness, content that takes people through to your website and, naturally a simple hard sell.
If your aim is simply to gain brand awareness, keep it light and funny. Visuals are great and people are much more likely to share them.
If your aim is to create web traffic your content has to be click through – such as a blog or something to entice people like a special offer. Again to get people to share it, there has to be something to make it shareable, vitally you need good copy. If you can’t sell your blog in one sentence what difference will an extra 500 or so words make?
BEWARE OF CLICKBAIT!
People will lose patience with you if you don’t deliver what you advertise, an enticing headline that doesn’t deliver. People are less likely to click on your next post and much less likely to share it.
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]]>The post Social Media: The Goldman Sachs Story appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>2008 was also the year Barack Obama won the US Presidential election; having gone from a relatively unknown Democrat to the leader of the free world in a relatively short amount of time. His success has been credited in part to the use of social media in his campaign; finally, social media marketing had truly arrived.
Understandably, due to the financial climate and their poor public image, the fairly conservative Goldman Sachs were reluctant to make the leap to social media but, after much convincing from their marketing department, leap they did.
Allegedly what changed their mind is that the firm’s marketing department searched the phrase “Goldman Sachs” on YouTube and turned up more than 34,000 videos, none of which had been posted by the firm; they realised that people would be talking about their brand regardless of their actions; there was a lesser risk in having an online presence rather than not at all. As head of brand marketing and digital strategy, Lisa Shallet puts it: “We’ve learned that we have to invest in telling our story online and protecting the Goldman Sachs brand.”
Nevertheless, the initial Goldman Sachs online output may have actually alienated people. In 2013 The Banker’s Umbrella commented on the bank’s Twitter activity: “what Goldman is doing is conducting a good old fashioned direct marketing campaign. All they are doing is giving you an advertising brochure and delivering it through social media”, they were simply drip-feeding their Twitter followers with a standard ad campaign, 140 characters at a time.
Even with the backdrop of corporate impersonality, Goldman Sachs is already particularly faceless; it has no branches so there is no customer and community interaction. Maybe this explains their initial failure online; Goldman Sachs failed to grasp was that ‘social media’ is exactly that, social. Slowly, Goldman realised that as it turns out, having no social media presence is bad, but having a bad social media presence is worse.
Luckily for Goldman Sachs they’ve had a turn around.
Now, in 2017, Goldman Sachs actually excel at producing shareable content, regularly uploading accessible videos and blogs about current events and popular culture – OK, so maybe not entirely relevant to the Goldman Sachs brand, but a step in the right direction none the less.
Last week they even tweeted their own #TBT (as pictured below); Goldman is finally taking off the corporate mask to reveal the real people who work for the bank – and it working. They now have well over half a million followers and have slowly expanded to social media channels they feel compliment their brand, engaging with consumers on LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.
By 2015 90% of Goldman’s marketing activity was online, vital for a company with no physical high street presence, and now in 2017 that figure is undoubtedly higher. Amanda Rubin, managing director and global co-head of brand and content strategy at Goldman, has said that “from a brand’s perspective, digital platforms offer us an enormous amount of data. By using that data, we are able to know what is valuable, what is interesting, and what is imperative.” We couldn’t agree more, as recognised Facebook partners we are in the lucky position of having access to valuable census data and so experience first-hand the influence this data can have on a campaign and, moreover, the impact that carefully targeted and relevant social media can provide.
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]]>The post Why Bespoke Business Software is Vital for our Company appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>This is where Bespoke Business Solutions come in. They allow us to mould the software we use to suit our business, rather than force us to adapt to generic software. The CRM they have provided us with precisely does what we need it to do for example to assign and reassign roles, track new and completed tasks and keep up with each other’s meetings. As we work with many clients being able to assign hours is very useful and being able to log hours spent on certain clients is absolutely essential to the way we bill clients.
This level of organisation makes sure every lead is followed up, and nothing gets forgotten. Obviously for a business with more employees it would be less relevant to have a joint calendar with everyone’s meetings in it, but for our team its perfect.
On top of these benefits, having a custom made system it means if our business changes we have the ability to call up and alter the system. It is customisable and free flowing with our own business.
It also avoids some of the main pitfalls of generic CRM applications. The system that BBS have made toes the line between an overly simple interface that will quickly be outgrown by an expanding business and cumbersome systems where you have to go through multiple screens to process transactions. With BBS there is no refreshing, no scrolling up and down, minimal transactions from screen to screen – yet it delivers the same service.
So next time you’re wondering what the secret to our success is… Well, it’s a secret. But you can be sure our fantastic CRM from Bespoke Business Software plays a big part in the smooth functioning of our company!
Find out more about Bespoke Business Software here.
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]]>The post This Year, Keep Your Social Media Healthy. appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>1. Maintenance.
There’s only one thing that looks as sloppy as a lack of internet presence and that’s an out of date, underutilised internet presence.
An unkempt social media profile is a bit like bad dental hygiene, it needs looking after, otherwise people will literally stay away from you. If a Google search were to show two similar business and one was fully up to date – and the other hadn’t posted since 2012, some may well assume the business no longer exists. Frequent posting also keeps your business in the forefront of people’s minds so next time they need the services you provide – you’ll often be the first they come to. So, like brushing your teeth, social media has to be maintained daily – and no, not just the once.
2. You get out what you put in.
What happens when you eat junk food? You may put on weight. What happens when you post spam? You will lose credibility and your potential customers will lose interest. Finding meaningful, relevant content that will keep your customer engaged can seem like an ongoing slog, but it’s worth it.
3. Stay connected.
It may seem obvious to some, but so many small businesses still fail to have a cohesive set of social media profiles. By not linking your website to your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram you make it harder for customers to keep up to date with your business developments and conversely by not making your website accessible from social media you may lose out on real business.
4. Engage.
The clue is in the name. ‘SOCIAL’. The beauty of social media is that it gives an informal platform to listen to your customers’ needs, solve their issues and answer any queries; failure to respond to your online customers will simply be viewed as bad customer service.
There are many ways in which your social media profiles may not be selling to their maximum potential, and for most people even the four things listed may be a lot to juggle on top of running a company. For more advice and information on how NetMaxRes can help you and your business call 01483 789 434 or email [email protected]
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]]>The post The continued rise of Facebook: can anyone stop it? appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>The reason for this is quite simply that Instagram is a much more open platform; the beauty of apps like Instagram and Twitter is the ability to gain an insight into the lives of people we wouldn’t normally encounter. We can get up to the minute insights into what the Kardashian’s are wearing or the latest diet fad is first hand, something that is much more difficult on Snapchat.
Of course there are benefits to Snapchat; Snapchat isn’t based on likes or followers so there is no scope for fake news to be spread, features such as ‘Discover’ are heavily vetted so that content is of a certain quality and, most relevant to us, advertising is integrated into the customer experience so it is un-intrusive whilst also interactive.
There is a reason for this. “Snapchat makes discovery of people who aren’t in your phone book extremely difficult because they believe peer-to-peer sharing is stickier than a so-called influencer model,” says Rob Fishman, co-founder of Niche, a company that connects brand with social media influencers.
The combination of this and Snapchat’s venture into wearable tech means there may be a future for the app but whether it will able to hold its own against the Facebook empire remains to be seen, as in 2017 Instagram’s influence is set to grow even further. In terms of advertising Instagram is predicted to usurp Twitter, meaning Facebook will hold the gold and silver medals in the social media marketing race, a truly astonishing feat. Luckily for Twitter, Facebook has already adopted some of the character traits of Twitter, such as hashtags and an increased ability to share content and news, but has never been able to mimic the balance of intimacy and worldwide scope that Twitter delivers – it remains safe for the time being.
In our expert opinion Snapchat remains a contender – for now. And there is no doubt that Twitter will be around as a major social media platform for a long time to come, but Facebook ultimately reigns almighty.
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]]>The post The Importance of Keeping Your Google Profile Up to Date appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>In the battle of the search engines, Google undeniably dominates with 81.42 percent of desktop browser traffic in the US and over 11 billion desktop searches per month. The statistics are even more astonishing if you take into account mobile usage, where a vast 92.91 percent of searches were done through Google.
This year marks the first in which mobile internet access surpassed desktop usage, and is predicted to increase even further, with estimates of mobile making up 75 percent of global search traffic next year. Google’s stronghold on the mobile market means that, if we combine this information with the fact that search engine queries ultimately generate 300 percent more traffic to content sites than social media, we can see how the curtains might not quite be drawn on Google+ yet.
By having your business on Google you too can benefit from this kind of traffic, as your SEO is improved just by having a Google+ page; as a completely free service it would therefore be foolish not to have your business represented on Google with accurate, up to date information.
Aside from increased SEO, filling your Google profile with correct information and pictures builds a level of trust with potential customers as it enhances your legitimacy.
For example, if an individual uses Google to search for “dry cleaner in Woking” and two suggestions come up – one of a dry cleaner with good Google reviews and details such as opening times and professional looking photos; and one with just a name and address – which one are they more likely to choose? With this example, we can see how minimal browsing on Google can lead to potential business, and conversely, incorrect or out of date information can lead to lost business and customer dissatisfaction, therefore anyone not taking the time to update their Google profile will almost certainly miss out.
On top of this, Google+ could potentially make a comeback having last year streamlined the concept to resemble something more akin to Pinterest or Twitter, rather than standing as a direct rival to Facebook. With their change of direction there may be a future for the platform as a whole and anyone with an established profile will already have a head start.
Whether this comeback will materialise can’t be foretold but in a world where marketing is becoming more and more holistic, it is important to have as many strings to your digital bow as possible, and Google is no exception. Even though its failure as a social network is undeniable (so far) Google is a vital platform for your business and, if nothing else, a great way to get traffic on to your other social media accounts.
If, like us, you’re serious about your business then you need to embrace all facets of social media, let us help you.
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]]>The post Boost Your Business appeared first on NetMaxRes Digital Marketing in Guildford.
]]>Being experts in social media, NetMaxRes were able to give insight to those who attended into the expanse of marketing tools Facebook and Instagram can offer.
The exhibition, held at Tobacco Docks in London was wholly for small and medium businesses looking for more of a grasp on social media, using specific targeting and being able to utilise their databases for more than the odd mailshot.
NetMaxRes spent the day attending various seminars, using our expansive social media knowledge to engage with attendees, offering extensive support to those who required it by inviting them to our free social media surgeries, where we help companies to create bespoke social solutions for their brand.
The exhibition ran through the morning and into the afternoon, with a strong opening talk from Steve Hatch, Facebook’s regional director for the UK and Ireland. And an insightful talk on ‘The Evolution Of Communication’ from Olly Sewell, the SMB manager for Facebook across the UK and Ireland.
The exhibition also had a live Q&A with the Digital Marketing Manager at T.M.Lewin, Cormac Folan and other marketing professionals, giving their insight into social media marketing strategies and how Facebook advertising has revolutionised the way they reach their mass audience.
If you’re interested in learning more about utilising social media for business, make sure to attend one of our free social media surgeries.
Alternatively feel free to give us a call on 01483 789 434 to set-up a bespoke social media surgery for your business and online needs.
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