Erik Qualman's Blog, page 496

4 Case Studies in Fraud: Social Media and Identity Theft

Does Over-Sharing Leave You Open to the Risk of Identity Theft?

Generally speaking, social media is a pretty nifty tool for keeping in touch. Platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn offer us a thousand different ways in which we can remain plugged in at all times.

However, our seemingly endless capacity for sharing, swiping, liking and retweeting has some negative ramifications, not the least of which is that it opens us up as targets for identity theft.

Identity Theft Over the Years

Identity theft isn’t a new criminal activity; in fact, it’s been around for years. What’s new is the method criminals are using to part people from their sensitive information.

Fraud techniques have evolved at the same pace as technology developments.

Considering how long identity theft has been a consumer threat, it’s unlikely that we’ll be rid of this inconvenience any time soon.

Living Our Lives Online

The police have been using fake social media accounts in order to conduct surveillance and investigations for years. If the police have gotten so good at it, just imagine how skilled the fraudsters must be who rely on stealing social media users’ identities for a living.

People are often surprised at how simple it is for fraudsters to commit identity theft via social media. However, we seem to forget just how much personal information goes onto social media – our names, location, contact info, personal details – all of this is more than enough for a skilled fraudster to commit identity theft.

In many cases, a fraudster might not even need any personal information at all.

Case Study #1: The Many Sarah Palins

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is no stranger to controversy, nor to impostor Twitter accounts. Back in 2011, Palin’s official Twitter account at the time, AKGovSarahPalin (now @SarahPalinUSA), found itself increasingly lost in a sea of fake accounts.

In one particularly notable incident, a Palin impersonator tweeted out an open invite to Sarah Palin’s family home for a barbecue. As a result, Palin’s security staff had to be dispatched to her Alaska residence to deter would-be partygoers.

This phenomenon is not limited only to Sarah Palin. Many public figures and politicians, particularly controversial ones like the 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump, have a host of fake accounts assuming their identity.

Case Study #2: Dr. Jubal Yennie

As demonstrated by the above incident, it doesn’t take much information to impersonate someone via social media. In the case of Dr. Jubal Yennie, all it took was a name and a photo.

In 2013, 18 year-old Ira Trey Quesenberry III, a student of the Sullivan County School District in Sullivan County, Tennessee, created a fake Twitter account using the name and likeness of the district superintendent, Dr. Yennie.

After Quesenberry sent out a series of inappropriate tweets using the account, the real Dr. Yennie contacted the police, who arrested the student for identity theft.

Case Study #3: Facebook Security Scam

While the first two examples were intended as (relatively) harmless pranks, this next instance of social media fraud was specifically designed to separate social media users from their money.

In 2012, a scam involving Facebook developed as an attempt to use social media to steal financial information from users.

Hackers hijacked users’ accounts, impersonating Facebook security. These accounts would then send fake messages to other users, warning them that their account was about to be disabled and instructing the users to click on a link to verify their account. The users would be directed to a false Facebook page which asked them to enter their login info, as well as their credit card information to secure their account.

Case Study #4: Desperate Friends and Family

Another scam circulated on Facebook over the last few years bears some resemblance to more classic scams such as the “Nigerian prince” mail scam, but is designed to be more believable and hit much closer to home.

In this case, a fraudster hacked a user’s Facebook profile, then message one of the user’s friends with something along the lines of:

“Help! I’m traveling outside the country right now, but my bag was stolen, along with all my cash, my phone and my passport. I’m stranded somewhere in South America. Please, please wire me $500 so I can get home!”

Family members, understandably not wanting to leave their loved ones stranded abroad, have obliged, unwittingly wiring the money to a con artist.

Simple phishing software or malware can swipe users’ account information without their having ever known that they were targeted, thus leaving all of the user’s friends and family vulnerable to such attacks.

How to Defend Against Social Media Fraud

For celebrities, politicians, CEOs and other well-known individuals, it can be much more difficult to defend against social media impersonators, owing simply to the individual’s notoriety. However, for your everyday user, there are steps which we can take to help prevent this form of fraud.

Make use of any security settings offered by social media platforms. Examples of these include privacy settings, captcha puzzles and warning pages informing you that you are being redirected offsite.
Do not share login info, not even with people you trust. Close friends and family might still accidentally make you vulnerable if they are using your account.
Be wary of what information you share. Keep your personal info under lock and key, and never give out highly sensitive information like your social security number or driver’s license number.
Do not reuse passwords. Have a unique password for every account you hold.
Consider changing inessential info. You don’t have to put your real birthday on Facebook.
Only accept friend requests from people who seem familiar.

Antivirus software, malware blockers and firewalls can only do so much. In the end, your discretion is your best line of defense against identity fraud.

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6 Reasons Businesses are Moving Overseas

As a business owner, it’s important that you’re always looking for ways to improve your brand’s image and maximize profitability. You also have to think about sustainability and how you can best encourage growth for decades to come. In many cases, moving all or part of your business overseas is a smart move. In fact, more and more companies are doing it. Maybe you should, too.

The Overseas Moving Trend

While companies are always expanding and moving businesses into different regions of the world, some pretty big names have recently announced their intentions to move all or part of their business operations to other countries. In fact, on August 6 of last year, both CF Industries, a fertilizer manufacturer, and Coca-Cola Enterprises announced they would move portions of their businesses to Britain after finalizing mergers with non-American companies.

Five days later, Terex, a crane manufacturer, announced that it would be moving its headquarters from Connecticut to Finland. So is everyone just packing up and leaving? Well, not quite. However, many businesses are finding that a move makes sense for a number of different reasons.

Top 6 Reasons Businesses Move Overseas

Let’s check out some of the top reasons why American businesses are deciding now is a good time to move overseas.

Tax advantages. Perhaps the number one reason businesses move overseas is to escape the high taxes placed on companies that are incorporated in the U.S. This isn’t anything new, though. Companies have been moving their physical addresses overseas for years now, in an attempt to save what often adds up to millions of dollars over a number of years.


Domestic threats. Sometimes marketplaces become too saturated on the domestic front. This forces businesses to move overseas where there may be opportunities to capitalize on less competition. This is happening less and less as much of the world’s economy now takes place through ecommerce channels that are accessible from anywhere, but it’s still a reason in some extreme instances.


More opportunities. A move overseas is often fueled by an opportunity. Savvy entrepreneurs and business owners are always looking for chances to succeed, and sometimes a move to another country is predicated on the idea that another country offers something that the U.S. can’t provide.


Cheaper labor costs. It’s no surprise that labor is cheaper in other countries. Even as American workers ask for minimum wage increases, the reality is that other countries such as India and China pay their workers a mere fraction of what comparable employees get in the U.S. When companies have thousands of employees, moving overseas can result in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings over the course of a few years.


Fewer regulations. American industries are notorious for lots of regulations and laws, while some countries are much more lax on these issues. When American companies are stifled by these regulations, they move abroad where there’s minimal interference and more freedom to compete.


International expansion. When a U.S. based company moves part of its operations overseas, the goal is often to expand its reach into a new marketplace. While any business can sell products in another country, it’s much easier if you have a physical location in that country. It helps establish trust with both consumers and regulators.

Moving is an Option

Many businesses don’t ever consider moving down the street, let alone moving to a foreign country. However, you shouldn’t discount moving. While it’s certainly a long, complicated process – especially when you throw a new country and regulations into the mix – it can yield many positive benefits. Keep the aforementioned reasons in mind and carefully weigh your options.

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Charity Marketing: Grow Your Business By Promoting a Cause

Whether you’re a charity, or you’re looking to grow your business through promoting one, you can leverage social media to accomplish the task. It’s one of the best ways to get the word out in promoting a good cause.

Teaming up with a charity through your marketing efforts is not only a generous thing to do, but it also does wonders for your business image. It shows that you’re a company that not only cares about its customers, but also the surrounding world.

However, it’s important to note that promoting a charity for both the good of the charity and your business is no easy task. It takes constant diligence and the right strategies. With that in mind, consider some of the ways to make your charity marketing efforts more successful.

Provide Adequate Background Information

Begin by making your followers believe in your cause. Consumers are often wary of donating to charities that are actively promoted. However, you can sway followers by sharing a compelling story. This will get them more interested in the cause, prompting them to share your posts and tell their friends.

Be Active and Engaged

No campaign can get very far without engagement from those interested in the cause.

Aside from responding promptly and professionally to comments, questions, and posts, you should also keep your social media accounts up to date with posts from your business and updates from the organization you’re supporting. This is a great opportunity for you to leverage your business and bring more attention to the charity you’re supporting.

Be Authentic

The success of your charity marketing rests on carrying on a conversation, and no one wants to have a conversation with a faceless brand. It takes authenticity and personable connections to truly engage an audience of supporters.

Encourage Sharing

Social media can spread information faster than almost any media outlet if you can capture the right attention with your content. In order to encourage your users to share your content, there are several things you’ll need to focus on, including putting out frequent and quality content, leading by example, and creating content worth sharing. A few nudges here and there can help get the ball rolling, and if you’ve managed to meet the criteria for viral content, the rest will work out.

Host Events

Step outside of the digital world and promote your cause through physical events. Though this doesn’t have the potential of reaching as wide of an audience as digital marketing, it’s the best way to truly garner support. Setting up a booth at a local market, trade show, or marketing event gives you an opportunity to talk to people face to face, which is something they’ll remember better than any social media post.

Keep It Simple

One of the most important aspects of effective charity marketing is simplifying the message. Don’t try to redefine the significance or distort the cause. Keep it simple and get to the point.

Charity marketing is a great cause that can help your business when utilized effectively. The biggest takeaway here is to keep things simple and leverage social media to bring the most attention to your brand – the rest will follow.

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The inseparable pair: social media marketing and content marketing for your business

There was a time when social media and content marketing seemed like the same thing. You could use them interchangeably and not raise an eyebrow. Today, there is a world of difference between the two marketing strategies in as much as they still help each other out in various aspects. You will need content in order to move social media while social media is an essential tool when it comes to distributing content and getting feedback from your audience. There is no way that you can separate these two and expect to be exceedingly successful.

As the days go by, there is a new social media website that seems to pop up. Contrary to popular belief, there was social media long before Facebook. MySpace is one of the best examples, only that it did not keep people all that excited as much as Facebook and its relatives are doing today. MySpace was also not as flexible as Facebook and Twitter. The things that you could do with it were quite limited. The moment Facebook landed, the whole world went on a craze. Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram for photographs and videos, YouTube and Vimeo for videos, Pinterest and many others are here now. They have people all over the world suffering from insomnia.

Take advantage of people’s insomnia

If you take advantage of this insomnia, you could become a billionaire. Nonetheless if, ifs and buts were candy and nuts, the whole world would be such a fantastic place to live in, right? This should not prevent you from attempting to capitalize on people’s lack of sleep. Today, people will check their phones even when they are not buzzing. They will be all up on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook looking for interesting content. There is the fear of missing out (FOMO) that has gripped the world. They always want to be up to date with the latest in the world, and this means that if you have premium quality content going to your blog, they will want to check it out the moment it arrives.

The first step to using social media to promote your content marketing strategy, is to create really good content that people are going to find useful. People seem to be living on content nowadays- they are eating it or something like that. This is really good for your content marketing. When you create excellent content, people will not have to be told to visit your website to read it. It all started with you promoting it on social media. When you write the content, you inform people on social media that you have posted it. When you prove to be a credible source of premium quality information, believe it or not, you will not have to post for people to go to your site. They will be sending you messages to find out when you will be posting the next piece.

Simple but difficult

It all sounds nice and simple, right? This is probably because it is. Creating good content that will keep social media ablaze is not difficult. You are probably wondering to yourself when you will learn how to write good content on your own. The good thing is that you do not need to do this by yourself. There are experts who are available to help you out with the work. These are the people available to help you out with this part. This is why there are so many companies providing web marketing services.

Content marketing and social media marketing are just two strategies that are used by these companies to promote products to the public. These companies have teams upon teams of writers who are ready to create content that you can use for a whole year to keep traffic flowing to your business. With experience in content creation, these people are able to do an amazing job within a really short time. They are also going to do the promotion of the content on social media for you. How will you phrase that post on social media telling people about the content that you have posted? This should not be a worry for you at all. There are people who are willing to help you out with this part.

Which social media platforms to use

As aforementioned, there are just so many social media platforms available for you to try out. This means that you might have a challenge in selecting the one that you will use for the job. Remember that when you are doing social media marketing, you will have to manage several profile accounts. This is not going to be a simple task especially when you are starting out. What you should do is make use of the main social media platforms first- the ones that have the largest numbers of people. These are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Creating video content is also highly advisable. It appeals more to the senses of an individual than the most intricately constructed sentences. This is why YouTube is available and you can put whatever you want to put in your channel. Twitter is a really good place to promote your content. Together with Facebook, Twitter is a platform that you can use for both casual and professional posts. The same cannot be said about LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a really good social media site for professionals. It is one of the few serious social media sites for you to use.

As you get a grip on managing your social media accounts, you can then proceed to add the many other social media sites that are increasing in popularity. Pinterest is a good place to share ideas while Instagram is a fun place for photographs.

Bottom line

Social media marketing and content marketing are two things that you cannot separate. Incorporating the services of a professional in these strategies is going to ensure that you get the most out of them. With help from an expert, you will have a really easy time getting this work done.

Author bio

Derek Iwasiuk run’s national digital search engine optimization firm headquarted in Minneapolis. Also spends a lot of his free time educating the minds of thousands of young SEO’s and top agencies. You can also follow him on twitter @Diwasiuk

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How Social Media Addiction is Bad for Mental Health

One of the greatest chapters in the book of internet is social media. It facilitates our communications with friends and family regardless of location, provides access to information scattered over the web in one place and also promotes new acquaintances. Social media networks have undoubtedly become an integral part of our lives today because they are quite practical and convenient. However, the widespread use of the internet has also allowed critics to spring up and talk about the negative influences of social media. It is a fact that excessive consumption or exposure to one thing can lead to various problems. It is always recommended to stick to moderation.

This is also the key to balancing the impact of social media. There is no need for you to eliminate the use of social media networks from your life as long as you don’t develop an addiction to it. One of the primary reasons why social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube etc. are criticized is because they can lead to severe addiction. The pleasure centers in your brain are stimulated from social media activity as you get positive reinforcement through the likes and comments on your posts. This leads to the production of dopamine that can cause drug-related desires, hence leading to social network addiction.

Even though you aren’t eating or drinking anything dangerous as in the case of drug and alcohol addiction, dependence on social media networks also has its downsides and most of them are associated with your mental health. Social addiction can inflict a lot of damage on your psyche and mental health, which can lead to long-term effects on your personality and confidence, thereby influencing your future. Some of the mental health problems that you may suffer from due to a social media addiction are discussed below:

Insecurity

One of the major problems with social media is that posts typically present an idealized version of what’s going on in everyone’s life. Usually, what you see isn’t actually reality because everyone has their problems and issues. Nevertheless, you end up comparing your own life with that of others and think less of your own. If people in your newsfeed seem to be having a good time, it will make you envious and affect your mood negatively. Research has shown that widespread use of social media can demotivate people, make them aggressive and cause a decline in confidence.

Cyberbullying

Social media networks are used by people of different age groups ranging from adolescents to adults. The anonymity and ease of use of social networks have benefitted in some ways, but have also made cyberbullying rampant. Social media networks have a critical nature as bullies are able to hide behind their PCs and are detached from the damage they do with their words. There is also a void between actions and consequences, which has given rise to cyberbullying. Furthermore, cyberbullying isn’t just restricted to teenagers and also happens with adults. It can be a scarring experience to become a victim and can lead to plenty of stress, which leads to a decline in mental health.

Social Anxiety

Even though the whole point of social media is to allow people to stay connected with others, it doesn’t have the same satisfaction and element associated with actual human interaction, which is a crucial human need. In fact, in some ways, it is too distant and this is not a good thing for those who become dependent on social media as it can lead to social anxiety. Those who are already suffering from this problem will find it even more difficult to indulge in face-to-face interaction. Real human interaction can become extremely scary for people as it is becoming common to hide behind your computer screens and not go out at all.

Distraction

Social media is just tailor-made for decreasing our productivity because you spend hours looking at everyone else’s life when you could be doing something else. This means that most of your time is spent on viewing photos, liking posts, and writing comments and these activities don’t really require the use of your intellectual abilities. They aren’t intellectual at all and distract you from activities that are such as reading, studying informational articles on the internet, etc. Your brain doesn’t get enough food for development and your intellectual abilities can decline in this way. Your brain will slow down and not be able to respond quickly in various situations. The moment you realize you are dealing with such situation; you should immediately learn how to delete your Facebook account or how to deactivate Twitter.

Fatigue and Stress

When you are using social media, you are constantly switching from one task to another because there is just so much to do and see. This information abundance can tire out your brain, especially when it is received chaotically. Your brain needs time and room for absorbing the data and processing the information, but multitasking on social media makes your brain work overtime. This can prevent it from relaxing and it will become exhausted as it tries to deal with the barrage of information. Hence, the fatigue puts your mind under a lot of stress and you may not be able to concentrate on anything at all.

Emotion Suppression

For a lot of people, social media has become a place where they can go to for avoiding anything unpleasant in their lives. In the short-term, this may seem like a good idea, but it is definitely not so in the long term. You are basically living in denial and suppressing your emotions. Eventually, the bubble will pop and this can wreak havoc on your mental health. The buildup of pressure and negativity occurs because of social media addiction and it can lead to mental and emotional disturbance for you.

Peer Pressure

Social media use also creates the fear of missing out because you want to do what everyone else is doing. This evokes anxiety and will give rise to negative feelings and emotions, which again create mental health problems and stress and anxiety disorders.

These are some of the ways social media can make you susceptible to mental health issues.

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3 Ways Businesses are Engaging Mobile Users

There’s no question that reaching and engaging mobile users is the key to long-term marketing and advertising success. For the first time in history, the number of mobile-only internet users in the world is now greater than the number of desktop-only users. This marks a significant shift and should show you just how important it is to connect with mobile users.

While there are dozens of unique strategies, there are three primary ways brands are targeting these smartphone users and experiencing successful results: social media, SMS, and mobile apps. Let’s take a look at each of these and why they’re successful mediums for mobile engagement.

1. Social Media

The average American consumer is spending less time on desktop versions of popular social networking sites and more time on the mobile versions. As such, businesses can no longer develop desktop-centric content or posts. All content needs to be created under the assumption that the vast majority of followers will access the content via a smartphone.

The data shows that two-times more sharing occurs on mobile than desktop. Interestingly, 71 percent use social media from mobile, with 76 percent of Twitter users preferring the mobile version of the network. While Facebook still attracts many desktop users, 1.1 billion users now prefer mobile.

The big statistic that sticks out is that first one. If twice as many shares occur on mobile, it makes sense that marketers should spend more time targeting mobile social media.

2. SMS

While social media receives a lot of attention, another aspect of mobile engagement has gained a lot of steam over the past couple of years. As brands search for more ways to connect, it’s becoming abundantly clear that SMS is a fantastic compliment to social media.

There are really three reasons why SMS is so popular right now. First, everyone is familiar with SMS. This makes it easy to use and requires virtually no consumer education. Second, SMS comes with a very low commitment level. In other words, it’s easy to opt-in and opt-out, which removes barriers to adoption. Third, SMS gives brands an easy opportunity to upsell.

Whereas only a few leading brands used SMS a couple of years ago, it seems like a large percentage of both small and large brands are now utilizing this progressive mobile engagement strategy. If you haven’t already, now is the time to consider the value.

3. Mobile Apps

The third popular form of mobile engagement involves the development and distribution of mobile smartphone applications. Mobile apps allow businesses to offer customers something of value, while simultaneously earning the opportunity to regularly push content to these users.

While the majority of successful branded apps are free, there’s also the opportunity to monetize a mobile app in the right situation. This can add significant value to a brand’s mobile engagement efforts and possibly create an additional stream of revenue.

According to Laura Cole, a UK-based marketer and researcher, the value of a mobile app is maximized when it’s able to serve the purpose of a direct marketing channel. She claims that successful mobile apps are able to “deliver a wide diversity of information in real-time and at every conceivable stage of the typical customer experience.”

Don’t Ostracize Mobile Customers

Modern businesses can’t afford to overlook mobile customers. While desktop is still the preferred platform for most companies in B2B industries, it’s clear that successful B2C companies need to pay attention to mobile.

In 2016, ostracizing mobile users will be a major mistake. If you want to engage them and enhance the value of your brand, find ways to use social media, SMS, and mobile apps. Any upfront investment will be repaid with lasting value.

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4 Security Tips to Protect You in 2016

4 Security Tips to Protect You in 2016

            Security is going to be a big buzz word in 2016. Specifically your online security.  2015 was a big year for online shopping, being the first time online sales trumped in-store sales on Black Friday. With the increase in online spending being aware of malicious hackers is a must. So how can we ensure we are safe? We sat down with security expert and former government security consultant Shaun Murphy, CEO and inventor of SNDR.com who gave us these four tips:

#1. Secured Payment Services. One of the best tips for anyone who shops on their smartphone is to start using services like Apple, Samsung, or Android Pay. Why? They don’t use magnetic strips like credit cards. Rather each transaction is unique. So even hackers won’t be able to repeat the transaction. Currently 1,000,000 retailers have updated their systems to allow shoppers to pay on via their phones.

#2. If they’ve got an app, use it. Mobile apps can make your life easier and more secure. Whether it’s Chipotle or Starbucks when it comes to purchases, apps are a great route because of their extra built-in security. Even more you can use Apple, Android, and Samsung Pay within the app itself to be extra precautious.

 

#3. Prepaid debit cards. If you’re nervous about over spending then it’s likely you’re still using a debit card. Debit cards are attractive to hackers since they’re linked directly to your bank account. So one of the best solutions is to load prepaid debit cards with specific amounts of money. It’s also one of the safest solutions when travelling. Prepaid debit cards act identical to regular debit cards but there is no risk of someone stealing your information and clearing out your account. If you have older children,  handing prepaid debits cards to them is safer than handing them one of your credit cards.

 

#4. Wi-Fifi & phishing. Many of us enjoy surfing the internet from a coffee shop, restaurant, hotel, or airport. However these connections are extremely susceptible to hackers. Next time you agree to the terms and conditions make sure you know your information IS at risk of theft. Whenever you are on public Wi–Fi you should not visit any of your favorite sites that require a password – especially your bank or credit card site. Wait till you are at home or on a secure connection before accessing these sites. While this is a hassle, a bigger hassle is if someone steals your passwords/identity.

 

One way to make sure your connection is not breached is to look for a lock icon on the left hand side of the website. Your web browser will tell you about the security connection of any given website, so make sure there’s a lock. Also make sure to double-check email links. Hackers are very good at disguising phishing emails. Next time you receive an email and it seems questionable, DON’T click on the direct link. Rather, copy and paste it into your url or hover over the link to see if it’s from the actual site it claims.

Security is a measure we should all take seriously. These are just a few tips to help protect you and your family in 2016. As security expert Shaun Murphy states  “Hackers deal on a massive scale, and they will not stop. So we all need to make sure to minimize the damage that can be done.” Happy New Year and remember to protect your information in 2016.

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7 Worst Mistakes That Are Eating Up Your Content Marketing Success

We’re all rushing to create piles and piles of content to serve our customers, upkeep an online image, and create more brand awareness. Despite that, few organizations have it really figured out when it comes to content marketing. The people they’ve targeted aren’t “taking action”. Visitors come and go and analytics aren’t as great as they should be. What could have gone wrong??

Content marketing is a tricky game and unfortunately, there are a number of ways you could mess up your content marketing success. Here are some of the worst and most common mistakes made by content marketers that you should avoid making.

Not Writing up Your Goals and Plans: First of all, you need have clear goals and content marketing strategies to begin with. Secondly, you need to make sure you outline and document and every single one of these goals on paper. The importance of taking this step is to have a clear idea of what worked, what didn’t work, how long it took to work, etc. Not only will you know which goals to focus on currently, but you will also have clear idea of when to change your methods and stick to the ones that are actually working.

Not Being Consistent: Whether you are writing up blog posts, uploading a fresh stream of videos, or promoting a new product, it has to be consistent! They say consistency is the key – and in this case, it couldn’t be put more accurately. It takes months, maybe even several years, to create regular fans of content and not being consistent means that you’re not being predictable enough for your loyal fans to come back regularly.

Not Providing Value: If you’re too focused on sales and conversions, you’re missing the point. Content marketing cannot be all about your company and fulfilling company needs. Agreed, that this is the “ultimate goal”, however, that’s not how it should seem to your online visitors. Get rid of excessively promotional content because that is a major turn off for an online audience. Instead, focus on providing value to customers by knowing exactly what they care about. What issues, challenges, and problems does this target audience face? What makes them tick? Choose those topics and write inspiring content that somehow solves, addresses, or capitalizes on these issues, ideas, or topics.

Choosing Only One Form of Content: Sharing inspirational blog posts is definitely a plus for content marketing, but since online visitors are particularly fond of diversity, it’s not always enough. The idea behind content marketing is not only to craft large chunks of text, contrary to what many amateurs may think. Quality content can be in the form of videos, images, infographics, and other forms of visual content. A large portion of online visitors prefer visual content to readable forms content. By ignoring that lump of potential visitors, you run the risk of alienating them completely.

Participating on Every Social Media Platform: Believe it or not, but content marketers actually run the risk of damaging business reputation by signing up for more networks than they can manage. Trying to occupy as much “social media space” as possible is an overwhelming and ineffective strategy. Not every social media platform is best for a particular business.

Instead start out with just one or two social media network(s). Give some time, thought, and consideration to answer questions such as, “How does this platform contribute to my end goals?” and “where would I expect to find my target audience?”. Pick one that fits the needs of your business and customers best. Posting frequently and consistently on those selected networks is important to ensure that your customers stay in the loop.

Ignoring Your Customer’s Questions: Ask yourself what could your target audience want to know—not from About.com or Wikipedia—but from you and you only? These are the topics, problems, or questions you should be addressing. For example, if your business provides auto-repair service to customers, you may write about the latest car event, which is fine. But there are some crucial questions your customers may have about your business which should be a number one priority. For example, they might want to know about your service plans, how long a certain repair service would take, or who you’ve partnered with for your products. Never ignore this type of useful, valuable, and audience-oriented content.

Promoting Only Once:There is no rule that says you have to share a certain piece of content only once. Given that your subscribers could be following tons of other individuals as well, there is no guarantee that your message has been heard by all of your followers. Consequently, there is nothing wrong with giving your blog post or video a second or third round. Share it in different ways on different times, using different platforms. Share it again a month later. There’s no reason to put down a valuable piece of content just because has already been shared once.

Sharen Stuart: Sharon Stuart is an executive at Dissertation Mall, a company that offers dissertation help in the UK. She’s a multi-talented person having both passion and skills in fields like writing, designing and painting.

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13 Social Media Marketing Stats of 2015 To Help You Strategize In 2016

Looking at the surprising facts and figures that are revealed in this article, marketers will be looking forward to embracing social media marketing more intensely in their marketing mix. 2016 will take several leaps ahead as far as social marketing is concerned and marketers are sure to observe something that is beyond what they had ever imagined.

The following statistics prove that the only way that brands could engage with consumers is through mobile and digital social media communications. Customers want to build relationships with the brands and for this, they want to ensure that the brand is trustworthy. Thus, brands need to ensure that they present themselves as an authority and influence the decision making process of the customers.

We’ve gathered the most interesting facts that are very important from a marketers point of view and have broken them down so that they could be easily consumed by businesses and also by social media marketing service providers. This is not just some useful set of information, but the facts could help you in planning your future communication strategy on social media platforms.

54% of B2B marketers are generating leads from social media.
LinkedIn is the only professional platform that is considered to be effective by a majority of B2B marketers.
60% of all the social media traffic on business websites comes from Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn.
U.S. Based B2B marketers are predicted to spend more than $100 billion on social media advertising by 2017.
93% of the buying decisions of online shoppers is dependent on social media.
The highest share of revenue generated by social media is contributed by Pinterest and Facebook.
Customer service requests through “eService” channels, including web and chat are expected to grow to 53% in 2015.
90% of the enterprises say that they respond to customer’s service inquiries on social media.
YouTube drives the most highly engaged website of all the social media websites.
In the U.S., YouTube reaches more 18-24 aged adults than any other cable network.
The number of brands having Instagram accounts has gone up by 71% in comparison to the last year. The percentage of brands is 86% in 2015.
Tweets that have images, received more clicks and favorites and 150% more retweets.
When a brand is followed on Twitter, 72% of the followers are likely to make a future purchase from that brand.

Social Media Marketing In 2016

As we are all set to enter 2016, marketers are starting to forecast what’s in store for them in the new year. Everything from the social media marketing strategy to the allocation of budget is being determined to ensure maximum benefits from one of the hottest online marketing property on the web. On studying the considerations of many brands’ social media strategy, we have compiled some of the best social media marketing practices to help you in 2016.

Compare the benefits over spend: The first thing you should know is how important social media is going to be in the achievement of your goals and whether it is going to provide any value for the amount that you’ll be spending. While all the platforms and other components entailed with a social strategy might not provide the same benefits, it is a good practice to check out the options and their justification for the budget that is alloted to it.


Think Beyond Facebook And Twitter: In previous years, most of the social media budget had been allotted to Facebook and Twitter. However, with the popularity achieved by other social networking platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, there are a whole lot of social media marketing opportunities for brands. It is important to think ahead and invest money on varied channels to know which one is effective.


Invest In The Content That Is Sharable: Is your brand producing valuable content? If you are not getting the desired amount of engagement on social media, the odds are that you are not having a collection of great content on hand. The truth also lies in the fact that it is very hard to create content that people are looking to share naturally.

Conclusion :The lead generation power of social media is optimum. However, you need to ensure that you are engaging with the prospect with the right kind of content to get the best results from your social media marketing initiatives.

Author Bio: Daniel Clark is a blogger and works with Clickmatix, a social media marketing agency helping clients achieve their business goals through the help of the best social media marketing service provider.

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10 Ways To Revamp Your Customer Service For Your SMB

If you run a small and medium-sized business, you’ve likely already crossed an important threshold: the point where you can no longer have personal relationships with each of your customers. With every growing business, there comes a time when you’ll have too many customers and too many employees to manage them all on an individual basis. Though your SMB is growing, it’s still small enough that every customer counts, and you don’t want to lose customers just because you haven’t scaled your customer service alongside your business.

If you can’t have personal relationships with your customers, you still want to make them feel comfortable with your business. In order to do that, you have to create an illusion of familiarity and recognition with them. The best way to make customers comfortable and satisfied is through a customer service that is accessible, friendly, and above all, helpful. If you’re looking to revamp your customer service for your SMB, here are ten ways to do it.

1. Create a uniform service across all channels.

As an SMB, you now communicate with customers via multiple channels, including phone, email, in person, and online content. Make sure that each of these channels uses a consistent tone and approach when addressing customers. Establish the core traits that you want your customers to experience, whether it’s warmth, humor, humility, or friendliness, to name a few, and stick to them. Users feel more comfortable when they know what to expect from an interaction.

2. Engage with customers on social media.

Social media has long been downplayed as a form of communication by most businesses. When’s the last time you saw a business’s Twitter account reply to a customer’s tweet? It happens, but it’s rare. And that is a missed opportunity. The average Facebook user in the US spends 40 minutes daily on the social platform. Why not try to reach your customers on the social media platforms they are so active on? Be active on social media with compliments, replies, news updates, or just fun videos. Remind users that you’re out there and keep them engaged with your business. This is an easy way to make your SMB seem more personable to customers. You’re not actively selling anything or helping customers use your business. You’re just keeping them updated with things both serious and casual, much as you would your customers when there were only a small handful of them.

3. Make your customer service visible and proactive.

You never want a customer to feel frustrated because they don’t know how to solve a problem. To that end, a link to your business’s contact information should be visible on every page of your website and in every email you send out. If they are having trouble, they should immediately know where they can turn for help. Not only should your customer service be visible to users, but be proactive when contacting them. If you are updating the service, adding a special deal, or trying anything new, let customers know, so they don’t find that out on their own. Your SMB’s customer base is now too large for you to know them all, but it’s still too small for the world to know about them. Help your customers as much as possible, and you’ll turn them into loyal evangelists who will tell their networks about your business and why they should be using it too.

4. Offer a live chat.

Not every SMB needs a live chat, but for certain businesses, a live chat can be a great tool to interact with customers on your website. Technically, this is more complicated, and you’ll likely need to hire a solid front-end developer in order to create a live chat. That being said, a live chat is a great way to talk to your customers in real time and make sure they have all the support they need. A live chat will also help customer service employees multi-task as engaging customers via a text chat is less demanding than speaking on the phone. If your SMB needs to keep the customer service team on the smaller side, a live chat is a great way to free up hours on the phone, allowing your employees to get more done in the same amount of time.

5. Understand what the consumer wants to accomplish.

Understanding your customer is the simplest way to provide the best service possible. This is where user research comes in. Research the market and what your customer wants to use your product for. Then conduct usability studies and find out where customers struggle to use your product or service. Once you understand what your customers want and where they have difficulty, you can better cater your customer service to assisting their needs.

6. Let the customer be in charge.

As an SMB, recognize that you won’t always be able to respond to customers immediately, and customers don’t expect you to. What they do expect is that you will provide them tools so that they can solve the easier problems on their own. An effective customer service provides self-help tools, such as a help desk, guides, and FAQ’s, to preemptively fix a customer’s problems. While this takes some effort up-front, in the long run, there are numerous long-term benefits to self-service support, including reduced workload for customer service employees and increased efficiency. Not only will your customers be happier with these tools, but your employees will be too.

7. Leave automation behind.

Automation may be cheaper, but it undermines what you are trying to accomplish through your customer service. People prefer a human touch, so give them one. Your SMB is now big enough to have a lot of specialized employees, so hire someone specifically to talk with customers on the phone. Can automated emails and phone calls still help your business? Sure, but not as much as when they are done by an employee. Hiring employees to handle these tasks is expensive, but it increases personalization within interactions. Ultimately, having your employees speak with customers will increase customer retention, and as a result, will increase your sales in the long run too.

8. Document all customer interactions.

Speaking of personalization, document customer interactions as much as possible. For one thing, it will allow you to quantify the success of specific interactions and identify the best ways to engage customers, which will ultimately improve your customer service. Documentation serves another purpose as well. It will allow you to personalize future interactions with those customers and provide a sense of continuity and a relationship between your business and them.

9. Train your employees in customer service.

An SMB has a significant number of customers, and that means your employees will be engaging with a lot of them on a regular basis. With so many interactions occurring between your employees and your customers, make sure your employees know how to communicate with customers. This means having people skills and being polite, but it goes deeper as well. As much as possible, you should train your employees to handle all of a customer’s questions. No one wants to hear “do you mind if I put you on hold while I ask my boss?” It’s better to avoid those scenarios as much as possible. Also do your best to make sure your employees are happy. People are happier when they are talking to a content person. Don’t just focus on making your customer happy; make sure your employees are happy too.

10. Pick your customers wisely.

Keep in mind that not all of your customers will be happy, nor can you make them so. Do your best to provide the best service or product you can to your customers, but if they aren’t satisfied with what your business provides, recognize that maybe they aren’t the customer for you. At some point, trying to accommodate a troublesome customer isn’t worth your time or resources. Yes, you don’t want to lose customers, but as an SMB, you can afford to lose a few customers along the way. Your customer base is now large enough that a few losses won’t harm your business that much. There’s a lot of potential customers out there, so don’t be afraid to focus in on the customer base you truly want to tap into.

Conclusion

A happy customer is one of the surest signs of success in a business. If you can please one customer, then all you have to do is figure out how to scale that experience. Start your SMB out on the right foot by creating a satisfied user base from day one, using these tips to help you do so.

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