Erik Qualman's Blog, page 575

Socializing the Need for Affordable Health Insurance

Over the past years, the evolution of social media has been astounding. We’ve witnessed its stages, and now see it everywhere.

A business practically isn’t a business without a social media presence, and there are very few of us left with no links to any social media.

That brings one to how it can help individuals use it to their benefit, working it to find the best deals and information.

For instance, social media can be integral when it comes to health care and health insurance.

A Healthy Social Media

When looking at healthcare and social media, keep in mind:

• Pretty much every health insurance company has a social media presence. Just go to any of the home pages and you’ll find widgets for twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more. Anyone can use this information, not simply members in their networks. Great information is offered here, not only about each company, but also about health issues.

• Do a search. As the following article shows, if you type in something like 5 places to find cheap health insurance, you will probably come across some social media sites – whether a blog, a Facebook post or other forms of social media. Don’t ignore these resources; they can be quite valuable in your own searches for finding the best health insurance.

• Easy contact with companies. You don’t have to wait on hold on the phone for long periods of time anymore. With a strong social media presence, email and online customer service, you can do your health insurance business without ever picking up the phone. This can save huge chunks of time.

• Hospitals have large social media presences, the dominant one being Facebook. Great information from health insurance to health care is promoted here.

Being More Social on Health Issues

In looking at being more social on health issues:

• For the good or the bad, many of us turn to social media when we experience a health issue. Whether it’s a Facebook post so our friends can help us out and share advice and experience, a quick look through twitter using hashtags, or a search on WebMD, we’ve all probably done it. This can be helpful in soothing our fears or leading us to seek needed healthcare.

• Forums and discussion boards allow patients to find out more about individuals with similar health issues, share stories and get helpful information.

• Doctors and other medical professionals can answer questions, post information and contact patients via social media.

• Appointments are easier to make on social media and reminders are easily sent. This aids patients in getting the treatment they need, initial or ongoing.

It’s a bit hard to relate the healthcare world and social media for some folks, but it is getting easier.

With healthcare apps, social media sites and easily accessible information, maybe we can all become a healthier society.

There really is a lot of pertinent, useful information out there.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Missing the Target: When Your Audience Is Elsewhere

So, you decide it’s high time to run a social media marketing campaign and promote your business to a target audience, which doesn’t know about your existence, but desperately requires your services. So, the content plan is thoroughly written, the social network is chosen and you already feel the rays of the nearing success – but in several weeks comes the realization that the campaign is spreading slowly and that the growth of clients and visitors on social network’s account doesn’t correspond to your expectations. What is the problem? Most likely, you made a mistake in your estimations a picked the wrong social network for your campaign. Let’s sort everything out.

Twitter

When talking of  Twitter, it’s necessary to understand that this particular network should be either used in order to expand the quantity of links, or all of your co-workers should participate in the campaign. Otherwise this network can be useful if your business website has a personal blog (or if your business is connected with producing all kinds of news). Don’t count on this network too much if you are willing to promote a particular product or service – it can serve like a supporting network in this case, but nothing more.

Facebook

Facebook is, without any doubt, one of the most useful instruments for SMM campaign and if your target audience is not rushing to your public page from all the corners of this social network, it’s most likely that you are just doing something wrong. Perhaps, something is wrong with your content, or your ads are not attractive. However, there is also a tiny possibility that you didn’t pay attention to the geographical and age statistics, so you should re-check this information as well.

Google +

This network is called social, but it is so not – nothing particularly changed since the moment of its creation. It doesn’t matter what niche your business takes and whether you produce services or products. It doesn’t even matter whom you are going to try to sell it. If you decided to attract your target audience through Google+, leave this unwise idea alone. Google+ is for SEO, not for SMM. Don’t waste your time on this and try to interact with your clients in another social space.

Pinterest

This social network is the most appropriate for those entrepreneurs, whose business is based on visuals. If your services (or products) are somehow connected with design, for example, Pinterest will be the most appropriate tool to promote your business. However, it’s also useful in order to display the results of various surveys or analysis through graphs and infographics.

Youtube

Youtube is priceless for those whose business is connected with various services, especially in the field of education. You could provide small ads or perhaps even some free trial videos in order to promote your services. This network is, perhaps, the most appropriate one when it comes to personalization of the communication with the customers. It is also very useful when you need to create a story of your company – nothing could serve as good as video materials in this case.

As you can see, most popular social networks are used on absolutely different purposes and not all of them can be used in order to reach your target audience. If you want your SMM campaign to be beautiful, it would be better to combine no less than two social networks and to use one of them as a tool to reach your target audience and to communicate with it and the other one – as a SEO tool. Good luck!

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Social Media Driving Off with Better Auto Needs

Social media is good for more than keeping  up with your high school buddies or tennis friends. You can use it to your benefit to save money in a variety of ways.

From saving money on purchases for the home to medical care to auto loans, following companies and their social networking activities can end up saving you funds over the long haul.

As the following article shows, don’t be afraid to utilize those social media sites for auto loans and new ways of approving credit, or anything else car related.

Social media is important to both the consumer and the auto financing industry.

Let’s take a look at both:

For the consumer…

For those looking to find the best auto financing needs, turn to social media.

Not only can you use your own pages and get a feel for your friends and followers auto need preferences, but you can also turn to the social media sites of businesses related to auto loans and other auto needs.

For example, many people use social media to share new car purchases, experiences with dealers and finance departments and pretty much anything car related.

When a consumer looks into these updates, reviews and communications, they can garner a great deal of information from the general public, which is one of the best resources around.

It’s free; it’s easily accessible and engaging.

So if you are on the lookout for any car needs, including loan information, take a stop on the social media platforms and see what you can find.

For the auto financing industry …

Use the above information!

According to Yahoo Finance, the auto industry has a huge place to tap, and that’s social media.

Because so many use social media to share and report purchases and experiences, the auto industry needs to tap this.

Data from the Yahoo article shows that:

•  Eighty-four (84) percent of automotive shoppers are on Facebook, and 24 percent of them have used Facebook as a resource for making their vehicle purchases.

•  Forty (40) percent of new car purchases over the next 10 years will be made by millennials.

•  Ninety-four (94) percent of millennial car buyers gather information online.

This is huge for the auto industry and loan businesses.

With the growing number of people using social media before any major purchase, the industry needs to tap in.

What to ask …

Back to the consumer, how should you use social media for a car purchase or loan information?

• Hashtag keywords to your questions on Twitter, like #carloaninformation or #autofinancing

• Ask your Facebook friends about their last car loans or purchases.

• Go to any social media sites you’re interested in doing business with and check them out. Engage in questions if you have them, read reviews and comments, and read about their history and service/help departments.

Most businesses, large or small, these days have some sort of social media, from blogs to Facebook to Instagram.

Use them to research your purchase and loan beforehand, then you’ll be informed and prepared for what you’re about to get into.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of tiverylucky at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Online PR: The Big Three

As the fields of public relations, social media and marketing becoming more integrated, the practice of online PR is becoming increasingly important in order to stand out on multiple platforms.

In addition to exposure, a PR campaign now has the ability to dramatically affect search engine optimisation as well as social following. With the prospect of such large-scale returns on investment it does make it a worthwhile opportunity, although success relies on a clearly-defined strategy.

 

Trend Related

Utilising current events to attract the public attention, trend-related PR is a great way to use the environment around you to drive consumer awareness. Although it can sometimes be hit and miss, it’s worth taking the risk when the results can be widespread PR across all types of media.

Example – During the FIFA 2014 World Cup, betting provider Paddy Power opted for controversy by creating the illusion that they had bulldozed a motivational message into the Brazilian rain forest.

With environmental activists leading the way, a barrage of sharing began on social media with global news coverage closely following behind. Only when they had achieved widespread brand awareness did they choose to reveal it was actually a hoax, created graphically on Photoshop by one of their designers.

Cause Related

Sometimes referred to as positive PR, cause related PR refers to getting involved with society and creating a positive difference by creating awareness, fundraising or offering support to ethical organisations. By supporting an issue which your audience has a vested interest in, you can not only have a positive effect on society but drive brand awareness too.

Example – Focusing on the education of children and road safety, Wynsors recently took a creative approach and launched a range of shoes in which a percentage of the profits would be contributed to UK road safety charity Brake. In addition, they also created an engaging interactive game for children to educate the children on the do’s and don’ts of road safety.

Trend Setting

Possibly the most difficult type of PR, trend setting can reap massive rewards and involves creating something proactive to capture the public’s attention. Whether it’s releasing a new product, conducting a new study or a creative content campaign, it can be daunting stepping out into unchartered waters but the rewards can be invaluable.

Example – The phrase ‘like a girl’ had always carried a slightly negative connotation but toiletry brand Always set out to change that with the #likeagirl campaign. Empowering girls through a creative video, they asked a variety of children and adults what it meant to throw #likeagirl. The results were inspirational and lead to widespread media attention, which shows how well one thought-out piece of content can drive public relations.

The Peso Model: Paid, earned, shared and owned media.

Once you’ve got a solid idea for a campaign, it’s worth exploring and setting objectives for the type of coverage you’re aiming for. The ideal approach to PR should take into consideration all four types of media, and assess the opportunities for them to integrate with each other.

(Image Credit: Matt Camp)

Paid – Commonly known as advertising, this is media space that you pay for in print, radio, television, search engines or social network. Although some forms are inexpensive, paid print media usually comes at a high cost and return on investment can be hard to measure.

Earned – Usually the main target for public relations, this is media attention that you have earned by doing something of interest to the public. As the message is spread by a third party, it can often come across in a more credible and reliable way.

Owned – Everyone knows that content is king, and with the rise of content marketing more businesses are opting to create their own. Branded articles, webinars, white papers, infographics and videos are great ways to get your message across, monitor response and engage your audience by creating value.

Shared – A social media campaign gone viral can radically change the success of a brand, which has led social networks into a league of their own. With the Google Panda update, search engines are also taking into consideration how much a piece of content is shared to judge how useful it is to the user.

As the different types of media become more closely entwined it seems that digital marketing campaigns are beginning to reflect that. It’s now become the job of marketers to build campaigns that not only get coverage on one type of media, but instead take a multi-media approach.

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Is your digital marketing team ready for 2015 yet?

2014 is coming to a close and 2015 is approaching faster than we expected. Queue the scene from movies when the guy looks in his side mirror..[2015 marketing goals] are closer than they appear. Is your team ready to think past the previous goals? Is your team thinking innovative and ready to set the brand apart from others?

There will be plenty of lists for what to expect in 2015. Among those being to evaluate your 2014 goals and see what worked and what didn’t. Of course you want to continue with some things that worked (if budget allows), and to ditch some of the ones that weren’t creating a profitable ROI. No brainer. But what else?

Yes, you should consider where to expand in social. What other channels could your brand tap into to gain a larger audience and create cooler engaging content. No brainer. But what else?

I have one prediction for 2015 and brands who will kick butt. These brands will not just be innovative with new social channels and creative video content. They will inspire other brands. They will excite their consumers by being tech-focused within their marketing. 2015 is not just about great content. It’s about taking advantage of technology to allow us to do more with our content.

Before were just the days of QR codes and cell phones. Just look how far we’ve come recently:

smartphones

ibeacons

3d printing

apple pay

wearable technology

There are some brands like Burberry who have been ahead of the tech and fashion curve for years now. It’s time for other brands to take note and realize if they want to stand out, they must embrace new technology to do it. It’s not about just Facebook anymore. It’s not about seeing how many tweets you can promote or how many videos you can make in your marketing budget. The technology will take your brand further. Be willing to test some of the alpha and beta technology. Take a risk and be first.

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Is Your Social Approach to Recruitment Working?

Whether you’ve just begun your small business journey or you’ve been in the field for decades, recruitment is an ongoing task that is ever-changing.

Owning a solid company starts with having smart, dedicated employees. With millions of people out there, how do you find the right people for your company?

Social Networking Proves Popular

There are multiple ways companies go about hiring employees – including posting job ads, asking current employees for referrals, scouting colleges and reaching out on social media.

An infographic from Staff.com found that 92 percent of companies are currently relying on social media to meet their hiring needs. Platforms that are leading the way are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, with LinkedIn being the most popular business social networking site.

Tony Restell, Social-Hire.com’s CEO, shares that “Historically, businesses have had to advertise in order to reach the candidates with their business needs. When the advertising spend dries up, so too does the candidate’s interest in their business. Social media has completely changed this dynamic. Companies can now build their own audience or readership by adopting the right social media strategy – and therefore generate candidate interest in their business without the same reliance on paying to advertise to other people’s readerships.”

3 Ways to Use Social Media for Hiring Needs

You can put social media to work in your hiring needs when you:

Develop a personal connection with prospective applicants – In order to do this, your company needs to have a large presence on the social media platforms that your candidates are frequenting the most. Grow your own network then work on gaining a following of prospective candidates. Spend some time looking at each candidate, reading their resumes and following their social media profiles. Developing a relationship takes time, but for the right candidate, it’s more than worth it.
Engage candidates effectively – To attract good candidates, you’re going to need to engage them. The article “Candidate engagement: 9 Tips to engage candidates more effectively” states that you should be the person or brand that candidates want to reach out to. What better way to find qualified candidates then by having them find you? You should also invest in your company’s career page and make it very easy for potential candidates to apply for the job.
Post regularly – Contribute to your social media accounts regularly by offering news stories related to your field, discounts or promotions that are taking place, fun giveaways and contests you have going on and more. The more you post and the more active you are on social media, the greater your following will be. In turn, the larger your following, the greater potential candidate pool you will have.

Effectively developing a good social media marketing plan takes time, patience and practice.

It doesn’t happen overnight, but with daily work here and there, you will be able to grow your network, increase your sales and find the right people for your place of business.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Why Every Mobile App Should Be Connected to Social Media

The technology business world has changed drastically over the last few years. People in the tech business are quickly figuring out what works and what does not when it comes to making money using technology. Many business owners have had to take some big risks to discover what will work best for their business when using technology. These risks have allowed other people to see what will be successful when using technology. One of those risks has been using mobile apps for businesses.

Many app development experts have worked to create and define the elements that make a perfect mobile app. Every mobile app will be different in some way, and every business will have different needs for their mobile app, but there are some things that every mobile app will need in order to succeed. One of those things is social media integration. Social media has completely changed the way business is done, and it has become a part of every common technology item that people use regularly today. Therefore, every mobile app can benefit from using social media. Here are some of the reasons why every mobile app should be connected to social media.

Social media makes everything more personal

Social media is the one place on the internet where people feel safe exposing details about their lives. Most people will share things on social media about themselves and their daily lives that they would not share anywhere else. Connecting an app with social media makes the entire experience more personal for the user and allows the app to see more information about their users.

Social media is great word-of-mouth promotion for an app

Because people love sharing what they are doing on social media so much, businesses can use social media as a great marketing and advertising tool. By allowing users to share the app through social media, businesses can get great advertising and brand recognition for free from their happy customers.

Social media is a great way to see who is using an app

Many businesses have trouble finding out exactly who their demographic is. Social media integration allows businesses to learn more information about the people using their app and what the specific needs of those people are. This allows businesses to better serve their customers and create the right methods for reaching new customers who might also love their app.

Social media makes using apps more fun

Social media is a great way to help customers forget that they are dealing with a business and instead focus on the fact that they are getting a product or service that they genuinely enjoy. Social media integration allows users to have more fun while using any mobile app. Simple mobile apps that allow users to make their life seem better on social media, or allow them to show their friends and family something that they are proud of, will always be successful for any business.

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How to Create a WordPress Blog in 1 Hour [Infographic]

Do you have a life-long dream of starting your own blog but don’t know how or where to even begin? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Luckily, the folks at StudyWeb put together this easy step-by-step guide on how to create a WordPress blog in just one hour. This guide walks you through the entire setup process and will make the process a breeze.

Courtesy of: StudyWeb.com
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6 Ways Social Media Affects Your Google Rankings

As technology progresses and the Internet becomes an increasingly complex and crowded place, it’s easy to get lost in the noise. When it comes to your business, this can be a big problem. Your ability to be heard in the crowd and make valuable connections can play a major role in the present and future success of your business. This means it’s important to link your social media and SEO strategies. Your business’s social media presence can affect your SEO rankings – both positively and negatively.

Social Sharing and Link Building

Google ranks sites according to its algorithmic perceptions of a site’s credibility, among other factors. An important part of determining whether your site is credible is link building, and businesses have made link building a cornerstone of their SEO strategies for years. Some of these link building tactics work better than others, especially as Google’s algorithms continually refine to exclude those who attempt to cheat the system.

The growth of social media has changed the face of link building. In today’s world, link building is best approached through creating original content and sharing it across multiple social media platforms. Tumblr, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn links are all taken into account by search engines as they analyze whether a page has useful information for a given search query. If a link is shared across many social media platforms, Google assumes it has value.

Making Connections 

Google will also determine a business’s credibility and value according to its amount of followers. This doesn’t mean that many spam followers will get you higher rankings in Google, though; Google is good at differentiating quality from quantity. Your followers should be genuine connections. This helps avoid establishing your brand as an disreputable source.

Use your social media presence to make connections with people and organizers who are interested in and connected with your industry. This will boost your search engine results.

Personalization 

When a user is signed into his or her Google+ account, Google searches will return personalized results. Other search engines have connections with other social media sites; for example, Bing searches are integrated with a user’s Facebook account. The social interactions a given user has with your business on social media sites impacts your business’s rankings on his or her search results. Understanding how to properly utilize these connections can expand your customer base and help you make more quality conversions.

Building Authority 

Being an authoritative source for quality information and services is one of the best ways to boost your search rankings, improve website traffic, and increase conversion rates. While it’s important to execute an SEO strategy that advertises this expertise properly, having the authority in itself is the best baseline for your business – and social media connections build your credibility.

Optimizing Local Search Results

With Google’s Pigeon update this past summer, local search results became incredibly important in search engine rankings. Particularly for small businesses, utilizing these local search rankings is the key to maintaining your brand. Many local searches are also conducted on-the-go by mobile users. Apps like Yelp, Urbanspoon, Google+, and Foursquare are popular for people seeking a local service from their phone.

Your local social media listings should take advantage of this traffic; to do so, start by conducting a website SEO audit, which will identify and diagnose any issues that could prevent your site from ranking as well as it should. Next, update and then maintain an up-to-date presence on all your social media pages. This will lead to a rise in physical customers as well as search engine rankings.

Reviews

Social media sites are, by nature, engaged with the public. Your business’s social media presence will attract reviews and questions from potential customers, and properly engaging with the connections you make goes hand-in-hand with acquiring those connections in the first place. One negative review can have a serious impact on your network – either by shrinking it or causing potential customers to seek an alternative to your business. This can deplete your followers, sales, and credibility.

Engage with negative reviews as soon as they arise to create a solid reputation. Dissatisfied customers should be dealt with kindly, calmly, and efficiently, even if their complaints seem unreasonable. Engaging with positive reviews is also important – it shows customers you care on a personal level about their experiences with your business.

Social Media is Part of A Good SEO Strategy

Social media is a growing part of SEO. Properly managing your social media presence can significantly improve search engine rankings, organically creating business growth and fostering success. Don’t short your digital marketing efforts by neglecting your social media accounts. Quality social engagement can have a direct impact on your SEO, which in turn affects your overall site traffic.

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Social Media Loaning You Better Offers

Whether you are in search of funds to deal with a medical condition, home or car repair, to start a new business or any other circumstances where a sizable influx of cash is needed, do you know how to go about getting the right loan?

While some consumers may look at taking out a loan as possibly adding more debt to an already precarious financial situation, others see it the reverse way. To them, the loan is a bridge to get them to better financial days ahead.

No matter which side you fall on, there are ways that you can best position yourself to get the needed loan and not make any financial mistakes along the way.

One of the ways to accomplish this is by turning to social media.

Yes, being active on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and others can actually be financial beneficial to you over the long haul.

What Loan Works Best for You?

Before you do anything on social media in search of loans, do you know what form of financial assistance is best for you?

In many cases, the answer to that question is likely no.

In the search for the right loan, you may be confused as to what the minimum or maximum amount is that you can borrow, what the timetable is in paying it back, and what possible penalties there are when making late payments etc.

Among the most common loans are:

Personal loan – Whether you get your loan from InstaLoan.com or another such provider, this kind of loan can be obtained quickly and with manageable monthly payment plans that won’t hamper your ability to pay your bills. In some cases, the money can be in your hands in under an hour;
Signature loan – This form of loan involves a deal where the fees and interest rates are in fact much lower, thereby making it less costly to the borrower. Signature loans typically provide for a 30-day period;
1st lien loan – In this instance, borrowers can access cash when using their vehicle like collateral (similar to those seeking a car title loan). Among the items looked at will be the borrower’s credit score

Hit Up Facebook and Twitter for Starters

With that knowledge in hand, how can you turn social media into your friend when shopping for a loan?

There are a number of ways to do this.

First, go to sites like Facebook and Twitter for starters. See if the loan provider you are considering dealing with is active on one or both sites.

Among the things you want to look at is how they interact with current and potential customers.

Are they quick to respond to a question? Are they courteous in their responses or a tad confrontational? Do they ultimately solve problems or ultimately create more?

You also should look to see if the loan provider is offering useful retweets and shares of information related to consumer loans and overall money-saving financial tips. In the event they are more into just promoting themselves 24/7 and not being interactive with the public, it may give you some pause.

As more and more businesses turn to social media to promote their brands, the consumer stands to win when all is said and done, including getting the best loan.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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