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Mar 11 2017

7 Easy Ways to Tap into the Power of Mobile Marketing

As a business owner, it’s your job to find ways to connect with your customers. We live in a mobile world where 73% of people have their phone on them at all times. If you are targeting Millennials, that number goes up to 87%! Are you doing enough to connect with your audience on the small screen?

A lot of business owners feel that mobile marketing is too complicated and too expensive. While there are some tactics that are more costly, there are a lot of things you can be doing as a small business owner to enhance your marketing strategy that is already in place. The reality is, your customers are likely multitasking with their phones throughout the day, so your marketing strategy should reflect that behaviour.

Here are 7 ways you can integrate mobile into your strategy while not breaking the budget.

  1. Have an event hashtag: While this might seem obvious, a lot of event organizers don’t use this in the best way. You need to make sure your hashtag is:
    • Unique: It’s hard to track the conversation if your hashtag is used for other things.
    • Not too long: Ease of sharing should be the goal and if your guests have to type in 14 characters each time they use it, it won’t get used as often as you’d like.
    • Clear: If your hashtag doesn’t make sense, you’ll likely see a lot of errors.
    • Active: Encourage the dialogue by assigning someone from your business to use it actively throughout the event.

And once you set it up, make sure you track it!

  1. Livestream content at an event: Who doesn’t want to see their name in lights? Set up screens around your event and show a stream of Tweets from attendees. It encourages more participation using your event hashtag.
  2. Post live from events: While you want your audience to engage with you, you also want to show that you are active. Posting to social throughout an industry or client event you are attending shows you are tapped into the latest trends in what you do.
  3. Run a social media contest: People are constantly on their phones and a contest encourages them to share content with you in mind. Either set up a photo contest or a scavenger hunt type of contest where users share a picture to their account and tag you in it and/or use a dedicated hashtag (see #1 for tips!).
  4. Have customers check in at your business or event: This one is great because it has a lasting impact when potential customers see how many people have checked in at your business. You can provide incentive in the form of a loyalty program or contest as well.
  5. Use text and other messenger apps: Text is a great way to communicate with your engaged customers by having them opt in to receive messages. Send special deals, new product information, announce contests, etc.
  6. Have a mobile-friendly site: this should be obvious by now, but many businesses don’t have a mobile-friendly site. Make it easy for your customers to browse using their smartphone.

As with any marketing strategy, you need to set out your objectives and goals before you choose what’s right for you.

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.

Connect with Candace

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Candace Huntly · Tagged: audience, business, Candace Huntly, cell phone, customers, hashtag, livestream, Millenials, mobile, mobile friendly, mobile marketing, social media, Songbird Marketing Communications

Dec 21 2016

Is your business ready for 2017? 5 Social Media Predictions for the New Year

Kelly Farrell - Teach Me Social -headshot (2)

Wow! 2016 has flown past, and the changes in Social Media have been absolutely mind-blowing! Live video streaming has completely exploded, new apps have come and gone while Facebook has grown to over 1.7 Billion users worldwide and is now thinking far beyond the “like” with multiple “reactions” available now to respond to posts on your newsfeed.

Keeping an eye on the trends can really help us pinpoint where the world of social media marketing is headed as we get ready for 2017. Below are my top 5 things to keep in mind as you are planning out your social media strategy and budget for the next year.  

1. Video

Don’t ignore the rise of video as the world continues to get smaller, information is being consumed faster and in visual formats. Find new ways to engage your followers with exciting videos featuring behind-the scenes interviews or previews. Most video is watched without sound, so take the time to add captions to your videos (either yourself pre-upload, or using the built-in caption tools from Facebook or YouTube.

2. Private Messaging

Consumers want direct access to brands and they want it now! Keep an eye on evolving options on private messaging apps to help you business connect directly with your followers. Facebook Messenger is becoming increasingly popular with both customers and brands for on-demand customer services. Twitter and Instagram also have direct messaging features that allow followers to ask questions. Keep in mind that social media users expect a reply in less than an hour – so make sure you have someone on-call to answer those inquiries when they come in!

3. Mobile First

With over 76% of Canadians owning a smartphone and over 50% of Google searches happening on these devices, make sure your website and social media are mobile friendly! If you aren’t sure if your website is mobile-ready, you can run a quick check at https://search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly . For social media, you will want to make sure your links and images show up nicely on mobile phones. On mobile, videos are usually viewed without sound, so be sure to add captions!

4. Pay-to-Play

Advertising space online is limited, and organic reach on all social media platforms is decreasing daily. Be prepared to spend more $$ to get your products and services in front of the right audiences. Social networks are meant to be social, so it makes sense that promotional content needs to be paid for, just as it is on any media publication. Small businesses can still afford to pay-to-play on social though, providing enough time is spent to set up proper targeting and content for social ads.

5. Focus & Plan

Don’t try to do everything. Focus on where your target market is most likely to consume your content and engage with your brand. Spend your time developing content that reflects your brand message and adds value to the social network where you spend your time. If social media plays a large role in your marketing plans, it may make sense to outsource the community management or advertising on social to an expert that can achieve higher results in less time, thus leaving you with more time to do what you love!


To learn more about how to maximize the effectiveness of your Facebook marketing efforts, schedule a complimentary consultation with Teach Me Social. Teach Me Social owner Kelly Farrell has been helping empower Canadian Small Businesses through social media since 2012. Teach Me Social offers effective social media services which include training sessions and consulting as well as full-service social media account management.

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Kelly Farrell · Tagged: advertising, branding, holiday, Kelly Farrell, marketing, messaging, mobile, new year, promotion, social media, Social Media Marketing, Teach Me Social

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