Popular Articles on Business 2 Community

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• How to Make Matching Facebook Profile and Cover Photos
• How Social Media Influences Purchase Decisions
• 6 Tips For Instagram Marketing Mastery
• Which is Better – Mobile Apps or Mobile Websites? [Infographic]
• 5 Tools You Can Use To Increase Your Social Media Productivity
• 50 Random Twitter Tips for Business

How to Make Matching Facebook Profile and Cover Photos Posted: 20 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST Ford on Facebook with matching cover photo and profile image. A matching Facebook cover photo and profile picture looks professional and exciting. You can do so many things with it to various ends, such as making your Facebook followers laugh or just to make your profile look amazing. But how do you line up the two images and make it work? We're here to help. How to line up your cover photo with your profile picture 1. Screenshot your Facebook profile page: The first step is to take a screenshot of your profile page for size reference. Past this screenshot into Microsoft PowerPoint or a similar program where you can CROP the screenshot. We'll be using our client, Rowperfect, as an example: Screenshot of the Rowperfect Facebook page 2. Crop your chosen picture into two images: now that you have your profile screenshot and have pasted it into Microsoft PowerPoint you can begin cropping your desired image. Detailed instructions follow this image… FRAME 1: mark your cover photo and your profile photo. The blue rectangle we've created represents the cover photo size area and the red square represents the profile picture. Remember to paste the screenshot exactly as it is and do not re-size it, even though it is larger than the PowerPoint work area. FRAME 2: import the image you want as your combined profile picture and cover photo. Then re-size it so it is as big as the blue and red rectangle combined. Line it up as you wish. FRAME 3: duplicate your now re-sized imported image, place it in the same location as its original and crop your imported image and its duplicate to be the size of the blue rectangle and red square respectively. FRAME 4: now you have your two images, save the big one as COVER PHOTO and the smaller square one as PROFILE PICTURE. 3. Place them on your Facebook profile page: now you have your two images you can place the PROFILE PICTURE image on your Facebook profile picture and use the COVER PHOTO image as your Facebook profile cover. If all is done correctly your Facebook profile cover photo and profile picture will now line up together and look flash, just like the Rowperfect Facebook page! Be creative: some interesting ideas Here are a few ideas we found that might spark some inspiration for you…

How Social Media Influences Purchase Decisions Posted: 20 Jan 2014 01:37 PM PST Social media is growing and no online marketer can now ignore the importance of social media. Comversion optimization company Invesp has published a new infographic covering the impact of social media on purchase behavior. According to the infographic, 71% of consumers make decisions based on social media referrals and 40% of social media users have purchased an item after sharing it on their social networks. In terms of ability to influence purchases, Facebook leads at 30.8% followed by Youtube (27 %) and Linkedin (27%) . After marking an item as favorite, 50% of social media purchases takes places within a week whereas 80% of purchases takes place in less than 3 weeks. Please check the infographic below for complete facts. Infographic Source

6 Tips For Instagram Marketing Mastery Posted: 20 Jan 2014 08:53 AM PST Since its inception back in 2010, Instagram has become one of the fastest growing mobile applications to date. Considering it has an estimated 150 million monthly active users worldwide, it is clear that this filter-enabled picture displaying social app is showing no signs of slowing down. With the simple evidence being that prospective customers are already present and active on the platform, the benefits of companies using Instagram as a marketing tool are beyond valuable. One might assume that managing an effective Instagram account entails taking an interesting photo, sitting back, and watching the 'likes' and comments ensue. While this method might be efficient for personal accounts and may even help gain a follower or two, it does very little in maximizing optimal visibility in a target market for companies. The biggest hurdle? What might be the biggest hurdle for the more business-minded individual is the understanding that Instagram is not just about selling. In fact, using your account as a megaphone to promote your product or service is a surefire way to lose followers and leave you feeling like you are shouting into a deserted room. By having a dynamic Instagram account, new visitors will feel persuaded to start following you in order to get instant updates on their coveted personal feed. The fundamentals for Instagram success The fundamental strategies when regarding customer experience are: Learning to listen Creating engaging conversations Posting ingenious images By making sure you are practicing these essentials, you will develop a healthy Instagram account that will draw in new visitors and eventually establish an entertaining hub for followers to come back to time and time again. For businesses to truly get the most out of Instagram, below are six tips for Instagram marketing mastery to help establish your account as an authority in your niche and create a fun, open relationship with your customers. 1. Connect your channels An important—yet sometimes overlooked—feature is the Bio section at the top of your profile page. It is crucial that this section contains all the information pertinent to a new visitor who wants to know who you are, what you do, and where they can find you. Also, since this is one of the first locations a new visitor will view, make sure you add a little personality into the description to entice them to stay a while and thumb through. Linking your social channels is an excellent way to expand your reach to new or existing communities. If your business already manages a blog that has some online traction, make sure you are embedding photos and videos from Instagram in order to create an avenue for traffic to flow between. Furthermore, be sure to capitalize on Facebook's integration of Instagram to reach wider audiences. Making your Instagram account visible on your Facebook page is a simple yet extremely effective method that will unify communities and increase the amount of engagement and sharing. 2. Post quality, personable visuals Below is a list of the most followed brands on Instagram, found on Mashable. What all of these brands have done successfully is to integrate photographs into their strategy. However, if you look closer, you'll notice that the Ellen Show, Forever21 and the other brands are not posting professionally lit visuals that would normally appear as an advertisement in a magazine. Instead, the photographs are personal, if not a bit gritty. Instead of being aloof, these companies are using visuals to build a personable identity that readers can bond with. Let's look at Sneaker News, a blog that provides up-to-date intelligence on hot commodities like LeBron 11 and Jordans. While this online publication is well-known among sneaker aficionados, it doesn't pull the same weight as the other bigger-hitters on the above list, making it the true "dark horse" of the winner's circle. However, because of its ability to leverage simple photographs and comprehensive understanding of what its followers desire (insights into the trendiest looks that is accurate down to the hour), Sneaker News has forged a bond with readers and established itself ahead of competitors so followers repeatedly visit and share the posts. Check out their Instagram here. 3. Use #hashtags Hopefully by now you have become acquainted with the 'lingo' associated with certain social media practices. Hashtagging pictures on Instagram means you are filing that image in a larger folder where the contents all share the same hashtag. This is a no-brainer for businesses that aim to be associated with industry-related keywords and trending topics. During the beginning stages of your account, try to use the most popular, yet relevant, hashtags that will draw visitors to your account and hopefully increase your following. How many hashtags? A recent study from Track Maven found that posts made by Fortune 500 brands that used five hashtags received the most interaction. If your business has already jumped on the hashtag train on other social channels, be sure to enforce them on Instagram, as well. For instance, if you have already built hype around your #bestcompanyever hashtag on Twitter, keep the trend going on Instagram to help solidify the reputation. Photo: Marketing Profs 4. Be interesting and genuine Perhaps the most important tactic that will ensure a prosperous Instagram account is posting attention-grabbing images and videos. If your showcase appears somewhat mediocre or low quality, the likelihood of creating new followers and maintaining an existing community is slim. Because Instagram is a 'social' network, make sure your account has a heartbeat. Followers want to feel as if they are gaining an insider's look at your business and get turned off if it feels disingenuous. Capture photos that reflect the lifestyle of your customers, while staying relevant to your brand. Try to keep a balance of fun pictures—such as company outings, pictures of cute animals, or funny pop-culture references—mingled with your promotional business photos. One common trend is to post pictures of happy employees in their work element or at company events to show that your business doesn't take life too seriously and workers truly enjoy being a part of your team. Don't be afraid to shake it up with a few videos here and there. While photos continue to be the bread and butter of the app, the video aspect is growing. According to Ad Week, 40% of the most shared videos on Instagram were created for marketing purposes. Lastly, try to follow your followers back. It not only shows that you reciprocate their support, but it also allows a new opportunity of being noticed by other connected communities. 5. Host a contest An optimal strategy to ignite engagement is by hosting a contest. This can be done directly on Instagram and shared throughout all linking accounts to ensure visibility. By asking followers to include one common hashtag so they are stored together, the creative possibilities of contest ideas are endless. Delivering perks to followers in the form of giveaways and contests will form a buzz around your account and help establish a priority to review your page. 6. Plan your posts The frequency of posts, or your "feed speed", is an important factor to take into consideration when leveraging customer experience. There is a fine line between agitating your followers with a daily clogging of their newsfeed and posting so infrequently that your followers forget you exist. That fine line is where your company will thrive, and can be sustained through a flexible posting schedule that will allow you time to track what works and decide which direction to take next. Post at peak times Try to assess peak times of the day your followers seem to be most active while planning your posts. With the goal of having your images seen by as many users as possible, consider holding out until after work hours, and even weekends, since these are dense activity periods. Wrapping it up When contemplating whether Instagram could be an effective marketing tool for your company, ask yourself two questions: Is my target audience active on it? Are my competitors successful with it? If the answer to at least one of these questions is yes, then there is no doubt you should be using Instagram to promote your product or service. Though it does require some planning, testing, and tracking to make sure you are on track with the latest trends, Instagram is meant to display your company's creativity and lightheartedness. Show that your business has an eye for capturing interesting images, a sense of humor, and a passion for engaging with customers, and start 'gramming!

Which is Better – Mobile Apps or Mobile Websites? [Infographic] Posted: 19 Jan 2014 09:35 AM PST By 2015, it is estimated that close to a billion consumers will be using mobile devices only (no laptop, no desktop). And many, many others will be using their mobile devices more often than their other devices. For small businesses, this means that maintaining a mobile presence is highly important, if not essential. The main choice many business owners face is, "Should I have a mobile website or an app?" Luckily, the answer is clear: both! Recently, we surveyed 500 small businesses that have mobile websites and business apps, and 81% said both are equally important! Here are the highlights: Mobile website versus mobile app: • Value. 61% said an app provided a better return on investment. • Customer preference. 81% said customers preferred the app to the mobile website. • New customer generation. 75% said app was better for customer generation. • Repeat business. 86% said app was better for creating repeat customers. • Usage. 61% said app was used more often. The app pretty clearly has the edge in the opinion of most small business owners. But that doesn't mean that apps are right for everyone. The infographic found below contains the rest of our findings, and a wealth of information for small businesses considering "going mobile."

5 Tools You Can Use To Increase Your Social Media Productivity Posted: 19 Jan 2014 07:26 AM PST One of the questions I get a lot from my webinar attendees is, "I don't have a lot of time to post to my social networks during the day. How can I make time to be active on social media and run my business?" The truth is, social media marketing isn't easy. It takes time and a commitment to grow your social channels, create and share great content, and engage with your followers. However, there are some tools that can help do some of the work for you, giving you some time back. You don't have to be sitting in front of your computer to post to your social channels. Try using one of these tools to schedule your content in advance: Facebook Facebook has its own built-in scheduling tool for Facebook Business Pages. Type your post in the status update area, then click the little clock icon and pick the month and the day you want your post to appear. HootSuite HootSuite is a social media monitoring platform that you can use to follow updates and share content with your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ accounts. To schedule a post, type it in the composition area, select the accounts you want to post to, and then set your time and date in the calendar. Buffer Buffer is another media platform that you can use to schedule posts across multiple networks, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. Type in your post, choose the accounts you want to use, and pick your day and time. Social Campaigns If you are using Social Campaigns to create and share an offer with your Facebook fans, you can schedule posts about that offer to be published throughout the duration of your campaign with the Social Posts tool. It generates suggested content for you with text and graphics or stock art. You can use what's suggested or edit the content and upload your own images. You can also change the dates and times for each post, and use the calendar tool to add or remove posts. MarketMeSuite With MarketMeSuite, you can also post and follow activity from your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts, similar to the tools you'll find in HootSuite and Buffer. MarketMeSuite also offers another timesaver for you — the Smart Inbox. Select the type of activity notifications you want from each network and access them all in one place. For example, if you want to make sure you respond to people who engage with your Twitter posts or talk to or about you, set up a search for that activity. Then access all of those notifications in your Smart Inbox so you can keep track of customer interaction and respond quickly. The next step? Find out what frequency, date, and time is best for your audience. Check out these tips for finding the best time to post on Facebook, and apply those best practices to the rest of your social networks. Have more questions about how to improve your social media productivity? Ask me below.

50 Random Twitter Tips for Business Posted: 19 Jan 2014 07:14 AM PST As a business resource, Slideshare stands pretty much head and shoulders above most other content platforms. From presentations to educational content and more, you can find information and curated media on pretty much any topic you have an interest in. As a research solution, Slideshare offers analysis from some of the smartest minds on the web across all verticals. These include standard presentations, videos, multimedia and more. Which brings us to this week's Sunday Share. Every week, I'll be sharing a presentation that catches my eye and where I feel you might be interested in the information inside. These will range from business to content to social media to marketing and more. This week, a useful collection of Twitter tips from Ksenia Dobreva, who handles social marketing for webmeup. While Twitter is now almost a decade old, there are still new users to it every day. Additionally, businesses are still looking for the best ways to use for their needs. While I don't agree with every tip (replying to every tweet, for example), this presentation offers a nice collection of tidbits for exactly these users. Enjoy.

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