Social Networking for Gen X Business Owners: Punch Today in the Face

Social Media for Gen X: How to Infuse These 7 Platforms Into Your Business Life

In the dynamic realm of social media, Gen X entrepreneurs are carving their niche by strategically leveraging platforms tailored to their unique business needs. You should be too!

7 Social Networks to Help Generation X Brands Engage Better

Let’s explore how these seven major platforms seamlessly integrate into the fabric of Gen X business lives:

Social Networking for Gen X Business Owners: Punch Today in the Face
Social Networking for Gen X Business Owners: Punch Today in the Face

1. LinkedIn for Professional Networking

Ideal for B2B Services and Networking: Harness the power of LinkedIn for B2B services and professional networking.

Engage in industry discussions through LinkedIn Groups, establish thought leadership with LinkedIn Articles and enhance brand visibility via the LinkedIn Company Page.

2. Facebook for Community Building

Consider Facebook for building a community around your brand. Features like Facebook Groups can create a space for your audience to engage with each other and your content.

Use the Facebook Business Page for regular updates and announcements.

3. Instagram for Visual Storytelling

If your Gen X business is visually oriented, Instagram is a powerful platform. Capitalize on Instagram Stories for behind-the-scenes content, IGTV for longer videos and carousel posts for interactive storytelling.

Hashtags can also boost discoverability. As a matter of fact, they definitely do!

4. Twitter for Real-time Engagement

Opt for Twitter if real-time engagement and concise messaging suit your brand.

Use features like Twitter Lists to organize and engage with specific groups, Twitter Chats for discussions and Polls to gather insights from your audience.

5. YouTube for Video Content

For Gen X businesses that can leverage video content, YouTube is a go-to platform.

Utilize features like playlists to organize videos, end screens to promote other content and community tabs for interacting directly with your audience.

6. Pinterest for Inspirational Content

If your business involves lifestyle or creative offerings, Pinterest is ideal.

Use features like Rich Pins for detailed information, Group Boards for collaborative content and “Shop the Look” pins for e-commerce integration.

7. TikTok for Short-form Creativity

For brands looking to tap into short-form video content and a younger demographic, TikTok is gaining popularity.

Experiment with trends, use the duet feature for collaborations and leverage TikTok Ads for wider reach.

Generation X Must Catch Up to 2024 to Succeed in Business
Generation X Must Catch Up to 2024 to Succeed in Business

Aligning Gen X Social Networking with Your Target Audience

When choosing a platform, align its features with your business goals, target audience and the type of content you plan to share. Each platform offers unique opportunities for engagement and brand visibility.

But you must understand exactly who the best target audience is for your authentic brand. Then, you can leverage their pain points to create social content that solves problems and drives sales.

Free eBook Download

As you delve into these platforms, remember to align their features with your business goals, target audience and content strategy. Discovering your prime target audience is crucial, and CMG’s free Target Market eBook provides invaluable insights to help you pinpoint yours.

Don’t miss out on the tips within—download this invaluable resource today by clicking the link below.

Kiesha Joseph, The New Face of SEO (Summer 2015)

SEO 2019: Introducing SEO with a Colorful Twist

We are pleased to announce that “we” are now the New Face of SEO. Remember the days when all SEO experts seemed to be men from India, Indonesia and other far away lands? This left us with low-quality content that read as if the writer had no concept of good English grammar.

Today, you can now hire SEO experts with color, style and flare to attract the audience you’ve always dreamed of engaging with online. Our SEO team calls this… SEO with a Colorful Twist.

Click here to learn 3 ways you can optimize your Pinterest account, boards and pins to attract more PoC, WoC and/or MoC in 2016.

What Do Pinners Want from Your Boards and Pins?

Today, in a guest post on motheroftheworld.net, I share tips on what most pinners are looking for on Pinterest in a post entitled Guest Post: Pinterest SEO with a Colorful Twist:

“Pinterest users are a different breed. For one thing, pinners are only in the mix for a strictly visual experience. They are not all about sharing personal, intimate details about their lives, or blasting about what they’re up to at any given moment. Instead…

 

Pinterest users are all about pinning things related to who they want to be… in the future.

 

Most pin things related to who they want to be, what they want to do or have and where they want to go… in the future.”

Powerful Business Women of Color Board by Content Marketing Geek<br>Board title and descriptions contain valuable SEO keywords that appeal to WoC on Pinterest. That's the meaning of Pinterest SEO with a Colorful Twist.
Powerful Business Women of Color Board by Content Marketing Geek
Board title and descriptions contain valuable SEO keywords that appeal to WoC on Pinterest. That’s the meaning of Pinterest SEO with a Colorful Twist.
Image Source: content_geek/pinterest

Pinterest SEO with a Colorful Twist

So, what’s this “colorful twist” all about? Well, these days, WoC (and PoC in general) are taking the business world by storm. We are becoming experts and gurus in all sorts of industries… including online markets.

The New Face of SEO for 2019

Unlike the faces we’ve all encountered in the past when looking for SEO services, WoC are now closing in on the SEO scene… and we’re adding our own “colorful twists”, like only Women of Color can do. Get started adding SEO with a colorful twist to your online marketing mix today.

Kiesha Joseph, The New Face of SEO, Summer 2015
Kiesha Joseph, The New Face of SEO

Looking for ways to add SEO keywords that will actually attract a more “colorful” audience? That means you need to change the way you’ve been using SEO keywords.

Check out the post and learn 3 Tips on Where to Use Pinterest SEO Keywords to attract more People of Color, Women of Color and Men of Color to your website, blog and other online content. And, that’s what SEO with a colorful twist is all about!

Read 3 Tips on Where to Use Pinterest SEO Keywords

Ready to take your Pinterest SEO to more “colorful” levels in 2019? Content Marketing Geek has what it takes to help you attract the audience that will actually find value in your pins. Increase your search engine rankings for the PoC SEO keywords you need most on Pinterest and your website and blog. Get your free website evaluation from Content Marketing Geek today!

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Pinterest for Business

What are the Benefits of Pinterest for Business?

Pinterest is the latest social network to become popular on the web. But, it is unlike that of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest can be a gold mine for online and businesses that want more visual exposure for their products and services on the web. Pinterest for Business is an online social media marketing strategy that you should not ignore.

What is Pinterest for Business?

Pinterest for Business is an online network that boasts a pin-board type platform where you can share images. These visuals enable users to manage and create “boards of pictures” that have a common theme and/or interest.

Like Instagram, Pinterest is a social media site based solely on the sharing and networking of imagery. Think of social media with visuals all over the place, without all the wordy sales pitches.

Benefits of Pinterest for Business

Pinterest for Business
When to Post on Pinterest for Business. Image Source: flckr

Pinterest as one of the leading social networks of the millennium that is rapidly gaining steam in popularity. It is and has demonstrated that it is one of the fastest expanding social platforms on the web yet.

So the outlook of your business gaining exposure from Pinterest for business is optimal. Here are some of the benefits of Pinterest for Business:

Inspiration, Ideas and Motivation for Start-up Businesses

If you are aspiring to start a business or an online company website, joining Pinterest will help you gain inspiration, ideas and motivation. The more people you choose to follow, the more boards and pins you’ll have access to for inspiring ideas to motivate you.

Pinterest for Business gives you the ability to look at other the Pinterest boards of consumers, other businesses, and of course your competitors. From there, you can gather some great ideas on how to make your business as successful as possible online.

By taking advantage of the latest marketing trends, services, and products on Pinterest, you ensure that your small business has the visual appeal and marketing needed to drive more traffic to your site, brand and solutions.

Comparison and Analysis to Improve Your Business

Pinterest for Business can be a great resource to help you analyze, evaluate and seek comparison scenarios of companies that are in a similar, if not the same, industry niche as yours. You can use this tactic to:

  • Gain an edge on the competition
  • See what works and what doesn’t visually
  • Predict where the market you are in is heading
  • Understand what visually catches the attention of your target market

Cheap and Fun Marketing Technique

You would be wise to utilize Pinterest for Business as a cheap and fun technique to market your company, brand, website and blog. As you get more familiar with the way that Pinterest works, you will realize it is quite the grapevine. Something as simple as a picture of your product, can go viral in a matter of minutes.

With Pinterest, it’s even possible to network with others while getting the word out about your products and services without having thousands of followers. This social network allows anyone following you to “repin” your pin, exposing it to those within their networks as well.

Want to maximize the amount of exposure your company’s service and product images get online? Pinterest for Business is the way to go. It’s not time-consuming at all. Before you know it, your boards will be followed, shared and repined online. And, the coolest part is that you can link your visuals to your online catalog, blog posts, social media profiles and anywhere else on the Web to drive traffic to your services, products and brand online.

Take Advantage of Pinterest for Business

Pinterest is growing more and more popular each and every day. In 2013, consumer insight company Semiocast reported Pinterest social pin-board network as having over 70 million users. At the time, 70% of those users were right here in the US.

Not only that, but this social media empire was valued at over $4 billion as of January 2014. Are you are a business looking to connect with potential customers and increase your revenue? Then, Pinterest for Business is one of the most valuable tools available on the net for marketing your small business and your online visuals.

Social Media News Streams and How They Work

Social Media News Streams: How Do They Work?

I love social networking, and the social media news streams that comes with it. I have a lot of family and friends all over the world. While it would be wonderful to be able to keep close contact over the phone, or in person, with each of them, it just isn’t feasible. Social networks make it much simpler, letting you keep involved in one another’s lives no matter where you are. All in a convenient format that maximizes communication despite distance, or even just lack of time.

Social Media News Streams and How They Work

Sure, it isn’t perfect. Some people will choose social networking over real life interaction, and a lot of friendships maintained that way can become shallow. But, when used correctly, it is a great way to remain close to others, discover new friends and a lot more. Social networking has a lot of functions, and I try to make the most out of every one, including social media news streams.

A Look Into the World of Social Media News Streams

My favorite element of the social web is definitely the social media news streams and feeds that are on each one. I have customized mine to give priority to certain people, to let me keep in even closer contact. All while avoiding updates I don’t really want or need.

But, how do these social media news streams and feeds work? They are rather complicated, and each site has its own. Here is a simple glance at the news feeds of Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Quora.

Twitter’s Social Media News Stream

Social Buzz

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform, rather than a traditional social network like many others. They use a unique algorithm that provides live updates. This works as both a search function, and as part of their news feed. It also limits the number of tweets from each follower, and older tweets will disappear as new ones from your list are added.

All content, as a consequence, is entirely fresh. But it doesn’t allow you to go that far back, and to see older tweets you have to go to the actual profile page. Not all tweets will be kept over time there, either. Since tweets are so small, and so regularly updated, this is a benefit to most users.

=> See more of who sees what on Twitter using this cheat sheet for social media news streams.

Facebook’s Social Media News Streams

Example of a Facebook Social Media News StreamsNot all Facebook posts are created equal, and the developers know this. However, they do consider each user’s activity to be important, and so don’t single out any specific profile as less important than any other. To keep you from having to see every post by every person on your friends list, it uses EdgeRank to take a small portion from each friend to display.

You can customize settings, as well. Just select what kind of updates you want to get, allowing the most important for you to be both shown on your feed, and in your notifications. Other pages or users can be hidden from your feed entirely.

=> Read more about the social media news streams on Facebook here.

Google+ and Its Social Media News Streams

Google+ is entirely user customized. You select what kind of activity you want from each circle, keeping some silent, some partially ‘muted’, and others entirely active in your news feed. This puts control completely in your hands, rather than using the EdgeRank system in the same way Facebook does.

Quora’s Social Media News Streams

Quora is much more technical in their updates. They use Redis and MySQL to regular update content for users. But, you can get a full explanation through this excellent breakdown by Quora employee and developer Belinda Gu.

=> Read more: 10 Local Social Networks that Give Your Business a Profitable Local Footprint

Have further details on other social networks and their newsfeeds? Let us know in the comments how they work!

Featured images:
  •  License: Creative Commons on Flickr
  •  License: Creative Commons on Flickr
  • Example of a Facebook Social Media News Streams Image Credit: Stream Creative

By Jessy Troy

Author Bio: Jessy is the social media enthusiast and blogger stay at home for 4 years now. You can hear her tweet at @JessyTroy.

The Art of Choosing the Right Social Media Marketing Channels for Your Business

A Guide To Using Social Media For Business

Using social media for business is the new shiny thing in the world of marketing. And, there’s no shortage of social media marketing experts ready to tell you how it will transform your business. The only thing is, very few businesses are using social networking effectively. Therefore, few are getting any kind of return for the money they spend on marketing in social media.

One thing is for sure, the opportunity to grow your business using social media is immense. It can amplify your marketing message. And, the fact that social networks hold so much information about you means that you can reach potential customers with ease. If you know how to use it effectively!

Choosing Networks When Using Social Media for Business

The Art of Choosing the Right Social Media Marketing Channels for Your Business
Image Credit: socialh.com

It can be very confusing deciding which social media channel or channels you should use. There always seems to be a new one popping up every now and then. This adds to the list of social media sites to choose from for marketing your business brand, products and services.

You have the usual suspects like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus. There are also the likes of Pintrest and Instagram, both famous as visual social media sites. Social network experts advise the following for deciding which networks to use when using social media for business:

  • Use one or two social media sites that you can manage effectively.
  • Choose social networks where your potential customers are already hanging out.

11 Tips for Marketing Your Social Media Network Channels

Here are 11 social media marketing tips to help you get the most out of the social channels you choose:

  1. Tell customers which channels you use and why to follow you. For example, tell your email subscribers you have a new Facebook page where you will be posting exclusive offers and content there. You basically, have to give them a reason why they should like or follow you.
  2. Advertise the channels wherever you can. Make sure there is a trail back to your favorite channels on all marketing materials, email signatures, website or anywhere else you market your business. This is very important when using social media for business marketing purposes.
  3. Brand the channels. Make sure the channels are branded consistently with colors schemes and logos so your company is instantly recognizable to your customers irrespective of the channel they are on.

    Using Social Media for Business to Build Your Brand Online
    Image Source: business2community.com
  4. Showcase your skills. On your profile imagery make sure you show off what you can do. Before and after pictures work really well as they place and emotional aspect on the services you offer.
  5. Post Frequently. This is necessary to get engagement and to build your audience. Posting throughout the day is a good strategy. Planning out your posts in advance makes it easier to post quality, relevant content when using social media for business.
  6. Be interesting. You could also be funny or just provide useful information to your target audience. Just make sure that your content marketing strategy involves publishing content that piques the interests of your target audience, also known as your potential customers.
  7. Asking questions builds engagement. Posting statements loses the motivation to interact with the post. Asking questions of your followers will encourage engagement. So you might say, “This is today’s free diet tip.” But, you could get better engagement by posting ,”This is today’s free diet tip. What is your favorite diet meal?”
  8. Answer people’s comments. This builds up the sense that the page is being managed and builds a rapport with your followers. You also don’t want to give your audience the impression that you don’t care about their needs.
  9. Always post with pictures. Posts with images get far more interest and engagement than those without any type of visuals. Videos, memes and infographics also work well when using social media for business.

    Using social media for business to get more exposure, more leads and more revenue.
    Image Credit: inblurbs.com
  10. Set up your social media marketing channels to get leads. This is the most important part of all your efforts. Transforming a fan into and lead and then a customer requires you to get their contact details at some point. You can do this by offering some premium content in exchange for their email address or phone number. It could be a free ebook, video series, white paper or anything you feel your followers would like. Once you figure out how to send people to a page where they can sign up for something, you have the recipe for success.
  11. Advertise on Social Media. Here it is! Harnessing the demographic data social media advertising can reach can be the difference between a good business and a great business. For example, if you are a wedding bridal gown shop, you can advertise to any woman who is engaged within 10 miles of your shop. Now, how powerful is that?

Learn How to Use Social Networks to Market Your Business Online

Using these steps, you have a better chance of effective social media marketing making a difference for your business success. Using social media for business is not just the next buzz word or a big black whole for your time.

The best thing you can do is to take a course on the social media network channel you need to work with for online marketing. You can now take an online course at home, or take a social media marketing workshop near you. Either way, it will be a great investment if you plan on using social media for business.

Author Bio: Tim Tavender is a blogger and writer who has written for many magazines and newspapers. For more information related to this guide, you can visit Tim’s site where you’ll find details of courses you can take to further your knowledge of using social media for business.

Comment Below Image by reubenrd.com
Comment Below Image by reubenrd.com

Every Company Needs YouTube for Business Marketing Online

Why Every Company Needs YouTube for Business Marketing

YouTube for Business Marketing is one of the best examples of the many tools online that can help to promote a company.  When it is utilized properly, there are many benefits to a business such as an increase in sales and generating a larger customer or client base.  So if you’ve been asking yourself why you need YouTube for Business Marketing, if the previous were not enough, consider that the majority of your competition is already using the site to promote their brand and they are taking your customers. Every Company Needs YouTube for Business Marketing Online

Using YouTube for Business Marketing

Do I have your attention now?  That’s right, more and more businesses are using this social media site to advertise, offer tips and tricks and generally taking advantage of the video platform to stay current.  If you are ready to take the leap, and you should be, the following can help you to make videos that outshine your competitors and can take your videos into 2014 in a much more positive way.

Creating Videos with Value

As stated, there are very few companies who are not using YouTube for Business Marketing to promote their videos.  One of the issues is that they are not using this tool properly.  They are not offering anything of value to their viewers and are not getting all of the important likes, views and subscribers to their channel that is needed for any type of success.

So, when you make your videos, don’t just advertise your products or create “commercials”.  Do something fun and think outside of the box to offer that value that your viewers will enjoy.

Be the “Face” of Your Brand

People want to know who you are, what your company stands for and what you offer.  You can be the face of your company if you only invest just a little of your own personality into the videos you produce.  Rather than having an anonymous voice, show your face, explain why you started your company, what makes you passionate about your products and why they should feel the same way and buy what you have to offer.

You know your company better than anyone so why not make yourself the star of the show when nobody will have the passion that you have.  You will have a hard enough time getting likes from generic videos, make the process easier by giving viewers something to like, namely you!

Larger Audience

Consider where your company is today.  Go on, think about it.  Do you have global coverage?  Are people across the world ordering your products?  No?  They will if you are using YouTube for Business Marketing to promote your company and brand.

Wouldn’t it be great to know that people from around the world will see your brand and immediately know what your company sells just like the big corporations?  This is possible if you are savvy about your efforts on the site.  As long as you put out great videos for them to watch, there is the possibility of bringing in customers from every corner of the world and from ever demographic.

So, now that I have your attention, can we agree that you most definitely need YouTube for Business Marketing?

Featured images:
  •  License: Creative Commons on Flickr
  • Over 1 billions users access YouTube videos every month.

 

 

License: Derek Willis on Amazon

 

Author Bio: Alan Hastings is a social media guru who understands the necessities of audience engagement on all social media sites.

Share your YouTube for Business Marketing links in the comments below.

Pinterest Strategy for Business - Pin Your Way to Valentine's Day

Pinterest Strategy For Business – Pin Your Way to Valentine’s Day

Pinterest Strategy for Business - Pin Your Way to Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day 2014 is just 10 days away, and hopefully you’re prepared with your social media marketing strategy.

If your business represents a fashion, cosmetic or lifestyle brand, you must use Valentine’s Day fever as an opportunity to showcase and sell your products. Pinterest social media marketing is the best platform to display your awesome beautiful products.

Increase Conversion Rates with a Pinterest Strategy for Business

A Pinterest strategy for business provides you with a high conversion rate. That’s because Pinterst users can click your product image, and be redirected directly to the webpage on your site where the product can be purchased. This helps you capitalize on the impulse shopping tendency of social media users.

Here are five ways to help increase your brand’s conversion rates using a Pinterest strategy for business:

1. Valentine Pinboards:

The ideas below are just a few ideas for various types of business brands. Use these Pinterest strategy for business tips to help increase online sales during the Valentine’s Day 2014 holiday:

  • Restaurants – If your business is a restaurant, you can pin various ambiance and food images of your awesome romantic settings. Showcase how beautiful your venue is for a Valentine’s evening of love and romance.
  • Apparel & Accessories – Women love accessories, clothing, shoes and all other apparel. If your business brand or boutique caters to such products, then you simply must set up Valentine Pinboards. Your Pinboards can contain your collection of reds, whites and pinks. You can also target men as most of them wouldn’t know what to give their better half. And, voila, your Pinboard to the rescue! Don’t forget to use Promoted Pins for wider reach and higher lead conversions.
  • Valentine’s Day Flowers – Flowers are always in high demand for Valentine’s Day. Your Pinterest strategy for business should include a Pinboard that has various flower arrangements and some special Valentine’s Day gifts, such as stuffed animals, baskets, cards, candles, etc… Any products included in your list of Valentine specials should be included as well. Various floral and candle decor images to sell your home and lifestyle products do really well this Valentine’s Day season.
  • Weekend Getaways – Valentine’s Day 2014 falls on a Friday. So, why not encourage your Pinterest followers to take special tours or romantic weekend getaways? Pin images of your resorts or special holidays location with packages and entice your followers with them. Make sure you offer your followers special deals for signing up through your Pinterest Valentine’s Day Pinboard.

2. Run a Contest on Pinterest

Social media users tend to enjoy contests. Add a Collaborative Pinboard to your Pinterest strategy for business to entice your followers to take part in your Valentine contest. You can ask your Pinterest followers to pin pictures of the products they would want to gift to their Valentines, preferably from your brand. Offer coupons, discounts and free products or services to winners, chosen based on your Pinterest Collaborative Pinboard contest.

3. Promoted Pinterest Pins

Make use of Promoted Pins to make your products, services, offers and specials more popular with online consumers. With promoted Pins, you can actually convert your followers into fans as they can be instantly redirected to the page where the products can be purchased. You can also allow followers to register for contests, promotions, and more. Your conversion rate increases using this Pinterest Strategy for Business because it capitalizes on the impulse shopping feature of consumers on social media.

4. Cakes and Cupcakes Pinboards

You can also create Pinterest strategy for business pinboards to be used for pinning and sharing Valentine’s Day baked goods with your followers. If your brand is a bakery business, nothing moves faster on internet for Valentine’s Day than a brilliantly cooked cake or other baked good. You may even want to include a review or simple recipe. Valentine’s Day is a time for cakes and cupcakes full of love. If you cater to that audience, make sure your images find their way on Pinterest!

Increase your online sales this Valentine's Day with Pinterest for Business

5. Integrate Your Pinterest Strategy for Business with Facebook

Don’t miss out on building wider audience online. Add Pinterest on Facebook and showcase all your beautiful Pins, promotions and contests on Facebook as well. This will help you gain a much wider audience, capture more leads, nurture your leads and eventually convert these leads into sales. What’s the simplest way to accomplish this? Try using Apps Mav.

What is Apps Mav?

Apps Mav is a simple, automated way to showcase your Pinboards and Pins on your Facebook Fan page. The Apps Mav Facebook application is both easy-to-use and self-manageable. Here are just some of the features of Apps Mav Pinterest App:

  • Integrate your Faceboook Fan Page and your Pinterest strategy for business on one platform.
  • Self-install the Pinterest App with just a few simple clicks. Self-manageable with no technical abilities required.
  • Automatically stream your Pinterest Pins on your brand’s Facebook Fan Page using integrated social features.
  • Cancel your service anytime. There are no contracts or lock-ins whatsoever.

Get the Apps Mav Pinterest App Today

Featured images:
  •  License: Image author owned
  •  License: Image author owned

Author Bio: Ritika Verma enjoys writing about social media strategies and is a complete digital marketing enthusiast. She is currently working with Apps Mav and you can follow them @appsmav.