11 Aug

3 Ways To Use Snapchat for Your Business

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Social Media on 11.08.16 by John Meloche

We’ve discussed how Snapchat can be valuable to a business. Most apps with a user base of over 100 million people typically tend to be of use for businesses. How do you unlock that value though? Here are 3 ways you can use Snapchat to help your business.

  1. Live Events. If your business is having a big event, Snapchat is a great way to broadcast it. Stories of live events are a great way to share your message and increase your publicity. Not only that but these stories are completely available to all of your followers and they won’t go away for a certain period of time. Either way this is a great way to get people excited for events as it brings forth a more authentic and exclusive view of everything going on.
  2. Behind the Scenes. People want to know more about your business. They want to know what your office looks like, what your employees are like, and what the office atmosphere is like. Showing everyone the fun stuff you do at the office can help you create a strong and loyal following. This is just a great way to show off the internal operations of your company to the public. The best part about this is that you can be creative with it. Creating certain events for office employees, filming birthdays, employee of the month announcements, you really can publicize your office in so many great ways!
  3. Contests/Promotions. Snapchat is a great place for promotion. It’s extremely easy to start fun new initiatives over the platform. So many fun campaigns have been started over Snapchat. So it’s easy to jump aboard and get your business’ name known across the forum. Not only that, but it’s a great place for contests. Posting stories about exclusive offers on products is a great way to get your name out there and generate more business.

 

Snapchat can be great for businesses. It’s very easy to create a loyal and engaged following for your company. The main characteristic pertaining to Snapchat is sharing. Well sharing is the main characteristic of any social media platform, but even more so for Snapchat. Snapchat helps you do something other mediums can’t do: share your internal efficiency. Snapchat, unlike other social media outlets, is an excellent means of revealing your office life and showing all the behind the scenes action of your business. That is something cherished by a lot of people and thus enables you to expand your fan base. So start snapping, make some fans and see your business grow!

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10 Aug

How Do Instagram Stories Affect Your Business

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Social Media on 10.08.16 by John Meloche

Recently Instagram released a new feature called “stories”, where people can post photos that only last 10 seconds on their profile. These photos are available for all of one’s followers to see. This feature has become extremely controversial due to it’s striking resemblance to another social media app: Snapchat. Yesterday we talked about Snapchat and how it could help your business, today we’re going to look at the Instagram story feature and determine where it should stand in your business.

There are currently a lot of mixed views surrounding the feature. A lot of dedicated Snapchat users aren’t happy with the duplication of the Story feature. Due to this mixed reaction, it would be safe to avoid the stories option on Instagram for a bit. Just maybe another week to let the tension die down. Another note, if your business doesn’t have Snapchat then you might want to use the Instagram Story feature as a trial for Snapchat. If you’re getting good engagement numbers on Instagram, then getting Snapchat might further help your business.

Now if your business is on Snapchat, and you’re deciding whether or not you should post more frequently on Snapchat or Instagram, or even if you should use the Instagram feature, then do a test run. Post on Instagram stories and evaluate your engagement, keep track of how many people saw your story and replied to it. After you’ve done this, do the same on Snapchat. Finally compare the two numbers, whichever platform is receiving the most engagement is the platform you should be using more frequently.

Now the Instagram Story feud is still at large. So waiting a couple of days before making your Instagram story debut would be ideal. That being said, Instagram stories do have the ability to bring a Snapchat-like vibe to Instagram, and thus gives the app an increased potential for success.

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09 Aug

Should Your Business Be On Snapchat?

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Social Media on 09.08.16 by John Meloche

We’ve discussed the benefits of social media and how social commerce is becoming more and more prominent within our business world. We’ve talked about the major social media outlets; however, we’ve neglected one: Snapchat. Snapchat is a medium through which people can send photos to each other. These photos can contain small messages and disappear in 10 seconds. In addition to this, people can post “stories,” 10 second photos that appear to all of one’s Snapchat friends. Now Snapchat is a very tricky option as it has a certain youthfulness to it that many businesses find hard to duplicate. The debate for businesses to have Snapchat is a contentious one but when managed properly, Snapchat can be a great asset for your business.

As I mentioned before Snapchat has a youthful aspect to it in the fact that messages literally disappear in 10 seconds or less. In addition to this, Snapchat has a very young audience. According to Statista, 60% of Snapchat’s audience are between the ages of 13-24. So what does that mean? It means that you can reach a younger audience over Snapchat. If your company targets people within that age group, then your marketing efforts can be intensified by promoting over snapchat. Snapchat is a great marketing tool that enables you to improve the selectivity of your promotional efforts as it essentially brings you right to a younger audience.

Another key Snapchat benefit is ease of communicati0n. Snapchat provides optimal means of one-on-one engagement. With Snapchat, it’s very easy to talk to individual followers. Not only that, but the pictures bring forth a more customized and reliable means of conversation. You can see when someone’s received a message and seen it too. You can develop more personalized messages as it’s easier to communicate with individual followers. What Snapchat really does is make you become more creative with your communication. It makes you become more people-friendly and better enables you to cater to someone’s individual likes/needs.

Snapchat is a very tricky medium, but when you take advantage of its key features, then you can claim a larger and more devoted user-base. Personalization is a characteristic cherished across any medium, Snapchat provides optimal customization and thus provides ample opportunity for success.

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08 Aug

The SWAG Behind the Olympics

Posted in News on 08.08.16 by John Meloche

The Olympics have begun! This has easily become one of the most anticipated Olympic games in recent memory. These games are surely to be filled with drama, angst, and excitement. With all the controversy already, this will likely pan out as one of the most entertaining and interest Olympics to date.

With this being said, people will likely want to have something that serves as a lasting memory, or connection to the games. What could that be? Promotional products are great at promoting your brand but they do something no other form of marketing can offer: store memories. These products act as a placeholder for all of the emotions, memories, and success(hopefully) your country had at the games. People want to cherish these feelings, SWAG serves as a tangible link to those emotions and keeps them close all the time.

The Olympics are a time where everyone truly unites and comes together to show support for their country. So that means everyone is rooting for their country. This then translates into a larger market for Olympic SWAG. This has definitely been the case in recent years. People want to buy a lot of SWAG to preserve the Olympic memory, especially if their country did well. A prime example of this is the high demand for British merchandise after the 2012 games. Following their success at the London games, British Olympic merchandise sales went through the roof. Adidas, the maker of their Olympic goods, reported selling over £100 million of Great Britain Olympic merchandise. This just shows the demand for SWAG and the strong desire for tangible links to the games.

It’s clear, SWAG has become a part of the Olympic spirit. It allows you to retain the success of the event and let it live on forever. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the games, hopefully you want to buy some merchandise after.

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04 Aug

5 Poké-Marketing Techniques You Should Be Using

Posted in News, Small Business Advertising on 04.08.16 by John Meloche

Yesterday we talked about the rise of Poké-marketing and how Pokemon Go has made its way into the business scene. As mentioned before, strategies are now being developed around the game. With that being said, what can you do to capitalize on this poké-demand? Here are 5 ways to use Pokémon Go to attract customers:

  1. Offer Free WiFi. Probably the easiest thing you can offer to lure those Pokémon trainers. Data, or a lack thereof, is becoming a huge issue for Pokémon Go players. So why not help those people out with some free WiFi. You’re making it easier to enjoy the game they’re addicted to, and that’s all happening in your store. That should boast good results for your company.
  2. Provide Discounts to Trainers. Pokémon Go trainers have different levels. As players catch ’em all, they level up, with the max level being level 40. What you should do is offer discounts to the different levels of trainers. For example, anyone from levels 1-10 gets 5% off, 11-20 gets 10% off, etc. This shows your support for the game and the players. Hardcore Pokémon Go players will notice this and will surely take advantage of these discounts.
  3. Provide Discounts/Gifts to Teams. Yes, there are teams. Once a player reaches level 5 they can choose to join one of three teams: Team Instinct, Team Mystic, or Team Valor. Providing discounts or gifts to different teams is a great way to attract more customers to your store. Again these promotions are a symbol of support for the players in addition to being a great incentivizing tool for Pokémon Go trainers.
  4. Pokémon Go Themed Advertising. We also talked about this yesterday. Pokémon Go is such a trendy topic right now. If you put it on anything, people will notice it and become interested in it. This is a great way to promote brand recognition and brand remembrance. People will take notice to witty Pokémon Go campaigns and will keep your brand in mind whenever anything related to Pokémon Go pops up.
  5. Lure Modules. This could be the most effective tactic. In the game there are places called PokéStops, where players can collect eggs and other items. They’re likely to be located around your store. What you can do is place an item called a lure module on these PokéStops. These lure modules will then attract wild Pokémon and as a result will bring real people as well. So what you can do is get a Pokémon Go account and buy some of these lure modules. Just to clarify, you have to buy the lure modules with real money. Then place them at the Pokéstop near you and see the Pokémon and people roll in.

 

When something as big as Pokémon Go pops up, you have to find ways to adapt to it. This is just another trend that will eventually pass, but while it’s at its peak right now, might as well take advantage of it. Poké-marketing is an extremely effective and efficient means of bringing in business and capitalizing on current trends. So if you use Poké-marketing, people will surely Pokéstop and shop in your store.

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03 Aug

The Rise of Poké-Marketing

Posted in News, Small Business Advertising on 03.08.16 by John Meloche

Pokémon Go has become immensely popular over the past couple of weeks. It seems like everywhere you look, you see people walking with their faces glued to their phone screen as they try to catch Pokémon. This has become yet another trend that businesses are starting to take advantage of. When something becomes as big as Pokémon Go, strategies become developed whereby the game entices players to shop at certain stores.

This Pokémon sensation has offered marketers the enhanced ability of brand recognition. Marketers are now using the Pokémon Go regime as another tool to catch someone’s attention. If people saw pretty much anything relating to Pokémon Go, they’ll probably be interested in it. If anything some of these Pokémon Go advertising campaigns would give you a little chuckle. But what makes marketers so happy is the fact that they make your ads and brand memorable. If you saw a Pokémon Go themed ad, you’d probably think it’s funny and you’d remember it. Not only that but when you start playing the game or see others playing it, then you’ll be reminded of that ad. Marketers want their ads to stick, Pokémon Go just improves the stickiness of your message and brand.

This Pokémon Go mania will go away eventually but while it’s still trendy, why not take advantage of it? This is just another huge trend that businesses need and should adapt to. So why not utilize some Poké-marketing, you just might catch ’em all.

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02 Aug

Are Online Markets The New Norm?

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Social Media, Synergy Suggestions on 02.08.16 by John Meloche

Over the past couple of years, we have seen an emergence of online transactions and E-commerce. It appears as though those fears people once had about online shopping have vanished. This sudden spike in E-commerce demand has sparked the debate over whether or not online markets are the new norm. So today we really look at the question: are online markets the new marketplace?

Let’s start this debate by looking at the facts. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that there will be $92,801 million in sales strictly from online shopping in the first quarter of 2016. Compared to $80,569 million from the first quarter of 2015. This is definitely a sign of prosperity for online shopping however these numbers are small when comparing it to the total market. Those numbers only represent 8 and 7 percent of total sales respectively. It’s clear online shopping is on the rise but when you look at the market as a whole it only represents a tiny sliver of all sales.

Now let’s look at some other compelling facts. But instead of looking at North America, let’s analyze different markets across the globe. Specifically let’s look at the major markets that impact the global economy the most. China is a huge country that’s a compelling figure in the global economic scene. Online shopping is practically the norm in China now. According to Statista, China had 46 million online shoppers in 2007, now they have over 400 million. Almost ten times as many people shop online compared to the number from 9 years ago. This trend is expected to continue at an even more exponential rate. It’s fair to say online shopping has skyrocketed in popularity in China. So with this information being present, it begs the question: If such a giant like China focuses on online shopping, then is it just a matter of time before online shopping really hits the North American market?

The debate of E-commerce becoming the primary marketplace is a good one. It’s very easy to argue on behalf of both sides. But do you actually see the North American markets adopting E-commerce? If so, when do you think that would happen? Let us know what you think. You can tweet us at @synergymkt or you can check us out on Facebook (just Synergy Marketing), and we’re on Instagram @synergymkt.

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