05 May

4 More Ways To Boost Your Blog’s Popularity

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 05.05.15 by John Meloche

Depositphotos_7162436_xsIn yesterday’s blog, we introduced the topic of building buzz for your company blog. This is something that we’ve been practicing for years. But we have to admit that we started promoting our blog a lot later than we started blogging. As a result, our blog wasn’t as popular, when it started, as it is now. Of course, there’s always a natural progression to how things pick up steam. But it’s important to remember that, in today’s digital world, a company’s online presence is everything.

As a result, it’s important to not just regularly add content to your website, but to promote the fact that the new content has been added. Yesterday, we pointed out that Synergy Marketing updates its Twitter and Facebook accounts each and every time a new blog is posted on our website. This has helped us to not only increase our awareness on social media, but it has helped for our blog to secure more readers as well.

Most importantly, the more people visit who our website because of our blog, the more often we are able to convert our website visitors into customers. Naturally, we do a lot of blogging about the benefits of using promotional products to advertise your brand. But our blog also incorporates a wide range of topics in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Variety is key. But, back to the point, promotion is imperative!

Being a promotional product company, you might expect us to say that. But you don’t have to take our word for it. On her website, social media strategist, Rebekah Radice offers up some sound solutions for how you can increase the popularity of your blog. Admittedly, she provides tips that we ourselves should take a look into as well. So join us in discovering new ways to build a buzz for your blog!

Here are four more ways to boost your blog’s popularity:

1. Go with Google+. Considering that Google is most commonly used as a search engine on the internet, it pays to use its services to make your company more easily accessible. “Not only is Google+ an excellent place to post your original content for increased SEO, it is also an important network to build relationships with those eager to +1 and share your content,” says Radice, “The possibility of ‘going viral’ is very real when Google+ is used properly.”

2. Pick up on Pinterest. “Take advantage of this unique magazine-style visual powerhouse to share your content with an image optimized for maximum pinning,” insists Radice, noting that there are a number of ways to create a “perfect” Pinterest image. To get more pins in your image, she advises that you do not include a human face, use a plain white background, include the colour red in it somewhere and try to go with a portrait style photo.

3. Link it to LinkedIn. This social media profile is extremely popular amongst entrepreneurs. According to Radice, “you can share your latest article to your LinkedIn profile, plus any group you manage or belong to that allows you to share your own content. Many groups on LinkedIn, Facebook and Google_ frown on ‘link dropping’ so make sure to read the group rules before making that mistake.”

4. Utilize YouTube. If it’s one thing that people seem to love using the internet for, it’s watching videos. Can you somehow turn your blog post into a video? Radice notes that blogs that contain lists of tips – and, as you can tell, we have many ourselves! – are perfect for video blogs. “Take one tip and share it in a quick 15-30 second video,” she suggests, “Then direct viewers to your site for further information on the subject.”

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07 Mar

5 More Ways To Boost Business Using Social Media

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 07.03.14 by John Meloche

Social MediaAre you following Synergy Marketing on Twitter yet? If you follow us, we’ll follow you back! This is just one of the ways that we are boosting our commitment to being more social through social media. According to Karen Bivand on TheMompreneur.com, this practice is one the key methods of boosting business online. When you support others, they are a lot more likely to support you.

In yesterday’s blog, we listed a number of Bivand’s tips – including that one – in an effort to help our readers get a better handle on how to better utilize social media to their advantage. After all, we’re still trying to do the same around here! Links to our blogs are always posted on our Facebook and Twitter profiles. But we’re doing a little bit more than just that these days.

Our blog links come with questions that we hope our friends and followers will be curious to know the answers to. This is often a top tip when it comes to using social media – engaging your audience by asking questions and encouraging them to join in the conversation. In today’s blog, we’ll review a few more of Bivand’s tips on how to use social media to build your brand.

Join LinkedIn Groups. “Try to find LinkedIn groups that attract a lot of your customers,” suggests Bivand, “Once you are a member of these groups, you are able to directly contact other members of the group. By starting and participating in discussions on these groups, you can showcase your expertise and make real connections.” LinkedIn is widely known as a great way to build your business contacts.

Post polls on Facebook. If one thing is true about Facebook, it has become a place where people love to share their opinions. By holding a poll, you will encourage customers to respond with their thoughts which will inevitably drive a lot more traffic to your page. Make your questions simple and related to your business, advises Bivand. It could be as easy as asking people about their favourite things to eat.

Post tips on Twitter. The Synergy Marketing Blog, as you may have noticed, is a place where you can find a whole lot of tips. But Bivand mentions that even though you’re limited to 140 characters, using Twitter to offer tips can be very useful. Simply post relevant information that is innovative and interesting and you’re bound to get some attention for it.

Offer online deals and discounts. Earlier this week, we blogged about how much people love getting things for free. And that is certainly true. But people also enjoy getting things at discounted prices. Imagine the number of friends and followers you will get if you offer them special promotions and discounts. This is a great way to drive traffic to both your site as well as your physical place of business.

Start a blog. Speaking of blogs, our very own has worked wonders for us. It keeps our website and social media pages fresh and shows our audience that we are experts in our field. If you’re unable to find the time to blog for yourself, hire a professional. It won’t cost you a whole lot but the benefits are immeasurable. The bottom line is that growing your business, in this day and age, requires that you properly use social media.

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06 Mar

5 Ways Social Media Builds Your Brand

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 06.03.14 by John Meloche

Social MediaHaving recently jumped back on to Twitter, Synergy Marketing is pretty excited about the prospect of connecting with new people all over the world. Our main mission, of course, is to build new relationships with Canadian business owners as they make up our client base. We love helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses using our fantastic promotional products.

But we also love communicating with like-minded individuals who enjoy discussing the industries that they represent. After all, we should all have interests in a variety of business types. We need them all to live our daily lives. Everything from food to entertainment, clothing to office supplies and everything else in between – we’re all customers with many different tastes.

One thing is for sure though. No matter what type of business you run, you need to promote it. And as we’ve found, using social media to promote your business is a no-brainer type of decision. It’s free and easy to do and it inevitably connects you with a much wider audience than if you weren’t online. On TheMompreneur.com, Karen Bivand offers some tips on how to make social media work to build your brand.

Hold a Colouring Contest on Facebook. Now here’s an original idea! Bivand suggests that an excellent way to interact with your customers is to get their children involved. Encourage a contest where children get the opportunity to upload their art on your Facebook page to enable people to vote for their favourite piece. You’re bound to get more visits to your page than ever before!

Have a Twitter raffle. As Bivand points out, Twitter is a great tool for reaching a large audience quickly. The more you persuade people to tweet about your business, the more potential customers you’re bound to attract. She suggests that you ask your followers a question and encourage them to respond using your handle and hashtag. Select a winner from those who participate and enjoy an entirely new group of followers!

Scan thank you letters and post them on Facebook. Facebook is a go-to destination for those who enjoy looking at pictures and videos. Bivand suggests that your showcase the personal connection you’ve made between your business and its customers by sharing their letters on Facebook. Simply take a picture of your most kind letters and upload them for the rest of the world to see how great you are!

Make YouTube videos. YouTube is also wildly popular. As mentioned, people love watching videos online. This is especially true if they are short and interesting, says Bivand. Create videos of yourself demonstrating your products or discussing your services. Be interesting and affable to encourage people to not only watch the video but support your business.

Support other people’s initiatives. To truly utilize social media effectively, you have to be social! As Bivand explains, “to be effective of on social media, you need to build relationships…You will notice that people regularly ask for support on social media…If you do your best to support people in this way, you will find that they are much more willing to support you.”

Be sure to check out tomorrow’s blog, as we look into some more ways to boost your business using social media.

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24 Oct

Becoming An Expert Social Media Communicator

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 24.10.13 by John Meloche

Social media seems to be a hot topic this month. Well, to be honest, it’s been a hot topic for quite some time simply because social media are used to discuss hot topics! This week, we’ve been looking at articles that promote the use of social media for business marketing. Earlier this month, Ian Lurie wrote on Entrepreneur.com that using social media the right way, can get your business boosted in a big way.

It’s all about doing the “little things”, he says. And while admitting that there is “no shortcut to success”, utilizing your social networking profiles to the best of your ability will help to increase your brand awareness in ways you likely never imagined. This is especially true considering that following his list of tips will cost you absolutely nothing. Advertising your business for free can’t be a bad thing, can it?

It’s all about being a good communicator, Lurie says. It needs to be constantly reiterated that social media is all about socializing. As he puts it, it is “really a crowd of people talking – usually to each other.” So how do you “cut through the noise and really engage with people”? How do you avoid turning people off while simply trying to inform them of what your business does? Lurie offers his tips.

Write well. When you’re posting on your Facebook and Twitter profiles on behalf of your business, it’s important to not just use proper punctuation and grammar, but the right tone as well. You want to “write in a comfortable voice, not a formal one,” says Lurie. Keep it short and concise when possible and be sure you’re confident in what you’re saying before sending your message out into the world.

Use images when it makes sense. People do love their pictures. And as Lurie reports, posts with images get approximately two to three times more interest. However, you don’t want to add pictures to your posts simply for the sake of adding pictures. Make sure they are relevant to your post. Remember, they don’t all have to be directly related to your business. It’s all about getting people interested in your topic.

Utilize video. As much as people love pictures, they seem to love videos twice as much. Is it any wonder that sites such as YouTube and Vimeo are so popular? Nothing attracts an audience like an interesting video. Share videos that make sense. And while you’re choosing your videos, make sure that they are in keeping with the type of audience you are looking to attract. You don’t want to offend anyone.

Take advantage of all social networks. According to Lurie, there’s really no limit to the number of different social media profiles you can have. Facebook and Twitter are among the most popular, but there are several more sites out there. From Google+ to LinkedIn to SlideShare, there are various sites that can help your business expand its reach across cyberspace.

Respond immediately. “If someone asks a question or proposes an alternate viewpoint, answer them quickly,” writes Lurie, “This gives people the impression you care about their needs and are responsive.” It is also the entire purpose of social media. They give business owners direct links to their customers and the unique ability to keep in constant touch. Make use of this great invention!

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22 Oct

Making The Most Of Social Networking

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 22.10.13 by John Meloche

snAdvertising is important. We all know that. And using social media to advertise your brand is definitely a wise move. We all know that too. But do we know how to properly use social media to our advantage? The key to social media is to actually be social. Sure, we could go on Facebook and Twitter every day to simply plug our businesses, but would that actually work?

The consensus seems to be that it doesn’t. Instead of simply plugging away on social media, it’s important to actually engage people in conversations. Getting people talking is what will earn you “likes” and “followers”. And the more people you get to “like” and “follow” your company, the more opportunities you will have to turn them into buying customers. This is how social media really works.

Think about how generic advertising works. Do commercials really speak directly to you? On Entrepreneur.com, Tukan Das poses the question this way: “When was the last time you saw a billboard, TV or a print ad and said to yourself, ‘Wow that brand really cares about me and I am going to buy that product?’ Let me guess: Never.” Big corporations, asserts Das, prefer to “play it safe”.

In other words, bigger businesses tend to stay away from engaging with their customers in public forums. So giant billboards, television commercials, radio spots and print ads do all of the advertising for these companies – it’s all impersonal. There is no direct contact between customer and company. And in the increasingly-computer-savvy world that we live in, this type of advertising simply doesn’t cut it.

“Revenue from traditional advertisement channels are at an all time low,” reports Das. So the need to use social media to your advantage is clearly at an all time high. Not only is it proving to be successful, but it’s a lot cheaper as well. And by cheaper, we mean free! Setting up a Facebook and Twitter account costs nothing. What it will make you, however, has no limits.

“It’s important to not only look at social media as a channel to get your message out there but also as a way to truly build meaningful relationships with potential and existing customers,” writes Das. And with that, he provides a couple of ways that your company can make the most out of its social networking efforts. Make notes of these tips and see if they don’t help you.

Look beyond direct brand mentions. Be aggressive, he insists. People inquire about making purchases on line every single day. Too often, companies overlook these conversations. Don’t just monitor social media, get involved in social media. Take part in these conversations and offer examples of your expertise. Your “inadvertent” approach to advertising your business will pay off.

Start a conversation naturally. You don’t have to just join conversations, you can start them yourself! It’s like dating, says Das. Don’t try to come on too strong. Simply spark a meaningful conversation by asking a question. There’s no need to be too pushy. Don’t go for the sell too fast. Reel people in with intriguing conversation and they will be interested in getting to know more about your brand.

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