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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14 Nov

5 Creative Ways To Market Your Brand Through Social Media

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 14.11.14 by John Meloche

Social MediaOne of the reasons that we enjoy blogging so much, here at Synergy Marketing, is that it has really helped us to stay active on social media. Admittedly, when we first opened our Facebook and Twitter accounts, we found it difficult to gain fans and followers. But with a new blog each business day of the week, we’ve helped ourselves to attain more attention. We’ve also practiced the art of following back and retweeting every now and then.

Of course, there’s much more to our blogging than social media activity. We learn quite a lot from the research we do online. We enjoy sharing our ideas on the plethora of information that we find and love helping out our readers in the process. Today’s blog is no different. In fact, not only do we seek to provide you with more valuable information about how to market your business, but we’re also interested in ways that we can do a better job at promoting our own.

On Wordstream.com, Megan Marrs offers up some creative ways to market your business through social media. Be sure to check out Synergy Marketing’s Facebook and Twitter pages to see if we’re taking advantage of these tips ourselves! We’re sure, however, that it takes a lot more than simply posting links to blogs and clicking “like” every now and again. So let’s look at some of those tips, shall we? Here are five.

1. Push your handles. “If you’re really looking to bump up those Twitter followers, you can’t be afraid to be a bit shameless,” advises Marrs. Well, at least we have this one down right! By our count, we’ve already mentioned our Facebook and Twitter accounts twice in this very blog. Better make that three times! Marrs recommends that you include your social media addresses on your business cards be sure to reveal them any time you speak at a conference.

2. Join in on weekly hashtag themes. The more you use hashtags, the better. We admit that this is a practice that we need to adopt. So we’ve given it a shot all week long. Marrs points out popular hashtag themes like #ThrowbackThursday are good ones to participate in. “If you want to build your social media following, you need to be an active participant in the community,” she writes, “This means posting regularly, and also joining in on fun weekly social media traditions that already have a loyal audience.”

3. Pin your own images (and others). See, we knew that Facebook and Twitter weren’t be-all-end-alls of the social media world. You can’t forget Pinterest. Marrs insists that you “don’t underestimate the value of this image-sharing site. Post your strongest visual assets (templates, infographics, etc) on Pinterest and link them to your webpages for some serious traffic.” Pictures have always been popular. But pictures that can be seen online seem to be all the rage these days!

4. Vines. Have you heard of Vine? Marrs describes it a “largely under-utilized” app that allows you to post 6-second video clips. As much as people love pictures, they seem love videos that much more. On Wired.com, Mat Honan writes that “It sounds boring, I know. It sounds like Socialcam or Viddy or any number of Instagram-for-video attempts. It’s not. It’s fundamentally different. And it’s amazing.”

5. Keep social tabs on competitors. Of course, it’s not just about using all of these social networking platforms. It’s all about how you use them that will make the difference. “Facebook business pages allow you to follow other accounts via the Pages to Watch feature,” writes Marrs, “Follow your competitors and see what they post, and which of their posts get the most shares and likes. See what works and follow their lead.”

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18 Sep

6 Free Social Networking Platforms That Grow Your Business

Posted in Social Media, Synergy Suggestions on 18.09.14 by John Meloche

Globe with pointers and network signals, Social media network coIn yesterday’s blog, we continued down our path of “free online promotion” blogs by taking a look at some ideas that small business owners can use to boost their businesses using the internet. It’s a lot easier than you think – and cheaper too! Obviously, it doesn’t get much cheaper than “free”. But, of course, some of the ideas take a bit of effort and creativity. After all, we’re living in a world where people flock to the internet more than ever.

That means that if your brand doesn’t have a strong internet presence, it’s practically non-existent. On SearchEngineWatch.com, Carrie Hill says as much by listing 30 different ways that entrepreneurs can promote their businesses online for free. Among them are ideas to show off your expertise in your field by writing “how-to” articles or better yet, filming “how-to” videos. There are, however, some specific sites that are among the most popular ways in the world to spread the word. Here are our top six.

1. Get on Facebook. This is a tip that we’ve been following for some time now. Facebook is arguably the most popular social networking site in the world. Even Hill admits that “Facebook is so much more robust than it ever was!” and suggests that you “create groups, events, and photo albums. Link to your Facebook profile from your site and allow visitors to your site to like and share your content.”

2. Get on Twitter. Right up there with Facebook is Twitter when it comes to world’s most popular social networking platforms. And yes, this is a tip that we follow ourselves. Each and every business day, we post links to our blogs on both our Facebook and Twitter pages in an effort to drive more traffic to our site. “Start Twittering or start doing it much better than you are now – it’s a great way to network with like-minded individuals,” insists Hill.

3. Get on Pinterest. According to its website, “Pinterest is a visual discovery tool that you can use to find ideas for all your projects and interests.” And as Hill explains, “Pinterest is hot right now. If you have visually stimulating content that is relevant to the site’s demographic, you can find great success right now. Be sure you’re using solid practices for marketing on Pinterest as you get started.”

4. Get on Google+. According to its website, “Google+ is a place to connect with friends and family, and explore all of your interests.” “Build a Google+ page for your business and follow businesses that are related to your product or service niche,” writes Hill, “Share informative and relative content and link to your profile from your website. You should also consider allowing users to +1 your content on a page by page basis.”

5. Get on Flickr. In yesterday’s blog, we mentioned how much people love watching videos online. However, that doesn’t mean that the still picture has lost its lustre! Flickr offers “picture galleries available with social networking, chat, groups, and photo ratings,” the site describes. Hill advises that you should “share your photos at Flickr – get a profile, write descriptions, and link to your website. Don’t share photos you don’t own or have permission to use.”

6. Get on Instagram. While this particular tip didn’t make Hill’s list, it should not be left off of ours. Instagram is a widely popular website and app that people use daily to post photos. As the site describes itself, “Instagram is a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends and family.” Take pictures of your products and post them with descriptions of just how great they are. The possibilities are endless!

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17 Sep

Up Your Online Game To Boost Business

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 17.09.13 by John Meloche

Online-marketing-signAs Peter Walters says on the Business Review Canada website, promoting your small business isn’t just important, it’s essential to its success. Naturally, this is something that business owners think about on a daily basis. At least, they should be, anyway. It’s important that a business owner’s thinking never stays stagnant. Just being happy to get by is no way to promote longevity.

Walters insists that there are three simple areas that business owners should focus on when it comes to promoting their brands. Interestingly, there is a clear focus on the concept of online marketing. It’s been highlighted many times, in the Synergy Marketing Blog, that a strong online presence is a key component to good business promotion these days.

Website. Too many companies neglect to give their websites proper attention, says Walters. Both the design of the site and the user interface should be addressed. Strong websites can work to both drive sales and boost the images of brands. It’s widely known that most Canadian shoppers enjoy browsing online before visiting stores. Is your website encouraging people to visit you?

“Where do your eyes go first when you get to your home page?” Walters asks, “Is there an immediate call to action?” You website needs to be bright, compelling and able to draw customers deeper in so that they learn more, he continues. The longer a potential customer spends taking a look at your website, the better chance you have of converting browsing into selling.

Email Blasts. Email marketing is still quite popular despite what some strategists believe, Walters reports. It’s important, however, not to get lost in the shuffle by having your emails appear as spam. Therefore, business owners should make their emails seem personal, relevant and “human”, he recommends. That way, they will be a lot more worth reading.

As many business owners know, relationship-building is a major part of any company’s success. Effective email marketing includes messages that treat recipients as people, not just customers who may be willing to spend their money. Email blasts are inexpensive ways to get the word out, no matter how many people are receiving that word. Just make sure that the word is an enjoyable one to read!

Social Media. There is likely no list of marketing tips out there that exclude the use of social media. “If you’re not using social media…wake up!” insists Walters. That includes using such “top tools” as Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Each social media site has its own unique purposes. And there are various ways to use them to the advantage of your company.

Using social media is the ideal way to speak directly to your customers. Engaging in conversations and encouraging discussion are big parts of what make social media so successful. Leave comments, post pictures, share stories, answer questions and “like” other pages – these are all ways to garner more interest and drum up more business. Social media offer people free access to the world. Use them well!

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