How To Go Viral on Instagram: Instagram Reels

Instagram claims that over 200 million of its users visit a business profile at least once a day, making it a useful platform to grow your consumer base. Because there is so much content posted on there, though, you might be having a hard time reaching a large audience.

The good news is Instagram recently came out with a feature called “reels,” which is perfect for marketing your business. These are 15-second clips that you can polish off with music and special effects.

To know how to go viral on Instagram, you’ll need to learn some tips and tricks first. Keep reading to get the inside scoop.

How to Use Instagram Reels

Once you’ve got your business profile established, making an Instagram reel is pretty simple. To get to the reels feature, click on your profile picture.

When your camera opens, click the “reels” button at the bottom of the screen. Just hold down the grey capture button to start filming.

If you want to break your video into clips, take your finger off the button, prepare the next shot and then press down again. With the timer countdown option, it only takes one person to film the reel.

As a business account, you can post your reels to your grid and your stories, as well as to the “Explore” page that Instagram just created. The Explore page is where any user can stumble across your reel and where you can become a featured pick. If you receive a notification saying that your reel is featured, that means the algorithm thinks it’s high-quality and will suggest it to more users.

How to Go Viral on Instagram

Coming up with ideas for your Instagram reels means that you need to balance trendiness and authenticity. You want to stand out from the crowd and establish a unique voice.

Because you only have ten seconds before the viewer decides to click off, you’ll need to hook them with a compelling opening line, like you would in a book. From there, you should find a creative way to showcase your brand, products, and services while incorporating popular aesthetics.

Furthermore, keep your audience in the back of your mind when you are creating content. You wouldn’t make the same types of videos for people in their early thirties as you would for teenagers. Look at your Instagram Analytics to gain a better understanding of who’s watching your videos.

Do you remember when hashtags were just for fun? Now, they’re a smart way to get your reels featured on multiple pages. Create a hashtag for your company and sprinkle in some more general ones to gain a wider following.

The last thing to keep in mind when you want to go viral is to engage with your audience and other brands. When your customers tag you in a post, leave a comment.

When their followers see that your page is active, they’ll be more interested in following you. It might be a bit more work on your end, but it is worth the results.

Keep Making Content

Joseph Kenney, a digital strategist with 316 Strategy Group, recommends the following:

1. Create videos you enjoy making.
2. Unleash your creativity. Don’t hold back. Get outside of your comfort zone.
3. Level-up your audio and visual equipment.
4. Stay consistent.
5. Don’t give up.

Kenney says, “The more content you make, the higher a chance you have of going viral.” Continue to crank out quality content to keep consumers coming back, and before you know it, you might have multiple trending videos.

Part of courage is simply staying consistent. ~ Joseph Kenney

Now that you know how to go viral on Instagram, you might be looking to hire a marketing and consulting firm to help you out. Check out 316 Strategy Group’s social media services today, and your Instagram reel views will start to soar in no time. If you need assistance crafting an award-winning strategy for your Instagram account, please reach out to one of our strategic consultants.

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Marketing To Baby Boomers: A Guide To Success

Is your company marketing to baby boomers? Maybe the better question is, should they be marketing to baby boomers? A recent study exposed the truth that “these ‘generations’ are simply random collections of people who share no special connection beyond when they were born. Marketing managers need to remember that not all baby boomers are going to be a relevant audience for your brand.

Social Media Segmentation

Marketing managers seeking to connect with new customers in 2021 must consider social media segmentation. Segmenting baby boomers can offer richer, and more relevant foundations for defining audiences beyond simple demographics and labeling them a baby boomer. We recommend defining groups of consumers beyond a demographic age alone and move toward defining them in terms of consumer passions and hobbies. By doing so, your company will be more likely to attract a cross-generational audience, which can lead to new opportunities and a stronger bottom line.

Marketing to baby boomers is often undervalued and certainly misunderstood. ~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group 

Pinterest For Baby Boomers

Yes, it’s true that over 70% of all baby boomers are on Facebook but we encourage you to look beyond Facebook and consider the benefits of Pinterest. This wildly popular social media platform has the strongest penetration among baby boomers of any non-Facebook social media platform. Why you may ask? Pinterest has been an obvious outlet for DIY, projects, and hobbies. After all, retired baby boomers have more time on their hands. Marketing to baby boomers is easier than you think with Pinterest. Give it a try, you’ll be glad you did!

Include Boomers In Your Creative

Poorly thought out marketing campaigns often depict boomers as old. In a recent survey by AARP, they found that just 5% of marketing material showed older generations interacting with technology. This is hardly the truth. Nearly 70% of boomers between the ages of 55-73 own a smartphone. Your business can quickly curate thousands of images depicting boomers in a more accurate light.

Bolster Online Reviews

We recommend all businesses capture online reviews but did you know online reviews influence boomers’ purchasing decisions more than any other online source? We recommend maximizing your ability to capture reviews on your Google My Business platform. This easy to use review system will be familiar to most boomers who are already using the Google platform as a search engine and to read restaurant and business reviews.

Target Baby Boomers by Passion & Hobbies

Marketing to baby boomers is never effective when you’re targeting by age alone. If you’re serious about connecting with baby boomers in 2021 then target them by passions or hobbies—not simply by age. Utilize the rich data and analytics of each social media platform to take your marketing to new heights, drive revenue, and increase profits in the new year!

Connect With 316 Strategy Group

316 Strategy Group is a multi-award-winning strategic consulting firm. Their focus is on growing businesses through a variety of digital services. Whether you’re an owner of a small mom & pop shop or an executive at a mid-sized company, 316 Strategy Group uses a creative approach to helping you connect with your customer base. With operations in Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, and Nashville 316 Strategy Group are perfectly suited to help you increase profits in the new year. We encourage you to set up a free consultation with one of our strategic consultants today! With a clear strategy for marketing to baby boomers, you’ll be off to the races in the new year!

We’re excited to help you create a winning strategy in your efforts to effectively target market the baby boomer generation.

www.316StrateygGroup.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

 

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Hiring an SEO Company: The Benefits for Your Business

Hiring an SEO company will drive revenue and increase the profits you earn.

In 2021, it’s no secret that Search Engine Optimization plays a critical role in the success of a business. SEO helps build traffic and authority, boost your brand, and raise visibility to prospective customers already searching for you.

SEO Will Help Your Business

1. Build traffic
2. Increase authority
3. Boost your brand
4. Raise visibility
5. Drive revenue
6. Earn profit

But should you tackle search engine optimization yourself or is it better to hire an SEO company with years of experience?

What benefits do these SEO companies deliver for you to consider investing in their services? Yes, these experts bring experience and training to the table but what does that really do for your business?

These are all great questions to be asking. We’ll dive into several key aspects of why you should seriously consider hiring a professional SEO company!

A strategic partnership with a professional SEO company will take your business to new heights and drive massive revenue growth. ~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group

It’s Not About Traffic, It’s About Raising Profits For Your Business

A common misconception is that search engine optimization should help boost website traffic. Yes, that’s true but only one part of the equation. SEO should also be about raising profits, too. At the end of the day, your business must be profitable to survive.

Here’s something to consider: Think of the thousands of people who visit your site but no one purchases your products or subscribes to your lists, then there’s still something inherently wrong with your SEO efforts. Your bounce rate is still too high in comparison to your overall profits. It’s a frustrating scenario known all too well to entrepreneurs everywhere.

Hiring a company that specializes in SEO prevents businesses from experiencing this frustration. They know you hired them to work on your company’s SEO so that you’ll drive more revenue and earn more profits, not less. Pretty simple, right?

SEO Companies Have Better Tools

Most business owners have never stopped to consider how much time and money it’d cost their business to get all the necessary tools to run a successful SEO campaign? You’d need tools like copywriters, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, Google Analytics, SemRush, Alexa, and more.

SEO experts have these tools and hiring an expert in SEO, like 316 Strategy Group, also guarantees access to their tools. After all, they need these tools to help you and your business drive revenue and earn profits!

Being search engine optimization experts in the field, they won’t use free or cheap tools. As a client of 316 Strategy Group, you get the guarantee that they rely on the most efficient tools in the field. As technology advances and the tools change, SEO experts upgrade their tools.

Efficiency In Data Tracking

SEO experts track data. It’s a big part of SEO and for good reason. A strong SEO strategy monitors which pages on your website perform better and why, the activities of your website visitors, and which keywords or keyword phrases perform better than others. The monitoring of page speed, link authority, and the performance of each backlink plays into the overall strategy.

Hiring an SEO company ensures you don’t miss a key component. After all, there’s a lot to track. Experts in the field know what to prioritize and can quickly alter their strategy based on new data, performance, changes in the business, and algorithm changes. You’ll waste a lot of valuable time trying to figure this information out on your own. Inefficient use of time reduces revenue and overall profits in a business.

Drive Revenue & Save Money

SEO takes time and commitment. Ethical strategies are never overnight success stories. The sooner your business gets started the faster you can drive revenue and profits to your business.

Effective search engine optimization requires time and commitment. ~ Joseph Kenney, 316 Strategy Group

Hiring search engine optimization experts to ensure that you hit your SEO and revenue goals faster and for a lower cost than if you had purchased the tools and attempted SEO on your own. The DIY route isn’t cheaper. You may not spend as much upfront but think of the losses when you realize you did steps incorrectly, created future problems on your website, and the missed opportunities.

 

Hire the Best SEO Company

It’s to your advantage to hire the best SEO company. They have the tools to help your business succeed. They have the training, the SEO tools, and years of experience. Remember, they’re experts for a reason.

Contacting a company like 316 Strategy Group to help determine your SEO goals is the next best step towards driving revenue and profits in the new year. Contact Christopher Slater at 402-881-2811 to request a FREE SEO AUDIT.

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Business Logo: 7 Reasons To Crush It

A great business logo helps you cut through the noise. According to digital marketing professionals, the average person views around 4,000  to 10,000 advertisements per day. Consumers are flooded with messages all indicating why their service is the best- making it increasingly difficult for you to be found. A killer business logo will help you crush your goals and conquer your dreams.

With that being said, there is a way to distinguish yourself online and in everyday life- just by using a trusted business logo.

Design is the silent ambassador of your brand & great business logos tell simple stories.

~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group

You may be wondering why logos are important when consumers get more value out of a product or service itself. This guide outlines several reasons how a business logo can benefit your company and help you remain memorable to users.

#1 – Displays Your Identity

Your company logo is the first step to defining your brand’s identity. After establishing an emotional connection with your target audience, you can then branch off and design other elements of your brand.

These include landing pages, business cards, and social media pages. Additionally, to begin crafting your logo, you should choose elements that reflect your company’s story.

These elements include creative aspects such as font, colors, and tones.

For example, you can design your business logo to contain images of products or services you offer. A moving company may use a truck or unique symbol in combination with appealing colors to attract consumers.

#2 – Acts as an Effective Marketing Tool

If nothing less, a logo is the best marketing tool you can have for your business. Besides online marketing platforms and your company site, your logo can be displayed pretty much anywhere.

Displaying your logo on merchandise, packing products and billboards are a few options that may spark interest from new consumers. Also, with the right design, you can market your logo to help build a community.

For example, companies like Starbucks create brand loyalty through high-quality logo branding. For this reason, the Starbucks logo has become a symbol of status amongst consumers across the world.

Although it is a coffee company, consumers have begun representing their brand through customized cups and clothing.

#3 – Sets You Apart From Your Competition

A unique business logo design explains to your consumers why you are different than your competitors. Depending on your industry, you may have a more difficult time achieving this.

Industries like grocery stores or coffee shops are two of the most common industries that struggle with this. With that being said, your logo is a perfect opportunity to showcase what sets you apart from the rest.

Maybe you use organic products or are super conscious about being environmentally friendly. Regardless of what makes you unique, you should always use it to your advantage. It shows consumers why you are a better choice over your competition.

#4 – Grabs Attention

Capturing the attention of your customers is becoming more and more difficult due to an increase in products in an already over-saturated market. According to a 2019 study, an abundance of information is a direct cause of narrowing attention spans.

This is where a unique and eye-catching logo can benefit your business.

A good logo will be memorable even to consumers with the shortest attention spans. Ideally, your logo should be simple enough to appeal to the user while conveying your company’s core values.

If your logo is designed strategically, a few seconds is all you’ll need to resonate with consumers.

#5 – Builds Trust With Consumers

One of the less obvious benefits of logos is the trust they build with your consumers. Your target audience is already expecting you to have one, as they represent you in the digital world.

With the right design, customers can be persuaded to trust your company over a competitor. For example, using soft and inviting colors may increase a consumer’s likelihood of investing in your business.

Alternatively, if your logo is too crowded or has an unclear message, consumers may become overwhelmed and take their business elsewhere.

#6 – Showcases Your Professionalism

A professionally designed logo shows consumers that you value your public appearance. This is critical when consumers are initially forming an opinion on your company.

For this reason, you should always seek professional services when designing your logo. A sloppy design can be easily spotted by your customers- making it something to avoid at all costs. 316 Strategy Group is an award-winning company that has designed thousands of graphics and logos for clients in Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, Nashville, and beyond.

#7 – Establishes a Consistent Appearance

Some of the most successful worldwide brands use their logo as a statement piece. The most notable example of this technique is Apple.

Apple has branded itself to be one of the most widely recognized brands worldwide. Consumers are able to name their brand upon a single glace. In general, this makes it much more likely that it will capture, and hold, their attention.

To achieve a similar appearance, you need to create consistency with your logo. This can be applied across social media platforms and print marketing.

When you market content with the same image, you show consumers that the information is reliable and from a verified source.

Also, a consistent brand image builds your reputation within a community made up of your target consumers. Your audience is then able to interpret your messages in the same manner as other content put out by your brand.

As a whole, your logo acts as much more than an image attached to your company. It is the rubber-stamp of approval your customers look for when seeking information and updates on your service.

Drafting Your Business Logo Design

At the end of the day, owning your company’s unique brand voice is what will help you set your business apart. With a killer business logo and a carefully crafted marketing plan, you’re sure to resonate with your intended audience.

At 316 Strategy Group, we focus on helping you design and market your business using an effective approach custom to your company.

Whether you’re struggling with a concept or know just the design you’d like, we are here to help you meet those needs. For more information on our business logo design or style guide services feel free to contact us through our site.

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What Is the Main Difference Between SEO and SEM?

“Knowing the difference between SEO and SEM is important for business owners to understand,” said Christopher Slater, a digital strategist with 316 Strategy Group. He says getting started on a digital marketing campaign can be a little tricky, if only because there’s so much terminology that seems similar and overlaps in a number of areas.

“Once you get everything down, though, digital marketing can be the key to your business’ success,” said Slater. “We’re going to explore the difference between SEO and SEM in this article, giving you a framework from which to move forward with your understanding of digital marketing.”

Slater lays out the ideas below and hopefully can give you a general look at how to use these essential practices to grow your business.

Let’s get started:

Understanding the Difference Between SEO and SEM

SEO stands for search engine optimization, while SEM stands for search engine marketing.

They’re a little confusing because both methods of marketing your business aim toward drawing more traffic through different processes on the web. The key difference between SEO and SEM, though, is that one is paid and the other is organic.

Search engine marketing uses different methods of paid advertising to expose your brand to new and interested audiences. We’ll explore those methods a little more in a moment.

SEO and SEM nicely compliment each other. Our team will develop an individual strategy catered to your business or non-profit ~ Christopher Slater, 316 Strategy Group

Search engine optimization uses a number of practices to produce relevant content that’s optimized for specific terms. Additionally, there are a lot of things we do on the back end that help websites appear more relevant to the search engine algorithm.

Generally, search engine optimization uses what we know about the search engine algorithm to tailor websites with the aim of ranking higher in search results.

Let’s take a look at these two concepts in a little more detail.

Search Engine Marketing

The various paid methods of advertising your business are very effective at drawing traffic to your pages.

Search engines and social media sites make money, primarily, through the use of their various advertising platforms. In most cases, these ads show up on our feeds as sponsored posts or advertisements.

You might have noticed that these pieces of content in our search results or social media feeds have grown more relevant to you over time. In other words, you might be more likely to actually click on an ad now than you were five years ago.

This is because social media platforms and search engines gather a great deal of personal information about us and use that information to help advertisers target their market audiences.

It’s a little unsettling to think about sometimes, but it’s the truth that personal information makes marketing your business online exceptionally easy.

Additionally, it’s one of the cheapest ways to get your name out there. PPC advertising is the most common form of SEM. PPC stands for “pay-per-click,” and it only charges you when your content is engaged with.

Understanding PPC

Most search engines and social media platforms have an option for pay-per-click advertisements.

Once you have your target audience selected and know the keyword phrase that you’d like to optimize for, you can create the advertisement independently or by using one of your existing posts.

That post will only be displayed to people in the group that you’ve selected. Each platform charges different rates for engagements, but it tends to be the case that you’re charged a few cents every time you receive an engagement.

In some cases, that could mean that each post costs thousands of dollars, but the flip side is that thousands of dollars on one ad equates to dozens of thousands of engagements from users.

That doesn’t take into account the massive number of people that saw the ad but didn’t click on it. Further, you don’t have to spend any more than you’d like to.

Say that an advertisement takes off and wracks up a high number of engagements. You could keep displaying that ad forever and accumulating a larger bill, but a pre-set budget cap removes the ad from circulation once you’ve spent your limit.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization takes an entirely different route to achieve results.

As we mentioned before, SEO is the process of creating your website to fit into the specifications that the search engine algorithm lays out. There’s no real explanation from Google as to the exact factors in the algorithm, but they’ve given us enough to work with.

We know a few key elements of the algorithm and have used time and experience as a guide to determine which factors change rankings and which do not.

One overarching principle that guides the algorithm is value to users. Google, just like any other business, seeks to provide its users with the most relevant product to try and keep their business.

If Google starts slipping and another search engine takes its place, they will have failed. So, their algorithm is excellent at identifying what is most relevant and valuable to a particular user search.

Search engine optimization, just like the search engine algorithm, starts with the user’s keyword phrase.

Keyword Research and Content

Good keyword research can tell businesses a lot about what their customers are interested in online. You can look at who’s searching particular keyword phrases, examine the competition in rankings for that term, and decide how to make content in response.

The optimal keyword phrase is one that’s popular but has little competition from other businesses. That way, you can know that you have a good chance of ranking and your efforts won’t be out shadowed by large corporations or other successful businesses.

You then create content that’s optimized for that particular phrase. Naturally, the content has to be related to that term as well. Most importantly, it has to provide some real value to users, not just be well-optimized.

As it all starts to pan out, the process becomes very time consuming and costly to do on your own. That’s where we come in.

Need a Little Digital Marketing Help?

Hopefully, our exploration of the difference between SEO and SEM helped you get a decent grasp of how the digital marketing process works. If you’re thinking that you might not have the time to manage this process on your own, we’re here to help. Please give me a call directly to learn more about what working with a professional agency can do to boost your business’ bottom line.

Contact me, Christopher Slater, directly at 402-881-2811 or click on this link to schedule a confidential conversation and a free audit.

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TikTok for Business: How TikTok Can Drive Traffic

TikTok for business? Yes! Aside from the obvious, the explosion of TikTok’s popularity helped define 2020. From dance crazes to lip-sync videos, TikTok!

This wildly popular social media platform, mostly favored by Generation Z but growing across all demographics. TikTok has 800 million monthly active users.

The platform lets users share short, viral videos. In some ways, it’s like the 6-second looping videos of the short-lived Vine platform. Recently, Instagram launched its Reels function to compete with TikTok.

TikTok has been downloaded over 2 billion times and has over 800 million users. You can no longer ignore those statistics if you’re a business owner. ~ Joseph Kenney, 316 Strategy Group

TikTok is perfect if your business targets Generation Z customers but don’t overlook this platform for other platforms, too. TikTok can be an excellent addition to your social media strategy.

Wondering how to use TikTok for business? This guide covers content ideas, how to find followers, and paid advertising options.

What Content Works Well on TikTok?

Other platforms often reward original thinking. Look at Medium, which prizes your innovative thoughts and writing. Or Youtube with its love of controversy. It can be daunting to figure out what to post on these platforms.

It’s much easier to capture the zeitgeist on TikTok. That’s because the platform loves a trend. Witness all the dance trend TikToks on the app.

Users might replicate existing TikToks, or create their own spin-offs. By using the hashtag for the trend, your TikTok appears in the feed.

Look at high-performing or trending hashtags. Where can you identify areas where your brand can create a TikTok? Which trends align with your brand values? Do these trends also appeal to your target customers?

This is where you can get started creating TikToks. It’s a good way to try the platform out without a large investment of time or money.

Brand Voice

You can also focus on carving out a niche for your own type of content. This is a good idea if you have an established brand and you want to continue its ‘voice’.

The Washington Post picked up over 400,000 followers in less than a year. Their TikTok focus is more light-hearted and entertaining than their presence on Twitter.

This reveals one of the keys to finding success in TikTok. Find a way to repurpose content to suit the feel and vibe of TikTok.

You can also upload an existing video. If they’re within 60-seconds, you can post them as they are. You’ll need to trim any videos longer than a minute.

Try uploading any videos you have for Instagram Reels. It’s a simple way to get started on the platform.

How Do I Get Followers?

Creating TikToks that combine your unique spin and existing trends is the quickest way to get started. Add trending sounds to boost your chances of TikTok showing your video to other users.

TikTok does take location into account when you publish videos. It prioritizes showing your videos to people in the same location as you.

That makes it a great way to get followers who live in your area. Local brands can capitalize on this to build a local following. You want a loyal, active fanbase that interacts with your TikToks. This will help push your videos to international users.

As with Instagram or Twitter, use niche-specific hashtags. This helps TikTok to show your videos to people who will be interested in your content. The more interested the audience, the more likely they are to interact.

Share Content

Unlike Instagram, TikTok works better when you share content from other users. This makes it closer to Twitter in nature. That’s because it’s a community-based platform.

You have options for sharing content. If you have a branded hashtag, like Nike, share content created by users. This is essentially free advertising, The only effort you need to make is hitting ‘share’.

Or you can share content from hashtags that you use a lot. This is a good way to build a following with users who match your target audience. Share their content because it’s good and you think your followers will enjoy it.

What Is a Good Time to Post on TikTok?

TikTok fiercely guards their algorithm so it’s difficult to ‘game’ the system. This provides a better experience for users and levels the playing field for brands.

That said, there are some commonly held factors about TikTok profiles. The app uses interactions with each video to decide what to show users.

It pushes these to users alongside popular videos. If those first users interact with it, the app pushes the TikTok to more users. And so on.

That’s why good, creative, or unusual content can go viral very quickly. You want to create the kind of content that gets shared, liked, or commented on.

This approach to sharing content means you’ll need to experiment with times of day for posting.

How Do I Use TikTok to Drive Traffic?

At the time of writing, not all users can add a website link in the TikTok bio. You can link to your Instagram feed or Youtube channel. It’s still a great way to drive traffic to your other social media platforms.

Make sure you have your website URL in your Instagram bio. Link to it in every YouTube video, if you have a brand channel.

You can repost your TikToks to your Instagram Stories, giving you new content for an existing account. Other users can also share your TikToks to their Stories. This helps to expand your visibility on Instagram.

Why Should I Use TikTok Marketing?

So far we’ve focused on how to use TikTok for business marketing. Let’s look at several reasons why you should use it in 2021.

It Rewards Innovation

One of the advantages of TikTok is no one has yet figured out a marketing playbook. The platform is young enough to have no definitive strategy but popular enough to make experimentation worth it.

That might sound unappealing. How can you know what works if there’s no specific marketing formula yet?

Look at it from another perspective. Every time a strategy becomes popular on a social media platform, it soon stops working. Everyone races to use it and have a short flurry of success until the platform changes its algorithm.

When you embrace a platform early, you get to define what works for your business.

You Don’t Need a Huge Following

Having a huge following doesn’t guarantee viral status, as it does on platforms like Instagram.

That means you can still aim for millions of views when your account is brand new. It makes it easier to establish a following on TikTok.

Getting views early means you can quickly gauge what content works well. Create more of that and watch your popularity soar.

Content Has a Longer Shelf Life

Be aware that older videos can also go viral. A less-popular hashtag might start trending, pushing your video to the fore.

This is a good factor that differentiates TikTok from other platforms. Content on Twitter and Instagram has a much shorter shelf life. That means you can end up spending a lot of time and effort on content few people see.

Focus on creating good-quality TikToks since you never know which of your videos may suddenly go viral.

The Homemade Aesthetic Works Well

TikTok’s content is made by amateur users in their homes. As a result, the production values are low. The only equipment you need is a smartphone.

That doesn’t mean everything looks terrible. Add filters or Beauty mode to improve your videos before you post them.

You won’t need to invest in a camera crew or expensive editing to create videos. Creating content needn’t take long. Focus on creativity or entertainment over aesthetic values.

This is a great way to use authenticity in your branding. You can embrace a more down-to-earth and approachable form of marketing on TikTok. ‘Playful’ and ‘spontaneous’ are your watchwords.

Using Social Media for Business: A Caveat

You want to be successful in using TikTok in your social media marketing strategy. So you need to remember this fundamental point.

Social media is still essentially social. Look at the brands who’ve done well on other social media platforms.

We’ll use Oreo as an example. In 2013, a blackout hit the Super Bowl. Oreo tweeted a simple image with the tagline, ‘You can still dunk in the dark’.

It was an awesome example of real-time marketing. The image took advantage of the fact people turned to their phones and social media while the game was off the air. The tweet entertained people and provided fun content while also advertising the brand.

How about Burger King? In 2019, they started liking tweets posted by social media influencers back in 2010. Their confusion created a buzz around the brand. It helped Burger King relaunch their funnel cake fries, originally introduced in 2010.

The point is this: people go to social media to be entertained. Maybe they want to share their gripes with the world. They want a connection.

Make sure whatever content you share on TikTok fits the vibe of the platform. Then you’ll earn loyal fans with whatever you post.

Paid Methods for TikTok Advertising

We thought it was best to finish this guide with paid methods for using TikTok for business.

Influencer Marketing

One option is influencer marketing. It works in much the same way that it does on other platforms.

Identify influencers on the app that suit your niche. Do they match your brand values?

If so, approach them about a collaboration. The influencer will dictate how their video works since it needs to fit their brand too.

Yet they might talk about services or products, or post a link to your URL in the description.

Influencers charge more for partnerships when they have more followers. TikTok videos can go viral with fewer followers. So try approaching influencers with smaller audiences first.

A small audience can often be more engaged than a large one.

Sponsor a Hashtag Challenge

TikTok shows these challenges on the Discover page. Users can create their own content and share it on the hashtag.

These are a good option for two reasons. First, users will watch your videos first as you explain the challenge. This is a great way to introduce your brand to a new audience.

Second, this gives you a raft of user-generated content to share on your own account.

These work well for brands that create products people use, like tech.

Brand Takeover

A brand takeover splashes ads on a user’s feed so they’re the first thing the user sees. If they tap the ad, they’re taken to your landing page.

It also means you get a specific category to yourself. The app only allows one ad per category on a daily basis.

This is a great way to drive traffic from the app to your website. Use a custom landing page to help measure conversions from TikTok.

Native Ads

You can also pay to run a video ad between TikToks. The ad can run for up to 15 seconds. The downside is users can skip the ads.

A Brand Lens

Finally, you can create your own filter specific to your brand. Users can then use them in their own videos for a period of ten days.

TikTok will add your filter to the trending list. This gives you a great way to promote your brand through user content.

Experiment with these options as you get more confident with the TikTok platform.

Will You Use TikTok for Business Marketing?

Now you know how to use TikTok for business. It can be a great platform for reaching younger markets and it works well for fun, quirky content.

You can get started without expensive equipment. Head to the Discover page to see what’s trending and put your own spin on it. Track what works well and create more of it.

Once you’ve mastered organic TikTok, try out their paid options. A sponsored hashtag challenge has a lot of benefits for the right brands.

Keen to get help in using the platform? Contact us today to find out how we can help you use TikTok in your marketing.

The post TikTok for Business: How TikTok Can Drive Traffic appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

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How To Dominate SEO in 2021

Dominate SEO in the New Year

Dominate SEO and meet crush your goals in the new year! We’re prospective customers able to find you when searching with Google, Yahoo, or Bing? Is your business positioned in the SERPs where you hoped it’d be? Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) are the pages displayed by search engines in response to a query by a user. The main component of the SERP is the listing of results that are returned by the search engine in response to a keyword query.

If you aren’t where you wanted to be by now, 316 Strategy Group has a solution for you. Don’t worry. You don’t have to let SEO wear you down. It doesn’t have to be as complex as some companies might want you to believe. Sometimes, all it takes is a change in your SEO strategy to take your site from barely bringing in enough visitors to having too many!

Our FREE SEO audit often reveals a laundry list of missed opportunities. The results are often shocking to business owners who’ve been paying an SEO company leading up to our SEO audit.

Here’s a list of commonly missed opportunities for businesses and non-profits.

• Google My Business not set up or optimized.
• SEO plugin not installed or configured.
• Blog articles not being employed.
• Website load speed is slow.
• Not using HTTPS.
• The website is not mobile-friendly.
• Broken links.
• Images on the website are not optimized.
• H1 tags need to be fixed.

Dominate SEO today by requesting a free SEO audit and scheduling a strategy session with one of our SEO strategists.

Search Engine Optimization Takes Time

Most business owners have received phone calls from so-called SEO experts claiming they can take your business to #1 on Google within a couple of days. Run, don’t walk away from these scammers. SEO takes time when done correctly. Our clients typically start to see movement in SERPS (search engine results pages) within a few weeks. Our SEO strategy is a slower and more methodical approach that is in line with the mission of our client.

Recently, a client of ours decided to let us manage their SEO, and within 2 months of their campaign going live, their organic traffic exploded! We developed a custom SEO strategy for them that included the following components:

1. Google My Business Management
2. Strategic Content Creation
3. Link Building
4. Article Syndication

Although this was a competitive niche, we were able to drastically impact our client’s web traffic, almost doubling it over the time they worked with us. Our client invested in a consistent long-term SEO plan and now they’re poised to dominate their niche! Committing to SEO over a long duration of time is what allowed our client to almost 4X their website traffic and sales this past year.

By using a custom SEO strategy that 316 Strategy Group designed for them, they now have an estimated traffic value of $14K+ PER MONTH. That means for them to get the same amount of traffic with paid ads they’d have to pay over $14,000 a month to Google! Their SEO paid for itself quicker than they ever thought possible.

Invest in SEO in 2021

Dominate SEO in the new year by implementing the right SEO strategy. The right SEO strategy can not only move the needle but turbocharge your bottom line. But it’s easy to get confused or spend time implementing the wrong strategy or work with the wrong company.

Sometimes all it takes is a helping hand to point you in the right direction. Our SEO team will conduct a free SEO audit. This is your chance to start your SEO off with a bang in 2021 and we want to help right now. We’d like to take a look at your website and show you what you should be focusing on to get killer results in the new ear.

Simply schedule a call with one of our SEO consultants and we’ll walk you through:

• What’s going on with your site currently
• Where you should be focusing your efforts to grow your traffic
• Your keyword opportunities
• The plan to get more traffic in 2021

Just click below to request your free SEO audit and book your complimentary 2021 SEO strategy session with us.

Click here to schedule a free SEO audit now! 

316 Strategy Group is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska but has operations in Des Moines, Kansas City, and Nashville as well.

The post How To Dominate SEO in 2021 appeared first on 316 Strategy Group.

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