target audience Archives

Holiday Marketing Guide for 2024: Maximizing End-of-Year Sales

info on November 14, 2024

The holiday season is one of the most lucrative times of the year for businesses. Shoppers are in a festive mood and ready to spend. To capitalize on this opportunity, you need a well-crafted holiday marketing strategy that stands out in the crowd. Create effective marketing strategies to boost end-of-year sales with these tips.

1. Plan Early and Set Goals

Start your holiday marketing preparations early. Review your previous holiday campaigns to discern successes and ineffective tactics. Then, set specific, measurable, and achievable goals for this season. Whether it’s increasing sales, boosting website traffic, or growing your email subscriber list, clear objectives will guide your strategy.

2. Understand Your Audience

Knowing your target audience’s preferences, behaviors, and shopping habits is crucial. Analyze data from previous holiday seasons and use it to tailor your campaigns. Consider creating customer personas to guide your messaging.

3. Create Engaging Content

Craft compelling and festive content that resonates with your audience. Use holiday-themed visuals, videos, blog posts, and social media updates to capture attention. Share stories, gift guides, and user-generated content to build excitement.

4. Optimize Your Website

Ensure your website is ready for the holiday rush. Optimize load times, improve mobile responsiveness, and streamline the checkout process. Highlight special offers, discounts, and gift ideas prominently on your homepage.

5. Leverage Email Marketing

Email marketing remains a powerful tool during the holidays. Create a series of holiday-themed email campaigns that promote exclusive offers, gift guides, and limited-time deals. Personalize your emails to make customers feel special.

6. Harness Social Media

Leverage the reach of social media platforms. Develop a content calendar with a mix of promotional and engaging posts. Host holiday-themed contests, giveaways, and challenges to boost user engagement.

7. Paid Advertising

Allocate a portion of your budget to paid advertising. Use platforms like Google Ads and social media ads to target holiday shoppers. Create visually appealing ads that highlight your products or services.

8. Offer Special Promotions

Entice shoppers with special promotions, discounts, and exclusive offers. Consider running flash sales, bundling products, or offering free shipping to sweeten the deal.

9. Incorporate Influencer Marketing

Collaborate with influencers in your niche to promote your products or services. Influencers can reach their dedicated audiences and provide authentic recommendations.

10. Enhance Customer Service

Exceptional customer service is crucial during the holiday season. Ensure your team is well-prepared to handle inquiries, process orders efficiently, and address customer concerns promptly.

11. Monitor and Analyze

Regularly monitor the performance of your holiday campaigns using analytics tools. Pay attention to key metrics like conversion rates, click-through rates, and ROI. Adjust your strategy based on real-time data.

12. Post-Holiday Follow-Up

Don’t forget about your customers after the holidays. Send thank-you emails, request reviews and feedback, and offer post-holiday promotions to encourage repeat business.

The holiday season presents a golden opportunity for businesses to boost their end-of-year sales. To make the most of it, careful planning and a well-executed marketing strategy are essential. By understanding your audience, creating engaging content, leveraging various marketing channels, and offering enticing promotions, you can stand out in the competitive holiday market and maximize your sales for a successful end to the year. Start your holiday marketing preparations early, and make the 2024 holiday season one to remember for your business.

FTC Announces Final Rule to Deter Fake Reviews/Testimonials

info on October 31, 2024

AI’s ever-evolving capabilities has led the Federal Trade Commission to place more harsh rules on fake reviews posted to public platforms such as Google and Yelp. There final rule on this topic also prohibits the sale or purchase of fake reviews/testimonials and allows the agency to seek civil penalties against knowing violators.

Read the FTC’s Official Statement

This Rule was finalized on August 14, 2024 with an expectation to go into effect 60 days later around early to mid October 2024.

To protect honest businesses and small businesses, the Rule prohibits:

Fake or False Reviews/Testimonials- The primary goal of the Rule is to dissuade and punish the false reviews generated by AI or individuals that did not have real experiences with the products or services of the business, misrepresent the reviewer’s identity, or misrepresent real customer experiences.

The Purchase of Positive and Negative Reviews- Businesses cannot pay for or provide other incentives to elicit positive or negative reviews from a consumer. However, reviews can be left under the condition that compensative or incentives are expressly conveyed in the review.

Insider Reviews and Testimonials- The rule prohibits written reviews from company insiders, such as officers, managers, etc. that do not disclose said information. There are also requirements and restrictions in place regarding soliciting reviews from immediate relatives of employees.

Company-Controlled Review Websites- Businesses cannot claim that a website that they manage provides impartial reviews or opinions on their own products or services.

Review Suppression- Businesses or persons within the business cannot use unfounded or groundless intimidation, including legal action or physical violence, to prevent or remove negative customer reviews.

False Social Media Indicators- The last category of the final rule prohibits the purchase of false key indicators on social media, such as followers and views.

Read the Full Final Rule for Specifics

Key Takeaways
The goal of the Final Rule is to protect honest businesses and customers. Fake negative reviews can be a major deterrent for customers to make purchases from an otherwise reputable businesses. Fake positive reviews can lead customers to purchase faulty, defective, or even dangerous products that are not properly advertised or regulated.

Businesses that have been subject to fake negative reviews will start seeing a stronger enforcement of these prohibitions in the coming days.

Marketing Budget Planning: Tips for Maximum Media ROI

info on October 14, 2024

Effective marketing is essential for any business looking to grow and succeed in today’s competitive landscape. However, allocating your marketing budget wisely is just as crucial as the strategies you employ. To achieve the maximum return on investment (ROI) from your marketing efforts, careful budget planning is essential. Find tips below for planning your marketing budget to optimize media ROI.

The Importance of a Well-Planned Marketing Budget

A well-planned marketing budget is central for strategic alignment with your business goals while maintaining profit over deficit. To achieve this, you should focus on resource allocation, measurement and accountability, and cost control. Resource allocation ensures that your budget is going to various marketing channels and campaigns efficiently and effectively. You should also have clear objectives for your budget and pay close attention to metrics for measuring the success of your marketing initiatives. Finally, monitoring cost control will help you with effective budgeting as campaigns progress. This can prevent overspending on underperforming campaigns or channels with funds that can be reallocated to successful campaigns.

Tips for Maximizing Media ROI Through Budget Planning

1. Set Clear Goals and Objectives

Begin your budget planning by defining clear, measurable marketing goals and objectives. Determine what you aim to achieve, whether it’s increased brand awareness, lead generation, sales growth, or customer retention. Each goal should have associated key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress.

2. Know Your Audience

Understanding your target audience is fundamental to budget planning. Research their preferences, behaviors, and demographics to identify the most effective channels and strategies for reaching them. Tailor your budget allocation accordingly.

3. Allocate Based on ROI Potential

Not all marketing channels and campaigns deliver the same ROI. Analyze past performance data and industry benchmarks to identify high-ROI opportunities. Allocate a significant portion of your budget to these areas.

4. Balance Between Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies

While short-term strategies like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can generate quick results, don’t neglect long-term strategies like content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). Allocate a portion of your budget to both to ensure sustainable growth.

5. Implement Marketing Attribution

Marketing attribution helps you understand the contribution of each channel to conversions. Use attribution models to allocate budget based on the channels that have the most significant impact on your bottom line.

6. Regularly Review and Adjust

A budget is not set in stone. Regularly review your marketing budget and performance metrics. If a campaign or channel is underperforming, be prepared to reallocate funds to more promising opportunities.

7. Embrace Testing and Experimentation

Allocate a portion of your budget to testing and experimentation. A/B testing different ad creatives, targeting options, and landing page variations can help you optimize campaigns for better ROI.

8. Consider Seasonality and Trends

Factor in seasonality and industry trends when planning your budget. Certain times of the year may require increased spending, while others may offer cost-saving opportunities.

9. Diversify Your Media Mix

Don’t put all your budget into a single channel. Diversify your media mix to reduce risk and reach a wider audience. Consider a mix of digital and traditional channels that align with your target audience’s preferences.

10. Monitor and Adapt

Use marketing analytics and reporting tools to monitor the performance of your campaigns in real time. Be prepared to adapt your budget allocation based on the data and results you gather.

Effective marketing budget planning is a dynamic process that requires continuous evaluation and adjustment. By setting clear goals, understanding your audience, and allocating resources strategically, you can maximize media ROI and achieve your marketing objectives. Remember that optimizing your budget isn’t a one-time task; it’s an ongoing effort that evolves as your business, industry, and marketing landscape change. With a well-planned budget, you’ll be better equipped to make data-driven decisions and achieve greater marketing success.

Hanging On by a Thread

Morgan Moresco on August 9, 2023

Written by: Frankie Ciccotto

Few online events were as inevitable as Meta’s release of its highly awaited application Threads, a text-based conversation space where communities of like-minded people can come together to discuss trending topics, share current photos, or just casually scroll through who they follow to keep up to date. Whether you’re a digital creator or a casual poster, Threads aims to be the next Twitter alternative, amassing 30 million user signups within 24 hours of release. Now, two weeks later, that online platform has grown to over 100 million members worldwide, securing the title of the fastest-growing online application of all time.

Securing Your Handle

As Threads is directly linked to Instagram, setting up a new account could not be made any easier. For users with an active Instagram profile, it’s as easy as downloading the application from your iOS store, logging in with your Instagram credentials, and boom — you’re ready to start posting your first thread. Your Instagram handle, profile picture, and bio have the option to automatically transfer over to your Threads account. In contrast to Twitter, its main competitor, Threads has a 500-character limit, whereas Twitter has a cap at 280. In each Thread post, users can additionally include links, photos, and videos up to five minutes long, further giving Twitter a run for its money. So far, the app is proving to be extremely user friendly.

What Can I Use This For?

Threads aims to target a multitude of markets, including content creators, casual posters, and everyone in between. Their current business model rejects the implementation of monetization, meaning traditional forms of advertising are prohibited — for now. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, stated that his main goal is to make the product work well, and he expects the user base to grow far beyond that of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. While Meta clearly states that traditional forms of advertising and branding are not in the cards for Threads, this creates the option for traditional marketers to do branding and promotion on their own, without a built-in ad-monetization strategy. For the moment, it appears that Meta is attempting to acknowledge the need for built-in marketing materials without subjecting users to an overflux of traditional ads.

This seems to be Meta’s way of keeping basic users happy so that they are not turned off by an overabundance of adverts before Threads can actually become a staple in our day-to-day social media usage.

With millions of people already flocking to Threads, scrutiny has arisen. One of Threads’ founding principles includes the ability to limit news as well as political and social debates — creating a “friendly shelter” to limit the amount of information spread on the app. It seems the app is more focused on bringing niche communities together, whether they are focused on sports, music, fashion or entertainment.

The app is booming, users are excited, new content is brewing, and communities are alive and thriving. What more could a new app’s entrance into the social media world hope for? The threat of the unknown is what most users are perplexed about. How far is Threads willing to go to appeal to all consumers? With only three weeks up and running, Threads is off to a great start, but it is clear that work still needs to be done if it truly wants to become a front runner in the social media limelight. With its already ever-present commitment to positivity and moderation, Threads has the opportunity to become the default conversation-based app, winning over users seeking a refreshing change. On the other side of the coin, it has the opportunity to raise fear in those who believe the app’s main purpose is to limit and supervise what we say online. The question is: Will Threads be the ultimate gateway app that changes how conversations in the social media world are made, or will it backfire, and leave this revolutionary app hanging on by a thread?

Augmented reality will change how people experience the world around them, and it will expand the social reach of advertisers who will be able to directly engage with the consumer.

The Future of Augmented Reality and Digital Advertising

Morgan Moresco on June 27, 2023

Written by: Danielle Gazda

With the announcement of the Apple Vision Pro headset at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, augmented reality (AR) as a part of daily life is becoming increasingly more real. The headset’s $3,500 price tag is out of reach to a significant portion of the population, but, as the technology improves and becomes more commonplace, it could quickly become more accessible.

What AR Is Available?

The discussion of AR as a part of everyday life isn’t new, but the technology is still in its infancy. Google Glass was announced in 2013 and hit the market in 2014. They are now ceasing production and sales later this year. Snapchat, the popular limited-time photo-sharing app, released its own version of the tech with Spectacles in 2016. These are still around, and their primary purpose is to capture photos and videos from the user’s perspective.

Nreal, a Chinese start-up company, has seen great success in its home country and is expanding to Britain this year. Nreal Air is designed to look like sunglasses and allows users to interact by “Air Casting” or “MR Space.” Air Casting allows users to see their full phone screen in front of them in a virtual display, while MR Space combines a digital overlay with the real world surrounding the user.

AR Uses

The concept of the MR Space is where digital advertising can play a key role. AR can be used to show pop-ups or interactable digital items as people wearing these headsets/glasses interact with the world around them. Brands can share virtual coupon codes or prompt a user to visit their website. There’s also the potential to show an advertisement that will make the user want to purchase the product.

This type of advertising will be the bridge between social media/digital marketing and out-of-home marketing. It will be more interactable and accessible than QR codes on billboards, and quicker and more convenient than having to click through a number of links after seeing a digital ad.

Augmented reality will change how people experience the world around them, and it will expand the social reach of advertisers who will be able to directly engage with the consumer.

Google Ads: Best Basic Practices

Morgan Moresco on March 24, 2023

Written By: Danielle Gazda

What Are Google Ads?

Promoting businesses and products through Google Ads is one of the most effective ways to increase conversions, revenue, and meet business goals. Google Ads, also known as Google AdWords, makes building campaigns easy through automation and machine learning, but there’s still some work you need to do first to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

From knowing what information to add to your client’s (or your company’s) website to understanding the nuances of Google Ads’ abilities, here are some best practices for optimizing your campaigns.

Best Practices for Google Ads

The Website

Know that Google Ads has specific requirements for websites advertising on its platform. Some are fundamental, such as offering unique products or services, the website owner being over 18, working directly with the owner of a site (or the owner’s company), and not displaying any copyrighted material. A website must also be at least six months old and have a certain amount of traffic already going to it.

Lesser-known Google Ads requirements involve having technical pages — such as an About page, a Contact page, and a Privacy page — included somewhere on the website. These pages need to be well-defined and hold appropriate information, including a refund and return policy (even if it just states that you do not give refunds or do returns) and information regarding using and selling customer information.

Conversion Tracking

By adding UA or GA4 tracking code to the pages of a website, you’ll be able to track all conversions from Google Ads, no matter the specified landing page.

Whether you add a UA code or GA4 code to a website depends on the platform you’re using. Google has step-by-step instructions on how to find the right tracking code for a site in the Google Ads account page.

Ad Tools and Assets

Google Ads offers a number of tools and assets that can increase the performance of your campaigns.

Keywords

Group keywords into ad groups by topic, feature, or item to help Google build comprehensive and relevant Responsive Search Ads. This type of ad automatically pulls relevant descriptions, headlines, and creative assets based on what you supplied and the search query that’s prompting the ad.

Landing Pages

Landing pages must make sense alongside the keywords to be served and drive conversions. Whether it is a website’s home page, an About Us page, a specific product, or a specific service, make sure they are correct for their ad group.

Ad Extensions

Utilize the tools available to you, including sitelinks, callouts, calls, prices, and promotions, that will provide the searcher with options and relevant information that can lead to a higher conversion rate.

Performance Metrics

Weigh performance and metrics against your industry’s benchmarks when starting new campaigns. These industry benchmarks will help you make adjustments to your campaigns by experimenting with everything from descriptions to ad extensions. You may also find that you’ve surpassed industry benchmarks with your campaigns.

For example, one of 270M’s real estate clients maintained a cost per conversion that was 64% lower than the industry benchmark throughout a campaign. The conversion was for a tenant application being filled out for an upscale new development in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

Another example is a wholesale vendor client of 270M that maintained a click-through rate that was 75% to 100% higher than the industry benchmark for a hyper-targeted campaign for specialized produce wholesalers.

270M is proud to be a Google Partner. We earned that distinction by proving that we consistently had at least a 70% optimization score for all of our clients’ accounts and managed at least $10,000 in ad spend over the course of three months. Additionally, 50% or more of our account strategists demonstrated proficiency in Google Ads by earning Google Ads certifications.

By following these best practices, you can optimize your Google Ads campaigns and achieve better results for your clients.

How to Utilize Google Analytics for Your Business

Morgan Moresco on August 24, 2022

By: Danielle Gazda

Google Analytics is a free website traffic tracking tool. It takes user information gathered from each page of your website and compiles it into reports that help you analyze it. You can discover demographic details, bounce rates for each page, and much more. Most importantly, this information allows you to make better-informed decisions about products and user experience.

You can also connect your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts to combine user engagement ad campaign data with website data.

Get Started with Google Analytics

Here’s what you need to know:

Tracking Code

After you’ve created your account, Google Analytics will provide you with a piece of G4 tracking code that you’ll need to embed on each page type of your website. This is what enables Google Analytics to gather user data from your website.

The Hierarchy

Here are some primary terms to know after you’ve set up your Google Analytics account.

Account- Having an account is mandatory. You’ll provide some general information that relays what type of company you have.
Property- For each account, you can determine “Property,” which can either be a website or an app. If your company utilizes multiple websites or a website and an app, they will have to be set as separate properties. They will each receive their own unique G4 codes. You can combine data later in Reports.
View- Under each property, you’ll need to set up your “Views.” These determine what data Google Analytics looks at and pulls to process into reports. Limiting a View too much will result in missing information. Always keep a view of “Raw Data,” which contains no limiting factors, and another view that excludes internal company traffic and bots.

Once this hierarchy has been established and code embedded, you can run Real-Time reports to see the metrics coming in. However, you won’t be able to generate accurate reports until after a few days later — it takes some time to gather enough data to make meaningful reports.

Also Read: What is Social Commerce? What are Shoppable Posts on Social Media? How Can my Brand Implement These Strategies?

Dimensions and Metrics

Now we get into how to read the data you’re seeing in reports. Most of it is broken down into Dimensions and Metrics. These are the different user variables Google Analytics learns about and reports on.

Dimensions- Dimensions are categories of demographic information. This can include the browser and device being used, landing and exit pages, as well as specific user information, like location and customer type.
Metrics- Metrics are the quantifiable data that is collected. This includes information about sessions, session duration, page views, conversions, bounce rates, and numbers of new and returning users.

You also can make custom dimensions and metrics if there is specific data you want to see that are not standard options Google Analytics offers.

Reports

There are five different categories of reports: Real-Time, Audience, Acquisition, Behavior, and Conversions. Each report has an overview and then provides various breakdowns of the information.

Real-Time Reports provide you with insight into what’s happening on your website at that exact moment. This report won’t be used often. It’s good for checking performance when you implement new filters to ensure everything is running properly.
Audience Reports allow you to go deeper into the difference between new and returning users. It digs into demographic, geographic, and behavioral information. These can help inform your ad campaigns as you learn what your audiences are interested in.
Acquisition Reports break down traffic by the source. A source is what brought your user to your website. It includes organic, direct, referral, email, social, paid search, display, affiliate, and (Other).
Behavior Reports provide you with information about how users interact with your website. Some basics are Landing Pages, Exiting Pages, Page Speeds, Search Terms, as well as sessions and events.
Conversions Reports share user behavior as it relates to e-commerce business goals. First, you’ll have to establish goals in Google Analytics. These goals can include newsletter subscriptions, adding products to cart, completing an order, or making an account. If your website is for e-commerce, this will be important to set up.

Previous Post: Five Ways TikTok Can Help Grow Your Business

Conclusion

Google Analytics is a great tool for any business with a website, whether it’s a company site, e-commerce site, blog, or any combination of these. If you have goals for how users will interact with your website, Google Analytics provides detailed reports about users and their behavior to help you optimize your website and ad campaigns.

Would you prefer to have a team manage Google Analytics setup and reports for you? 270M can handle all of your digital marketing needs. Contact us on our website, or email us at info@thisis270m.com.

Five Ways TikTok Can Help Grow Your Business

Morgan Moresco on July 21, 2022

By: Danielle Gazda

The use of video content is a proven method of advertisement. Commercials have enticed audiences to try new products, visit new places, and make countless purchases in the decades since they first appeared on television. Now, video has become the best way to market products, services, and yourself on social media platforms, as well. Static visuals can be well crafted and beautiful, but short video content is what younger generations want to see more and more.

At the moment, no one does this better than TikTok. As Instagram, Facebook, and the rest try to catch up, TikTok has quite the monopoly on enticing, shareable, bite-sized video content. Vine, for those who remember it, was essentially an early version of this. However, it was rarely used for marketing purposes, yet it showed what kind of communities could be built. If your product or service is geared toward a younger audience, then TikTok is where you want to be.

Here Are Five Ways to Make TikTok Work for Your Business:

1. Post Genuine, Less Commercialized Content

Obviously, the goal is advertising and getting your business out there, but you shouldn’t be doing that in your company’s everyday posts. Audiences don’t want to feel like a product is being forced on them. Content should be fun and laid-back, and not always focused on a product or service. Show the people who work for your company. Show behind-the-scenes glimpses of how your product is made. And show your workspace and office — audiences want to know that there are real people behind companies nowadays.

2. Stay On Top of Trends

A great way to get TikTok to organically boost your content is by creating content that has the potential to go viral. Participating in popular trends can be a great way to do this. But you certainly don’t want to go viral for the wrong reasons, so know when to skip a trend and leave it to the influencers.

3. Posting Product/Service Content

Of course, you’ll need to post some product/service content so your audience knows what they’re buying. Videos can be a great tool to show off a product, answer frequently asked customer questions, do demonstrations, provide tips, and more. The goal is not only to make your product stand out but for the video to be interesting. It’s very easy for audiences to simply keep scrolling and move on, so think carefully about your opening visuals and audio.

4. Partner With Influencers

Working with influencers can seem almost necessary to get your business better known, and in a lot of cases, it’s true. Influencers can have enormous reach. If even a small percentage of their audience follows up and views your brand, that can mean hundreds of people with their eyes on your product. Working with influencers can be expensive, though, so if you’re a small business, you can initially reach out to smaller influencers who may be willing to post in return for free products instead of an actual fee. You can find creators to work with at TikTok Creator Marketplace.

5. Let’s Talk About Advertising

Now, down to advertising on TikTok. TikTok offers six forms of advertising: In-Feed Ads, Spark Ads, TopView Ads, Brand Takeover Ads, Branded Hashtag Challenge Ads, and Branded Effect Ads. Learn more about each of these ad types from this article at the Later blog. Each advertising option offers unique opportunities to engage with your audience and expand it. Some may work better than others for your brand depending on how you think you can best reach your audience.

Tips for the Best Social Media Community Management

info on October 5, 2021

By: Stephanie Albert

Community management is an essential part of growing an online following that is connected to your brand. It is the process of interacting and engaging with current followers and the actions you take to attract new followers.

Here are five important practices to consider if you want to gain followers and keep the ones you already have.

1.Engage with content your brand is tagged in: Frequently, brands will be tagged in content from happy customers who want to tell their friends about their experiences. When customers tag your brand in their social media posts, be sure to thank them for their support, and let them know you’re glad they enjoyed your product or service. There is also the possibility that your brand will be tagged in negative reviews. Be ready for this. Have a plan that is aligned with your brand identity for responding to these comments, and try to resolve issues whenever you can.

2. Respond to Direct Messages (DMs): Check your messages as frequently as possible — once a day at the very least. While you should think of all DMs from your customers as being important, there are two types of DMs that are particularly useful in helping to build an online brand. DMs received when your brand is tagged in a user’s story can be used to gain user-generated content that can be reposted to show consumers enjoying your product or service. Also valuable are DMs that contain questions about your business or products. You can earn loyal customers by interacting with people and giving them the answers they are looking for.

3. Like and respond to comments: In conjunction with responding to DMs, engage with followers by liking and responding to comments they leave on your posts. Users generally enjoy being recognized by the brands/products they like, and this type of engagement is a great way to increase the positive feelings customers already have about your business.

4. Follow relevant accounts: Follow accounts relevant to your industry, and engage with the content they post. By interacting with this content, the name of your business will appear in the likes and comments on the post, so consumers will have another way to find you.

5. Follow relevant hashtags: While you’re looking for relevant accounts to follow, try following relevant hashtags, too. They can help you find out what kind of content is popular in your industry, and discover new consumers who might be interested in your product.

By paying attention to what’s popular through other relevant content and connecting with current and prospective followers, community management has the potential to greatly increase the engagement your content receives. When it comes to growing your brand’s following online, engaging through community management is key to your success.

The Best Digital Marketing Practices for Promoting Your Product

info on October 4, 2021

By: Stephanie Albert

Over the last few years, social media has become a major powerhouse for advertisers. If you want to reach a wide audience when promoting a business or product, social media is for you. But the number of platforms and features available can make it difficult to get started. How can you find out what will work best for your company?

We are here to help! Here are a few of the best practices for promoting your products on social media.

1. Know the audience: Knowing the audience of a given platform and knowing your target audience are both crucial for successfully promoting a product. Be sure that the audience you are targeting is present on a specific platform if you are going to put money and effort into developing content for that platform.

2. Use analytics: Most social media platforms regularly provide advertisers with a basic set of data points regarding the makeup of their audience and how their ad content is performing. Use these to your advantage! You will find out if you are reaching the audience you are targeting. And you may discover another audience that is interested in your products. You will also learn which type of content is performing best. This way, you can focus on producing more of what is most successful.

3. Pay attention to your community: Interacting with people who engage with your content is important when growing an audience. Engage with content you are tagged in, reply to comments, and answer DMs in a way that is in line with your brand’s ideals — these are all excellent ways to connect with your target audience and your product users. You can gain valuable insight by reading about their experiences and learning how they feel about your products.

4. Create an Instagram Shop: Having an Instagram Shop allows users to purchase directly through the app. This also gives you the ability to add “shoppable” links to posts and stories, making it possible for users to purchase your products as soon as they see your content.

5. User-generated content: Posting user-generated content (photos, reviews, and even videos made by your customers) can be a very powerful way to promote a product. This allows potential customers to see the positive experiences of those who have already purchased your products. Ideally, once people know that others enjoy what you have to offer, they will want to buy from you, too.