Google Says It Doesn’t Care About Your Social – So How Does Social Media Marketing Help You?

Social media marketing isn’t as much about on-page SEO as it is about traffic, visibility, branding, and activity – all of which still feed into SEO, just not in as linear a way as, say, keywords in your title tags.

But just because social media isn’t directly linked to your website’s SEO, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter! Even if Google says they don’t care about your social media – we know better. And if we’ve learned anything from Google’s press releases over the years, it’s to take it with a grain of salt and always do your own research!

Which is just what we’ve been doing for years for ourselves and our social media marketing clients. Here are the top ways that social media does matter for you, your SEO, and Google.

Social Media Marketing Gets You In Front Of Your Audience

Getting in front of your audience, or raising your visibility, is one of the most important things you can do for your online business and presence. So, it makes sense that any and all ways to get in front of your ideal client are important – and this definitely includes social media!

Think about it, your potential customers are already online and on different social media platforms, because everyone is on one or another of these platforms. So use this to your advantage and meet them where they are at!

Having a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram is a great way to get found by your customers. And having a LinkedIn is a great way to get found by potential employees or business to business clients.

Grab that low hanging fruit and be more visible to your customers with a strong social media marketing strategy.

Social Media Marketing Lets You Define Your Voice & Brand

Do you struggle to get new content out or to define your ‘online voice’? If so, then social media is a great option as you can out small snippets out of either your own content or that of other thought leaders in your industry, and hone your branding and voice while you’re at it!

Social media marketing allows businesses to be more personable, more humorous, and more memorable, because it gives them an outlet that is less corporate.

Maybe you wouldn’t post a lengthy blog for Memorial Day, but you can certainly make a social media post about it. Maybe you wouldn’t make a joke or witty quip on your homepage, but you certainly can on your Twitter! And maybe you wouldn’t post a picture of every new inventory item you get on your webpage – but that’s exactly what Instagram is for!

Getting your brand out there and being memorable is half of the battle in today’s saturated world, so make an impression with your online voice and presence through social media on a variety of platforms.

Social Media Marketing Can Get You More Traffic

Even if Google says it doesn’t care about your social media marketing – it does care about your traffic and where it comes from. And having an active Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn gives your website yet another avenue to funnel people to your website.

People often browse Facebook and click on ads, boosted posts, or even a business’ social page instead of their webpage, then, if they like what they see, they will continue on to the website and you’ve gained another ‘user’ or traffic number for your Google Analytics.

The more people that visit your website from any number of sources, the more likely Google will see you as a good choice, a good site, and take those user signals into account as they rank you higher.

So, does Google care about your social media directly? Maybe not, but do multiple signals come from your social media? You bet they do!

Social Media Marketing Shows Your Customers That You Are Active & Current

Finally, not only do you want Google to see that you are getting hits from your social media channels, you want your customers to see that you are updated, active, and posting relevant specials, events, and information on your social media channel of choice.

Have you ever gone to a business’ social media page, seen that they have not updated in over 6 months, and then thought – well, are they even still open? Are these hours even accurate? Am I going to get there and be just as disappointed in their physical store as I am with their online storefront?

Make sure you don’t give search engines or your customers a reason to doubt your business, services, or products, by staying up-to-date with whatever social media channels work best for your industry.

Have a special? Post a quick notice about it. Is a holiday coming up? Make a post. Even just one or two posts a week, something that can take less than 15 minutes to craft, can greatly help you to prove to your customers that you are keeping up with changes and keeping them informed.

Social Media Marketing Can Be Time Consuming…JSL Is Here to Help!

We know that in theory, making a post or two a week shouldn’t take that long, right?

But when you have to decide what to talk about, write it up, create a branded image or find one that isn’t copyrighted, find non-competition but still relevant and quality content to link to, and potentially do this for multiple platforms – it can turn into a whole second job!

Luckily, we offer social media management and marketing strategies in a variety of sizes (form multiple posts on multiple channels, to just the occasional post), so we have something that will work for you and tell both the search engines and your customers that you are here, and open for business!

Contact JSL Marketing & Web Design today to learn more about our social media services!

Where is Social Media Going? [The 6 Platform Giants + Trends]

Social Media is just as important now as it was 3 years ago, but it sure looks different! One of the beautiful things about working with online sources like social platforms or digital marketing in general, is that there is a constant flux and the feeling of change is always in the air.

Unfortunately, it also means that sometimes you bet all your marbles on Myspace and get into some trouble.

So, instead of taking that gamble, let’s do the research, look at the trends, and see where social media is going according to the current giants (here’s looking at your, Facebook).

#1: Facebook, Of Course

Facebook is currently the largest social media platform in the world. With over 2.4 billion monthly active users. Essentially, if your business is online – it better be on Facebook. Because of this, Facebook is a great social media platform to market from – even with the saturation rates.

Since you have a massive audience at the end of your mouse and surely your target audience can be found on Facebook as well, it’s a superior platform for brands to promote or market their services and products to a huge audience – the only downside? The prices of Facebook can often match their user-ship.

#2: Instagram – Do It for the Gram

Instagram reached over 1 billion monthly active users in 2018. And though it might not be as large as Facebook (yet), it is the fastest-growing social platform, especially in the app-world. However, the marketing and uses for Instagram are considerably different than its super-giant of a relative.

Instagram is a fully-visual platform, and though there are captions, the main event are the pictures, videos, and visual material. Instagram is also considered to be more personal, especially with the addition of their live videos and stories.

Instagram is most popular among the younger generations – Gen Z and Millennials. So popular, in fact, that 32% of users are between 18 and 24 (Gen Z) and 33% are aged between 25 and 34 (Millennials).

#3: Twitter – From Presidents to Pop Culture

Twitter has over 326 million monthly active users, almost all of which are highly engaging – meaning they actually get on, post tweets, and interact with others on the platforms.

In fact, Twitter is so engaging that its users send out about 500 million (half a billion) tweets every day! That’s a lot of potential engagement, replies, and retweets.

So, if you plan on being very active online with your brand, Twitter might just be a great place to make a splash without overwhelming your followers with too many posts.

#4: Tumblr, 168 Billion Posts & Growing

Tumblr is great for fandoms (i.e. groups of people who all like the same show, music, pop culture icon, etc). This means that marketing a themed product can be great on Tumblr. Additionally, humor, witty banter, quirky style, and short-chain replies are popular on the site.

Tumblr Joke screenshot

So far in 2019, there are over 450 million Tumblr accounts – but get this – they’ve posted over 168 billion times! And about 1/3rd of Tumblr users hail from America

#5: LinkedIn, the Social App Built for Work, Not Play

LinkedIn is for professionals and the B2B audience – not like the above (and below) social media platforms which are usually more for play.

Luckily, this gives marketers a unique advantage as you gain access to a usually hard-to-find group – working professionals looking for industry connections. Also, LinkedIn users on average have a much higher income than the users of other social media platforms, which often means more disposable income. Of course, for B2B allows for much larger budgets than individuals, which makes LinkedIn a great option for business services.

#6: Snapchat – Like Instagram, but Less Permanent

Snapchat is visual, similar to Instagram, but where Instagram is meant to be permanent, Snapchat is transient. And, like Instagram, Snapchat is most popular with the younger generations, especially Generation Z who have grown up with it.

Snapchatters can send ‘snaps’ to each other or on their 24-hour Statuses much like WhatsApp or Instagram – but Snapchat did it first.

Snapchat currently has over 186 million daily active users, not monthly, daily. And they are highly, highly active. As of mid-2018, Snapchatters were sending out more than 2 million snaps per minute. And their daily videos often get over 10 billion views!

Got All That? Ready to Tackle Your Ideal Social Media Platform? If Not, Contact JSL Marketing & Web Design for Some Help!

We love social media, social media marketing, and social media research! Let us help you create the perfect strategy for your online goals!

Contact us at 817.435.1350 or fill out a form here! Want to learn more first? Check out our other articles on Social Media (and our Infographic)!

JSL Marketing Has a New Social Media Infographic [& You Aren’t Going to Want to Miss it]

Social media used to be a side-gig at best and an online popularity competition at worst, but now it can mean the difference between brand awareness and virtual anonymity – don’t fall behind the competition!

Instead of rolling over and letting Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn walk all over your business, harness the power of social media with a few simple steps, laid out in a beautiful, easy-to-follow, highly-educational infographic designed by yours truly – JSL Marketing & Web Design.

We know what works. We know what doesn’t. And we know that no one wants to read a 16,000-word tome on the subject. So, get the ball rolling, learn about your target audience, the major social media platforms in the game, tips, tricks, and more in our latest infographic:

How to Gain Social Media Followers

How to Gain Followers on Social Media Infographic

Want a Free 30-Minute Consultation with Our Experts to Kick-Start Your Social Media Game? Contact JSL Marketing & Web Design Today!

We truly are here to help, just ask any of our happy clients. But if you don’t have a clue where to start for your SEO, social media, digital marketing or even web design strategy, then now is the perfect time to get in touch with the JSL Marketing team. Go ahead – call, email, message, or text – we can’t wait to meet you.

Want to Display this Infographic On Your Site?

Sharable Content on Social Media for Target Audiences

Sharable content is your way into a wider pool of readers or viewers. But how do you create sharable content on social media? And how can you be sure that your target audience is seeing your content on the right social platforms?

Are there certain platforms that are better than others? Certain platforms you should target? Specific posting times or a number of posts you should shoot for?

In short – yes, and no, and sometimes. All of the above.

That’s the beauty (and terror) of social media, digital marketing, and general content creation. There is no ‘one answer’ because there is no ‘one client’ or ‘one way’ that works for every client.

Let’s start off with an example, for a seemingly simple product, a product that everyone uses. Let’s say that product is – a birthday card.

If you celebrate birthdays, then you would seemingly be the main target audience for a birthday card design or manufacturing company. Right?

And since this is the 21st century, it’s likely that this mythical birthday card company would like to use SEO and digital marketing, including social media, to promote its products or create brand awareness.

Still follow?

So, where should they post? What should they post? When and how and to whom?

Hard to answer, isn’t it? Unless you have additional information about the products and company.

Let’s split this example now, to give it some distinction, some direction.

Company A is a heartfelt, word-heavy, traditional greeting card company. And Company B is a funny, picture-heavy, sometimes snarky or teasing greeting card company.

Which one would you want to advertise or sell in a Hallmark-like store? Which one would you want to advertise or sell in a joke-store?

Can you think of the disaster if you tried to sell the raunchy cards in the gift shop of a hospital? Or the sentimental ones in Spencer’s Gifts?

Now you understand what would happen if you try to share content on LinkedIn that should clearly be on Tumblr, or vise versa.

Sharable content not only has to be good but placed on the right platform for optimal sharability. Let’s learn how to create truly sharable content together.

How to Create Sharable Content for Social Media Platforms

As shown above, one of the most important places to start is with your ideal customer profiles. This means you need a clear idea of who you are marketing to.

Once you know the who, the research and data for what to create, and even where to post it, is readily available.

So, like almost every aspect of digital marketing, social media marketing, or content marketing, research must be your starting point.

Are you posting for B2B or B2C?

B2B, or Business to Business, would mean that you are looking to create content for another business, not an individual customer (B2C). This also means you should probably be looking for more educational content to create and share.

You want to build confidence in your audience, or, you want them to know that you are a leader in the industry and that they should look to you for information, education, and expertise.

For B2B, creating and sharing content that gives value to your potential business customers is the best way to build confidence, as well as being direct about the profitability of what you are offering.

For B2C, you need to create content that provides value for them personally, which can come in many more ways than in B2B. Value can be given in emotion, interest, pricing or promotions, education, and more.

Are you targeting a certain demographic, age group, or interest group?

You not only have to know who you are marketing to, but why they are buying your product. Are they looking for beauty, health, knowledge, convenience?

If you want your messaging and content to be targeted, well, you need a target. This means your customer profile needs to have emotions, a backstory, and a reason for buying whatever you are selling.

Are they buying that funny birthday card because they are humorous people and they searched out your card, or because it was the cheapest one on the rack? Are they drawn to the colors or theme chosen, or are they looking for convenience and your cards are always near the checkout?

You need to go in-depth when creating your profiles in order to understand your customers, and therefore, their online habits, platforms frequented, and what content they are more likely to share.

Where to Post Your Sharable Social Media Content

For customer profiles who prefer visuals (younger generations or any products that have strong aesthetics, such as makeup, photography, gym wear, etc.) platforms like Instagram would be best.

For customer profiles who are preoccupied with convenience, then maybe a streamlines advertisement on Facebook, where they are most likely already scrolling, would be best.

For professional individuals, as well as more expensive products or services, LinkedIn is king.

The list, and data goes on and on. But it all starts with who you are marketing to, and why. Then you can begin on where and how often.

Individualization, transparency, and streamlining are good places to start with all customers, but the real advantages come from understanding your target audience, what they want, what they need, and then providing it.

Do You Need Help With Your Customer Profiles, Content Creation, or Social Media Platforms? JSL Marketing & Web Design Can Help!

If all the research seems like a lot to worry about, all while still running your business, you aren’t wrong. And many others feel the same way, which is why SEO and Digital Marketing companies exist.

JSL Marketing & Web Design is happy to help you discover your target audience, their ‘why’, and then create the perfect posting plan and content creation plan to reach them.

Shareability doesn’t have to be hard – it’s just about posting what your audience wants to see and being consistent and valuable.

Let us help you find your digital sweet spot and see your brand grow! Call or fill out a form and we’ll get right back to you!