How to Send Facebook Leads Data to Your WhatsApp Sales Team Automatically

 

When you generate leads through Facebook campaigns, the sales team must get the details instantly. And what better would it be than via WhatsApp? It’s, after all, the most popular mobile messenger globally.

In this article, we’re providing an easy trick to sync Facebook Lead form data to the sales head on WhatsApp. With this, you’ll be able to give lead access to the sales team fast and maximise your odds of conversion.

Let’s dive in.

Send FB Leads to WhatsApp with Pabbly Connect

With Pabbly Connect, you can connect Facebook to WhatsApp and automate sharing the lead details. You’ll be able to accomplish it by using a tool called AiSensy, connected to Facebook via Pabbly Connect. Sounds like a lot of work? It isn’t. It should take less than an hour.

It’s time to get your hands dirty.

 

Step 1: Log in to Pabbly Connect

Pabbly Connect is an integration and automation tool to connect multiple applications. You can use it to connect your favorite software tools within minutes without any coding.

In this case, we’ll use Pabbly to connect Facebook Lead Ads to WhatsApp.

 

Step 2: Create a workflow

Once you’re logged in to Pabbly Connect, you’ll see your Dashboard. Here, you’ve to create a workflow. So, click the button to create one and give it a recognizable name. Save it, and you’ll be on the workflow screen where you can connect the tools.

The first application will be the one that triggers the automated workflow. In this case, it will be Facebook Lead Ads capturing a new lead. And the second application will be the one that takes action. In this case, it will be WhatsApp by AiSensy.

 

Step 3: Connect Facebook Lead Ads

Now, choose Facebook Lead Ads as the trigger application, the first application. Next, you’ll need to select the trigger event. It will be New Lead in this case. Then, click Connect.

Pabbly will ask you to authenticate your Facebook Lead Ads account and allow access. It enables Pabbly Connect to take action (s) you define in the later steps.

Once you authorise your Facebook account, you’ll need to select the relevant page and the lead form you want to connect.

Save the details, and you’ll see the recent lead data from Facebook on Pabbly, thus confirming a successful connection.

 

Step 4: Connect WhatsApp by AiSensy

After a successful connection with Facebook Leads, you’ve to connect the AiSensy application as the second one. It captures the lead data received by Pabbly Connect and sends it to a WhatsApp number.

Choose WhatsApp by AiSensy as the action application and Send Template Message as the event. Then, click Connect.

Pabbly will ask you to authenticate your AiSensy account and allow access.

If you already have your AiSensy template set up, you can fill in the details on Pabbly and save them. Else, create the template in your AiSensy account and then come back to Pabbly.

Once the set-up is complete on Pabbly, you’ll receive the recent lead data on the WhatsApp number you entered.

 

Step 5: Confirm if the lead data is correct

Check the WhatsApp message you received and see if the details are as expected. If not, change what’s needed, and check again.

And that’s it. The automation is complete. You’ll receive the lead details whenever the lead form on Facebook has a new one.

Pabbly has posted a video explaining the entire process. You can check it out here:

Wrapping It Up

You now know what to do when the form gets a new lead. Nothing. You’ve to do nothing. Your sales head (or whoever’s number you entered) will receive the lead details automatically. They can then approach those leads and follow up.

Similarly, you can connect Facebook Lead Ads to multiple other applications. You can add them in the same workflow one after another.

So, set up your campaigns and start generating leads. And if you need any help, Blusteak is here to help.

 

How To Increase Your Instagram Stories Organic Reach

 

Instagram stories can make a huge difference in expanding brand reachability amongst your target audience. And what better way than improving your organic reach to make yourself heard and seen more on social media. 

With the changing algorithms and features, it has been quite a trick to keep up and front with your organic reach and keep expanding it. However, to work best in tandem with the changing algorithms, the best is to face it rather than fighting it. And to do so, you need to ascertain what your target audience wants and accordingly deliver content that they value the most. 

For this, you need first to understand how this algorithm works. The Instagram algorithm rules out the number of followers that view your stories. Further to this information, it identifies the newest, best, most engaging, and most relevant content for each follower and then delivers similar content to the front of the followers’ story feeds. 

From your business point of view, you need to reach out to those who might be interested in buying your stuff.

Here are some simple tips that can help you improve your organic reach on Instagram widely and extensively by sharing stories with your prospective followers and interested buyers at a time most relevant to them. 

1. Set a goal for your Instagram account 

Having a goal for your Instagram account would help you define your posts well and even impart a connection to your potential followers, which they would look forward to. The most important step in this process is aligning your marketing strategies with your business goals. 

 

2. Make sure your stories have a beginning, middle, and end to it

Next, you need to make a content plan for your Instagram stories. Whatever you intend to deliver to your target audience, it should have a start, middle, and end. To share stories about your business, you can:

• Highlight customer testimonials and stories
• Feature behind-the-scene content from special events and trips
• Display a story based on a day in the life of your business or staff.
• Share special announcements to ensure your stories click well with your viewers
• Highlight your brand values by showcasing community service or outreach activities untaken by you for your business
  

  3. Know your hashtags

  If you want to roll eyeballs to your account, you must focus on using good and relevant hashtags. To save time, you can keep a list of hashtags ready to copy and paste and keep looking out for newer hashtags that would broaden your reachability to your audience. 

   

  4. Post at the best time for engagement

  For your stories to be seen by maximum people, you need to study the time zone in which your users are placed. Hence, posting at an optimal time in the time zones most relevant for your target audience would work out to be a good default. In other words, you need to tailor your post timings according to the time zones where you have your maximum customers. 

  The second thing to keep in mind is to post when the engagement on Instagram is the highest. This generally falls between 8 am and 9 am. Instagram stories are seen and followed on all days of the week. Hence, it is more important to understand the time of the day when the traffic is maximum, rather than the day of the week, to post your feed/story. 

   

  5. Post consistently

  The algorithm on Instagram works only if you post quality content regularly that receives engagement. Rule out the best time to post and set a schedule. Also, use valuable Instagram analytics, understand more about your followers, and post at a time when they are most active. 

   

  6. Build trust and a following with UGC

  You need to nudge conversations by adding user-generated content and tapping into other people’s networks. This is a known fact that consumers trust other customers, and user-generated content would build trust and attract people to share your stories, provided they find it positive and appealing. 

  
  

  7. Appreciate engagement

  Always respond to engagement instantly to show customers that their comments and views are important, appreciated, and encouraged. Do not just like a comment, engage with your audience by speaking to them, following them, and thanking them for taking time out and responding to your posts. 

   

  8. Create unique content for Instagram

  You may be running your social media advertisements on multiple social media platforms. However, if you post the same content on all social media avenues, people may start tuning your posts out seeing the same posts on every channel. This would affect your organic reach negatively. Therefore, you need to create fresh content to post on Instagram stories.

  Sometimes you may be having some video or picture which you wish to share across all your social media circles, in that case, change the caption for Instagram so that people find it interesting to read even if they have seen the video or image before. 

   

  Final Take

  To get a hold on your organic reach and to capitalize from it, you need to make sure your posts create a buzz amongst your audience. You can refer and take assistance from any social media marketing app, to create unique and exclusive videos and related content for your Instagram stories and feeds and make your presence felt extensively across various sites.
  

How is Twitter Blue Different from Twitter? – Twitter Blue Explained

 

“Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”

With that mysteriously non-ceremonial tweet, Elon Musk launched Twitter Blue with a blue tick feature. At $8 a month, anyone can get a blue check on Twitter. But what exactly is Twitter Blue? And what does it offer apart from the coveted Twitter blue check?

In this article, we’re digging into the difference between Twitter vs Twitter Blue. We’ll also lay out the main Twitter Blue features and the process to get the Twitter blue tick.

Let’s dive in.

 

What is Twitter vs Twitter Blue

Twitter Blue is a subscription plan by Twitter that was launched in mid-2021. It’s not a separate platform. Twitter Blue is more like an add-on that improves the user experience on Twitter and provides early access to select features.

Once you subscribe to Twitter Blue, you’re also eligible to have the new Twitter blue tick. You’ll get it once you pass the eligibility review.

What is the point of Twitter Blue

The point of Twitter Blue is to simply provide a premium experience for users who need more than what’s available for free. For a monthly payment, Twitter Blue unveils access to additional features and benefits not available on standard Twitter.

Quoting Sara Beykpour, Senior Director in Twitter Product Management:

Twitter Blue is for users who want “power features that meet their needs.” (source)

It’s for active Twitter users who are willing to pay a subscription fee for a better experience. Twitter Blue provides better control over their profile and their Twitter usage. And the latest exclusive feature is: Twitter Blue with verification check.

 

What are the main features of Twitter Blue

Along with the prized Twitter Blue badge, Blue brings a screenful of features. Here are the reasons you might want to sign up for Twitter Blue:

1) Edit tweets

Twitter Blue subscription gives you a 30-minute window to edit your published tweets. The available changes, although limited, help in uplifting your Twitter experience. You can update tweets and tag someone or reorder attached media.

2) Undo tweets

Once you join Twitter Blue, you can also preview and undo tweets. You get the option to check your tweet while publishing and delete it. You can undo a tweet only within 30 seconds of hitting the Publish button, after which it goes out to the world to see.

3) Post longer tweets

Another benefit is the ability to tweet more than 280 characters. With Twitter Blue, you can tweet up to 4,000 characters. You can also upload and share longer (up to ~60 minutes) and larger (up to 2GB, in 1080p) video files with your followers. This video upgrade is available only on the Twitter web, though.

4) Get priority in replies

With a verified Twitter Blue profile, you also get your replies bumped up. Your tweet replies get priority in the conversation. They rank higher than tweets from normal Twitter users.

5) Organise bookmarks

After you activate Twitter Blue, you also get access to folders for your bookmarked tweets. You can organize all your bookmarks into folders for easier access and management. It’s particularly helpful for those who save a lot of content on Twitter.

Apart from these features, Twitter Blue provides a reader mode, shows the top shared articles from others, and reduces the number of ads. Twitter Blue subscription also enables a number of app customization features.

 

How to get a Twitter Blue subscription

You can sign up for Twitter Blue on the web as well as the Android/iOS app. Here’s how you can do it:

Through web browser

i) Open twitter.com

ii) Click Twitter Blue on the sidebar

iii) Hit Subscribe button

iv) Make the payment

v) Enjoy Twitter Blue

If your phone number isn’t verified, you’ll be prompted to do so before making the payment.

 

Through Android/iOS app

i) Open the profile menu

ii) Tap on Twitter Blue

iii) Hit Subscribe button

iv) Follow the instructions for payment

v) Enjoy Twitter Blue

 

If your phone number isn’t verified, you’ll be prompted to do so before making the payment.

After the activation of the subscription, you’ll have all the features (except for the blue tick).

The blue tick appears once Twitter reviews your account and ensures that it meets the Twitter Blue requirements. A verified account then, gets priority in tweet replies.

 

Twitter vs Twitter Blue- FAQs

1. Is it worth getting Twitter Blue?

Twitter Blue is for hard-core users. If you’re among those who want to run their business via Twitter, it would be worth to get verified on Twitter Blue. You’ll be able to post longer tweets and videos. And your replies will also show up higher.

2. Does Twitter Blue remove promoted tweets?

As of now, Twitter Blue doesn’t provide an ad-free experience. It’s working on reducing the number of promoted content shown to Twitter Blue users, but it won’t remove them entirely.

3. How many people pay for Twitter Blue?

As of February 2023, Twitter Blue has around 300K paying users globally.

4. How many followers do you need to get Blue?

Twitter hasn’t specified any minimum number of followers to get Twitter Blue verified. As long as your profile complies with the Twitter Blue rules, you’re eligible to be verified.

5. How much is a Twitter blue tick?

The announced cost of Twitter blue tick is $8 per month (for web) in the US. You get access to all the benefits of a Twitter Blue subscription, along with the blue tick. But the pricing differs from country to country. Check Twitter Blue country-wise pricing

6. Can a normal person get blue tick on Twitter?

With the new Twitter Blue subscription, anyone can get a blue tick; if their profile passes the specified requirements.

7. How to turn off Twitter Blue?

You can cancel and turn off your Twitter Blue subscription from the settings either on your app or the twitter.com website.

 

Wrapping It Up

Twitter Blue gives you access to additional features that turn you into a Twitter power user. You can edit tweets, undo tweets and write longer than regular tweets. So, if you’re on Twitter for business, Twitter Blue might be a worthy investment. It adds more zing to your experience.

If you subscribe to Twitter Blue, you’re also better eligible to get the verified blue tick. So, subscribe and enjoy the premium Twitter experience.

 

What is the Ideal Cost of FB Lead Gen Ads in India? [RESEARCH]

 

Everyone wants high-quality leads at a low cost per lead (CPL). Lower the CPL, higher are the profits. That’s why marketers are trying to use FB Lead Gen Ads and track the cost of FB Lead Gen Ads in India.

So, in this article, we’re exploring this Lead Gen Ad format of Facebook Advertising. The article will help you understand how Lead Generation FB Ads work, what’s the average cost per lead in such Facebook Ads, and how you can reduce the costs.

Let’s dive in.

What are Facebook Lead Ads?

FB Lead Generation Ads are a form of direct response advertising with only one objective: to capture qualified leads.

It’s a quick way to collect information from your target audience. When people click the CTA, they get a form pre-filled with basic information pulled from their FB profile. FB Lead Gen Ads remove the friction of taking audience to a landing page and having to fill the information.

Everything happens within one platform, making data collection easier for you.

How Facebook Lead Gen Ads work?

Facebook Lead Gen Ads appear like any other FB Ads in the newsfeed. But the ad copy is usually more “long form.” It’s because the viewers aren’t taken to a separate landing page.

You need to tell everything about the lead magnet in the ad copy itself. Your audience will decide whether or not to click on the ad, based on the info you provide in the ad itself.

When users click on the ad, the Facebook lead form pops up. Using the form, you can collect information like name, email address, phone number and more. These are pre-filled for the user. But you can also add custom questions to know more about that lead.

After users fill in the required info and submit the form, you get their information. That’s it! You can download your leads data from the Ads Manager.

A Facebook Lead Generation campaign is mostly used to collect emails or get subscribers for newsletters. But it’s also helpful in collecting feedbacks and customer enquiries or offering limited-time deals and promotions.

Now, let’s check the cost for FB Ads in India.

 

What is the cost of running FB Ads in India?

When it comes to the price of FB Ads, there’s no sure-shot answer.

The cost depends on a lot of factors. And every industry will have a different average cost of FB Lead Gen Ads in India. For some, you might get a CPL as low as ₹1 while for others, it might be ₹1000. For example, the lead cost for stationery items will always be lower than that of a luxury beach cottage.

Factors such as bidding model, target audience and ad relevance also affect the CPL. And so does the market competition.

But we’ll help you understand the average cost of Facebook Ads.

We collected data from the Facebook Ad campaigns for our clients across different industries. And we are answering all your questions next.

Cost of FB Lead Gen Ads in India

Following are the FB Lead Form Ad costs across different industries in India:

1) What is the average cost of Facebook Lead Gen in Health industry?

The cost of Facebook Leads in Health industry averages between ₹20 – ₹30.

2) What is the usual Lead Generation cost for Home Interior services?

The cost of leads for Interior Decor and Construction Industry falls between ₹90 – ₹100.

3) What is the average cost of FB Lead Generation in EdTech industry?

Average lead generation cost in EdTech industry is around ₹20 – ₹25.

4) What is the ideal cost of leads for Fashion brands?

For Fashion brands, the cost per click averages between ₹7 – ₹8. The ROAS can be anywhere between 2x-4x.

5) What is the cost of FB Lead Gen Ads for Higher Education?

The average cost of lead generation for Higher Education is between ₹70 – ₹90.

6) What is the average cost of Lead Gen Ads in B2B industry?

In B2B industry, the usual cost of leads falls between ₹110 – ₹130.

7) What is the Lead Gen cost for Electronics?

The average cost of FB Lead Gen for Electronic devices and Home appliances is between ₹10 – ₹15.

8) What is the cost of leads for Retail industry apps?

In case of app install leads, the cost per app install is around ₹10 – ₹15.

Note: The numbers for FB Ads leads above are what we observed during our campaigns. You might see some variations, resulting in higher or lower ad costs for yours.

Next, let’s understand how to keep Facebook advertising cost to minimal.

 

How can I cut the cost of my Facebook Ads?

The cost of Lead Generation Ads in India depends on a variety of factors. And following are the few ways to reduce the cost per lead:

• Understand your target audience:

Facebook has over 400 targeting options. So, when you understand your audience well, you can target only the highly qualified leads and reduce your CPL. Also, you need to find if your target audience is on Facebook, else you’ll get low or no leads.

• Make your ad relevant:

The communication in your ad copy should be relevant to your target audience and their needs. Also, your ad copy should be created keeping in mind the awareness about your products or services among your audience.

• Test and analyse the results:

Even when you’re getting good results, try changes in your ad copy and targeting. You find some other ad copy gets you better results. Analyse the results at regular intervals to run only the effective Facebook Ads and cut the cost.

 

Wrapping it up

We hope you have got a fair idea of what Facebook Lead Generation Ads are, the cost of FB Lead Gen Ads in India and how to minimise the cost.

 

 

 

 

Proven Method to Organically Increase Reach and Profile Visits on Instagram

 

A rise in the number of Profile visits is a sign that your Instagram followers are interested in your products. They are browsing your store. It indicates your influence over your audience.

So, how to get more visibility on Instagram without spending a dime? How can you increase organic reach and profile visits? This article will help for sure.

Below I’m writing about an experiment I set up two weeks ago. I wanted to test if I can improve the number of Profile visits.

And it worked.

The Profile visits more than doubled within a week. It went up to 1651, from 675 in the previous week. Now, the profile visits are 5x of what they were two weeks ago.

Want to know how I did it? Keep reading…

Best way to increase Instagram profile visits

I began by turning on notifications for 4-5 pages which attracted good engagement on their posts. Now, whenever they posted, I started getting notifications.

Then, I noticed funky posts were more relatable to me.

So, I began commenting something humorous on such posts. You have to give something to get something, right? And when I posted comments in line with the posts’ theme, their followers liked those. They even replied to my comments.

The page also liked and replied.

I soon noticed a gradual increase in my profile visits. The numbers used to be in hundreds, but they are in thousands now. OK, that sounds like a slight exaggeration on my part. But I’m hopeful these will keep growing if I continue interacting with relevant pages.

That’s how to get a wider reach on Instagram; through an ongoing genuine and sensible engagement.

So, make it a habit to put a comment on different accounts you admire. Only 3-5 comments a day would work.

Don’t just say “great post”. Instead, tell them you liked the hat, or how you’re craving for coffee seeing their post. Complement or share a brief thought.

You will increase your brand visibility on Instagram, get more profile visits, and even get some chances of partnerships.

How to turn on post notifications?

To turn on notifications for an Instagram account, visit that account, and tap the bell icon at the top right. A pop up will open showing different toggle buttons. Tap the button beside Posts to receive posts’ notifications from that account.

Other working methods to improve brand visibility on Instagram

1. Post shareable content

You must create and share high-quality and engaging content. But to improve visibility, content should drive shares. Post images or videos which your followers would share in their stories and DMs. Also, encourage them to share the content.

2. Upload Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels reach is good these days. So, you must try recording as many Reels as you can, and post them on the Explore tab. If people like them, the Instagram algorithm will promote them further. You might even get virality, and thus a massive organic reach.

3. Create interactive Stories

Instagram Stories appear on the top of your followers’ feed. You can create polls, run quizzes or announce giveaway contests there. You can host Instagram Live or Q&A sessions too. Make some buzz by asking followers to spread the word.

By regularly posting relatable and interactive Stories, you give your followers a reason to keep checking your account.

Conclusion

Improving Instagram organic reach isn’t an impossible task. But if you’re looking to get a quick boost to visibility, try the tested method I mentioned above. Comment on different Instagram accounts you like or in which your target audience hangs out.

It’s all about sharing relatable content; whether on your account or as a comment on others. You’ll reap the rewards soon – as a better reach and higher profile visits.

 

 

 

 

 

[Case Study] WhatsApp vs Telegram: for Business Marketing (Updated 2023)

 

To have real-time talks with your customers, WhatsApp and Telegram are among the most popular messaging apps. Telegram is known for its feature-rich experience. WhatsApp, on the other hand, boasts of a mammoth user base.

WhatsApp has become ubiquitous when it comes to mobile messaging. Actually, synonymous with texting. In fact, if someone asks you to text the details, you have to clarify whether they mean SMS or WhatsApp.

The average user checks WhatsApp more than 23 times per day. Telegram is also a favorite among many users. It has 700 million monthly active users.

So, WhatsApp or Telegram, which one is better for business marketing? Let’s settle this once and for all.

This article will help you decide where to focus your efforts. It outlines the essential pros and cons and provides a snapshot of a real-time experience using both apps.

So, this article is about my experience with WhatsApp and Telegram. But first, let’s see how their features compare:

Feature comparison: WhatsApp vs Telegram

Platforms/Devices

WhatsApp has native apps for Android/iOS mobiles and Mac/Windows PC. PC users can also use it via WhatsApp Web, and iPad users need to use it via Web only. You can link WhatsApp to five devices at once, including one phone.

With Telegram, you can log in to as many devices as you like. It has apps for Android, iOS, Windows, Mac as well as Linux. PC users have the option of Telegram Web, too.

 

Groups

WhatsApp allows you to add 1024 people to a group chat. You can also create broadcasts with your contacts. Each broadcast list can have 256 people at once. Then, WhatsApp also has Communities and Story-format Status, which businesses can leverage.

Telegram supports up to 200,000 people in a group. It also offers public channels to broadcast messages. These Telegram channels can have unlimited subscribers.

Group calls

WhatsApp allows audio and video calls in groups. You can add up to eight of your contacts for the same.

Telegram doesn’t support calls in groups yet. It does have the group voice chat option, though.

Group Analytics

WhatsApp doesn’t offer any feature that allows you to dig into the analytics.

Telegram, on the other hand, offers insights into your group’s activities. You can also use different third-party bots to get data essential for your business marketing.

File sharing

Both WhatsApp and Telegram allow for file-sharing of up to 2 GB in size.

Business Catalogue

WhatsApp allows businesses to create dedicated profiles. You can add your business info as well as product/service details. Then, you can also create catalogs to organize and share information with customers.

Telegram lacks such business-friendly features.

In-built Payment

WhatsApp has integrated WhatsApp Pay for businesses to accept payments from customers. They can do so directly within the chat window.

Telegram, however, doesn’t process payments from users. But you can develop bots to use third-party payment processors and accept payments. They handle all the information, while Telegram is only a middleware.

Chat Bots

WhatsApp has a chatbot feature to interact and engage with your customers. You can use it to set automatic greetings and away messages for when they are unavailable.

Telegram’s chatbots can perform a variety of tasks. With Telegram, you can create quizzes, conduct polls, and even automate sharing posts from social networks.

Automation and API

WhatsApp doesn’t have an official API. Third-party services provide tools for businesses to automate and send custom messages at scale.

Telegram offers an API that businesses can use to integrate the platform with their systems. It’s better automation-friendly. Third-party developers can build integrations to scale business communication with Telegram. Telegram bots can also automate various tasks.

 

WhatsApp and Telegram business marketing – Real-life experience

Telegram has many features to market a business. But is it better than WhatsApp for you?

Let’s understand how effective they can be from our CMO’s own experience.

Jaison, our CMO, started a marketing group on WhatsApp. It was back when WhatsApp had a group limit of 256 members, and the group looked to overgrow it. So, he ran a poll.

And 73% of participants wanted to move to Telegram instead of having a 2.0 on WhatsApp itself. Thus, a new group of marketers was created on Telegram.

It has been two years since the groups have been active and growing together. And here are the observations from experience.

 

Why is Telegram better for business marketing?

Telegram groups can have more members than WhatsApp groups. So, you can have a more extensive connected community if you build it through Telegram instead of WhatsApp.

Also, you have better admin controls in a Telegram group. You can delete a spam message sent by other members of the group. In WhatsApp, admins can’t delete spammy, hateful and other such messages.

Then, Telegram also allows you to pin an important announcement to the top of your group.

 

Why is WhatsApp better for business marketing?

Telegram sure has more features than WhatsApp, and it seems better suitable for businesses. But WhatsApp has something else that keeps it ahead – a huge user base.

When Jaison shared the WhatsApp group’s link on LinkedIn and Twitter, over 30-40 people joined every time. But in the case of the Telegram group, only about 20 people joined it.

Also, people are engaging better in the WhatsApp group than in Telegram. Even the links of Blusteak’s YouTube vlogs and Jaison’s newsletter receive more love from WhatsApp group than Telegram.

It seems everyone wants to be on WhatsApp, as they’re familiar with it.

Conclusion

Telegram can help promote your business to a broader audience. No doubt. You can send business updates to many people at once.

But, seeing the real-life experience, you might like to pick WhatsApp as the instant messenger of choice for an engaged community. Features like business profiles, product catalogues and automated replies also help keep customers well-informed.

So, start with the one you need the most, and move up to both platforms later.

Is Twitter Spaces the Clubhouse for Android?

 

Twitter released its Spaces for beta testing in December 2020, calling it “a small experiment focused on the intimacy of human voice.”

It is being seen as a competitor of Clubhouse – the popular voice-based social media. Spaces, however, has got an edge over Clubhouse. While Clubhouse is available only for iOS, Twitter Spaces is being tested on Android as well as iOS.

So, can Spaces be the Clubhouse for Android everyone has been waiting for?

Well, read this article to find out. In this article, I’m detailing the features of the Twitter Spaces app, how it works, and if it’s any better than Clubhouse.

Let’s dive in.

What is Twitter Spaces?

Spaces are audio-based chatrooms to interact with your followers, your Twitter community. It is a feature being built within the Twitter app.

In Spaces, you can gather a group of users for live audio conversations. You can invite speakers, share your tweets and use emoji gestures to keep the conversation on. Spaces are public, so all your followers can join and listen to your conversations.

Similarly, you can enter other public Spaces and listen to the live relay.

How does Twitter Spaces work?

Twitter Spaces beta is available to a small group. As of February 2020, only around 4,000 beta testers have access to Spaces, Tom Warren (Senior Editor at The Verge) reported.

And here’s how to use this Clubhouse alternative for Android and iOS:

How to create a Space on Twitter?

You have two ways to begin a Twitter Space on the app:

• • Long press the Compose button and tap on the Spaces icon

or

• Tap on your profile image in the Fleets section, and then on the Spaces icon

Now, you can invite up to 10 people to speak. Then, choose who can join your Space with speaking privileges. The options are – Everyone, People you follow, or Only people you invite to speak.

When you’re ready:

1. Tap on the “Start your Space” button
2. Toggle “Allow mic access” to On
3. Toggle “Share transcriptions” to On (if you want)

And that’s all you need to create a Space on Twitter.

How to join other Twitter Spaces?

Spaces are public and you can join the Spaces of people you follow. You will see their Twitter Spaces in your Fleets section. Tap to join the fun.

What are the features of Twitter Spaces?

Spaces has all the features which make it similar to the Clubhouse iOS app. You can invite people you want, check who all are part of the room, and see who is speaking. And of course, you can join other Spaces and be a part of the conversation.

Some other features of Spaces beta are:

• Spaces are public and they appear in the Fleets section
• Anyone can join as a listener
• Twitter Spaces have public links
• Participants can share links for others to join
• Creators can remove, block and report participants
• Creators can control who can speak in their Space
• Up to 10 people can speak in a Twitter Space at the same time
• There is no limit on the number of listeners
• Accounts with protected tweets can’t create Spaces
• Only the person who created a Space can end it

Once a Space ends, Twitter keeps the recordings for 30 days to review for violations. You can download the data of your Space within that time. Also, if the Space had transcriptions turned on, speakers can download a copy of what they said.

And if a Space violates any rule, the data is kept for 90 more days, so people can appeal.

Some other features being tested on both Twitter Spaces android and iOS are the ability to share tweets in Spaces, automated captions and emoji reactions. So, if you’re waiting for a version of Clubhouse for Android, Twitter Spaces download might be a better alternative.

Twitter Spaces vs Clubhouse – How are they different?

Some major differences between Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse are:

1. Twitter Spaces is being tested for Android as well as iOS. But the Clubhouse app is available only on iOS.
2. Unlike Clubhouse, a Twitter Spaces invite is not needed. Its beta version is being gradually rolled to users.
3. Twitter Spaces doesn’t have any limit on the number of people who can join a room. Clubhouse, as of now, has a limit of 5000 people per room.
4. Spaces allows a listener to give feedback to the speakers using emojis. Clubhouse doesn’t have that feature.
5. On Twitter Spaces, you can post and discuss tweets. In Clubhouse, you can’t share pictures, videos or text.
6. Twitter Spaces will have live captions, so listeners can also read what is being said. But Clubhouse doesn’t have this feature.

Conclusion

The concept behind Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse is the same. Both are audio-only chat rooms. So, unless Clubhouse comes out with an Android app soon, Twitter Spaces might be the Clubhouse for Android.

And Twitter Spaces has a good chance of replacing Clubhouse even on iOS.

Spaces feature is built into the Twitter platform. So, users will get the benefit of their existing online presence. And with additional features like data download, emoji reactions and live captions, Spaces might be more user-friendly than Clubhouse.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Use Discord to Market Your Business?

 

Discord has particularly been popular among gamers. But over the years the use exploded among other people too. From art and music to economy and politics, Discord has led to the growth of many communities. And you can use Discord for your business too.

So, in this article, I’m listing the business benefits of Discord and how you can use it to market your business.

Let’s dive in.

What is Discord?

Discord is a real-time chat platform where gamers, influencers and anyone, who has built a community, can engage. Users can join different servers through exclusive invites and can interact with other community members on dedicated channels.

For example, the management can chat within their channel, while your production department can have a separate one. And the sales team will have their own.

You can also have a channel for company-wide announcements. Discord is one of the most useful tools for your business.

Business benefits of using Discord

1. Discord provides better control over the members

People need a custom invite link to join your Discord server. So, your community has a lesser chance to be flocked by trolls and spammers.

Also, server administrators can delete messages and ban members who abuse the rules. And they can add moderators to manage the community and its members.

Discord itself has a strict usage policy. And it banned over 4 million accounts for spamming, in the first half of 2020.

2. Discord is quicker than emails

Email is irreplaceable, I know. But it is also cumbersome at times.

Just imagine a situation, when you forgot some instructions, and it is lost among the emails. And when you misplaced the emailed image or video needed for the social media post.

In such cases, Discord could have been a savior.

3. Discord is like an algorithm-free feed

Discord is, basically, a chat messenger. And its feed is independent of any algorithm.

So, whether to announce an update, launch a product or send an event invite, drop it in the dedicated channel.

Discord lists each message chronologically. And no one will lose a company announcement.

Five ways to use Discord to market your business

1. Build a moderated community

Apart from internal communications, you can create a Discord server as a moderated social discussion platform. Create different channels depending on what your target audience might like to discuss. And let them bond together.

Create a text channel to discuss books, movies or adventures, whatever seems relevant to your business and target audience. You can even start a voice/video channel if needed.

And as your community grows, the popularity of your business will spread too. Word-of-mouth Marketing is still powerful.

Check how Buy Me a Coffee created a community on Discord

2. Find new channels with like-minded individuals

Along with building your community, you can also meet other like-minded individuals in different Discord servers.

It’s easy to find relevant servers once you know what you’re looking for. Ask your team members, check with your community, and join those groups.

There, you’ll meet other business owners and grab opportunities for collaborations. And it will also help you get your products and services to more people from your target audience.

3. Share articles and relevant industry content

Yes, you can use Discord to share your website articles and other updates from your industry.

As all employees are connected on a single server, you can leverage their social media presence. They’ll share the articles on other Discord servers and their personal social media profiles to increase its reach.

It will help you develop authority among your target audience.

4. Post branded memes and image-based content

Posting branded memes, GIFs and funny screenshots are yet another way to market your business. And Discord could be mighty helpful.

It’s more like a chat app, and it’s independent of any algorithm. So, whenever you post any content on your business server or the community server, every member will get it.

So, design relevant (and share-worthy) memes and share them on Discord.

5. Offer quick customer service

And at last, use a dedicated Discord server to handle customer complaints.

People want quick service, and since Discord messages come in real-time, you can address the concerns right away. You can easily send direct messages and have private conversations with the members.

Wrapping it up

Although Discord is primarily an app for real-time communication among individuals, it also offers many benefits to businesses.

And you can use Discord to market your business too.

Build a community, meet like-minded individuals, and provide quick customer service. And it’s all available for free.

About the author: Abhijeet is a writer and marketer. He loves to write about tech products and create content for websites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the Organic Reach of LinkedIn Going Down? – Here’s the Proof

 

I have been active on LinkedIn for over two years now. And I got my voice heard. I found many people who resonated with my LinkedIn posts.

And my posts also reached people with whom later worked with.

But for the last few weeks, I have a nagging feeling – “The organic reach of LinkedIn posts is going down.” I checked with some friends; they felt the same. But I didn’t find definite proof.

So, I went through the data I had. And ran an experiment to uncover the trend in the organic reach of LinkedIn.

The trend in LinkedIn’s organic reach – My experiment

I picked up random posts from the last two months and noted down their stats. And below lists the statistics of some best performing posts when I received a good LinkedIn organic reach.

For this experiment, I excluded those posts which reached to more than 10,000 people.

As you can see from the data, one image post had 6000+ views, while another one crossed 2000 views. Then, the two text posts reached 4000+ and 9000+ people each.
However, the stats from the later posts weren’t so promising.

The table below lists the data of some top-performing recent posts (at the time of writing). Here too, I didn’t include the posts which had 10,000+ views.

These LinkedIn posts were text posts. And as you can see, these posts reached to only around 1000-2000 people.

A significant downfall, indeed. But don’t reach the conclusion yet. I dug further.

i) I calculated the average reach of a bunch of posts (and not only the top ones). And during the time, when LinkedIn algorithm favoured my posts, the average reach came out to be 1322 per post.

ii) Then, I averaged the reach of the recent posts. And the number was 922 per post.

iii) After that, I calculated the percentage difference. And the resultant number was around 31%. Yes, the average reach of my LinkedIn posts tipped down 30% within a matter of days.

And because of the reduced reach, the user engagement in those LinkedIn posts suffered too. It further affected the reach. Earlier, I used to see engagement from many people who weren’t even connected. But with my recent posts, I noticed interaction from my connections and followers only.

The probable reasons for this behaviour

As per my observations, the following are the reasons for this changed behaviour of LinkedIn algorithm –

● A growing number of content creators –

In the last few months, the popularity of LinkedIn grew manifold. Because of the coronavirus pandemic and country-wide lockdown, people began networking on LinkedIn. Many users, who weren’t active earlier, started posting on LinkedIn.

Marketers also became active as they found LinkedIn to be the best social media for organic reach. And with the huge influx of posts, the average reach went down.

● Monetizing efforts by LinkedIn –

As more content creators joined LinkedIn, many new features were introduced to keep them engaged. From document sharing to videos, and audio messages to reactions on posts, LinkedIn made a plethora of major and minor developments.

Recently, it also introduced Stories. And as LinkedIn saw an increase in daily log-ins, they found an opportunity for monetization. They reduced the reach. And now, more users will have to pay for LinkedIn Ads to boost their posts and reach their audience.

Conclusion

The organic reach of LinkedIn posts has taken a hit for sure. It might not be the organic social media platform it used to be. But you can still lead.

Build your authority and interact with your community. When you offer value and people resonate with your posts, they’ll engage and they’ll wait for your posts. And LinkedIn algorithm changes won’t be a cause of worry anymore.

That’s all for today. I’ll be back with another experiment or study soon. In the meantime, comment below your LinkedIn experience and what all you do to boost user engagements.

 

How Small Businesses Can Take Advantage of Instagram Reels?

 

Instagram introduced Reels in 50 countries, including India, in August 2020. And users around the country are using Instagram Reels for business promotion and product marketing.

But how beneficial can Reels be to the small businesses?

You’ll find it out in this article. And you’ll also read about nine ways to grow your business with Instagram Reels. Yes, creating Reels might feel like an extra burden. But when done right, you can build authority in your industry and reach more of your target audience.

So, keep reading to find what Instagram Reels is, and how to use it.

What is Instagram Reels?

Reels is the latest feature of Instagram. And it allows you to share short video clips (up to 15 seconds long) with all the users of Instagram. You can dub audio, edit video and add instant effects before sharing your Reel. The Reel video will then appear on your followers’ feed. And those videos are also available in the Explore page for other Instagram users to check.

Why should you use Instagram Reels?

Well, your audience is looking for to-the-point content. And Instagram Reels provide you with an opportunity to be creative while being relevant. It’s a quick and convenient way to engage your audience and deliver your message.

And some major benefits of Instagram Reels are –

Better Visibility – Instagram Reels provide another way (apart from IGTV, Live and Stories) to reach your target audience.

Better Shareability – Reels, unlike Stories, won’t vanish after 24 hours. Users will be able to view and share them for a longer time.

Better Discoverability – A public Reels video appears in the Explore tab, distributing your content to many users outside your followers. And the videos also appear on the pages dedicated to the songs, the hashtags or the effects added in the video.

Also, Reels is a new feature, and Instagram will want more and more users to create content in it. So, Instagram will allow Reels videos to reach more and more people. And you must cash in the opportunity by creating as many relevant Reels as you can.

How to use Instagram Reels for businesses?

Now that you know how useful Reels can be for small businesses, here are nine Instagram Reels ideas to kick-start business content creation –

1. Showcase new products

Promote your products and services with catchy captions and AR overlays. Whether you’re selling electronics, clothes or any other product, you can create Reels. You can either talk about the benefits or show how something works. Using a combination of photos and video snippets, you can provide detailed insights into your products and services.

2. Answer common questions

Service-based companies can create bite-sized how-to videos to solve target customers’ pain points. For example, if you provide home security services, you can speak about the various ways to secure a house. And if you’re into pizza delivery, you can make Reels on how to make a pizza tastier in 15 seconds (the secret sauce is the ‘sauce’).

3. Provide helpful tips

Another engaging way to use Instagram Reels for businesses is to share helpful tips. These tips can either be about your services or other problems your audience might face in general. You can even share quirky DIY videos to help your customers. Through a series of Reels, you can guide your audience to solutions.

4. Suggest use cases

Then, apart from speaking only about, say shoes, you can suggest clothing ideas to go best with different colours. Or you might want to suggest your flawless printing service can get people their dream job, dream partner or dream home. You can also compile user-generated Reels to show how your sweets, for example, are helping in making friends. Be creative, but be real.

5. Collaborate with influencers

Promotions by influencers can increase awareness about products. And you can ask relevant influencers to create and share content for you.
Influencers can do quick reviews or mention how your product helps. And you can collaborate with influencers even to promote an informative YouTube video, podcast or blog you’ve created. Such promotions will build your authenticity and credibility while educating your audience.

6. Post behind-the-scenes videos

Behind-the-scenes content adds a human touch to your business. And you can use Instagram Reels to share such videos. You can give a glimpse of your office (or store) or you can show how your team works together to get things done. Occasionally, you can even share off-work Reels of family time, team lunch or vacations.

7. Share exclusive deals/sales

You can use Reels to post about discounted sale offers on your products. And you can even partner with other small businesses, and offer lucrative deals on their products/services. Apparel shops can partner with jewellery stores; booksellers with gift shops and so on. Such collaborations will build trust among your audience as well as other businesses.

8. Tease upcoming events

Instagram Reels can be snappy in building awareness about upcoming workshops, training sessions and other events. You can arouse curiosity, and pull in new followers, by giving sneak peeks into new product launches.

9. Get into the trend

You have got a few different ways to get trending (and even be viral) with Instagram Reels. You can use trending hashtags, popular audio clips or AR effects and get discovered among your audience.

So, observe the Reels in the Discover tab to find a content format which is trending. And when you feel a format will resonate with your audience, use it. It’s one of the quickest (but not the easiest) ways for business growth with Instagram Reels.

How are businesses using Instagram Reels?

1. Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters

Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters is sharing Reels, showing how to make various drinks with their coffee. Instead of advertising, it shows how to use a product and attract the target audience.

2. Fox Star Hindi

Fox Star Hindi is posting Reels with funny and interesting scenes from upcoming movies. Such content excites and encourages the audience to check the site.

3. Fabindia

Fabindia is creating Reels, giving different ideas to don their clothing range. These videos educate the audience and prompt them to visit the store.

4. Sterling Accuris Diagnostics

Sterling Accuris Diagnostics is bringing Reels, which promote their packages. It is educating the audience while also increasing engagement.

5. Bewakoof

Bewakoof is using Reels to share funny videos to attract its target audience. Such videos are engaging and shareable, thus improving brand awareness.

How to create Instagram Reels?

Creating an Instagram Reels is a 5-step process. And in most cases, it would take less than 3 minutes for your video to go live. Follow these steps –

Step 1: Open Reels camera
Reels feature is available within the Instagram app. And to access it, open the camera as if you’re shooting a Live video or posting a Story. You’ll find the Reels option at the bottom.

Step 2: Select an audio
Once you open the Reels camera, you’ll get the option (on the left side of the screen) to pick audio from their library. You can skip it if you want to create Reels with your own voice/audio.

Step 3: Add effects
Below the audio option, you’ll find various editing tools. Use them to add filters and effects like AR overlays and slow motion. A timer feature is also available to create Instagram Reels hands-free.

Step 4: Record/Upload a clip
When you’re done with the setup, you’re ready to create a Reels video. You can either record or upload an existing video from your mobile. Only 15-second clip will be shared in one Reel. And when you finish recording/uploading your video, add text, GIFs and stickers as required.

Step 4: Share

After you finalise, share your Reel with the world. You can post it to your Stories, add it to your feed and make it available in the Explore page.

Get started with Instagram Reels

Well, that was all about using Instagram Reels for businesses. You now know why Reels is important for small businesses, how others are using it and how you can too.
Now, armed with this knowledge, you’re ready to promote your business.

Social Login To Tweak Today’s Prosperous eCommerce

There is no reason for an online customer to appreciate filling registration forms to get into your eCommerce site. Honestly speaking, they hate this process of pre-filled fields. You can enrich your customer dataset with social factor.  I am not talking about the common social media features here. Bridge the gap between an eCommerce login and social login with Addshopper’s new release of  ‘social shopper’s login’.

What it is all about?

This is one of the powerful tools to combat conversion-killing registration forms and allow a smooth sign in for your customers. Social shopper’s login allows customers to login to your website by simply using their account information from Twitter, Facebook, Amazon or even Google PayPal.
As already mentioned before, most of the customers abandon their shopping carts as they are forced to create an account during checkout. In addition to this, there are several other reasons for their annoyance. It can be the security concerns as well as hidden costs and high delivery charges that stop them from making a purchase from online stores.

How does it solve your problem?

It is obvious that anyone who would search your site for a purchase would be quite infuriated if they have to register for a new account, remember the password and recheck their entries. Coupled with this, is the tedious task of filling the billing address, shipping address, name and email. No wonder the majority of the customers abandon the shopping cart or end up creating a wrong or an unfinished user account. This results in lower margin because of lack of Remarketing efforts.
But how does social shopper’s login help to solve their problem? Social login completely abolishes this problem by minimizing registration with just a couple of clicks. They allow your customer to create an account with the information stored in their existing social networking account.  All you have to do is pull out the data available from whatever profile the customer is logged in and accordingly populate the form fields, thereby reducing the boring task of filling form fields. This new Addshopper’s feature allows an eCommerce merchant to  login and acquire user details from the user’s Facebook, Google, Twitter, Amazon or PayPal profiles.

How does social shopper’s login work?

It simply works via linking logins from one or more social networking sites to your eCommerce site through the use of plugins or widgets thereby refuting the need for a new consumer to register their details.  It has been observed that nearly 41% of consumers prefer to login to an online store through their social networking site.

Is it beneficial for your eCommerce venture?

Without any doubt, yes it is. Social login helps to provide customers with an easy one click mode to access your website using their preferred social identity. They do not have to take the burden of creating and storing passwords thus making the registration process much safer and effortless.
The tool also makes sharing your favorite products much easier; since the users are already signed in. The sign-in also adds valuable information for the online merchants such as the customer’s birth date, their interests and their likes and dislikes. The process also enables the visitors to like, comment and share more about your site and its products they find interesting and expand your business reach and users’ engagement.
With such social data you can customize your store based on the consumer’s likes and interests. Moreover, it also allows the customers to connect to their friends from within your store through their access to the social graph.  Also by integrating social data, you can streamline your workflow into your Customer-Relationship Management and Automated Marketing Systems among others.

With more and more of us spending time on social networking sites the next logical step has to be social login for your eCommerce success.

How To Achieve A Sustainable Social Media Strategy? Just STOP!

Social media is one of the most talked about buzz words of the 21^st Century – and rightly so! It has transformed the way we (customers) think and you (businesses) act! It’s no longer as simple as going to the local store for the product we want/need. We now research the social media options available to us, ask our peers what they think of it and then we see where we can purchase it to get the best value.

Social media has altered the relationship between brands and consumers – in a good way for us (the consumers) and in a daunting way for you (the business) because it means you have to build a relationship with us!

To achieve a sustainable social media strategy – just use STOP

If a business decides to have a social media presence then it must be well planned, realistic objectives and most importantly it must be sustainable. No point having a social media plan for 2 months, sticking to it and seeing the return (or not!) then just “logging on to post a status update or tweet whenever you get a chance” –  it doesn’t work like that!

# 1. Strategy

Every business needs a business plan, as well as a short term strategy. This is also true for social media. Your social media strategy should not be a standalone plan, it should be a part of your overall marketing approach. Back up your online efforts with offline campaigns, and vice versa. Create a realistic plan in order to reap the return on investment of your time, resources and in some cases money invested into this social media effort.

# 2. Track

The key to any social media (or any digital marketing in fact) is to measure the success/failure of your objectives and goals. While social media is for the most part free, you are investing your time – which in itself is valuable. And so, if an element of your plan isn’t working, or isn’t working as best as it could – then by tracking your social media you will be able to see this and tweak it before time is wasted and damage is done to your brand.

# 3. Objectives

What defines a successful social media campaign? 5,000 twitter followers? 1,000 Facebook fans? Or maybe just 1 sale via your website? No one can tell you what success is…that is up to you. In order to be able to tell if your social media efforts are fruitful, you must set clear realistic goals (also known as Key Performance Indicators – KPIs) and so, if you are not achieving then stop wasting valuable time on that particular element of your plan and tweak it to until it works.

Of course, if you are not reaching any of your goals then perhaps you are being unrealistic and aiming too high? Or maybe social media just isn’t for you and your brand? Consider other digital marketing techniques such as email marketing.

# 4. Pick

There are hundreds of social media sites – it is unrealistic to say have a well run profile on ALL (or even on the top 5: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+) so pick 2 and do them well, only large organisations with marketing departments can afford to allocate human resources and large budgets to growing established brands on all five social networks.

So, social media has become one of the most daunting tasks facing businesses in recent years. Why? Because it takes time, effort, dedication as well as thinking outside the box. However, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages – if social media is done well!

Taking Your First Steps Online

Many businesses are a little behind when it comes to doing business online, particularly small businesses. Their reluctance is often due to high cost and the fact that they cannot see a huge return on investment. This is not helped by some companies charging exorbitant fees or not being clear about what people are actually getting for their money.
Setting up online can be a potential minefield, particularly for small business owners who often take the DIY approach. Many are being pushed into it because conventional wisdom tells them that it’s the place to be. This can be fairly daunting though, and soon they’re pulling hair out trying to get to grips with e-commerce, blogging, social media, content management systems, SEO etc.
There are a number of things to keep in mind when making the move online. Not all are essential and perhaps only some are relevant to your business. It is important not to get caught up in the hype and focus on what will help you to achieve your objectives. Below are some of the things you will need to consider:

1. Domain name & hosting
2. Website design & development
3. Blogging
4. Social Media

Domain Name & Hosting

The first thing you’ll have to do is register a domain name and arrange your hosting. You could save money by sourcing the cheapest service and for each and paying separately but it’s far more convenient to do both with the one company.

What Company?

Blacknight and Register365 are 2 quality Irish companies. Although there are cheaper options I generally recommend these 2 as they provide a higher level of support than their overseas counterparts. A dotie domain costs about €20 per year and dotcom is about €5-6.

Domain Types

It is advisable to buy up a number of domain types for your chosen name because if you don’t others will. What you use as your main domain depends on where your target market is based. If you are focusing on the Irish market then a .ie is the way to go, if your audience is  international then choose a .com.

Hosting

A middle of the range of shared hosting package is suitable for most businesses. Only much larger organisations should ever require their own dedicated server. Medium sized shared hosting casts between €5 and €11 per month depending on the package.

Design & Development

The process of developing your first site can be stressful. There are so many options available that it’s easy to get confused.  Here are some key points to consider before you begin:

What are your objectives?

It is important to be clear of your objectives when setting up a site. You may just want a basic web presence with a few paragraphs about what you do and your contact details, or you may want a much larger website with a content management system and online store. Either way your website should be built around these objectives.

Do you need a  content management system?

Chances are that you’ll want to include a content management system as part of your website. This will potentially save you money on development costs as you will not have to pay a developer any time you want to add a page or change a paragraph.
All web development companies offer some kind of content management system. Sometimes it is their own custom built software, sometimes a commercial ready made solution or sometimes it is an open source option. The option you choose largely depends on how much control you want over your content and your budget.

Should you use open source software?

Open Source Software is essentially software that is available to download and to use for free. Software that falls into this category is produced by a community of designers and developers who are part of the project. WordPress and Joomla are two examples of open source content management systems. Most development companies will offer an option to develop a site using either of these software. This means that you can save money on development costs because the bones of your site are already there.

Do you need a custom design?

There are many existing web design themes and templates available for cheap so a custom design isn’t always the way to go. Using an existing template can be the way to go if you are on a tight budget.

Search Engine Optimisation

There’s not much point in having a website if no one can find it. Chances are you’ll have to do some kind of optimisation on your site to get it to rank for key search terms.  A common misconception is that there is some kind of magic formula to getting your site to rank. This is not the case however and SEO takes time.
There are two key parts to any SEO campaign; on-page optimisation and off-page optimisation.

On-page Optimisation

On-page optimisation is the changes you make to the actual web pages. On-page optimisation is vital to ensure a good foundation on which to build from. You should consider SEO right from the beginning of the web development process and make sure your developer thinking along these lines too.  Ideally you should hire and SEO to work with the development company to advise on process from start to finish.

Off-page Optimisation

Off-page optimisation counts for more as far as Google and other search engines are concerned and primarily involves building up links to your site. This is absolutely vital because links are like votes from other websites. There are a number of different ways to build up links to your site including directory submissions, article submissions, guest blogging, reciprocal linking and link baiting. Your aim should be to build up a good number of quality links over a period of time and not try to do it overnight.

Business Blogging

Blogging is important for a number of reasons:

1. Bringing in new traffic to your site -
2. Encouraging visitors to return to your site
3. Adding new content to your site
4. Engaging with your customers
5. Proving your expertise and authority in your sector

When you are setting up your website you should consider including a blog. Most content management systems will offer this functionality and WordPress and Joomla certainly do.

Where to host?

It is probably best to have the blog as part of the website itself or perhaps hosted in a sub directory of the main domain. This way you will get the maximum benefit in terms of SEO for your website.

Content

Content can include company news, special offers, new products, industry news or opinion and advice articles. Many find it difficult to find the time or resources  to write articles for their blog. Luckily it is fairly simple to recruit guest bloggers or pay for articles.

Social Media

Social Media can be an effictive way to promote your business and for customer service. Sometimes however it isn’t used properly and is completely ineffective. If you are thinking about setting up a Twitter profile or Facebook Page only do so if you have the time and resources to manage and update them.

Do it right or don’t do it at all

If you set up a profile, take the time to add all your information including a picture. Research your market and approach relevant people to like or follow you. It is important to post content regularly (even if it only once or twice a week) and reply to fans and followers promptly.

Content

Syndicate your blog to your social networks so each new post is added as a tweet or a wall post. Tweet about new products and services, special offers, industry news etc. Engage with your followers by retweeting relevant articles/tweets and replying to their tweets. Thank people for following you and follow them back too.
On Facebook upload photos of products, completed work, events, staff members etc. Promote special offers and perhaps run competitions.
If you are taking your first steps into seriously doing businees online it can be a little daunting. Despite this if you keep your head, keep your key business objectives in mind, and take the time to do it right the rewards can be great. Over the coming months I’ll cover each of the topics above in more detail, in the meantime I hope you got something out of the article and thanks for reading!

Take The Hassle Out Of Tweeting With Twitterfeed

Most businesses are now on Twitter, and many of those are running multiple accounts.
While Tweet Deck is certainly an excellent programme for making the job of multi-Tweeting substantially easier, Twitter Feed, an automated RSS-to-Twitter service that saves you the painstakingly

Twitterfeed: simple to use, and can save you a lot of repetitive Tweeting.

boring and time-consuming task of manually Tweeting your latest posts or other content entries, is another tool in the Twitter arsenal that doesn’t seem to be used nearly as much.
The service works very simply.
You simply enter the RSS feed you want to see Tweeted, authorize the service to access your Twitter(s) by logging in, add a few bells and whistles in the ‘advanced options’ area, and hey presto, you have a fully automated and timely service that will send all your content as shortlinks to your Twitter feed (there’s even an option to let you choose what type of shortlinks you’d like the service to use, but bit.ly links, the gold-standard link-shortening service, is probably the safest option.)
The ‘advanced options’ entry screen allows you the option of adding up to 20 characters before or after the main part of the entry (that is, the link’s title and/or a brief description of what it contains), which is conveniently just long enough to include a mention of your main Twitter username, or a hashtag that you think would be relevant to the post.
This is obviously extremely useful for bloggers and news sources, but can be used to great effect by just about anyone churning about content on a frequent basis.
The service is completely free of charge and also allows you to add an unlimited number of ‘feeds’ to the one, or multiple, Twitter accounts.
One feed can be piped on to multiple Twitters (e.g. a blog that you want Tweeted to a few Twitter accounts you run: personal, business, PR, etc), or multiple feeds can be piped onto the one account. It even lets you choose how many items you’d like added to the account each time the service checks for new items on the feed (the choice is from one to five; three may be a safe bet to both get the posts out while also not spamming followers’ news-feeds).
It’s also useful even if you or your business doesn’t blog/post/add content all that frequently, as even then you can easily forget to add something from one feed to a certain account.
Just about the only downside is that the automated Tweets can’t be customized beyond the generic settings you programme for each Tweet in that feed — custom hashtags and mentions can’t be added to increase a Tweet’s popularity, though you can, of course, simply repeat the same Tweet twice, the second time with all the things you want included after the link.
Overall, no matter what you’re business or industry, you stand to save a lot of time by going through the five minute process of registering and setting up your Twitterfeed at TwitterFeed.com.

Summary: the steps

1 – Register for a free account at TwitterFeed.com.
2 – Find your blog/content’s RSS feed (ask your IT guy or look for the familiar ‘RSS’ logo anywhere around your post or blog homepage).
3 – Click on ‘add a feed’ from the dashboard (the homescreen when you log in) and copy and paste your content feed’s RSS address into the box.
4 – Click on ‘advanced options’ if you’d like to impute certain customizations like mentions after or before the link. Also select whether you’d like to display the title only, description only, or both, and choose a link shortening service to use.
5 – Move on to step two and choose Twitter as your service to pipe the updates to.
6 – Click on the authorize button. If logged in you’ll be taken to Twitter and then automatically redirected to the Twitterfeed setup screen you were on; if not simply log in to Twitter and the same thing will happen.
7 – Click done, and once you’ve hit step three the service is set up.
8 – To cancel or modify the current service, log back in to Twitter Feed and make the changes. Just about any modification is possible: deleting the service, changing the feed, changing the advanced options, etc.
9 – Once content is added to the source (then the RSS feed), Twitterfeed should automatically send the Tweet to your chosen accounts in about five to ten minutes.