How to Turn your Social Media Audience into your Customers

                                 
Having a social media following can be a cost-effective marketing strategy, but there are best practices to follow if you hope those posts will lead to paying customers. Here’s how to turn your social media audience into customers.

Focus your efforts strategically. The “best” social media channels for your business are those used most frequently by your target audience, but data indicates that some social media channels tend to be more conducive to turning followers into paying customers than others. For example,statistics indicate that 72 percent of Twitter followers are likely to buy from a business they’ve engaged with on Twitter; 30 percent of them are likely to recommend a business they follow on Twitter to others. Shopify reports the bulk of traffic for its online shops is driven by Facebook. In fact, 85 percent of all social media-generated purchases come from the social network. What you sell correlates to how likely it is that your social media followers will convert into paying customers, too. Shopify’s data reveals that businesses related to photography, sports and recreation, pet supplies, jewelry, clothing and apparel are among those most likely to successfully turn social media fans into customers.

Start a conversation, not a marketing campaign. Social media is founded on the idea of two-way communication. At least once a week, post questions that invite your audience to respond and share ideas. Acknowledge all feedback thoughtfully, personally and respectfully. Establish a social media “voice” that’s representative of your brand and business. There are plenty of tools that “auto-respond” to social media posts, but they won’t build the customer relationships that lead to purchases. To do that, you need to let your fans know you’ve heard what they had to say — and value their relationship enough to take time to personally respond.

Let fans know their feedback matters. Social media provides informal market research that you can harness to make more informed business decisions. Listen to what your social media followers have to say, instead of telling them about you. When their feedback is taken into account and changes your operations in some way — which may mean stocking additional products, changing store hours or altering a return or exchange policy — let them know their voice was heard, valued and drove change.

Make your audience the stars. A consistent presence is important on social media, but all posts should be relevant to your target audience — whether they’re humorous, inspirational, educational or informative. Can’t think of relevant posts to share? Put your social media audience in the driver’s seat. That strategy made GoPro, the maker of action cameras, into a social media marketing legend. By simply inviting its social media audience to capture GoPro footage and share it on social media (with “GoPro” tagged in the posts), the brand now reports that more than 6,000 GoPro-related videos are uploaded to YouTube eachday. It turned what could have been a passive social media strategy into one that drives purchases and product use — and has built a community of brand ambassadors.

Integrate tools that encourage them to buy. The number of steps your customers must take in order to buy something they see on social media should be minimal, and include a seamless checkout process. Posts should direct customers to the appropriate website page that’s equipped to function appropriately on both mobile and desktop devices. Give customers the option to validate credentials from social media with the click of a button, or purchase as a guest. (According to a study by VWO eCommerce, more than 20 percent of potential customers abandon a purchase when they’re forced to register with a site to buy.) If you offer social media fans a discount, auto-populate the discount field when they click from social media to your site. Assure customers that their sensitive payment information is processed securely, according to payment card industry security standards.

Social media is a low-cost channel all small business owners can leverage to build business, but it takes some strategy to post in such a way that drives purchase behavior. Try these tips to boost the return on investment that your social media efforts deliver.

Written by Kristen Gramigna
 Kristen Gramigna is Chief Marketing Officer for BluePay, a credit card processing firm. She has more than 20 years experience in the bankcard industry in direct sales, sales management and marketing. Follow her on Twitter at @BluePay_CMO.

Fayose Signs Law Banning Possession Of Firearms By Fulani In Ekiti

                                                        
Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has signed the Open Grazing Prohibition Bill into law.
Fayose signed the Bill in the presence of over 3,000 traditional rulers in the state.
The new law effectively bans herdsmen from grazing their animals in areas not designated for grazing. They are also barred from carrying arms.
Any violator of the law would be sentenced to six months in prison without an option of fine, while any herdsman found with arms would be charged with terrorism.

Chinese Company Wins $1.85 Bln Nigerian Railway Contract

                                           
China’s state-owned railway construction firm has been awarded a $1.85 billion contract to build a light railway line in Kano State, north of Nigeria.
The China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd issued a statement saying two of its subsidiaries had been provisionally awarded the light railway project in Kano.
“The contract amount of the project is approximately $1.851 billion, accounting for approximately 2 percent of the operating revenue of the company for the year 2015,” it said in the statement, issued to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The contract is for four lines, totalling 74 km (46 miles) and capable of carrying trains travelling at a top speed of 100 km per hour.
“This award is subject to the fulfilment to all conditions spelled out in the letter of intent from the financing bank and the final approval by the presidency of Nigeria,” it said. A spokesman for the president declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
A government source said contracts of this nature are usually passed to the cabinet for approval.
The company said it expected the first and second phases of construction to each last for two years, but did not give details of when work was expected to start if approved.

Source: Channels Television

Do-It-Yourself: 6 Helpful Tips for Small Businesses

                                  
If you’re a small business, doing your own PR is all about crafting pitches and getting them to the right people. Creating buzz in your industry involves being authentic to yourself and your business. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, doing PR yourself can be a great money-saving option for your small business.

1. Tell Your Brand's Story
Storytelling can help transform your brand’s identity and presence, and create trust from consumers or others in the industry. Some of the best stories come from you and your loyal customers. You can tell the story of how your brand came to be, and customers can tell the stories of their experiences with your business.
Think of your brand as a human persona. The more interesting and genuine its personality is, the more trust others will feel toward it. Be sure to tell others why your business exists, its ethics, how the brand evolved, or anything else that will help people see the full picture of your business. Don’t be afraid to encourage your customers to tell their stories of how your business benefited them. A compelling story will give the audience a way to emotionally connect with who you are and ultimately set the tone for the entire company.

2. Keep up With the Industry
Read a lot, and read often to make sure you’re staying informed with everything related to your industry.
Set up Google Alerts and Twitter Mentions. Find and follow the top industry influencers, and read up on what your competitors are doing. You can use sites like IFTTT to collect articles containing relevant keywords from all over the internet, and have new content delivered right to your inbox.
You need to be as knowledgeable as possible in your industry. You never know when the spotlight might be on you. And that knowledge might just impress the right person, leading to your next big break.

3. Network With the Top Influencers
If you’re actively keeping up with the top industry reporters and influencers, the second step is to then try and network with them. If you take notes on what those writers typically focus on, you’ll have an abundance of knowledge when you finally reach out to them to build a relationship.
Try creating a list of the blogs or news sites these top influencers write for and keep track of what each author is writing. Then, find where you can comment and engage with them, whether it be through a blog post or a Twitter chat.
Networking with influencers and others is a great way to build a name for yourself and your brand within the industry, but make sure the comments aren’t forced or self-promotional. Remember: do-it-yourself PR is all about being authentic and trustworthy.

4. Do Your Research and Remain Objective
This relates to keeping up with the industry. You need to make sure you have something to contribute to the conversation or the industry, whether it be information in the form of an article or a product or service that is particularly helpful.
It’s important to do enough prep work before making any pitches. Study the outlets you’ve chosen to pitch to, and look to see if there is a specific person at an outlet you think would respond well to what you’re offering. Once again, learn as much as you can before jumping forward.

5. Perfect Before Pitching
Putting your name out there before your product or service is ready can lead to negative customer reviews, and that can be a death sentence for a small business or startup company. Plus, a good product or high quality service is more likely to get better press once the word is actually out.
Focus on perfecting your product or service before reaching out to get press. Don’t be afraid to first get the opinion of a small group of trusted people who can provide you with feedback to help you improve upon your product or the quality of your service.

6. Craft Creative and Compelling Pitches
When you’re pitching your brand or product, you need to make sure you remain as objective as possible. Even though you might think everything your business does or provides is notably the best, not everyone will agree.
Remember that a lot of top industry influencers are constantly bombarded with pitches, so yours needs to be creative and, most importantly, personal. This circles back to the first tip: tell your brand’s story. Keep it short and sweet, and make sure if you’re reaching out to anyone over email, your subject line is attention-grabbing and won’t be mistaken for spam.

There may be a point where a larger PR company could help your company reach new heights. But, for small businesses, the right attitude and drive for success makes doing PR yourself a completely plausible option.

Written by Rich Kahn
 Rich Kahn is the CEO of eZanga.com and has been recognized as a leader in the online advertising industry since 1993. Rich started eZanga.com, a digital marketing firm specializing in pay per click and pay per call advertising, in 2003 with his wife, Beth. Follow him on Twitter at @richkahn.

Veteran Comic Actor,Gene Wilder is dead

                              

US actor Gene Wilder, remembered by many for his lead role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, has died at the age of 83, his family has confirmed.

The comic actor also starred in classic films such as The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.
Wilder frequently collaborated with writer and director Mel Brooks as well as stand-up comedian Richard Pryor.
The actor died in Stamford, Connecticut, due to complications from Alzheimer's disease, his family said.
"It is almost unbearable for us to contemplate our life without him," his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said.

US election: Hillary Clinton unveils plan for mental health

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Hillary Clinton has released a plan to address widespread mental health problems in the US, by joining up treatment with existing health care.

The Democratic presidential nominee's comprehensive proposal tackles better access to mental health treatment as well as suicide prevention.
About 43.6 million adults in the US experienced mental health illness in 2014, according to a government study.
Mrs Clinton also plans to address drug and alcohol addiction this week.
"Her goal is that within her time in office, Americans will no longer separate mental health from physical health when it comes to access to care or quality of treatment," Mrs Clinton's campaign said in statement.
About 17 million children in the US experience mental health issues, including one in five college students, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Meanwhile, nearly one in five veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars reported experiencing post-traumatic stress or depression.

Highlights from her plan include:

• Creating a national initiative for suicide prevention
• Requiring mental health coverage to be covered in health insurance plans
• Expanding reimbursement structures in Medicare and Medicaid
• Increasing funding for community health centres
• Implementing mental health training for police in how to deal with individuals
• Increasing investment in brain and behavioural science research

The former secretary of state also pledged to hold a White House conference on mental health during her first year in office.
Her statement did not say how much her plans would cost or where the money would come from.
Polls suggest she is ahead of her Republican rival Donald Trump nationally and in key battleground states, about 70 days before the election in November.
He has raised questions about her health, pointing to unfounded conspiracy theories, and on Sunday he challenged her to release her full medical records.

Signs Your Brand Strategy is Losing Focus

                                      
As a company’s marketing strategies adapt to changes in the marketplace, there’s always the possibility that its established brand will suffer. By its very nature, a brand must balance legacy — what it stands for today and what it’s stood for in the past — with vitality — how it can be revived and refreshed as new conditions demand.
Under such circumstances, it’s not hard to lose focus on a brand’s core identity.

How can you tell when this is happening and what can be done to remedy the situation? Here are warning signs:
 
1. Management and employees forget why a particular brand and message are important. With a well-established brand, it’s not uncommon for both management and employees to forget why branding is so crucial to success. An effort should be made to remind — and, when necessary, re-educate — people about the key objectives associated with branding, such as:

• Communicating your company’s values and vision, a useful tool for attracting new customers and talented new hires
• Providing employees with a forceful vision to motivate them in their work
• Enabling industry influencers to promote your message with their followers
• Commanding greater fees for product and services

When your brand message becomes unclear, potential customers have a difficult time grasping your unique value proposition, and why they should buy from you. It also means “influencers cant articulate your advantage to prospects,” notes branding specialist Teresa Slider. “And if your brand seems outdated or unclear to those outside your firm, it will also be perceived that way by your own staff and potential job candidates.”

2. Attempts to boost sales by diversifying results in muddled brand messaging. It’s understandable, particularly in times of slow growth, to add to your company’s product line and jump-start fresh sales. The danger here lies in offering upgrades or innovations bearing little connection to what your established brand stands for.
The result, in many cases, is a confused customer base and a dilution of the brand’s key message points. “The race to become a generalist, in the hope that it will magically lift top-line, never ends well,” writes branding strategist Mark Di Somma. The solution? He urges businesses to think “in terms of market adjacency, rather than market diversity.”

3. You’ve flooded the market with inconsistent messaging. Because there are so many venues and platforms to address with their brand, companies sometimes attempt to refine or alter the core message, in the belief that tinkering with it may appeal to divergent audiences. In fact, a lack of consistent messaging only serves to weaken the brand’s overall appeal.
For example, Nike’s" Just Do It" message— “one of the simplest, most recognizable slogans of all time,” writes Mindi Chahal at Marketing Week — has been in popular currency for almost 20 years. By contrast, Reebok’s slogan has changed at least 14 times since 1987.
Avoid the error of embarking on numerous campaigns that slightly — or, in some cases, dramatically — modify the core brand message. This demonstrates a failure of strategy and an overreliance on tactics, a shortsighted approach that leaves the target audience confused about what your brand ultimately stands for.

4. The visual brand appears outdated and “off message.” Another warning sign that your brand strategy is losing focus can be seen on the company website. If too much time has passed since the look and feel of the site has been changed — and the passing of more than eight months to a year may be too long — the message prospects get when they click on the site is that your brand may not really address the problem they’re trying to solve.
As Slider reminds us, “A competitor with a fresher, more on-point message is just a click or two away.” The good news is that even “small tweaks like updated images, font and new colors can make a big difference.”
 Beware of so-called growth strategies that call for a series of discounts or special offers, thus undercutting the “premium nature” of your brand. Also, resist the impulse to modify your brand in order to deal with competitors’ knock-off products; if anything, the appearance of copycat merchandise requires that you focus even more strenuously on communicating your core value to customers

Written by Claire Holland
 Claire Holland is Director of Marketing Communications at agencyEA in Chicago, a brand experience agency specializing in experiential, digital and traditional engagement. She guides the strategic vision of the company’s brand, messaging and voice, while supporting and evolving brand strategies for clients. Holland also oversees all of agencyEA’s internal and external marketing communications, including digital marketing and public relations.