The Found Gen

Marketing That Works.

Social Media

by

Are You Sharing Content? Or Selling It? Your Customers Know the Difference. Do You?

If you own a company, make a product, or perform a service, you know it takes more than hanging up a “Hello! We’re Open!” sign to be successful.

(If it were only that easy, right?)

One of our favorite ways to develop a brand and start selling your wares is by creating an atmosphere of sharing. Basically, anything you write, speak, email, publish, print, and post is a gift to your potential customers and loyal fan base. You can inform and inspire others by sharing the information and expertise that makes you the one to watch in your field.

“Wow,” your customers marvel. “She shares so much with us…for FREE! Imagine the service once we actually hire her.”

(If it were only that easy, right?)

But there’s sharing content, and then there’s selling content. They’re both perfectly acceptable and useful tactics when managed well.

Here’s the difference:

Sharing content is, actually, free. Sharing content takes the form of blog posts, email campaigns, social media feeds, and regular newsletters. It’s advice you’ve learned along the way, real mistakes you’ve made, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and ideas you freely pass along. Sharing content adds value to the services or products you sell.

Selling content is a bit different. At its most authentic, selling content is your website content, potential client emails and presentations, and even testimonials from other customers. Selling content is wholly connected to the services or products you sell.

The confusion occurs when the sharing and selling are blended without informing the customer. Imagine sending out a blog post, sponsored by a company whose product you generally use in your line of work, wholeheartedly extolling the benefits of using this company. That’s not a bad thing, right?

Well, it might be. If your usual method is to use your blog to share information freely, but you sneakily slip in a sponsored post or five into the mix without informing your customers that this is a paid advertisement, your content validity suffers.

We’ve seen some other content producers write the very best sponsored posts. They seem so believable that even we have a difficult time telling whether they’re paid advertisements or simple content shares.

This content secrecy weakens your brand.

Listen. We love helping you sell your product or service. It’s what we do best at The Found Gen, through transparency and honesty.

by

3 Social Media Trends for 2018: Video is king

When it comes to reaching your audience, putting out great content, and keeping up with a steady brand image, social media is absolutely essential. Many businesses put all of their time and effort into search engine optimization and traditional advertising. While this may work for some, just don’t neglect social media.

Social media offers so many possibilities when it comes to connecting with your audiences and building a following around your brand. As you begin planning ways to strengthen the reach of your company in 2018, it’s important to keep social media in mind.

If you want to hit the ground running by ramping up your social media presence, keep in mind the current trends and changes. Here are a few social media trends for 2018 you’ll want to follow:

  1. Strong Social Media Analytics Equals Strong Content 

One thing that can turn people off to certain brands is generic content. If most of the space on your brand’s social media page is filled with generic content, audiences will see it as irrelevant.

Improving the personalization and uniqueness of the content shared will be heightened in the coming year. With the different kinds of data and analytical insight being pulled from social media, marketers now know what content to create to best reach the target audience.

Creating and posting content that engages their specific audience and offers something unique is truly made possibly by social media.

  1. Feature Overlap Increases Selectiveness

Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook all offer the “stories” feature. When different platforms begin offering similar features, marketers have to look at the audiences and reach of each platform to decide which to choose. Although the features are similar, not everything is equal. Snapchat has a much younger demographic than Facebook and Instagram, so it’s important to be selective about which platform you use.

More platforms will begin to offer overlapping features, so brands will need to take the time to research and invest in the one that will reach their demographic the best. Marketers need to take advantage of the analytics and data insights that each platform now offers. Consider which platform offers the best return for you, and go from there.

  1. Video is a Strong Strategy

Video content has become increasingly valuable and popular, making it impossible for brands to ignore. Video is the best type of content to generate engagement. Facebook videos usually receive more likes and shares than links, pictures, or any other type of content.

Having the ability to create video content, and strategizing to tie it into written content, will be one of the top trends of 2018.

Social media allows brands and marketers to connect with their audience, create and distribute strong content, and build a following around their brand. To reap all of the benefits that come with social media branding, you have to keep up with the current trends. Shifts in social media happen so frequently, so staying one step ahead of the trends is vital.

The Found Gen can help you develop a content and social media plan and create your posts for you, ensuring maximum engagement. Give us a shout.

by

Why You Shouldn’t Handle Your Own Social Media: You need a professional strategy

It’s a simple fact: businesses shouldn’t handle your own social media accounts. Chances are you don’t really know how to do social media the right way and probably don’t have the time. That’s why you should hire a professional.

When you hire a professional marketer to take charge of your social media accounts, you’ll get a wealth of expertise that can truly benefit your business. Here’s what they can do for you:

Share Their Knowledge

Sometimes, people assume that if they know how to use social media, they can run a business page. Or, that any teenager or millennial can run a successful social media campaign. But, that’s not true. There’s a lot more to it than simply posting pictures and links.

Social media marketing experts understand analytics, reporting, monitoring for mentions, content, the importance of interactions, and more. They can bring their extensive knowledge to your business so that your reach grows.

Give Your Social Media Time and Attention

Social media needs to be an organized task. It can’t be approached haphazardly or as an afterthought—not if you want results anyway. Most staff members don’t have the time to give social media accounts the attention they deserve, and they many not particularly enjoy doing it. Social media experts will post regularly, keep all information current, respond to comments and requests, and lots more. They will also monitor analytics and work to grow your audience.

Create Valuable Content

Social media experts will guide you through deciding what kinds of content you want to share, and actually create the content for you. They know what content will work best and can help tailor content to reach your desired customers. The most-shared content is usually content that’s was created especially for your business.

Strategize to Get the Best Results

Simply setting up social media accounts and posting occasionally just doesn’t cut it. You need an actual strategy that includes planning, reporting, and producing results. Experts keep up with social media trends, and this is an essential part of a social media strategy. An all-encompassing social media strategy will help you identify the most effective social media platforms, the content that works, and more. It’s an intentional effort that will build your brand.

Help You Make Your Mark

Your customers are on social media, and you should be too. Social media helps businesses make a mark, and a top-notch strategy can help you rise above the competition. You can directly connect with customers and showcase your products or services—both of these are great for your bottom line.

Hiring a social media marketer is a worthwhile investment. It will grow your customer base and expand your reach. Let The Found Gen’s social media experts create a strategy for you. Get in touch today.

by

How to Handle a Social Media Crisis: It’s all about your reaction

Social media is great for business—most of the time. It’s a great place to showcase your business and engage with customers, but sometimes mistakes happen or crises occur.

Businesses should handle these situations with care. Social media gaffs can happen in an instant and get out of control before you know it. You don’t want to make these instances worse, but you can’t neglect the situation.

If you have a social media crisis on your hands, here are some tips for handling the situation:

  1. Plan Before the Crisis

Because most businesses are on social media these days, you should create a plan for when a crisis occurs. Crises can include anything from a problem that your business is inadvertently involved with, an angry customer, or general social media mistake. Being prepared will help you be proactive when issues arise.

The plan should include how to respond to negative comments and when to release a statement. Should you disable commenting, or hide or delete posts? Also, identify the person responsible for handling crises and make sure they have clear instructions for what to do.

  1. Keep an Eye on the Situation

Things can get out of hand quickly on social media, so you have to stay on top of it. Keep track of anything and everything, including negative hashtags, number of reactions, comments, and shares. What are people posting? How far has the crisis extended? Understanding the scope of the situation will help you create a plan for what to do.

  1. Own Up

How you handle a social media crisis can make or break your business. People will notice, and remember (for at least a little while). Having a clear plan and assessing the situation are essential first steps, then you have to take responsibility. This may mean posting a statement on social media and responding to comments—both good and bad. People will appreciate your transparency.

No one wants or expects a social media crisis, but they can pop up from time to time. Handling the situation with care is essential to diffusing it and moving on.

by

Content Marketing vs. Influencers: Who Wins the Race for Results?

If content is king, then what do we term the influencer? Upstart cousin, twice-removed, tanned from spending the summer in Portofino, about nineteen million followers, intent on taking over the kingdom? Yep. That sounds about right.

Do you ever find yourself confused about the differences between content marketing and influencer marketing? Are you wondering which approach will best carry your brand to blazing success and maximum exposure? Here’s a helpful primer for you, then.

Content vs Influencer, Defined

First, let’s define the two concepts. Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing valuable, relatable content to attract and engage an audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Influencer marketing involves collaborating with a prominent individual (or a group of individuals) to distribute content.

One career path sounds way more exciting, doesn’t it? Who among us doesn’t dream of being an influencer? Earning such a title means we have sway, authority, and even the envy of our millions of followers.

But the problems with relying on influencer marketing are kind of complicated.

When you hand off your brand for someone else to hold, you run the very real risk of diluting your message. Our recommendation is to make sure your brand is strong enough on its own before letting an influencer make it her own. At The Found Gen, our goal is to find brand complements, not competition.

There’s also a lot – a lot, a lot! – of blind faith involved in joining forces with an influencer. Social media changes on a dime, so what guarantees do we have that an influencer will stay on the same message tomorrow as she’s espousing today? We have none.

About the ROI

And what about ROI? An influencer’s amount of followers does not necessarily translate into clicks or sales. We’ve always been swayed by the endorsements of people we admire and idolize, but the internet has blurred what it means to be influential. Sure, we can look at the metrics behind the trending and reach of an influencer, but it’s not a certainty that the strategy will match our brand’s specific goals.

Perhaps most importantly, the problem with influencers is that their very definition is changing at the speed of light. Forget celebrities in the traditional sense. Seventy percent of teen subscribers think YouTubers are more relatable than celebrities.

With 88% of consumers trusting online recommendations as much as personal recommendations, selecting the right influencer seems key. And pricey.

The best strategy is to join forces with an influencer who loves your brand – legitimately, wholly, and passionately. And then get ready to pay. Because influencers are free agents in the content world, always looking for better deals.

If the very thought of an influencer-reliant marketing strategy makes you shudder, we’ve got you. At The Found Gen, we create content that strives to build a loyal, active customer base, affordably and effectively.

Basically, we turn your content into the celebrity. Try us out. Or you could have a go at Lilly Singh, the highest-earning woman on YouTube this year.