Tag: small business marketing

Eight of the Fastest-Growing Instagram Pages

Instagram has become a must-have marketing tool for everyone from small businesses to corporate giants. Influencers and brand pages have the potential to grab tens of millions of followers by posting the right content consistently for their target audiences. These huge followings boost brand awareness and visibility, which are key elements in successful marketing.

The trick to replicating the Instagram growth that some of these brands and influencers have achieved is to first identify your target audience, and then to post what they want to see, while maintaining your unique brand personality.

Here are 8 of the fastest-growing Instagram Pages and the engagement strategies they use to keep growing.

Brands, Influencers & Engagement Strategies from the Fastest Growing Instagram Pages:

1. ASOS

Asos (@asos) is a British clothing retailer with over 10.5 million followers. Their Instagram page is plastered with user-generated content that shows real people strutting their stuff in Asos gear, and looking pretty good doing it. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEjR-Q5ADG5/

Engagement Strategy: User-Generated Content

High-quality, user-generated content is the ultimate weapon in Instagram marketing. There is simply no better way to represent your audience than with your audience. Seeing real people enjoying your product or service shows consumers that they’ll enjoy it too. For more insights, check out our guide on the topic here. 

2. Chubbies

Chubbies (@chubbies) is another clothing and accessory line that targets men between the ages of 18 and 40. They currently stand at just over 500k followers. Their major stroke of genius was in developing a brand voice that engages that audience. On Chubbies’ Instagram page, you’ll find a whole lot of bro humor, memes, and a massive positive response from their followers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEfIm1iB1Dk/

Engagement Strategy: Brand Voice

If you want to reach people, you have to speak their language. Your brand voice should already be developed around your target audience, so be sure that your posts reflect that voice as well. Don’t be afraid to be funny, genuine, intellectual – or whatever it is that your audience will connect with. Just make sure that your brand voice is consistent so you don’t confuse your existing following.

3. Vans

As a well-established brand with 17.9 million followers, Vans (@vans) hardly needs an introduction. The official shoe of the skater boy since the 60s, Vans came to Instagram with an already large and dedicated following, which they keep engaged by posting content that speaks to the skater boy soul. Visit their page and you’ll find high-quality adventure shots, user-generated content, and sick skateboarding stills.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEU5u8ElTEq/

Engagement Strategy: Setting

Don’t just post images of your products in front of a nice, clean, white background. People want to see your stuff in action. They want to see where your product will take them. Snatch up some good UGC or get out there and shoot your own images and videos of your product in its natural habitat.

4. Under Armour

Under Armour (@underarmour) is a mega clothing brand that could probably get by just fine by sharing UGC and quality imagery of their sports line in action, but they go the extra mile to grow their following by providing actual value in their posts. They achieve this with a series of IGTV workout videos that you can do at home with little to no equipment. It’s no wonder they have more than 8.1 million loyal followers and counting.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CAvNxD5ACR2/?hl=en

Engagement Strategy: Value

If you’ve got knowledge or skills that are relevant to your brand and audience and easy to convey in video, use them! A little effort goes a long way on a social media platform where everyone’s attention spans are in hyperdrive. Break your wisdom up into short tidbits and post them weekly or monthly to boost your following with people who are likely to be interested in your products and services. For tips on how to create more video content for Instagram, check out our blog here. 

5. M.A.C. Cosmetics

MAC (@maccosmetics) is a make-up brand with no gimmicks. What you’ll find on their Instagram page is a lot of close-up shots of their makeup along with captions that provide clear product details. They also post a lot of tutorials – which their audience loves to engage with – but it’s those high-def close-ups that show off the quality of their products to their 23.4M followers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEe4SH0gEa5/

Engagement Strategy: Product Details

Take your Instagram audience from followers to customers by showing them not just your products, but the value of your products up close with images and videos. Be sure to provide all the details they’ll need in order to make a purchase. Even an interested buyer isn’t going to sift through 20 Instagram posts to find your details. 

6. H&M

A mega clothing brand with 35.6 million followers, H&M (@hm) maintains a simple approach to Instagram: professional-quality photos. Whether they’re lifestyle photos, staged product shots, or collages, every photo on H&M’s Instagram is pro-quality. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CD0oJBOByYr/

Engagement Strategy: High-Quality Images

If you’re posting user-generated content, it’s likely that not every image is going to be super high-quality, so make sure you’re regularly posting images and videos that show off your products in the best light. 

7. Strashme

After winning an influencer competition hosted by James Charles, Ashley Strong (@Strashme) gained an impressive 800k followers on Instagram. Her following continues to grow as she posts quick, edited tutorials on mostly bold makeup looks and occasionally how to take killer Instagram pics and videos. Making use of captions to elaborate when necessary, she keeps her videos short and to the point.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B6RQRFvlyWo/?hl=en

Engagement Strategy: Video Editing

Deliver big value without losing your audience’s attention by editing your videos to remove any unnecessary fluff or dull moments. That doesn’t mean you have to condense everything you post, but adding some quick tutorials or humor is a great way to keep your followers clicking on your content.

8. Noah Beck

Noah Beck (@noahbeck) is the latest hot topic crossing over from TikTok to Instagram and showing 143% gains each month in followers. He currently has 4.4M followers. While his looks don’t hurt any, his flash fame is attributed more to his charming, chill, and genuinely kind personality. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-GNyRwHD0Z/

Engagement Strategy: Brand Personality

Brand personality is what humanizes your businesses to your audience. On Instagram, it is conveyed through your brand voice and your visuals. Make sure your brand personality is relatable to your audience and do your best to keep it consistent. 

Other Effective Strategies for Fast Growing IG Pages

Some other tactics seen on these pages and on some of the other fastest-growing Instagram pages include: shoutouts and reviews, as well as giveaways and competitions that draw the audience in. Behind-the-scenes images and videos help the audience connect and relate to your brand, as do motivational posts and underdog stories. 

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21 Ideas to Revamp Your Social Media for 2021

By: Cori Widen, Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks

So 2020 hasn’t quite been as great of a year as we all hoped it would be…but luckily we’re already halfway to 2021! After a rocky first half of 2020, it’s only natural to start planning for a better year to come. 

If you’re looking for ways to grow your small business in 2021, a great place to start is with your social media platforms. As a small business owner, word of mouth and social media can be a powerful combination to grow your business.

So, if you haven’t focused much on your social media strategy with everything happening so far in 2020, here are 21 ideas to revamp your social media for 2021.

1. Automate Your Social Media

As a small business owner, you might feel like you don’t have enough time to spend on social media. But did you know there are ways to help automate your social media strategy? It can be a lot of work to create quality content for your social media accounts and even more work to edit, upload, write captions and publish your posts. Try using a social media scheduling tool to help you schedule out your content a few weeks in advance to automate posting to your social media.

2. Plan Out Your Content

If you plan on automating some of your content, you will need to plan out your posts ahead of time. On a day you where you are feeling creative, take a few hours to brainstorm ideas for social media content. Next, create a big batch of social media content all at once. Once you’ve created all of the content, you can plan out what you want to post when and then schedule the posts out.

3. Set Strategies Seasonally

We often plan out our traditional marketing strategies by the different seasons, so why not set specific seasonal goals and campaigns for your social media strategy? An easy way to get started with seasonal marketing themes is by selecting a new business goal or marketing theme for each new season. You can even give your social media accounts a different ‘look’ each season by changing up the color schemes of your posts. For example, some influencers and businesses post bright, happy colors in the summer but switch to posting slightly darker, moodier photos for fall and winter.

4. Evaluate New Platforms

Have you been keeping up to date with new trends in the world of social media? New and emerging platforms like TikTok are becoming increasingly popular for businesses of all sizes. If there are any new platforms or features that you haven’t tested out yet, now is the time to start analyzing which new platforms make sense for your business to join.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_5R8Deg14N/

5. Drop a Platform

While you are evaluating your social media platforms and thinking about trying out some new platforms, you might want to consider dropping a platform. If you’ve been posting consistently to a platform and are still seeing low engagement rates, it’s time to evaluate whether or not it’s worth your time to remain active on that platform. Check out Why Your Small Businesses Should NOT Be on Every Social Media Platform for more insights.

6. Analyze Your Posts

It’s a good practice to regularly check the analytics of the posts and Stories that you’re sharing to social media. By reviewing the analytics for your posts, you can see which types of content are performing best – with higher engagement rates, views or link clicks. Once you’ve analyzed your posts, see if there’s a common theme among your best content to help you decide what type of posts you should create more of in 2021.

For Instagram, you can check out our guide here for navigating your Instagram Insights, as well as here for understanding your Stories analytics. Additionally, here is our guide for everything you need to know about TikTok analytics.

7. Update Your Bios

One of the quickest and easiest ways to revamp your social media accounts is to update all of your bios. It’s a good idea to review your bios and see if there’s any important updates that need to be made. Be sure to include a link to your website and make sure your bios are consistent across all of your social media platforms.

For IG bio best practices, check out How to Optimize Your Instagram Business Bio for Success.

8. Do a Competitive Analysis

Do you keep tabs on what your competitors are doing? If you’ve never put together a competitive analysis on your competitors, you are missing out! This is a great chance to understand what they are doing well on social media and gain some ideas on where you could improve. Make a chart listing out their strengths and weaknesses. Then, come up with a plan of action to implement changes to your own social media strategy.

9. Research New Hashtags

Hopefully you are already taking advantage of hashtags in your social media strategy! But did you know it’s important to not use the same hashtags on every single post? One of the best ways to revamp and grow your social media in 2021 is by researching and testing out new hashtags. Create a list of new hashtags and keep track of which posts and hashtags perform best to help your Instagram posts perform better and to enable you to connect with new customers.

Check out 7 Quick Tips to Build an Instagram Hashtag Strategy for insider insights on the topic.

10. Start Collaborating More

One of the great things about social media is the ability to connect and build a community. To help you grow your social media community even more in 2021, it’s a great idea to look for more ways to collaborate. Are there any like-minded small businesses you could partner with? For example, you could collaborate and host a social media giveaway for your followers. This is a great way to grow your following with customers who are likely to be interested.

Get inspired by this recent brand collab giveaway from @twobearscoffee:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGT3x8BF–/

11. Be an Activist

If there’s anything we learned in 2020, it’s that today’s consumers want brands to be part of the current conversationa. If you aren’t already taking an active stance in movements that you are passionate about, it’s time to stand up in a meaningful and authentic way in 2021, like clothing brand @minimioche did here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEigo4AOPu/

12. Get Personal

Are you guilty of hiding behind your work as a service-based business owner? Or only featuring your physical products on your social media feeds? It’s time to get in front of the camera and get personal! Show your customers the face behind the business. Share more personal posts to help them get to know you better and feel more connected to your business on a personal level. 

Here’s some inspiration from @workspacery:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCrv4hbpHn4/

13. Create Short-Form Video Content

One of the most important types of content in 2021 might just be short-form videos. 2020 has already proven that consumers love engaging with short-form videos, so get ready to create more of this type of content to revamp your social media accounts!

Boosted is a great tool for creating short-form, high-quality video content for your social media platforms. Boosted has a built-in library of photos and videos that are already perfectly formatted for social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

For further video content inspiration, check out 7 Creative Ways to Use Video on Social Media.

14. Try Out Instagram Reels

If you’ve ever wanted to try out TikTok but weren’t ready to learn a whole new platform, Reels is a great way to begin posting more video content. The easiest way to start out testing Instagram Reels is by repurposing existing video content. It’s easy to upload a video (or several) from your photo gallery into Reels. Try uploading an existing video or an Instagram Story that you have saved to your phone as one of your first Reels.

Not sure where to start with Instagram Reels? Check out our Small Business Owner’s Guide to Instagram Reels here.

15. Shoot New Photo Content

Has it been a while since you’ve taken new photos for your small business? It’s time to up your photography game in 2021.  You don’t have to be a professional photographer in order to shoot new content – all you need is a smartphone with a quality camera and a willingness to learn. Be sure to have good lighting and a clean background when taking photos. Also, be sure to check out some photo editing tools to give your photos a more professional look.

16. Organize Your Instagram Story Highlights

Have you ever taken the time to review your Instagram Story Highlights and reorganize them? Story Highlights are prime real estate on your Instagram profile so be sure to feature the most important and valuable content in your highlights. Need some ideas for what to post in your Instagram Story Highlights? Check out this blog post on How to Use Instagram Story Highlights Strategically as a Small Business Owner.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CD1sAUzhX_s/

17. Create Branded Story Highlight Icons

While we are talking about highlights…did you know you can customize the look and feel of your highlights too? This is an easy way to revamp your Instagram feed in 2021. You can easily create new icons to revamp your Instagram feed in 2021 with consistent, branded highlight cover images. Click here to learn how to create Instagram cover images.

18. Send More DM’s

Another social media marketing strategy that your small business should consider in 2021 is direct messaging. DMs can be a powerful way to connect with customers and influencers. The very first tip to getting more DMs is to actually start sending more DMs yourself! Send DM’s to some of your most loyal customers and local influencers. And be sure to make it sound personal (everybody knows when it’s automated). Once you’ve built up a relationship, you can send your customers exclusive sales through DMs or ask influencers if they would be interested in collaborating.

Need some DM marketing advice? Read 8 Easy Ways to Get More Instagram DMs.

19. Be Super Consistent

One of the most important rules when it comes to social media success is consistency. If you weren’t posting consistently on your social media feeds in 2020, it’s time to revamp your social media feeds with consistent content in 2021. If you want to see real results, you will need to post regularly. This will help your followers stay more engaged and ensures your content will continue to actually show up in your customer’s Instagram feeds.

Here are some additional insights on the topic from branding & web design studio @brightenmade:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEUJa3YDCsu/

20. Create Paid Ads

It can be a challenge for small businesses to reach new audiences organically on social media. Investing in a little paid advertising can be a powerful way to revamp your social media in 2021. With Facebook and Instagram, your small business can target very specific audiences and help increase your exposure to the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

21. Set Some BIG Goals

Last but not least, don’t be afraid to dream big. Have you ever sat down and thought about your goals for social media? If not, 2021 is the year to dream big when it comes to social media. Now that 2020 is halfway done, it’s time to start thinking about your social media ‘resolutions’. Once you know your goals and set a plan, you will know exactly what you are working towards.

Cori Widen is the Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks. She has been leading product marketing campaigns and doing qualitative market research in the tech industry for 10 years.

21 Social Media Ideas for 2021

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The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Instagram Reels

What is Instagram Reels?

By: Cori Widen, Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks

Now that you’ve mastered Instagram Stories, it’s time to learn about Instagram’s latest feature, Reels. Instagram Reels is a new feature that offers users a new way to record, post and view 15-second videos. The success of TikTok has proven that people love short-form, edited video clips – and now users will have the ability to create and post even more video content on Instagram. 

The Instagram Reels features are similar to TikTok – users can easily record video clips, edit them together and set the clips to audio. Once created, Instagram users can share them to their Stories, Explore Feed and the new Reels tab.

For private accounts, the short-form videos can be shared with friends and followers while public accounts can be discovered by anyone on Instagram. Instagram will place Reels from public accounts on the Explore page which will help users increase their reach. When Reels are shared using certain hashtags, audio or effects, they may appear on dedicated pages when someone clicks on that hashtag, audio or effect.

Instagram Reels is still a new feature currently being tested and might not be available to everyone. If you aren’t seeing it on your Instagram yet, keep an eye out for this new feature that might pop up soon!

Why Your Small Business Should Care About Reels

Even if you don’t have the ability to use the Instagram Reels feature yet, small businesses should definitely know all about this new feature. Because users can share their Reels on their Instagram feed or to a new section on the Explore page, accounts of all sizes have a unique opportunity to ‘go viral’.

The Explore page is already used by 50% of people on Instagram each month, and now with a dedicated space just for Reels, small businesses who are creating Reels content will be able to reach new customers and potentially go viral.

Instagram will be giving extra attention to accounts that are early adopters to Instagram Reels, so it’s a good idea for your small business to start testing out this feature now while there’s still not much competition.

How to Use Instagram Reels to Grow Your Small Business

To access the new Reels feature, open Instagram as if you are about to create an Instagram Story. There, you will see the new section with all of the Instagram Reels features. Reels can be recorded as a series of clips or one 15-second video. In the Instagram Reels tools, you can also easily apply Instagram special effects and set your video clip to audio. 

Here are 7 tips for getting your small business started with Reels:

1. Brainstorm content ideas

Instagram Reels is meant to be a fun, new way for you to engage with your followers. While you are brainstorming a few ideas for content, think about what type of content your current and new customers would enjoy viewing.

2. Test out features

Once you’ve found Reels within Instagram, it’s very easy to begin testing out all of the new tools. Users can use special AR effects created by Instagram and creators around the world for Reels, similar to Instagram Stories. Reels also allow you to change the speed, edit together multiple video clips, set a timer and add audio to create truly custom video content.

3. Upload existing content

A great way to start out testing Instagram Reels is by repurposing existing video content. It’s easy to upload a video (or several) from your photo gallery into Reels. Try uploading an existing TikTok video or an Instagram Story that you have saved to your phone as one of your first Reels. 

4. Use stock videos

If you don’t already have your own video footage, you can use the Boosted app to easily create high-quality video content for Instagram Reels. Boosted has a built-in library of photos and stunning videos that are already perfectly formatted for social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

5. Film new content

Have something fun you want to share? Now is the perfect time to film a brand new video within the Instagram app! If you’ve filmed on TikTok before, you will be familiar with Reels’ ability to start and stop recording to film a series of clips.

6. Select audio

Once you have the video content ready, you will want to add audio. Audio can be your own original audio clip or you can choose from a library of music within the Instagram app. Instagram has a huge library of great music available to choose from.

7. Attract new customers

Instagram Reels are posted to the Explore Page, which presents a great opportunity for small businesses to be discovered by users who aren’t already following their business. When creating a Reel, focus on creating video content that would help your small business attract new customers.

Cori Widen is the Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks. She has been leading product marketing campaigns and doing qualitative market research in the tech industry for 10 years.

Instagram Reels for Business

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How to Use Instagram Story Highlights Strategically as a Small Business Owner

By: Cori Widen, Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks

What Are Instagram Story Highlights?

Your small business may be active on Instagram but are you using the platform to the fullest? Instagram is a great way for your small business to engage with customers, increase brand awareness and drive traffic, but there is one feature that most businesses aren’t taking full advantage of —  Instagram Story Highlights.

Story Highlights is a feature on Instagram that allows you to organize Stories you’ve previously posted into an easy-to-access collection. Instagram Story Highlights is the section on your feed under your bio and right above your posts. Getting started with Story Highlights is easy — you can add any story (even ones that have already ‘disappeared’) into a Story Highlight. Learn how to add a story to a Highlight here.

If your small business isn’t already leveraging Story Highlights on Instagram, there are many reasons to get started! Here’s everything you need to know about using Highlights strategically.

Why Small Businesses Should Leverage Story Highlights

Regular Instagram Stories vanish after 24 hours, but when you add it to an Instagram Story Highlight, your content gets a permanent spot on your profile. Instagram Story Highlights enable you to re-purpose past content, help your customers find the information they need quickly and drive more traffic. With such a prime location on your Instagram profile, Story Highlights are also a great way to bring your brand to life, provide more value to your followers and offer another way for your customers to engage with your small business. 

instagram story highlights boosted
Our Instagram Story Highlights @boosted_social

How to Use Story Highlights Strategically: The Do’s & Don’ts

The Do’s of Instagram Story Highlights:

DO Create Simple, Descriptive Titles

You only have space for a few characters in the title of a Story Highlight so it’s important to use short, simple and descriptive titles to help customers know exactly what the highlight is about, quickly.

DO Create an ‘About’ Highlight

Think about Instagram Story Highlights as an extension of your website – creating an ‘About’ Story Highlight is a great way to help a customer know who you are and what you do right away.

DO Make Branded Highlights

Instagram Story Highlights are also a way to bring your brand to life, so make sure you are creating custom icons/cover images for your Story Highlights that are consistent with your brand visuals.

DO Organize Strategically

One of the best parts about Story Highlights is the ability to organize Stories into categorized collections. Be strategic about what type of Story Highlights you create and be sure to group similar content together.

DO Focus on Important Content

Story Highlights are prime real estate on your Instagram profile! It’s the perfect place to feature the most important and valuable content to ensure your customers are seeing this information first.

DO Think About Your Business Goals

Before creating a bunch of Story Highlights, you will want to think through your business goals and decide how Instagram Story Highlights can help you achieve those goals.

DO Be Consistent

You already know that it’s essential to post high-quality content on your Instagram feed for a cohesive look. The same rule applies to Story Highlights. Keep your Highlights visually consistent by creating branded cover images and always use the same formats for Highlight descriptions.

The Dont’s of Instagram Story Highlights:

DON’T Have 20+ Highlights

Just because you are able to create tons of Story Highlights, doesn’t mean you should. In order to leverage Instagram Story Highlights to help your small business grow, it’s important to be selective about the Highlights you create.

DON’T Forget to Update Thumbnail Images

If you don’t select a new cover image for a Story Highlight, Instagram will simply use a thumbnail from the first Instagram Story in your Highlight.

DON’T Use a Photo or Text For Covers

While you are creating Highlight cover images, it might be tempting to simply use a photo or some text in the icon but this is a definite don’t. Using text or photos in such a small icon is hard to see and you would be missing out on an opportunity to create a more visually aesthetic and branded profile.

DON’T Post Too Many Stories in Each Highlight

You have the ability to post 100 photos or videos in each Instagram Story Highlight, but you should try to keep each Story Highlight on the shorter side. This will ensure you are only including content that is actually valuable to your followers and will increase the chances that your followers will watch the whole highlight. 

DON’T Post Just to Post

Some small businesses quickly throw a few old Instagram Stories together into a Highlight simply to have a few highlights on their feed. It’s a common mistake, but it’s better to wait a bit and be more strategic about the Story Highlights you decide to create. 

DON’T Keep Irrelevant Content

Don’t forget to look through your highlights periodically and remove any Stories that are no longer relevant. For example, if you no longer carry a certain item or a sale is no longer running, you will want to make sure you don’t have any Story Highlights that mention those. 

6 Small Businesses with Standout Story Highlights

Get inspired by these 6 small businesses who are rocking their on-brand Instagram Story Highlights:

1. @thedairy_fairy

2. @dani.stratman

3. @the.workaround

4. @parsnipdaily

5. @ourlosangeles

6. @yoursocialteam

Instagram Story Highlight Tips

Cori Widen is the Product Marketing Lead at Boosted by Lightricks. She has been leading product marketing campaigns and doing qualitative market research in the tech industry for 10 years.

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What is Google Keen & How Can it Help Small Businesses?

When you’re a small business owner, it’s important to stay on top of ever-changing digital trends.  One such trend is Google’s newly released ‘Keen’ App. The app promises to help users “curate, collaborate and expand” shared interests. 

Here’s everything you need to know about Keen and the potential impact it could have on small business owners. 

What do we need to know?

First up, Keen is being labelled as an ‘experiment’ from Area 120 and PAIR – both offshoots of Google. Think of them as their tech-creative ventures.

Keen is somewhat of a levelled-up offering to Google Alerts, in that it scours the world wide web to bring you relevant content – but perhaps in a more sophisticated manner.

How does Keen work?

The app, which is accessed via desktop, is straightforward, clean and sleek to use. Simply enter your four main areas of interest. For instance, a clothing company might be interested in:

  • Organic clothing
  • Fashion trends
  • Vogue predications and trends
  • New UAE fashion labels

Next, it produces a host of options and topics that it will monitor for you. These are related to your area of interest, using Google’s analytics and machine learning, with a touch of human prowess. It digs deep to find trends that might be relevant to you. It’s especially useful if you’re looking for sources of inspiration. Once you’re set up, Keen will send you updates twice a week.

You can check out this video for further insights about Keen:

Stay inspired

One of the focus areas for Keen is to offer inspiration. So, in addition to pulling information for you, you’re also able to discover and stumble upon other thoughts, themes and topics.

Keen is a useful tool for busy business owners who need to keep an eye on current affairs or issues relating to their industry.

How can Keen help small business owners?

Here are a few ways Keep can have a positive impact on small business owners:

  • Keen can help drive traffic: First of all, content is the key to great blogs, which can in turn help drive traffic to your small business’ website. Not only can Keen help bring ideas to you, but it will keep you informed about trending topics. Use this with your SEO keywords and you should start to see great results.
  • Make yourself more discoverable. Got an interesting story to tell, or looking for new audiences to target? This is a smart way to tap into them.
  • Familar interface: In some ways, Keen will remind you of Pinterest in the way you can pin content (‘save gems’) and explore other posts in one place.
  • Keep your searches organized: It’s a valuable tool for keeping all your searches in one place, or to share them with other collaborators. Think – people in your team, or your agencies and clients. Their ethos after all is to “curate and share”.

Finally, the Keen team are keen to emphasise that this platform is not another fad to swallow up your time, but rather a tool to aid inspiration. And that, it most certainly is!

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How to Leverage TikTok Micro-Influencers for Your Small Business

If you’re a small or medium business, you know the value of using social media to elevate your brand. Not only is social media a crucial platform for growing brand awareness, but it has also proven to be a commercial opportunity to boost sales.

Even though, in social terms, TikTok is still in its infancy, it’s currently growing as an important resource for many businesses. In fact, it’s the fastest growing social media site, with an estimated 800 million active users. If you are looking to stay ahead of the trend and reach new audiences, TikTok is the platform to embrace.

So how can you make the most of TikTok to reach out to both new and existing audiences? Working with micro-influencers (also known as the ‘nano’) is a great way to build your brand on the platform. They could have anywhere from 5,000 to 100,000 followers. They tend to have very targeted audiences.

Here’s everything you need to know about utilizing micro-influencers to grow your brand on TikTok as a small business owner. 

Content is King

As with all things social, content is the greatest asset in your arsenal. Engaging social media content is all about finding new and creative ways to keep up a dialogue with your followers. Creating great videos for your TikTok channel is one way of doing this. Another is getting others to do it for you, like influencers and fans. After all, growing your reach should be an important part of your social media marketing strategy.

Successful social media marketing is dependent on one important factor: using the right content the right way to reach the right audience.

The influence of influencers

In simple terms, influencers are people or entities with a sizeable following that are used by marketers to promote products and services. They yield great influence over their followers, impacting on their buying behaviour and otherwise. In TikTok terms, this can be new emerging talent in entertainment, vlogger-style personalities and more. Being a music-led platform, it does, however, tend to lend itself to more of a youthful audience.

Using influencers is a well-established tool on Instagram and Facebook, paving the way for the growth of TikTok influencers.

Micro or macro?

If you’re thinking of joining the TikTok party, you’ll need to think about what sort of influencer to approach for your brand.

Macro-influencers were the first breed of social media ambassadors. These influencers have hundreds of thousands, or even millions of fans across the world.

The micro-influencer in contrast, has a much smaller following. As mentioned above, they could have between 5,000 to 100,000 followers. The difference, however, is that they tend to have a much more niche audience.

Why is this important? In the age of tailored and personal communications, brands are increasingly trying to take a more human approach to marketing, rather than to try and appeal to the anonymous masses.

Some influencer examples

Let’s take a look at some TikTok micro-influencers on the rise. First is Giselle Ugarte (@mediabridgegiselle). She currently has 73.7k followers and creates impressive content in the niche of marketing and marketing strategy.

@giselle.ugarte

Reply to @cleanthatup Let your people know you bring VALUE and that you CARE 🤟🏽 #marketing #growth #tiktoktips #newtotiktok #business #tiktokedu

♬ original sound – Giselle | Coach & Speaker

Yoga Before Coffee is another micro-influencer to watch out for. Specializing in yoga videos, she has a strong fanbase of 82.2k followers and is dominating that niche.

@yogabeforecoffee

Move move move #yoga #yogagirl #movement #yogafit

♬ Nightmare – BLVKSHP

In contrast, mainstream TikTok Influencers can have quite a huge following.

Take influencer Savannah LaBrant for instance. With a whopping 21.3 million followers on TikTok, she’s one of the big names in parent blogging. Interestingly, her TikTok channel has double the followers of her YouTube channel, proving the power of the platform. 

Over the waters to India, another mass-influencer is comedic actress Sameeksha Sud. The star has accumulated over 24.2 million fans on her page, enlightening them with plenty of fun sketches.

https://www.tiktok.com/@sameeksha_sud/video/6843735277492571394?lang=en

These are just a snapshot of some of the many thousands of influencers that make up the platform.

Five good reasons to start working with micro-influencers 

If you’re a business looking to grow followers or increase brand awareness on TikTok, a micro-influencer can be a great investment. In some cases, collaborating with one may even convert to sales.

Still unconvinced? Here are 5 good reasons to opt for a TikTok micro-influencer:

1. Trust and transparency

Social platforms have required greater transparency for brand collaborations over the years. Today you’re expected to use #Ad and #Spon to be more upfront from the get-go. 

One of the issues with using mainstream influencers is that some of the trust that they used to have is gone. Some of the big names have been accused of using their social media influence to make money, without any regard to followers. Many have also been called out for buying fake followers.

Micro-influencers on the other hand, don’t have the same reputation. They are considered to be more trustworthy, engaged and transparent with their followers. And because they remain widely undiscovered, they also have the ability to respond and interact with their followers – which is a very important trait in influencer marketing.

2. TikTok is a growing platform for businesses

With TikTok being relatively new, you may find you get more for your money. As a growing platform, now is a good time to find ambassadors to work with and build relationships with for the long-haul. Even big brands like Venus have been using it to great effect with influencers like Victoria Bachlet (3.4 million fans). 

@victoriabachlet

#sponsored Beating back to school stress with self-care from the #VeraBradelyxVenus collection, available at Target 💙 #ad

♬ original sound – toffee.aestheticss

3. TikTok wants you!

TikTok has just dropped a new and exciting feature – TikTok for Business. This makes it easier than ever to get your brand message out there and work with influencers on great content. The best part? You’ll be able to monitor your collaborated content more easily. 

4. Target your audience

The most compelling reason to use a TikTok micro-influencer is because of how targeted they are. While a macro-influencer can reach more people, it’s likely that the micro-influencer will reach more of the right users. And if you want to convert your content into sales, this is key.

There’s much science to back up the point that engagement is far more important than likes, so try and look for influencers with an engaged audience.

Here’s a great example of a smaller brand campaign, involving female gamer Candice, partnering with Run Around to her modest 25k fanbase. It’s interesting to note that it received 130k likes:

@candice867

Run Around Pt. 2 #ad #sponsored

♬ original sound – Candice Callins

5. Save money

As you’d expect, you’ll pay a lot less for working with a micro-influencer than you would have with a mainstream one.  To give you some idea, companies have been known to pay anywhere from $200 to $20,000 for a branded video.

Quite often, TikTokers are given free rein to create whatever they want, as long as they mention the brand and #ad or #spon. Take for instance Maud who was used by Ritual Cosmetics to showcase their product. With 436k followers, it received over 25k likes.

@maudevandervorst

Ben jij ook zo snel afgeleid wanneer je moet leren? 😅#insidemyhead @ritualscosmetics #spon

♬ original sound – Maude

How and where to find influencers?

So, we’ve converted you to TikTok! Now what?

There isn’t a set menu of influencers to pick and choose from, meaning that you’ll need to do some research. A good place to start is with competitor brands, or those that align with your brand values. See who they are using and take note. If you can’t afford said influencer, look for others that follow them and are of lesser fame.

You can also use online search tools like Upfluence that do the hard work for you.

Conclusion

TikTok is a growing platform for small businesses. Now is a good time to get in early and find some great micro-influencers to collaborate with. A wise choice for your budget and good for your reputation, choose the right brand ambassador and you’ll see your audience grow.

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10 Inspiring Marketing Instagram Accounts to Follow in 2020

Instagram can be a great place for marketers to stay up to date and find inspiration. We’ve rounded up our ten favorite Instagram accounts that are a must-follow to help marketers get inspired, stay informed on the latest marketing campaigns and learn some new tricks. Keep reading for the best accounts to follow in all areas of marketing – from traditional advertising, SEO, content marketing, public relations, influencer marketing, branding and more. 

1. AdWeek – Advertising 

AdWeek (@AdWeek) is an Instagram must-follow for anyone in the creative industry. AdWeek is a leading source of news for the brand marketing and advertising communities – sharing the latest ads, most creative marketing campaigns and updates from leading creative brands and agencies. Marketers will definitely want to follow AdWeek on Instagram to stay up to date and get inspired by the best of the best!

Some of their recent content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CB35MYehUlg/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-cgxZ1oRZQ/

2. Julia McCoy – Content Marketing

Need content marketing inspiration? Check out Julia McCoy (@fementrepreneur) on Instagram – she is a content marketing influencer, educator and author. Julia runs her own content agency, serving clients such as Johnson & Johnson and Nordstrom. Her latest passion is sharing growth-focused content knowledge through her page Content Hackers, to help content writers, agency creatives, and small business CEOs improve their content marketing.

For any marketers looking for inspiration on content marketing, SEO and copywriting, Julia is a great person to follow on Instagram. She also regularly features fellow marketers to help you find even more thought leaders to follow!

Recent @fementrepreneur content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTUZ2ADIyV/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5gY51Dt1t/

3. Gary Vee + Vayner Media – Storytelling

It’s not a list of inspiring marketers to follow if Gary Vee (@garyvee) isn’t included! Gary Vee is a well-known content creator who has paved the way for building a personal brand. Gary founded VaynerMedia (@vaynermedia), an agency focused on helping large brands tell their stories on social media and his agency quickly exploded. Now, VaynerMedia is a full-service global agency helping clients such as Chase, Unilever, hulu, Toyota, Kraft Heinz with everything from strategy, creative, paid media, influencers, production and more. Gary Vee is a 5-time New York Times bestselling author and a must-follow for any marketer looking for storytelling, personal branding and social media inspiration. 

Some recent content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBxxEAsA9bN/
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByDgIlXl-Sx/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwAME5cHpYI/

4. Red Antler – Branding

If you work in marketing for a startup, you will definitely want to follow the advertising agency Red Antler (@RedAntler). This agency helps startups grow with killer branding and cult followings. Red Antler is the agency behinds startup brands like Casper, All Birds, prose, Burrow, Yumi and many more. Any marketers looking for solid branding inspiration will definitely want to keep up to date with everything Red Antler is working on.

Recent @RedAntler feed content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Edcw_jkAH/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwj43x7H2kd/

5. Lauren Salaun – PR + Influencer Marketing 

Every marketer knows that social media has become an important piece of the marketing toolkit and for anyone looking to learn more about influencer marketing, Lauren Salaun (@LaurenSalaun) is a great account to follow on Instagram. Lauren is a PR and influencer marketing expert passionate about helping marketers and entrepreneurs learn how to increase their visibility and impact through PR and influencer marketing. Follow Lauren on Instagram for great insights into why influencer marketing is important and her tips and tricks!

Get inspired by @LaurenSalaun‘s content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_YJKIOlV5J/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAL_bW1FxpA/

6. Small Girls PR – Public Relations

Despite their name Small Girls PR (@smallgirlspr) – this creative communications firm is making a BIG impact. This PR agency knows that public relations is about so much more than just the press and they are passionate about helping brands shape stories to become industry trendsetters. By utilizing multiple PR strategies and services such as positioning, influencer marketing, events, content, partnerships and more they’ve helped clients like Ellevest, Billie, Hinge and Peanut make a big splash. Not only are they a great example of what every marketer should aspire to achieve with their PR, they are a great Instagram account to follow for everything pink, trendy and playful!

Recent content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGladHh8ly/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8ebwcPhSbY/

7. Dain Walker – Brand Design

If you are a marketer interested in learning more about how better design can help brands sell online, Dain Walker (@dainwalker) is a great account to follow. He regularly posts about brand design with tips on everything from content, advertising, website and graphic design. Plus, his Instagram account features all black, white and yellow content and is a great example of how to create a consistent, cohesive Instagram feed.

Recent feed content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCQzsnSgboK/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCI-dMSAzR7/

8. Miriam Isaac – UX Design

UX design is an important element of successful online marketing and UX Designer Miriam Isaac (@misaac85) is a must-follow for any marketer looking to learn more about UX design and learn some great design tips. Miriam worked in Fortune 200 and was listed as one of the top 18 UX Instagrams to follow. She shares tons of great UX tips and design inspiration on her Instagram. 

Posts:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5OKakAglnm/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xu5XYAwga/

9. Neil Patel – SEO

Neil Patel (@neilpatel) is perhaps one of the best-known digital marketing thought leaders and is a great account for digital marketers to follow on Instagram. Neil has an impressive list of accolades, he is a New York Times bestselling author, was listed as a Top 100 Entrepreneur Under 30 by Obama and is a Forbes Top 10 Marketer. Neil co-founded Neil Patel Digital, a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, content, social media and paid media. Follow his Instagram account and blog for tons of great SEO and digital marketing tips.

Recent @neilpatel content:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTV8VbHCgy/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAIloPkA1aJ/

10. Alexis Andra – Experiential Activations

One of the most inspiring marketing accounts on Instagram is The Shift Creative (@theshiftcreative). This design studio is founded by Alexis Andra and helps brands create stunning branded moments through experiential activations. The Shift Creative creates beautiful art installations for conferences, events and store fronts and more. After quickly scrolling through Alexis’ Instagram account, you’ll quickly see why her design studio is a great Instagram account for any marketers looking for experiential marketing inspiration.

Posts:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_qp835H-RW/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Vbbn5nkMR/

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These 5 New Features on Instagram Can Help Your Business in July 2020

As a growing platform, Instagram continues to innovate and add new features that help promote interaction between users — and recently, with a particular focus on those that support small businesses and creators. Below we’ll tell you everything you need to know about 5 new features Instagram has recently introduced, and explain how you can use them to boost your business.

1. The DM Me sticker

What it is

Stickers have always been where the fun stuff happens on Instagram Stories. The new DM Me sticker is yet another way you can use stickers to engage with your audience in your Stories. (You can learn more about using Stories to engage with your audience in our post, 4 Ways to Get More Engagement on Your Instagram Stories — Today.)

When you place a DM Me sticker in a story, your followers can tap it and type a message that is sent straight to your DM (direct message) inbox.

How to use it

You’ll find the DM sticker in your sticker tray when you create a new Story on Instagram. If you don’t see it there yet, make sure to update your Instagram app to the latest version.

When you select the DM sticker, you’ll be prompted to write a question that will appear above it. Asking a specific question is a classic and effective tactic for increasing engagement. Your followers are more likely to send you a DM if you give them an idea of what they’d like to say first.

Not sure what to ask? Tap the dice below the sticker and the app will suggest a general question for you. You can also tap the color wheel to choose different colors for the text. When you’re done, tap the checkmark button. You’ll then be able to move the sticker around and pinch and drag it to change its size and orientation, just like with other stickers.

What it can do for your business

The greatest thing about the DM Me sticker is that it provides a perfect solution for the “sliding into the DMs” dilemma.

The dilemma is this: on the one hand, messaging someone directly is a very personal approach and makes them more likely to engage with you and feel connected to you — and that can translate into becoming a loyal follower and customer. On the other hand, direct messages might feel a little too invasive, even creepy, because unlike the comment section or the feed, the direct message inbox is a more private space.

Sliding into ] DMs is sort of like leading someone into a side room at a party. It needs to be done gently, sensitively, and with tact — otherwise you just come off as overly aggressive. But if you get the timing and the tone just right, it can really help you build meaningful relationships with your followers.

The DM Me sticker solves this dilemma by placing the ball in the other person’s court. It creates an open invitation to enter a private conversation, and they get to choose whether or not to respond. So if someone sends you a DM through the DM Me sticker, there’s no awkwardness involved. You know they are interested in having a more private conversation with you, and you can just carry on from there.

2. The Challenge Sticker

What it is

Instagram challenges are a fun new trend — likely influenced by the popularity of hashtag challenges on TikTok. A challenge is a sort of game where a user challenges others to post certain content. It could be as simple as a photo contest, where you ask all your loyal customers to post photos of themselves with your product, or as complex as challenging them to post a video of themselves performing a certain dance, workout, or difficult task. A challenge could even include multiple tasks or a full calendar of tasks!

People who take up the challenge then post their content with the challenge hashtag, and invite or nominate their own followers to join the fun. That way, the challenge spreads organically through networks of followers.

The new Challenge sticker helps formalize this trend and make it easier to participate. When you add a Challenge sticker to your story, users can tap it to instantly join. Tapping the sticker will take them to the Instagram Stories camera, where they can record their own challenge content. They can then add the same Challenge sticker to their own Story and nominate their own followers to join.

How to use it

Joining an existing challenge:

There are two ways to join an existing challenge.

1. Tap that challenge’s sticker on someone else’s Story. This will take you directly to your Instagram Stories camera where you can record or upload your own content. When you’re done recording or selecting your content, the Challenge sticker will already appear on your Story stating that you were nominated by the user whose sticker you tapped. You’ll be prompted to nominate your own followers to join the challenge.

2. Open the Instagram Story camera, record or upload your content, and then open the sticker tray and find the Challenge sticker. It may appear with a trophy or a hashtag icon. Begin typing in the hashtag for the challenge: suggestions will pop up, and you’ll be able to tap the right one to select it. Then choose your nominees.

Creating your own challenge:

You can also create your own challenge by typing in an original hashtag. Keep in mind that you’ll need to explain the rules to your followers so they know what to do to join your challenge. You can incorporate other media to help explain your challenge and encourage people to join: for example, you can create a Feed post outlining the rules with the challenge hashtag in the caption. You can also post instructions on your blog, or send them out in your email newsletter.

Nominating users:

When you’re prompted to nominate other users on the Challenge sticker, you can choose as many or as few as you like — you’re allowed to tag up to 10 people in an Instagram Story, and that probably applies to this too. Anyone you nominate will receive a DM informing them that they’ve been nominated.

What it can do for your business

Challenges have a ton of potential for increasing engagement and brand awareness.

Joining existing challenges is a great way to interact with other users and take an active part in the Instagram community. When your followers join the challenge through your sticker or nomination, your user name will appear on their own sticker.

Creating your own challenge is a really fun way to spread the word about your business and help people get to know you. You can choose a theme that has something to do with your products or services. Some ideas:

  • Fitness instructor: Create a unique workout challenge. This could be a one-time challenge to perform a certain exercise, or a multiple-day or even 30-day challenge with set tasks for each day.
  • Nutritionist: Create a 30-day healthy eating challenge, or challenge your followers to incorporate a certain superfood in their diets in creative ways.
  • Fashion industry: Challenge followers to incorporate selected items (your product, for example) or elements (perhaps a certain color or shape) into an original look.
  • Cleaners and home organizers: Challenge followers to post innovative cleaning or organizing methods, or to tackle the biggest “problem spot” in their home and show you a before and after.

Get creative and have fun with it!

3. Co-Watching

What it is

Co-watching is another new feature that was probably born from quarantine necessity. It’s a nifty new way to create a shared viewing experience that’s incorporated into Instagram video chat.

Using this feature, you can watch videos together with other Instagram users while you’re on live video chat.

How to use it

To co-watch a video, you’ll first need to make sure you’ve “liked” or “saved” it. Then, enter your DM inbox by tapping the paper airplane icon on the upper right corner of your screen. Tap the video camera icon on the upper right side, and choose who you’d like to invite to watch the video with you. You’ll see a list of followers you interact with most, but you can also search for other users — they don’t even need to be your followers. You can select up to 6 people to join you on your video chat. Then tap “Start” on the upper right corner to start the chat.

When your co-viewers have connected to your chat, find the “Media” button on the lower right side of your screen and tap it. This will pull up a menu of posts you’ve liked. You can also tap the ribbon icon on the bottom center to view posts you’ve saved, or the compass icon on the lower right to receive suggestions from Instagram for media you might like to watch together.

The video you chose will then play, with sound, on the screen, and you and the other people in your chat will appear as thumbnails on the bottom of the screen. To return to the regular video chat, tap “Remove” on the upper right corner of the video.

What it can do for your business

Since you can only co-watch with up to 6 people at a time, this feature may not be the best tool for spreading the word about your business. What it can do, though, is make it possible for you to chat with a potential client, perhaps walking them through a tutorial or other video you’ve posted. It could also be a useful tool when you’re just chatting with someone and want to show them something you saw and enjoyed without having to send them a link.

The great thing about co-watching on Instagram is that it’s video chat, not text, which means you can see and hear the other people reacting live. This is pretty much as close as you can get to sitting in a room and watching a video together.

4. Instagram Live Badges

What it is

Live Badges are a brand-new feature that is still being rolled out, so you may not have access to them yet. However, Instagram has promised that they’re coming to Instagram creators very soon.

What do they do? Instagram Live Badges will appear next to a user’s name during an Instagram Live session and will allow viewers to contribute small donations to the user. They will be able to “purchase” either one, two, or three hearts: one for $0.99, two for $1.99, or three for $4.99. The money from the purchase will go to the creator, and the donations will appear in the live feed so the creator can see them and give a shout-out to people who are supporting them.

How to use it

This feature is still being tested and only a select few have access. You can apply to be considered for early access by filling out this form.

What it can do for your business

The main purpose of Live Badges is to allow people to show support for their favorite creators and influencers during this challenging time. This can go both ways: if your business is struggling, you could use them to ask for support. But you can also use them to show your support for other businesses and creators who are struggling. It’s a great way to give back to the community and strengthen connections and relationships.

On a larger scale, Live Badges are the first step toward the integration of online sales with livestream feeds. That’s an exciting development that will be a huge boost for businesses. Livestreams are great for launching new products or showcasing old ones, and someday in the near future, customers will be able to purchase the product right from the livestream feed, without needing to follow any other links.

At the moment, the “purchases” people can make are simply donations, but businesses might already be able to use them to offer simple, inexpensive product purchases at prices that match the donation badges.

5. IGTV monetization

What it is

IGTV monetization goes hand in hand with Live Badges: both are steps towards supporting creators on Instagram and helping them make money with the content they produce.

IGTV monetization is under ongoing development, but Instagram recently began launching IGTV ads: ads you can allow to appear alongside your IGTV content in exchange for a percentage of the revenue.

How to use it

Like Live Badges, this feature is still not widely available and is currently through invite only. Stay tuned for updates!

What it can do for your business

IGTV monetization will help create new revenue streams for creators on Instagram. Using this feature, you’ll be able to make more money simply by putting out high-quality, popular content that lots of people want to view.

This type of monetization already exists on other platforms, such as YouTube. Until now, Instagram has been primarily a platform for building an audience, spreading brand awareness, and bringing potential clients into the sales funnel. With the introduction of monetization, it will become another source of income, too.

The future of small businesses on Instagram is bright

It’s great to see that Instagram has been joining other social media platforms in focusing on new features that support small businesses, many of which are struggling now in light of the pandemic. (If yours is struggling too, you’re not alone, and there is hope: see our post on Facebook’s Small Business Report on COVID-19.)

Take advantage of these new offerings and stay tuned for new developments, because it looks like there are lots of exciting things in store for small businesses on Instagram.

Action Items:

  • Try out the DM Me sticker on your next Instagram Story! Ask your followers a question that relates to the content you’re posting and chat with the followers who DM you.
  • Find an Instagram challenge that looks fun and on-brand and join it. Don’t forget to use the Challenge sticker.
  • Develop your own Instagram challenge!
  • Apply for early access to Live Badges — or just keep an eye out for more developments on Instagram monetization.

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Video Marketing for Small & Local Businesses in 2020

Nobody doubts the amazing potential of small business video marketing, and how it can increase your customer base with an easy to implement small business video marketing plan:

Glossary (Click to scroll down):

  1. What Exactly is Video Marketing?
  2. 4 Benefits of Video Marketing for Small Local Businesses
  3. How Can I Improve My Small Business with Local Video Marketing?
  4. What is Small Business Video Content Marketing & Why Do I Need It?
  5. 4 Types of Video Marketing & Video Marketing Ideas for Small & Medium Sized Businesses
  6. How to Use Video to Benefit Your Small Business
  7. 3 Examples of Awesome Small Business Marketing Videos

After all, video drives a 157% increase in organic search engine results when embedded in your website, and 64% of consumers have said that video directly influenced their decision to purchase a product or service.

local small business video marketing tip

If you haven’t yet found yourself involved in the video content world and you’re a small business owner, now is the time. By 2021, video will represent 82% of internet traffic – which means that whoever doesn’t jump on board will be at a great disadvantage.

For those that haven’t yet delved into the world of video marketing, you may find yourself wondering – what exactly is video marketing? Do I need a video maker? And more importantly, how do I get started?

What Exactly is Small Businesses Video Marketing?

Video marketing is the buzzword that’s going around the business world like the whispered rumors in high school hallways.

But video marketing is much more than a buzzword. Today, it’s become the content strategy leader in the marketing world.

This is because video is versatile, relatable, and memorable – and is the best way to reach a varied audience with a short attention span (which is an increasing problem with younger generations).

There is no way around it – video is the content of the future. The earlier you get started on your video content strategy, the better off you’ll be in the long run.

So what exactly does video marketing mean? Video marketing is the use of video with a specific content strategy to help a small business get more customers, by having a specific goal in mind. Just as important as having corporate videos for marketing purposes, is the knowledge of what kind of content to create, in targeting local and sometimes national consumers, – and where to put this content.

You may find that the best video strategy for you involves an explainer video, which shows what your company does.

This great (and famous!) example by the Dollar Shave Club is a classic use of video marketing, to explain what the company is all about.

Notice the use of comic relief in a serious advertisement – don’t be afraid to make your audience laugh!

Alternatively, you may find that a tutorial video explaining how to use your product is your best use of video marketing.

Or, you may decide that your audience needs to better understand the industry you work in.

What’s most important to understand is that as a small business owner, there are countless benefits to video marketing, and you won’t know which types of videos best fit your business until you try.

And I’ll even let you in on a secret – there’s probably more than one!

small business owner video filming for marketing

4 Benefits of Video Marketing for Small Local Businesses

When you use video marketing for your small business, especially for small local businesses, you are doing yourself a huge favor – and the numbers prove it.

    1. When given a choice, over 72% of customers prefer to learn about a product or service by video instead of text. – In other words, out of all of the potential customers that your videos might reach, almost 3 out of 4 of them would already prefer to watch a short video about your brand, rather than having to read about it. 
    2. A viewer is 64% more likely to buy a product after watching a video. Because of the fact that most consumers already don’t mind watching a short video, showing them videos of your products or services in action is a great way to entice them to make a transaction with your company. 
    3. While only 20% of viewers will read the text on a page, 80% will watch a video. The truth is that today’s modern man is relatively lazy, especially when it comes to consuming information. So while reading a large wall of text will usually turn the average consumer away from learning more about a company’s products or services, showing them a short, punchy video about is almost guaranteed to grab their attention.
    4. The average person watches more than an hour and a half of video per day. In other words, for every single consumer that your brand comes into contact with on a daily basis, you have a huge opportunity to turn that interaction into a sale. That is, of course, only if you’re using video marketing as a tool to get your brand in front of the right people, at the right time. 
    5. Did you know, that aside from Google, YouTube is the second most popular website in the world?  This means that if your small business isn’t currently using YouTube as a marketing channel for your brand, you’re literally missing out on millions of opportunities, every single day, to interact with new, potential customers.
    6. According to Rialto Marketing, 81% of today’s modern businesses are using video marketing as part of their overall strategy. When more than three-quarts of all online businesses are using video, you can be guaranteed that it’s a strategy that works.

In the end, not only are videos more likely to capture your audience’s attention but as you can see in the statistics above, that audience is significantly more likely to buy products from you, if you provide them with videos about what you’re offering.  

How Can I Improve My Small Business with Local Video Marketing?

While video isn’t a miracle solution to all your business problems, video will absolutely allow you to empower and improve the position of your small business.

Video can be used for almost anything. Start by presenting yourself on your website – just the simple addition of an explainer video, telling the world about what you do can increase your chances of appearing on the first page of a search by over 50 times!

An explainer video (and really, any video content) is also a great opportunity to entertain.

Take for example this video by PadMapper. By taking the comic route,  they make sure the audience is captivated from beginning to end of the video:

Explainer videos, however, are just the beginning. There are dozens of uses of video to improve your small or local business, and this is where video content marketing comes in.

Thinking of a strategy, and knowing which types of content apply to your audience, is key to successfully using small business video marketing to your advantage.

What is Small Business Video Content Marketing & Why Do I Need It?

So what is video content marketing? Well, the answer to that question is that video marketing is what YOU make of it!

With the video marketing resources available today, there’s really no limit to what video marketing can be. You can create video ads for your product or services, you can introduce your company through video, and you can show the world testimonials of the loyal customer base that you already have.

You’ll find that easy tools are also within reach – and in the palm of your hand!

In recent years, video making has become more accessible even to the inexperienced, and can all be done on-the-go.

content video marketing film for small businesses

Gone are the days of relying on knowledge of complicated video editors – today in 2020, anyone can download a simple video maker app and get started with video content marketing on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

For those completely new to the video content world, there’s Boosted, which has a bunch of great video ad templates that are easy to use.

Using these tools, or a number of others (there are a lot of choices) you’ll be able to start off and develop your video content strategy. Also consider creating a vlog to bolster your video marketing efforts in 2020.

Read on to find out more about the types of videos you should be making, and how they’ll help you grow your small business!

8 Types of Video Marketing Ideas for Small & Medium Sized Businesses

The world of video marketing is endless – and there are many inexpensive ways to bolster your small business in 2020.

You can teach your audience about your product or service, you can teach them how to use your product, or how your service is necessary to them, you can use videos for testimonials to give your prospective customer a real-life perspective, and you can teach your audience all about you, and why your small, local business is important.

  1. Educational
    • Educational videos teach about something. Usually, when used in video marketing, these will either educate the audience about the company itself, or about something related to the company.
    • A good example is this video, about a day in the life of a Grainger employee. Under this category are explainer videos, along with other types of videos that aim to teach about something.
    • If you’re providing a unique product or service that is not well understood, an educational video is your first step to securing an audience and captivating potential customers.
  2. Product
    • Product videos highlight a product, often in creative ways. This allows viewers who have already seen something similar to still take interest – and will allow you to capture a spot in their mind.
    • Take this video in Blendtec’s Will it Blend? series, which instead of talking about yet another blender, occupies the mind of the audience with an eccentric idea – what non-traditional items can this super-strong blender blend?
    • Product videos, specifically those that are out-of-the-box, are a great way for small local businesses to differentiate themselves from the competition if they are providing a product or service that isn’t novel or unique. For example, a coffee shop with a great product video will have much better luck bringing in customers than its competitors (which it is sure to have).
  3. Testimonials
    • Testimonials are extremely important to any business – people are much more likely to trust a company if a peer, or someone having similar needs, recommends the business.
    • While written testimonials have been around for a while, video testimonials are the new trend. These more relatable stories that put a voice and face to the name, and create a story, have great convincing power.
    • For example, check out this video, Why I Love Working at Wayfair, which is a fantastic testimonial video for hiring.
  4. Instructional
    • Instructional videos will teach your audience how to use your product.
    • These are more relevant to products rather than services, but can be applied to the latter as well (for example, a video on how to book an appointment!).
  5. Team Bios
    • For effective SMB local marketing, it’s all about putting a face to a name. Bio videos show your audience that your company is staffed by real people who care about your brand and customers.
    • Bio videos are a mix of professional, displaying your team’s titles and expertise; and personal, highlighting their fun, quirky characteristics to demonstrate your human side.
    • You can also use videos to introduce your sales team or account managers, making it easier for them to build relationships with prospective customers.
  6. Tips and Tricks
    • These types of video are an excellent way to subtly establish your expertise in your field and show customers why they can trust your word.
    • For local business video marketing, this also makes you a trusted face, potentially helping increase your foot traffic from prospective customers who are simply looking for someone who can assist.
    • You can use these videos to complement existing blog posts to make them more engaging.
  7. Announcements
    • Announcement videos can help create anticipation and generate buzz around a new product you’re launching to encourage an audience beforehand.
    • You can create several of these as small, quick teasers to build hype and keep your brand relevant even during long quiet periods between product launches.
    • These videos can also help you demonstrate how a new product will improve upon previous versions or make your customers’ lives better.
    • They’re also excellent videos to include in your social media to acquire more followers and post viewers.
  8. FAQs
    • Regardless of your industry, customers will always encounter questions, and FAQ videos are a great strategy for creating an interactive experience and engaging with customers directly.
    • These videos can be short (even as short as 60 seconds) and help fill up your posting calendar during slower periods.
    • They also highlight how you’re willing to support customers, even if they haven’t bought anything from you.

Often, business owners assume their product is straightforward, or that the written instructions are enough.

filming video for small business video marketing

Take a minute to think back – when is the last time you sat down and read a user manual? Now think about how much more likely you’d be to sit down and watch a short video to learn about your new purchase, instead of trying to figure it out on your own.

How to Use Video to Market Your Small Business

  • Video allows you to approach a story from all angles, and will give you a variety of ways to tell different parts of your story.
  • Once you’ve made your goals clear in the customer’s mind, you’ll be well on your way to improving the position of your small business.
  • Using the different types of videos above which are relevant to your business, you’ll be able to more clearly communicate with your potential clients, and you’ll be able to tell them a clear story – which will then be easy to pass on to their friends, and allow you to grow your customer base!

Here are 4 ways to use video marketing to help boost your small or medium sized business:

  1. Integrate a Video on Your Landing Page
    • The great thing about video is that it gives you a flexible tool to spruce up any part of your broader marketing strategy.
    • Including a video in your landing page, for instance, helps keep visitors engaged for longer and can also lead to higher conversion rates.
    • In fact, having a video on your landing page can increase conversions by up to 80%, so make sure to create videos that can work across any of your online pages.
  2. Show Consumers How Your Product Works
    • Demo videos are one of the more popular forms of small business video marketing because they highlight how your product works instead of describing its functionality via text.
    • An Animoto study found that nearly 75% of consumers are more likely to buy a product if they’ve seen a video explaining it before making a purchase.
    • Take the time to craft a video that tells a story and shows how your product works in an engaging manner, and you’ll be rewarded with more views and better conversions.
  3. Post Videos on Social Media to Get More Views and Clicks
    • No matter what other channels you’re using, social media is still one of the most important.
    • When engaging in local video marketing, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram remain the first point of contact for consumers interacting with your business, and a cost-effective marketing outreach tool.
    • More importantly, adding video to your social media strategy pays off. 64% of consumers noted that Facebook has influenced a purchasing decision, and videos net you a higher engagement rate than most other types of content.
  4. Use Video to Generate Hype for Your Products
    • You’re not going to be putting out new products every day, and it can be tough to keep advertising the same items repeatedly. However, this doesn’t necessarily have to grind your marketing strategy to a halt.
    • You can use tools like Boosted to create short, engaging “hype” videos to generate buzz about upcoming events, product launches, or promotions to fill gaps in your marketing campaigns.
    • This keeps you at the front of peoples’ minds while helping your brand stay relevant.

3 Examples of Awesome Small Business Marketing Videos

If the examples above weren’t enough, check out some of these great video marketing campaigns that went viral, and how they helped various companies in different ways.

1. This funny Burger King commercial, that allowed users to interact and get a good laugh at the same time.

2. A Golden Grahams appeal to college students – a great demonstration of knowing your target audience.

3. This Australian Tourism campaign, which takes a clever and appealing idea to promote the tourism industry.

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