How Can Your Business Benefit from SoLoMo?

If you haven’t yet adopted the concept of SoLoMo, (social, local, mobile) it’s high time to get connected and realize exactly how and why this is a most important direction for your small business to embrace.

So what is SoLoMo and why do you want it?

The unification of these three was practically unavoidable. As location based services are becoming more and more advanced, tracking our every move, it wasn’t such a huge step to having businesses be able to connect and touch someone, (like you!) with location based notifications and offers. Pew Internet & American Life Project recently found out that around 74 percent of smartphone users use their mobile devices to acquire local information, and approximately 18 percent are using them to check in on local businesses with geo-location services like Foursquare, Yelp and others. As more mobile users are seeking local products and services, either you and your company will find a way to serve these people, who are out, phone in hand and wallet virtually open, or you’ll notice that your competition will!

3 Ways to your business can employ SoLoMo

• Utilize social media – Using your social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter and others to engage and inform your target audience is [Read more…]

Anyone Know the Right Way to Use #Hashtags?

Know what a #Hashtag is? If you’re not a social media maven, and especially Twitter, you might not have a clue what a #hashtag is. No need for that being the case any longer. A hashtag is a # followed by a word or phrase to perform a number of functions. Twitter users attach hashtags to tweets as search conventions, a method of categorizing, and marketing tactics. #Hashtags can also be used in other social media platforms.

Some #Hashtags basic guidelines

Make sure the keyword you are using is not in use elsewhere, or you may be in for a major surprise. This requires doing a little research (a search on Search.Twitter.com) to find out if that keyword will be a wise decision. Also, don’t use misleading #hashtags, even with seriously trending keywords. This will most certainly not work in your favor. And above all, proofread before you create that #hashtag, lest you become a victim of your own hashtag.

4 Ways to win with #hashtags

1. Make your #hashtags short and direct – Making it brief and direct is the best approach to win with #hashtags. If you wish to combine more than one, fine, but be sure not to string together a small army of them, as that will actually annoy your readers and label you an amateur.
2. Make them #hashtags to remember – Remarkable #hashtags are much more likely to be shared widely. Give consideration to this and you just may get your wish and have it go viral.
3. Use them on multiple social media channels – A #hashtag isn’t much use if it’s not shared. Although started on Twitter, #hashtags have become employed across multiple social media channels including Facebook, Google , LinkedIn and Pinterest. This can help to instill the #hashtag into the minds of their audience.
4. Make use of keywords – When possible, work in your brand or major keywords. It is not always feasible, so choose judiciously.

Creating and employing memorable #hashtags can keep your brand and conversation before your social media audience, and help perpetuate your campaigns. Give it a try today!