Social Media
Our social media marketing coverage addresses management tools, educational courses, platform tips, social analytics, and strategies for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more. We’ve interviewed merchants who rely on social media traffic, and vendors who provide specialized services.
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Social Media
An Ecommerce Social Media Plan for the Holidays
September 19, 2019 • Armando Roggio
Social media posts can play an important role in a retailer's holiday promotions by engaging, informing, and encouraging potential shoppers. Social media is typically most effective when marketers plan and schedule well in advance. For your company's holiday social media campaigns, consider the following questions.
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Social Media
23 Twitter Feeds for Ecommerce Merchants to Follow
September 9, 2019 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of Twitter feeds for online merchants to follow. Most feeds are from individuals although a few are from application platforms. The feeds are separated into ecommerce, marketing, and design categories.
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Social Media
15 Buzz-worthy Giveaway Contests on Social Media
August 19, 2019 • Sig Ueland
A giveaway contest is an enduring promotional tool. A contest attracts and rewards fans, and the item is usually the prize. Here is a list of notable contest examples on social media.
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Social Media
10 Impressive Social Media Campaigns from Brands in 2019
July 29, 2019 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of recent social media campaigns from large brands. Several of the campaigns revolve around broad social and cultural issues, such as climate change and the #MeToo movement.
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Social Media
12 Ways to Attract Instagram Followers and Drive Engagement
June 7, 2019 • Viktoria Kanevsky
Instagram plays an enormous role in social media marketing and advertising. In this post, I'll offer 12 ways to improve Instagram performance — to attract followers, engage them, and ultimately generate traffic and sales to your ecommerce site.
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Social Media
15 Top Brands on Instagram, for Inspiration
May 20, 2019 • Sig Ueland
Studying prominent brands on Instagram can help merchants generate ideas for their own marketing campaigns. Here is a list of the top brands on Instagram ranked by followers. To attract followers, the brands use behind-the-scenes and do-it-yourself content and inspiring images and videos.
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Social Media
17 Instagram Accounts for Design, Color, Illustration, More
April 29, 2019 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of Instagram feeds to follow for all aspects of web design, including color, illustration, animation, photography, typography, and storytelling. The accounts are from independent designers and artists, design studios, and creative ad agencies.
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Social Media
12 Apps for Creating Instagram Stories
January 14, 2019 • Sig Ueland
Using Instagram Stories, businesses can attract followers with dynamic product and brand content. Here is a list of tools for creating Instagram Stories. There are templates, easy-to-use video editors, and full content production platforms. All of these tools are free, though most offer premium add-ons.
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Social Media
10 New Social Networks for 2019
December 10, 2018 • Sig Ueland
New social networks help merchants reach customers and team members. Here is a list of new social networks — building on our comprehensive list from 2017, "105 Leading Social Networks Worldwide." Several new networks are from established social media companies, while others offer independent, open-source, and ad-free alternatives.
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Social Media
20 New Tools from Social Media Platforms
November 19, 2018 • Sig Ueland
By following the launches and updates of social media platforms, merchants can discover new ways to reach customers and prospects. Here is a list of recent updates from social media platforms. There are tools for interactive video, customer service, analytics, artificial intelligence, visual search, and shoppable images.
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Social Media
An Email List Isn’t Just for Emailing
November 13, 2018 • Michael Stancil
An email list is one of the central components of many marketing campaigns, beyond email marketing. Having email addresses is the difference between a targeted message versus scatter. The best email lists contain more info than just the address.
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Social Media
Use Facebook Groups to Promote Your Ecommerce Business
October 22, 2018 • Armando Roggio
Ecommerce businesses can use Facebook groups to help potential customers, build strong reciprocal relationships, and encourage sales. Maintaining or contributing to a Facebook group is a form of both social media ...
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Social Media
11 YouTube Channels for Digital Marketing
October 8, 2018 • Sig Ueland
YouTube is a helpful resource for learning digital marketing strategies from expert influencers. There are a variety of channels, offering plenty of practical tips and techniques to market your brand. Here is a list of YouTube channels for digital marketing.
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Social Media
3 Tips for Hiring (or Not) a Social Media Marketer
September 18, 2018 • Michael Stancil
You’ve made a critical decision for your company: It’s time to hire a social media marketer. Or is it that time? I ask because it’s important to know the answer ...
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Social Media
Should Merchants Sell on Social Platforms?
August 29, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan
Social media networks foster deeper customer relationships than standalone ecommerce sites, according to some marketers. However, except for younger, mobile-focused shoppers, social commerce has not gained a foothold.
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Social Media
All Products with Photos Have a Place on Pinterest
August 26, 2018 • Michael Stancil
Pinterest and I have a long history. Back in 2013, I was one of the most followed men on Pinterest, with over 1.8 million followers. I pinned about men’s style.
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Social Media
9 Tools to Sell Products on Instagram
August 13, 2018 • Sig Ueland
Instagram offers companies the opportunity to showcase physical products to many engaged followers. And with the right tools, businesses can make those product images shoppable. Here’s a list of tools to sell products on Instagram.
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Social Media
Instagram: The Ad Channel Your Parents Aren’t On (Yet)
July 29, 2018 • Michael Stancil
It’s hard to believe Facebook is no longer the cool network. Instagram and Snapchat appeal to the younger crowd. The process for advertising on Instagram is the essentially the same as on Facebook.
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Social Media
See Competitors’ Ads on Facebook and Twitter
July 4, 2018 • Robert Brady
Anyone can now see what ads are being run by a Facebook page and what tweets are being promoted by a Twitter account. This is hugely helpful competitive intelligence for ...
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Social Media
Do-it-yourself Instagram Guide for Lifestyle Brands
June 14, 2018 • Viktoria Kanevsky
Instagram is a critical social network for fashion and lifestyle merchants, for two reasons. First is brand representation. Branding is how consumers perceive a company. Instagram is mainly visual — images ...
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Social Media
Navigating Changes to Facebook Ads
May 27, 2018 • Michael Stancil
In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook is running its own advertising campaign. The ads proclaim how terrible Facebook was, how it compromised your data, and how it’s ...
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Social Media
The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing
May 5, 2018 • Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions.
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Social Media
Getting Reacquainted with LinkedIn Ads
April 19, 2018 • Michael Stancil
Advertising on LinkedIn has come a long way. But the platform still isn’t getting the attention it deserves. Until now. With Facebook’s data controversy and the renewed concerns about online privacy, advertisers ...
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Social Media
High-performing Facebook Ad Placements (in 4 Steps)
March 23, 2018 • Michael Stancil
In 2018, Facebook ads can appear on Facebook itself, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and the Audience Network. Facebook is no longer a one-option platform. Advertisers must now keep a close eye on how their ads render on all platforms. Otherwise, you might be wasting money. Consider Instagram and Messenger, for example.
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Social Media
For Digital Ads, Minimal Text Converts the Best
March 9, 2018 • Michael Stancil
When it comes to digital advertising, less is more. Ad platforms such as Google AdWords, Twitter, and Facebook have character limits. And that's good. No matter how complicated your product or how compelling your offer, brevity nearly always produces more conversions, in my experience.
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Social Media
Facebook Product Feed Ads: Not Just for Remarketing
February 26, 2018 • Michael Stancil
Product feed ads for remarketing are seemingly everywhere on Facebook. And that makes sense because if a merchant can show a potential customer the exact product she viewed or added to the cart, why wouldn’t it? It’s a no-brainer, which is why it’s time to set up those ads if you haven't already. However, while product feed ads are good for remarketing, they also can be compelling prospecting tools.
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Social Media
13 Social Media Plugins for WordPress
February 12, 2018 • Sig Ueland
Here is a list of social media plugins for WordPress. There are sharing plugins to connect your website to a wide selection of social networks. There are also plugins with specific features, such as a social locker and a social metrics dashboard. Most of these plugins are free, though many have premium plans.
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Social Media
The State of Social Advertising and Tracking
February 9, 2018 • Michael Stancil
What a year 2017 was for social advertising and tracking. What stayed the same, what’s new, and what is on the horizon? Let’s get into it. UTM links are still crucial to understanding ad performance. We may never move beyond UTM tags, or any query parameter tracking for that matter. The reason is simple.
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Social Media
12 New Social Media Tools for 2018
January 29, 2018 • Sig Ueland
Improve your social media marketing this year with a slew of new tools. Create content to promote your brand, engage with customers, and track your success. Here is a list of new social media tools for 2018. There are tools to create infographics, stories, contests, and video and audio elements. There are also tools to communicate with customers, edit links on social media, and even purchase branded content from creators.
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Social Media
100 million Russians use social media every day
November 2, 2017 • Maksim Komonov
Roughly 100 million people in Russia visit at least one social network every day. The most visited social networks in Russia are as follows, in order. VKontakte YouTube Odnoklassniki Facebook Instagram Twitter The audiences strongly differ. Eighty ...