4 Claims Digital Marketing Agencies Make That You Should Run From

With a great online presence now more important than ever, we’re seeing more and more agencies appear, with more and more promises. And with everyone vowing such great success, who do you choose? Take a look at 3 of the top claims we’ve heard from digital marketing agencies that you should definitely run from.

The salesmen
10,000 new Facebook likes! 50,000 new Twitter followers! Great! But where does this get you? While these claims may sound good, they lack substance. Will 10,000 new Facebook likes help you reach your company’s sales target? Will 50,000 new Twitter followers create brand loyalty? Probably not. Look deeper into how the agency promises to execute the claims, if they’re pledging huge numbers in a short period of time, there’s a chance dodgy tactics may be used.

The “we’ll-get-you-on-the-front-page-of-Google”-ers
So if you weren’t running by now, you definitely should be. Agencies that guarantee you a spot on Google’s front page are pretty likely to get you removed from Google. A good SEO strategy will tie in with your overall digital marketing plan, so avoid any companies that promise huge results in a short period of time.

The ridiculously cheap ones
(And probably the ones your boss will want to go for.) When the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. You want a social media agency that lives and breathes your brand, and also has a deep understanding of your goals and who you’re targeting. Agencies that offer management of 5 social channels and 50 posts a month all for £150 are probably going to be churning out pretty basic content that doesn’t have your brand goals in mind.

The all-in-one-ones
With so many agencies cropping up, they’re all trying to be the best of the best and outweigh their competitors. To do this, some agencies will try and offer every service in the books. This may mean that they outsource work, so the person that you spoke to on the phone won’t actually be the person that’s completing the work, or they’ll be spreading themselves thin, and offering services that they’re not actually that good at.

With so many agencies and offers, it’s hard to know who to trust. That’s why we offer a free, no obligation BoffinBulb before we go further with any services. So all your social media worries and concerns are put to rest, before you spend a penny.

 

6 of our Favourite Totally Microwavable Work Lunches

Can’t cope with the office judgement of having takeaway leftovers for lunch AGAIN? We get it. Prepping lunch is hard, and when you’ve just finished a long day at work, it’s the last thing you want to do. So take a look at our 6 fave kinda-almost-healthy microwaveable lunches, and never have to face the Sunday night dread again 😉

Standing over a stove and stirring constantly? Not today! These tasty Microwave Risotto Cups can be made in 10 minutes, meaning you can prep them the night before and heat them up during lunch.

Fancy Jane’s avocado salad never looked so boring. Really show off your Michelin star microwave skills with this Microwave Salmon with Sriracha Mayo.

Low-carb just not doing it for you? Us neither. We’ll let these Microwave Nachos speak for themselves.

We’ll file this one under: super filling eats that won’t leave you in a food coma, and may even leave your colleagues thinking ‘wow, maybe she really does go to the gym 8 times a week.’ Check out the recipe for this Brown Rice with Edamame and Pineapple dish.

Ridiculously overpriced Starbucks bagel? Not here! This Microwave Egg and Vegetable Sandwich is guaranteed to see you through till the end of the day. (Warning: you may need a toaster for this one)

Spinach Ricotta Lasagna in a mug?! Ready in 15 minutes?! Take a seat. It’s true. (And we can’t wait to try it either)

And there you have it! Every last excuse you had to buy a Tesco meal deal, out the window.

The Boffins’ top tips to growing your way to Instagram stardom

We won’t lie, followers aren’t everything. But they sure are good for social proof, and you obviously want the largest audience for all your great content too.

Getting started
First thing’s first. We’ll start with the basics. Grab a good username and take a fantastic profile image. Try and keep it consistent and use the same username across all your social channels. And make sure your profile picture summarises you or your brand perfectly too, as it’s the first thing people will see.

Choose a theme. No no, not a Wordpress theme. Manage people’s expectations by letting them know the content they’ll see on their newsfeed before they follow you. Don’t expect to gain a large following if you haven’t got a clear theme. So, if you’re a food blogger, don’t start posting about your pug’s new outfit. The same as if you’re a brand or company, stick to what you’re trying to promote and what your target audience are interested in.

Gotta connect ‘em all. Well, Facebook anyway. Connect your Instagram page to your Facebook account. If you have a Facebook Page this will give you access to loads of nifty analytics called ‘Insights’. If you don’t have a Page however, it’s still worth connecting as it will make it easier for Facebook friends to find you on Instagram.

Raking them in
Buying followers. Don’t. Even. Think. About. It. Instagram follows the same algorithm as Facebook, meaning the reach your content gets is decided by how high quality Instagram ranks it. Now, fake followers won’t engage with your content. So if you’ve got 10,000 followers and you’re only getting a few likes, Instagram will assume this is poor quality content and won’t place it as high in other’s newsfeeds. So, by buying followers you’ll see a lower organic reach. Not good.

Engage with potential customers and followers. Find a hashtag relevant to your brand or niche and interact with the content by liking, commenting and even following users that use it. As the people using those hashtags are likely to be relevant, there’s a chance you might see a few follow backs.

Cross-promote your page. Use your other media channels to let people know you’re on Instagram. This could be on your emails, website, business cards, or even on the side of your business vans.

Down to business
No matter how good you are at the stuff above, if you haven’t got a great feed, people won’t be interested. Your content needs to be great in order for people to follow. Choose an image and filter theme and keep it consistent. Colour themes can be great to do too, although hard to execute. (Did you know that predominately blue images generate 24% more likes than predominately red images? Cool huh.)

That text box? Use it. Sounds obvious, but a lot of people don’t take advantage of this. One of the beauties of Instagram is that long captions can work just as well as short snappy ones. So experiment with different types. Captions can make or break your image, and be a deciding factor between whether a user double taps or not. So make it count. Use emojis to draw attention too.

Plan your posts - make sure you’re posting regularly, but not too regularly. If you’re bombarding people’s newsfeeds, it’s likely they’ll unfollow. Also if your account is inactive, they’ll probably unfollow too. Try and keep a flow with your content, this could be anything from 1-3 posts a day. Timing is important too. If you’ve got access to Instagram Insights, take a look at when your followers are most often online and try to post around then.

And now you’re well on your way to Instagram stardom. If you’re stuck for content, have a look at your best performing posts, pick out why you think it did well and try to mimic that.

Kick-start your social media presence, book a Boffin Bulb. Right. Now.

How to Utilise LinkedIn to Maximise Business

Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, LinkedIn is a great platform to generate sales. So it’s definitely worth the time developing your profile, presence, and personal brand. But where do you start?

Make sure all your information is correct, and up-to-date
We’ve all heard the horror stories about people who have been locked out of their LinkedIn accounts just as they’ve tried to update their profile before a job interview. So, make sure your profile is always updated when anything relevant happens.

In your LinkedIn profile, include as much detail as possible about what you do and what you can offer potential customers or clients. Also, fill in as much detail as you can about your previous experiences, but don’t go too crazy, you don't need to list absolutely everything, especially if it's not relevant to the work you're currently doing or looking to do.

But first, let me take a selfi- respectable, and smart profile picture
We’re sure that you and Tina from school look great on a night out, but this isn’t Facebook. Get a profile picture that’s clear, professional, and represents you. For example, if you’re applying for a creative role, something bright and fun would work well. However if it’s something more corporate based, then maybe go for a professional headshot.

Why not use this as an opportunity to take LinkedIn’s new photo editing feature for a spin?

Talk of the office? Get it on paper
Well, get it on the computer. Ask for a recommendation or endorsement from your colleagues and clients.

Endorsements are super easy, simply click, and done. Recommendations can be a bit harder to get, but mean a lot more. Especially if you’ve got any big-name clients, or anyone who really really loved your service (or even you). And if you’re too shy to ask, head over to their profile, click the three dots on the top right hand corner and request one.

Include ya publications
LinkedIn allows you to include links to your published work, use this to show what you’re capable of! Upload presentations, videos, and projects to your profile. You can also upload blogs, to show your potential clients what an expert you really are.

Join in the conversation
So your profile is all ready to go. Now we wait for the leads to roll in, right? Wrong. Spend a little time on your newsfeed everyday talking to people, whether it’s simply an opinion, or something you can help out with.

Although, avoid unsolicited selling. Think of it as a networking event, you wouldn’t walk in, put your card in everyone’s hand, take a croissant and then leave. Spend some time in conversation with potential clients, be genuinely interested in what they are doing, and highlight how you can help when the time is right.

Quality content
Make the most of how easy it is to get organic reach through LinkedIn. Whenever someone likes, comments, or shares your content on LinkedIn, it will appear in their connections’ newsfeed as if they were following you themselves. Whereas on Facebook, posts will only show up in friends’ news feeds if the content has been shared.

Good content, on any platform, can help to generate leads for you and can show up in search engine results, and LinkedIn is no exception.

Using LinkedIn to generate business does require some effort, but it needn’t be a big job. Spending a few minutes each day interacting and engaging will be worth it in the long run!

Want to find out more on how to ramp up your sales through social media? Book your free BoffinBulb today.

So long #ad, Instagram is launching ‘Paid Partnership’ tags

There’s no doubt that influencer marketing, and, ahem, the less graceful ‘paid posts’, has dominated Instagram. And with over 90% of celebrity endorsements being in violation of rules around influencer marketing, something needed to be done.

How cool is this party we are hosting with @bumble? It's snowing in the desert! Having the best time here at the #WinterBumbleland party! #ad ❄🌴🐝

A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Apr 15, 2017 at 4:43pm PDT

Soon, we'll start to see a new “Paid partnership with” tag on posts and stories. This feature will enable influencers to show when they are working in partnership with a brand (or when they’re being paid to promote tea.)

While Instagram does not *yet* have a way to enforce that influencers and brands use this new tool, users who do will have access to additional metrics. The sponsor and influencer will be able to view Insights to track exactly how their content is performing.

Facebook introduced a similar system last year, which enables verified Pages to share branded content on by tagging partner brands in their posts.

However, there is an element Instagram hasn’t taken from Facebook. This is an increased reach based on the tagged partner. On Facebook, when you tag a brand in a post, the algorithm then uses your tags to increase the likelihood of your content being shown to a group of people who are mutually interested in both you and the Page you’ve tagged. There’s no current word of this happening on Instagram yet, this may be as it’s a new tool, and could possibly be brought in in the future.

“Launching this branded content tool is the first step in ensuring transparency of paid partnerships on Instagram. As we continue to learn how our community engages with the product, we'll be able to gather important feedback.” - Instagram

What do you think of this update? Should social media platforms be stricter on influencers and paid partnerships? Let us know on Twitter! @DigitalBoffins