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What’s Up with Facebook and Instagram?
What do you do when you lose access to social media because of an outage? It’s not just hours of conversations and selfies lost; it’s lost business. For many small businesses, entrepreneurs, and even major companies, social media is a means of conducting business. They reach out to customers loyal and prospective, sell merchandise and services, and create chatter to build their brands. Facebook and Instagram have become important aspects of their marketing. It’s not one-sided; the social media platforms benefit from this, too. The Facebook conglomerate makes money from advertising. As popular as it is, you would think that, after the first couple of times, Facebook would get their act together and fix whatever issues they are having. Yet, for the fifth time in four months, the Facebook family of apps has collectively suffered a major outage. Well, Facebook and Instagram have, with Instagram experiencing the most downtime. The event took place on July 17, just two weeks after the previous reported outage on July 3.
Crash of July 3rd
This crash was not an isolated incident, having affected users across the United States as well as the United Kingdom. Different percentages of users who reported the issues to DownDetector. The problems most reported with Facebook were largely with pictures, being 86 percent overall. The other two most common issues were with the news feed, coming in at thirteen percent, and logging in at eight percent. Likewise with Instagram, 91 percent experienced problems with the refreshing feeds, eight percent had problems with the desktop site, and another nine percent experienced issues logging into their accounts. Also reported were difficulties loading profiles and liking images. This outage affected the other apps owned by Facebook, Whatsapp and Messenger, as well. Users of Whatsapp reported problems with sending or receiving messages (66%), connecting to the app (29%), and logging in (4%). Messenger users noted complications with receiving messages (80%), logging in (12%), and connecting to the server (6%). Facebook took to Twitter to let users know that they knew of the issue and repairs were underway. They gave no reason for the crash, unlike the first crash which occurred in March, for which Facebook blamed server configuration changes. The said only that it was not the result of a data breach and apologized for the inconvenience.
Crash of July 17th
DownDetector showed that this too was a widespread major outage, with thousands of frustrated users all over the globe. It is not yet known whether or not it affects the sister app, Messenger; however, it has been reported that users had issues with the server connection (42%), receiving messages (30%), and logging in (27%) on the day of the crash. WhatsApp went completely offline during the crash, though it was not reported to the real-time tracking site. The vast majority of reports regarding Facebook were of total blackouts, coming in at 47 percent. The second-most reported problem was with the function of the news feed, at 29 percent. Log-in issues made up twenty-three percent of those reported. Instagram was rife with feed dilemmas, making up 82 percent of reports. Twelve percent experienced problems with the desktop site, another eight complained of issues with stories, and yet another eight percent had log-in difficulties.
Outraged, users took to Twitter to report the crash and voice their displeasure with the company’s apps. One user even suggested that they ought to throw the app away. The social media platforms have since come back online; although, they do not appear to be back at one hundred percent. Facebook has not responded on this outage on any form of social media as of yet. It is likely that they won’t cite a specific reason for it this time, either.
If you need assistance getting your business’s social media off the ground, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! You can contact us at https://proximomarketing.com/contact-us/.
Marketing to Generation Z
The world around us is constantly changing, and it’s time for a new generation to enter into the workforce. Millennial’s move aside, it’s time for Generation Z. By 2030, the U.S. Census Bureau believes that Generation Z will account for 30% of the labor force. As the eldest of this generation begins to enter the workforce, it’s important to realize they are unlike any generation that has come before them.
Born with technology that has connected Generation Z to the rest of the world, they have grown up and view the world differently than Millennial’s, Generation X’ers and Baby Boomers. Just as they see the world differently than those before them, companies need to market differently to reach them. With 55% of Generation Z members using their phone for 5 or more hours a day and 26% using it for more than 10 hours a day, the marketing strategies used by companies need to move digital to draw the attention of the new consumers. When it comes to marketing to Generation Z, this is what you should know:
- Social Media: Generation Z loves social media, with some individuals checking their social media accounts upwards of 100 times a day. However, not all social media is liked by Generation Z. According to a 2019 study done by Piper Jaffery, 73% of Generation Z members preferred that companies contacted them through Instagram. The next closest, Snapchat at 49%. While Millennials and previous generations may love Facebook, Generation Z views it as a dying platform. Only 12% of Generation Z members said Facebook is the best way to market to them.
- Short and Sweet Video Marketing: You may be wondering what the attention span of a Generation Z member is. 8 seconds! Yes you read that correctly, only 8 seconds. With increased amounts of time spent on social media and video platforms like YouTube, video marketing is one of the best ways to reach Generation Z. However, you should keep these videos short because in only 5 seconds your ad can be skipped on YouTube. If you want to reach Generation Z while they are scrolling through social media or watching videos on YouTube, then you should come up with a marketing video that says all it needs to in just 5 seconds.
- Help The World: An astonishing 60% of Generation Z say that they want their job to impact the world in some way or another. Generation Z members are heavily invested in social responsibility efforts like environmental protection as well as racial, gender and income equality. If you want to reach these people, showing an effort to help not only the planet, but the people around you as well will get their attention.
If you want to reach the up and coming generations then moving to digital is what you need to do. As a digital marketing firm we are here to help in that change over. For more information visit our website www.proximomarketing.com or give us a call at (757) 504-2429 to find out how we can help you.
Importance of Website Updating
In significantly less than a second, someone can form an opinion about your company’s website, and in less than three seconds they can close out of your website and already be searching for the next. No one ever wants that to happen to their website as it will surely result in the loss of a few customers. Just as you would want to make a great first impression about yourself to someone else, it is equally important to make a great first impression of your company to a customer with an amazing website!
Your website should be visually appealing and easy to navigate with up-to-date information for potential customers. Having a website that is difficult to look through can turn people away from your business. Consistently maintaining and updating your site will not only set a good first impression but it will help you turn leads into conversions, which will ultimately help your business in the long run. We put together a few points on how an updated website can be beneficial.
- Updated Content: Has your company recently expanded to add services? Or maybe you have discontinued a product offering? It is important to keep your website up-to-date on your company’s services and products to ensure that customers know exactly what you have to offer them. This will not only make your company seem more reliable but will improve the customer’s experience with you.
- Search Engine Rankings Boost: Similar to people, search engines love fresh content. When search engines, such as Google, comb your website for relevancy – the updated content, fresh images and videos will help boost your rankings towards the top! Having a highly ranked website will not only look good for your company but will draw in more traffic from potential new customers as most people never travel past the first page of a search engine.
- Keep Links Updated: Do you want to boast about your company winning certain awards with a link to an article? Wouldn’t it be disappointing if that link resulted in a “404 Page Not Found” message? Unfortunately this happens way too often and leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those who were visiting your website. With simple updating and routine checking you can ensure that the links you have embedded in your website remain active!
Don’t let your business face lost customers because of an inaccurate and outdated website. Call the team here at Proximo Marketing Strategies at (757) 504-2429 or visit our website, www.proximomarketing.com, to find out how we can help you improve your website today!
Review Management
If you’ve ever bought something online or weighed the idea of purchasing an item based on the reviews it’s received, you understand the importance of reviews and the influence they have on potential customers. 92% of consumers view online reviews before making a purchase, your reviews speak for your business before anything else does. We’ve got a few tips on how to make sure your reviews are benefiting you.
Responding to Reviews
Google has confirmed that responding to reviews improves your local SEO and doing this will make sure your business is displayed higher when people search you on Google. Many businesses respond only to negative reviews as a form of damage control, but responding to positive reviews is important too. Responding to all reviews shows that you care, it’s a great way to connect with customers that had a great experience and turn them into a returning customer. Responding to reviews leaves the door open for future reviewers to feel like their reviews will matter to you as well and might influence them to write a review they may have not written otherwise. Responding to negative reviews can help resolve problems and show other customers that you care about their experience. When responding to reviews, especially on Google, it is always best to use keywords such as your location or the services your business offers to get the most out of Google’s SEO.
Having Reviews on Various Platforms.
Google, Facebook, Yelp, Angie’s List, BBB, etc, etc. There are a TON of review platforms out there that it may seem redundant to push different ones. But it’s not! You want reviews on as many platforms as possible because your customers are all different! For example, some people live by Yelp – if you’re not on Yelp, then you aren’t trustworthy. Then there are others who go straight to Google or even Facebook because they can see what their friends think! If you focus all of your reviews on one platform, you could potentially lose out on a customer that might need your products/services.
Sharing Reviews on Social Media.
It may seem like you’re tooting your own horn but sharing reviews from any of your platforms onto your social media helps to build trust with your followers. A lot of businesses have followers on social media simply because they are a local company and the customer may need them one day. When you share reviews, they pop up on your followers timelines – these followers are then reminded that your business exists and that other people trust your business – so when they need your services, they know right where to go without having to read a bunch of reviews because they have already seen them!
Reputation Management
Like we mentioned earlier, responding to reviews is extremely important, but it’s also important to do it in a timely manner. When you focus on reputation management, someone is regularly looking for reviews and responding to them within hours or a day or two. Whether you have someone in your staff do this, or you outsource it to a team like Proximo, your reputation will stay in tact.
If you need help managing your businesses reviews, Proximo is here to help. Gathering, managing, and responding to your online reviews is just part of what we can do to help your business soar online and off! If you’re ready to take your business’ social interaction to the next level contact us here https://proximomarketing.com/contact-us/.
7 Steps to a Successful Business Event
Organizing an event can seem like a lot of work, but the reach that a successful event has can pay off greatly for your business. Events help raise awareness and can create positive interactions in your community. Here are some steps to follow when creating an event to make sure it is a success.
- Always check dates against local calendars. You can find these on Facebook, in the newspaper, or local websites. Make sure your event doesn’t conflict with any other big events that would subtract from your attendance. When scheduling, think about your audience’s lifestyle and what times or days of the week would work best for them. Scheduling your event at an accessible time is the best way to guarantee attendance.
- When thinking about your audience, consider what they may find appealing. You want people to come for your business and what you are selling, but some guests need the extra push of add-ons like free food, live music, raffle prizes and networking opportunities. Make sure you don’t keep your guest-list a secret, people go to events to socialize and having a public guest-list can influence attendance if others can see who will be attending.
- Take advantage of free media publicity and write a press release for your event. This can help reach your community by providing enough information to write a news story on. Media outlets can then choose to write a story on your event which can then be put out in papers, on television, or online.
- Make professional flyers. The flyers are for your event, but they represent your business too. Graphic design is important and makes a statement about your business and what kind of audience you’re trying to reach. Making flyers in advance for a “save-the-date” opportunity is useful when dealing with professionals whose calendars may be booked far in advance.
- Social media is one of the easiest and most effective ways to promote your event! Chances are, if you are running a business in the modern era, you already have a social media following. Use this following to spread information about your event (and your business) to your audience. Take advantage of promoted posts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach new people in your community. Do not make it hard for those searching to find all the information for your event they may need.
- During your event, encourage people to check-in on social media. Take photos and encourage photo opportunities that guests will want to share on their social media feeds. Do a Facebook or Instagram Live of things that are happening at your event, such as live music. It is important to hype up your event even while it is happening! It helps last minute people decide to stop by and also helps promote future events to those watching or those looking to see what your past events were like. Consider doing a social media check-in contest where a random guest who checks-in on social media is chosen to win a prize.
- Follow up with your guests! Create a sign-in guest book where you can get valuable information like email addresses and phone numbers so you have an opportunity to reach out to your attendees. Follow up with your guests that sign-in with coupons or specials.
If you need help making your next business event a success, Proximo Marketing has you covered. From booking a venue and writing a press release, to designing a flyer and promoting on social media – all while staying on budget, we’ll work with you to plan your event and comb through the details to ensure it’s a success. To contact us about event promotion, call (757) 504-2429.
Focusing on the Things that Make You a Rockstar!
As a digital marketing agency, there are many things that we can do for our clients. Our services range from social media marketing and management to SEO and website building; but in a growing digital landscape, there are new things that pop up that push us to expand our services to better serve our clients. However, when we consider what services to offer, we have to think about what our team can do. Rather than being an agency that claims to do everything, we focus on the things that truly make us rockstars and then, we build our network of partners with skills that make them rockstars!
We’ve seen it before, one person takes on anything and everything just so they can have the work and make the money. Unfortunately, trying to take on everything and expand your services too quickly can take away from the things you are really good at. Gathering up all that extra work to make a quick buck can backfire quickly if you are not adequately prepared to handle it – you could be dropping the ball right and left, causing clients to run for the hills. That’s why you should always play to your teams strengths, because your top priority should be doing what is best for your clients.
At Proximo, our team is skilled in each of their departments and we continue to learn new skills to better serve our clients. As the digital world has grown, we grown, and we have built a network of partners to meet the growing needs of our clients. Our team and our network now include videographers, SEO experts, social media strategists, website developers, graphic designers and content writers. When our team needs an expert to serve our clients, we know right where to turn. Not only do we focus on the things that make us rockstars, but we have found a group of people that do the same!
If you need marketing help, reach out to us at VIP@proximomarketing.com, if we can’t do it, we’re sure to know someone who can!
Importance of Content Writing
In a constantly growing digital world, it is necessary for a business to have a functioning online presence that stimulates interaction with their customers. Content writing is the action of creating relevant content for websites and social media, it includes social media posts, blog posts, and more. Well written content has multiple benefits; it enhances a brands reputation, builds relationships with customers, increases search engine visibility and creates greater engagement from your target audience.
By developing written content centered around what you or your business does, you position yourself as an expert in your field. With thorough knowledge and understanding, you become trustworthy. People who have become familiar with your content will seek you out when they need help and will be more likely to use and trust your products or services.
Content writing is also important for relationship building with your clients. Nurturing relationships with your customers is an important part of creating loyal and long term customers. Most of the time, creating content that is useful or relateable to your target audience is the best way to connect with your audience.
Routinely publishing content on your website and other social media platforms increases your search engine visibility. Google’s search algorithm uses key words and word counts in its ranking of websites. By creating content that utilizes these tools, you are more likely to show up in search results at a higher rank than without.
Engaging your customers goes hand in hand with your marketing reputation. Sharing your content across multiple platforms increases the chances that someone will see and engage with it. Likes, comments, retweets, and shares are all types of social media engagement that aid in capturing your customers attention.
Content writing is about providing useful information to your readers and turning those readers into paying customers. These customer engagements in turn help promote your business. Content writing is important in creating your brands voice and connecting with your customers.
Creating A Dream Team
Having a team that works together can make your business thrive, after all, they say “teamwork makes the dream work”. But a lot of businesses find that teamwork is hard to maintain – largely due to poor communication, lack of trust, and low engagement. Without the right conditions to develop and grow, your team could suffer. So if nurturing a healthy team culture is important to your workplace, here are a few things to consider.
- Create a positive company culture. Set your team’s expectations and help them meet goals. Make sure each member of your team is on top of their communication with other members as this is often where teams fail. Be clear on the values and mission of your company, and look for employees who match this. Always clarify your purpose, whether it’s your company’s purpose as a whole or the purpose of an individual project. It is essential for your team to understand the “why”.
- Love your team. Congratulate them on a job well done! Share in each other’s wins. Recognize individuals for a job well done while also helping them understand how their work affects the team as a whole. Focus on everyone’s strengths, people who use their strengths everyday are more likely to be engaged in their work. Celebrate as often as you can. Even small things like Proximo’s #AwesomeSauce board, where we post sticky notes of wins for the week can make a difference in how your team sees you valuing their work.
- Make sure your team is happy. Nurturing your team doesn’t have to always happen in the workplace. You can often find us Proximo girls having sleepovers, dinner meetings, and getting massages. Getting together in less formal situations can encourage better communication, sharing, and bonding between team members.
- Get their input. Ask them for feedback as often as possible! Get information from them like what their “dream job” looks like or their ideal hours of work. As millennial’s start taking up a majority of the workplace, studies are finding that the typical 9-5 work day just doesn’t cut it.
While there is no magical answer for how to create the best team, these tips are some of the most important steps you can take to work towards your businesses “dream team”. Follow us on Facebook to find out more about the Proximo team or give us a call at 757-504-2429 to work with us!
Working With A Marketing Team
When it comes to your businesses marketing, there is always the question of whether you should hire an agency with a marketing team or hire an in-house marketing person. Many variables play a factor in this decision including costs, knowledge, and ability. Marketing your business is an essential part of its success so it is important to make sure it is done as best as possible. Proximo was created to be an alternative to an in-house marketing person, and we’re going to tell you why.
- Your time is valuable. It takes time to hire, train, and manage an in-house marketing person. When you work with an agency that has an experienced team, they are able to capture your intentions and uniqueness to create a strategy that works for you, all using a little bit of input from you. This leaves more time for you to focus on other aspects of your business.
- We invest in tools and training, some of which may not be cost-effective for your company to provide to an in-house person. We have processes and the know-how to make your marketing efforts shine. Proximo is a tight-knit team that is constantly learning and sharing ideas and experiences to build you a better business.
- We’re outsiders. Many people think that in order to effectively market their product or service, you need to know EVERYTHING about that product or service. But that is not always true. The secret to selling is knowing what the customer cares about, not just knowing the nitty-gritty details of what your company does. We create target audiences and messaging guidelines to ensure your business is getting in front of the right audience.
- It’s easier to change things up. As we meet to discuss your business, we can easily modify and change things up to create better opportunities. This is important when it comes to scaling up or down. An in-house marketing person can only handle so much that scaling up would be difficult, on the other end of the spectrum, scaling down could leave your in-house person without enough work to do.
- We have multiple skills. Marketing isn’t just a one-and-done process. It requires a bundle of skills including, writing, website coding, graphic design, social media, email crafting, analytics, SEO, account management, etc. It is highly unlikely to find one person who can do all of those things at a high standard, and if you could, they would probably cost A LOT. We have a team full of all the skills you need to compete.
- It is cheaper. When you hire an in-house person, you’re looking at hiring costs, training costs, salary, vacation, benefits, etc. With an agency, you just pay us for the services you need completed.
When deciding how you want to run your marketing, weigh these benefits of hiring a marketing team like Proximo. If you have any questions about our services, contact 757-504-2429.
What Is Going On With Facebook?
As social media continues to grow, the phrase “don’t believe everything you read on the internet” rings evermore true. Just this year, Facebook has suffered from the explosion of two viral hoaxes/scams. Naturally, this has many people worried about the safety of their accounts as well as wondering if they can really trust Facebook. In case you haven’t heard about what’s going on, let’s go over Facebook 2018 problems.
HOAX: Facebook is only showing you status updates from 25 of your friends. This one circled around early in the year as Facebook made updates to its algorithm. The viral “copy & paste” status had users asking their friends to leave comments on the status to ensure they got put in their mix of 25 people. It also asks users to copy & paste the status so that their friends can do the same.
TRUTH BOMB: “Friends don’t let friends copy & paste memes, this one is simply not true,” that’s what Facebook had to say about this one. While Facebook’s algorithm does filter your friends posts to show you what might be most meaningful and engaging to you, it does not limit it to a set amount of people. Facebook aims to make your time on the social networking site, “time well spent” so that you are not aimlessly scrolling through articles and videos with no relevance to you.
SCAM: Your account has been cloned! Facebook’s most recent scam circled the internet just a few weeks ago, in the form of a message. The message informed users that their friends received another friend request from them and encouraged them to check their account privacy. Guess what it said next? “Forward to all your friends!” SMH
TRUTH BOMB: So, you are forwarding a message to all your friends that says you got another friend request from them…but you didn’t?? You just got a viral message that encouraged you to pass the message along. While account cloning is a very real thing, in this instance, the message was being spread to real people with no actual proof of cloning.
With consistent changes to social media platforms, these copy & paste messages tend to go viral because they tap into the real fears and distrust of a growing digital landscape. The most recent scam came about just shortly after the social networking site had a massive hacking scandal, allowing the false messages about cloned profiles to spread like wildfire. If you have a concern for your Facebook account, do some research into how to protect it. And stay away from those dreaded copy & paste messages. Looks like chainmail won’t be going away anytime soon.
And of course, if you are ever unsure about anything Social Media related, reach out to us. We’re here to help!