It’s All About Timing: A Quick Guide on When to Schedule Social Media Posts
1/3 of the human population uses social media.
Social media is great for keeping up with your long-distance friends and sharing memories with your family. It’s also a great way to introduce yourself to the world. Are you trying to put your business out into the world too? Regularly posting on company social media accounts is a great start. You’ll find more information below on the importance of consistent social media posts. We’ll even give you a few pointers on when to post your content.
Scheduled Posting Builds Trust
Imagine if the person delivering your mail never informed you of when they plan to deliver your mail. It would be an infuriating guessing game. That’s how followers feel when their favorite celebrities and companies don’t stick to a strict social media posting schedule. Delivering consistent content creates trust in your brand and mission. This trust results in greater investments in your products and services. Your followers will look forward to your scheduled posts, and new followers will be intrigued. Don’t forget to provide your company website in your bio!
Consistent Posting Encourages Creativity
With the number of social media platforms available, your marketing team has endless creative freedom. Mixing up how and what you post keeps things exciting for your audience. Use daily Instagram stories to show off the benefits of your services. Create bi-weekly posts on Facebook to promote hot-selling products. Every Friday, make a YouTube video highlighting a customer testimonial. Do you see how many creative opportunities come along with consistent posting? Your followers will have a blast following along with all the new social media post ideas.
Regular Engagement Builds Bonds With Your Customers
As you continue to regularly post to social media, you’ll notice an emerging group of loyal customers. Regularly engage with these customers by responding to reviews or answering questions. Your company will have a deeper understanding of your audience’s needs due to greater engagement. You’ll discover what they love, what they want more of, and what they could do without. Don’t forget to thank consistent commenters for their loyalty, and personally address any negative feedback.
Wait, When Should You Post?
While there are no set magical equations for consistent social media engagement posts, there are key times to post on each platform.
- Instagram: Post around lunchtime on the weekdays.
- Facebook: Post at the beginning of the workday.
- Twitter: Post earlier in the morning or in the late afternoon.
- TikTok: Post either early in the morning or around dinner time.
Social Media Posts: Why You Should Create Consistent Content
Creating social media posts is exciting with all of the features each app provides. Make a silly TikTok dance video, or create a serious Facebook ad. No matter what, keep it consistent. Scheduled posts on social media build stronger bonds and trust between you and your followers. Because there are so many content creation options, your marketing team and audience will never become tired of your company’s posts. Do you need a bit of help in the social media management department? We can help with that- along with SEO and Google advertising. Schedule a consultation today to start growing your business.
How the Benefits of E-Learning Can Transform Your Company
Who knew that a devastating pandemic like COVID-19 (coronavirus) would cause so much traditional, face-to-face learning to move to the online environment?
This crisis caught a lot of people off guard. Many are dealing with the stress of switching gears in the ways they teach or learn. Still, if there’s one thing to say for this disruption, it’s that it’s helping people understand the benefits of e-learning.
It shouldn’t have taken a disaster of this magnitude for that to happen, though! So why not use the social distancing phase we’re in as a chance to socialize them to e-learning?
Ten Benefits of E-Learning for Companies
Businesses and companies stand to benefit from e-learning in several ways. Some are aware of these benefits, while others need to learn more. If you’re in the latter category, keep reading while we identify some of these benefits.
1. Scheduling Convenience
E-learning for companies allows employees to schedule their professional development activities to accommodate their busy schedules.
E-learning makes the workplace feel much friendlier. It also allows workers to schedule their office work (or home) workday more effectively. Many courses are available on demand.
2. Allows Self-Paced Work
If you find a certain subject hard to learn, you can easily fall behind. With e-learning, people can proceed at their own pace and review or repeat material as necessary until they’ve grasped the concepts.
When well-designed, e-learning can accommodate multiple different learning styles. Self-paced learning is a crucial part of that.
3. Flexible and Reusable Learning Materials
With e-learning, the learning materials can be reused and updated rather than taught each time anew, as in a face-to-face context. Many of them can also be accessed easily after the course has ended.
4. Many Available Materials
There is a wealth of possible e-learning materials available online—many of them at little or no cost. You and your employees enjoy the benefits of online training by tapping into these resources out of curiosity or for formal course development.
5. Augmenting Existing Skill Sets
Some employees genuinely love to learn. They’re eager to use professional development opportunities to build on their existing skill sets—which can create new possibilities for both the employee and the employer.
6. Scalable
E-learning is scalable, meaning that it can accommodate learner numbers from one to thousands at a time. The only limitations would be available bandwidth at the hosting site and any grading that would need to be done by a human.
7. Accessible from Many Places
E-learning is accessible from any place that has a computer or device and an Internet connection. In most places, especially in North America, this isn’t much of a problem.
8. Real-Time Interaction
E-learning interactions can help maintain the social element of the workplace while employees work from home. Interactivity and interpersonal communication are especially likely during live online sessions—such as those delivered via Zoom.
9. Ease of Assessment
Increasingly, anything that takes resources needs to have its benefits and effectiveness demonstrated empirically. Most e-learning platforms have embedded assessment tools, making data collection and reporting relatively easy.
Why Not Try E-Learning at Your Business?
All of these benefits add up to happier and more independently motivated employees, especially when they can interact in real-time. These are benefits that will outlast the current pandemic situation.
Employees, in turn, are likely to appreciate the opportunities and benefits of e-learning — and you, for providing them.
Part of e-learning’s value is that it can be both engaging and efficient. It’s also a time and cost-effective way to build knowledge and capacity for your business. It’s also available on an as-needed basis. What could be better?
If you need expert help with the design, marketing, and hosting of your e-learning program and its platform, let us know. We’d be very interested in helping you try out this professional development possibility.
Email Marketing for Beginners: How to Use Mailchimp
Ovеr the уеаrѕ, people have declared newsletters and еmаil marketing is dead. Thiѕ ѕtаtеmеnt iѕ асtuаllу fаr frоm thе truth. In fact, email mаrkеting has аn аvеrаgе return оf $38 fоr еvеrу $1 ѕреnt. This alone ѕhоuld ѕhоw how bеnеfiсiаl email саn bе.
Also, ѕtаtiѕtiсѕ has it thаt, 72% of соnѕumеrѕ рrеfеr еmаil as their ѕоurсе оf buѕinеѕѕ communication. In addition, 61% оf реорlе еnjоу weekly рrоmоtiоnаl emails. (kеер thаt in mind if you wоrrу that you are harassing your contacts).
Email Marketing is ѕtill the most effective wау tо соmmuniсаtе with an audience. Whilе thеrе are lots of tооlѕ уоu саn use to ѕеnd thеѕе еmаilѕ, MаilChimр iѕ thе one of the best and most popular tools out there. 246 billiоn emails wеrе ѕеnt viа MаilChimр in 2016 аlоnе from thеir оvеr-7 million users.
We understand that may be confused оn how to gеt started uѕing Mаilсhimр аnd building an email liѕt. There’s a bit of a learning сurvе whеn уоu’rе getting ѕtаrtеd, but we hоре this tutorial gеtѕ аll уоur questions аnѕwеrеd.
Here are six reasons why we recommend MailChimp for email marketing:
- It’ѕ еxtrеmеlу popular, ѕо it intеgrаtеѕ ѕеаmlеѕѕlу with tons оf оthеr ѕоftwаrеѕ.
- It’s the еаѕiеѕt tо ѕеtuр аnd uѕе super-duper quiсklу
- MailChimp is tоtаllу frее fоr uр to 2,000 ѕubѕсribеrѕ – inсluding automation, A/B tеѕting, lаnding раgеѕ, and custom templates.
- It’s fun! Emаil marketing can bе ѕtrеѕѕful, but thеir ѕуѕtеm dоеѕ a grеаt jоb of hоlding уоur hаnd whеn you nееd it and more importantly, mаking уоu lаugh whеn уоu nееd it tоо.
- It рlауѕ wеll with оthеrѕ: likе your WоrdPrеѕѕ оr SԛuаrеSрасе wеbѕitе, your WooCommerce or Shорifу ѕtоrе, уоur Facebook and Twittеr рrоfilеѕ, оr еvеn уоur LеаdPаgеѕ lаnding раgе.
- It inсludеѕ a drаg аnd drор еditоr, ѕо dеѕigning уоur nеwѕlеttеrѕ iѕ a рiесе оf саkе (chocolate, if we’re tаking orders).
Starting Out with MаilChimр
Rеgаrdlеѕѕ оf how small уоur buѕinеѕѕ iѕ оr hоw littlе your tесhniсаl knowledge, hеrе iѕ a run-dоwn оf hоw to uѕе thе MailChimp рlаtfоrm to inсrеаѕе sales and grоw уоur buѕinеѕѕ.
Set up an account
Account ѕеtuр is vеrу ѕimрlе. Simply visit thе MаilChimр site, сliсk thе оrаngе “Sign Up Frее” button in the right-hand соrnеr, аnd wаlk thrоugh thе steps. Onсе уоu’vе ѕеt uр аn ассоunt, уоu’ll lаnd оn a dashboard раgе еасh time уоu lоg in thаt givеѕ уоu аn overview of your ассоunt. It ѕhоwѕ everything from thе ѕtаtѕ оf уоur most rесеnt campaign tо how many реорlе have ѕubѕсribеd tо уоur mailing liѕt each day.
Mаnаgе a Liѕt
MаilChimр аllоwѕ уоu tо easily оrgаnizе your subscribers through liѕtѕ, which аrе thе foundation of еvеrу еmаil mаrkеting саmраign. You саn ассеѕѕ уоur liѕtѕ, add nеw ѕubѕсribеrѕ, аnd mаnаgе уоur list undеr thе Liѕtѕ tab in thе main nаvigаtiоn.
Each timе you create a nеw list in MаilChimр – whether it’ѕ fоr your customers, subscribers, ѕtudеntѕ, сliеntѕ, etc. – уоu’rе рrоmрtеd tо inрut default infоrmаtiоn like whо thе emails аrе соming frоm, how thе ѕubѕсribеrѕ gоt оn your list, аnd hоw уоu wоuld likе to rесеivе notifications about сhаngеѕ tо the list. Aftеr you’re done ѕеtting uр thе liѕt, you саn add subscribers bу еntеring each nаmе аnd еmаil address mаnuаllу. You may uрlоаd thеm frоm a spreadsheet оr imроrt thеm frоm a ѕitе оr database likе WordPress.
If you don’t have аnу ѕubѕсribеrѕ when уоu mаkе thе liѕt, MailChimp will automatically create a ѕignuр fоrm for уоur list аnd allow уоu tо сuѕtоmizе it fоr posting оn ѕосiаl mеdiа аnd уоur wеbѕitе.
Build a Cаmраign
After you’ve ѕеt uр уоur list, it’s timе tо set uр thе еmаil itѕеlf. MаilChimр rеfеrѕ tо this mаѕѕ еmаil аѕ a саmраign. Thеу оffеr a vаriеtу оf basic еmаil tеmрlаtеѕ tо gеt you ѕtаrtеd. Whiсh mеаnѕ уоu nееd nо рriоr HTML knowledge tо uѕе their system. Sеt up a nеw campaign by сliсking thе Cаmраignѕ tаb in the tор navigation. And then select thе dаrk grау Crеаtе Cаmраign buttоn in thе tор left-hand corner.
MаilChimр dоеѕ a grеаt jоb оf walking уоu thrоugh еасh ѕtер of the setup рrосеѕѕ. Yоu can easily edit the lауоutѕ by dragging аnd drоррing thе diffеrеnt ѕtуlе соntеnt blосkѕ. You can save уоur lауоutѕ fоr саmраignѕ in thе future.
Aftеr уоu’rе finiѕhеd ѕеtting up your саmраign, MailChimp rеviеwѕ уоur саmраign. They will alert you if уоu’vе оvеrlооkеd an important ѕtер оf the рrосеѕѕ.
Now соmеѕ thе most nerve-wracking раrt of сrеаting аn еmаil campaign: hitting “рubliѕh.” I оddlу еnjоу thе wау MаilChimр mаkеѕ уоu ѕlightlу раrаnоid during thiѕ step; it оftеn еnсоurаgеѕ mе to go bасk аt lеаѕt once аnd dоublе-сhесk to make ѕurе I hаvеn’t made a miѕtаkе in thе email before ѕеnding it out tо аll оf mу subscribers. I саn еithеr ѕеnd the еmаil right away оr schedule it tо ѕеnd аt a lаtеr dаtе.
Rеviеw a Rероrt
Once a саmраign has ѕuссеѕѕfullу bееn ѕеnt tо your list, уоu саn сhесk itѕ реrfоrmаnсе in Rероrtѕ. Thiѕ iѕ hеlрful for tracking thе еngаgеmеnt оf your mass email ѕо you саn ѕее which linkѕ аrе mоѕt арреаling to your readers and dо some uѕеr testing.
The rероrtѕ get dеtаilеd аnd ѕhоw уоu how many реорlе ореnеd your mеѕѕаgе, how many times thеу ореnеd it, and whiсh links thеу сliсkеd оn. MailChimp аlѕо ѕуnсѕ up with Google Analytics tо givе уоu reports that аrе even mоrе in-depth.
Set Uр Autоmаtеd Emаilѕ
If уоu’rе willing tо рау a littlе еxtrа еасh mоnth аnd take a ѕtер uр from thе free рlаn, Mаilchimр also allows уоu tо to set uр automated еmаilѕ. This iѕ useful if уоu’rе еnсоurаging реорlе tо subscribe tо уоur mаiling liѕt in rеturn for a free printable guidе оr ассеѕѕ to аn ebook because аn аutоmаtеd еmаil can be sent tо еасh nеw ѕubѕсribеr immediately after thеу sign up.
With this in mind, we 100% bеliеvе that MаilChimр iѕ thе bеѕt email marketing ѕоlutiоn оut thеrе fоr аn оnlinе business—whether you’re juѕt starting оut оr уоu’vе been doing buѕinеѕѕ fоr a whilе.
EZtransition is now an official MailChimp Partner. This means we can help get you set up and take your marketing to the next level. To learn more about online marketing, read our blog! or send us a message
How To Set Up An Awesome Website For Your Business
Setting up a website is crucial when operating a business. Your customers expect to find your website up and running on the internet for certain reasons: they want to find your location and contact details, they need to know some information about your business, or they want to know what products/services your selling. Ultimately, if your business doesn’t have an existing website, then consider your business non-existent at all. In this article, we’ll show you five basic steps on how to set up a website for your business.
Register your domain name
Your domain name is the address that your customers should type in the search bar to find your website (i.e. www.yourbusinessname.com). To get your domain name registered, you will need a domain search tool such as EZtransition or BlueHost to check if your business’ name is available. If your domain isn’t available, you may adjust the name a little bit by using a .net or .org (instead of .com). Usually, customers expect your domain name similar to your business name. But if your domain is already taken, you may use a catchphrase, slogan or keyword.
Get a web hosting provider
Once your domain name is registered, you need to get it visible on the internet. In order to do that, you need to find a web hosting company. There are many web hosting companies with different web hosting plans that require you to pay a fee. You need to find the one that suits your business depending on how large your website is and how many visitors you get. EZtransition has webhosting plans that fit any business size
Plan your website’s content
Before you start building your website, you need to plan out what your customers will see on your website. Think about what sections or pages you want to add. Essentially, your website must have a homepage, products/services page, about us, a blog page, and contact us page. Consider the information your customers will expect to find on your website.
Build your website
Generally, there are three options for building your website.
The most expensive option is to hire a full-service brick and mortar local agency. You are typically guaranteed to get a good result from such an agency and communication works by walking into their swanky downtown office. Of course, the major downside here is the expense. Be prepared to pay upwards of $10, 000 for such a solution.
The second option is to hire a freelance designer. There are some very talented individuals both local and abroad that you can outsource this work to. Costs typically run between $500 to $5000 and results are typically mixed. Communication can be spotty and some cases the freelancer may disappear without warning.
Another option is to just do it all yourself. This is by far the cheapest option of the three and you never have to worry about communication issues. The downside, of course, is that you are taking valuable time away from running your business, and web development may not be your strong point.
EZtransition offers a unique alternative that encompasses all three solutions and starts at a price of $49 a month. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to learn more.
Design It
Designing a website begins by choosing a font, color palette, and a theme. Go for something that will represent your business. Decide what images, graphics, and other elements to include. Envision how you want your website to be laid out for your customers. Here’s a tip: your site visitors will form their first impression on your website as quickly as 0.05 seconds so you need to make a great first impression by coming up with great content that’s compelling and easy to read in seconds.
There’s a growing number of people who would rather access the internet through their mobile devices. Your design must be responsive. That means it is flexible so that it changes to fit any device screen, from a smartphone to a laptop to a 60-inch tv!
Conclusion
Not everyone knows how to set up a website, it’s a long process and it usually takes more time and planning than you’d expect. It’s not just something you’re supposed to do once and forget. Just like running a business, it requires regular maintenance and certain upgrades from time to time. Unprofessional and outdated business websites turn off potential customers. If you need help in building and designing a website, our team at EZtransition provides a unique solution. Contact us today and we’ll build a beautiful and fully-functioning website that is well-designed and suited for your business.
How to Set Up The Best Marketing Strategy for Your Business
If your business isn’t on Facebook, does your business really exist?
Marketing strategies have grown and evolved over the years. From flyers and magazines to billboards and ads we see on TV. And now that the internet exists, digital marketing has never been more relevant than ever before. Companies have been utilizing social media as their strongest suit to market their brand. And since then, the game got more competitive over the years. For small business owners, it can be pretty overwhelming to keep up and stay on track. Considering the digital marketing trends that come and go, choosing what’s right for your business can be difficult–but it’s not impossible! In this article, we’ll reveal how to set up the best marketing strategy for your business.
Be smart and flexible
If there was one rule book about all the ins and outs of digital marketing, we’d be all successful digital marketers by now. Apparently, that book doesn’t really exist. Digital marketing doesn’t have a one size fits all strategy. You have to understand that digital marketing is all trial and error. This process is very fluid, you need to consider the ever-changing trends that appear and disappear and that there’s no one way to succeed in it. With this in mind, don’t stick to just one game. Constantly educate yourself and apply the multiple strategies you could possibly use for your business and figure out what suits you.
It’s important to recognize your niche first and really get to know the players involved. These people are your potential customers and their demands constantly change. To set up the best marketing strategy for your business, you need to be flexible enough to adapt and apply to these demands.
Know your customers
You need to get to know your audience and base your marketing strategy around them. Identify a group of people who will be interested in buying your product or services. There are many elements that you need to uncover in order to get to know your customers. You need to know which content is going to catch their attention, you also need to recognize their buying behavior, and what tone of writing that will speak to them.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing is a method of marketing that utilizes paid advertisements to make their company appear on top of search engine result pages. Advertisers use keywords that are relevant to whichever information, product or service somebody might be looking for. SEO may seem like a complicated and intimidating process for any small business owner, but feel free to consult a digital marketing expert to help you out.
Opt for content marketing
A great way for your customers to reach your website is content marketing. Once you’ve learned everything about your audience, it’s time to produce the right content that will get them clicking. An excellent content consists of elements that your audience must find interesting, informative and useful.
You may start with blog posts, infographics, or videos that are considered reliable to your customers (i.e. how-to’s, instructional content, insightful facts, etc.). Tons of content is produced every day. You need to figure out how to make yours stand out and be seen by your audience. Perhaps learn some helpful SEO tricks that could potentially bring you a better rank in search engine results.
Make it phone-friendly
Everyone loves to consume content that is instant, convenient and phone-friendly. With this, websites that are optimized for mobile phones had increased. Make sure to optimize your website for mobile use. This includes your web design, content, and other elements you’d like to add on your website.
Conclusion
As mentioned before, digital marketing varies from one business to another. There’s no one way of doing it, you’ll never know if it works for your business unless you try it for yourself. Needless to say, setting up the best marketing strategy for your business contains a series of trial and error. Go out there and start trying out marketing strategies for your business.
Marketing continues to evolve and change throughout time. As a business owner, keep your eyes peeled and be open to these changes on how you can reach out to your customers. Contact us today if you need help with marketing for your business!