by

How to Use Social Media to Build Thought Leadership

One of the most popular terms in marketing today is “thought leadership”, and while some use it as a buzzword to describe any authority gained on a subject, the reality of the process goes much deeper than that.

Becoming a thought leader means positioning yourself or your company as an expert within your field, the place people go first when they want answers, ideas, or analysis. Sure, consumers still want to hear about specific products, and promotional content will continue to draw interest and drive traffic and sales, but when a business is able to elevate its status to that of a thought leader, it means that users are seeing them as something different than a sales medium.

image3

Research shows that some 96% of all B2B companies want more content from industry thought leaders. Through an effective thought leadership program, you can build brand equity, and consumers and other businesses will end up looking to you for answers, and will trust what you have to say. This can provide you with a terrific opportunity to share your views, and shape the conversation, which then creates more sustainable growth than a single product or concept.

Social media offers the most direct access to consumers on the internet, so it should be the focus of any thought leadership strategy. Here are eight social media-related methods that can be used to boost your reputation as a thought leader.

1. Provide Quality Content

It should almost go without saying that you need to provide excellent, timely content on a regular basis as part of any thought leadership program.

The internet is rife with information, but much less forthcoming with compelling, thoughtful articles that do more than simply promote a product. When social media users begin to recognize your content, and associate you with intriguing content and impartial advice, that’s when you have the opportunity to have an impact in thought leadership.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE. 

by

Are Short Video Clips Making a Comeback Through TikTok?

Have you heard of TikTok, the music video focused app which enables users to post short clips – mostly lip-synching or dancing – and share them with friends?

If you haven’t heard of TikTok, you’ve likely heard of musical.ly, which, since August, has been re-branded as TikTok after being acquired by the app’s parent company, ByteDance, back in November 2017.

Whether it’s on your radar or not, it is worth paying attention to – according to new research from apptopia, TikTok is growing fast, with worldwide downloads up 20% in the last three months, and U.S. downloads up 25%.

In fact, TikTok is currently seeing more downloads than Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Tik Tok app ranking [chart]

by

8 Characteristics All Facebook Messenger Chatbots Should Have

9425c53d2286740246792636159f1fb3Facebook Messenger chatbots deliver up to 80% better engagement than other channels (like email marketing or Facebook posts).

Not only does Facebook Messenger marketing deliver more engagement, it also allows you to collect valuable contact information and generate leads.

In terms of paid social, Facebook Messenger chatbot ads deliver up to 50x better ROA.

Facebook Messenger marketing is a win all around.

I’m so confident in its capabilities I actually created the chatbot building platform MobileMonkey so that I can help businesses tap into Facebook Messenger’s unlimited marketing potential.

Early chatbot adopters will edge out their slow-to-move competitors and reap the rewards.

If you’re one of those early adopters and are ready to get started with Facebook Messenger chatbots, here are eight characteristics to bake into your bot.

1. Chatbots Should Use Natural Language

A chatbot that sounds like a robot is a donkey, but a chatbot that sounds like a human is a unicorn.

Even when users know they’re interacting with a bot, they never want it to feel like they’re interacting with a bot.

The best bots use natural language, emojis, and maybe even GIFs.

They are empathetic — as a basic example, if a user has a problem, the chatbot will be able to recognize it as such and offer a very human “I’m sorry!”

Read full article here.