What is a Hashtag?
Most young people will understand the meaning of the term “hashtag,” but if you are busy running your professional practice or small business, you may not understand the importance of these devices. Yes, a hashtag is a device, a method of tagging a social media message, a picture, an embedded video or other web-based material with a user generated name or ‘tag.’ Using hashtags makes it easy for other web users to find material about a particular subject or theme.
A content creator such as a business owner, an individual or a webmaster creates a hashtag by using the symbol, ‘#’, followed by a string of letters or numbers. For example, on the social media platform Facebook, the hashtag, “#mybaby” allows viewers to locate all the posts that have been tagged using that hashtag.
Without getting technical about ‘metatags’ or ‘metadata tags’ and how search engines use them, there are several things that you should know about hashtags. Most importantly, hashtags can be a critical element in a branding strategy, SEO strategy, any digital marketing solution or small business SEO effort. Secondly, hashtags tend to be specific to a given social media platform (the biggest are Facebook and Twitter). For the past year, the best-known hashtags have often been associated with Donald Trump, the most famous ‘tweeter’ in the world. Mr. Trump might not put it this way, but the hashtags he has created (and those created about him) have been absolutely essential to his personal branding strategy and his political success. For better or worse, social media and hashtags have played an important part in making him the president.
If you are struggling to find a digital marketing solution that works for your small business or professional practice, you should consider a professional internet marketing agency like Axiom Administrative Services. We have the digital marketing solutions needed to give your web presence the rankings it should have. Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Our digital marketing and business marketing teams are able to combine traditional marketing techniques like printing, direct mail advertising and a logo design service with creative web design. Please visit our home page to find out how Axiom Administrative Services can fill your digital marketing needs. AXIOM understands the needs of small businesses, professional practices and nonprofits. Visit AXIOM’s small business services page by clicking this LINK or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
A Click is Worth a Thousand Words
AXIOM ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES does many, many things. AXIOM’s pros can help you or your small business with branding strategies, local SEO services, SEO techniques and even with direct mail marketing and direct mail advertising services. Historically, this has been the way that professionals like AXIOM have provided digital marketing solutions. That has been how any internet marketing agency has met its clients’ needs. But now there are new ways to reach customers or clients.
Businesses large and small are using platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google+ to communicate their marketing messages. Apple can give customers a peek at their newest smartphone or iPad. GM can tell you about a new model or a special deal on an older one. The beautiful thing about these social media platforms is that potential customers seek them out on their own. The business owner or service provider did not have to pay a TV or radio station, a newspaper or magazine publisher, or a billboard owner.
More and more people, young and old, turn to online media like YouTube or Facebook to get news and information. Your small business, professional practice or service can put their message in front of people in your local market. Take a look at how AXIOM used YouTube to help its client, OurSeniors.NET, to introduce its new printed and online magazine –
AXIOM Introduces OurSeniors.NET Magazine
Or to market its services to help find assisted living facilities –
Find the Right Assisted Living Facility
Or to help a surgeon demonstrate a better surgical procedure –
Minimally Invasive Weight-loss Surgery Technique
Or about the training required to become a surgeon –
What Training is Required to Become a Surgeon?
The possibilities are endless, but only if you take advantage of them. Axiom Administrative Services can build a digital marketing strategy that starts with professional web design, professional SEO services
and then provides a full range of web services, including social media content. Axiom will coordinate internet marketing, online advertising, SEO, an email campaign and the full range of internet digital marketing solutions and services that you need. Start now by thinking about your needs and then contact Axiom Administrative Services by clicking the link or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
How to get your website noticed by smartphone users
Recently, we came across an amazing statistic. According to Flurry Analytics, a company that specializes in analyzing consumer interactions with mobile applications, the average American now spends five hours a day using his or her smartphone. This estimate sounds a little high to us, but no one can deny the incredible rise of smartphone use. According to Flurry, the average American now spends more time with their smartphone than watching TV.
In the daily lives of many Americans, ‘apps’ have now replaced stations or channels. This has huge importance for all advertisers, including local businesses or service providers. It means that big-budget, professionally produced video ads are less likely to be viewed then an amateur YouTube video that goes viral. As Flurry puts it, “Apps have grown more popular than watching TV — something that speaks to users’ interest in apps for more than just utility.”
The key to getting your small business or professional practice noticed by smartphone users is a compelling visual presentation. A static website must still be the foundation of your branding strategy, and you must still have a sound SEO strategy. That is the place users go when they are seeking basic information like a business’ phone number or map directions.
However, Flurry also reports that U.S. users are spending huge amounts of time in social media, messaging and media and entertainment applications. Facebook, the leader in smartphone time, holds a 19 percent share of the smartphone usage clock. Facebook is more than a site for looking at baby pictures or videos of your last party. It is also where users go to shop for shoes; they can see 3, 4 or 20 different styles on actual feet. It is where they go to see how a CPA would use QuickBooks to help their small business or to watch a walking tour of a house for sale.
In short, audio and visual presentations are the best way to draw attention to your small business, professional practice or service business. Axiom Administrative Services can provide professional help in producing these video presentations, placing them on Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat (the new and rising social media), and linking them to your other internet marketing vehicles. Social media plus video equals a more memorable, compelling result. See how by clicking on AXIOM VIDEO IN FACEBOOK.
Ranking the Social Media
A lot of attention is given to social media sites and their influence over everything from national politics to who the best rapper is. Politicians, news media, auto makers, sports teams, famous athletes and entertainers all recognize the importance of social media. In fact, many well-known people, products or causes now owe their fame entirely to social media.
When you think about digital marketing solutions or branding strategies for your small business, non-profit or professional practice, social media cannot be ignored. It is becoming the most important way in which many (or most) people get information, form opinions or interact with others. When building a branding strategy or digital marketing solution, we make the following definition- Social media is any web-based communication tool that enables people to share or consume information.
This information may be simple text messaging, fixed webpages like those on Facebook or general websites, audio material that can be heard or downloaded from the web or audio-visual presentations like those on YouTube. You and your business, non-profit or service provider organization will have a ranking in the social media world, but what about ranking the social media sites themselves?
Some of the results may surprise you. The website, Statista has ranked social media sites according to the number of active users each has. No one is surprised to learn that Facebook with over 2 billion users is the most popular social media website. Not bad for a business that started in a college dorm in 2003. Number 2 is YouTube with 1.5 billion users. This does surprise many people because they have not even thought of YouTube as a social media. It is, and it is used more and more to express opinions, share knowledge and to sell products.
Several of the top social media sites are essentially messaging services for sending and receiving text over the internet. Number 3, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger (number 4), We Chat (5) and QQ (6) all fall into this category. Number 7, and the fastest growing, is Instagram, a photo and video sharing service that allows users to exchange pictures and video freely. It may surprise you to learn that Twitter, even with it famous ‘tweeters’ like President Trump comes in at only # 10 (328 million users).
As an internet marketing agency and a provider of branding strategies, SEO strategies digital marketing solutions and small business SEO, AXIOM’s interest in social media is fitting the needs of our clients to the social media platform that best serves them. It will not surprise you to know that Facebook and YouTube are among our favorite vehicles. You can check us out by clicking on AXIOM ON FACEBOOK or AXIOM ON YOUTUBE. You can call us directly at (800) 888-6348, or use the link to find out more: AXIOM ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Have a great day!
The importance of social media marketing
Today, the importance of social media marketing cannot be overlooked. Facebook started out as a ‘toy’ for a few college students, but it has now become one of the leading web marketing tools available to digital marketing professionals. Each day, tens of millions of people all over the world look at their own Facebook page, their friends’ pages, celebrities or interest groups they like. Facebook is literally a ‘web within the web.’
These pages often contain nothing but personal chatter, but there is also a huge opportunity for digital marketing. When your business, professional practice or service provider Facebook page is ‘liked’ by a single Facebook user, it opens the door to being seen by dozens of others in their social network. Often, these are people of similar age, background and tastes. The internet marketing potential of these social networks is obvious. A young woman who ‘likes’ a hair stylist or finds a bargain on her favorite shoes can let numerous friends of comparable taste know this information in seconds. In turn, they may pass the information on to dozens or hundreds of their social network friends.
These communications are sometimes trivial, but they often contain information, advice and opinions on serious subjects like, ‘how to choose a doctor,” “who to vote for” or “where to find legal” help. The digital marketing opportunity for politicians and professional practices is obvious.
If you provide a service, such as plumbing, carpentry, electrical contracting or hair styling, a single recommendation, referral or ‘like’ of your business Facebook page may bring exposure to hundreds of other people in the same demographic group and geographic area. Now, they know about you, they understand that someone they know and trust has endorsed you. When they have a similar need to fill, it is far more likely that they will call on you to do the job.
Search marketing and social media marketing are two of the most powerful forces in the internet advertising field. To learn more, read our blog article on SOCIAL MEDIA AND SEARCH MARKETING.
What’s the role of social media in business?
Facebook is the biggest social media site, but there are many others that cater to different sorts of audiences. Read, “The Role of Social Media in Business” to find out how social media can be part of your overall digital marketing and internet marketing plan.
Why do you need AXIOM for Social Media Marketing?
Why do you need AXIOM Internet Marketing for Social Media Marketing? Click on Social Media Marketing to find out!
Your non-profit faces many of the same internet marketing challenges
A non-profit may have a mission that is different from a business, but it still has many of the same challenges. One of the most important challenges is reaching the internet and social media market. See how AXIOM can help non-profits accomplish this goal. Click on Non-Profits and Internet Marketing.
How can social media help me?
Today, many people connect to the world through the internet. This is where they shop, make buying decisions and find out about new products or services. Often this comes from sites like Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. Find out how this can help your small business, non-profit or professional practice by clicking on Why is Social Media Marketing Important for Small Business?
Check out Axiom on social media
The influence of Social media continues to grow, making these platforms ever more important for businesses of all types. AXIOM will be there! Visit AXIOM now on these social media platforms:
