A social media influencer is anybody who has established credibility on social media. These kinds of people have large audiences, so targeting them will almost always help you grow your own online audience. On the surface, that sounds like a simple plan. All you need to do is target those people who have large followings on Twitter and Facebook, and you should be just fine, right? Well, it’s not that easy. Different things appeal to different audiences, so not all of your biggest influencers will be appropriate to every campaign you run. If you want your influencer marketing campaign to be successful, you need to choose the right influencers. Here are some tips that will help you with that.

Look at Age and Gender

Since like attracts like, social media influencers often develop followings of people much like themselves. Middle-aged women who run mommy blogs will attract other middle-aged women, and young male gamers will attract other young male gamers. Find out what kind of audience your services will likely attract, and find an influencer that falls into that demographic. The key here is to think about your audience and potential clients. You might be tempted to just focus on one influential person, but that’s just one person. They are one of many people you want to attract to your campaign. Focus on the big picture.

Look at Total Reach

Reach refers to the number of people who saw a piece of content, whether they found it on their Facebook feed organically or it showed up as part of an ad. While an influencer’s total reach shouldn’t be the only reason why you would target them, it is something that shouldn’t be ignored. Take a look at the number of people who have seen something that an influencer has posted if you want to get an idea of how influential they are.

Choose the Right Platforms

There are several social media platforms out there that go beyond Facebook and Twitter. Depending on what your product is and who you want to reach, you might be better off looking for influencers on Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, or one of the many other social media sites on the Internet. You will probably want to stick to established networks that already have plenty of users, but you don’t need to limit yourself to them. Take a look at the audience you want to reach, and see what kinds of networks they are using. Chances are that there is a huge influencer on these networks that will help you grow your audience into something bigger than you could imagine.

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Instagram now offers shoppable posts, allowing retailers to showcase up to five clickable products per post. Before the upgrade, “more than 84 percent of smartphone users in the US browse, research or compare products via a web browser or mobile app,” yet “only 21 percent of purchases [are] made within a day.”

Now, Instagram’s newest innovation makes it even easier for users to locate, research, and purchase products. With shoppable posts and a simple “Shop Now” icon, the app’s latest feature hopes to create a better user experience while boosting the success of ad campaigns.

How Does It Work?

Instagram posts that are shoppable will have an additional “Tap to View” icon on the image. Retailers will be able to showcase a maximum of five different products, all within the Instagram app.

Users will also be able to look up detailed product information within Instagram. Once the user has decided to purchase the product, there will be an additional “Shop Now” icon on the product details screen which will take the user directly to the company website. It is a simple and efficient way to use advertising to directly connect a prospective customer with the product purchase page.

What Does This Mean For Users?

Shoppable Instagram posts drastically change the user experience, making it easier and quicker to learn more about and purchase products. Before the update, users would often see “see link in bio” captions which offered an awkward and complicated way to bring users to the product purchase page.

Frustrated, many retailers even tried out third-party landing page methods, which unfortunately did not solve the issue and only worked about half the time. Shoppable Instagram posts offer users a more streamlined way to purchase products that will surely increase the success of advertisements on the app.

What Does This Mean For Retailers?

According to the Instagram for Business blog, 75 percent of users take action after seeing an advertisement post, such as shopping, searching, or visiting the company website. Statistics also point out that 70 percent of Instagram ad campaigns saw an increase in conversions and mobile app installs.

“Shop Now” icons in Instagram posts allow retailers to increase their advertising success rates even further by making it easier to link users with products they are interested in through direct links within the app. This new innovation shows Instagram’s commitment to retailers and making e-commerce through the app a success.

Contact Blast Creative for all of your Instagram and Social Media needs.

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Your physical body dies, but Facebook is forever. What you post on your social media platforms is available here long after you’ve moved on to the Great Internet in the Sky.

Most of what you contribute to your accounts is probably harmless. But in some cases it can cause estate problems for family. Here is a look at the impact of your posts and how you and your family can handle them.

From Identity Theft to Lawsuits

Identity theft and financial lost are the biggest dangers of leaving social media accounts open after a person dies or becomes incapable of handling their own affairs. Criminals can hack your shopping accounts, bank accounts and personal data.

They can harvest financial information and personal data from your profiles and posts. There is a real danger that assets will end up as unclaimed funds, creating headaches for executors.

If a lawsuit is in progress when you die, social media posts can give your opponents evidence to bolster their case. If a relative decides to contest your will, the social posts can provide them with insights to help them further their claim.

It’s not just your internet accounts that leave a big data footprint. Your computer, laptop, tablet and smartphone also contain personal information. With the Internet of Things, all your mobile devices can be linked and share data.

Take Steps Now

Do you want others to have access to your emails, photos, data and documents after you’re gone? Probably not. The time to handle future problems is now.

List the accounts, usernames and passwords for your online presence in your estate documents and power of attorney. These can include:

• Social media accounts
• Shopping accounts
• Bank and financial institution accounts
• Tax and government accounts
• Video, photo and music accounts
• Email accounts

In your will and estate papers, specifically give your executors permission to access your accounts. This will avoid problems with privacy laws.

Find out how to remove data from your electronics. Leave all the necessary instructions in your estate papers.

And if you are a family member, don’t be sentimental and feel you are memorializing your loved one by keeping their accounts active. Close accounts to avoid identity theft.

Please contact Blast Creative for all of your Reputation Management needs!

The post Digital Ghosts: How Your Identity Lives on After Death appeared first on Website Design and Marketing.

Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has become one of the most popular social networking sites in the world. Not only does it make it easy for anybody to share photos with their friends, but small businesses can use it to advertise their services even if they’re just getting off the ground. 

A good advertising campaign will always demand a lot of time and effort, but creating an Instagram ad is surprisingly easy. All you need to do is follow these simple steps.

Connect Your Instagram Account to Facebook

Before you can start advertising on Instagram in earnest, you should first connect your Instagram account to your business’s Facebook account. To do this, simply go to your Facebook page and click on “Settings.” You should see “Instagram Ads” on the list that shows up on the left-hand side. You will have the option to connect your Instagram account here.

Log In to Ads Manager

Most of your work will be done through Facebook’s Ads Manager, which is incredibly easy to access if you use Facebook for your business. It is a crucial second step, but as you will see you will need to do some additional work before you start advertising on Instagram.

Download Power Editor

While it may look like you can start creating Instagram ads through Ads Manager, you will need to download Power Editor to really get started. Power Editor can be found through the Ads Manager platform on the menu at the top of the page. Make sure you are using Google Chrome when you download the program, since it is the only browser that currently supports it.

Create Your Campaign and Choose an Ad Style

If you haven’t created an Instagram ad campaign yet, click on “Create Campaign” under the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page. From there, you should be able to choose the type of ad you want to place on your Instagram account. These ad types are clicks to your website, mobile app installs and video views. If you go with video views, remember that videos cannot be more than 30 seconds in length.

Target the Right Audience

Facebook’s ad targeting options work well with Instagram and allow you to target users based on location, interests and online activity. You no doubt have an idea who would want to use your business’s goods or services, so target your ads accordingly. As much as you may want to reach the biggest audience available, no product will appeal to everyone. Focus on users who will be your biggest consumers instead if you want the best results. 

Grab Your Clients’ Attention with Strong Visuals

Instagram is a visual medium, more so than Facebook and Twitter, so any advertisement you create should have eye-catching visuals. This isn’t that different from creating advertisements for newspapers, flyers, billboards or anywhere else that relies on visuals to sell something, but Instagram adds an unexpected challenge. It may be easy to upload a photo on Instagram, but that means it has gained an audience that has gotten very good at recognizing stock images. Try to take photos of your product or photos of yourself using said product. Better yet, hire a professional photographer for best results. 

Include a Call to Action and Popular Hashtags

There is currently no limit to the amount of text you can have on an Instagram ad, and while a strong image should take priority you should also include a good call to action to let potential clients know what your business does and what they need to do. While you’re at it, try to include some popular hashtags. You don’t want to overdo them, but adding some trending hashtags is a great way to get your ads noticed.

This is a simple guide to creating some basic Instagram ads, but truly effective advertising will ultimately be up to you. It may be easy to get an ad onto your Instagram page, but coming up with something that grabs people’s attention and attracts business takes some time and experimentation. Don’t be afraid to try different ads to see what works. You have a great platform for experimentation, so use it to your full advantage.

Contact Blast Creative for all of your Social Media needs.

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