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Build an Engaged Discord Community to Attract Clients with These Steps

by with No Comment Social Media

Social media is getting more crowded and competitive, with new businesses mushrooming every day. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook may be the biggest and most popular stages for companies, but they aren’t necessarily the best.

One common quality that seems to have gripped these “old dogs” is the tendency to “Swipe/Scroll.” Smaller companies will find it incredibly hard to build a meaningful relationship with their prospects and clients in such an atmosphere that doesn’t allow deep conversations and engagement.

If you want to build a really engaged community of customers and prospects, you need to use another social media channel. This is where Discord comes in. Here we explore a few tips you can use to build a compelling and engaged discord community.

What is Discord?

Discord is one of the newest social media platforms on the market today. A digital content distribution and instant messaging platform, it offers users a secure space to build online groups, where you can share messages and content with each other. There are 6.7 million Discord servers today, of which many are small brands that are creating a strong and engaged community space where –

  • The brand can interact with its customers & prospects in an intimate setting.
  • Customers/prospects can interact with each other and share common interests.

Tips for building a thriving community on Discord

Some of the ways to build a Discord community that your prospects will love to be a part of (and which can help convert them) are –

1. Share exclusive updates and offers to your Discord members first

Getting people to join your Discord server can be hard. You need to give them something they can’t refuse to encourage them to join while also rewarding them for their commitment. Both these goals can be achieved if you choose to release pre-order offers and discounts that are exclusive to your Discord community. Doing so makes your Discord feel like an exclusive space, and more people will want to join it.

Also, running giveaways on Discord can be a great way to get people to start engaging with you on Discord. For example, to win your giveaway, have Discord members engage with a recent post you published and offer their opinions. Or to maybe showcase how they use your products.

2. Set up different channels to champion different activities/products

Let’s say you are a stationery company selling planners, journals, pens/pencils, coloring material, stickers, washi tape, etc. It helps if you create separate channels on Discord, each dedicated to one item. That way, if your members have a question or recommendation or a comment they wish to share about that item, they can go directly to the corresponding channel.

The same goes for activities. Such as monthly/yearly plan-a-thons, where members who wish to participate can post pictures of using your product on the dedicated activity channel. In fact, these activity channels can generate a lot of engagement around festivities and holidays. For example, the yearly plan-a-thon in December, where your members can use your newly released dated planner in anticipation of the New Year.

3. Have a comprehensive and dynamically evolving FAQ section that you don’t have on your website

Your conventional FAQ on your website can’t answer all the questions which users may have about your products/services. This is where your Discord community can step in. You can make your Discord community a supportive and welcoming place where members can ask you – and other members – any questions they have about your products/services. They can post their concerns, ideas for how they plan to use your products, their hopes for future iterations of your products/services, and more.

In fact, it helps to have a dedicated group of moderates managing each channel. They can answer any question or concern your members may have in under 24 hours. Having such a dynamic FAQ section can make your Discord community – and by extension, your brand – feel very personalized and welcoming.

4. Host workshops, events, and live streams exclusively for your Discord community

Many people enjoy attending workshops, live streams, and events online. What if you make some of your most anticipated workshops/events an exclusive offering for your Discord community? Not only will this increase your following on Discord, but it will also make the community an exciting place to be.

The anticipation of attending an event or learning a new skill, or speaking to a celebrated person from within that industry, can be a very exciting experience. It can definitely spark discussions between members and be emotionally and intellectually stimulating.

5. Make your Discord a tiered community – with special permissions, privileges, and access

Discord allows the community owner to set up different tiers within the server. You can choose whom to give certain permissions, privileges, and access within your community. In fact, some of these privileges and access can be earned through increased community engagement. If the member fulfills these engagement needs, they get to move up a tier, unlock new permissions and privileges and enjoy greater rewards. If they drop engagement, they lose these privileges too. In this way, you can encourage members to continuously engage with you on Discord.

Wrapping up

Now that you know the tips and tricks behind creating a thriving Discord community, build your own today.

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Everything You Should Know About Meta

by with No Comment Social MediaTechnology

The metaverse has been the talk of the town ever since social media giant Facebook announced its foray into the 3D virtual world. This sent the world flocking to the internet in search of all the information that they could find about the metaverse and how this would impact the world we live in.

So What is the Metaverse?

The metaverse is a 3D online platform that allows people to virtually interact with one another in real-time. With the help of virtual and augmented reality headsets, people can do everything they normally would, although in a virtual 3D space. The metaverse allows users to build a virtual life of their own that grows with every passing moment. Users can hangout with others, perform office duties, buy and sell goods or services, and even attend parties. This virtual world lets users move about using an avatar based on a representation of whomever or whatever they choose to be seen as. It offers people a more intuitive way of doing things they normally would on the internet along with a feeling of being more present with what you do.

Earlier References to Metaverse

The metaverse has been referenced on multiple occasions and well before Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could bring it into the limelight. The word metaverse has its origins in the 1992 sci-fi novel ‘Snow Crash’ by Neal Stephenson where he envisions an amazing virtual reality that he refers to as the metaverse. According to the novel, it is a virtual world that people explore using digital avatars. A more accurate reference of the metaverse is in Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One released in 2011. This sci-fi novel portrays the metaverse as a virtual space called The Oasis, a place that users immerse themselves into, to get away from the problems plaguing the real world.

Metaverse vs Virtual Reality

Apart from the fact that both the metaverse and virtual reality can only work with a headset and a set of controls, they are very different from each other. The main difference between the two is that VR is only a supplement to reality, while the metaverse is a version of reality itself. The metaverse is a virtual space with endless possibilities and it allows users to do as they please.

Companies Banking on The Metaverse

Facebook

Following the announcement of Facebook’s corporate rebranding in October 2021, the company also announced that it planned on investing around $10 billion to acquire and develop VR hardware and software. This would make Meta one of the world’s leaders in the metaverse sector.

Microsoft

As recent as January 2022, the software company announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard. By acquiring the famous video game developing and publishing company, Microsoft made well known its intentions of venturing into the metaverse business.

Google

The Alphabet Inc. owned company quickly followed suit and in January 2022 the company announced its foray into the metaverse business. Google plans on investing in AR projects, after already having invested a little under $40 million on other metaverse projects.

Nvidia

The world’s leading GPU developer, Nvidia is another big-wig eager to dip its toes in the metaverse. After seeing its GPUs being used for all types of computing devices, Nvidia will invest in the metaverse as well, given the sector will heavily rely on its devices.

Unity Software

With the acquisition of Weta Digital, Unity Software boldly announced its foray into the metaverse in November 2021. The deal will set the tech company back by $1.6 billion. Unity Software is banking on the digital VFX company’s innovative tools to develop technology for the metaverse.

Why Do Companies Want to Invest in The Metaverse?

The metaverse is a parallel dimension on the internet that allows users to virtually do what they want, when they want. Services for these requirements are a big avenue for companies who are all vying for a piece of the pie. Corporates are investing in cutting edge technology that will allow users gain access to the metaverse. With thousands of users joining the metaverse for an immersive online experience each day, it is no surprise that businesses are investing huge sums to stay ahead of the competition.

How Good is The Metaverse?

Although the basic concept of the metaverse was set in motion many years ago, it still is a long way from perfect lifelike interactions. The main issue for this is the lack of cutting edge technology and hardware. Many users lack proper VR goggles and motion capture gloves that accurately capture their body language, expressions and quality of voice. However, with companies investing billions of dollars in the metaverse, users can expect a lot better experience in the next few years.

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Social Media Statistics (USA)

by with No Comment Social Media

The dynamics of social media change rapidly. One year, all the teens are on Instagram, the next year it’s all about Snapchat. So, we’ve gathered up some social media statistics to help you keep track of your audience across several platforms.

Social Media Statistics

We’ll cover the major ones: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter. These are all based on United States users.

Facebook

As of October 2021, the majority of Facebook users are men aged 25-34 at 19%, with women of the same age accounting for 12.5%. The next largest age group is between 18-24, with 9.3% women and 13.4% men. Overall, more men are on Facebook than women. But, the gender gap starts to even out past age 45, so there’s roughly an equal amount of both genders older than 45. About 10% of users are 45-54 years old. The least amount of people are 13-17-year-olds (5.7%) and 65+ (5.2%).

Instagram

The dominant age group for Instagram is 18-34 years old. For 18-24 year olds, females account for 13.1% of Instagram’s population, with males at 17.9%. Next, 25-34 years old: 14.8% female, 16.4% male. The smallest age category is 55 and up, less than 5%. Teenagers use Instagram more than Facebook, with 8% of Instagram’s audience been 13-17 years old.

TikTok

To no one’s surprise, Gen Z rules TikTok. Specifically, Gez Z females: 23.9% age 13-17, and 25.3% age 18-24. The highest percentage of males are 25-34 years old, at 11.33%, then 18-24 at 11%. User age drastically drops after 34 years old, with 35+ taking up just under 10% of TikTok’s population.

Snapchat

Like Facebook, Snapchat’s audience changes quite a bit. But as of now, users in their 20s make up most of the platform, with about 15.7% of males and 15.5% female. However, overall there are more female snapchatters at 54.4%.

Twitter

Facebook and Twitter are where you’re more likely to see all kinds of people. 42% of Twitter are 18-29 year olds. 61% are males. Globally, 25-34 year olds take up most of Twitter, at 38%. Fun fact- about 500 million tweets are tweeted daily across the globe.

All data and information can be found here.

 

Are you interested in web marketing services? Contact Redwood Creative, Inc. today!

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Benefits of a Link Page

by with No Comment MarketingSocial Media

One of the best things you can do for your business is to have a link page across your social media sites. It’s like a landing page, but more simple. We highly recommend having one if you run your own business.

Why you should have a link page

Link pages are sites like Linktree and Campsite. One link will lead visitors to multiple links. It’s the landing page of all your links. Mainly, your social media business pages and your main website. This way, if someone takes interest in you, they don’t have to hunt to find out more about you. You can include a short bio, a photo, and label the links. Also, if you want to get creative, go for it! Some people go hard with their Linktree profiles. Another benefit is that since all your links are collapsed into one, it makes your other bios look neater and less spammy. Finally, the most important benefit is that link pages will expand your outreach by having all your links more accessible.

If you’re an influencer, a link page is a must. It’ll be much easier for marketing agencies to reach out to you, and you can make your preferred method of contact clear.

There are multiple link pages out there, so look around to see which one would be best for you. Feel free to reach out to us if you want a little help with creating your page- it can be a lot! See the link below to contact us.

Are you interested in marketing assistance? Contact Redwood Creative, Inc today!

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Instagram Aims to be Safer For Teenagers

by with No Comment Social Media

Gen Z loves their Instagram and TikTok. But, it’s a toxic relationship with Instagram. A study from Oklahoma State University reveals that Instagram inadvertently crushes teenagers’ self-esteem. This causes poor mental health and body image for our youths and many others.

Instagram vs. Teenagers

This isn’t a new matter- it’s hard being a teenager and just waiting to turn into a pretty adult butterfly, which they see on IG. Some people are too good at Photoshop and with their filters to make things worse. This sets unrealistic expectations for teens, both male/female/other. Now, it’s a competition on who can get the most likes. Since Instagram is a media-based platform, it’s nearly impossible to “switch off” the digitally altered, perfect-looking people. Users report that influencers and models flood the “suggested” posts and “recommended for you.” Because of this, it makes it hard for them to escape from it, creating a vicious cycle. On top of that, teens spend hours on Instagram and TikTok. So, what can be done about it?

Remember Frances Haugen? She claims that Facebook knew the algorithm puts out toxic posts, but they assumed that such content would bring in profit. So, for example, the company will show skinny influencers & ads for weight loss. Facebook denies this. Yet, they are coming up with a solution. Now, Meta is creating a kid-friendly Instagram that won’t be filled with adult content and products. As of now, the minimum age to be on Instagram is 13, but we know that kids even younger are on the app. Hopefully, we can eliminate the toxic social media tendency to set unrealistic expectations for kids and adults.

Instagram is NOT real life.

First, we as a society need to learn to separate social media from reality. People *sometimes* lead fake lives on social media, making themselves appear more attractive/successful/whatever than they are. Second, we need to realize that relying on social media likes/comments for validation is the worst thing we can do to ourselves. We deserve to love ourselves more. Then, we need to teach the younger generation this as well. Teenagers are vulnerable, and we must protect them by not letting them compare themselves to fake Instagram and social media. The most important validation comes from within.

Are you interested in web marketing services? Contact Redwood Creative, Inc. today!

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What Are You Up To, Mark Zuckerberg?

by with No Comment Social Media

Yesterday, on October 5, 2021, fully grown adults couldn’t share Minion memes about how much they need their coffee or post their fall photos on Instagram. It was almost like living in the ’90s again for 6 hours. So, what happened to where Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp shut down in the middle of the day? We’re thinking maybe Mark Zuckerberg is up to his old lizardy tricks. We all got “Zucked.” This refers to when someone gets in trouble on Facebook for saying something negative, especially if you go to “Facebook jail.” Read on to find out what’s going on.

Facebook and Instagram Whistleblower

A mere few hours before we had to go to Twitter and/or TikTok for entertainment, Frances Haugen publicly put Facebook and Instagram on blast. Haugen is a former Facebook manager and data scientist. She oversaw and managed content until she left roughly 6 months ago. Recently, she went to 60 Minutes and opened up. She claims there is a “conflict of interest” between Facebook’s monetary profit and the user’s well-being. She then explains that Facebook intentionally allows negativity to spread. For one, Facebook tends to be the origin of groups, movements, and social discussions. By putting on a safe space front, Facebook can hide that it allegedly contributed to the Jan. 6 capitol fiasco. Next, Instagram is under fire for destroying teenagers’ self-esteem by displaying unrealistic-looking bodies. You know, like fashion magazines have been doing for years.

Lizard Mark Zuckerberg

Just as you go to Facebook jail for sharing dark humor or for getting into a heated, swear words-fueled argument, we were all in Facebook jail yesterday. But, we didn’t do anything wrong, so what went wrong? Right after Haugen put Zuckerberg on the spot, the three platforms suddenly went down for hours. From 11 AM- 5 PM Central time, pages were stagnating. The Facebook founder claims it was a configuration issue. But, we have a hard time believing that. Usually, issues like these are resolved within an hour at most. Also, social media platforms typically warn their users before undergoing maintenance. So, we know it’s not that.

In recent years, consumers are calling out major companies for choosing profit over morals. Examples include the beauty industry making up flaws and other reasons for women to feel bad about themselves to drive make-up sales. Zuckerberg is no different. Instead of keeping Facebook and Instagram a secure, safe community, he allows for digitally manipulated (Photoshopped) photos and videos to spread. This gives users a false sense of reality. Remember, the media only cares about money, not the people.

 

What do you think about the Facebook blackout? Will the court bring Mark Zuckerberg to justice and restore peace in humanity?

 

Are you interested in website marketing assistance? If so, then contact Redwood Creative, Inc. today!

Social Media Mistakes

7 Common Mistakes Social Media Marketing Rookies Make

by with No Comment Social Media

Social media is a crucial aspect of any company’s marketing strategy, and it’s not hard to understand why. For starters, there are 3.5 billion social media users, which accounts for approximately half of the planet. Furthermore, consumers are spending up to three hours a day on social media platforms.

In other words, if your company is not engaging with social media marketing, you’re getting left behind by those who are. But getting social right goes far beyond merely posting funny or cute memes. Companies who are successful on social platforms have carefully crafted strategies and best practices to generate exposure, leads, and ultimately sales.

So if you’ve been trying your hand at social media marketing, and feel like you’re not making much headway, it could be because you’re making some, if not all, of the following rookie mistakes.

1) Trying to Build a Presence Social Network

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a company is to attempt to build a presence on several social media platforms. Not only is this a severe drain on resources, but it also doesn’t make sense. For example, let’s say you’re a business that works in the B2B energy sector. Why would you even consider opening a TikTok account? Likewise, Pinterest isn’t going to be for you.

Social media marketing is very much horses for courses. Pick one or two social media channels best suited to your company and plow all of your resources into them rather than spread yourself thinly across multiple irrelevant channels. In the example above, LinkedIn would be a far more appropriate choice, since it’s a social network primarily based around making business connections.

2) Following Everyone in Sight

Another common rookie error when first starting out is following as many people as possible to ‘get noticed.’ You’ll get noticed alright, but for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, if you’re too aggressive in your following spree, the social media platform in question will most likely ban you, thinking that you’re an automated robot programmed to spam the platform.

Secondly, there’s nothing more cringeworthy than having your follower and following counts badly misaligned. Following 10,000 people and only having 1,000 followers looks incredibly unprofessional. Anyone with a pulse will recognize that you’re trying to game the system by following people in the hope they’ll follow back.

While it’s reasonable to follow other accounts of interest within your industry, you should concentrate on creating excellent content that naturally attracts followers instead.

3) Poor Use of Hashtags

Even rookies know that hashtags can be significant on specific platforms such as Twitter or Instagram. However, there are still many mistakes to be made. For instance, it’s no good using a hashtag you’ve just made up since it won’t gain you anything at all. Hashtags are there to help your post get seen, so you need to research relevant and popular terms that will help you gain exposure within your industry.

Similarly, broken hashtags are no good for you. So often, rookies make the mistake of putting punctuation in their hashtags, which immediately ends the hashtag there, rather than encompassing the phrase they were looking for. For example, #don’ttalkback would result in the hashtag “don” being attached to your post, not getting you additional exposure. Or worse, getting the wrong type of exposure.

4) Automated Private Messages

This is a mistake made not just with private messages, but this is where automation has shown that it’s not quite the finished article yet. Thankfully, they are already on the decline, but some companies still think they’re a neat way to engage with followers, and they’re just not. The main reason being they are so obviously automated.

Due to their nature, they cannot be personalized. So when an automated message pops up to a new follower trying to get them to visit your website, it smacks of both desperation and laziness. Customers can easily spot automation, so it’s better not to contact them at all, that implement blanket automated messages that have little relevance to them personally.

If you want to reach out to your new followers, do so manually. Your followers will be much more appreciative and receptive to you, putting the work in.

5) Ignoring Analytics

For some reason, many companies ignore the analytics and reporting available to them through either the platforms themselves or third-party applications. Many of the questions so often asked by rookies such as “What should I post?” and “When should I post” are all answered by the analytics.

You can use the reporting dashboards to discover which type of content performs best, what time of day your receive the most engagement, and what time your followers are most active. Without looking at the analytics, it’s tough to develop a winning social strategy.

6) Posting Without a Strategy

Closely linked to the mistake above, many social media marketing newbies start by posting content without any kind of focused strategy. For instance, cute puppy memes have nothing to do with your fitness brand. Nor does weighing in online political debates. You need to focus on creating a strategy that not only gains your company notoriety, but that also becomes synonymous with your brand.

For instance, you could post workouts every Wednesday and create a whole series of #WorkoutWednesdays. Likewise, you could have cheat-day recipe ideas on a weekend when people take a break from working out and focusing on their diet. You create a strategy based on building credibility and trust for your brand. Anything else is a waste of your time.

7) Inconsistent Posting Schedules

Unfortunately, those who are new to using social media to drive traffic to their website often make the mistake of picking up and putting down social media marketing. But that’s no way to build a winning social presence. For instance, you might commit to one post a day and then start to build a following, only to go on vacation for two weeks and leave your followers wondering what happened.

The way that social media algorithms work is based very much on momentum. The more mentions, engagement, and interaction you receive, the more exposure you’ll receive in newsfeeds. Go quiet for an extended period, and you’ll lose that exposure permanently. So while you should avoid repetitively posting at precisely the same time of each day, each week, and each month, you should remain consistent to keep that momentum you’ve managed to build.

Avoid These Rookie Mistakes to Excel with Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

When executed correctly, social media marketing can be your number one driver of website traffic, leads, and even sales. But it’s easier than you might think to get it horribly wrong. Sometimes you may not even realize you are committing some of the cardinal sins. But hopefully, with the advice laid out above, you can begin to omit the most obvious rookie mistakes.

Here at Redwood Creative, we’ve shaped winning social strategies for many leading national and international brands. So if you would like the help of experts to guide your social media marketing, why not speak to us about your requirements?