Responsible Parenting and Cyber Gadgets

The 6th of December was my son's 11th birthday. For his present he wanted either a smartphone or a smart watch. We settled for a smartphone. The first thing we did after acquiring it was to make sure it is installed with software that blocks access to sites that have content above his age. Then we had to set rules on how he should use his gadget. We have WiFi at home and through his phone he has access to the internet. Almost all his classmates have smart phones and they have a class chat group on WhatsApp. This group can get very active and at times when I am working late they are messages that beep into his phone. The night activity of this group influenced another rule, that the phone does not go into his bedroom when he goes to sleep. Over the holidays we discovered that he was being bullied by one of his friends, a situation we had to address. Does this sound normal to a teenage parent?

As technology develops, it comes with challenges of varying degrees. I understand some kids as young as 5 years own smartphones or tablets. The challenge we face then is when we react to the hazards that come with these gadgets. At schools and at our work places, there are rules and regulations that govern the use of these gadgets. Unfortunately some of our homes are a free for all. We end up with kids who are addicted to online activities. Besides cyber bullies and sexual deviants, another danger our kids are exposed to online is Social Media communities. It becomes harmful when we fail to give them proper guidance on how to navigate this technology jungle. Maybe the bigger challenge is that we don't know how to handle it ourselves as guardians. Digital Marketing analyst Brian Solis says, "Social Media is about sociology and psychology more than technology." So, as a parent, its not about how much you are technically knowledgeable, its more about how your child is being influenced online. There is an African saying which goes, it takes a village to raise a child. That village used to be our physical neighbors. With connectivity and mobility, you have a million possible characters that have the potential to influence the character development of your child.

The academic space is equally moving with times. There is e-Learning and all schools are taking advantage of technology. Some schools have websites and are active on Social Media. This improves communication with stake holders. When there is an important message - it can be shared in real time at the click of a button instead of making numerous phone calls. Teachers can utilize various online programs for information dissemination and or conducting experiments. Carrie Snow, a stand up comedian and TV Series writer states, "Technology....is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other." Quite a mouthful. So as we cherish the advanced development that comes with technology like Social Media applications, let us beware of the hazards that come with it. Knowledge is power and we get knowledge from information; information is now readily available on the internet. However we ought to take heed of these wise words from Mitchel Kapor the founder of the spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3, "Getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant." The pressure can inflict serious injuries - although they can be physical, most are emotional and emotional injuries take time to heal. As a responsible parent, you would want to guide your child's Cyber Space experience.

We will be hosting a conference on Social Media and Minors in Cape Town, on the 3rd of March 2016. If you are a stakeholder in the provision of a safe environment of children, join us in this important discussion. For more details visit alefinnovations.com

Digital Marketing in January.....

January marks the beginning of the year. A lot of social activities begin with the new year. Children begin school whilst other move to a higher grade. As individuals we make resolutions for the new year and at the first month we try our level best to honor those resolutions. Businesses also have plans and programs that begin with the new year. Budgets are released and spending is generous for some whilst others are very cautious as they seek to spread their resources throughout the year. Most of us would have over indulged during the festive season and January finds us literally broke. Broke as we are, we are part of your valued customers and it is through us that you will meet your objectives for this new year. The question is, since most of us are generally broke and our buying power is literally at zero, do you ease up in reaching out to us until our situation improves? Some of us might actually need a couple of months before we recover from festive expenditures.

When we are down, we normally need a shoulder to cry on. We need someone to assure us that tomorrow is going to be better. We seek solace from friends and acquaintances. Cyber space has removed the barrier of distance to be in touch with those whose company we enjoy. A problem shared is a problem solved. We naturally turn to Social Media where we get motivational messages. Some of our friends share jokes that have a relaxing effect; showing us how we over indulged during the festive season. Social Media is the place that gives us temporary relief from our real life January misery. An astute marketer should be able to help any business tell their story such that they appeal to a target audience despite the audience's mood. This is the time to drive traffic to our website. Our audience is already online though not necessarily looking for us. Care must be taken not to be too pushy and forcing our products in front of our audience. That can be offending. The information we share should showcase how our products will solve the problems our clients are facing.

Social Media is mainly about being social and having fun. Our content strategy should have the same theme. When our content is deemed to be both fun and problem solving, we will entice our audience to share our material. When our material is widely shared we tend to benefit from the exponential effect - a friend shares with their friend who shares with their friend - and might even end up with a viral campaign. So content marketing should not only be serious and factual but witty, humorous and entertaining. It is not always possible to get an internal person who can have all these attributes, hence the need to outsource part or all of our digital marketing activities. 

Should you be in need of assistance with your Digital Marketing, Website, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, you can visit our website www.alefinnovations.com or contact us directly. Your comments are also most appreciated, do not hesitate to also share this article - sharing is caring.

7 Reasons Social Media should be part of your marketing strategy for the Festive Season

It's that time of the year again, the festive season. Everyone is looking forward to the annual break. But before going away on holiday there is some shopping to be done. Not only are we going to shop for personal presents, but in our professional circles we are going to share year end presents. Technology has made it possible to buy services that can be consumed anytime. Whatever sector you are in, you stand a chance for your product or service to be purchased as a year end gift. Therefore, we all need to package ourselves in a manner that takes full advantage of this shopping frenzy. Most of our clients including potential ones have some presence in Social Media networks. It is cardinal for us to reach out to them where we will find them and find them in the right mood. Here are 7 reasons why you should use Social Media to maximize on the Festive Season shopping spree.

1. Festive season exudes the shopping spirit
During this time of the year, there is a shopping spirit that hovers around everyone. Some shop for things that they will only use once during the coming holidays. Some shop for presents to be given as rewards to loyal customers, whilst some shop for presents that can be used to lure potential customers. The same scenario is true for family and friends or any other social relationship. Literally everybody is shopping this time of the year. Most retailers come up with various discounted products to maximize on this once a year phenomenon. Despite your product or service, you may find yourself with a sale influenced by the festive season. Social Media if used appropriately, can be a medium to reaching out to shoppers looking for your product to buy out there

2. Brand Awareness
If there was a time for potential clients to remember your brand, it is now. If there was a time to receive referrals it is the festive season. There is no better way to have your product be in the wagging tongues of everyone than felt presence in Social Media networks.  We are at this time discussing the best presents to buy, and we will be looking for the best brand. Some of us are not sure what to buy, and our decisions will be influenced by our peers. The advertisement that you did some time back during the year, which made a significant impact -  might be best to repeated now - just to remind us how awesome your products are. Repeating the advert in the conventional media might cost you an arm and a leg, but in Social Media it is possible to run campaigns at competitive costs. Social Media is structured such that, you can repeat your campaigns several times, with a once off action.

3. Viral Campaigns
This is probably the best time to come up with a campaign that can go viral. The spirit of generosity could help the spread of your campaign. I have often received messages in my inbox about the impact a blog I wrote would have made on someone. But the same individual in-boxing would not have shared my article.  At this time of the year, everyone wants to share, if your campaigns are able to scratch your followers where it's itching, they will definitely share them creating the exponential effect which fuels a viral campaign. In any case sharing is caring and this is the time we show how caring we are. There is no scientific formula for a campaign to go viral, it all depends on the reaction of your audience. The audience is already been put on a sharing mood by the Festive Season, give them something to share, and that might as well be the campaign that will propel you to reach your maximum potential.

4. Identify the popular # hashtags and ride your campaigns on them
There are several hashtags that will be coined for this season. Identify the most popular one within your industry or area of influence and take full advantage of it. The hashtag might be of something not directly related to you, but if it is popular you can ride on its popularity. There is no need to spend time trying to promote a personalized hashtag and fail to make it popular. You will be like re-inventing the wheel; we have different car models but they all use the same wheel. In business we have to exploit possible opportunities to our maximum advantage and that is what you do when you ride on a popular hashtag. By the way, whatever you do on that hashtag, still promotes the originator, its a win-win with any popular campaign.

5. Follow up on any leads - everyone is buying
Remember that lead you once had, where interest was shown, but no commitment made? This is the time to revisit that lead. That is why it is cardinal to have a sound digital marketing strategy. You need to have a database of all your leads, whether from you website visits or Social Media networks. A short reminder of who you are and what your services or products are could be all you need this time of the year for a sales conversion. This is the time where some will buy something and wonder why they bought. But of cause we don't sell useless products or services...do we now... so they will definitely find good use for our products maybe not now.

6. Have a content marketing strategy in place
This is the time we need everyone out there having an in-depth knowledge and understanding about our products. Remember that what we are offering will not only be bought for consumption by the targeted customer. Someone might be intending to use our product or service as an end of year gift. It is crucial that at this time all necessary information is out there about us. What better way can there be to share with potential clients what we do or how our products can help them than through Social Media. We are now in the information age and clients want to buy after they understand. A slot in the television, radio or newspaper to explain our products in detail will break the bank. But we could share all the information we want to share through various Social Media networks without a heavy budget. We might need the services of an expect in this regard though if we are to do it right.

7. Use this time to give as well
Whilst we are in business and should aim to maximize on profits, we also have to take time to thank those who are loyal to us and help us succeed.  It might be impossible to reach all of them physically and hand them goody bags. Through Social Media we have access to almost all our stakeholders and technology has made it possible to share things online. With a bit of tact we could use the process of sharing our gifts as a campaign that will strengthen our brand. A year end activity of this nature can leave us strategically positioned to begin the new year on a high note.

For any further information on this aspect do not hesitate to contact us at www.alefinnovations.com

Social Media in the home - Responsible Parenting

Social Media are websites and applications for social networking. Business and academia have taken advantage of these applications to roll out their own programs. Social Media Marketing is the buzz word in marketing spheres. Some governments have also joined the Social Media band wagon with e-learning projects. Students can use Social Media to do group studies with the assistance of various online communities. Connectivity and mobility makes it possible for students to tackle a number of challenging aspects of their academic journey. However, smart phones, through which social media is accessed, can spell disaster if children are left to access them without any form of supervision. Children do share stories with their peers and educators will admit that story telling is a critical component in child development. But a story shared with the wrong audience can leave children vulnerable.

Social media networks can be a dangerous jungle that can inflict damage with long lasting consequences to both children and adults if not properly managed. In most if not all organisations, there are regulations on accessing social media during working hours. After hours, if one does not discipline themselves, social media can be a serious time waster. At school, children can be allowed to access academic applications which can aid their learning experience. What is accessed at school is guided and directed. Now, who is responsible for our children's activities on social media after school hours.

Responsible parenting requires that every parent be involved in their kids activities on social media. Being involved does not necessarily mean invading their privacy but giving guidance and direction. Facebook keep reminding us of content that they do not allow on their platform. But many times we see that very content appearing on our walls. I remember Twitter also ran a campaign against bullying. These are the dangers that are available to our kids as they stroll through social networks online.

Our kids will one time or the other be exposed to undesirable issues on social media such as nudity, pornography, prostitution, vulgar language, bullying and gambling  which are all addictive in nature. Our duty as parents is to let them know about these and how to avoiding them. As a parent, you are the child's first friend and they are bound to heed your advice. Whilst teachers and relatives have a role to play, the bigger part belongs to the parent. In most cases, you the parent would have facilitated access to social media for your own child, and therefore you ought to practice responsible parenting when it comes to your child's online behavior.

As a responsible parent, how have you helped your child with this critical social phenomenon? Should you need any assistance with a social media strategy for the home, school or business - do not hesitate to contact us @innovationsalef  Alef Innivations Social Media consult  

How Social Media disrupts SEO

Search Engine Optimization is cardinal for anyone who has a website. According to webopedia.com, "Search engine optimization is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) -- including Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines." Driving of traffic is literally dependent on search engines. Our involvement in the digital space is so that we can reach out to potential clients. Whilst search engines do explain how they go about ranking websites, everything happens behind the scenes and we have little influence over those processes. The least we can do is comply with their regulations and suggestions. Our sites ought to be presentable in terms of structure and ambiance, it should be easy to navigate through them.  

A lot has been said about whether being active in Social Media affects our Search Engine Optimization. It does not. However, being active in Social Media helps us take charge of driving traffic to our websites. Instead of relying on search engines to rank us, a process that takes place behind the scenes, we are able to drive traffic directly. Through Social Media we are able to transfer the popularity of our websites from being a behind-the-scenes activity to an activity right before us. All the friends and followers that we connect with, we can direct them to our website. There are several innovative ways of directing traffic to our website. A cardinal strategy will make our website the landing page for any campaign we do in our Social Media Networks. It is easy for one to just click a button that leads them straight to our website. Some of our campaigns can just be snippets in Social Media where we give a link to our website where the full campaign takes place.

Social Media can also be the best medium to campaign for clients to register for membership in our website. Various campaigns can be used to attract clients to register for membership. Members will be afforded different types of attractive benefits. As a condition to attaining membership, clients will provide us with contact details making it possible to communicate with them directly. Social proof is cardinal to our marketing strategy and we need a community of advocates, who rave about us taking a lead in advertising us through word of mouth. Through Social Media we then are able to disrupt SEO and take charge of making our website popular. However, this does not in anyway replace SEO as we will only reach out to those that we interact with through Social Media. There is still a number of potential customers out there who are not on any Social Media network and will rely on search engines to reach out to us. We still need to optimize our websites for search engines, both strategies should run concurrently and be a part of our digital marketing.  

Has Social Media helped popularize your website? Kindly share your experiences in the comments below. Should you need help with a robust Digital Marketing Strategy which incorporates Website Design, SEO and Social Media do not hesitate to contact us. 

Choosing the best Social Media Forum for your business

That Social Media Marketing is important as part of your Digital Marketing Strategy is an issue we can no longer debate. That others have done it the wrong way is also beyond discussion. One of the biggest challenges for any business person is choosing the right forum for their online marketing. Perhaps what we can never over emphasize is how cardinal we need a clear Social Media Marketing Strategy. One of the core aspects of our strategy is choosing the appropriate forums for our business. There are several forums that will help us achieve different objectives, and there are some forums in whose presence we can achieve little. Clarifying our goals and objectives should precede choice of forums.  Let me hasten to say it is possible though to be in as many forums, as long as we will attain a good return on our investment. What attracts our availability in any forum is the possibility to engage with stakeholders. Forums attract different people, and our customers could be composed of different types of people as well. However an informing strategy will guide where we should we should be present and the amount of resources to invest in a particular forum.

Blogging Forums
A blog consists of a writer's experiences, observations and opinions and normally has images and links to websites. For a digital marketer, a blog is no exception because it is the best medium for content marketing. Customers no longer buy without enough information. Connectivity and mobility have added social proof as part of customer decision mix, if their friends are talking about your product - it must be good. There are many blogging platforms that one can choose from. 

Facebook
This is the big brother of social media with close to 1.5 billion active members. You can join as an individual and can create a business page. As an individual you are allowed up to 5000 friends but you have an option to have followers and these are not limited. For your business page your number of followers are not limited. Engagement with your followers is in the form of likes, comments and sharing of content. The activity of your followers will give leads into potential sales. You can form or join groups of various interests though some groups have restrictions on membership and engagement could be vetted. Whilst the platform warns against illicit activities it is not always possible to enforce this regulation. Caution has to be taken for vulnerable and sensitive members.

YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing website with over a billion active members. Whilst we can still share videos on Facebook, YouTube comes with more features especially on editing of the videos. Across all platforms, videos are viewed more than all text updates. It is a fact also that videos attract more engagement, as alluded before - engagement is what will give us leads. The brain is said to interpret images faster than it can interpret text. There is a huge collection of material on YouTube that one can edit and include into their own presentations. The shorter the video the better. However paid advertising on this channel can be pretty expensive. A well thought out strategy which addresses all our needs can help us attain engagement that can equal or out compete paid advertisements. One post gone viral would do all the trick.

We Chat
We Chat is actually a messaging and calling application. Although it does not have all the features of a Social Media forum; I have decided to include it here because the services that it offers. We Chat competes with WhatsApp - the biggest messaging application with an active membership of 800 million. The difference between these two is that We Chat allows advertising and as such has attracted a number of other innovations around its services. According to statista.com We Chat has an active membership of 549 million. Some Social Media evangelists believe that active members could be slightly over a billion. I have found a service like We Chat handy in complementing online sales innovations. I have read of fast food outlets in China that have incorporate We Chat as part of their home delivery services. You can place an order using We Chat and when your order is on its way you receive an update.

Twitter
I call this the jungle of Social Media. If you are not clear how the game is played, you may get lost and never find your directions. In this platform you will find current news just about everything. Some organizations live tweet their activities. Without a strategy detailing how you are going to play your game you may spend all your valuable resources trying to figure our what is going on. However they are various tools that you can use to manage all your activities on your twitter accounts. You can create lists of various topics that you are interested in and add those who make valuable contributions. Competitors may add you to their lists, this is a plus for you as they would be exposing you to their customer base.

Instagram
Instagram is an image sharing platform. According to statista.com, its current active members are 300 million as of August 2015 but the company recently announced have gone beyond the 400 million mark. Because of the ability of the mind to process images faster than text, Instagram has a high rate of engagement just like YouTube. I have had some of my clients ask how they can participate on Instagram when they offer services and hardly produce any images. There is literally nothing that can not be visually expressed. A mathematical equation,  expressed with a background of an intriguing picture will draw more attention than a simple text of the same. Our everyday stories can be captured as amazing images, which can help us engage with potential customers.

Other Forums
There are other forums that are not as popular but that command quite a following and would be worth exploring. Google + is said to have up to 300 million active users. Most of our customers are bound to be utilizing a service or another offered by Google and it's easy to reach out to them through Google circles. SnapChat is another video and image sharing platform which basically offer similar services as Instagram. The major difference is that all updates are given a lifetime of not more than 10 seconds. So if you want to share something that you would not want to remain available online this is your best option. SnapChat currently has over 200 million active users. Another platform of note is LinkdIn with active users that are slightly less than 100 million. This platform can be confused for an online job market but marketers for both business to business and business to consumer clients have taken advantage of advertising services offered by this platform. The other advantage with LinkdIn is that it groups professionals and most of your followers seek serious engagement. Leads in this environment are most likely to have a better strike rate.

What has been your experience in choosing the best forum for your business? If you are still not sure which forum to have a presence in, contact us and we will gladly assist.

Aim for Organic Search Engine Optimization and Organic Reach for Social Media Marketing

Digital marketing has proven not only to be the game changer in strengthening brands and reaching potential markets; but as technology keeps developing - new innovations are positioning digital marketing as the best game in town. Two pillars that support a Digital Marketing strategy are - an individual presence in the World Wide Web through a website and Social Media. A website allows you to showcase your products, internal processes, run campaigns and social proofing through testimonials.  You could also offer online sales. Social Media allows you to do the same but the major difference is that all your activities are happening on a rented space. How you link and communicate with your customers is dictated by the owners of the Social Media networks and some of their conditions might be restrictive and frustrate your efforts. Both strategies need a robust plan to drive traffic, identify leads and sales conversion. For our website we need a strategy for Search Engine Optimization, which helps search engines recognize our website and position it ahead of competitors. For our Social Media we our posts have to reach our target audience. 

A lot has been said about search engine optimization, a phenomenon that has actually become a profession for some. When we search for anything on the web, we use search engines and the big players are Google, Yahoo and Bing. Search engines use Web Crawlers to read web pages and create entries for search engine index. Our websites need to have proper web addresses or URL, pages have to be titled properly, the structure of our site must allow easy navigation. Where we have used images, they must give them titles using keywords. Our sight should have excellent content and we have to use keywords repeatedly. A few links pointing to our website are cardinal as part of our optimization strategy. As our content is discovered and becomes popular, others will link to our website, this is called backlinking. However linking has been wrongly ascribed to as the most important part of Search Engine Optimization, leading to link spamming (Artificial SEO). Search engines will penalize for links that are deemed spam-my. Ad words can also be misrepresented as a short cut to optimizing. Having a well structured website with excellent content, and tactical use of keywords is the best way to optimize your for search engines. This is optimizing your site organically. Another great way of promoting your website is announcing changes and new developments through blogging and posts in Social Media networks, and direct them to your website through landing pages. 

The advantage with Social Media networks is that all engagement has an exponential or multiplier effect. If we engage with our target audience, those that they are are connected with will be able to see our engagement, making us reach potential customers that we were not initially connected to. Our target audience could be current clients, potential clients, past clients or even those who my never use our products/services but have an interest or are somehow affected by what we are offering. Through Social Media we are able to run various types of campaigns and lead our prospects to our website where we offer a complete online service.With so many Social Media networks, a mere presence in one of them will not assure success. It is critical to choose an appropriate network that will make us meet our objectives and satisfy our customers' needs. We need to have followers who will view our posts and engage with us. Many have been misled into believing that if they buy followers it will lead to the success of their Social Media Marketing efforts. Nothing can be further from the truth. Followers that we gain organically naturally become our community of advocates. Our posts should propel them to engage and our interactions will expose us to those that follow them. Success of our marketing efforts is depended on the quality of those following us, and it gets contentiously multiplied if they also have organic followers.

There has been a misconception that Social Media activities directly affect Search Engine Optimization. This is not quite true. Engagement in Social Media is regarded as nonfollow links. This actually protects us as some comments might direct search engines to places that do not reflect our beliefs and some could even harm our reputation. Our conclusion therefore is that just like Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing will only succeed through organic reach. Both strategies need excellent content that addresses the needs of our customers. Do we know what information to we should share in order to attract followers? Is our website organically optimized for search engines? This is what we do, get in touch and we will gladly assist you.