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5 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for In 2023

Posted on January 24, 2023

People change, and so do their stories. So it naturally makes sense that marketing will change as well. The trick is keeping up with these stories as they’re told.

Let’s discuss some marketing trends that will be prevalent this year and beyond, starting with…

User-Generated Content Marketing

People trust their friends, loved ones, and other reputable individuals, but they don’t always trust a business. Because of this distrust, a simple ad with a “buy our product” jingle may not be as effective as word-of-mouth.

Not so long ago when you wanted to know who the best plumber was, you simply called your friend who just recently had their pipes snaked. Today, you may still do that, but you can also use the internet and find testimonials or reviews (both bad and good) for practically any product or service.

Anything put online by a person not employed or paid by the company is considered ‘user-generated content.’ We can look forward to this becoming an increasingly viable marketing tool.

Interactive Websites

Interactive websites invite users to explore content on a deeper level. This may mean questionnaires, attractive animations, or anything else that’s more than just simple information and “Learn More” buttons. If implemented well, this content will bring the customer back time and time again, which leads to a higher conversion rate. These experiences have the potential to make traditionally boring subject matter a bit more fun.

Because of their conversion potential, these websites are certainly something we should all be on the lookout for and expect to see more of in 2023 and beyond.

Influencer Marketing

Lately, this has become more than just a buzzword, But what exactly is it?

The concept stems from the days of celebrity endorsements or advertisements, bringing that marketing concept online and modernizing it. The difference is that oday’s “influencers” don’t have to be movie stars. Love it or hate it, ‘online fame’ is now its own universe, and this universe has a lot of marketing power! That’s because influencers have a loyal following. If they say, “Product X, is the best,” then many of their followers will turn into customers. In some cases, the influencer matters even more than the actual product they are promoting. It’s a powerful trend, and it’s getting more prevalent.

Automation Tools

The “one size fits all” approach to marketing is a thing of the past. With automation tools, marketing websites will be able to give a user a greater level of personalization. Today’s customers want and deserve what meets their personal needs. Every time you visit a website, its automation tools may ask for your name and email address. That automation is a tool that’s allowing marketers to match a product with the customer who may benefit from it the most.

As time goes on, these tools will become more refined, which could have a profound effect on the way we market.

Short-Form Video Content

Video Marketing is a gigantic volcano in terms of just how red-hot it is. These videos are beyond popular. That’s why your social feeds are filled with video content. It catches the eye in an instant. People are making content for the products they like—free advertising for the seller!

A 30-second video of an unknown teenager discussing a skin-care product she loves can be more effective ad than a paid endorsement from a big star.

You may be asking how this is possible. The answer is that the girl making her own short-form video is genuine, therefore more believable. So, as we start 2023, and continuing in the future, we’ll be expecting this form of video advertising and marketing to continue.

At ArachnidWorks, we’re always up to date on the latest marketing trends, and we consistently put these practices to use helping our clients achieve success. We know how to implement the latest tools and techniques to ensure your content is ready for today’s marketing landscape.

What You Need to Know About the Shift to Google Analytics 4

Posted on November 30, 2022

computer showing google analytics

When Europe updated its privacy and security laws in 2018 aka GDPR, Universal Analytics (UA)
essentially became illegal. Many other countries followed suit in updating their privacy
legislation including New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, and even the state of California. This change in
policy resulted in Google announcing the rollout of Google Analytics 4, offering up increased
privacy, security, and control over your data.

What is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 (or GA4) is a completely new version of Google Analytics replacing the
current Universal Analytics. It measures website and app traffic together, instead of being
tracked separately.

How is GA4 different?
GA4 and UA differ in how they view and track page views and screen views, user sessions,
content groupings, custom dimensions, and more.

Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics: What’s Changing?

Data collection
With the advent of omnichannel e-commerce, GA4 collects data from both web and apps to let
businesses see unified user journeys and customer life cycles across different platforms.

Event-based tracking
UA measured users by tracking sessions on platforms and devices. This resulted in missed
opportunities and data loss when switching devices. Now, GA4 uses an event-based data model
to track user behavior. Using user IDs and unique Google signals, it’s much easier to follow
users along the customer journey.

With the shift to event and parameter tracking, GA4 introduced engagement metrics such as
engaged sessions, engaged time, and engagement rate. This is a big shift from how you were
able to track metrics in UA.

Data control and privacy
In the wake of data privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA, GA4 offers new data controls for users
to keep their privacy. These data privacy options include the user's ability to:

● Control how their data is collected, retained, and shared.
● Decide whether the data collected can be used to deliver personalized ads.
● Delete Analytics data by submitting a request to Google.
● GA4 only stores data for 14 months and doesn’t carry over historical data from UA.
When you switch to Google Analytics 4, it only collects data going forward, so
transitioning early is critical.

No IP Collection
Unlike its predecessor, GA4 does not collect IP addresses or store cookies.

Machine learning
GA4 applies machine learning technologies to fill in data gaps versus first and third-party
cookies with UA. Predictive analytics finds trends in user behavior, allowing you to provide
more intelligent insights and create forecasts.

In-depth Reporting
GA4 introduces Explorations, which lets you access data and analytical techniques that aren’t
available in UA’s default reports. These features give you a more in-depth look at your data to
answer complex questions.

Expanded integration
GA4 was designed to work better with other products such as Google Ads, and Google Data
Studio.

I need help making the switch to GA4.

The Digital Team at AW has been hard at work transitioning our clients to GA4 to ensure
historical data is recorded and future data collection is started early.

If you need help in making the transition, ArachnidWorks is here to help. Contact us today!

The Do’s and Don’ts for Holiday Social Posts

Posted on November 3, 2022

Every fall, when temperatures dive and the Maryland nights grow longer, Brian, our CTO, starts his tradition of listening for the first annual playing of “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Released 28 years ago tomorrow, Mariah Carey’s blockbuster, officially launches the holiday season around here, whether we’re ready or not.

For our content marketers and social media marketing strategists, the sappy tune also triggers our holiday social media planning. At AW, our team has been handling the social needs of our clients long enough to know that holiday posts need a little something extra. By keeping in mind a handful of Dos and Don’ts, we can ride the coattails of the most important seasonal trends and avoid any eleventh-hour social media crises.

DO: TWEAK YOUR POSTING CALENDAR

Review your typical posting schedule and adjust it so you can reach clients and potential customers during the ramp-up to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hannukah. Organize the dates throughout the holiday season that are most relevant to you, schedule those posts, and set reminders so you can stay on top of plan. Keep in mind that it’s a fine line between keeping your base up to date and inundating them with TMI.

DON’T: DISCONNECT FROM YOUR CLIENTS

Even the best holiday social media posts don’t take the place of a personal connection with the people to whom you owe your business. Do your best to communicate with your clients in non-digital ways when possible. You know you can’t speak with or visit everyone, so make sure your holiday posts for social media are authentic and meaningful enough to foster genuine connections.

DO: CREATE A THEME THAT REFLECTS YOUR BRAND

Ignore the hackneyed and the trite colors and images in favor of the visual components that make up your brand. The goal is to make your content stand out from the rest and appeal to your audience, so if a color palette of magenta and melon make your message pop, go with it—leave the red and green, and the blue and gold, for those with more traditional brands. Don’t be shy!

DON’T: STUFF YOUR CLIENTS’ STOCKINGS WITH NONSENSE

During the month of December, one well-known social media site lists the following dates as “not-to-be-missed” opportunities for reaching out to your clients and customers: Eat a Red Apple Day, Let’s Hug Day, National Roast Suckling Pig Day, Answer the Phone Like Buddy the Elf Day… You get the idea. Unless any of these reflect your brand and give you an opportunity to tell an authentic story about your company, skip them. Before you post anything, especially a holiday social media post, ask yourself why. If you don’t know the answer immediately, hit delete.

DO: HOST A GIVEAWAY OR CONTEST

Your loyal followers will likely enjoy the chance to win something from you that they’re pining after. Choose an item that’s appealing to your regular base, but also shareable to encourage new followers.

DON’T: USE THE HOLIDAYS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SIMPLY SELL, SELL, SELL

Holiday observances around the world are becoming more secular, but for many, Christmas and Hannukah have deep cultural or religious meaning. Be respectful in your choice of images and words. Most people want warm wishes and cheer rather than links to your best-selling product’s page.

DO: ENCOURAGE POSTS FROM FOLLOWERS

Try including 1–2 photos in a social media post from a holiday tradition you or your team members enjoy observing, and invite your followers to do the same. Encourage the authentic, the genuine, and the meaningful—you’ll build your digital community and engender the type of trust and goodwill that elevates your brand.

Keeping in mind these couple of dos and don’ts, some careful planning, a solid strategy, and a commitment to brand awareness will go a long way toward a successful social media strategy this holiday season…and you don’t even have to wait to hear “All I Want for Christmas is You” to get started.

Too much on your plate for the rest of Quarter 4? Do you know how important a solid social media strategy for the holidays is for your company? No one ever said you have to do it alone. ArachnidWorks is here to help! Let’s talk.

Why Your Website Needs a Blog and How to Start One

Posted on September 29, 2022

Let’s cut to the chase––you need to start blogging.

Blogs are not just for those ranting because the sour cream was missing from their grocery order. Starting a blog doesn’t mean you must spill the tea on why you will never wear parachute pants again, but we’d love to read it if you do (#welovethe80s). Blogging is one of the most powerful marketing tools business owners can wield to grow their audience, boost sales and establish a brand voice. By the way, all kinds of fabulous content can help you stand out from the crowd. Yet, for this piece, we’re covering the OG.

At ArachnidWorks, we know a thing or two about blogging. You’re kind of reading one now, right?

Right!

So, we gathered our collective marketing brains to share why your website needs a blog.

Three Little Letters: SEO

A quality blog can boost your entire website’s SEO ranking. Here’s how.

Content & Keywords – Blog posts are a form of content. Content adds keywords to your site. Search engines crawl through your site and read your content to determine what your business offers. That helps search engines find your website over others. Nice, right?
Relevancy – Blog posts are a deep dive into a topic. They help you gain traction and position your content in front of more eyes, leading to more conversions. And with Google’s latest algorithm update, there is a heavy focus on intent––your relevancy––which provides value for the posted content.
Tag, You’re it! – Categories and tags are metadata mysteries that are not so mysterious. They tell search engines where to find your website and drive users to it.
Stay Awhile – A quality archive of material keeps people roaming your site longer. Extra dwell time on pages tells search engines people loved hanging out with you because your content was on point and fabulous.
Internal Links – Links, links, and more links within a blog to your previous posts equal more clicks on your content. It’s all a part of strategic thinking to help users find your brand and message.
Share & Share Alike – Think of it as the more the merrier. Internal linking in posts means more opportunities for other websites to find and link back to your site. The more websites linking to you as a source, the merrier, right? Right! And when you tag and repost your blog on social media, you tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, you’re going to have more eyes on your content.
Where the Heck Are You? – Tagging locations to your post is a must for location-based businesses. For the local donut shop that needs those eclairs to fly out the door, you want donut-lovers to know where to snag the best in town.

If You Write it, They Will Come

You want to set yourself apart as an expert in your lane. It helps customers get to know you and build trust. It’s not a matter of just writing content for content’s sake. You want to give the masses material that solves a problem, gives them actionable steps, and shows them YOU are the one who feels their pain (points).

Who Are You?

You have a brand to define for the masses. That starts with creating a voice people recognize. You immediately know when you see that circular, green sign that it’s calling you toward caffeine. That smirk on a cardboard box? Something special is on your doorstep, right? These companies have defined their brand to the point that you don’t even need a name on their logo to know who they are. You know their voice, identity, and how they improve your life with their services. You can get there too! It starts with becoming an industry expert who builds rapport and connects with others.

My People!

You can’t grow your audience without content, and content helps you grow your audience. You want traffic to be bumper-to-bumper on your site to generate new leads. These leads mean you’ve found your people! A great way to keep the interaction alive on your site is to include a call-to-action (CTA) that offers them a little something. You know what we mean by CTA. Things like:

But wait, there’s more!
Free gift just because you’re fantastic!
Act now. Space is limited!
Sign up today, and you’ll receive an invite to my virtual bad holiday sweater party!

Other CTAs we love include:

Free eBooks
Downloadable whitepages
Fact sheets
Video lessons or webinars
Free trials
Donuts. The ones with sprinkles.

Okay, maybe not the donuts, and it’s obviously sugar-rush snack time at ArachnidWorks HQ, yet you see where we’re going with this. Anything you can offer users to jump into that funnel and start a relationship can drive long-term results.

Ready to start that blog? Awesome! Want to turn to the Frederick, Maryland, marketing pros who can help you get it done? Even better! ArachnidWorks is a multi-disciplined design collective dedicated to bringing clients strategic marketing, top-quality design services, and SEO strategy that gets businesses noticed. Let us help you make some crazy-cool content. Reach out, and let’s get started!

Content and SEO Strategy––It Matters

Posted on September 7, 2022

Believe it or not, organic search visibility, rankings, and traffic take a lot of effort. What makes a big difference in your success? Creating stellar, optimized content.

Content and SEO are in a relationship, and their union could launch your website to the top of the rankings. Are you utilizing their partnership to get noticed? Well, you should be.

Content That Impacts Your Bottom Line

Content is everywhere, and we mean ev-ry-where! You want your brand to stand head and shoulders above the rest. That’s why having an SEO-driven strategy is critical. It separates you from the others and gets attention. How does it work? The team at ArachnidWorks is glad you asked!

SEO + Content = Eyeballs on Your Brand

We promise this isn’t an algebra lesson, and the math isn’t hard to master. When you marry the science of SEO with beautifully-crafted words (ahem, content), that sweet little combo produces focused marketing. It’s not just throwing words on a page, or spaghetti at a wall, hoping something will stick. It’s a strategic approach that impacts your business and a ROI that makes your bottom line happy.

SEO combined with purposely-created content is the perfect pairing. Here’s why:

SEO optimizes the on-the-page experience and increases the likelihood of launching you towards the top of the search engine results page (SERP).
Content marketing is the vehicle for your message to the masses, offering information and advertising your ____________ (insert company, brand, product, nomination for an ADDY award, etc.)
Adding them together equals traffic that contains more than just rubberneckers. They’re stopping by, staying, and engaging because they’re enticed to investigate further. The added bonus: potential conversions that become customers, sales, and the like.

Each company’s measuring stick for success is unique. No matter how it’s calculated, everyone wants to reach their goal numbers for growth.

It Starts With Killer Content

You want every visitor to have the VIP experience while engaging with your brand. That begins with quality content. SEO and SERP should intertwine with your message. These are not hindrances to crafting that magical tagline or a blog post that goes viral. Think of them more like The Three Muskateers rather than The Three Stooges. When you combine their superpowers, you’ll receive:

Better search visibility that translates into more eyes on your page.
Information accumulate about your customers, their needs, and insight into solving them.

Wait. There Are Different Types of SEO?

Yes, yes, there are. Let’s break them down and provide a snapshot of what they do.

On-page SEO – Content, keywords, internal links, and metadata: these work together to help your page gain ranking.

Off-page SEO – Guest bloggers, building backlinks, and social media marketing: these items build brand awareness. Although they have nothing to do with your website, they help boost your ranking with every little share and click.

Technical SEO – Mobile-friendly, page speed, sitemaps, and site structure: these enhance user experience and engagement while also helping search engines look through your site.

Local SEO – Google Business profile listings, relevant keywords, up-to-date company information, respond to reviews: if you want searches to convert, start local. These valuable leads in your own backyard can quickly become conversions, and that’s golden, friends.

Every good strategy begins with a plan. From finding your brand voice to strategically sourcing strong content to drive traffic, ArachnidWorks can help you take your business to the next level. Our multidisciplinary marketing and design collective in Frederick, Maryland, is dedicated to creating unique and successful marketing strategies for our clients. Ready to make content and SEO work for you? Reach out, and we’ll get busy making your brand shine.

Customer Relationships: How to Keep Them in Tip-Top Shape

Posted on July 28, 2022

Good customer relationships matter. Excellent relationships with clients are what we all should strive for. Unfortunately, agencies can become oblivious to signs that—well—they’re becoming off-putting without realizing it.

Ouch, right?

There you are, doing everything to collaborate, exceed expectations, and meet project goals. At least that’s what it seems like from your perspective. Yet, are your clients happy? Are they fed up: teetering on the edge of breaking up with you?

Our team at ArachnidWorks has put together a few of our favorite ways not to annoy clients and how to build lasting relationships.

Communicate, Communicate, and—Our Favorite—Communicate

How’s your response time? There isn’t a hard and fast rule when returning business phone calls or emails, yet not responding within 24–48 hours will put you on the client’s naughty list. The best way to avoid their frustration is to clarify communication processes during onboarding, block time during your day to respond to those who reach out, and verify you’ll get back with them in greater detail if you can’t promptly touch each point of concern.

Wait, You Wanted to be Involved?

Sometimes we get so busy doing the work and making it awesome that we forget about the most essential input—the client’s. We know it’s not intentional, but creatives can become mini silos churning out content. That can leave our customers feeling iced from the process. The last thing you want to cause is friction and distrust, right? The best ways to avoid giving clients the cold shoulder is to keep them involved, specify roles and expectations on both ends during onboarding, use collaboration software when appropriate, and set routine check-in appointments.

You’re Not the Boss of Me!

Well, they are the client, so they kind of are friends.

Customers come to you for your help, knowledge, and expertise. They do not come to you to make them feel small, uneducated, or like a nuisance. You know how to get their brand noticed and make their product sing. The thing is, no one likes a know-it-all. Be the person who invites the client to speak freely, listens to them intently, and never overpromises or overreaches to impress. Own up to it, apologize immediately, and make it right if something goes wrong on your watch.

Smarty Pants

Have you heard the expression about how words are like toothpaste? Once they come out, you can’t squeeze them back in. Using buzzwords, jargon, or acronyms you understand doesn’t mean your client knows what you’re referring to. Also, phrases like “to be honest” or “I understand your concerns, but…” or the all-time fave “with all due respect” can give clients the wrong idea. Unless you’re speaking the same industry language, never use words and phrases that alienate, be careful of certain words and phrases that could offend, and fight the urge to have the last word. Sometimes restraint, even when responding is warranted, says more than words ever could.

It’s a Date!

Deadlines matter. Period. End of story. Not delivering on time or sticking to agreements frustrates clients. They’ve made launch plans internally and externally based on your deliverables. Hiccups do happen, yet only promise what you know you can hand over promptly. Communicate immediately when there’s a bump in the process. Help keep those deadlines intact by looking ahead for obstacles during the creation timeline. It’s better to turn over work early to an ecstatic customer than explain why it’s late.

At ArachnidWorks, we’re in the business of giving our clients the best experience possible, from that first handshake to the celebratory launch of your project. Ready to put our experienced teams to work for you? Contact us now.

How to Find Your Brand’s Voice

Posted on May 26, 2022

What do some of your favorite brands communicate to you? What personality do you associate with them? Did you even realize they have personalities? This is their voice, and finding yours is an important part of your strategy.

What is Brand Voice?

Your voice is the distinct personality of your brand. If it was a person, how would it dress? How would it speak, and what other quirks would it have?

This personality, once created, will carry across all forms of communications from blogs to newsletters, website copy, emails, and social media.

Voice and tone are two sides of the same coin: Voice is what your brand itself says to your customers, and tone is how you communicate that message.

Finding Your Voice

This means defining your buyers personas. Once you do that, it’s relatively easy to “talk” in a way that resonates with them. Is your product or service geared towards Gen Z, for instance, or is it focused on B2B? Is it a small business, or an enterprise? If you’re addressing a young audience, you may want to keep your voice relaxed and “hip.” B2B, on the other hand, may require content that is more authoritative or geared to C-suite audiences.

You may find that your tone changes across audiences. How you present your brand when you launch a new product or service will be different from how you address the media or communicate with someone regarding a customer complaint. Messaging should be consistent, yet with a flexible tone to suit different situations.

Take a look at some of your current content. How does your audience engage with your posts, communications, and website? Once you see what your target audience identifies and engages with, you can begin to build your brand’s personality.

Lastly, truly define your voice. What three words do you think best represent you now? This should be a team exercise; break out the whiteboard and have fun with it.

Staying True to Your Voice

Now that you’ve found your it, it’s important to stay consistent. If you have several people on your team touching each piece of content, this may be harder than you think. Documentation will help you maintain brand standards. This should include:

Your business’ mission and values statement: The tone of your mission statement should be reflected in your voice.

Consistent terminology: Every product or service should remain consistent with its name and description, regardless of what platform you’re using to promote it.

Personality: Fun, clever, and irreverent, or authoritative and strictly professional? Once you choose your brand’s personality, be sure to document it so everyone connected with content and website creation stays consistent.

Routine Audits

You’ll need to reevaluate your brand’s voice to make sure that your chosen strategy is working for you, and that your team is working to represent it consistently. You may find that you need to tweak your ideas before finding one that works for your business.

We take branding seriously. We know how important your voice is, and we’ll not only help you find it, but we’ll also help you maintain it. Ready to put our experienced teams to work for you? Contact us now.

5 Signs Your Website Needs a Refresh

Posted on April 20, 2022

Bouncing is good for rubber balls and inflatable castles, but when it comes to your website? Not so much. If you’re finding high bounce rates and low conversions on your site, it’s time for a change.

Here are five things that could be holding your website back:

1. Navigation Nightmares

User experience (UX) is a crucial factor in website design. If your potential customers can’t find what they want on your site, they’ll leave and most likely never return. An effective website is optimized for the user experience, whether it’s on desktop or mobile.

Part of this experience is page loading times. Customers expect a seamless website experience with a loading time of two seconds or less. A recent survey found that half of all visitors will leave a site taking more than six seconds to load. If potential customers can’t find what they need on your site or leave before it loads, you’ve already lost them.

2. Do You Need Pest Control?

Bugs aren’t popular, whether they’re crawling on the ground or invading your website. If you find you’re spending too much time fixing issues, or if visitors are complaining about crashes and other issues with the site’s functionality, it’s time to upgrade to a new site.

3. Google Doesn’t Like You

If your site isn’t showing up in the search rankings on Google, it isn’t optimized properly. The best-performing sites are on page one. If you don’t see yourself listed there, consider it a sign that you need to step up your game.

One of the most important parts of a professional website upgrade will involve technical SEO audits and optimization.

4. Old Site, New You?

Some businesses evolve over time, whether it’s through their audience, culture, or the goods and services they offer. If you fall into this category, make sure your website evolves with you.

Some signs that you’ve outgrown your site can include:

Inquiries about products you no longer carry
Inquiries that are not related to your current business model
Google lowered your rank
You’ve taken no actions to align your business and site since a major change
You’ve seen a drop in sales and conversions after rebranding

5. Your Website is Unappealing

Like it or not, browsers are judging you by your website. If your website screams “1990s,” it may be time for a new coat of paint (and probably a look under the hood). Updating graphics, changing fonts, improving the UX, and streamlining navigation are all ways to make a website more appealing to browsers.

Is it Time for a Website Redesign?

We’re marketing experts with a personal touch; we listen to your needs and align your website design solutions to your business. It’s not one-size-fits-all, it’s a personal and highly customizable journey for each of our clients. Ready to take your business to the next level? Contact us now and let’s get started.

How to Choose the Perfect Colors for Your Brand and Logo

Posted on March 17, 2022

person designing logo on laptop

The first thing your customers or clients will see on your website is your logo, and when it comes to creating it, every decision you make counts. After all, this is the face of your brand and it needs to represent your company’s services, style, and core values. How can a simple concept do all that? It all starts with choosing the right colors.

Establish Your Brand Identity

Understanding your brand’s personality, goals, and target audience is the first step to choosing your colors. Are you a fun-loving teen-focused company, or catering to a more serious crowd of CEOs? What’s the nature of your product and service? What are a few upfront things you want customers to understand about your business?

Color Science is a Real Thing

Certain colors bring certain companies to mind. Why is that? Creative design and careful color selection make these logos and brands memorable. There’s nothing accidental about color choices.

Color science, or chromatics, is the study of the psychological effects colors have on viewers. It’s accepted that green, for instance, indicates healing and nature and reds invoke more passionate feelings such as love or anger. Blue triggers feelings of calmness and loyalty, while yellow feels happy and cheerful.

Think of some of your favorite logos; what’s the color science telling you about the brands?

Use the Color Wheel to Find Pleasing Combinations

If you’ve ever cringed at colors that clash, you already subconsciously understand the color wheel. There are several ways to use different colors for contrast and harmony, and ways to use variations of the same color palette to keep your logo simple and clean.

Simplicity is Usually Better

Try to stick with a few key color concepts. Remember, your brand colors will be seen across all platforms, from web pages to social media and print. Will your choices look as good in a large-scale application, like a t-shirt or billboard, as they do on your business cards? WIll the logo lose effectiveness if it’s printed in black and white?

Black and White for Elegance and Simplicity

In a world full of splashy colors competing for center stage, maybe black and white is the answer for you. This minimalistic combination can mean many things to your customers, including authority, practicality, and sophistication. Where colors require specific settings to maintain consistency, choosing black and white for logos and brand colors make them easy to replicate for any platform.

Research the Competition

The intent behind choosing colors for your brands and logos is to stand out from the competition. You may find that many environmentally-conscious companies choose greens, for instance. You can opt for a different color direction, like a palette of blues, to stand out from the crowd in your industry.

Got questions? Let’s connect and talk about it!

Best Social Media Platform for Businesses 2022

Posted on February 17, 2022

You know the basic social media platforms, those Old Reliables that we’ve been a part of for years. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok are the dominators in the social media world. So how do you know if you’re using the most appropriate platform to reach your target audiences?

The top social media platforms for businesses in 2022 are:

Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
Snapchat
YouTube
TikTok

Why Use Social Media at All?

A brief reminder. For marketing success in 2022, social media isn’t an option. It’s a necessity. It builds brand awareness, gives your business a human touch, increases traffic to your website, and increases engagement for your business. Not just random engagement, though; targeted engagement that converts your audience into leads and leads into conversions. Social media is a fantastic way to track customer data, keep an eye on your competition, and gauge how the public views your business.

Define Your Target Audience

Because different social media platforms attract different users, you need to understand who your target audience is. Some things to keep in mind:

Is your perfect customer male, female, or either? Yes, men do purchase beauty products, but your ideal focus for this market is women.

What’s the age of your ideal customer? If you’re selling hip-hop albums, chances are you’re not selling it to Grandma Joan who lives next door and loves Kenny G.

Other interests: Outdoor enthusiasts will be first to buy your hiking equipment, but your ideal customer may also like fishing and camping.

Income and education: Nothing is more frustrating to a middle-class worker than seeing ads, for yacht sales, million-dollar vacations, and limousine rentals. Make sure you consider income and education levels when defining your audience.

Define Your Goals for Posting on Social Media

First, what’s the nature of your business? Are you looking to connect with potential clients to promote services, or e-commerce customers to purchase physical goods? What’s your company culture and how will it reflect in your posts? What platforms are your competitors using, and how can you leverage this knowledge? What kind of content (written or video, for instance) do you want to post most often?

Understanding what you hope to achieve from your social media presence is an important step when choosing the right platform.

And now it’s time to look at the best social media platforms for businesses, who uses them, and which are best for you.

Social Media Platforms for Businesses

Now that you’ve defined your target audience and goals, you can begin to choose the best social platform for your business.

Facebook

Facebook sees an edge in female interaction over males and remains popular for users between the ages of 18 and 65. It appeals to people with the widest ranges of income and education, and is a great place to build business relationships, show a human side of the business, and connect with potential customers.

Instagram

Video has taken center stage on Instagram, as have stories involving social causes and concerns. Instagram is working to expand its purchase platform, Instagram Shops, and make it easier to connect buyers with the products they want. The platform is most popular for users between the ages of 18 and 29. The average users’ income is slightly higher than Facebook and has more women users than men.

LinkedIn has a larger appeal for men, and definitely has users with a larger income than Instagram, with over half of users reporting incomes of over $75k. It’s a preferred platform for professionals and B2B communications and appeals to a wide range of age groups, primarily from 18-64.

Twitter

Twitter, surprisingly, has a slightly larger male following than females and is preferred by a younger audience with its biggest age group 18 to 29.

Snapchat

Snapchat has the highest audience of 18-29-year-olds, with income levels spread pretty evenly across the board. Women have a slight edge over men when it comes to using this platform.

YouTube

YouTube is becoming a significant contender in the social media world. Users are evenly split between men and women, it appeals to all ages from 18-64, and it boasts a wide range of income levels for its users. If you haven’t considered YouTube for your business, it may be time.

TikTok

Dominating the 18-29-year-old market in short, bite-sized pieces, TikTok is seeing a steady growth in popularity. It holds a slight edge for female users, but the income levels are very evenly split across the platform’s users.

ArachnidWorks Can Help You Decide

We confess we’re kind of obsessed with social media. We can help you choose the best platforms for your business. Got questions? Let’s connect and talk about it!