What Is Crowdfunding And How Can My Business Get On Board?

Crowdfunding has taken fundraising to a whole new level! Some of the most popular crowdfunding sources are Kickstarter, Indiegogo, RocketHub, and GoFundMe. These platforms are great way to fundraise money for a specific cause or start-up business.

What exactly is crowdfunding?Crowdfunding is a method of funding a project using contributions from a large number of people. No donation is too small since crowdfunding relies on quantity.

Depending on which platform you use, the fees are different. However, in general, the website will hold a percentage fee along with credit card fee. The amounts paid to a project is considered a donation.

Is crowdfunding legal?

Crowdfunding is a legal process of obtaining an investment for your project. President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, also known as the JOBS Act, which helps the “Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure Act of 2012”.

How exactly does crowdfunding work?

Traditional funding involved asking a few wealthy investors for a lot of capital. Crowdfunding does the opposite. It asks a lot of people for a little bit of money each, hence the name CROWDfunding.

On crowdfunding websites, projects are listed for prospective donors to skim through. They can see a written description, photos, or advertisement about the product or service. Fundraisers can explain their benefits as well as set up a reward system for different sizes of donations, like free products or recognition.

How successful has crowdfunding been?

Star Citizen, an independent video game, holds the record for the most ever raised through crowdfunding: over $100 million! That isn’t the norm, of course. According to Fundable, the average successful campaign collects about $7,000. That capital is a great way to jumpstart your project or finance your business. Crowdfunding is also a great way to create a loyal following base, as members who want to jump onto your business can buy into your product early and build a relationship you’re your brand by watching the project come to fruition.

Should crowdfunding be used for professional projects?

Although those over the age of 45 are much less likely to get involved in crowdfunding, don’t be discouraged! Many organizations have successfully used crowdfunded initiatives that would not have fit within their budget otherwise. It can be used to build a hospital or help a census count for a species slowly going endangered but does not have funding behind it. A famous example of crowdfunding is the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. His average campaign donation is only $27.

Crowdfunding is a great way to get the community involved as they feel they have taken apart in helping a group they believe in. Crowdfunding is a great way to get the community involved as they feel they have taken apart in helping a group they believe in!

By Sahil Maherali, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

Companies failing to meet expectations on Customer Service on Social Media – STUDY

Social media can be a boon or bane for customer service complaints. Many people are demanding real-time responses from brands. However, many companies are failing to provide adequate experience. The State of Customer Service 2015 – whitepaper from The Northridge Group, examined customer’s attitudes toward online customer service from more than 1,000 respondents.

As per the whitepaper, 1 out of 3 respondents believe that social media customer service doesn’t meet their expectations. Strikingly, 26% believe online chat exceeds expectations;  15% believe it doesn’t.

Social media is utilized as a real-time and highly interactive platform to solve customer complaints. Yet, 63% of customers have to contact a brand at least 2 times before an inquiry is resolved. 1 out of 10 of respondents said they had to contact the brand four or more times before resolution.

To top it all, social media has an issue resolution rate of 13% — the lowest of any channel!

Therefore, which is the most effective channel for customer complaints? Any guesses? If you guessed the good ol’ POTS then you are correct. More than 3 out of 4 respondents  place a call when the issue is urgent, likely because they report the same day resolution rate to be the highest of all the channels (82%).

Knowing the value of social media it’s here to stay and is only increasing, 17% of respondents expect a response within minutes, but 32% had to wait for 24 hours, while 30% had to wait a week or longer.

Resolution rates appear to be worse than response rates – which I agree brands should not try to resolve customer complaints on social media and make it an open battlefield for everyone to chime in. According to the report, 17% of customers expect a resolution within minutes, and 25% expect one within an hour. Unfortunately, 39% of customers failed to have their issue resolved for a week or more.

There was a mere 2% who chose social media first. In fact, social media is a last ditch choice when a customer service issue is urgent, but respondents don’t believe it’s a fast way to resolve an issue.

Do you want to find tips for improving the social media customer experience? Then pleasedownload the whitepaper.

By Ajay Tejwani, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

Why Facebook Is The Perfect Platform For Online Marketing

Over 1.6 billion active users are logging into their personal Facebook accounts every month. Asone of the largest internet-based companies in the world, this social network gives people, businesses and communities the ability to share events, products, and so much more. Never before has it been easier to reach so many people so quickly. This makes Facebook a gold mine for online advertising.

Some may argue that promoting your goods or services online is a waste of time. Those are the people who don’t understand that online marketing is not like creating a single memorable impression (like a billboard), but the creation of an online reputation that engages their customers and multiplies their reach each time a post is shared.

Take a look at the figure below and think about how this traditional marketing funnel applies to one of the newest methods of marketing using Facebook.

In social media marketing, awareness can be anything from creating an online profile to promoting your posts for millions to see.

The consideration stage occurs when a consumer’s friends and family are involved with your brand, product, or service in some way. Alternatively, consideration can also be given through online reviews. (So make sure you have a good online reputation!)

Facebook makes it easier than ever to jump through the intent stage. Whereas businesses previously had to urge consumers to remember to buy their product, customers can simply access the checkout button that allows them to purchase their product then and there.

But online marketing doesn’t stop there. Once a customer is familiar with your brand, they’ll be more than likely to continue their purchases with you. When a consumer conveys their personal image to your brand, they’ll usually take actions to show their loyalty, such as follow your page on social media or engage in an online conversation.

The advocacy stage is the ideal area for businesses to retain their customers. This is when a consumer of your brand enjoys a product so much, they feel the need to share their contentment with others on their personal profile. This is where awareness increases, and the funnel repeats for new customers who can now get familiar with your brand.

Other media outlets may be good mediums for getting your brand recognized, but with today’s mobile capabilities, selling your products on the internet and spreading awareness online will lead to conversations that only take the click of a link and the push of a button. Rather than reminding your potential customers to use your product or service with a commercial, a sponsored post can lead them to your website to conduct the sale in the comfort of their own home.

Billboards, television screens, and newspaper ads are yesterday’s advertising methods. Online marketing is the advertising of today, and Facebook is the platform for doing business in the “now”.

Businesses in San Antonio are steadily integrating their marketing methods on social media sites like Facebook. The San Antonio Spurs, for example, have established a strong social media presence and online reputation, with 6.6 million likes and posts that are published almost every hour.

If you feel like your business is ready to make the transition from traditional marketing to online marketing solutions, contact Digital Marketing Sapiens for assistance in areas like social media, SEO, web design, and online reputation. Visit their page now to view their work and get access to The Social Media Action Plan, an ebook that will help business leaders develop a social media action plan that will make effective use of all channels to deliver measurable results.

By Ramil Rodriguez, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

Digital Marketing Jargon: Part 4

In a growing industry such as advertising, businesses are constantly transitioning from traditional marketing (billboards, television commercials, and radio ads) to online marketing (social media marketing, SEO, blogging). But usually the terms are confusing to businesses owners that are unfamiliar with digital marketing. Luckily we’ve compiled a series of web posts that will help you interpret the digital marketing jargon in order to help your business grow and succeed. At the end of this series, you’ll have one page serving as an online dictionary, which will cover all the terms discussed in each post. To continue from our last post, here are a few additional vocabulary words you should get familiar with.

Social Media – any and all online tools, platforms, or networks that allow users to generate and share content, as well as interact with others. These include social networks, blogs, file-hosting sites, etc.

Social Network –  is a type of social media platform that works like a community where users can communicate, follow, and respond to other users. Social networks usually engage in the community within their website, but also have the ability to share with other social networks (Instagram has this feature).

Spam – any message that is deemed as an unwanted or overwhelming commercial offer. These can be direct messages, email messages, social media posts, and other public or private forms of communication. In digital marketing, spam is a strategy that is avoided at all costs because it provides very little results and can give businesses a bad reputation.

Tag – a keyword attached to any content that makes it recognizable to be discovered by others on the internet. These tags help categorize content by subject, and is also commonly referred to as a hashtag in social media.

Time on site – refers to the amount of time that website visitors stay on a landing page or website before exiting. These can be individually tracked or averaged based on the total amount of visitors.

TweetUp – An informal meeting in which Twitter users gather for a designated purpose and then tweet about it before, throughout, and after the event.

Twitter – a social networking site that offers the ability for users to post a “tweet”. Each post is limited to 140 characters and can be replied to, liked, and retweeted. Twitter is a public network that connects users through follows, lists, and the use of hashtags (see “tag”).

URL – a short and more commonly known acronym for Uniform Resource Locator, a URL is a unique address for a website or file that is accessible on the internet.

YouTube – a website dedicated to sharing videos across one of the largest online communities on the internet. This site allows you to upload, view, and comment on videos, as well as subscribing to users or channels to be updated when future videos are uploaded.

If you haven’t already:

Click here to read Digital Marketing Jargon Part 1.

Click here to read Digital Marketing Jargon: Part 2.

Click here to read Digital Marketing Jargon Part 3.

Next week Digital Marketing Sapiens will release its final set of marketing terms that will make it easier for you to get comfortable and confident with the in-and-outs of online marketing. Stay connected with us through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be updated with new terminology that will allow your business to dig deeper into the power of digital marketing.

By Ramil Rodriguez, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

Digital Marketing Jargon: Part 3

If you’re new to the digital marketing world, or unfamiliar with what online advertising has to offer, you are definitely not the only one. Any business that is not making this transition is either unaware of how effective and inexpensive it is to have an online ad, or is unfamiliar with the concept of digital marketing. Luckily we’ve compiled a series of web posts that will help you interpret the digital marketing jargon that will help your business grow and succeed. At the end of this series, you’ll have one page serving as an online dictionary for you, which will cover all the terms discussed in each post. To continue from last week’s list of jargon, here are a few additional vocabulary words you should get familiar with.

LinkedIn – A more professional version of social media where members can connect with other users, share posts, recruit, and hire users. This social network is very career focused, meaning that each user’s profile is used as a resume in many cases, and shows credibility from past and present experience.

Podcast – Audio or video content that is a form of online broadcasting. Podcasts usually appeal to a specific type of audience that views the content based on the host’s programming (daily, weekly, monthly) and can often subscribe to receive these audio/video files.

Profile – A description of a specified user, usually on a social network, that contains information about the user. This information varies depending on the type of social media and how one decides to utilize their personal page.

Rankings – The placement of a website’s listing on a page of search engine results.

Reach – The total size of the audience that has been reached.

Return On Investment – More commonly known as “ROI”, the return on investment is a percentage of profit from a campaign or digital marketing activity.

Search Engine – A website used to search the Web for specific keywords related to the information being sought. The results depend on the website, but typically show results including websites, images, videos, news, products, or locations on a map.

Search-Engine Marketing – Abbreviated as “SEM”, search-engine marketing is any activity that allows a website to be marketing on a search engine website. Some examples include paid placement within searches, and search engine optimization (see definition).

Search Engine Optimization – More commonly known as “SEO”, search engine optimization is the process of using website analytics with the proper copy, design, and structure to ensure that a website or web page is at the top of search engine results pages.

Every week Digital Marketing Sapiens will release a new set of marketing terms that will make it easier for you to get comfortable and confident with the in-and-outs of online marketing.

If you haven’t already, click here to read Digital Marketing Jargon Part 1.

If you missed last week’s list, click here to read Digital Marketing Jargon: Part 2.

Stay connected with us through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be updated with new terminology that will allow your business to dig deeper into the power of digital marketing for your business.

By Ramil Rodriguez, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

Digital Marketing Jargon: Part 2

If you commonly find yourself wondering what hashtags and impressions are, worry not. Businesses are beginning to understanding the benefits of digital marketing, but many seem to be confused about the internet marketing terms. Luckily we’ve compiled a series of web posts that will help you interpret the digital marketing jargon that will help your business grow and succeed. At the end of this series, you’ll have one page serving as an online dictionary for you, which will cover all the terms discussed in each post. To continue from last week’s list of jargon, here are a few vocabulary words you should also get familiar with.

Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) – Also known as conversion cost, the CPA is the ratio of the total cost of a campaign to the total number of customers.

Cost-Per-Click – The cost to get targeted traffic and direct traffic to your website. Every time a potential customer is directed to your website, you agree to pay a set amount.

Crowdsourcing – the practice of utilizing an online community to contribute to a project or campaign. This can be in the form of obtaining services, ideas, or content.

Dashboard – An overview of an existing application usually used for administrative purposes. A dashboard allows you to view the activity or summary of activity occurring within the application, and usually allows you to make customizable changes when necessary.

Engagement – Engagement is any form of response to a post usually in the form of likes, shares, and comments.

Facebook – A free social-networking site available on any device with internet capabilities and appropriate for anyone who is 13 years of age or older. This platform has 1.3 billion active users and is considered the leading worldwide social media platform.

iFrames – also known as frames, this tag allows multiple websites to exist on the same web page. These are usually used during log-in, sign up, or to entice website viewers to remain on your page.

Hashtag – Used on social media sites (primarily by Twitter and Instagram), a hashtag is a hash or pound sign (#) connected to a keyword or set of keywords that connect the post to other related posts on the site.

Impressions – The number of times a post, advertisement, or campaign has been visually seen by a user of that social network.

Instagram – A social networking platform that allows users to find, share, and discuss pictures and videos with an online community.

Leads – the amount of customers interested or inquired for the use of a product or service of a business.

Every week Digital Marketing Sapiens will release a new set of marketing terms that will make it easier for you to get comfortable and confident with the in-and-outs of online marketing. If you haven’t already, Click here to read Digital Marketing Jargon: Part 1.

Stay connected with us through Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be updated with new terminology that will allow your business to dig deeper into the power of digital marketing for your business.

By Ramil Rodriguez, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

Reaching Your Audience On YouTube

Following only Google and Facebook, Youtube is ranked as one of the top three visited websites in the world.It’s not hard to understand why! This site is a powerful tool where users can upload, view, rate, share, and comment on videos. Youtube has a wide variety of content from video clips, television clips, music videos, movie trailers, original videos, and educational videos. Sixty hours of videos are uploaded every minute and four billion videos are played daily. The popularity of YouTubemakes it the perfect base for a business to market to any target.

What Are The Benefits Of Advertising On YouTube?

• Connecting with your audience – Video ads are a great way to connect with your audience in a unique way. Your video can be personal, a hard engagement sale, or other forms of engagement.
• Reaching the right audience– Reaching an audience is the most important part of creating a marketing strategy. No matter how great your advertisement might be, if it does not reach your target audience, it will not lead to sales. YouTubecanfocus your advertisements towards your costumer is with topics, keywords, or demographics as well.
• Measuring Analytics -The detailed analytics offered by YouTube is a great way to see how your advertisements are working.

There are two forms of advertisements on Youtube. These options are great ways to help get your ad the exposure and results you want.

1. In-sStream Ads– In-stream ads are advertisements hat display before, during, or after a video. This advertisement can include call-to-action overlays, cards, companion banners, and other ways for a viewer to land on your website. The company is only charged for an in-stream-ad if a viewer watches the entire advertisement.

In-Display Ads– In-Display-Ads are another way to get viewers to watch your advertisements. These ads are

1. brought up when people are searching on YouTube or browsing videos on YouTube. These advertisements appear near a video and are only charged if someone begins watching your video.

Reaching potential customers is easy with the correct steps in place! Keyword contextual targeting is an easy way to make sure that your ad gets to the correct viewers. Selecting demographics is also a great way to reach potential clients as well. For example, a barbecue set can be targeted for men over the age of 30. Topics can also be a great way to target a specific audience. For instance, a textbook company can target those who watch math tutorials. Affinity audiences and custom affinity audiences are a great way to also target interest based groups for your need and tailored to individual brands. In-market audiences are also a great way for those who are researching keyword products or services to ensure your product. Remarketing is the final strategy in which the advertisements will be based off of a search history.

YouTube is a great medium to display your message to clients through advertisements videos which are cost effective to make!

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com