Reasons Behind the Failure of Your Social Media Marketing and What You Need to Do

You witnessed several companies succeed because they focused on social media marketing. Using social media for boosting the popularity of your business is an excellent idea. However, it is far from being a guarantee. You need to work hard for this strategy to succeed or else nothing will happen; or worse, your strategy could backfire and hurt your brand. These are the reasons why some social media marketing techniques fail, and what you need to do to improve.

You always take a free ride

The good thing with social media is that you can post anything, and you don’t need to pay to do it. However, since everyone is now advertising using social media as a platform, you need to take it to the next level. You have to pay for additional promotion and reach more people. You need to be smart in deciding where you spend your money though.

You opt for flashy strategies

Your strategies usually include games, gimmicks, and promotions. They might work well for a while, but they won’t last long. You need to diversify the kinds of ads you put out there if you want people to feel enticed to follow your page; otherwise, they will feel overwhelmed. They might also remain interested because of the gimmicks and not because of the products and services you offer.
Failure to understand the data

The good thing about social media marketing is that you can get information regarding the status of your marketing campaigns. You will know how many people saw your ads. You will also know if your post became a hit or people ignored it. You can target the right demographics too. If you don’t analyse the data that you can easily obtain, you won’t know what strategies to use as you move forward.

You think like you are a big brand

Don’t compare yourself with major brands. If they have unique strategies to promote themselves, it is up to them to do it. You can’t set the same goals and standards as these brands since you are still trying to introduce your company to the market. If you are too ambitious in your plans, you could end up failing. It does not mean you can’t set huge goals in the long run, but you need to start with something small and achievable.

You commit lots of gaffes

You need someone controlling your social media posts. You need a professional to do it, and not some intern who will treat the page like a personal account. Their immaturity could lead to negative posts or harsh comments. You don’t want it to happen because you need to be diplomatic when talking to your target audience.

Your strategies might work or not depending on how hard you work them. Don’t forget to use offline marketing techniques like rollerbanners. You need them to reach people whom you might not reach if you stick only with an online campaign.

Original post: Reasons Behind the Failure of Your Social Media Marketing and What You Need to Do

How to Choose the Right Logo For Your Blog

Are you the proud owner of a blog? Maybe you started the blog as a side project or out of necessity. It may be based on the power of content or on your personal reputation or even the unique branding you boast of. Every blog needs to have their own unique and individual identity to stand out. This is where your Logo which is part of your brand identity comes in. In this article, we will be taking a look at how you can choose just the perfect logo for your blog.

Let’s get some things straight. A logo is not your header, so don’t mix them up. A logo can be a header but in general, it is a better idea to keep them separate. What is a logo though, you may ask? A logo is any visual, symbol or name your customers recognize you by. It isn’t necessary to have a logo but it always helps if you have some solid branding in place.

What are some common features some of the best logos have?

1. They look good in any size
The most important thing about a logo is its scalability. A logo has to look good on a web banner, a visiting card or even a hoarding. Make sure your logo is highly scalable and looks good in all sizes.

2. They look great in color or monochrome
All logos should look good in color as well as in monochrome black and whites. If your logo has an abundance of color ensure that the logo will still look good if all the color was taken away from it.

3. They are adaptable
Seasonal logos are in trend, make sure your logo will look good wearing a Santa hat for Christmas or incorporate any other festive tradition without losing its shape and form. Can your current logo do that?

4. They can be easily recognized without any words
A logo should be recognized without any words just like numbers. You can have a version of your logo with words but even without them, it should be recognized by your readers.

5. They have Appropriate typography
Fonts are important. They are much more important than you would imagine and you should always ensure your logo has the appropriate typography.

Importance of a Good logo

A good logo is extremely important even if you have a personal blog. Just because people like Seth Godin have been able to turn their names into their blog’s identity doesn’t mean you will be able to do too. Here are a few key things a good logo helps you with.

1. Brand Loyalty
A good logo evokes brand loyalty and facilitates brand recognition which is always good. As your blog grows in popularity so will your logo and people will start recognizing it wherever they come across it.

2. Differentiates you from your competition
A logo helps you differentiate you from your closest competitor and gives your blog its own individual identity.

3. Communicates your Values and Beliefs
A logo helps your customers know what to expect from you before they have any sort or form of communication with you. This helps them establish better trust over time.

Should you Use your Initial for your Logo?

If your blog is about you then the logo for the blog can contain your initials or even your name but in general, it is better to separate the church and the state that is to say it is better to have individual identities. If you still wish to have your initials in there here are a few quick tips to help you add in your initials:

-Tips to incorporate your initials in your logo
-Experiment with different sizes
-Don’t be afraid of different kinds of formatting. Go bold, italics or even inverting the initial
-Shape it up. Add your initials inside some kind of a geometric shape,
-Use multiple fonts
-Use any patterns that may occur in your name.

How to Choose or Design a Logo For your Blog

There are a number of ways you can get a logo for your blog. Some of them are

1. Design it Yourself

If you have a knack for designing things then you can design your logo yourself with the help of tools such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe stock. A logo which you will design for yourself will be authentic and will act as an extension of your personality however keep in mind that it isn’t easy to design something. So proceed with caution.

2. Let Technology help you

There are a lot of Artificial intelligence powered logo makers available for you to choose from the best one of them is Tailor Brands which is what I recommend and use myself. Thanks to the power of technology getting professional grade logos and brand identity have become extremely easy and affordable.

3. Hire a Professional

A professional digital artist, when commissioned a custom logo, will become an expensive proposition for your blog but if you are dedicated to the blog and it is also making you good money then this would be a good option to consider. If you are just starting out I recommend using one of the AI powered logo makers or designing the logo yourself.

Some Things to keep in mind while selecting a professional
Check their previous works and see if you enjoy their design ideology
Check their testimonies and talk to their previous happy clients
Be specific about how you envision your brand and communicate with them your vision effectively.

4. Get a cheap logo from one of those freelance job boards

This is one of the most ineffective ways of getting a logo but sometimes it just works. Many freelancers post their offerings on job boards like Fiverr and UpWork so if you are that desperate to get a logo then go hunting there hoping to find a good designer who doesn’t yet know their worth.

How often should I change my Logo?

Honestly speaking, you should not change your logo often. If you don’t have consistency then people perceive your brand to be very unstable which is a bad thing. In my opinion, changing the logo every 5 to 10 years is good since it keeps your work fresh while allowing your customers enough time to recognize you and the changes you have made in the past.

So this was our guide on how you can choose the right logo for your blog, do let us know in the comments below how you liked this guide and feel free to ask any questions if you may have for us.

Original post: How to Choose the Right Logo For Your Blog

Handwriting: Why the Pen is Mightier Than the Keyboard?

Dylan is a 35-year old blogger, who is always hooked to Apple devices from dawn till dusk. Of late, he feels anxious as he frequently receives calls from his bank about the difference in his signature. Dylan is surprised to know the disparity in each signature he made on different cheques. The bank official has finally called Dylan to the premises to show “different strokes” on the cheques.

During his moments of respite, Dylan comes to know that he has completely lost control over his fingers when he holds a pen or pencil. This is the result of Dylan’s over-reliance on digital devices he uses day in, day out.

With the rise of a digital age, people have begun to use (or overuse) smart gadgets. Like Dylan, there are millions of users, who face this challenge of writing flawlessly on paper.

A handwriting expert nicely puts the issue as he says, “Digital devices have killed our ability to use pen or pencil. Surprisingly, the solution lies in the problem itself. You can use iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to improve your calligraphic skills and master the art of beautiful handwriting.”

The Digital Pen is mightier than the Keyboard

If you want to bring back that skill of legible handwriting, this article works as a piece of advice. The challenge is to stay abreast with the latest without losing a thread connected with the past. Once addicted to smart devices, people would hardly accept any retrogressive change and go back to the old school of writing on paper with a pen. Here, technology functions as a bridge between the past and the present.

Why should you revive the art of handwriting?

As happens with Dylan, this forgotten habit of using pen and paper can put you in the soup when you have to sign important documents, cheque, or attend meetings with a physical notepad.

Cognitive Abilities

Writing about the importance of handwriting, David Pierce says, “Some schools don’t even teach cursive anymore. Yet studies have repeatedly shown that writing by hand can help you process and remember information far better than typing. A 2014 study found that when students typed notes, they tended to just transcribe whatever the professor said, while those working with pen and paper were mentally summarizing and paraphrasing, which led to better test scores.”

The research highlights that kids taking notes on laptops and tablets “have performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took notes longhand.”

Moreover, the study also reveals that students, who use digital devices for note taking are easily distracted. On the other hand, students using pen and paper to take notes have developed multitasking skill and show better concentration.

Laptop note takers tend to “transcribe lectures verbatim” as they cannot process information and reframe it in their own words. Slowly and gradually, there is a detrimental effect on their cognitive abilities.

Your Handwriting Reveals Your Personality

“The way you dot your “i’s” and cross your “t’s” could reveal more than 5,000 different personality traits.”

Your handwriting analysis can reveal your personality. For example, if you are sociable, you would prefer large letters to small ones. And shy and introverted like to write in small letters. Happy with average-sized letters? Then you have a strong ability to focus and concentrate.

Before starting any personality development course, work on your handwriting to leave a remarkable impression.

New tools, old way: Digital pen is an agent of change

Since keyboards and digital devices have become our left and right hand, it is impossible to ditch them and go back to pen and paper. A practical solution, however, is to use iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. With the two Apple products, you can start scribbling texts and letters.

This practice of writing with a digital pen will not only improve your handwriting but also help you develop a penchant towards note taking – whether you are a freelancer or a working professional.

For students, who have not learned cursive handwriting in schools (many schools have adopted smartboard classrooms, where students use tablets or laptops), they can use iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to take notes regularly. To practice cursive writing, they can use calligraphy apps on their iOS devices.

Another way is to use notepad and scan your scrawling with Scanner Pro. You can download Scanner Pro on your iPhone or iPad, and scan your writings from the notepad. Next, you can upload your scanned documents on cloud services like iCloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox. You can easily access your documents from your iOS devices. With optical character recognition, apps like Google Drive and Evernote can convert your scribblings into searchable text.

Summing up…

After finding relatively shallow cognitive processing among students, many schools are going back to writing instead of typing. From the attic of artists, iPad Pro and Apple Pencil are moving to the educational institutes. For written communication, good handwriting is a must. Users need to strike a perfect balance between papers and smart screens as neither can beat each other.

Article contributed by Jignesh Padhiyar from IGeeksBlog.

Original post: Handwriting: Why the Pen is Mightier Than the Keyboard?