Mobile proxies have grown into popular use by individuals. However, they can also greatly serve businesses. Datacenter proxies are great options for businesses thanks to their performance and cost-effectiveness. However, mobile proxies mitigate most of the limitations of datacenter proxies.

Hence, the need to know about them and how they can help your business.

What are mobile proxies, and how do they work?

Proxies are hardware or software infrastructures that act as intermediaries between users’ computers and the internet. Being an intermediary, every request from the user’s computer heads to the proxy server accompanied by the user’s IP address. Another address masks the user’s IP address at the proxy server.

Mobile proxies use IP addresses from mobile networks for their masking, originating from a cell tower. Thanks to this, your device – which doesn’t have to be a mobile device – gets the IP address of a mobile phone.

When users try to access the internet on a mobile proxy, a new address assignment takes place over 3G and 4G connections. IP addresses given over 3G or 4G connections are known to have a higher anonymity degree.

Furthermore, unlike other proxies where the supplied IP addresses belong to an idle gadget gathering dust somewhere, mobile proxy addresses belong to real people. You’ll agree that 3G or 4G mobile phones are rarely idle. So, mobile proxies are real.

Since you can’t use another person’s address forever, mobile proxy-assigned IP addresses are always changing. This rotation increases security, as tracking your online activity to a single address becomes impossible.

Due to the growing importance and adoption of mobile proxies, free versions are popping up everywhere. However, it’s advised to steer clear of these free proxies, as it’s difficult to ascertain their quality.

Also, free proxies don’t make money from users, putting the creators under no obligation to enhance the security or performance of the infrastructure. Owing to this, using free mobile proxies is a security risk. Proxies always have access to your information and browsing activity. Hackers can farm your details and sell them on the dark web if you use a proxy that its developers do not protect well.

You shouldn’t compromise your data and online activity to save some dollars. Hence, it’s best to find a paid mobile proxy where you can rest assured of support, security, performance, etc. Click here for more information.

Use Cases of mobile proxies

Managing and gathering data from social media

Large companies have to manage several social media accounts across various regions. Accessing and engaging with location-specific content may be tricky, as most social media platforms use algorithms to curate content relevant to users’ IP addresses. So, if you’re in the US, it’s not easy to manage your company’s Australia account; you won’t get enough access to local Australian content on your feed.

Mobile proxies solve this problem. Beyond managing social media accounts across different regions, mobile proxies also make it easy to collect data across several regions.

Ad verification

Verifying ads before publishing them is important to marketing and branding. As you’d expect, the best way to test an ad is to subject it to local destination conditions. If you want to run an ad for your Australian audience from the US, use an Australian IP address to see how the ad behaves.

Since online ads are mainly used natively within the context of the publisher’s content, you need to confirm if it’s showing alongside similar content. Knowing what to expect from your ads helps you forecast better.

Ad verification can also help you understand your brand’s reputation better. To improve your brand, you should also ensure your ads appear on credible sources, not porn sites.

5 benefits of mobile proxies for your business

Real IP addresses

Businesses don’t have time to deal with IP bans, especially if you’re scraping the web. You stand less risk of being banned with mobile proxies, as the infrastructure rotates IP addresses by default, unlike datacenter proxies.

Reliability

The world is full of mobile networks. So, a mobile IP address will always be whenever you need it. Furthermore, mobile proxies don’t get blocklisted and work in real time. The constant availability makes them reliable.

Seamless surfing experience

For web scraping, CAPTCHAs are the bane of the business owner’s existence. Also, for normal browsing, having to solve CAPTCHAs can be frustrating. Hence, the need for mobile proxies. Mobile proxies offered by standard providers easily bypass these online bot checkpoints.

Enhanced privacy and security

The internet is no longer safe, as anyone with the technical know-how can easily see what you’re doing. With mobile proxies, you get to keep yourself safe. The same goes for business operations. Having your business information confidential is more important than ever. Businesses also need to protect themselves from phishing attempts amongst other cybercrimes.

Improved performance

With mobile proxies, your online surfing becomes better. They improve the speed of your connections, especially by caching data.

Conclusion

The world is fully digital, and keeping up with the trend is important. If there is any technology your business should adopt today, it is mobile proxy servers. Conducting business online, however, requires intentionality towards security, like offline safety. Hence, invest in a good mobile proxy provider.

The post 5 Ways Mobile Proxies Can Help Your Business appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Since mobile apps have become a norm in our century, it would be great to create an e-commerce mobile app with which your customers can engage. About 96 per cent of the American population own a phone, and according to EPAM anywhere if you create an eCommerce Android app it would be perfect for your web store. 

You can’t rely on a website alone, the development of e-commerce applications is also needed for success. This article will look at various reasons you need to create a mobile eCommerce app. 

Top 6 Reasons You Need to Create An E-commerce Mobile App

Having a good website is great, but the following are the top 6 reasons you need an make an e-commerce mobile app: 

1. Easy Usability And Experience For Users

E-commerce websites might be responsive, but most times, you’ll have to log onto the website and sign in before engaging in any shopping activity. E-commerce application development enables you to use a mobile app in place of an eCommerce website. 

When you create an eCommerce app in android, it allows users to download the app via the android play store and sign up. Once they do, their details are saved automatically on the app, and they sign in just once. The eCommerce app development enables users to shop efficiently, giving them an outstanding shopping experience. 

2. Connection With Phone Features

An eCommerce app can use some of your phone features to give users an outstanding shopping experience. When you build an eCommerce android app for your web store, users can integrate them with some of the features on their phones, such as cameras and GPS. 

3. Mobile Apps Can Help You Market Your Business

When you make an e-commerce android app, you provide users with the opportunity to have a complete omnichannel experience. Customers can integrate the app with their social media to offer a combination of the various channels customers use in engagement. From here on, their preferences are saved on the application, allowing users to see related content. When you create an app for eCommerce, it will also enable you to market your business to your target audience. 

4. Various Payment Options And Easy Checkouts

So many online platforms often experience cases of abandoned carts. One of the major reasons for this is checkout complexity. No one wants to experience difficulty while shopping; everyone wants to shop easily. That is why e-commerce mobile application development is an excellent means of providing customers with easy checkouts and various payment methods.

5. Presence of Advanced Tech To Enhance Customer Experience

To develop an e-commerce application in android is very beneficial for customers due to the presence of advanced tech for enhancing customer experience. The presence of advanced tech such as AR/VR is essential for a good customer interactive experience.

Another advanced tech that customers can enjoy when you develop an eCommerce app in android is the artificial intelligence integrated with the chatbox. It helps customers search for their product preferences when on the app easily. 

6. Customer Preference

You can generate e-commerce sales from your web platforms that customers can access via mobile. However, since mobile app development for eCommerce, 78 percent of customers now opt for an eCommerce app rather than a website. Thanks to the speed, easy usability, and convenience these apps deliver. Owners of web stores need to learn how to create an eCommerce android app for their business! 

Final Thoughts

Your web store needs to have a mobile app if you want higher order values, higher conversions, and higher retention values. An eCommerce android app is a necessary upgrade for higher productivity. From the 6 pointers in this article, you can see why it is vital to create an e-commerce mobile app. 

Author Bio – Hi, I am Mohd Zaid Mansoori, a blogger, content writer, and outreach specialist. Over the years I have learned a lot about technology and still learning something new every day.

The post 6 Reasons You Need To Create an E-commerce Mobile App for Your Web Store appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Mobile Marketing Benefits

Experts agree that companies utilizing mobile strategies are seeing benefits such as improved cost efficiencies, closer connectivity with customers, and more accurate data points. That’s because for marketers, mobile advertising provides a more effective way to target and retarget their audiences, create higher-level personalization, and be freed of barriers like time and location.

Another key to mobile ads is your website. Your mobile advertising may be linking to your website or a landing page that will really benefit if it’s utilizing responsive web design (RWD). A RWD site means that it is accessible from desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, wearables, and all other devices and will adapt to the device regardless of the browser or screen size. This means customers can use and navigate your site well from a mobile phone. Important, especially if that is how they came to it in the first place.

Create a Roadmap

For mobile to be an effective part of your overall marketing strategy, you need to develop a continuum of what you want to accomplish. And it needs to include metrics that go beyond just measuring likes and followers. This will require looking at how you want to use your data or data you want to purchase, who you want to target, and how to personalize the offer.

Once you have a roadmap in place it becomes clearer what tools you’ll need. For highly effective mobile ads that usually means utilizing targeting and personalization through the leveraging of demographics. There are all kinds of demographics today. There are personal demographics such as gender, age, education, finances, family, home, type of customer device, news or music preference even. There is geographic data like physical location – state, city, zip code. There are also psychographics that classify people based on their attitudes, aspirations and other psychological criteria. You get the idea.

Ready to Launch

Now you’re ready to enter the mobile space. If you never have before, try an initial campaign to start with. Based on your current marketing messaging create a simply designed display ad that is linked to a content-rich landing page.

Buying

Buying your mobile ads can be handled in various ways. You may just want to purchase through Google Display Network initially. It allows for your ad to be displayed across the websites and apps within their network. Google also gives you the tools for tracking your efforts so you have the metrics to support your mobile endeavors. It also helps you detect fraudulent clicks from bots that can quickly drain your budget.

Budgeting

Your budget is paramount so that’s where your demographic work comes in. Select the demographics you’ve deemed important and purchase based on this. This is effective for small businesses, allowing them to limit their reach to conserve budget. It’s a good way to segment your audience and target your mobile ad appropriately.

Retargeting

If possible, include a retarget ad in your campaign. Now you can present that mobile ad offer through multiple channels and have it display on Facebook or in email. Cross-device retargeting also will provide a greater benefit to your company.

This is a good effort to see how mobile may work for your company. It takes time and resources to establish a mobile strategy that is relevant and has traction. It’s worth it though because mobile messaging is only going to continue expanding. Modern Marketing Partners is ready to help you with further best practices to fully navigate the mobile space.

The post Maximizing Mobile with Targeting and Personalization appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

The numbers indicate this powerful phenomenon will only continue to gain momentum in years to come. According to recent statistics, currently in the U.S. 92 percent of millennials use smartphones, 85 percent of GenXers and 67 percent of Baby Boomers. The affordability of phones and data have lead to smartphones rapid adoption rates, which are expected to reach 3 billion users worldwide by 2021. The rise in smartphone usage has also lead to a yearly rise in mobile data traffic that is expected to increase by 500 percent from 2018 to 2024, according to Ericsson’s November 2018 Mobility Report

In turn, marketers have seen these numbers and gravitated toward the mobile market due to its continued increase in smartphone usage and commerce activity. Mobile app growth initially exploded as it started around $53 billion in 2012, and is now expected to reach $189 billion in 2020. Marketers have also taken to advertising on the mobile platform. Mobile is now expected to lead TV in ad spending in 2019. In recent years, digital has captured 50 percent of U.S. paid media ad spend with mobile seizing the majority of these ad dollars. Now, the expectation is mobile will grow to 70 percent of all total digital advertising.

You have to have the mobile conversation around those numbers, especially with senior leaders in your organization. They are the reasons your marketing plan needs to invest in mobile. Understandably every company’s budget is different and most tend to say theirs is limited. So let’s consider the various mobile advertising options available today, to help you choose how to spend.

Banner/Display Ads

The Mobile Marketing Association describes banner or display ads as an – ad unit, which is defined by display size such as 400 by 350 pixels. Banner ads come in all shapes and sizes and can use flash (not that popular anymore), be static/still graphics or be an animated GIF. They can be placed anywhere on a mobile website, within an app or via a pop-up and are clickable to the customer. They need to be designed to be responsive and resizable to customers’ mobile screen dimensions and capabilities. Display ads are the most common mobile ad format.

Text Messaging/Push Notifications

Sometimes this is a way to begin your foray into mobile advertising. It’s a basic way as in text-only to reach customers on a mobile platform. It needs to be built upon, but text messaging can provide conversions/leads with click-to-call or click-to-web options. Push notifications need to be shorter in length to ensure the main point shows up on a lock screen properly, where as a text message can be longer because the customer can open it up and read the entire message. Additionally, text message will bring the customer to their messaging app, while a push notification will bring the customer to whatever app sent the message. That’s why the quantity of push notifications being sent needs to be carefully monitored and used only for appropriate marketing programs, so they don’t become annoying to your customers.

Videos

We’ve talked about video as content quite a bit. Because social platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are built on this concept, your mobile ad efforts can and should include video. Video that is short, like 30 to 60 seconds short, and if you can get it to 15 seconds that’s good too. Videos help you connect with your audience and can be a fun and interesting way to show a problem that your product offers a solution to. And this is a mobile tactic that is expanding, so you need to know and look at 360 video, vertical video, and outstream ad formats too. Remember different lengths and formats for different platforms may be necessary.

Native Ads

They take on the look and feel of the platform they’re being presented on. They’re also expected to drive about three quarters of all advertising revenue by 2021, according to Business Insider. Native ads are designed with a mobile first approach because social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are mobile only. It’s a natural fit. And speaking of natural, native ads need to be created in an authentic manner to earn the loyalty they want to gain from their audience.

These are the four main types of mobile ad options marketers have to meet customers where they live. Next up, we’ll talk about some ways your company can enter the mobile landscape. If you already feel you need some help getting pointed in the right direction, contact Modern Marketing Partners.

The post Meet Customers Where They Live With Mobile Marketing appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

And even businesses that think they might not really be in a position to capitalize on any holiday spending need to realize there’s an opportunity. According to Deloitte’s 33^rd Annual Holiday Consumer Spending Survey, over half of shoppers (51 percent) believe in the spirit of self-gifting and say they’ll buy for themselves while shopping for others – that’s an increase of 15 percentage points over the last five years.

Overall, online spending continues to grow and as is poised to capture the most dollars, but with some important help from stores too. Several interesting points from the Survey can help demonstrate how and where businesses need to focus their efforts this holiday season:

• 57% of total spending is expected to be online with 36% happening in stores.
• Consumers will look for inspirations both online and in the stores with 66% going online to do their research and 56% saying they’ll use retail stores and online search engines to get ideas.
• Consumers are still trying to decide what purchases to make this season. Almost half of shoppers (49%) don’t yet have specific items in mind that they plan to buy, regardless if they’re planning to shop online or in a store.
• Shoppers are looking for a good reason/offer from companies with 82% of consumers saying promotions influence their holiday shopping.
• 95% say price discounts are the most appealing promotional offers, followed by free shipping (75%).
• Shoppers are planning on using their phones this season — 67% say they will make purchases on their phones, up from 59% last year.

A good promotion is definitely important. Consumers are clearly passionate about getting great deals this time of the year. However there are other points of inspiration that can help drive sales as well. Companies need to influence and inspire customers to try and stand out from the competition. Companies need to create an engagement strategy that focuses on personalization and mobility for their shoppers.

Creating a promotional campaign utilizing personalization requires establishing goals just like you would with any other type of campaign. Once you have chosen who you’re targeting such as new or existing customers and your goals like generating X amount of revenue, you’re ready to delve into your data to meet consumer expectations. For example, consider a special offer that would be of great interest to reward your loyal customers. Messaging around the promotion can be a simple thank you, showing them your appreciation for their continued support.

If you’ve analyzed customer actions from previous messages, remember to run the campaign on the channel they most interact on and make it as visual as possible.

If you want customers to stay engaged with your holiday campaigns then you need to leverage your mobile capabilities as well. Mobile demand is growing and Millennials and Gen Z consumers in particular are more likely to shop on mobile sites and those that deliver a seamless mobile experience. So as a company you need to ensure you have a smooth mobile checkout process. Here are a few tactics to consider for streamlining:

• Try reducing form fields
• Proactively suggest addresses as a customer begins to type
• Check text size for easy readability
• Add a Buy Now button throughout online content (so you don’t lose customers on the way to checkout)

For the 2018 holiday season companies have the opportunity to embrace digital strategies that enhance the customer experience and generate more sales. People are shopping for a number of reasons and tailored messaging on the right channels will encourage customer engagement during this year’s holiday spending and leading into 2019.

The post Pump Up Holiday Sales with Personalization and Mobile Capabilities appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Therefore, from a marketing perspective many businesses have invested time and money to reach customers where they spend most of their time – on their phones. This has meant carefully considering consumer app usage and preferences. As mobile has exploded in growth in recent years, app downloading and usage has grown exponentially as well.

Forrester data as well as a 2016 study by App Annie found that users access approximately 30 apps a month and of those they use 9 daily. It seems that 25-30 apps has been the most consumers have been able to manage comfortably monthly for the past three to four years. Daily app usage includes pre-installed utility (think calendar and messaging) and email tools, which leaves about 5 apps being downloaded and installed from the App Store.

Private Brand App Challenges

Top applications vary by consumer, but data shows that social networking, communication, and productivity are many users most popular apps. People are using Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp. Each year they’re spending more time in these apps with U.S. users averaging two hours and 15 minutes daily.

However, studies are finding the use of brand apps not that high. There are of course some exceptions, but for the most part small and mid-size businesses might not have the customer base or get the needed usage necessary to make app development pay off. But these companies can still reach customers in their mobile lives by considering mobile messaging tools.

Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp each have over one billion monthly users. So yes, you’re going to find your customers utilizing these apps, especially if your business attracts Millennials, because over one third of that generation regularly uses Facebook Messenger. Additionally, there is value to your customers and your company to provide customer support through mobile messaging.

Perks of Messenger Apps

Messaging tools as a service option opens the door to creating: persistent, private, and yet fuller communication that can be handled at the convenience of consumers. For example, companies have been recording customer service calls for forever. This is good for companies because they have a record of the exchange. However, this doesn’t help customers. Whereas messaging provides both the customer and the company a complete record of the conversation that is easily accessible to both parties.

Messaging also has the potential to ward off public comments, by helping brands keep comments private. It gives customers a private channel to air their complaints and attain resolution. Perhaps this will eliminate their desire to publicly post negative feedback, which always has the possibility of going viral. Any decrease in negative public comments is a win for companies, and having an issue resolved to a customer’s satisfaction is a win for the customer.

Perhaps, that resolution will even happen a little quicker using messaging due to the capabilities inherent in the tool. Maps can be sent to help with tracking and real-time package delivery updates. And if the package or the product in the package arrives damaged, a customer has the ability to send a photo as an explanation for the needed customer support. It also gives the customer service representative the ability to reply with a frowning face emoji while they rectify the situation for the customer. Messaging supports a range of texting options that makes conservations richer and more like talking with a friend – creating a better overall experience.

Mobile messaging needs to be on the radar of organizations as they look to create a meaningful customer journey. Mobile use is only expected to rise and meeting consumers where they live can provide benefits to both customers and companies. There is value in handling a question or complaint quickly, efficiently and privately on a preferred mobile platform of the masses.

The post Mobile Messaging Helps Overall Customer Experience appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Low Adoption Rate by Marketers

It would seem only fair to say that marketers need to prioritize designing strategy around these technologies in order to meet customers’ rising expectations. However, a 2017 study by BrightEdge found that just 35 percent of marketers are somewhat likely or likely to adopt voice search in the near future, and only 3 percent were rolling it out last year. Additionally, 32 percent of marketers believe artificial intelligence is the next big thing that will impact their marketing efforts, yet 57 percent had no plans to implement any aspect of this technology currently.

Companies need to be aware that the impact of AI and voice-activation doesn’t stop with marketing, sales will also be impacted by the rise in use of voice-activated virtual assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Home that combine both of these technologies. Last year’s holiday season saw one in four people using voice assistants to help with their shopping, according to Consumer Technology Association’s 2018 Research Standards Report Study. With voice assistants becoming a staple in many homes, consumers are moving away from searching and purchasing through a visual experience and even a touchscreen and maneuvering strictly with a voice interface.

Popular with Millennials

And it’s changing their marketing and sales behavior due to the nature and ease of using such a natural interface. A better understanding of how customers are utilizing voice-activated assistants continues to become clear as adoption continues to grow rapidly. The Toluna Voice-Activated Virtual Assistant Survey found that over half of voice-activated virtual assistant owners, of which 60 percent are Millennials, report making fewer in-store purchases. Also, 51 percent acknowledge they now search online with traditional web browsers less often, and 60 percent read and watch traditional media channels less frequently.

Perhaps the most positive takeaway from the study for businesses is the fact that current users are happy with their voice-activated virtual assistants with 90 percent saying they would recommend them to friends. Google has even found that 52 percent of virtual assistant owners would like to receive information about deals, sales, and promotions from brands; and 39 percent would like to receive options to find business information.

Privacy Challenges

Companies do need to be aware of users’ concerns about voice-activated virtual assistants and develop a strategy that establishes privacy guidelines around the gathering and storage of personal data. The Toluna study highlights the main concerns of users, finding that 63 percent of participants are worried or very worried that their voice-activated system is recording their personal data. Men in particular at 65 percent are concerned about privacy and women were right behind at 61 percent.

It’s important for companies to validate the issues surrounding privacy, yet still hear how voice-activated technology is an opportunity for them to reach and interact with customers in a new way. It’s also important for businesses to understand if and how their prospects and customers utilize their virtual assistants, and engage them on the platform where they’re most likely to do business. Marketing without visuals requires a new approach, one that will take some time to learn and implement effectively. Marketers need to start now.

The post Voice-activated Virtual Assistants Are Changing Customer Behavior appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

When Is It Being Used?

Understanding how fellow marketers are using text messaging will help you better understand how to use it for your business. For one, marketers like using it for important and urgent messages. It’s also an effective tool when other channels prove ineffective.

How Quick is Response?

Everyone acknowledges that text messages work very quickly. 76% of buyers believe that text messaging has the potential to speed up the sales process. 95% of sellers agree. There’s proof to back these opinions up. 58% will respond within 10 minutes; 17% will respond in under a minute. Can you think of another channel with such a quick response rate?

How Do Buyers Feel?

Almost half of buyers (44%-46%) believe it’s appropriate to use text messaging in the following scenarios:

• Status updates
• Appointment and deadline reminders
• Missing document notifications
• Urgent and important notifications
• When having trouble connecting through other channels

The following scenarios are less welcome, however, they are trending up as attitudes about text messaging change.

• Just to say hello
• Happy birthday wishes
• Promotions or special programs

How well the buyer knows the business affects their opinion of text messaging as a communication option as well. They’re twice as likely to be receptive of it if they know the business. Further, text messages when the prospect does know the business can increase conversion by as much as 328%. However, if they don’t have a relationship with a business, reaching out via text decreases the likelihood of reaching the lead by 39%. So unless a customer initiates text, it may not be a good idea to use it with a new prospect.

Buyers even prefer text over email for important and urgent messages. Further, text messaging’s popularity is trending up, while email is falling. In some scenarios, text messaging is replacing tried and true forms of communication.

What’s Everybody Else Doing?

Plenty of buyers are open to text, however, only 28% of sellers frequently use it. However, 87% plan to increase their use of it during the next 5, so the time to adopt it is now.

Why aren’t sellers using text more? It’s often one of 3 reasons.

1. 56% cite compliance concerns.
2. 50% can’t find a convenient tool to do so.
3. 34% don’t want to use their personal cell phone.

And the big guys? They use text messaging even more. Large sellers with 500+ salespeople had very different options of text messaging from the rest:

• They believe it speeds up the sales process (71% vs. 57%).
• They use it for urgent information (71% vs. 41%).
• They’re twice as likely to always text (21% vs. 10%).

Don’t Neglect This Trending Communication Channel

Buyers are open to it. Competitors are planning to increase their use of it. Response times are crazy fast. There are a number of reasons to use text message marketing immediately, so don’t hesitate.

You can read up on more text message marketing statistics here.

The post Text Messaging: The Neglected Marketing Channel appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

Instagram is a natural fit for the Millennial lifestyle. They are the largest group of consumers who use mobile and social media. Their reliance on peers, family, friends and experts to provide trusted information is substantiated in Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer. The survey’s 2018 numbers indicate again that these are the people they most trust, whereas in general, trust among the informed public plunged for the first time by 23 points, making the U.S. market the lowest of all those surveyed.

So there is a great opportunity for companies to use influencer marketing on Instagram. If done correctly, it can have a substantial impact on brand awareness and relationship development, as well as build much-needed trust for the brand. Instagram in particular is a great platform to use to leverage influencers, as there are several on the network that have huge, fiercely loyal Millennial followers.

To get started, here are some general tactics that pertain to developing an influencer marketing campaign for most businesses trying to reach Millennials.

1. Find influencers currently on Instagram. You can begin by looking at your brand’s followers. See if anyone regularly posts positive comments about your brand and check the number of followers they have. You can also use the Instagram discover tool. Type in a hashtag relevant to your brand and see where it takes you.

There are a number of companies that will compile a list of influencers based on your needs like Iconosquare or SocialBlade. Much about the influencer’s audience demographics such as size, followers, and following ratio will be provided to help you make a good decision for your brand.

2. Narrow your list. Based on your campaign objectives and the market you operate in, you may even be looking for a specialized expert. Your Millennial audience may be better suited to a niche influencer with attentive, targeted followers.
3. Prioritize your list of influencers. This step requires a good deal of time and research. You need to carefully consider each influencer’s audience and level of engagement. You’re looking for active keywords that demonstrate intent or suggest action be taken. You’re also reviewing their content as a whole. This will help you determine the impact each influencer can have on a specific audience.

A note of caution — Beware of influencers who have gained anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 followers in a day. This could be a sign that the influencer bought followers.

4. Select your influencer(s) and develop an outreach strategy. Personalize your message and focus on the specific traits she or he represents that you believe fit with your brand. If you are working with a tight budget make sure to stand out from the requests influencers receive regularly.
5. Outline your campaign. Provide the influencer with as much information about the campaign as possible. Be prepared to change and modify campaigns to meet the persona of the influencer you’re working with. If you’re working with more than one, you want to have different content for each in case they have overlapping followers.

Instagram’s new algorithm will help keep your content showing up longer now too, which is a plus. The value of leveraging influencers on Instagram is key to a successful relationship with Millennials. The increase in brand familiarity and trusted information will be a driving force behind their decision to purchase.

The post Leveraging Millennial Engagement on Instagram with Influencer Marketing appeared first on Modern Marketing Partners.

An interesting strategy for reaching Millennials to increase brand awareness and relationship development is to create a campaign on Instagram. Fifty-nine percent of Millennials currently use Instagram and about one-quarter say they plan to spend more time on it over the next year. Furthermore, a survey by Bustle found that 80 percent of those polled said social media is the best way to reach them, and of those, 40 percent of women said specifically, Instagram, is the most effective platform for brands to reach them.

Additionally, other studies have shown that Millennials have three communication habits that make reaching them on Instagram (an entirely mobile experience) an effective tactic.

1. They’re all about mobile. According to The U.S. 2017 Mobile App Report, Millennials are the most engaged, adept, and opinionated app users of any demographic. They spend the majority of their time on their mobile devices, connecting with each other and with brands. This generation is dictating how the market operates and that means putting mobile first.
2. Millennials like to share. They share everything – their thoughts, their wants, and what they do daily. From a marketer’s perspective this is great because it provides a wealth of data. This is the information you need to create targeted, personalized messages, and campaigns.
3. They trust each other. Millennials trust their family and friends more so than they trust products and brands. Edelman’s 2018 Worldwide Trust Barometer survey found that consumer trust levels are the highest with peers, friends, and industry experts. In 2018, CEO credibility also rose significantly gaining seven points to 44 percent. This show of faith indicates that consumer groups are looking for CEOs to build trust first and foremost.

Using this understanding of Millennials’ communication traits, you now need to create an effective Instagram marketing strategy. Some of the upfront work requires determining which segments of your Millennial audience you want to reach. Facebook is a good place to start (plus, it owns Instagram), and gives you the ability to conduct audience analysis and choose the Millennial pockets that you want to engage on Instagram.

Next, identify some commonalities among your audience groups, so you can hone in and define pertinent criteria. You’ll need this too for the development of your content.

You’ll also need to look at what engages these segments. Look for clusters with more creative characteristics as they will most likely be more receptive to your content. The great thing about Instagram is it provides a visual platform for both photo and short video content. This gives you the opportunity to put your own imaginative spin on your audience’s driving characteristics through your well-thought out campaign in either or both formats.

Hammer out the nuts-n-bolts, too. You should create an editorial calendar for how often you want to share content. In order to develop an appropriate posting schedule, consider the type of content you’re sharing. Different industries will have varying amounts of quality content. The most recent studies show businesses posting an average of 1.5 times per day. The key is to remain consistent with whatever schedule you determine apt. If you’re also considering advertising on Instagram that needs to factor into your editorial decision-making process too.

Stay tuned…. in our next blog, we’ll discuss a great way to leverage a particular type of campaign on the Instagram platform specifically for Millennials.

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