A Beginner's Guide to Social Media Marketing

If you are running an online business, “social media marketing” would not be an alien phrase for you. Although, there is a possibility that you may not aware about it completely like why it is done and what are its benefits to the business. So, this descriptive guide will help you in understanding one of the latest fads of online world.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is contemporary form of marketing in which company’s products and services are promoted using different forms of social media, which is usually accessible by phone or by web. This kind of marketing strategies encompasses different elements of social interfaces which vary from word to image. Social customer service and community management are key ingredients of successful social media marketing strategies. In this marketing, social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, etc., are used. Social bookmarking sites, reviews on rating web sites, virtual 3D networks, etc., are few other channels used by social media managers for promoting companies products and services.

Alarming Facts Related to Social Media

Some of the facts related to social media paint crystal clear image that how social media is gaining popularity in online business world.

1. At social media sites, there are 2.3 billion active users out of which as per first quarter of 2016, Facebook has worldwide 1.65 million active users.
2. 91% of retail brands employ more than 2 social media channels for promoting their business.
3. Every day, approx 1 million new, active and mobile social media users are added.
4. In 2015, 38% of organisations prefer to spend over 20% of total advertising budget on social media channels.
5. Social media is considered as one amongst top 3 for content marketing tactics.
6. LinkedIn experienced growth of over 100% between 2011 and 1013.

Benefits of Using Social Media

Primarily, it is crucial to understand that social media marketing differs from traditional marketing methods like magazine advertisements, commercials on television, etc. Traditional form of marketing is not audience specific and non-interactive in nature. On the contrary, social media is audience specific marketing and tries to establish interactive relationship with its target audience.

Some other benefits of using social media for both large and small medium enterprises are discussed below:

• Social media channels act as new voice and content for company’s brand. They help in establishing new relationships with prospective customers and increase its brand recognition amongst existing customers.
• It has been observed that brands, which remain associated with social media channels, enjoy higher brand loyalty. It is because these channels are interactive, thus customers feels more satisfied and contented by making purchase from such brands.
• Every post, tweet or video you share on social media channels gives customers a chance to react and interact. Although, not every interaction leads to successful conversion, every positive interaction actually increases the chances of conversion in future stages. So, it can be said that through these channels, the opportunities to covert suspects into prospects always remain high.

So, after reading the post, you must get idea about the world of social media. Stay with us for gathering more information about social media marketing!

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Plentiful Benefits of Online Store, Compelling Business Owners to Open E- Grocery Stores

Ease of shopping from anywhere, services at doorstep, time and energy saving are three propelling factors acting as a catalyst in raising popularity of online grocery stores in India. Globally, the concept of online grocery retail market is growing rapidly though India’s share is rising at a snail pace. However, with the growing awareness of benefits of transforming grocery into e-grocery stores, many business owners are on the edge of taking plunge into the online world. 

Brighter Side of Conducting Business Online

• Reduction in Overhead Expenses- When business are running online, expenses related to setting up and running business (utility and administrative expenses) cut down significantly. It is due to these reasons online business demands low start-up cost.

• Acting as a 24*7 Salesman- The website of a business acts as 24*7 salesman. It remains open 24*7*365, thereby giving complete freedom to customers to purchase items at even eleventh hour of the day.

• Lower Online Marketing Cost- Online promotion is lot more affordable and effective than traditional promotional methods. Online promotion techniques like search engine optimization, pay-per-click, digital marketing, etc., yield great results within stipulated time period. Moreover, unlike traditional promotional techniques, they aim at increasing online visibility of your business.

• Global Customers Reach- Physical store limits the number of potential customers immensely. Reason being, not everyone under the sun can visit it. On the contrary, a person sitting in different geographical location, say in India or abroad can easily visit online store anytime. In the present scenario, billions of people are using the internet, thereby giving an impression that if business is conducted online, over billion people can be categorized as potential customers.

Due to all these benefits, business owners are taking calculated risk of opening e-grocery stores.  So, once it is decided that you want to open online grocery stores, Kartmagic will assist you further. Yes, you heard it right! Kartmagic is an e-commerce platform that strives to offer comprehensive solutions to customers varying from building fully-operational online store, offering vendor app solutions to adopting digital marketing solutions for online promotion.

At www.kartmagic.com, you will find bundle of customized grocery built-to-suit mobile- friendly store templates which you can choose as per your convenience. Even if customers’ want customized template, the professionals of the company are competent enough to design and implement it. Depending upon business requirements and budget, related services like SEO and Digital Marketing Services are chalked out. Therefore, no need to worry about how to open online grocery stores, the leading e-commerce platform is there to offer you turnkey e-commerce solutions. 

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Mobile Friendly Websites: Need of the Hour for E-commerce Business

Mobile-friendly website is a new buzzword in the e-commerce world. Opening websites over laptop or desktop has become passé. Of late, tech-savvy generation prefers everything at its fingertips, and easy availability of affordable smartphones has fulfilled their dream. If sources are to be believed, number of people accessing internet via smartphone is increasing on year-on-year basis. Other statistics like over 50% of mobile users rely on smartphones for finding products’ details further stress the importance of mobile-friendly websites. Due to increase in number of mobile users and mobile browsing, e-commerce companies relying greatly on web-responsive websites as running non- web responsive websites is a clear indication of loss of sale and revenue.

Some other reasons which compel business owners to build mobile friendly websites for their e-commerce businesses are:

M-commerce Replacing E-commerce – As mentioned above, sources say over 50% of smartphone’s users use mobile devices as key tools for browsing the internet. Moreover, over 60% of users move over other websites if they do not find any particular website mobile-friendly. So, when customers are finding services via mobile, business owners are under compulsion to sell them via mobile-responsive websites to stay afloat in the market.

Mobile Websites are Google’s Favourites- Google announced “Google Mice Update” on April’2015 in which it said that mobile-friendly websites will get better search engine rankings than non-compatible mobile websites. Reason being, responsive web design uses single URL and HTML, which Google spiders find it easy to crawl, regulate, index and organise content. Additionally, in mobile responsive websites, as content resides on single URL making it easier for users to share, link and engage with the content. Furthermore, mobile-websites respond better and are easier to update. Moreover, when Google announces any update, marketers are bound to follow as it controls lion’s share of the search market.

Social Media Updates via Mobile Devices – People prefer to use social media websites over mobiles rather than on desktop or laptop. It is due to this reason that majority of traffic over social media websites come through mobile app. So, if you are running any social marketing campaigns and your website is not mobile-friendly, it indirectly implies loss of customers, sales and revenue.

Better Customer Engagement- Mobile-friendly websites loads swiftly and offers user-friendly navigation to customers, thereby offering them satisfying user-experience. And it goes without saying when users are satisfied, it leads to better engagement of customers and creation of brand value in the online market.  

So, regardless of your business domain, mobile friendly website is a successful mantra for surviving in the cut throat online business completion. If you are looking for m-commerce service provider, Kartmagic is the company to look forward. The e-commerce/m-commerceplatform acts as one stop solution provider for building customers’ online stores. It also offers digital marketing solutions catering to varying business requirements. So, think about creating a mobile store by availing cost-effective services offered by Kartmagic now.

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Thinking about How to Promote Business Online? These 5 Strategies Will Help You

If you are well aware about the benefits of online marketing, chances are high you look after ways that help in online business promotion. Although, scores of options are available for online promotion, it makes sense to invest in result- oriented strategies.

So, let’s take a sneak peak about 5 ways that promote business online efficiently as well as cost-effectively:

·      Promote Business Offerings Online 24*7 by building a Website:  A well-designed website loaded with relevant information is necessary for your business. While building a website, pay special attention towards nuances like clearly communicating company’s value, business products and services, location, etc. Content should be compelling so that visitors spend quality time at the site. User-friendly navigation further generates interest of customers. Last but not the least; website should be optimized for tablets and smartphones i.e. it should be mobile-friendly.

·      Target Global Audience via Social Media Marketing- Social media is touted as the most effective platform for advertising your company’s product and services globally in the least time frame. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc., not only assist in identifying potential customers, but also create customer engagement by obtaining feedback about business’ products and services.

·      Gain Top Ranks in Search Engines by Optimizing Website - Creating mobile friendly website without optimizing it would act as deterrent in online promotion. Thus, search engine optimization of a website is indispensable as well as the need of the hour. SEO is basically a comprehensive term which includes series of activities aiming at increasing rankings of a website in major search engines. Google Ad words, Pay Per Click, content management, etc. , are some of the strategies offered by service providers in SEO packages.

·      Build Relations with Customers by Blogging- Get connected with your customers directly and in the most cost-effective manner by sharing information regarding company via blogging. Blogging on regular basis helps in generating more leads and building sound relationship with potential customers as they keep on getting updated information about company new services, milestones, new launches, etc.

·      Generating online reviews- It has been observed that word of mouth communication stands strong in case of online promotion as well. A study has revealed that more than 50% of customers prefer reading reviews before visiting any particular website. Positive reviews written about your business or product helps significantly in earning new customers as well as retaining existing ones. So, show your business in a good light by asking existing customers to leave positive feedback on your online portal and do not forget to showcase it either at your social profile or by sending e-mailers to potential customers.

   Even by following aforementioned business promotional strategies, your business is not leading profitable results? It is the right time to change your service provider to Kartmagic. Kartmagic is an e-commerce platform that offers comprehensive solutions to customers ranging from building online store to adopting promotional strategies. So, get desired results within stipulated time frame by investing energy as well as time by adopting aforementioned promotional strategies. 

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Planning to Associate With E-commerce Marketplaces? New E-commerce Norms May Change Your Thought Process

Are you really thinking to get associated with e-commerce marketplaces for increasing the sales of your business? If your answer is affirmative, it’s right time to keep yourself abreast with new rules of e-commerce marketplace and take decision wisely.

No More Discount War on E-Marketplaces

Across the country, e-commerce marketplaces are facing the heat of new rule announced by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), in which it attempts to regulate the e-commerce marketplace. The new guidelines clearly prohibit the marketplaces to follow predatory pricing policy and discourage e-retailers to influence prices of goods and services directly or indirectly. This statement is being issued in the perspective of heavy discounts policy followed by the marketplaces on frequent basis.

Other restriction which is being posed upon e-commerce players is capping the total sales originating from a group company or one vendor as 25%. This may prove as a dampener for their businesses. Reason being, at present, there are many suppliers, who contribute significant percentage in the total revenue share of famous e-marketplaces. For instance, WS Retail Services Pvt. Ltd, contributes over 25% sale of e-commerce giant, Flipkart; similarly Vector E-commerce is the biggest seller of Myntra, generating over 25% of sale. Indeed, this restriction will adversely affect the sales and profits margins of marketplaces in the long run and compel them to look for new seller entities.

Few times back, many marketplaces have penalised buyers due to increase in percentage of “returned merchandise”. No wonder in coming times, DIPP will impose more regulations upon e-commerce marketplaces as well as on associated sellers.

You might now reconsider your decision of getting associated with the marketplaces. If you are looking for an alternative plan, then opening your own online store is a better option.

Open Online Store with Kartmagic

Without getting associated with e-marketplaces, you can grow your business manifold by opening your own online store. Kartmagic, an e-commerce platform, will help you in getting your web store ready in limited time frame, as per your ideas and within your budgets. So, contact professional team of Kartmagic today and get all necessary details. 

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Key Trends Indian E-commerce Industry is Expected to Witness in 2016

With a standout year in 2015, Ecommerce had grew in size and popularity both. With growing   significance of smartphones in our lives, ‘E’-commerce is set to become ‘M’-commerce in near   future. Let’s have a look to other major trends Indian E-commerce industry is set to witness in 2016.

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