Imagine trying to run a business without utilizing calendars to keep things organized. Would you be able to keep track of meetings and project deadlines without having them written down somewhere? The answer for most of us is probably not. So why should your business's social media be any different? If your current strategy is just posting whenever you remember to share something, odds are you are being consistent enough to make any real impact with your social media marketing. When it comes to social media, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Change is on the horizon in the ways consumers make informed purchasing decisions and develop affinity for the goods, services, and culture of businesses. With the rise in widespread use of popular platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, Twitch, and YouTube, the traditional role of marketers to convert consumers to customers has met its match: content creators. Here’s everything you need to know about capitalizing on the branding power of UGC, or user-generated content in the New Year.

Being centrally located in the beautiful Black Hills, where tourism is a key industry, Robert Sharp & Associates frequently works with seasonal clients. From restaurants to tourist attractions, to retail stores, many of our clients only operate during the peak summer months when vacationers are flooding the area.

However, as marketing experts, we understand that online marketing during the off-season is just as important to your business success as marketing during peak months. Just because your business may be only open 3-4 months out of the year doesn’t mean you want to be put on the backburner during the rest of the year. Utilizing social media and digital advertisements are great ways to create top-of-mind awareness, build relationships with your patrons, and make you stand out amongst the competition.

In fact, while many seasonal businesses stop their marketing efforts in the off-season to save money, this may be one of the best ways to engage with your audience and build your customer base.

In this blog, RSA will dive into marketing online in the off-season, how to do it, and how it will benefit your seasonal business. 

When you think of building an online business presence for your business on Twitter, companies like Wendy’s and Taco Bell easily come to mind, having made headlines for their friendly banter and engagement with popular topics, trends, and conversations to reach a broader audience. While these clever efforts from major box-chains have proven fruitful, there has long existed a disconnect between the power of Twitter to generate conversion value for businesses. Well… until now. Enter Twitter’s latest offering for businesses to capture, convince and convert: Twitter for Professionals.

Apple users around the world wait patiently for the newest software update like kids wait to open presents on Christmas morning. With changes to layout, functionality, and a slew of new, fun features, it’s always exciting to see what the newest ios update will hold.

Apple recently released their ios 15 update with a variety of new features users are buzzing about. One of the biggest updates to come with the new software system is changes to FaceTime. With spatial audio, and portrait mode now available on FaceTime calls, connecting with those who are far away feels more natural than ever. In addition, users can now use SharePlay to listen to songs together, watch their favorite show at the same time, and even share their screen to view things in sync. The new Spotlight feature allows users to locate text and handwriting in photos that can be copied in addition to being able to search photos by location, people, scenes, or objects.

While all these features are fun and exciting to Apple users, marketers aren’t as excited about the new ios 15 update. With new mail privacy features, email marketing has become harder to track and is leaving advertising agencies looking for new ways to connect with their audience.

Most people have profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to showcase their child’s graduation, connect with old friends, or to share what they cooked for dinner last night. However, social media, and specifically LinkedIn, can serve a much larger purpose in helping you achieve your personal professional goals, or increasing the reach of your business.

LinkedIn is a professional networking site that allows you to connect with other professionals in your field, share your resume, and promote your business or organization.

It’s nothing new, but somehow there are business owners who do not utilize Facebook as a tool to build their business, despite the potential to benefit significantly from doing so. And certainly, even more business owners aren’t using Facebook to its fullest potential to build their business.

As Facebook evolves and more features are added, it can seem overwhelming to know where to focus your efforts. That said, there are some essentials that every business, no matter their industry, can prioritize to ensure they’re utilizing the world’s largest social media platform to their advantage. Let’s learn more about those essentials so you can accelerate your business growth with Facebook.

Social media is inescapable. Fifteen years ago, college and high school kids were customizing their homepage background and choosing their favorite theme song for their MySpace pages, or tagging their closest Facebook friends in their first photo album.

Since then, dozens of platforms have come and gone, and billions of users have logged on worldwide to follow their friends, family, favorite brands, media personalities and influencers, all the while sharing and consuming content at an exponential rate.