X Premium Review: Is Paying To Be Verified On X Worth It?

X Premium Review: Is Paying To Be Verified Worth It?

15th October 2023, marked exactly a month since I subscribed to X Premium and I thought of giving a review based on my personal experience. Is it worth giving Elon Musk your $8 monthly? What are the features that come with X Premium formerly Twitter Blue?

What’s X Premium formerly Twitter Blue?

For starters, X Premium is a paid subscription introduced by X  after Elon Musk #TwitterTakeOver that goes for $8 on the web and $11 on Android and iOS in a bid to counter bots on the platforms.  X Premium comes with premium features that a normal user can’t access

Why Did I subscribe to X Premium 

First, I subscribed to X premium because I wanted to explore the features offered by X. Secondly, my posts were receiving less impressions despite getting some engagement such as likes and retweets.

Thirdly, in line with that, I got Influencer gigs early September to live tweet events. This meant my posts needed to get more impressions for my posts for me to deliver.

What are X Premium Features?

Here are some of the features or benefits you get when you subscribe to  X premium:

Edit Post: X doesn’t allow you to edit posts after sending out posts. However, with X premium, you can edit posts  up to 1 hour after sending it out.

Undo Post: You can also undo posts before getting visible to your viewers. After undoing it, you can edit. I have used this option more than the edit feature

Highlight posts: On X premium you can highlight some of your best posts on your profile. See, the way you can pin a post, yes but now  number of the to a dedicated highlight tab. I have used this alot since it makes it easier for a user to go through my profile and understand what I do and stand for on the platform

Post Longer posts:  On the premium version, you can tweet beyond the usual 280 characters. X premium supports 25000 characters with 4 in line images. I find this feature useful, especially when I want to share weekly recap of social media updates. Not bad after all!

Get boosted in rankings in conversations and search: If you are on regular X version, you will notice you have view impressions despite getting interaction on posts. X premium boosts your ranking on X feed and also on search. Also, on replies sections your replies are prioritized. 

Interestingly when starting in September I had  about 9600 followers and a month later I hit 10.1k followers with more increase. Also, if I compare my X posts impressions between August 14th  to September 14th, I had 262.3K impressions compared to  31 days of having a badge, I got 853.6K impressions 

Use Text Formatting: On the web, you can bold and italicize text posts. This comes in handy when I want to emphasize a point or word.  

Organize Bookmarks: Bookmarking posts on X is not just enough, you can also organize your bookmarks into folders. I prefer to organize folders to different topics for easier retrieval because it lacks the search feature.  

Create Communities. On X premium you can create up to 10 communities and spotlight your communities on your profile. I have a growing community on X on Digital Trends and Insights. Join here

Monetize, Make money: When you subscribe you can earn as a creator through X Ads share revenue program once you achieve 5 Million Impressions in the last 3 months.Payouts are made out after every two weeks.. Another way you can make money X is through subscriptions, where you can lock your content behind a certain preferred fee. 

Psst! Despite the growth in impressions and followers, I haven’t managed to monetize my account.

Get Access to X Pro: Remember the Free tweetdeck? Yes it’s now a premium feature behind 8 dollars renamed as X Pro. Still to explore more with its new interface. Thread Reader: When reading threads, you can use a new reading experience as one continuous post the way long posts look like. I love it!

Post longer high quality videos of up to 3 hours long.

Account analytics: You will get quick access to your account analytics in the last 7 days. 

Account Protection: X Premium allows you to add an extra layer of your account protection with two-factor authentication via SMS.

These are some of the X Premium features. You can explore more benefits here

How Do You Get Verified On X?

The verification process on X is very easy. You can choose to get verified on the Web to save up those 3 dollars. 

Here is how to get verified on X for Individual accounts

Step 1. Go to your Profile Menu and Click on “ X” on the Menu.

Step 2.  A new window will pop up showing Individual and Verified Organizations

Step 3. Next, click on Individual followed and hit “Subscribe” button

Step 4. From there decide if you will go for monthly or annual subscription

Step 5. Next, Pay by providing your card details and subscribe.

Immediately X will grant you access to premium but you will have to wait for them to review your application before the badge appears on your username. Mine took about 4 days to reflect on my X account

Is it worth paying for the blue tick on X?

The answer lies if you find the features locked behind the $8 dollars valuable.  For instance, if you want to grow your account, get prioritized and or are struggling with visibility on the platform, you may consider getting the badge.

NB:X is testing a new program known as Not  A Bot that will require non- verified users to pay an annual fee of 1 US dollar to be able to post, retweet, reply, like repost or bookmark posts. Read more here Oct 23-2023: 10 Things That Happened in The Digital Space Last Week

Best SEO For Law Firms Tips: 9 Ways to Improve SEO for Law Firms Website

How can I improve my SEO law firm website?

When people search for something on Google, they are more likely to click on the results that appear at the top of the page. Therefore, it is important to for any business to rank high including your law firm in Kenya.

How will you achieve this? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a pivotal role in ensuring that your law firm’s website ranks well in search engine results and attracts potential clients. With countless law firms in Kenya vying for online visibility, it’s crucial to employ effective SEO strategies to stand out from the competition. 

In this article, we will explore some key steps to improve the SEO of your law firm website and be more discoverable

What is SEO for law firms?

SEO for law firms is the process of optimizing your law firm’s website and online content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This helps potential clients find your website when they search for legal services related to your practice areas.

Why is local SEO important for law firms?

Local SEO is important for law firms because it helps them attract potential clients who are looking for legal services in their area. When people search for a lawyer online, they are often looking for someone who they can meet with in person. Local SEO helps law firms rank higher in search results for local keywords, such as “lawyer near me” or “divorce lawyer in Kenya” or “commercial lawyer in Nairobi”

Here are some of the specific benefits of local SEO for law firms:

• Increased visibility: Local SEO helps law firms show up in the local search results, which is where many potential clients start their search for legal services.
• Targeted traffic: Local SEO helps law firms attract visitors who are more likely to become clients, because they are looking for legal services in the firm’s area.
• Improved credibility: Local SEO can help law firms build credibility and trust with potential clients, because it shows that the firm is active and engaged in the community.
• Higher conversion rates: Law firms with a strong local SEO presence tend to have higher conversion rates, meaning that more visitors to their website turn into clients.

How to Improve Your SEO for a Law Firm Website

1. Have a User Friend Website

To start with you need to have a website for your law firm and not just a website but a user friendly website. A user-friendly website not only improves SEO but also encourages potential clients to easily engage with your firm services. Ensure your website is easy to navigate, has clear calls-to-action (CTAs) and links are clickable. The easier it is for users to find information, the longer they are likely to stay on your website. If you don’t have a website, you can either hire best web designer in Kenya or use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Wix to create your own website

2. Do Keyword Research

Start your SEO journey with thorough keyword research. Identify relevant keywords and phrases that potential clients might use when searching for legal services. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs or Keyword Tool that can help you discover high-value keywords. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your website’s content, including blog posts, practice area descriptions, and meta tags.

3. Create High-Quality Content

Content is king in the world of SEO! You cannot rank high on search engines without content.  Therefore, you need to create informative and engaging content that addresses the legal needs and questions of your target audience. You need to use  keywords that are related to legal issues to generate content for your blog. For instance, if you are divorce lawyer, some of the topics that are most searched in Kenya are

• Divorce lawyers near me
• How much does a divorce lawyer cost in Kenya?
• How much does it cost to file a divorce case in Kenya?
• family lawyers near me

By publishing blog posts, articles and guides will showcase your expertise and authority in various legal areas. You can also outsource high-quality content to Samodigital Agency. We will help you create optimized content that not only attracts visitors but also encourages them to stay on your site longer, improving your search rankings.

4. Mobile Optimization

How does your website behave when viewed on a mobile device? Google puts great emphasis on mobile-friendliness when ranking websites. Ensure that your law firm website is responsive and optimized for mobile devices. A mobile-friendly website not only provides a better user experience but also boosts your SEO rankings. You can run a mobile friendly test for your website and improve it 

5. Page Speed Optimization

Page speed is another crucial factor in SEO. Slow-loading websites frustrate users and can lead to a high bounce rate. Incfact, statistics show that 83% of people expect a website to load in 3 seconds or less. Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to identify and rectify issues that may be slowing down your site. You also need to optimize pages that you upload. Compress images, leverage browser caching, and minimize unnecessary scripts to improve load times. You can install relevant plugins to make your work easier.

6. Local SEO

Law firms often serve specific geographic areas for instance, Nairobi, Kisumu or Mombasa or Kenya. The goal then is to attract local clients, optimize your website for local search. One way to do so is to claim and complete your Google My Business profile. 

Statistics show that 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. Therefore, ensure that your firm’s business name, address, and phone number are consistent across all online directories. Encourage clients to leave reviews, which can significantly impact your local search rankings. In your descriptions, also use local keywords and remember to add social media profiles to Google My Business.

7. Link Building

 Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to your website. It is one of the most important factors in search engine optimization, as it helps to improve your website’s authority and ranking in search results.

You need to create good quality content to build high-quality backlinks from authoritative legal websites, directories, and local blogs. Guest posting, partnerships, and participating in legal spaces and events can help you earn valuable backlinks that boost your website’s authority.

8. On-Page SEO for Law Firm

Another way to improve SEO for your law firm is doing on-page optimization. Optimize your website’s on-page elements, such as title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags. These elements should contain your targeted keywords and provide clear and concise information about your services. Having well-structured content with proper headings not only helps with SEO but also enhances readability for people seeking services at your law firm

9. Regular Analytics and Monitoring

Once all the essential SEO for a Law firm is implemented, you need to regularly monitor your website’s performance. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Analyze user behavior, track keyword rankings, and identify areas for improvement. Use this data to refine your SEO strategy and stay ahead of the competition.

Conclusion

Improving your law firm website’s SEO is an ongoing process that requires dedication and continuous effort. Implementing on page and off page  optimization will enhance your online visibility, attract more potential clients, and ultimately grow your legal practice. Also, SEO is a dynamic field, so staying informed about the latest trends and algorithm updates is key to long-term success in the digital landscape.

If you need help with writing monthly blogs and optimizing your law firm website in Kenya, contact us at Samodigital agency at info@samodigitalagency.com

7 Essential Qualities of a Successful Digital Marketing Consultant

What does digital marketing consultant do?

In todays’ ever changing world, you may need to work with a digital marketing consultant to elevate the growth of your business. What does a digital marketing consultant do? A digital marketing consultant is a professional who helps businesses and organizations develop and execute effective digital marketing strategies. They provide expert advice and guidance on various aspects of digital marketing. This will help you achieve their marketing goals and increase their online presence.

Here are some key responsibilities of a digital marketing consultant

1. Digital Strategy Development

A consultant collaborates with clients to understand their business objectives and target audience and ideal social media platforms. They develop comprehensive digital marketing strategies tailored to the client’s needs. This involves identifying the most suitable digital channels and tactics to reach the target audience effectively.

2. Run Paid Advertising Campaigns

Hiring a digital marketing consultant will assist you in planning, creating, and managing online advertising campaigns across platforms such as Google Ads, social media platforms, and YouTube advertising. They will help you optimize campaigns to achieve maximum reach, engagement, and conversions within the allocated budget.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

As you know, SEO is crucial for improving a website’s visibility in search engine results. You will not be able to execute this alone if you don’t know how to do it. That’s why you will need an experienced digital marketing consultant. A digital marketing consultant will help you analyze websites, conduct keyword research, optimize content, and provide recommendations to enhance search engine rankings and drive organic traffic Click To Tweet. Some will even be able to write engaging and informative content for your website.

4. Content Marketing

Content is King! It’s what drives engagement, leads and conversion for any business. A consultant will also help you develop winning content marketing strategies that engage and attract the right  target audience. You can read this article to understand types of content and why it’s important to brands. Consultants often assess the performance of content and make suggestions for improvement.

5. Social Media Marketing

Moreover, consultants assist in developing social media strategies to enhance brand visibility, engage with the audience, and drive website traffic. Right now, we have top social media platforms and emerging platforms. Platforms  like Threads, Lemon8, Bluesky and much more to come. Therefore a consultant will recommend platforms suitable for your business, create content calendars, and provide insights.

Also, they will optimize social media posts and advertising to ensure you gain the most from your marketing efforts and return investment.

6. Analytics and Reporting

With digital marketing you can easily track and measure your marketing efforts. To add on, working with a consultant will help you use various tools to track and analyze the performance of digital marketing campaigns. These could be web analytics tools like Google Analytics, In-app social media analytics or third party analytics tools like Semrush, Sprout Social among others.

Moreover, They will provide you with reports while highlighting key metrics, trends, and areas for improvement. Consultants use these insights to refine strategies and make data-driven decisions.

7. Digital Marketing Training

Finally, some consultants may offer training sessions to educate clients on digital marketing principles, tools, and best practices.If you are in Kenya and you would like to have in-house training for your team, you can hire a certified digital marketer like Egline Samoei Click To Tweet. She will help you gain a better understanding of digital marketing and empowers them to execute strategies independently if desired. Yo can reach out via email at egline@samodigitalagency.com

In Conclusion

To conclude a digital marketing consultant helps businesses leverage digital channels effectively to achieve their marketing objectives, improve brand awareness, drive website traffic, and generate leads or sales. Lastly, they stay updated with the latest trends and technologies in the digital marketing landscape to provide valuable insights and guidance to their clients.

 

How to use Social Media for Business

According to the Data Reportal Digital 2023 report, there are over 4.76 billion social media users out of 8 Billion people globally, and 10.55 million Kenyans are using social media. These people use social media to connect with friends, find information and discover products and services. If you are not using social media for business, you are missing out on a lot. Your business could benefit from this too.

So, how should you use social media as a business? This article shows you how you can use social media for Business.

7 Ways you can use Social Media for Business

Here are different ways you can use social media to grow your brand as a business.

1. Use social media for marketing

Social media can help you reach your target audience across the globe. You can use social media marketing to reach customers at every point of the marketing funnel. You can reach your target audience with the right social media content strategy, create compelling content, and carefully select social media platforms.

With social media marketing, you need to understand your target audience, know the right platforms and be consistent. You also need to ensure that you engage your followers and be responsive.

2. Use social media for Brand Building

Social media offers a great opportunity to create awareness of your brand. You can establish your business on certain platforms and grow your brand. How many brands have you known through social media? A number of them, right?

This means you can also use social media to create awareness about your brand and build credibility, loyalty, and trust through the content that you post. Fill out your social media business profiles to provide clear descriptions and be consistent with our brand.

Also, ensure you humanize your brand on social media and build a community. Make sure your content is up-to-date, catchy, entertaining, informative, or humorous so that you can stay on top of their minds.

3. Use Social Media for Customer Service

You can also use social media as a communication channel to address customers’ problems and queries. Most brands that have established social media presence are already using social media for customer service, crisis communication and brand reputation management. Brands such as Kenya Power and Lighting Company, Safaricom, and banks such as Cooperative Bank, and Absa, among others.

You will even notice that brands on a platform like Twitter have a dedicated customer service account separate from their main account just to handle customer queries. Examples are Kenya Airways and Safaricom, just to mention a few.

Dear Customer,
DO NOT BE CONNED! Always confirm you are interacting with the official Kenya Airways channels. @KenyaAirways and Kenya Airways Support (@KQSupport) for Customer Care services. #CheckBeforeYouTrust pic.twitter.com/qZvqSn0Jz4

— Kenya Airways Support (@KQSupport) August 31, 2022

4. Use social media for sales

You can also use social media to increase sales as a business through advertising. With social media, you can do targeted advertising and reach the target audience cheaply compared to traditional methods. You can target customers per digital activities, demographics, interests and behaviours and boost sales 

Furthermore, you can also retarget customers using Facebook Pixel and LinkedIn Insight tag. You can also work with influencers and content creators who will help create awareness and influence their audiences to buy your products and services.

5. Use Social Media for Social Listening

On social media, users share thoughts, media, and conversations. When you listen to and monitor these conversations over time, you will get a huge amount of data and insights. You will then use these insights garnered to improve your brand, products, services, and know brand sentiments. 

You can use social media listening tools like Brand Moran to gather all such insights. Other than you will learn about industry trends and brand advocates and bench your competitors

6. Use Social Media To Prove ROI

If you are having challenges tracking and proving return on investment, then with social media, you can easily do it. Social media analytic tools have made it easier for marketers to prove ROI.

You can use in-app analytic tools on social media platforms, Google Analytics, or invest on 3rd party social media analytic tools like Sprout Social, Keyhole, and Hootsuite.

7. Use Social Media for Recruiting and Hiring

Last but least, social media can help you as a business find and hire the right candidate. It’s no longer a secret that companies and recruiters use social media platforms like LinkedIn to head-hunt and recruit potential candidates. 

On the other hand, since companies can share their companies cultures on social media, it becomes easier for candidates to learn about the company before the interview. 

Final Remarks

Social media is no longer just a platform where users connect. It has become a powerful tool for business. Businesses can use them to grow their brands, create awareness, and marketing, improve sales, and gain real-time customer feedback. You can also use social media for your business. 

If you need help setting up social media, growing your business or in house-social media training in Kenya and consultancy, don’t hesitate to contact me at egline@samodigitalagency.com. Also, follow us on social media for more discussions.

8 Effective Ways To Use Twitter to Grow Your Business

How To Use Twitter to Grow Your Business

Twitter is one of the most powerful social media platforms that you can use to raise awareness about your business, engage with customers, and generate leads. Twitter boasts 229 million daily active users as of April 2022. So, if you are still wondering if you should use Twitter to grow your business, the answer is “Yes.”

All you need to know is how to set up your account and connect engagingly with people. Remember, people, go to Twitter to discover what is trending and not to be marketed to by brands. Therefore, when your business is on Twitter, you need to have conversations that matter to your community that will help your business grow and thrive.

This article looks at ways to use Twitter to grow your business. But first, let us look at what account you need.

Types of Accounts Available on Twitter

In the past, Twitter used to have one general type of account. However, in the recent past, Twitter introduced the following:

• Twitter for Professionals is meant to provide businesses, creators, publishers, and developers of all industries and sizes to showcase and highlight their content, products, and services directly on Twitter for free.
• Twitter Blue which is a monthly subscription that gives the most engaged people on Twitter exclusive access to premium features

Tip: Set your regular Twitter account and switch to Twitter Professional.  This will help you  specify the category and account type as a business. It will be easier to grow your business on Twitter.

Ways to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business

Create an Outstanding Profile

Begin by setting up your business account. Choose a display name that is easy to read. Also, use and handle that is consistent with your brand. You may not get the handle that matches your brand name because it’s been taken, but try to use something that still aligns with your brand name. For instance, @SamodigitalAgency was taken, we used @SamodigitaA

Next, you need a cover photo that compliments your brand colours and acts as an ever-changing billboard showcasing what’s new with your business. If you have offers or promotions or are celebrating a season, you can change it accordingly. Also, have a profile photo which preferably should be your company logo. The ideal dimension of a Twitter profile photo is 400x400px, whereas the cover photo dimension is 1500×500.

After that, you need to create a memorable bio that provides Information like your business mission statement, value proposition, location, branded hashtag, or operating hours.

Pin a Tweet

Once you have set up your profile, it’s time to send out Tweets. You will have to create different tweets daily or weekly. If you had created a tweet showcasing your brand, it would get overshadowed by the latest tweets. Therefore, it’s advisable to pin the tweet. A pinned tweet will appear on top of your Twitter profile, and you can change it anytime you have something new you want to inform your audience.

Here is an example of pinned Tweet

Why should you monitor social networks as a brand/ business?
Social media monitoring is the process of tracking hashtags, keywords, and brand mentions in order to stay informed about your audience and industry trends & topics
We can help you do social media monitoring in Kenya pic.twitter.com/20CHEc88XK

— Brandmoran- Social Listening Tool (@BrandmoranKE) December 17, 2021

 

Create Engaging Content

You need to create engaging content to capture the attention of your followers and target audience. Try and  express this through different supported formats like texts, videos, images, infographics, GIFs, and memes.

You can also combine all the formats, as Twitter now lets you post images, videos, and GIFs in a single tweet.  Be creative in how you create your content. Ensure they are informative and educational and add value to your clients.

Also, add some humour to your content. Humour humanizes your brand. It’s also memorable and easily shareable. A brand like Mwango Capital uses memes to recap and share news about the business in Kenya.

????? ???? ????’? ??? ???????? ???? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ?? @CAK_Kenya:

1. KRA is set to come down hard on Kenyans as the President has set them a target of doubling double tax collections by the end of his first term.#MwangoMemes pic.twitter.com/7gtRjY04pr

— Mwango Capital (@MwangoCapital) October 29, 2022

Work with Influencers

Influencer marketing has proven to be one of the most effective marketing strategies. Influencers help create brand awareness, reach a new target audience, raise brand advocacy, and increase sales. Moreover, people trust consumer recommendations. You must work with the right influencers within your industry and niche, even when they have a small following. According to a blog post by Twitter, brands are now shifting to working with micro-influencers over mega-influencers since they offer trusted reviews and have built a strong following that can be valuable to brands.

Here is an example of how ShowmaxKenya worked with one of the top social media influencers, Janet Machuka to promote their shows

On my Twitter Spaces tonight sponsored by @ShowmaxKenya!

A chat on a documentary called “Love Crimes of Kabul.”

Joining link: https://t.co/KEVR2sj9qb #Showmaxing pic.twitter.com/BTjFOSZYEy

— Janet Machuka (@janetmachuka_) October 31, 2022

Be Consistent

Another way to grow your business effectively on Twitter is by being consistent on the platform. Tweet at a specific frequency, depending on what works for your brand. For some brands, tweeting three times a week works for them, while tweeting daily works for others. Choose what works for you and stick to that.

Connect with People

As a business, you are also free to follow other accounts. Follow the people within your industry, thought leaders, partners, stakeholders, brand advocates, customers, and fans. These groups of people will likely follow back and engage with your content and eventually help to create brand awareness.

Leverage Twitter Spaces

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social audio content emerged that helped people connect while keeping their distance. We saw the emergence of platforms like Clubhouse, Facebook audio rooms, and Spotify Greenroom among others. To keep up with this trend, Twitter introduced Spaces. Spaces are live audio conversations on Twitter.

As a business, you can host spaces to discuss industry topics, get feedback about your product or answer questions about your product. Twitter Spaces helps you get real-time engagements, build a community, connect with cultural moments and get instant feedback. Try to host spaces consistently or one of your team could participate in other spaces within your niche.

Below is an  example of how Synnefa a Kenyan Agribusiness Startup is using Twitter Spaces

The future is calling, and it is here to stay. With the development of new innovative technologies, farmers are leading the way.

Join us tonight at 8PM as @taitangetich shares his journey with @FarmersStories!

Twitter Spaces Link: https://t.co/5ru8oPOqw7#Agri4Value pic.twitter.com/h35GU5ghli

— Synnefa (@synnefa_KE) March 16, 2022

Promoted Tweets

You can also promote your tweets through Twitter ads to reach a wider audience. Twitter ads campaigns allow you to achieve your marketing goal, like brand awareness, increasing followers, driving consideration, or delivering conversions. Twitter lets you quickly promote your posts, grow your followers, and increase your reach if you build brand awareness.

Conclusion

Twitter offers you immense ways to grow your business. Whether you are a solopreneur, a small business, or a large business, you can connect with fans, communities, audiences, and partners and grow your brand. Just understand the platform and use the above ideas to grow your business, get leads and make conversions.

If you need help with creating social media content or blogs, contact us at info@samodigitalagency.com.

Practices to Detect and Eliminate Cyber Attacks Threats

Are you able to identify a cyber attacks? Cybercrime is more prevalent in today’s digital world than ever before. And if you do business online or have private information stored in the cloud, then this comes with a risk that your confidential information could be accessed by a cyber-criminal. So, if you want to avoid this risk at all costs, Samodigital Agency shares the following article on how to identify and prevent cybercrime from happening to you.

Cybercrime and why it is so prevalent these days

Cybercrime has existed for some time. However, it has escalated dramatically with the rise of remote work and our increasing reliance on automated systems. According to statistics, common cyber attack threats like ransomware escalated by 250% in 2021 with financial losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The different types of cyber attacks

It’s important to know about the types of cyber attacks and how to counteract them. The most common cyber threats you’re likely to encounter include:

Malware

Malware is a type of harmful software that becomes embedded in your computer system. This usually happens as a result of clicking on a link that seems harmless enough at first. However, once installed, it gets to work obtaining confidential information by derailing normal sequences of events in your computer’s system, leaving it more vulnerable than before.

Phishing 

Like malware, phishing typically happens as a result of clicking on a link that would seem like your everyday, usual email attachment. However, the goal of phishing is to obtain confidential log-in information such as private PINs or bank login details in an attempt to scam you of your money online.

Man-in-the-middle attacks

Man-in-the-middle attacks are cyber attacks as subtle as they come. As the name suggests, man-in-the-middle attacks occur when information is intercepted while on route to the intended party. This confidential information is then forwarded to the wrong recipient, who then has access to your private information to do as they wish.

These sorts of data breaches are particularly detrimental to businesses that manage large volumes of sensitive data.  Public leaks of data could result in astronomical damages for the client as well as for the business itself. Examples of how a breach in security could negatively affect a business could include loss of revenue, major disruptions in productivity, and potential lawsuits even. This is all the more reason why it is essential to protect confidential data at all costs.

Ways in which you can prevent cyberattacks

Although cyberattacks are rife nowadays, there are things you can do to protect your private information online such as installing antiviruses, maintaining the integrity of your wireless networks, being careful of the information you share on social media, protecting your passwords as well as making sure that you dispose of sensitive business data by clearing backed up data on all external devices. As your company grows, it will behoove you to work with dedicated IT professionals who can manage your cybersecurity, and quickly mitigate the effects of an attack or breach.

Staying on top of suspicious activity 

Prevention is better than cure when it comes to cybercrime. Furthermore, equipping yourself with the knowledge, tools, and information you need to put a halt to fraudulent activities right from the very beginning is vital. It helps to ensure you don’t incur potentially huge financial losses that may be difficult to recover from.

Quote Tweet vs. Retweet? 5 Reasons Why You Need Retweet Posts

The engagement metrics on Twitter are retweets, quote retweets, likes, link clicks and impressions. However, retweeting is viewed as an important metric on Twitter, not just for a marketing campaign but even for Tweep(user). In this article we look at the difference between a retweet, a quote tweet and then look at the importance of retweeting a post.

Let us get started!

What is a retweet?

Twitter defines a retweet as a re-post of a Tweet. The Retweet feature helps you and others quickly share that Tweet with all of your followers. You can Retweet your own Tweets or Tweets from someone else.

Some users disagree with Retweeting your own Tweets and even made hilarious Tweets About Retweeting Your Own Tweets, but you have heard from the horse’s mouth; You can retweet your own tweet!

What is a Quote tweet?

On Twitter, you can retweet or quote a tweet. When you quote a tweet, you are retweeting a tweet and adding your comments. It could be a recent Tweet post that you want to add your perspective or an old post that is relevant again.

Twitter introduced Quote Tweets in 2020 as temporary tweet format ahead of the November 3rd US presidential election, to help prevent abuse and the spread of misinformation.

Tweets about a Tweet add more to the conversation, so we’ve made them even easier to find.

Retweets with comments are now called Quote Tweets and they’ve joined the Tweet detail view. Tap into a Tweet, then tap “Quote Tweets” to see them all in one place. pic.twitter.com/kMqea6AC80

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) August 31, 2020

 

In both cases you just retweeting but quote retweet you can add your comment.

Why Do You Retweet on Twitter?

So why do we retweet? Now that we have distinguished between the two types of retweets available on Twitter, you need to know the importance of retweeting.

1.      To quickly share information

Many will agree that they retweet as a quick way to share information while attributing it to the source. Assuming trusted source posts a piece of breaking news, you will likely retweet the post instead of creating a new one of the same content.

The news could be about a winner of an event, say the Tokyo Olympics, the death of a popular figure, natural calamities, court ruling or any other news. Below is a poll I conducted on the reasons why people retweet.

Hey Tweeps, why do you retweet a Tweet?

— Egline Samoei (@EguarEglin) July 9, 2021

 

2.      To amplify information

People also retweet tweets so that they can amplify the information to their followers. Also, it is a means of sharing information, but this time, it reaches a new audience or your audience.

Assuming there is a post by Samodigital Agency on tips on content creation, I would retweet the post so that it can reach many people interested in the marketing tips.

3.      To add your perspective

You may come across a post that you may want to add your sentiments different from the sources. In this case, you will quote a tweet with your sentiments. If an old tweet has become relevant again, you can retweet it and quote with the current context.

You can also quote a tweet poll to give the results or a finding of a poll. Here is a good scenario by social media marketing strategist and Founder of Africa Tweet Chat Janet Machuka

Wow! According to this poll, most people can comfortably quit Instagram.

Once crazy response was, “I don’t have clothes for Instagram.” Well, please wear that one dress all the time. https://t.co/cpHqagVVdV pic.twitter.com/NfKiTsonSu

— Janet Machuka (@janetmachuka_) September 7, 2021

 

4.      To make one’s presence as a listener visible

You can also show support to a person on Twitter by retweeting their post and making them visible.  Mark Trammell, a design researcher at Twitter, says, “People also retweet to introduce their followers to someone new or to shine a spotlight on someone deserving…The retweeter becomes the person who brings the new cool kid in town to the party.”

5.      Build relationships

When you retweet a person’s tweet, you are not only sharing information or amplifying their tweet but also building relationships. Yes, that is how online relationships are built and nurtured.

You may have come across a situation where a person retweets your tweet, and you go ahead and check their profile and even follow them. With time you get to build meaningful connections.

Wrapping Up

Engagements on Twitter vary but retweeting a tweet is seen to be more powerful. It is an easier way to share and amplify information. It also gives you a chance to gain followers and attract relevant personalities. Keep tweeting, keep retweeting. Eventually, build and grow your network!

Follow Egline Samoei Twitter and LinkedIn as well as Samodigital Agency on LinkedIn and Twitter for more engagements.

 

Facebook Page vs Profile: Is it Better to Have a Facebook Page or Profile?

Facebook Page vs Profile: Is it Better to Have a Facebook Page or Profile?

Facebook allows anyone to create a Facebook page or personal profile. So, which one is better to have? If you have a business, it is always advisable to separate your personal profile from a Facebook page.

When scrolling through a Facebook feed you will see posts from personal profiles who are friends, pages you have liked and even groups you have joined.  A few weeks ago, a friend was venturing into photography and I received a friend request from a name that looked familiar. Looking through the profile, it was the brand name of his photography. This never sounded well for me and urged them to create a Facebook business page instead.  Remember he already has a Facebook personal profile and is now creating another Facebook profile under his photography name. So, why have a Facebook page not a Facebook profile for business?

First, we need to distinguish between a Facebook profile Facebook page

Facebook Profile

A Facebook Profile is your personal account on Facebook, where you tell people about yourself, add friends and share personal updates. A profile is what you first create when you sign up on Facebook by providing personal information and creating a password. With a Facebook profile, you can connect with friends, family, colleagues, and follow brands and organizations that are of interest.

Importance of a Facebook Profile

• You will be able to create posts, share videos, photos
• You can share information and stories with your friends and family
• Like, follow and get updates on businesses and organisations that interest you

Facebook Page

A Facebook Page is your business’s digital presence on Facebook that you create using your personal profile. A Page has tools to help you grow your business, connect with customers and see how people interact with it. With a Facebook business page, you add details of your website like contacts, website, services and get analytics.

Facebook page is ideal for businesses, organisations, charities, public figures

Previous Post: What is Doomscrolling and How To Avoid Doomscrolling?

Why You Should Have a Facebook Business Page for your Brand or As A Brand

Imagine a brand like Nike sending you a friend request, or you sending a friend request to a company like Coca-Cola? You find it odd, right? Now, imagine how many friend requests those companies could be receiving if they created a Facebook profile instead of a Facebook page where their fans could just like and follow within a click!

Tip?

A facebook business page should be part of your social media strategy, not a replacement for your website

Build your authority in Industry
Own a website #websiteisimportant #websitedesign pic.twitter.com/ztqxeLh7D4

— Av (@GameSpells) April 24, 2021

That is exactly why brands need a business page no matter how small your business is. Try and look at the future. Your fanbase, community or customers will grow over time.

Here are other benefits of having a business page over a profile

Get  A Wider Reach

With a Facebook page, you get an advantage of a wider reach on your posts. Page’s content is often public and Facebook users can search and view your content. When your followers share or comment on your page, their friends will get to see your posts. Some will be prompted to follow you back. 

Tip: When posting content on your page, add relevant trending hashtags within your industry so that you can get a wider reach. In 2020, Facebook Promoted the Use of Hashtags on Posts with a promise of Wider Reach

Unlimited Follows/Likes

Unlike a Facebook profile that limits you to 5000 confirmed friends and 1000 friend requests in the queue, pages allow millions of people to follow your brand. You can invite friends to like your page and  grow your community. Moreover, you can also manage your followers by banning disrespectful followers or muting insensitive words on your page.

Target Your Market

The beauty of having a page is that you can market your page to a specific targeted audience. Also, you can boost posts to the targeted audience or lookalike audience. A lookalike audience is customers who are similar to your current audience. Moreover, with a targeted audience you can target people:

•  According to their interests, gender, age, location, behaviours and demographics
• That  like your page
•  Who like your page and their friends
•  In your local area

Tip Facebook Page Posts: The Rise of Memes and Why You Need to Start Using Meme Marketing

A Cheap Way to Market and Advertise Your Brand

Facebook pages offer you an affordable way to advertise and market to your target market. Within less than $2 you can reach about 443-1.3k people per day with 68-195 engagements! Facebook promotions are affordable and allow you to target the right audience.

NB: My Ad Center settings are in Kenya currencies for the pages I manage.

Get Free Analytics

With a Facebook page, you will get free overview analytics and detailed insights into your posts. You will get insights on total page followers, organic followers, paid followers, daily page views, organic vs paid reach, page likes among others.

Another free detailed page insight you get on the Facebook page is the People insights. You can know your fans, followers, people engaged, people reached by age, gender, location and language. What a free useful insight!

You Can Schedule Posts

Sometimes you may have a busy schedule but you still want to engage your customers on Facebook. At times, you want to have your post published when most of your page followers are online but you will not be online then. Here is where the Facebook Schedule post feature comes in. You can schedule posts to any day and time, unlike a Facebook profile.

You can allow other People to Manage your Page

Teamwork is paramount! A Facebook page allows you to add other people to manage your page such as comments, create ads and delete comments. You can assign your friends or your team with roles like editor, moderator, analyst, advertiser or a custom role.

Conclusion

If you are a personal brand or have a brand, consider creating a Facebook page over a Facebook profile. Although you must have a Facebook profile to create a Facebook page, you have a Facebook and grow it.  With a business page, you will enjoy a pool of privileges in marketing, get data insights and manage your community easily.

For more tips on digital marketing,  follow Egline Samoei on Twitter and LinkedIn 

 

The Rise of Memes and Why You Need to Start Using Meme Marketing

Today, you can’t miss to come across a meme as you scroll through  your favourite social media platform.  People relate with memes and they will often share them from one social media platform to another. You will even find pages or accounts dedicated purely to memes. Some social media users have even branded themselves as king and queens of meme-making. Since memes are being embraced globally and they communicate humorously, you should start incorporating meme marketing in your digital marketing strategies.

What are Memes

Going by online definition, memes pronounced as /meems/ are images, videos, pieces of text, typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations.

One of the most popular memes in 2021 is a photo of US Senator, Bernie Sanders sitting with legs and arms crossed comfortably has been superimposed into images from around the world. This photo went viral and I bet you must have seen it.

 

What is Meme Marketing?

Meme marketing is the use of memes by brands to promote their product and services Click To Tweet. Some brands have taken lead in meme marketing as one of their social media strategies since they are free, easy to create and are sharable.

According to the 2021 Social Media Trends report, meme marketing is one of the social media marketing trends in 2021.  The report says “memes are spreading across the internet as a fun way to engage communities. They’re not all positive and cute, however. As per any communication, they can be used to manipulate the mindset of viewers. They can be used to normalize extreme behaviour, like external agencies interfering with elections or other major events. In 2021, you need to be ready to protect your brand from memes.”

The report further says thatin the coming months and years, expect memes to be used more to persuade consumers, both on key issues such as these, and the ones that could impact your brand Click To Tweet.

 

Worldwide mentions of the term “meme” has been increasing over time according to Google Trends

 

Also Read: Tips for using hashtags on Facebook  for a Wider Reach

What to Consider when Creating Meme for Marketing

Here are some tips to consider when creating memes for marketing

1.      Know Your Audience

The first thing to consider before making a meme is to analyse your target audience. If your target audience is millennials or baby boomers you can craft content and caption what is relatable to them.

2.      Be Trendy

You need to keep up with trends and hijack your social media posts with memes of what people are talking about what is usually known as memejacking.

Take for instance, on March 29, 2021 the Ever Given ship was freed in the Suez Canal by days after being since March 23 causing traffic in the canal. A number of brands were keeping an eye on the trending event and once it was freed they posted memes around their brands on Ever Given ship. Here are some examples trendy meme marketing on Ever Given

Don’t worry. We’ve got this. pic.twitter.com/JwOBhJtu4h

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 29, 2021

A quick solution to the #Evergiven problem in the #Suez…

We give you, BATTAASH ⚡ pic.twitter.com/KH4xe1NM7Y

— World Horse Racing (@WHR) March 29, 2021

However, be aware not to use meme on sensitive topics like violence, rape, race, assault etc that may damage your brand.

3.      Make Sure the Meme Matches Your Brand Voice and Personality

Just like any other brand content that you post on social media, from post to stories it should match your brand personality and voice.  It makes it easier for your audience to relate it to your band. Neil Patel emphasizes that, no matter what you decide to do with your memes, be consistent with your brand persona and stick with it. Otherwise, you risk confusing (and losing) your audience.

What should guide you in creating memes that are in line with your brand voice and personality, you need to define the target persona.  Here are some guiding questions by Julia Enthoven in a Social Media Examiner article on how to use memes for marketing.

• What content does your customer consume?
• What music, TV shows, or celebrities do they like?
• How can you delight and entertain them?
• What problems do they face that are common to their community?

Note that the worst thing to do with memes is to add  a call to action (CTA) such as subscribe, purchase, or follow. Memes are a fun way of engaging with your audience therefore they will share them, which will then create awareness and eventually generate leads. Click To Tweet

4.      Repurpose Popular Memes

Creating original memes might be difficult.  At times you may not be able to create one that matches the current moment of what is happening. As a result, you can reuse existing GIF or Meme libraries online.  Some of the popular meme online libraries include GIPHY, imgflip and Meme High Res Stock, and iStock just to mention a few. You can visit these meme libraries and repurpose exciting memes by adding captions, brand font and logos.

 

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A post shared by Durex Kenya (@durex.kenya)

5.      Be Cautious About Your Memes and Research Well

Research your memes well and understand the cultures so that you don’t offend online users. On one occasion, the Chelsea football club had to delete a meme after some fans took offence to the Kante meme shared by Chelsea. Chelsea had created a meme in wake of the huge container ship, the MV Ever Given, finally being freed after being stuck in the Suez Canal in Egypt since last Tuesday

Also Read: What is Doomscrolling and How To Avoid Doomscrolling?

Benefits of Meme Marketing

You will notice that the most successful brands across the globe are incorporating meme marketing in the social media content strategy. This then begs the question of why you should use memes in marketing. Here are some benefits of using memes in marketing.

Memes Are Easy to Create and Cheap

Creating memes is easy since you can find existing ones on online memes libraries like GIPHY and  imgflip.  From there, yours is just to repurpose them to align with your brand voice and personality.

Meme Humanize Your Brand

When people are interacting with a brand online, they don’t want a robotic kind of engagement. They want to feel they are engaging with a human behind the screen. Memes give you that opportunity to humanize your brand through memes.

Memes are relatable hence Increase Engagement

The beauty of memes is that they are relatable with people and tend to share them willingly. How many memes have you seen today on social media? A number of them, right? probably you have even shared them or reacted to them. By nature, memes are widely shareable hence it increases engagement.

Memes create a sense of community

Memes create a sense of belonging among your followers and audience when you use memes that your community can relate to.  You must have seen comments like “I can relate” on a meme.

Conclusion

Meme marketing is still new and a few brands have embraced it.  You should also start using memes in your marketing strategy since they create engagements, allow brands to communicate their brand personality funnily, humanize a brand and create a sense of community.

Connect with Egline Samoei on LinkedIn and Twitter

What is Doomscrolling and How To Avoid Doomscrolling?

Do you find yourself scrolling through negative news over and over again? Even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, people have been using social media to connect with friends, family, get news, etc.  However, you will find that the timeline on social media is full of sad news, many deaths daily, a spike in cases of Covid-19, rape cases, murders and you keep scrolling from one sad story to another. You even go to comment sections to read the comments. Well, that is doomscrolling. So, what exactly is doomscrolling?

Doomscrolling

According to Merriam Webster, Doomscrolling or doomsurfing are new terms referring to the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening, or depressing. Click To Tweet Many people find themselves reading continuously bad news about COVID-19 without the ability to stop or step back.”

Why are we Doomscrolling?

Lockdowns across the globe has led to an increase of social media users to 4.20 billion. According to theDigital 2021 report, it shows that 1.3 million new users joined social media every day during 2020 and they spend 2 hours and 25 minutes daily. Click To Tweet What are people searching or scrolling on social media? Some people say they are doomscrolling in a bid to find answers about the pandemic or feeling the need to stay informed about what is happening around them and around the world. The loop of going through social media posts, to comments, to searching articles to videos also makes people get and understand a story in different angles. Strangely, doomscrolling tends to be satisfying to for some people, but studies have shown to have negative impacts on your mood and brain.

“Many people think that they’ll feel safer by staying abreast of the latest news. Yet, they don’t realize that consumption of the negative news only leads to greater fear, anxiety, and stress,” Dr. Carla Marie Manly Click To Tweet, a clinical psychologist and author of “Joy from Fear: Create the Life of Your Dreams by Making Fear Your Friend,” told Healthline.

 

Also Read: 7 Privacy and Safety Tips on Social Media during Covid-19 Pandemic

How to Stop Doomscrolling

Before we look at how to avoid doomscrolling, it is vital to ask yourself this question. How does doomscrolling make you feel after getting the information you wanted? Is it satisfying? Are you anxious, hopeless, empty or stressed?  If it leaves you stressed and hopeless, then you need to stop doomscrolling now. Here are some ways on how to stop doomscrolling.

1.      Set time Limits

One way to stop the nerve-ending Doomscrolling is setting certain time limits on the time you want to spend on social media. For apps like Facebook and Instagram, you can use inbuilt time limit features so that you can know when to log out of social media. Once you hit the time limit you will not be able to use the social media app doomscrolling.

I’ve started limiting my social media time with timers on my phone. Instead of just telling me TIME’S UP and letting me keep doomscrolling, my android phone gives me warnings of how much time i have left and then REFUSES TO OPEN THE APP, which, is hilarious to me.

— vicki nerino (@vickinerino) March 21, 2021

 

2.      Avoid using your Phones in the Morning and Bedtime

Do you sign in to social media platforms the first thing you do in the morning or the last thing you do before going to bed?  It’s at any of these moments that people tend to spend a lot of time doomsurfing on social media. Learn to make your morning and nights sacred and avoid using your phones to doomscroll. Here is a reminder from Karen K. Ho, a global finance and economics reporter for Quartz based in New York who emphasizing the importance of rest and screen breaks. Her Twitter Bio reads “part-time Doomscrolling Reminder Lady”

 

Hi, are you
doomscrolling?

There’s been a lot of bad news
this week. A lot of fear, sadness, and grief. A lot to take in and
figure out. I know you’re doing your best. Try not to stay up
too late tonight. You still deserve time to rest.

—
Karen K. Ho (@karenkho) March
19, 2021

3.      Practice Gratitude

It’s with no doubt we are living in tough times and there are sad stories daily. However, it would help if you practiced gratitude. Look for something positive things around you and be thankful for them. It can be something minor like appreciating the cup you are using, the sweet breakfast you have had, the plants in your house, good weather, or the people that make you happy. With time you will have positive thoughts even when things are tough.

4.      Turn off Push Notifications

If you have notifications of social media platforms or articles turned on, you can consider switching them off. Truth be told. Some articles or news blogs have crafted the art of catchy headlines that you will be prompted to open once they appear on your phone.

5.      Consider Social Media Detox

Social media detox is consciously taking a break from social media consumption for a given period, usually 30 days. Social media detox helps you live the moment, reconnect with yourself, people and things around you and prevent you… Click To Tweet While detoxing, you will stay away completely from doomscrolling. This might not be practical for social media managers and digital marketers.

6.      Get a Hobby/Engaging Activity

Another way to avoid doomscrolling is caving to an activity that you like. You can choose to read books, do exercise, gardening, or watch a movie. Any meaningful activity that will distract you from doomsurfing on your phone.

This is all I had the energy to do today and hey it kept me from doomscrolling for a whole hour. pic.twitter.com/KFLcrN8sQi

— Rachel ? Kelso (@thehappysnaps) March 24, 2021

7.      Do Joyscrolling

You can also opt for joyscrolling or hopescrolling on a social media platform. Remember, amidst all the happenings, there is still positive news and positive stories on social media platforms. Engage in more positive stories rather than sad stories

Conclusion

Hopefully, you will cultivate a habit that will stop you from doomscrolling during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the future. Also, have you been doomscrolling? Have you stopped it, or do you want to stop? Let me know in the comment section how you are dealing with doomscrolling.