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You want to make an impact on customers.You want prospective customers to want to buy or endorse in your product or service. We spend as much time as we possibly can on social media so isn’t it only right that we make that statement through social media? Instagram to be more specific. So you, as a small business owner, have no idea where to begin or you have an idea in your head but the execution isn’t the smoothest. No worries, we’re here to give you some insights on how Caribbean brands are dominating social media content and you can take away a thing or two from them. 1.Levi Marcus @shadikday #LMSS18 DM IF INTERESTED [LIMITED STOCK] #live #lime #love #levimarcus A post shared by Levi Marcus (@levi.marcus) on Jul 17, 2018 at 5:24am PDT Levi Marcus has made a name for himself in the apparel sector . Building his own self titled line “Levi Marcus” his brand showcases that modern day class. He’s always on top of fashion trends and does an exceptional job of marketing his brand both locally and internationally. Pay special attention to his theme as his consistency with the use of colour and that warm , tropical vibe is a great pull factor that he has to his page. 2.The Golden Pineapple TT Friday mood 🌞 ⠀ The store reopens tomorrow at 10am to 4pm 💃🏽 See you then! ⠀ ⠀ CHECK OUR BIO AND HIGHLIGHTS FOR LOCATION, MAP, CONTACT INFO, STORE HOURS AND UPDATES ⠀ ⠀ #TheGoldenPineappleTT #TGPTT #Trinidad #handmade #custom #Naiad #KdG A post shared by The Golden Pineapple🍍 T&T🇹🇹 (@thegoldenpineapplett) on Mar 23, 2018 at 11:18am PDT Your go to for swimwear and accessories. The great thing about the golden pineapple TT is that their vibe is as custom as their line. Very tropical and has a statement colour,like their name suggests (Gold). Like Levi Marcus, they do not shy away from hints of colour but still keep their very distinct island vibe. 3.Shaista Deen According to @aaliisarah this would be the “Hey MTV welcome to my crib” shot. A post shared by Shaista Deen (@shaistadeen) on Mar 23, 2018 at 6:26am PDT A popular local photographer whose content speaks for itself. Her daring images and the ability to capture beyond what meets the eye is one of the many reasons why her work is adored both locally and internationally. If you’re more of a high end brand, I highly suggest looking at her work or even giving her a call to enhance the presence of your page. Her skills are amazing! 4.Kriston Koon Koon “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.”- Bruce Lee ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ www.kristonkkphotography.com A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Kriston Koon Koon (@kristonkk) on Jun 17, 2018 at 7:16pm PDT Another amazing local photographer who also, like Levi Marcus has his own self titled apparel line and in addition to that a Youtube Channel. The great thing about Kriston Koon Koon’s vibe is that it isn’t only on one page! Yes you can see his work all over Instagram and more recently on Kes the Band’s Instagram page. This is what you call moving beyond the norms. His marketing influence is genius. Have a look at his work if you’re trying to get some insight as to how colour combos work (When you have a lot of colour) 5. Tobye and Shoma She finds color in the darkest places . Shop our new pieces from the #Havana collection. Dm or email us for pricing and purchasing info. #tobyeandshoma™ . A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀TOBYE & SHOMA ™ (@tobyeandshoma) on Jun 28, 2018 at 3:58pm PDT Couture Couture Couture! Tobye and Shoma have been dominating Trinidad’s local market with their fashion label Tobye and Shoma TM along with their individual collaborations with Koral Beach Boutique and Bliss , a popular carnival band in Trinidad. If you’re looking for out of the box. They threw away the box. There is no other local page you can go on to and say “I’ve seen this before!” Individuality at its finest. Please note that this is not in any particular order and there are far more Caribbean brands that have been impactful. These are personally my top five and I’m sure there will be many more to come. Which Instagram page was your favorite? Let us know if we missed out any! #Instagram

Listen, covering your camera with your hand and using the black background with ‘Classic’ as your font is as boring as it gets. This isn’t a newspaper, its Instagram. Obviously, your business needs more than lazy text to get customer’s attention. Here are 3 reasons why you should use Gifs to your advantage in Instagram Stories: 1. Wrestle Attention You can’t just use the word attention and assume customers will give you their attention. Instead, I’d be swiping left immediately. Your followers are busy and being bombarded with other content all while looking at your Instagram stories. Add a gif to your story and watch the magic. Gifs are colorful moving and flashing animations. Search the most appropriate gif for your business, at that time, and watch your regular pictures come to life. 2. You’re Fun, on the inside Using gifs shows your followers that you have an easy-going side. A side that is creative and fun than the regular. Not just static pictures and text like local prime time commercials. This lighter side of your profile would encourage followers to engage with your content. Hence, they’ll be inclined to participate in polls and comment on your regular posts if your stories are easy on the eyes. 3. Gifs Videos=no cost The most snackable content presently, are videos. Undoubtedly, good videos are hard to come by for small businesses due to cost. Gifs are like substitute videos. It is a free feature that gives the impression of a video without a long duration attached. You can even save these stories as video files to be used on other social media networks. While it is great and pleasing to use gifs, use it in moderation. Basically, know when to use it and when not to. Your business is a business after all and every follower an interaction counts. Choose what is appropriate to your brand voice and tell a story about your service or product the way you want to. If you need some assistance, we can help. #Instagram

Food must be one of the most photographed objects on Instagram. Consequently, this pushes small businesses that provide food services to the forefront of online advertising. It’s a fact, people love food. Presently, even phones are made with a feature to take pictures of it. This industry is thriving. These are 3 reasons why small businesses can capitalize on Instagram’s food culture: 1. Free Content Content is usually easy to create and other times you’re blank. You can take food pictures your customers post for your own use. Ask them to tag your business in their purchases or create a branded hashtag. With their permission of course, repost their photos. Reposting their pictures is easier than creating from scratch. You can also add your own branding to these posts. Free content right there. 2. Food Loyalty Additionally, reposting someone’s post from your establishment, generally gives the user a sense of appreciation. There’s an appreciation that the business has taken time to acknowledge customer support. It also helps to build online customer service and improves business-customer relationships. Feedback is then easier for your business to attain when it is required. 3. Increase Brand Awareness Finally, customers posting your product also increases brand awareness. When followers see that you repost customer’s pictures they are anxious to post one of their own. Encourage customers to share videos and photos of their purchases. This acknowledgement has a ripple effect on their followers and just increases your visibility in the industry. The Food and Beverage industry is thriving in Trinidad and Tobago. It’s easy for your content to be lost. Standout with a customer centric approach. Along with your regular content, acknowledge your customers and the angles they take on your product. Keep in mind that your followers and their followers are your online lifeline. #Instagram

If you have been living under the pavement, World Cup 2018 is at hand. The world will be abuzz with football related information for the next few weeks. Therefore, if your business is not in this conversation, then what are you even talking about? Here are some ways your brand can be a part of this trending topic: 1. Russia isn’t just about Putin Firstly, the Fifa World Cup 2018 is being held in Russia this year. Your business can talk about the country and whatever product you sell or service you provide. Using the hashtag #WorldCup2018 also draws attention. 2. Thirty-two teams to choose from Thirty two teams will be competing to become World Cup Champions. Basically, following the fixtures, you can adjust your content daily to speak towards a specific team that won or lost their match. So, these are great conversation starters, especially if your target audience consists of mainly men. Brasil is there, just saying. 3. World Cup Players Moreover, there are ongoing discussions and debates about the greatest football players. You can generate these conversations. The likes, shares and even comments by your followers can increase reach. Who is the greatest? Cristiano or Messi? No, Neymar isn’t even in this convo. 4. Uninterested Women Believe it or not, there is an audience of women on social media who do not care about football and less that there’s a cup associated. Preposterous right? Your business can capitalize on this and speak directly to these women who want nothing to do with the World Cup. E.g. Spa services, get away since the husband is occupied with football. 5. World Cup Specials Who doesn’t love a good discount? Your business can have special offers while World Cup fever is present. Undeniably, social media users are more attracted to products that speak to their interest at that time. Thus, harness the season. There are many other ways you can jump on the World Cup brand wagon, being relevant and starting conversations. Don’t be afraid to dabble in the world of sports, despite your brand. Just remember it’s important to know what you’re talking about before you talk about it. Do some research and figure out the best ways your brand can get visibility and become a conversation starter. Bandwagonists are sometimes not accepted, a Businesswagonist however, we can make an exception. #Facebook #Instagram

On the heels of the just concluded Jamaica Xaymaca  and  Guyana carnivals,Crop Over 2018 is revving to be a big show. Not all memories last a lifetime and with so many similar events, what can you do as an event promoter to ensure your event remains top of mind and see Return on Investment (ROI)?The answer is at your fingertips DIGITAL MARKETING!! The advancement and promotion of all these developing regional carnivals is making it hard to stay top of mind with consumers. With persons spending an average of 24 hours a week online what easier way to get to them. Here are 3 reasons to take your event promotion digital. 1. Digital Engagement With the use of digital media and social media platforms you get the ability to share your event advertising with persons worldwide who have an interest in your type of event and the crop over experience. This allows you to promote your event, receive responses, insight and feedback in a matter of seconds from your existing and potential customers. This allows you to build a more personable relationship with your client base .This type of relationship can lead to the improvement of your existing processes, offerings and customer needs. This makes a difference to your brand and builds customer loyalty. 2. Lower cost A well planned and executed Digital Marketing campaign can reach the right target market and cheaper than traditional marketing methods. That $1,500 thirty min radio spot can go much further and even have a longer lasting impression on your audience. 3. Measurable results Measuring your online marketing and metric tools make it easier to establish how effective your marketing approach has been. You are able to receive information on how many potential and existing customers respond to your advertising. So don’t get left behind! Digital Marketing benefits businesses of all sizes giving you access to a huge market. So this Crop Over target your market, increase brand loyalty and increase sales in a cost effective measurable way . #Facebook #Instagram

THIS IS AMERICA The internet has been ablaze with reactions to Childish Gambino a.k.a Donald Glover’s visceral This is America. It’s a shocking achievement that upends the status quo, and demands your attention. However, the video leaves you to decide where that attention is focused. Indeed, the imagery, references, and background violence are only offset by the foreground dance numbers…or are they? via GIPHY Many articles have drawn on the video’s juxtaposition, and how we get caught so easily in its distractions. The New Yorker summarized it well: “The very fact that the dance scenes are already being chopped into fun little gifs online, divorcing them from the video’s brutality, only serves to prove his point.” As a marketer, I’ve read through similar conclusions with some regret, having been drawn to Glover’s presence, more so than the messages surrounding him. A few more views left me overwhelmed, and at times, very emotional. via GIPHY Marketers, how distracted are we? For me, an inevitable question presented itself: how distracted are we as marketers? Do we lock-on to the latest viral fads, creating a voice that relies on short-term conversations? Are we glossing over the long-term relationships we could and should be building with our audience? In my last blog, I wrote that “It’s easy to say that consumers’ attention spans are too refractory for brands to keep up with, however, perhaps it’s not a matter of distraction but choice.” In truth, marketers have a similar choice in how we develop that voice, and such choices can minimize customer churn. In this day and age of endless media, across multiple touch-points, when time is of the essence for both ourselves and our audience, we need to bring real value to the table, as opposed to short-term gimmicks. We cannot afford careless distractions as marketers. An excellent example is Guinness’ Compton Cowboys campaign, one that goes to a community’s roots and uncovers true purpose. Both the subjects of the campaign, and Guinness’ brand voice stand out to create meaningful stories that are as moving as they are relatable to the target audience. If you haven’t seen or heard This is America, view it here. For more on how marketers can use distractions to their advantage, check out Adweek’s article here. Do you want your social media to stand out? Join our mailing list here for more insights and tools. #Facebook #Instagram

Facebook made major changes to their algorithm that will drastically decrease the frequency of your posts on your newsfeed. Mark Zuckerberg stated on his personal page, “…big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent.” He goes on to elaborate on the need for users to have a quality experience with their friends and family. My interpretation; the need to pay to play is more apparent, unless you understand your audience. However, there is a workaround that will maximize your Marketing budget. Here are some questions to asking before publishing content: Who is this for? Improve your strategy by using audience information. #TrinidadandTobago #ACMInsight #FacebookInsight #SocialMedia #Business #Advertising #DigitalMarketing #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketingagency #ContentMarketing A post shared by AC Marketing Caribbean (@acmcaribbean) on May 15, 2018 at 7:35pm PDT Too many decision makers have a broad-brush approach to marketing. It may be an overlap of traditional media, however it’s impossible to maximise your marketing budget without segmentation. Every single piece of content: text, photo or video, should be speaking directly to someone specific. For example, Book a room with us today vs It’s time for a couples’ retreat. One is speaking to everyone and the latter to persons who have a significant other in their lives. Why would they engage? A post shared by AC Marketing Caribbean (@acmcaribbean) on May 7, 2018 at 5:10am PDT Most social media platforms will empower you with data. It’s in their best interest to provide as much information as legally possible for you to get the best Return on Investment (ROI). That’s why they provide tools such as the Facebook Audience Insights, which should influence what you choose to publish. Please be mindful, content is not about you, it’s about the user. What action would you like them to take? Based on strategy, your Call to Action (CTA) should be aligned with your goals and objectives. If you would like to increase sales, you should have a Buy Now button. If you’re building a community beyond Social Media, Lead Generation should be your main goal. Ultimately your CTA should easily relay what is needed by the user. Gary Vee once said, ‘Content is king but Context is God’. You need to remain relevant without giving your FOREX to Facebook. Asking these three questions are a great way to start before publishing content that no one cares about. #Facebook #Instagram #Linkedin #Twitter

As a marketer, it’s hard to look at Beyoncé’s Coachella performance and not feel envy. After all, her brand is an iconic benchmark. Meanwhile, we complain that our audiences are basically caricatures of the distracted boyfriend meme. The truth is that they wade through thousands of brand messages every day. It’s easy to say that consumers’ attention spans are too refractory for brands to keep up with, however, perhaps it’s not a matter of distraction but choice. Remember, this is the era of the Empowered Consumer. Understanding that makes the challenge clear – how do we capture our audience’s attention and keep it? Consumer Distraction vs Consumer Choice Via imgflip.com Despite the controversy surrounding Facebook, the social network remains one of the most effective vehicles for reaching audiences. As of April 16th, Facebook saw growth in its ad spend, including Instagram. With over 700,000 monthly active Facebook users within Trinidad and Tobago alone, this online market is ripe with advertising opportunity. 3 Tips for Advertising on Facebook Yes, size matters – One of the most common issues I run into with clients concerns creative sizing. Facebook offers five ad types and four ad placements options; Facebook mobile and desktop. Therefore, it’s important to take note of the dimensions and composition of your brand’s creatives. Check out this Buffer blog for an all-in-one guide to ad sizes and video specifications for Facebook. Text is NOT your friend – The best memes say everything they need to, sometimes without a single line of text. Your ad should do the same. Whether it be still images, animated graphics or video, the message should resonate without being drowned in words. Facebook’s Text Overlay tool for ads is a simple way to check if your creative might need an edit before it goes live. Simply, upload a photo into the tool, and Facebook will apply a rating that tells you whether or not your ad will run. Be relevant, like Beyoncé – If you haven’t yet seen Beyoncé ’s breathtaking performance at Coachella, stop what you’re doing and get on it. As the New York Times wrote – “As Beyoncé has gotten older, she’s been making music that’s increasingly visceral, both emotionally and historically”. Marketers can draw inspiration here. Your defining factor is the value proposition that you bring to the market. It sets you apart from your competitors and keeps your audience coming back for more. So, focus on your audience and tailor your messages for their tastes and preferences. For more on Facebook Advertising, see their extensive list of guidelines here. #Facebook UPDATED: Format

With over 350,000 female active users on Facebook, it’s the cheapest media to reach your audience in Trinidad and Tobago. Both SMEs and Enterprise businesses have a level playing field when it comes to accessing their potential customers, however, smaller businesses do not have the massive budgets that the corporate world are used to. Therefore, business owners need to understand the platform before giving a single cent to Mark Zuckerberg. I’ve seen too many pieces of irrelevant content on my newsfeed, so I’m here to help you help me! 🙂 Trying to Reach Everyone Me: What’s your target market? Marketing Manager: Everyone Me: via GIPHY Companies such as Coca Cola and Apple have millions of dollars in marketing spend and they will NEVER have an objective to reach everyone. Pre-Social Media marketing included segmenting your audience to build early adopters. This hasn’t changed. Use the Facebook Audience Insights tool to determine their interest and the size of the audience, which will help define how you spend. Doing It Solo It’s called the Worldwide Web because it’s all connected. Like Google’s SEO, Facebook’s algorithm favours brands with mentions from other pages. That’s why there is a Crossposting feature that allows you to share views on content. It’s time to use local Influencers to expand the conversation beyond a single page, for example, Foodie Nation and the online celebrity Certified Sampson. Brand Awareness as a Metric Having 20,000 likes is important to your business because it means you have an audience to interact with and a community that will freely share information. Unfortunately, most brands stop at the numbers and that’s what we refer to as Vanity Metrics. They are as hollow as an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians. You need to incorporate how you intend to measure your Return On Investment. (ROI) Do you even Pixel? Every single dollar you spend should have an overall objective. The initial budget may go to growing your audience but when you reach the ROI stage your website should be installed with a Facebook Pixel. This allows you to measure, optimize and retarget your ads. Which basically means you can report X dollars on advertising brought you 500+ emails or X dollars in sales. Text is so 1999 Facebook is literally handing you a silver spoon with its Canvas tool. They know you will continue to spend when you get high returns and that can only be achieved with video. I recently ran a national ad campaign and the video content costs 100% less per like. Users are rarely interested in your story unless it’s in moving pictures. Regardless of your advertising budget, you don’t need to be an expert, but you do need to conform to the platform and understand what your audience like. Plan and create a Strategy that will maximise every dollar spent. Good luck and I am hopeful to see more relevant content on my newsfeed such as road bicycle tips and cat videos. #Facebook UPDATED: Broken links

With over 340,000 active users in Trinidad and Tobago alone, Instagram is one of the biggest social media networks in 2018. If Facebook has been your primary social media network, it’s time to catch up! Instagram Stories may be your new go-to! Instagram stories is a main feature of the app. It allows businesses to post photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours. Why post a disappearing story instead of posting to the account? Here are 3 reasons why Instagram stories may be better for business than your regular posts: Instagram Stories are Top of Mind Content posted to Instagram Stories will appear above your follower’s newsfeed. A ring is placed around your profile photo to signify a story has been posted. This is meant to catch follower’s attention, filling the entire screen. Focus is placed on the content only. Make your content visually appealing to keep customers from swiping left. Call to Action You can create a story which seeks a particular action. To increase traffic to your website, add a call to action button. Some call to action buttons available to Instagram Stories are Contact Us, Sign Up and many more. Depending on your goal and target audience, choose an appropriate call to action and throw some racks on it. Oh hold your horses! this feature isn’t available to all accounts just yet. You either have be verified or have over 10,000 followers. Our friends at Foodienation ,with a follower count of over 44,000, have access to this tool and mentioned that they add a call to action button organically. Now thats an incentive. Encourages Engagement There are several other forms of engagement within Instagram Stories. For example, posting behind the scenes content for customer entertainment or knowledge, you can use a branded hashtag. Branded hashtags will allow followers to see other posts or stories you have shared before. There is also an option to adjust your story settings allowing direct messages. Along with these, you can create a poll that asks customers to vote. It’s a simple and easy way to find out what your customers prefer. Posting to your business account is still important as your stories. According to Instagram’s algorithm, high engagement on your account contributes to your story placement on your follower’s profile. That’s a quick tip before you flood everyone’s feed. Viewing a story for about 15 seconds requires less commitment than commenting or liking a post. Think of it traditionally, as a quick commercial before your regular scheduled programming. So the next time you’re thinking about dishing out cash for a PowerPoint commercial on local television, consider a free 15 seconds ad on your Instagram account. #Instagram

Brand engagement and awareness should always be at the forefront of your social media goals. Instagram offers basic insights that can inform businesses of the current climate of their social media presence. Two of these insights are impressions and reach. Which one is more important? and What do they mean? Instagram Reach Reach is the number of unique accounts that have seen your content. All your followers will not view your content on Instagram. This is as a result of the time they are using the app, the order in which your content appears and many other factors. Above all, a person could view your content several times, it is still a reach. Reach counts the users. Instagram Impressions The total number of times your posts were seen is called Impressions. One user may have seen your content more than once, it all adds up to impressions. Consequently, a user doesn’t have to comment or like your content to have an impression on it. The most important insight to you will be based on your goals and objectives. Both impressions and reach work hand in hand. Determine what is to be achieved and you’ll be better able to determine which insight best informs this. #Instagram

If you own a business and do not have a website, you’re losing revenue. A website becomes your storefront and gives your potential customer information about your business with minimal effort. There are multiple elements to a great website, however your need to know about the following; Domains Getting a domain name for your company is the first step to getting your business recognized. Some local companies register with .tt, .bb, etc., while .com is usually the most common country code top-level domains used to register a website. NameCheap.com is my preferred option where you can find and register domains, since it’s easy to navigate through and doesn’t require much of your budget. To find out more, watch this Linkedin video. SSL Certificate Installing an SSL certificate is a ‘must’ for every website, especially e-commerce businesses and companies offering products and services. What’s so important about it? Well, it’s a way to tell every visitor that everything they do on the page is safe and encrypted, and they can safely communicate and shop on it. It costs only a few dollars and increases your site’s reputation with Google and other search engines. Simply put, SSL certificates offer secure connections to the site from remote addresses. In short, they create trust between the visitors and domain owners (businesses), and are highly recommended to install, especially if you plan on trading via your website. The way it works is neatly explained in this one minute video. Web Hosting Finding the perfect web hosting to store all your website data in is never an easy task to do. SiteGround is my favourite, where you’re able to store multiple websites, get plenty of web space, and get many extra features, for a small fee. It’s also worth noting that their tech support is praised by many top companies and businesses for being quick and able to solve every issue in a matter of minutes. Interested? Check out this link for more info. Content Management It’s time to set up the website. Some of the world’s largest companies use the WordPress platform for their official websites, including CNN, Volkswagen, Reuters, etc. If you’re looking for the ideal platform to publish the content for your website, you should definitely choose WordPress. It’s open source and includes video tutorials, even those with no experience will find their way around building a company website. If you need better explanation, watch the following Linkedin video. We can no longer rely on the Yellow Pages to reach our customers. Your business must create a unique URL and supporting content for your website. It’s the only way for you to maximise your advertising and marketing spend. #Google #Website