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Client Spotlight: Great Lakes EXPO

Every company has a story — and at SmartSolutions, we’re passionate about helping them tell that story. Our latest client spotlight feature is the Great Lakes EXPO, the premier trade show for fruit and vegetable growers, greenhouse growers, farm marketers and more.

 

In their own words

“Over three days, the program includes sessions on fruit crops, vegetable crops, other specialty crops, greenhouse crop production and marketing, farm marketing ideas and operations, farmers’ markets and organic production and marketing. There will also be sessions covering a diversity of general interest topics, including food safety and labor.

Presentations will be made by researchers and Extension educators from Michigan State University, other Land Grant universities and industry. Many of the education sessions will offer credits for Michigan and Ohio Private and Commercial Pesticide Applicators and Certified Crop Advisors.”

The 2019 Great Lakes EXPO and Michigan Greenhouse Growers EXPO, held at DeVos Please Conference Center and the Amway Grand Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, features more educational opportunities and trade show exhibitors than ever. With over 4,000 visitors from over 40 states and seven Canadian provinces, the Great Lakes EXPO features 70+ educational sessions and workshops and over 450 exhibitors in an expanded trade show over a three-day period.

 

Learning more

From beginning organic production to farm marketing, to utilizing social media marketing and more, any of the EXPO’s over 70 educational sessions and workshops will help growers from all walks and industries learn more about improving their businesses practices. To see the upcoming 2019 lineup of educational sessions, click here.

Early bird registration is now open. Register by Friday, November 15th to receive early bird pricing discounts. To learn more about the discounts, pricing and registration, click here.

To learn more about the 2019 Great Lakes EXPO and Michigan Greenhouse Growers EXPO, such as educational session information, pricing, registration, event details and more, you can visit them at glexpo.com.

 

Every company has a story — and at SmartSolutions, we’re passionate about helping you tell that story. 

Looking to give your company’s social media marketing presence the boost it needs to start seeing a more positive return on your investment? Click below or call us today to get your free consultation!

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Importance of Instagram in 2019

For owners of a business of virtually any size, social media is a vital component of a successful marketing plan. However, one of the fastest-growing social platforms, Instagram, is proving to be one of the most valuable pieces. Why should brands, especially those with more visually-leaning products and services, be focusing more on Instagram?

Why Instagram? Volume.

First and foremost, there’s just a few people active every day on Instagram — well, 500 million, to be exact. Over half of Instagram’s monthly active users are logging in daily, and actively engaging with brands and peers on the platform.

With the daily active, not just monthly, growing almost every day, Instagram is quickly rising to the top of the social media marketing channel ranks.

Cohesive with Facebook

As mentioned in previous posts, Instagram is now owned by Facebook, which means a cohesive advertising and marketing plan can be managed for both platforms at one time. Now, not only are your accounts linked together for easy management, but your brand’s advertising on Facebook can run on Instagram as well and vice versa.

By running advertisements in Facebook’s “Ads Manager,” you can opt to have the same ads running on Instagram, as well, under the same budget — and bonus, not only will it give that ad more exposure, it will also give your profile on Instagram more exposure as well.

Seeing More Engagement than Facebook

With higher engagement numbers becoming more and more the primary focus, businesses and brands are looking for any and every avenue to increase engagement rates across their pages. High-quality images and content, for example, are seeing a 23% higher engagement rate on Instagram than they are on Facebook.

But it’s not just that the brands are seeing higher engagement rates among their followers — they’re also seeing engagement rates as high as 10x higher on Instagram in general than they are on Facebook — making Instagram a nearly invaluable tool to exhibit your company’s services or products to potential customers.

 

Think you know your social media marketing stuff? Take our SmartSolutions Social Media Quiz to get your official score today!

Need help with your marketing strategy? At SmartSolutions, we are passionate about utilizing the power of communication to bring people and businesses together — and we are equally as passionate about your story. Our team of expert marketers bring their unique perspectives and diverse experiences together to provide a one-stop, full-service marketing solution to help your business thrive. Click below or call us today to get your free consultation!

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Monthly Small Business Marketing Roundup

For small business owners, the world of digital marketing can feel ever-changing — and the reality is, it is. Looking to keep up on the latest changes, updates and news in the marketing world? The SmartSolutions monthly marketing roundup has you covered.

Instagram Makes Changes

A look at Instagram’s new “dark mode.” (Image via alextooby.com)

Upon the release of Apple’s iOS 13, Instagram has released a bevy of changes — most notable, removing the “following” tab, a “create” interface for Instagram Stories and dark mode.

By removing the following tab on user profiles, Instagram did away with a feature that many failed to use, if they even knew it was there. Nestled under the “likes” tab, the “following” page allowed you to see the liking and following activity of those you followed. A new “create” feature for Instagram Stories gives businesses and users “template” styles to help create more engaging story content, and the new “dark mode” creates a “blacked out” look for the app.

A New “Messaging” App

Instagram has also released a new app called “Threads,” described as a “messaging app for close friends.” The idea behind Threads was that the platform “saw the need to stay more connected with your smaller circle of friends throughout the day, to communicate what you’re doing and how you’re feeling through photos and videos.”

New Photo Layouts for Facebook?

Always experimenting with different formats, layouts and styles with their news feed, Facebook is apparently testing new image-formatting options for multiple images that have been posted in the feed.
 

A look at Facebook’s new testing of image layouts. (Image via socialmediatoday.com)

New Facebook Business Tools

Facebook continues to make connecting with audiences easier for companies (despite making organic reach more difficult), and that hasn’t changed as they roll out new features in October. Most notably, the platform is giving business pages more lead generation tools in Facebook Messenger, including appointment booking, and new collaborative and monetization features for “stories.” To learn more about some of Facebook’s upcoming changes, click here.
 

Need help with your marketing strategy? At SmartSolutions, we are passionate about utilizing the power of communication to bring people and businesses together — and we are equally as passionate about your story. Our team of expert marketers bring their unique perspectives and diverse experiences together to provide a one-stop, full-service marketing solution to help your business thrive. Click below or call us today to get your free consultation!