Category Archives: Marketing

5 Advanced SEO Strategies You’re Probably Aren’t Using

BY PETER ROESLER
These simple but overlooked tactics can help boost your site’s traffic and revenue.

A lot of businesses have had their current websites for several years and while they may be functional, they may not be optimized for SEO in the current environment. SEO is a fast changing field, and even a site that was perfect a couple of years ago may be out of date when it comes to strategy and best practices. Many articles have covered simple things a business owner can do to improve their site’s SEO and internet marketing, this article will focus on a few advanced topics. Here are five advanced SEO strategies you probably aren’t using.

Business man point the text: What's your Online Mkt Strategy?

 

  1. Optimize PDFs for SEO
    Many people don’t realize that Google treats the PDFs on websites like webpages. Not just indexing the title of the file, but the contents within as well. For a start, this means that businesses should use keywords as they would on any other page on the site. Also, the PDFs on the site to promote can advance the company’s content marketing and SEO goals. Marketers should include keywords in their headings, give the file an SEO-friendly file name, and include all meta description options available when creating the file. Since, the links within the document count when clicked, be sure to include links back to the website in the logo (like you would on the website) and links to supporting content on the site. Finally, be sure to include as much text as possible and not rely too much on images. Google can read a pdf, but it still can’t assign an SEO score for a picture other than the information in the alt tag. So be sure to include a description to go with your graphics if you want the information to be easy to find through search.
  2. Use Paid Promotion on Social Media to Boost Traffic
    Business owners often want to improve their SEO rankings so they can increase their website traffic, but in some ways, that’s putting the cart before the horse. Google and other search engine algorithms take into account how much traffic a page gets when determining its ranking. So increases traffic to a site will boost its SEO, which in turn, boosts the traffic even higher. Social media is a great way to get the ball rolling. Most social media platforms have some form of paid promotion or ads that can be used to increase traffic. Business owners and marketers need to take advantage of these tools so they can find their target audience and lead them to their site. So long as the content is original and interesting to the audience and the targeting is done right, business owners can send a large amount of traffic for a small amount of money. And if people like what they see, they’ll come back to see more and share the link with friends. This sort of activity will boost a site’s SEO ranking.
  3. Continuously Create Quality Content
    There are a lot of ways that website owners can improve the structure of their site and SEO-friendliness of the content, but the one algorithm-proof method to improve a site’s search ranking is to continuously create content that’s useful to the audience. Though it may take effort and resources, businesses should endeavor to create blog posts and other forms of content for their site on a regular basis. This benefits the site in several ways. First, the SEO visibility of a site increases with the number of pages indexed, so continuously adding content provides more content for search engines to index. Secondly, creating blog posts that are topical, interesting or that answers a question takes advantage in the changes in the way people search and use the internet. People are searching for the answers to specific questions or looking for interesting things to share with their friends. Creating this kind of popular content will serve a business better than the most SEO-optimized traditional About Us page. Just be sure that the created content is SEO friendly.
  4. Use Niche Directories
    Many website owners are guilty of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. At one point, directories were a large part of SEO, but now being listed in the wrong kind of directory can lead to a Google penalty. Understandably, many website owners have avoided all directories to be safe. However, this is overkill and deprives businesses of a very useful tactic. Niche directories are small directories created to serve a very specific community. If you’re a maker of handmade goods or the producer of organic foods, there are people looking at niche directories trying to find these kinds of sites. As long as the directory is targeted and useful, it’s okay with Google. Do a local search for your industry and see what directories come up and submit your site.
  5. Focus on Neighborhoods to Improve Local
    Local businesses are getting better at using the internet to find customers and changes to the Google algorithm for local search rewards small local businesses. For example, Google now divides more cities into subdivisions instead of considering each city as one unit. This means that businesses that identify their location within the city can turn up in important searches for local businesses. Businesses should try to keep a consistent name, address and phone number. Changing the NAP of a business makes it harder for Google to accurately place the business in local search radii. Additionally, businesses should include their neighborhood in website copy and marketing. This helps if someone searches for something like “deli near Southside Pittsburgh”. Also, be aware of nicknames and other ways the neighborhood could be identified, such as the dozens of nicknames for the different areas within areas of Manahattan (e.g. The Diamond District in Midtown).

So those were five advanced tips for SEO you may not be using. I hope you learned something new. If you didn’t learn anything but read to the end anyway, thanks for sticking around. For  a wide variety of services that can be helpful to your business contact Kelsey Media Productions.

This Google Change Hits Small Businesses. Are You Ready?

Most of our clients have already taken care of having a mobile-ready website for their business. Just in case you or somebody you may know who is not aware that this has really happened. So stop what you’re doing, ’cause we’re about to ruin the image and the style that you’re used to.

No really. This is big. And it just happened last week.

First thing’s first: Test your site’s mobile-friendliness RIGHT NOW.

Not long ago Google announced that as of April 21 “we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal.” That’s a major change.

But what does that mean exactly?It means that preferential ranking treatment is now given to sites that are “optimized” for mobile. It also means that having a mobile-friendly website is no longer a nice option to give your customer—it’s absolutely essential.

The good news is it’s pretty easy to see if your site makes the grade…

Take the Google Mobile Test Now!

Read Article from Google

If your business does not have a mobile website and will be affected by losing search presence on Google – Kelsey Media Productions can help!

We have designed several mobile-friendly websites that can work seamlessly with your existing website design.

KELSEY MEDIA PRODUCTIONS MOBILE WEB DESIGN SERVICES

Our web design services including mobile come with a One-Time cost with NO Monthly Fees!

If you need more information then Get your burning questions answered by our experts at 781.365.4800.

If you are also looking for a new website that works on desktop PC, Tablets, iPad and all smart phones… then look no further!

Advertiser Survey Suggests Images Better at Driving Engagement than Text

Posted by Kelsey Media Productions | written by Peter Roesler

For SEO and internet marketing purposes, the content on a website is one of the most important factors that determines the success or failure of a campaign. No matter how people get to a site, it’s the things they read and see while on the site that will convince them to take action with the business. Good written content is essential, but a recent survey of advertising executives suggests that good imagery may be slightly more important.

Recently, TripleLift surveyed more than 100 advertising executives as part of their inaugural Visual Web Awards. These experts were asked to rank eight different publishers across all verticals to determine which sites were the most attractive/engaging. The response to the survey suggest that advertising executives felt that visually-appealing displays are far better at driving consumer actions.

The winner of the award was a Macheesmo, a cooking site that uses imagery heavily on the homepage and throughout the site to drive engagement since it was created in 2008. Macheesmo was chosen by more than 40 percent of the respondents of the survey as being the most engaging.

“Enabling publishers like Macheesmo to beautifully integrate a brand’s creative into their site’s aesthetic is why we’re in business,” said Dan Martin, TripleLift’s VP of Business Development in a blog post about the award and the survey.  “Advertising is as much as an art as it is a science and when publishers can easily paint their own canvas with great content and complimentary advertising – consumers will ultimately reward the experience with their time and attention.”

Looking at the website, it’s easy to see the various ways that images are used to drive clicks and engagement. For example, on the right hand side of the page, there is a link for an e-book. Usually, marketers promote these things with text-based links. Macheesmo makes the book more inviting by letting people click the cover of the book. The company itself also credits image-based design for a lot of their success.

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“I think visual design is an incredibly important part of the user experience on the web,” said Nick Evans, the Macheesmo site’s founder and publisher.  “It makes everything easier if you have a memorable design. Your visitors will appreciate an easy layout and remember a unique brand. Investing in a good design that showcases your content and voice clearly is some of the best money you can spend in the online world.”

Business owners and marketers can learn from this survey and work to make their sites more visually stimulating and engaging. For sites running content management systems like WordPress,  there are a lot of plugins that can be used to make a site more visually oriented. However, it’s vital that marketers ensure the site still works on mobile devices.

One of the challenges of using an image-heavy layout is that it usually means there will need to be an entirely separate site for mobile devices. Responsive design can make images fit on the screen, but shrinking the entire layout so it can fit on a mobile will usually render the site difficult, if not impossible to use. Make sure to take these things into consideration when designing a website or, better still, hire a web design company that can handle the tricky stuff for you.

Images are an essential tool for marketers because they can can easily be used to generate interest, tell a story or promote engagement!

Holiday Fun…. introducing our new Website!


Creative Marketing & Digital Media Services… our new site reflects the design work and components we have been including for our clients websites. Kelsey Media Productions modern web designs utilize in html5 technology which works seamlessly across thousands of different screens including tablets, iPad and smart phones. 

We can include social media plugin feeds, embedded from Twitter or Facebook (with scrolling) along with a Flickr Photo Gallery. This allows for instant updates when posting from social networking apps. No need to constantly update your website when using these social media plugin feeds! The plugin feeds are convenient for posting on-the-go activity, anouncements, events, special offers and uploading photos. We also offer a wide variety of photo galleries along with a video gallery player slide show that can play video from a server, YouTube and Vimeo.

KELSEY MEDIA PRODUCTIONS WEBSITES ARE A ONE-TIME COST WITH NO MONTHLY FEES!

If you are also interested in a Promotional or Holiday HD Video for your business – contact us. 
Happy Holidays & don’t forget to visit our new website! http://www.kelseypro.com

Why & How You Should Integrate Online & Offline Marketing

Use online marketing to improve the effectiveness of offline ads. by Peter Roseler 

It’s important for business owners and marketers to avoid the trap of binary thinking. Often, advice to business owners is given in black and white terms. For example, some study will show that email marketing is better than direct mail marketing or a business guru will write about why business owners should only use internet marketing. However, reality is rarely so simple. The truth is, most businesses will need a combination of multiple marketing strategies and tactics to maximize the potential of their advertising and marketing. This article will show why and how business owners should integrate their online and offline marketing campaigns.

Internet Marketing and Television
Though television advertising and marketing were unrivaled ways to reach consumers for decades, the growth of internet video demands a change in tactics from marketers. A business owner that only uses TV ads to reach their target audience may be surprised to learn that many members of their target audience watch far less TV than they think.

According to some estimates, 84 percent of internet users worldwide watch videos online. More than half of millennials watch TV shows on a tablet, desktop computer, or smartphone. Recently, comScore reported that nearly half of households with three or more people subscribe to Netflix. The report also found that 17 percent of millennials watch no original TV series on traditional TV sets. And that Americans aged 18-34 are 77 percent more likely than average to live in households that have never had pay TV.

These statistics show marketers can’t depend on TV ads to be catch all advertising channel it was in the past. In fact, no form of advertising medium is anymore. In order to reach modern audiences, need to integrate internet marketing tactics to reach more of their target audience. For example, millennials watch more YouTube than any network or cable channel. So using banner or video ads on YouTube is an effective way to reach people who don’t watch as much TV programming as others. Similarly, advertising on social media can help business owners reach targeted audiences with their marketing message.

Internet Marketing and Radio
Though it’s one of the oldest forms of mass media still in use, radio remains a useful and profitable tool for marketers. According to a recent study from Nielsen, 59 percent of US music listeners listen to traditional or online radio. Even in the digital age, there are advantages radio gives that are difficult to duplicate digitally. For example, radio remains the best way to reach consumers as they commute. Which makes radio marketing a great way to reach local consumers with relevant ads. This has been borne out by recent data. In a different study, Nielsen reported that radio ads drive 5.8 percent of US retail sales. Keep in mind that more ad dollars are spent on TV, internet, and print ads than on radio ads, so 5.8 percent represents a pretty good return on investment. Put another way, each dollar of radio ad spend generates an average sales return of $6.

Internet radio exists, but it’s not as widely used as traditional radio. Even among millennials, traditional radio is extremely popular. According to one report, 70 percent of Americans ages 18-34 listen to network radio each week. Additionally, about 71 percent of them have annual household incomes over $75,000. Internet radio apps are used a lot, but they aren’t pulling these kinds of number yet. This gap will likely shrink with time and it illustrates why marketers need to integrate their campaigns.

Running ads entirely on radio will give marketers a good portion of the local commuter audience, but a growing number of people will get their morning music and news from an app. Using banner ads that are available on generic apps or the specific audio and visual apps possible on internet radio apps helps to ensure that marketers reach a larger percentage of their target audience. .

Internet Marketing and Print Media
Newspaper and magazines have suffered a lot due to rise of internet technology. While some commentators are quick to declare print media dead and that our grandkids will consider a physical newspaper as strange as a scroll of papyrus, the truth is that there remains a value to print media that digital sources can’t completely replace. According to Harris Interactive, 69 percent of US adults trust their local newspapers. This trust in the medium can translate into action. According to Nielsen, 54 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it from a newspaper or magazine ad. Even national businesses recognize the usefulness of print media for local advertising. About 43 percent of national businesses use newspapers for local promotions.

Integrating internet marketing with print media is relatively simple. This can be as simple as including websites and email addresses in print ads or including print coupons for specials that are available online. Just because people use the internet doesn’t mean they don’t use of the sources for infromation A study from Shop.org also found that 63 percent of US internet users have used a coupon from a newspaper or magazine. It also helps to include traditional media sources when distributing press releases, instead of solely relying on online distribution. Though it’s easy to get a press released published somewhere online, if the intended audience is local, it’s beneficial to get the news, product, or event covered by the local news media as well. As the Nielsen study showed, people would be more receptive of the information, which can help when introducing a new product line or brand.

The growth of various forms of media have created an environment where there is no longer a catchall form of marketing that will reach every audience, not even the internet. In order for business owners to get the maximum reach and effectiveness of their marketing tactics, they will need to use an integrated campaign. Merging online and offline marketing strategies in the ways mentioned above, is a good way for businesses to increase revenue.

Target Facebook Users Near Your Business with Local Awareness Ads

A great article that will help local businesses!   by Peter Roesler

For a long time, ads on Facebook were less effective the more local a business was. It’s easier to target to an audience of all young women in America than it is to market all the young woman who live near a boutique that’s advertising on Facebook. At least, it was hard. Facebook recently introduced Local Awareness Ads specifically made to help small local business owners connect with Facebook users near their location.

“With local awareness ads, businesses can quickly and easily find new customers by showing ads to groups of people who are near that business’s neighborhood,” the company wrote in a blog post announcing the new feature. “Local awareness ads are built to be more cost-effective than traditional advertising channels like newspaper while offering more precise targeting and greater reach.”

Since Facebook had very good targeting options in the past, it’s worthwhile to explain what is different. Before, a brick and mortar store could only target to a city or ZIP code. It was possible to capture a large part of the potential audience for a business this way, it would also include a lot of unnecessary areas and serve ads to people who probably couldn’t act on them. With Local Awareness Ads, business who have their physical location listed on Facebook can run ads that are targeted a certain radius from that spot.

This can be a valuable tool when combined with Facebook’s resources for advertising to mobile device users on the Facebook App as well as on games and mobile sites in the ever-growing Facebook Ad network. For stores that rely on foot traffic, Local Awareness Ads can be used to steer customers their way as soon as they get in range.

Besides the usual ads for specials, discounts, and the like, Local Awareness Ads can also be used with “Get Directions” call-to-action button. Facebook noted that in conversations with local business owners and advertisers, clicks for directions where more valuable than traditional metrics such as Likes and Shares.

In the blog post, Facebook tried to assuage fears that the new ad format would be intrusive. The Local Awareness Ads won’t be able to target specific people just people in specific areas. And users can still opt out of sharing their device’s location with Facebook.

“Local awareness ads were built with privacy in mind. Advertisers select locations, not specific individuals, for local awareness ads,” the post stated. “Facebook does not tell advertisers which specific people are in any audience and, as with our other advertising products, all audiences must meet a minimum required size.”

Most consumer advocates would consider these points as mere semantic arguments. But with most eyes focused on the reintroduction of Atlas, slightly better geo-tracking isn’t raising many activist eyebrows. But local business owners and marketers should pay attention. Local awareness ads may be the solution for their local internet advertising needs.

If you don’t have a Local Awareness Ad option in your ad creation tool, keep an eye out for it, it’ll be there soon. Facebook says the feature will roll out across the US over the next few months. Every business owner in America should probably have it by November (they wouldn’t want to miss out on all that Black Friday ad revenue). The rest of the world may have to wait a little, but it should be released globally within the next few months.

The Awesome Power of Mobile Devices for Local Marketing!

by Peter Roesler

Understanding consumer behavior is an important part of marketing. The way business owner see and expect from consumer behavior is shown by their actions. These beliefs about consumer behavior are normally based hearsay and intuition, since small business owners usually lack the resources need for large-scale consumer expectations survey. A new study from the Local Search Association does a lot of the heavy lifting by showing how consumers use their mobile devices.  This article will review some of the major takeaways from this study and how marketers can use them.

The information comes from a collaboration between Burke, Inc. and the Local Search Association based on 2013 statistics from their annual “Local Media Tracking Study,” The study analyzed the reach of various local media sources across computer/laptop, mobile phone/smartphone and netbook/tablet.

The study is based on interviews with 8,000 U.S. adults conducted online and by phone. The Local Search Association recently released infographics that highlight data that shows more consumers turn to mobile devices when seeking, discovering or considering local business information.

The main takeaway for marketers from this information is that mobile marketing is becoming the prefered channel for many consumers who would once have used desktops and laptops to learn about and engage with companies. This means that mobile marketing isn’t bringing in entirely new customers by reaching people who were previously unreachable. The growth in mobile device usage correlates with a decline in desktop and laptop usage.

To illustrate, the percentage of people using computers and laptops for searching for local products and services dropped from 80 percent to 73 percent between 2012 and 2013. On the other hand,le mobile device usage increased from 25 percent to 34 percent and netbook/tablet usage rose from 6 percent to 11 percent.

It also important to note that desktops are still the most preferred source for looking up information. However, the clear trend is that desktop computing is becoming less important as mobile marketing grows. Also, searches through mobile devices are more likely to lead to a sale. Searches from mobile devices were more than 20 percent more likely to result in a local purchase. According to the research, 78 percent of mobile phone searches led to a local purchase, compared to 61 percent for desktops and laptops.

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One of the reasons mobile marketing is becoming so important relates to the technology involved. While there are certainly new technology for TV and radio advertising, mobile devices offer the greatest advantage to marketers.

“As customer touchpoints expand, retailers continue to investigate other ways to diversify their marketing spend, including budgeting for increased spend for text advertisements, display ads, social, and attribution models,” said Shop.org Executive Director Vicki Cantrell.

Cantrell’s comments fit in with another takeaway from the Local Search Association study. The study found that why search was easily the most popular reason people were drawn to a retailer, there were a lot of marketing options that each brought in a significant amount of business to a company. Mobile marketing can easily be integrated with these other tactics so business owners can offer coupons, use email marketing, promote content on social media and more.

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This research shows why mobile marketing is so important to small and local business. When looking at long-term trends, it’s clear that mobile devices will become more important than desktops and laptops in the future. Also, the best way to reach a large number of consumers is to a use a diversified marketing strategy. Mobile marketing can help with this because these devices can be used as platforms for email, social and content marketing.

Creating online awareness with video slide shows and HD Templates!

Video is still the most popular media that is viewed on the internet. Giving that everyone is turning to online video…. a good video is the most effective way to educate the user about your product or help promote your business. This video slide show produced by Kelsey Media Productions features a variety of Valentine’s Day Cupcakes from Nancy The Cupcake Lady located in Bellmore, New York.

We recommend our custom templates to clients because it’s fast and easy to add professional, customizable motion graphics to a project. These high quality Animated HD Video Templates can help build awareness to your business, products and services. The custom template samples from our website can be included in your production. Our HD Templates can utilize Video Footage, Content, Photo Stills, your selected Music and company logo. Your completed video production can be viewed on your Website, Blog, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook used within a Presentation or added to a television spot. In addition to being a great marketing tool these animated templates are visually stunning and professional.

Are you looking to add some excitement to your products, services or business – then give us a call at 781.365.4800 or visit Kelsey Media Productions!

Businesses looking to design a new website this is a must!

Our responsive web designs work effectively across all Pc and mobile devices.

One Website, Many Devices

Kelsey Media Productions is now offering – Responsive Websites! What is a Responsive Website? In simple terms, a responsive web design uses “media queries” to figure out what resolution of device it’s being served on. Flexible images and fluid grids then size correctly to fit the screen. One of the most appealing aspects of responsive web design is that a responsive website can provide a great user-experience across many devices and screen sizes. This is an important characteristic, since it is impossible to anticipate all the devices and screen sizes searchers will use to access your site. A site that works well regardless of these variables will provide a better and more consistent user-experience than a separate mobile site that is designed for a specific device and screen size.

Let’s take the following example. Someone searches for a product on their smartphone during a lunch break at work. They find a site that has the product they’re looking for, and decide to continue researching this product on the same site when they get home. Except, when they get home, they will use their desktop instead of their smartphone.

If the site in this example is responsive, this person will have a positive user-experience when transitioning from mobile to desktop because they will view the same site on their desktop as they did on their smartphone. On the other hand, if the site is a dedicated mobile site, this person will become frustrated with the fact that they have to locate the desktop version of the site, and find the product all over again.

Easier to Manage

Having a separate desktop and mobile site requires having separate SEO campaigns. Managing one site and one SEO campaign is far easier than managing two sites and two SEO campaigns. This is a key advantage a responsive website has over a separate mobile site.

That being said, there are benefits to having a mobile-specific SEO strategy, such as optimizing for keywords that are more likely to be searched when someone is on their smartphone.

For example, someone performing a mobile search for a local restaurant may be more inclined to use the word “nearby” in their search query. However, a separate mobile site is not a requirement for a mobile SEO strategy, and there’s no reason why mobile-specific keywords can’t be incorporated into a responsive design site as well.

Conclusion

Responsive web design is recommended by Google, it allows one website to provide a great user-experience across many devices and screen sizes, and it also makes managing your SEO strategy easier. For these reasons, responsive web design is the best option for your mobile SEO strategy.

The benefits are obvious: You build a website once and it works seamlessly across thousands of different screens. Given the rapid adoption of tablets and smartphones — and the fact that users currently seem to prefer finding businesses, restaurants and reading their news on the mobile web rather than in apps — I think it’s inevitable that responsive design is taking off. For business owners, it offers the simplest way to reach customers across multiple devices. For users, it ensures a great experience on every screen. For quality results, contact us or call 781.365.4800 for your free consultation or check out some of our responsive web site projects at Kelsey Media Productions.

5 Instagram Marketing Tips for Startups and Brands

instagram

Instagram has become one of the most popular social media networks in the world within a very short time. Every day millions of users upload and share content directly associated with brands, start ups and organizations, presenting huge opportunities for you to inspire and influence current and potential customers.

 

1. HASHTAGS

Hashtags are the best way to find people who are talking about your brand or startup, follow the conversations people are having. From there you can develop unique ways of engaging them.

Create their own unique hashtags when they post images of their products and encourage customers to use the same hashtags to share images.

Hashtags can help business by making it easy for people to find images related to the brand, improve the reach or engagement, and in making their Instagram content engaging on its own.

2. CREATE A STORY THROUGH IMAGES

The best way to get your customers to remember your brand is to create a deep impact on their minds. Through Instagram businesses can post images of existing products/services, share pictures taken during events, product launches and behind the scenes. This would give customers a glimpse into the inside world of the brand and intrigue a higher interest in them for the brand.

Businesses should also encourage customers to share the images that showcase the brand’s products through specific Hashtags. One of the brands that has received great success with this is Starbucks.

3. INVOLVE THE WHOLE TEAM

Employees are considered most important asset for a business, and when it comes to social media the best way to create a legitimate activity is to encourage your employees to be part of it. They should be encouraged to follow your brand, like the images, post the images and to comment on them. They must incorporate this into their routine. The constant involvement of employees will give customers entry into behind the scenes and create a community for everyone to share their ideas and images.

Employees must be encouraged to take photos with their iPhone, android and tablets. This will make photo sharing very easy for them.

4. TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Select the best times for posting and sharing. Simply Measured did an amazing study on Instagram engagement showing which times have the greatest correlation to comments on photos. The results of the study are as follows:

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5. MAKE AND SHARE VIDEOS

Instagram was acquired by Facebook in 2012 and in June 2013 the company announced their new video feature which would allow users to share 15 sec long videos. Instagram has more than 130M active users and in the first day Instagram Video was announced, more than 5M videos were shared. With such large number of users, Instagram has made it very easy for companies to share videos. This video feature enables businesses to share intro videos of their employees, fun facts about their brand, how-to videos, address customer’s questions, FAQs and create cool contests to engage customers and drive interaction.