social media - Dad of Divas

6 Ways Businesses Can Stay On Trend in 2019

July 30, 2019 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

It’s never really a good look for a company to lag behind on business trends because it shows consumers they aren’t keeping their finger on the pulse. Modern-day consumers want companies to be proactive, and to be ahead of the curve on things like social and environmental issues. Consumers also want brands to be just as conscious as they are, if not leading as examples themselves.

Here are some of the ways organizations can keep with this year’s business trends.

Lead rather than manage

The trend is shifting from performance management to performance leading since organizations want to be competitive and effective over the long-term. That is precisely what a good leader focuses on, and finds ways on how to make the overarching goal a reality, rather than pushing for short-term goals like quarterly sales numbers. What’s the point in striving for efficiency if your company becomes irrelevant after losing touch with what people want?

Companies with leadership experiment, innovate and grow with their customer base as opposed to guessing what they will want in the future without listening to them. People’s wants and needs are changing, and organizations that don’t adapt don’t survive. Does the story of Blackberry ring any bells? The first company to manufacture smartphones no longer makes smartphones at all because they got complacent and didn’t embrace change.

Go green

Corporate environmental responsibility has become more and more critical over the years as fighting climate change becomes more important to people. The environment is a major concern for 73% of millennial consumers, who say they are willing to spend more on brands that take the environment into account in their business practices. Furthermore, brands that indicate their efforts to positively impact the environment on their packaging gets higher sales.

While making your company more eco-conscious is a beneficial change regardless, doing it solely for profit is disingenuous, and consumers will notice. Adapt new environmentally friendly initiatives for the right reasons and to help the planet recover from the damage done. Some green initiatives could include banning single-use plastics in office cafeterias, using energy efficient light bulbs and conserve energy whenever possible, and supporting local vendors. For more committed businesses, having solar panels installed is a great way to be more sustainable, as an example.

Invest in technology

Technological advancements and innovations help shape business trends from their inception, so investing in technology seems like an intuitive move to make. Upgrades in organizational communication (i.e., moving from Skype to Slack) and streamlining and utilizing software to bridge gaps in logistical chains are two convincing reasons to stay in the loop with new and emerging tech. Smart lockers are one example of an outdated practice finding a new solution through innovation and technology. With e-commerce business booming and porch theft increasing, smart lockers solve the issue of packages not making it to their final destinations by offering a unique storage solution and dropping the failed delivery percentage to 0. These are the kinds of efficiencies innovation and experimentation can accomplish, and that makes a difference.

Other tech could boost faster speeds to satisfy your customer’s needs, help improve your logistics to be more environmentally friendly, help design and develop new, innovative products, or keep your business competitive. AI is a significant conversation starter and has been top-of-mind since 2018. Automation is creeping in to speed up and seamlessly complete time-consuming tasks and reduce human error. Businesses affected by this emerging tech should be keeping their ears to the ground in order to keep up with the curve.

Personalize the shopping experience

According to an Epsilon research paper, 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that offers a personalized experience. The appeal for personalization is high, as shoppers will purchase up to three times as much from brands providing personalized experiences. In order to stay on trend and remain competitive, businesses will need to jump on board and find ways to improve their customers’ experience while shopping with them.

In brick-and-mortar stores, personalizing someone’s shopping experience is more obvious – you can give them one-on-one attention and shop with them to offer suggestions or help find what they’re looking for. The e-commerce landscape changes the game a little bit and needs to be considered as a separate strategy from physical stores. Some ways to offer personalized customer experiences are to customize loyalty programs, explore RFID tags and branded apps to provide a cohesive multi-platform experience, and curate your sales and offerings to specific marketing demographics.

Offer subscription-based services

Subscription-based services continue to grow in popularity with more and more brands offering a greater variety of products available. The convenience is unparalleled – consumers dictate their preferences, then once a month receive a package with a selection of product right to their door. There are so many companies offering this service, it might feel like the beginning of a saturated market, but growth remains steady, and niche subscriptions are holding just as strong as the ones with mass appeal.

One big factor in the popularity of the subscription box is the personalization factor. As stated above, personalized shopping experiences are critical for consumer satisfaction these days. The subscription style suits this perfectly, as each box feels like it’s tailored to the person who ordered it and based on their personal preferences, not what the company tells them to buy.

Understand social media

Social media is here to stay. Every company needs a social media strategy even to exist nowadays because that’s where people turn to when they want to shop or use a service. Brands without good social strategies will continue to suffer, as Facebook, which owns Instagram, solidifies its spot as the world’s most popular advertising platform.

However, it takes more than just being present on social media – you have to understand how the algorithms work, where your audience spends their time, and what kind of behaviors they exhibit online before, during, and after purchases. You need to figure out what (or who) influences them and the trends they follow, so your brand can join the conversation. You also need to be transparent in these practices, as consumers can smell a pandering message from a mile away. It’s certainly worth taking the time to learn the ins and outs and all the tips and tricks of social media management and marketing in order to remain competitive and relevant.

Ensuring Kids Use Social Media in a Healthy Way

February 5, 2019 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

If it were up to parents, most would probably leave their children’s social media use for later in life, yet recent Pew Research shows that 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and around 45% claim to be online almost constantly. The Internet is useful for learning and social connection in a myriad of ways, but some parents can worry that social media use in particular is taking up most of their kids’ free time. Because social media use is so rampant, we can, perhaps, begin by asking kids how they feel about it. Also in Pew’s survey, around 31% of children felt that social media had a positive effect, while 45% said these sites didn’t affect them positively or negatively. A smaller percent (24%) said they were negatively affected. How can parents boost the positive and reduce the negative?

Know What Platforms Your Children are Using

The most often used online platforms for kids are Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram. Snapchat, available for kids aged 13 and above, is thankfully used in a generally lighthearted way – to share funny edited photos as well as play games. To ensure healthy use, let your kids know that they myth that snaps ‘disappear after 24 hours’ is unfounded. Go through what type of photos are safe to share. Enter the Settings section to control features such as location and who can view content your child uploads. YouTube and Instagram are a bit easier to control, because you can see whom your child subscribes to or follows, respectively, so you can view content by the people they follow and ensure language and content is appropriate.

Streaming and Live Content

Your children may be keen to watch streamed or live content from their favorite gamers or influencers on sites like Twitch. This is a super fun way to interact with other gamers, follow their favorite broadcasters, and broadcast content themselves. Sites like Twitch are ideal for super communicative kids who are perhaps interested in a career in the media. However, because live comments are unpredictable, this type of site is best for young adults who are quickly able to spot and avoid incendiary or negative content.

Thinking of Limiting Social Media Use?

In the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, researchers found that for parents, three out of the five top health concerns for their kids involve Internet use. These concerns included cyberbullying, not getting enough exercise, and Internet safety. Parents often wonder whether or not to limit social media use or screen time, since they fear doing so may make kids even more eager to reach for their phones. If you have doubts about whether or not to limit social media use (say to weekends or for a specific time during the day), perhaps recent scientific findings may be useful. An Iowa State University study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that children who have limited screen time get more sleep, perform better academically, have better behavior, and have a lower risk of obesity. Lowering exposure to violent media in particular increases positive social interaction and decreases aggression.

Making Other Plans

It’s far easier to entice kids off social media on weekends if you have something more exciting up your sleeve. Car Jung espoused that getaways to nature were crucial for human health (including children’s health), while nature author Richard Louv notes that in his own case, “Nature was my Ritalin” – i.e. it enhanced focus and instilled a sense of wonder many kids are missing these days. Any plan your kids enjoy is fabulous, but if it can involve movement, free play, and exercise in the Great Outdoors, all the better. Once you are in the wild, you can always pause for a little meditation session, encouraging kids to open their senses to the sights, sounds, and textures of ‘the here and now’.

Social media is a fun way for kids to stay connected with their peers and to fill in idle time. However, your kids’ lives will hopefully be so busy that they don’t need to wile away the hours. Getting kids interested in sport, nature, and hobbies like reading or crafts can give them a natural outlet through which to express themselves and their talents. Make sure you enjoy your kids to the fall by bonding with them in as many outdoor adventures as you can; time flies, especially, it seems, when you have kids.

Are Social Media Sites really putting up a fight against cyberbullying?

September 24, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Recently, a nationwide discussion about cyberbullying has been occurring on social media, on the network news, and even in the school system. This is a gigantic leap forward in addressing this devastating epidemic. Unfortunately, talking can’t protect our youth from the devastating deluge of online harassment. As our society becomes well versed in digital aggression and the harrowing consequences, we find many parents and educators questioning if social media sites are putting up a fight against cyberbullying.

The Problem With Cyberbullying On Social Media

It is estimated that around two-thirds of all U.S. teens are logged onto Facebook and many are turning to other social media sites at elevated rates. As more and more teens (and even preteens) become Smartphone and device owners, they embrace social media with a flourish that has never been encountered before. This prevalence of all things digital warrants an honest and objective look into a child’s online activity.

Daily exposure to social media exposes our kids to a wide array of inappropriate material, predators, and even cyberbullies. Recent survey data reveals that between 62 and 87 percent of children personally witness cyberbullying on social media. The cyberbullying rate has tripled within the last year and is expected to keep climbing.

To make matters worse, the same data uncovered 25 percent of our sons and daughters have actually been the victims of cyberbullying. These numbers are scary in their own right, but they become downright frightening when we consider the fact that only one out of ten children will seek help or advice from an adult when they encounter cyberbullying!

Sites like Facebook and Twitter have policies in place that allow people to block or unfollow users. If this method fails, a person can flag posts for inappropriate conduct causing them to be reviewed by the company. If a person is unable to stop unwanted messages or replies, it is recommended to take a screenshot of the cyberbullying comments and contact the site directly.

In an extra effort to eliminate bullying, sites are also conducting social campaigns on their sites. Sponsored posts and education blips are raising awareness about cyberbullying and the negative consequences suffered by targets and instigators. While education and reporting are improvements, cyberbullying is still a serious threat facing our children.

Six Cyberbullying Safety Tips For Parents

Parents can’t rely solely on social media sites to install measures to keep kids safe. Afterall, social networks will not be able to monitor every post or image sent. It’s still important for parents to talk with kids about cyberbullying and add the following tools to our personal arsenal to wipe out digital aggression:

Encourage children to only interact with their real friends and people they know. This can prevent people with fake profiles from targeting our kids and attempting to gain access to their private information. Many cyberbullies will turn around and use this sensitive information to embarrass or inflict pain on a target.

Teach children how to protect their private information online. Give them the skills needed to hide their address, school, phone numbers, and class schedules.

Stress the importance of keeping passwords private- even with friends. Friendships crumble and relationships go through rocky patches, which is completely normal in childhood. However, it is not uncommon for feuding friends to turn their squabble online and seek revenge digitally.

Let children know that what they do online can harm others.

Inform children to tell an adult if they witness cyberbullying or receive messages from strangers.

Monitor a child’s social media activity. Take the time to track the apps a child uses, learn their passwords, and check in from time-to-time.

Do you feel that social media sites are taking adequate measures against cyberbullying?

Guest Post provided by: Hilary Smith

Born and raised in Austin, TX, Hilary Smith is a free-lance journalist whose love of gadgets, technology and business has no bounds. After becoming a parent she now enjoys writing about family and parenting related topics.

Raising Teens: How Dads Can Play A Role

May 13, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Raising Teens: How Dads Can Play A Role

You expect something, they do something else. You ask for an explanation, they ignore you. You say, “You’re not allowed to do this,” they say, “Stop me if you can!”

Teen behavior can be challenging to cope with for parents, and when the defiant ones near the age of 18 or 19, you just can’t bribe them with chocolate anymore, or put them to nap and breathe a sigh of relief.

While adolescents don’t need to be supervised as much as younger kids, fathers need to be physically present and talk to teens about a number of issues.

Rebellion

Society’s expectations of the male gender may lead some boys to engage in rebellion. Teens who are expected to do well at everything, such as relationships, may rebel or withdraw due to being overwhelmed. And boys may become frustrated when the independence they expect isn’t granted.

You might be surprised to discover that your talkative little tike has now become someone who is reluctant to communicate with you. Teen boys like to respond to every question with a few word answers, and attempts to get more information out of them might be dealt with anger or annoyance.

Co-occurring disorders

This is when the teen goes through two different conditions; substance dependence and a mental ailment. This means that a teenage boy suffering from anxiety disorders and depression may also engage in substance abuse; as a result he could be diagnosed with a co-occurring condition during diagnosis for treatment.

Research revealed that teens who suffer from dual diagnosis may be going through the following conditions: high intake of drugs lead to their mental ailment, deviant behavior of friends can have a negative impact on both conditions, and the intention to outperform in activities such as sports can lead to the aggravation of both conditions.

Social media dependency

Social media is a great way for teens to make friends and connect with influencers, but excessive use of this platform can lead to negative consequences. One survey found a positive relationship between teenage social media use and drug abuse. Those who use social media to interact every day are 5 times more likely to take drugs. The data made sense as those exposed to pictures and results are more likely to experiment in teen years.

So regardless of the genes possessed by a teenager, increased social media use with already prevalent peer pressure only increases the pressure to try new things. Apart from drug abuse, constant exposure to adult content may lead teen boys to engage in unprotected sex and other unsafe activity.

What can you do as a father?

There are several steps you can take to help your child overcome teenage woes. For instance, you can educate them about improper social media images, or implement parental controls to ensure your child stays away from inappropriate content.

Treatment options for men or young adults makes it easy for parents to help their children overcome troubles like co-occurring disorders. Self-diagnosis may not work, as it is often challenging to find out the exact cause of substance abuse in a teen who is dually diagnosed. However, a proper treatment center can help them overcome abuse without prescription drugs.

And just like treatment centers, parents can educate children about self-patience and politeness by enrolling them in specialized programs to reduce rebellious behavior.

Ted Rubin ( @TedRubin ) Reflects on 2014 & What Portends in #SoMe Going Forward at #DadChat #RonR

December 15, 2014 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

We close out our year at #DadChat with our friend and previous guest, Ted Rubin. He and we are going to reflect on this past year and look at things we expect and hope for in the New Year. Yes, we’ll focus on #SocialMedia and its trends, but we’ll also share our personal hopes, desires, and wishes (for ourselves and our family). Join us Thursday, December 11 at 6:00 p.m. PT/9:00 p.m. ET.

Ted Rubin is a leading Social Marketing Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Brand Evangelist, and Acting CMO of Brand Innovators. In March 2009 he started using and evangelizing the term ROR, Return on Relationship, hashtag #RonR. Ted left his position as Chief Social Marketing Officer of Collective Bias on August 31, 2013.
In the words of Collective Bias Co-Founder John Andrews… “Ted, you were the vision, heartbeat and soul of Collective Bias, thank you for building a great company. From innovations like cbSocially to the amazing relationships you built with the blogger community, clients and employees, you drove the epic growth. You will be missed!”
Many people in the social media world know Ted for his enthusiastic, energetic and undeniably personal connection to people. Ted is the most followed CMO on Twitter according to Social Media Marketing Magazine; one of the most interesting CMOs on Twitter according to Say Media, #13 on Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers, and number #2 on the Leadtail list of Top 25 People Most Mentioned by digital marketers.
ROR, #RonR, is the basis of his philosophy…It’s All About Relationships! His book, Return on Relationship was released January 29, 2013. And his latest book, How to Look People in the Eye Digitially, is due to be released any day. Connect with Ted… http://TedRubin.com or @TedRubin.

Some questions to ask and ponder for this week’s #DadChat:

What were the biggest trend-setting advances, platforms, OR devices in Tech in 2014?
Where do YOU see #SocialMedia heading in 2015?
Are you more or less ENGAGED in the world with #SocialMedia?

And, to help us close out 2014 – already a record for #DadChat – please use any of these suggested tweets to bring out the folks:

@TedRubin comes to #DadChat Thursday to discuss #SocialMedia Trends
What is going to happen in 2015 with #SocialMedia – Come to #DadChat tomorrow and find out!
Tonight @TedRubin wears the socks in the family as we discuss #SocialMedia trends past and future

Do #IRL Relationships Trump Everything in Life, Business, & #SocialMedia? – #DadChat

October 13, 2014 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

IRL is one of those acronyms we all use – In Real Life. What an odd notion in today’s mobile, smart-phone, DIS-connected world when so many of us rely on our tech vs. our personality. Is this best for us? Is this best for OUR KIDS? We have special co-host Tamara McCleary this Thursday, October 16 at 6:00 p.m. PT/9:00 p.m. ET, to help us navigate real life. Do your kids play with friends outside? Do your teens actually use their phones to talk or just text (as my younger son does)? Do you rely on email or actually “pick up” the phone and call a friend, a colleague, your relatives, OR a business lead? How will this affect our kids’ lives, moving forward?

Tamara McCleary is a national speaker, business performance specialist, writer, social media expert and relationship economist. She has spoken to over 1,000 audiences and is ranked in the Top 1% of global Social Media Influencers. Past clients include KPMG and U.S. Department of Defense. Tamara speaks on the topics of team relationships, employee satisfaction and retention, the emerging relationship economy, social media, sales performance, customer service, customer acquisition and retention, entrepreneurship and more. Tamara’s background includes, Director of Sales and Marketing for a successful national medical device company, as well as, sales and marketing achievements. She was named Top Sales Achiever nationally three years in a row for a biotechnology firm before launching her own successful national consulting firm based out of San Francisco, California. Tamara is the creator of the trademarked RelationShift® method, enabling individuals and businesses to improve virtually any relationship. Tamara changes lives and transforms businesses. Visit her website!

Tweets to bring out new people and your friends – feel free to rewrite or write your own:

~~ What is IRL – Real Life – and HOW does it affect our relationships? #DadChat Thursday

~~ @TamaraMcCleary – Relationship EXPERT – talks to #DadChat about real life relationships and #SocialMedia tomorrow!

~~ Do your kids live IRL or virtually? Do You? Let’s talk #RELATIONSHIPS tonight at #DadChat with @TamaraMcCleary

Related articles

Related articles