3 Links (#8): Blog Posts Worth Checking Out
Posted: May 16, 2013 Filed under: Links, Pinterest, ROI, Social Business | Tags: 3 links, analytics, competitive monitoring, monitoring, pinterest, roi, social listening, social media, social media marketing 1 Comment »
Here we go again… another grouping of blog posts that you should read if you’re interested in social media, content or digital marketing.
This is the eighth installment of 3 Links:
PROOF THAT SOCIAL MEDIA DRIVES SALES!
Heidi Cohen presents some compelling statistics to support that the effective use of social media can lead to customer acquisition, and ultimately, sales. These statistics are broken out by social media platform and are supplemented with actionable marketing tips to enhance your ability to acquire customers.
THE GODFATHER STRATEGY: 8 SIMPLE WAYS TO MONITOR YOUR COMPETITORS
Understanding your competitive landscape is critical to maintaining a leadership position and social media affords many opportunities to monitor your competitors. Freddy Aurso lists 8 ways that you can monitor your competitors on social media including on Twitter, Google Trends, Google Alerts, SEO ranking tools, and conducting online surveys, to list a few.
USE PINTEREST WEB ANALYTICS TO JUMPSTART YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Pinterest has quickly become an integral part of many marketers’ social media marketing activity. Not only is it a fantastic visual platform, but also it is proving to be quite effective at generating leads and sales. In this article, Pam Dyer does a great job describing how to setup a business account on the platform, and then goes on to provide a quick walk-through of how to get started with Pinterest analytics to help you track, measure and optimized your activity.
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If you find these posts to be interesting, valuable or insightful, I encourage you to leave these bloggers a comment with your thoughts.
Have you read anything great that you’d like to share? Let me know in the comments, or on Twitter @RGBSocial
Deconstruct Your Blog Posts To Feed Your Business’ Content Pipeline
Posted: April 22, 2013 Filed under: Blogging, Content, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing | Tags: blog, blogging, content, content creation, facebook, google+, pinterest, twitter, youtube 2 Comments »
A blog post shouldn’t just be a blog post.
Any time you put the effort into writing a blog post, you should consider how to deconstruct it into several pieces of shorter form content to feed your business’ social media content pipeline.
I’ll describe how you can do this and a few things you should consider for each social media platform here:
Facebook, Google+ & LinkedIn
Each blog post should at the very least be cross-promoted on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or whatever social media platforms your business is utilizing. Instead of just posting the title to your blog post, try also sharing a key point, or posing an interesting question to drive engagement.
A word of caution here is to not over-promote your content on these platforms. Limit your cross-promotion to a single post on each of these social media networks so you don’t come across as spamming your audiences’ timelines.
Get the most out of your blog post by also cross-promoting it on Twitter. In addition to tweeting the title of your article with a link, schedule follow-up tweets to share each of the key points, statistics, and otherwise tweet-worthy anecdotes.
The number of tweets that can be created from the contents of a blog post is dependent on how many points of value you’re able to extrapolate. The key here is to ensure that each of your tweets can stand on its own as being of value to your audience.
Pinterest might not seem at first like an obvious social media network through which to extend the value of your blog post, but there are often opportunities to share content from your blog here as well. Create images that highlight key points, lists, ideas, how-to’s, or other information from your blog post.
Similar to Twitter, the number of Pinterest pins that can be created from your blog post is reliant on how many individual points from your blog post alone can provide value to your consumers. When creating Pinterest pins, ensure that the content you will be sharing from your blog post is enhanced by the added visual element that is inherent on the platform.
YouTube
Your blog posts can be reimagined as scripts or speaking points for YouTube videos. Video content can be created to touch on all of the points included on your blog, or you can create a series of shorter vignettes to engage your consumers with more bite-sized content.
Alternatively, your blog posts don’t need to be the beginning and end of a conversation. YouTube can be used to dig into certain points, provide additional context, highlight practical application, or interview others to gain their perspective on your content.
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In addition to placing a huge amount of effort into creating content that will provide value to your consumers, you should also be focused on how you can get the most value from the content you create. By deconstructing your blog posts into content for your business’ other social media properties you’ll be able to extend the reach of your content by reaching different consumers on different platforms, and you’ll be able to save your social media and content marketing teams a huge amount of time creating content.
How do you deconstruct your blog content for use on other social media networks?
It would be great to chat with you more about this in the comments, or on Twitter @RGBSocial
Giving Up On Social Media Is Giving Up On Your Business
Posted: March 4, 2013 Filed under: Social Media Marketing, Social Media Strategy | Tags: blogging, blogs, community engagement, consumer behaviour, facebook, pinterest, social media strategy, twitter 2 Comments »
‘I want to shut down my Facebook page because I don’t want to deal with all of the negative comments that people have to say about my business’
Have you ever heard something like this?
Have you ever thought this?
If you’ve thought it, please, take a moment to hang your head in shame.
I’ve recently had discussions with several friends and colleagues who have shared stories of their clients wanting to remove their business from social media because they don’t want to have to address negative comments, the headache that trolls can cause, criticism from their loyal consumers, or simply because they don’t have time to address these concerns.
The very thought of wanting to ‘remove your business from social media’ is completely missing the point.
You can’t remove your business from social media.
All you can do is remove yourself from the discussions that are going to happen about your business, regardless of whether you’re participating or not.
Just because you ignore issues, doesn’t mean they’ll go away
Consumers don’t limit their online expressions of discontent, enthusiasm, or other opinions on businesses to only those with a Facebook Page, Twitter timeline, Pinterest board, YouTube channel or blog.
They have their own blogs, their own Facebook profiles, Twitter feeds, message boards and almost numerous other options for sharing their experiences, opinions, and perspectives on your business.
By not engaging in social media, you’re willingly being ignorant to these discussions and removing your ability to participate, make things right, and in some cases, defend yourself.
You can learn from negativity and apply it to improve your business
Consumers complain and spread negativity for a reason; they’re unhappy with your business. Sure, trolls exist, and some people are just inclined to complain, but most consumers have legitimate criticisms when they take their frustrations online.
Even when consumers are being negative, this is can be positive for your business. For every single person who expresses their criticism online, how many consumers are biting their tongue, vowing to themselves that they’ll take their business elsewhere in the future? It’s worthwhile to listen to what they have to say, and to view this as an opportunity to improve your business.
You can set the record straight
On occasion, there are consumers who express concerns on social media who are doing so unjustly. Maybe their negative experience was an anomaly, maybe they used your product improperly, maybe they didn’t set your service staff up for success. Whatever the issue, being able to receive these complaints also gives you opportunity to set the record straight and help those consumers out with their problems.
This will not only help the consumers you’re directly connecting with, but future consumers will be able to see these interactions and have greater faith that you are going to support your product or service, which can positively influence their purchase decisions. You might be able to avoid these issues or complaints in the future by creating record of your interactions, as a sort of FAQ or troubleshooting guide.
In my opinion, there is exactly one reason why engaging in social media could be viewed as a negative, and that one reason is that you no longer want to be in business, or no longer care about the future success of your business. This isn’t to say that the success of your business is entirely dependent on social media, but the perceived downsides are actually incredibly positive in most situations.
Have you ever been frustrated by complaints or negativity expressed on your social media properties? If so, how did you handle that situation?
If you have anything you’d like to add or discuss further, please feel free to do so in the comments, or on Twitter @RGBSocial
Photo Credit: Veer
Why You Should Acquire As Many Irrelevant Social Media Followers As Possible
Posted: February 21, 2013 Filed under: Social Media Strategy | Tags: facebook, fan acquisition, follower acquisition, google+, organizational support, pinterest, social media marketing, twitter 5 Comments »
The value for any business or brand of attracting only the most relevant followers and fans on social media – be it Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, or any other platform – is easy to understand.
Your efforts on social media will be more strongly focused on potential consumers.
You can expect higher conversion rates.
Engagement and interaction with your content will be more meaningful.
Conversations started on your social media properties are more likely to be amplified.
… and on.
I’m sure you get it, it’s pretty 101.
So, what’s this article all about then? Why would you ever want to attract irrelevant fans and followers on your social media properties?
There are a few reasons actually:
Attract relevant fans by providing social validation
It takes guts to be the first, or amongst the first, to do anything. You might be judged. You might be unsure of your decisions. For prospective fans and followers who are relevant to your business, a sizable social media community – relevant or not – can act as social validation to join your community. Ultimately, attaining irrelevant fans and followers can serve to attract a greater number of relevant fans and followers.
Build a sense of momentum and gain increased organizational support
I don’t need to tell you that there are more important metrics to gauge success on social media than fan or follower acquisition. This said, there are still a huge number of people that think of social media as an alternative broadcasting platform, and therefore view the number of fans and followers on social media properties as being equivalent to potential media impressions.
This is the wrong way to think about social media marketing, but if they’re not easily educated, let them think this way (for now anyway).
If you can build the number of fans and followers on your social media properties, you are going to be more likely to convince these kinds of people that you are gaining traction through your social activity, and will therefore be more likely to gain increased organizational support. This could be manifested through increased financial investment, additional resource allocation, or greater access to potential sources of content. All of these things could positively impact your social media marketing efforts.
I acknowledge the number of counter arguments to this, but in some cases, the path of least resistance can allow you to do things you wouldn’t be permitted or supported to do otherwise.
Encourage those working on your social media properties
This is particularly relevant for small social media communities in their early stages of growth. For anyone who has registered a Twitter account, started a Facebook Page, written for a blog that isn’t well established, or undertaken any similar activity, you know it can be discouraging to think that you’re expending incredible effort for virtually nobody to be seeing the fruit of your labour.
Picking up a few fans or followers can be incredibly rewarding, relevant or not. Even as your communities grow, acquiring new fans can be encouraging and psychologically rewarding, and can help sustain high levels of effort and enthusiasm to keep working toward more important objectives and KPIs.
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Despite the positives I’ve listed in this post, I would never encourage you to go out of your way to acquire irrelevant fans or followers for your business’ social media communities. Also, I would never try to convince you that the value of an irrelevant fan or follower is anywhere close to a highly relevant, targeted fan or follower.
Under certain circumstances, however, there are actually benefits to having your communities grow in whatever way possible. You should embrace every new fan or follower, and recognize that even though they might be relatively inconsequential to directly helping you achieve your objectives, they might help to positively influence others who will make a greater impact. They can lead to the acquisition of more relevant fans, they can help to build internal support, and they can encourage sustained effort toward greater objectives.
If you have anything you’d like to share or add to this topic of conversation, it would be great to chat more about this in the comments, or on Twitter @RGBSocial
Photo Credit: Veer
3 Links (#4): Blog Posts Worth Checking Out
Posted: December 24, 2012 Filed under: Marketing, Mobile, Pinterest, Social Media Marketing | Tags: 2013, 3 links, marketing, media fragmentation, mobile, pinterest, rgb social, rgbsocial, social media, social media marketing 2 Comments »
Before we get into this, let me wish you a merry Christmas Eve, December 24, day off of work, or whatever you are celebrating today. No matter what it is that you’re celebrating or up to, I hope you’re happy, enjoying the company of those that matter most to you, and staying safe.
This is the fourth installment of 3 Links. Day-to-day I spend a fair bit of time reading other people’s blog content. These are 3 blog posts that I’ve read in the last week or so, that I recommend you read as well:
WE ARE NOW A SOCIETY OF MULTI-TASKERS AND MULTI-SCREENERS
In this article, Brian Solis details the fragmentation of media consumption on digital devices and how they are used sequentially and/or simultaneously. This article is packed full of interesting information and stats.
13 BOLD MARKETING MOVES TO TRY IN 2013
Drew Neisser lists 13 marketing strategies and tactics that could be worth your effort for the New Year. Included in the list are thoughts such as decreasing dependence on Facebook for social marketing, build and nurture your own communities, cull actionable insights from social data mining, and better taking advantage of the natural synergies that exist between events, social media activity and content generation, to list a few.
THE 1 BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW MEN AND WOMEN USE PINTEREST
This isn’t an overly long or detailed article, but Jay Baer details the main difference between how women and men use Pinterest. If you use Pinterest as part of your social media marketing efforts, you’ll want to read this article and shift your content strategy accordingly.
Take a read, let me know what you think. If you find these posts to be interesting, valuable or entertaining, I encourage you to leave these bloggers a comment with your thoughts as well.
Have you read anything great that you’d like to share? Please feel free to do so in the comments, or on Twitter @RGBSocial
