Category: social media
Old fashioned, one-way and downright obsolete. If this is how you perceive email in the social age, it’s time to think again. Yes: social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have opened up exciting new avenues of rich dialogue and engagement, but they have also made old-faithful email an even more powerful marketing tool than ever. Hubspot has just released a Definitive Guide to Integrating Social Media and Email Marketing, and here are the 5 key takeaways for you:
Know exactly where your audience is
Social media is a huge category, extending beyond the ‘big three’ (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to encompass smaller niche sites like Digg and sector-specific networks. To determine which networks are the right fit for your brand, and where to therefore focus your social marketing efforts, dive into your web analytics data.
In general though, Facebook has been proven to be the most effective site for B2C marketers, and LinkedIn most effective for B2B marketers. Remember, your email opt-ins may not be the same folk who engage with you on social media – why not run simple surveys of your social media fans and email subscribers to determine how your audience overlaps?
Use social channels to grow your email list
Email subscribers are marketing gold. They’ve already opted in for your most targeted and effective messaging. So, see your first task in integrating social and email as converting as many social fans and followers into email subscribers.
On Facebook, try the underused method of adding an email opt-in widget to your page. You can incentivise people with coupons or free content downloads if they’re slow to bite. Take footwear brand Crocs’ method of offering fans a 20%-off welcome coupon for signing up to email – now, 12% of their weekly email subscribers come from Facebook. More »
We come across a whole lot of companies trying to develop a lucrative blog for their existing business. A rarer find is a company that has evolved out of a blog, such as Copyblogger. In an interview with socialmediaexaminer, Copyblogger CEO Brian Clark related how combing social media and SEO has been vital to Copyblogger’s success. Here’s a rundown of his key pointers on how to establish a killer blog utilising both:
Do a lot more giving and a lot less selling
A company needs to create unmissable content before it can make any money from blogging. Your audience wants value and information, not more advertising. Many companies with something to sell haven’t tapped into this yet.
Be a person first
This can be particularly tricky for a big company comprised of individuals with different ideas of what the business is about. But ensure you have a unified voice within social media marketing, and most importantly, that you come across as human.
Know what you want to achieve
Even a huge audience won’t create ROI magically. Know exactly what kind of content will attract people to your business before posting anything. Understand what people want, focus on giving it to them and understand you’ll achieve your goals on the back-side of that. More »
Graduating, getting married, finding a new home, discovering you’re having a baby. They are all major milestones in our lives, and the chances are that those experiencing them will be in their early twenties or thirties, so are likely to be social media users.
Is marketing around such personal events a bit too close for comfort, or a welcome way to reach people who are already rejoicing online? Whatever your view, here are a few tips to create an extra personal connection:
Graduation
If your business reaches out to young people of graduation age, it may pay to run a Facebook advertising campaign targeting users who are soon to don their mortar boards. Select users who put their graduating year as the current year in their education section. Or perhaps try Twitter marketing, creating a customer hashtag campaign offering appropriate prizes (laptops, Ikea gift cards, CV services) for users who tweet their graduation stories.
Weddings
Extending social marketing offline can be helpful, so attend bridal fairs. There’s so much digital scope around weddings, from online invitation RSVPs to giveaways like a free wedding for the most ‘social media savvy couple’. For instance, couples could earn votes for each of their network members who Likes a company’s Facebook page, or followers the business on Twitter and tweets about it. More »
SAP’s online community boasts over 2 million global users, but how is the software giant driving such impressive interaction via social media? According to Mark Yolton, senior VP of the SAP Community Network, it’s largely down to addressing the specific needs of individuals within its network. Here are some tips on how to get consumers to participate in your community:
1. Provide unique value
SAP Community Network is cleverly constructed, with content and capabilities based around different roles, for example customers, partners, suppliers and developers. Its members can easily connect and help each other, using discussion forums, blogs, wikis and downloads, depending on their needs. Beyond the core community sits EcoHub, an online app store works like an iTunes for SAP, enabling prospects to discover SAP and its partners’ solutions before purchasing.
2. Think of each consumer as an individual
This applies even with a corporate account of 200 users. Each person visiting your online community has a specific challenge at that time, so meet their needs with rich resources, be they white papers, downloadable tools or connections to other users facing similar issues. Yolton believes that a great online community begins with one business problem that can be served through social media, and one willing executive to back it. Focus on solving that one issue and the community will expand organically from there. More »
It can be hugely daunting to work out where to start with social marketing or how to be sure that your efforts will even be worthwhile. But given that Twitter now has over 16 million users, nearly half of America is on Facebook and YouTube is the world’s second most used search engine, it’s clear that you need to be using social channels without delay. Here are 12 tips that will aid success on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and other network you choose to harness:
1. Claim your land
Think back to when the internet started booming, and everybody scrambled to register a domain name even if they didn’t plan to start using it right away. Well, now you need to stake your claim on planet social media by creating your company’s Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel, LinkedIn profile, Google+ profile and so on.
2. Create a complete profile
Maximise your profiles with pictures, company information, links to your website/blog and so on. In the digital space, it’s more important than ever to show what people can gain by connecting with you.
3. Spend time observing/listening
Think of going to a party where you don’t know anybody as a useful analogy. You wouldn’t barge into strangers’ conversations without first observing the room, and considering what to talk about with those there. Harnessing Facebook marketing, Twitter and LinkedIn is no different, so learn how people interact, speak, share and communicate before bowling in. Create a social media listening dashboard as a starting point. More »
It’s probably the question that we as an agency get asked the most: “Are there any measurable benefits to investing in a social media strategy?” Of course, we know through experience that there are, and thankfully the tools for reporting successes are improving in leaps and bounds. The third extract from Econsultancy’s new Internet Marketing Strategy Briefing focuses on just this issue, and its author, Econsultancy US Vice President of Research has shared his insights on the most crucial ways to track social media:
Refining data
Tornquist mentions a condition that many have been afflicted by: “analysis paralysis”. Data is of no use just sitting there, it needs to be processed into actionable insight to be of any worth. It’s such a waste to let the mine of data harvested from online and mobile activity go to waste, and what the industry needs is more people who possess both analytical skills and commercial/marketing nouse to make this happen.
Social benchmarks
Brands are swiftly trying to ascertain how to assign real value to the measure of social media success such as Facebook fans and ‘Likes’ and Twitter followers. They will be pleased to hear that the average value of a Facebook fan is $136.38 (based on Syncapse’s survey of 4,000 fans of well known brands). More »
Two US-based studies released recently by HubSpot and Edison Research are serving up some valuable insights into how to grow lead generation through an enhanced social media strategy.
While Edison Research confirms that social media use is now most definitely mainstream (with more than half of Americans aged 12+ now using a least one social media account), Hubspot explores in-depth the wide array of factors that influence lead volume. Harnessing data from 4,000 businesses, the results are detailed but the good news is, it’s not necessarily difficult to bring in viable leads. Here’s how:
1. Create frequent business blog posts
Is there a magic number when it comes to blog posting? Perhaps so – businesses that post daily will generate five times more traffic than those that post weekly or less, according to Hubspot, with the likelihood of customer acquisition increasing significantly in line with frequency of posts. If high-quality daily blog posts are unfeasible, then aim for as often as possible to edge noticeably ahead of the competition.
2. Grow a steady library of blog posts
Naturally, it takes time to accumulate posts, but a well-tended blog will outperform other blogs in terms of traffic and lead generation. Hubspot’s stats reveal that blogs that have built up at least 51 posts see 53% more traffic than those with 20-50 posts. Interestingly, blogs with more than 100 posts see triple the traffic, while those that have racked up 200+ posts experience 4.5 times better results. Although it can take six-12 months to start seeing improved lead generation, don’t give up and post at least two to three times each week. More »
Aims: Colgate, with its new Smile campaign, is joining the numerous brands including Bombay Sapphire and McCain attempting to combine their social media strategy with physical marketing efforts, and thereby linking their online and offline communities.
Strategy: Colgate created a dedicated Facebook page, where users are encouraged to upload photographs of themselves smiling. These images are collected and used to build large-scale collage posters, which are being displayed in supermarkets, shopping centres and other point-of-sale locations.
Results: Analysis by WaveMetrix has revealed that Colgate’s strategy is having a “positive effect on purchase discussion”. That is to say, visitors to the Colgate Smile Facebook page have become more likely to post comments about buying the product (eg. “going out to buy Colgate”), and even discuss how seeing the Smile posters made them “want” to buy Colgate. WaveMetrix described this activity as an increase from 6% to 13% “buzz about purchase” from the campaign launch to three weeks later.
What’s more, ‘Smile’ has driven a positive brand image, spurring consumers to identify Colgate with a sense of community and fun, as actual user-generated content from Facebook fans is being depicted on outdoor ads. Some 35% of consumers now perceive Colgate as a “community brand”, while 26% see Colgate as “fun” and “cool”. More »
We know it’s only half way through the year, but 2011 has been such a pivotal period for social media that we can’t help but do some crystal ball-gazing for 2012.
Social media monitoring and analytics have come on leaps and bounds over the past year, making the case for management to shift budgets to social marketing.
We’ve witnessed a bigger focus on real-time search, and welcomed investment into insightful research.
So what trends are going to influence our wonderfully dynamic sector in 2012? Here are a few thoughts from Simon Jones, Digital Visitor’s director of marketing:
1. Social media as a customer service tool
For speed and efficiency of high volume communications, nothing parallels social media. Remember Heathrow Airport’s use of Twitter to placate grounded passengers during last December’s heavy snow? Expect to see more and more organisations wising up to the potential of Twitter in particular for customer service purposes.
2. Creative competitions on social media
Facebook is an ideal medium for competitions. Invest time in making yours exciting and creative enough to grow your online audience while telling your brand and product story. However, take heed of the network’s recent changes to the rulebook – see Digital Visitor’s resource for further info. More »
You’re at work. It’s hot and sticky, your mouth is dry…you’re thirsty. You log into Facebook and something on the homepage feed makes you drool. Lucy likes McDonald’s new Frozen Strawberry Lemonade. Mmmm.
You Google the product and the search results are crowned with tempting money-off promotions. Next thing you know, you’re in the queue at Maccy D’s satisfying your craving.
The fast food giant has attributed its 3.1% May sales surge to, amongst other factors, new unique promotional tie-ins. Here follow three SEO tips drawn from McDonald’s latest social media strategy that will drive SEO rankings for any social page:
1. Link from your homepage
It might seem a no-brainer, but a surprising six of the top 20 most searched for retail brands failed to include any social media integration on their homepage. McDonald’s links to its promotions, YouTube,Twitter and Facebook marketing activity via its homepage. Search engines value these links highly, so miss this opportunity at your peril, and use your brand name in the link for maximum effect. More »
