Facebook, Twitter looking more like each other

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The latest salvo between Facebook Inc. and Twitter won’t be the last, as the two are now engaged in a bare-knuckled brawl for mobile advertising dollars — along with Google Inc. and a bunch of smaller ad startups. 

And Facebook’s unveiling of a video-sharing feature this week — just months after Twitter rolled out its own, called Vine — suggests that much of the innovation to come will be related to pictures, graphics and moving images, not the static user pages or 140-character tweets of the past. 

That means the two social media rivals will not only look more like each other in a few years – a trend already well under way – they’ll also look a lot like the original social medium, namely television. 

Of course, TV designed for an audience of youthful consumers who prefer their content on the go, on small screens and in small chunks won’t look much like what baby boomers and Generation Y viewers grew up with. 

  

As Bing Gordon, the former chief creative officer of video game-maker Electronic Arts, and now a partner with the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said at a Silicon Valley tech conference this week: “We’re going to see the ‘twitterization’ of TV content.” 

 

If that’s true, it also means we’re going to see more of the ‘television-ization,’ if you will, of social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. 

Those who use either service only on a laptop or desktop PC may find it harder to appreciate just how much overlap there is between the two. 

Highlights: Facebook announces video on Instagram

Facebook announced that Instagram will now allow smartphone users to share video as well as photos. 

But for mobile users, it’s clear that both companies over the next few years will face precisely the same business challenge: How to present user content in a way that attracts advertisers while not allowing the resulting ads to ruin the mobile user experience. 

Facebook and Twitter might have been able to fudge or defer such decisions about new features if their growth were coming from desktop users – who can more easily ignore such ads. 

But given the limited screen size of smartphone users, choices about where and how to place ads within video content are going to be magnified. 

That means the determination over whether a standard-sized length of social media video will end up being 6 seconds — as Twitter allows using its Vine service — or 15 seconds, as the new Facebook feature allows, will be made by users, not the companies themselves. 

Given the precise analytics available to mobile marketers, mobile social media ad spending is going to flow to whichever platform can produce the most views, engagement and (ultimately) the most purchases. 

The winner in all this ultimately will be the consumer, because bombarding smartphone users with ads that disrupt their mobile experience will be a sure way to long-term obsolescence for either Twitter or Facebook.

Article courtesy of Market Watch

Facebook unveils video feature for Instagram

MENLO PARK, Calif. — Facebook today unveiled a highly anticipated video feature for its popular Instagram photo-sharing app, a foray that comes as mobile rivals circle its business.
In keeping with its status as king of stylized photos, Instagram will feature 13 filters for video. "What we did to photos we just did to video," said Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom at Facebook's headquarters here. 

The updated Instagram app with video is available on Apple's App Store and Google's Play. In addition to its signature filters, Instagram will enable 15-second videos, custom cover frames and image stabilization.

The move by the world's largest social network underscores tense rivalry between Facebook and Twitter. Twitter's Vine short-form video service, launched in January, has amassed a fast following for its quirky and raw six-second videos. 

"Image stabilization is a very appealing thing. It's a big product for Instagram that will be popular almost immediately. It may have a negative impact on Vine," said Opus Research analyst Greg Sterling.

Facebook has been unleashing a succession of ongoing defensive moves to capture restless mobile audiences in search of the next big thing.

"As our mobile strategy has evolved, we have focused on developing a number of different kinds of apps," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a brief appearance at the stage.

Snapchat, the app that enables self-destructing photos and videos, became a runaway hit, leading Facebook to unleash a similar service, called Poke. Snapchat ranks No. 9 on Apple's App Store.

Vine users posted more videos on Twitter than did Instagram's photo sharers earlier this month, according to measurement firm Topsy Analytics. Vine is the No. 3 iOS app, trailed by Instagram at No. 21. Instagram has more than 100 million active members; Vine has 13 million.
Facebook has made mobile its priority. Yet after a year as a public company its stock remains roughly 40% below its offering price of $38.

Under siege from mobile start-ups, Facebook is also at battle with Google's Google+ social network, matching features, as the companies duke it out for display advertising. 

"There will be advertising associated with this. It may come six months from now, but there's no rush. They are going to be careful about it," said Sterling of Instagram's video rollout. 

Digital video advertising is poised to boom. It's expected to surge 41% to $4.1 billion in the U.S. this year from $2.9 billion last year, says eMarketer. Mobile video advertising is expected to jump 112% to $518 million this year from last, according to the researcher. 

The Instagram video launch is "critically important for Facebook because younger audiences' engagement with the social network is growing much less than overall growth," said Erich Joachimsthaler, CEO of Vivaldi Partners Group.

Facebook unveiled a highly anticipated video feature for its popular Instagram photo-sharing app. The new feature will be a rival to Twitter's popular Vine service which features six-second videos.

Article courtesy of USA Today

Paid Search and E-commerce: 4 Things You Should Know

If you have a paid search program or plan to launch one soon, use these four tips to optimize your campaigns.

 

In 2012, online retailers spent $2.3 billion in paid search marketing across Google AdWords and the Yahoo! Bing Network, according to AdGooroo. Amazon, Best Buy, Zappos, and Target are among some of the top paid search retailers with upwards of 1 billion impressions.

It's obvious that these retailers have made paid search a large part of their marketing strategy, but some marketers question if search advertising is an effective vehicle for driving sales online. In fact, just earlier this year, eBay released a study suggesting that paid search ads are ineffective, and the research caused a quite a stir among digital marketers.

While the study conveyed some salient points, it was clear that many of the campaigns fell prey to common search advertising pitfalls. For example, eBay was bidding on 170 million keywords, many of which were not relevant to their product offerings or appropriate for searchers. In addition, eBay's paid search text ads were inaccurately being automated with dynamically inserted ad copy.  So, imagine searching on the term "baby" and coming across an ad that reads "Baby. Buy it cheap on eBay. Low prices. New and used." Is that the result you would expect for that query? Would you buy that baby? Probably not, nor could you accurately determine the effectiveness of the channel.

Although I caution the findings, I do think eBay was actually doing the right thing with this study. Something I encourage all marketers to do is to test the results of your advertising investment and to do it often. However, if you are going to test paid search, you must avoid common campaign pitfalls and ensure that you draw the proper conclusions from your study. I asked Noam Dorros, Rise's paid search manager, to share four things e-commerce companies should know when launching paid search campaigns. If you're ready to launch or test a campaign, we recommend the following:

1. Structure the Campaign Effectively

Be as relevant as possible for the user (aka your prospective customer). You want the text ad and landing page to match expectations for the query. If the user is searching for a specific item, your ad should reference that item and the landing page should take them directly to where they can purchase it. With a well-planned account structure, you can target the right customer with appropriate ads and drive more sales online.

2. Use Product Listing Ads (PLAs)

In addition to text ads, e-commerce companies can invest in Product Listing Ads (PLAs). When a person searches for a product, a PLA appears showing a picture of the product, its price and the store name. PLAs take up valuable real estate on the search engine results page and draw a consumer's attention. According to Kenshoo's 2012 Global Online Retail Holiday Shopping Report, it found that Google PLAs generated nearly 1.5 times the click-through rate (CTR) of regular text ads and convert 23 percent better.

3. Enhance Ads with Ad Extensions

Ad extensions are easy to implement features that give companies more ways to promote their brand differentiators and fight off the competition. With ad extensions, marketers have the ability to show more than just plain text in paid search ads. You can add links to multiple pages on your site, business reviews, seller ratings, phone numbers and click-to-call buttons. Ad extensions should enhance your prospective customer's experience and ultimately give them more reasons to visit your web site.

4. Optimize Landing Pages and Site Layout

Driving qualified traffic is only half the battle in paid search. Be sure to consider what happens to consumers after they've clicked on your ad as well. Don't be afraid to test landing pages and make website adjustments in order to enhance the user experience.  Making the on-site user experience optimal for conversion is critical to success.

Consider using tools like Optimizely, an A/B testing tool that allows you to redesign your landing pages to test performance against your existing layouts. Or try Crazy Egg, a heat map tool that allows users to visualize their visitor's interactions on the site. Both are easy to implement and provide tremendous benefit.

Although I am not positive eBay came to the right conclusion, I commend them for understanding the importance of testing. If you have a paid search program or plan to launch one soon, it is crucial that you have a testing program. Use these four tips to optimize your paid search campaigns and continue to test along the way. Then you can decide if paid search is an appropriate marketing strategy for your brand.


Article courtesy of Inc. Magazine

6 Best Things Companies Do on Facebook Today

Here's how to use a Facebook page to build your brand.

 

Last week, I wrote about the worst things companies are doing on Facebook today. I showcased five companies that really just don't understand how to use the network for positive promotion--and, as a result, turn a lot of consumers off.

Today, I'm taking a sunnier tack. In a recent Comscore study for UPS, consumers explained why they usually "like" a brand on Facebook in the first place. Brands who really "get" Facebook marketing seek out opportunities to connect with consumers in a way that adds to the experience, rather than interrupt social behavior.

I took a look at what a ton of brands are doing right on Facebook, and brought them to life as personas. Hopefully you recognize some of these traits in your company's Facebook page.

 

The Value ShopperThis gal truly understands why people interact with companies on Facebook: They want a great deal. Case in point? Take a look at Sodastream. For the past few Cyber Mondays, Sodastream offered customers a buy-one get-one on a Sodastream home soda maker. But redemptions across the web did not yield the results the company was looking for, so it decided make the offer through its Facebook page only. Not only did Facebook fans buy in, but they "shared" the offer on their own Facebook pages, and redemptions spiked. Also, by offering an exclusive deal on its Facebook page, Sodastream has grown a community of repeat buyers who love its product.

The Cool KidThis guy shows up in your newsfeed and you can't help but chuckle. Or sometimes, you just sit there with your mouth hanging open in disbelief at the creativity. You can't wait to see what this guy does next. Brands that can capture that level of content really up the game for other brands on Facebook. Take a look at New Castle, for instance. With their "No Bollocks" campaign, they've truly captured the tone of the brand in a way that leaves people wanting more. They even poke fun at Facebook marketing WHILE marketing on Facebook. Very cool.

 

 

The ConversationalistIt used to be difficult to ask a brand about its new products, or offer feedback on an ad campaign. And it was near impossible to receive a response. Now, brands are compelled to answer. The conversationalist turns this into a big opportunity. It routinely replies with personalized, non-canned answers to its fans. Check out Warby Parker, as an example. It responds directly to comments and questions on Facebook, and it brings conversations happening on other networks back to Facebook. Check out this re-post of a fan's Instagram post. He's deciding which Warby Parker glasses look best. But Warby Parker doesn't just answer him; it starts a bigger conversation with its community.

 

The ArtisteThe artiste understands that visual content is essential to growing his network. According to a recent SocialToaster study, 90 percent of social media pros agree that pictures are most likely to be "shared" by Facebook fans. The artiste embraces this fact, and frequently posts beautiful, funny, or hunger-inducing images on its Facebook page. Travel sites like Expedia and restaurant chains like Panera Bread do this very well.

The CoachThis gal wants to teach you and inspire you to be your very best. Whether through video tutorials or quick tips, the coach is always teaching, and giving her community something. You know who's an amazing coach? Bobbi Brown. Her Facebook page is a lot less about her specific products, and much more about how to apply amazing eye makeup, or tips for a perfect "beach look."

 

The Game Show HostThis guy knows Facebook is supposed to be fun. He constantly comes up with innovative promotions and rewards fans. Check out one of my personal favorites: Seamless, the food delivery service. As an example, Seamless created a "King for a Day" daily sweeps on its Facebook page, and gave away prizes. Customers could win food or some kind of royal treatment (a limo ride, maid service). And because they could win daily, they returned to the page each day. Seamless also regularly tries to surprise and delight on its Facebook page. It often sends big fans a boatload of food for free on a whim; Seamless delivered one dessert-loving fan every dessert item off of her favorite menu!

 

Think about why you, as a consumer, might interact with a company on Facebook? Is it to learn? To offer feedback? To win? Or simply to laugh and have fun? Then use those motivators to create content that will work for your customers.

 

Which of these personas do you see your brand most emulating? Tell me about it in the comments below.

 

Article courtesy of Inc. Magazine

5 Worst Things Companies Do on Facebook Today

When you're using a Facebook page to build your brand, be sure not to make any of these egregious mistakes.

 


Have you ever seen the Condescending Corporate Brand Page? If not, check it out right now. Then come back to this Inc. post.

Okay, welcome back! It's hard to be a brand on Facebook. After all, Facebook is primarily a place for connecting with your close (and not-so-close) friends. While that's happening, companies are furiously competing to get into your News Feed and get you to "engage" with them. And they're not necessarily wrong to do that. Every day, people are having conversations with brands and 50 percent of people say they trust a company's Facebook page more than its website. Facebook pages from brands can offer a lot of deals, information, or relationships with employees. But when competing in a crowded marketplace, brands tend to adopt certain personas that can make a consumer's skin crawl.

Below are five brand personas your company should not emulate:

The BeggarWhile studies show that asking for a Facebook 'like' or a comment can increase your interactions up to 26 percent, the Beggar does it constantly and at inappropriate times. If your posts are great, you won' t need to ask for a like for every other one. Use the power of the "ask" when you're trying to spread an important company message or helps the community. Don't do it for the sake of doing it. My personal favorite Beggar post is from Oxi-Clean, asking people on tax day to like Oxi-Clean if they've filed their taxes. Because, you know, when you think Oxi-Clean, you think tax filing.



The Stock BoyNo, this isn't the guy filling the grocery shelves at your local supermarket. It's the guy who purchases stock photography of random smiling people and uses them for every single post. I wish the Stock Boy would invest in an iPhone and Instagram some pictures of his company's products, behind-the-scenes at the office, or himself and his employees--anything other than a photo that has nothing to do with his brand. Stock imagery looks like advertising. And advertising is something people have been trained to ignore.

Mr. Inappropriate
Many brands struggle with how to handle tragic current events. Not this dude. This guy cannot resist mentioning the latest recent catastrophe. Not only does he mention it, but he attempts to use it for his benefit. Check out Kenneth Cole, who is infamous for this. During the revolution in Egypt, he tweeted "Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available." He then deleted the tweet and apologized after negative feedback. You would think that the brand would have learned its lesson, but just this April, it posted an albeit less offensive but still controversial commentary about gun control. Here's a tip: Not every world event is necessary for you to comment on. Express what's in your hearts, and how you feel as an organization. But whatever you do, don't use a national tragedy as an attempt to game engagement. It's simply bad taste.





The Long-Winded LadyYou know her. She talks a ton, but listens very little. She writes lengthy, meandering updates with three calls to action in the same sentence. Then she doesn't understand why she's not getting people to 'like' or comment. I'll keep this persona description short because the thought of those long-winded, text-heavy posts makes me want to stop talking. Now.

The CheeseballHave you ever seen a brand throw up a picture of a cute kitten or a baby despite the fact that it doesn't sell a pet or infant product? Images like these definitely resonate with the Facebook community. But the Cheeseball is all sentiment and little substance. The Cheeseball may garner a lot of 'likes,' but its community doesn't identify with the image of a puppy, or know what it has to do with the brand. It's okay to use images that are likely to be popular--just don't go totally off-brand for the sake of being cutesy. You'll get likes and shares--but then see a ton of unsubscribes when you show up in consumer feeds talking about something they're not interested in.

If you recognize the personas that consumers shy away from, you can make your content a lot better. And stay tuned for next week's post: The 5 Best Brand Personas on Facebook Today.

As a consumer, what brand activity on Facebook annoys you the most?


Article courtesy of Inc. Magazine

Make Your Blog Come Alive with the Help of Emotions

 

The internet has many facets, but one of its most popular ones is without a doubt blogging. People blog for many reasons, but no matter the motivation, one should be passionately interested in what he or she is creating. There is an over-saturation of information on the worldwide web, and there is simply not enough time for readers to process everything. In other words, content that is probably high-quality and informative might never make it out of the pit of anonymity, for the simple fact that it doesn't engage with readers. When interesting and informative are no longer assets, bloggers have to come up with something else: emotional triggers.

Use Emotion to Engage with Your Readers

At its core, every personal blog regardless of what is written on it, conveys the desire of the writer to communicate with other people. Although the internet has opened many doors that once seemed impossible to unlock, it has failed to completely satisfy the most basic of human needs: social empathy. Most people open their browsers and use search engines to find what they need. And then, they leave. The average time a visitor spends on a blog is somewhere between 2 and 6 seconds. If they find something interesting, maybe they will stay for a couple more minutes. We like to call them unique visitors.

But wouldn't it be awesome if you could make them linger a bit more or turn them into daily visitors? I believe that in order to stand out from the crowd, you should try to reach out to the target audience. Remember that awesome teacher that you had in school? The one who talked so passionately about God knows what that you felt your insides warm up? I had one, and he taught me a great lesson, as cliche as it may sound, emotions are what make the world go round. Moreover, although there are some truly excellent writers out there, writers who make excellent use of grammar, they lack that essential ingredient. Words have more power than you'd think, and in the end it is the successful manipulation of words wherein the power of a blogger lies. To understand what I am talking about, take a look at this clip: The Power of Words.

How Personal Involvement Helps Your Blog

Blogs aren't unique. They may have been unique ten years ago, but today they are popping up everywhere. This means that in order to succeed you have to become proactively involved. Don't be afraid to tap into the most powerful of human resources. You can be sure that sites like Wikipedia, which offer accurate information about everything look like a lot of “bla bla” for users that aren't trying to write a 30 page essay. Here are some more tangible benefits that personalized blogs have:

1. Social Media:

Many bloggers are aware that inbound marketing is closely related to the correlation and relationship between social media and SEO. In other words, social media platforms have created the perfect environment for people to share their thoughts and become part of a community. As a matter of fact, search engine developers have also become aware of the fact that popularity is the best algorithm. Readers are more likely to share a well-written, personal and engaging article, than an impersonal 2000 word verbosity. That is the reason why social media is yet another important accelerator in marketing strategies and not a strategy itself. Every professional search engine marketing firm is aware of the tremendous power that social media has.

2. Food for Thought:

Emotional triggers will make people engage with your content. User engagement can be understood in the form of comments, shares, likes, tweets, +1s and other reactions. Give your readers something to ponder upon, and make them feel closely related to your content. In the end it is a good long-term accelerator that facilitates positive outcome.

3. Personal Branding:

The main reason to why businesses start their own blogs is closely related to the creation of a personal brand. It is no secret that there are more emotional buyers than logical ones. You can also look at blogging in a similar way.

4. Organic traffic:

Original and customized posts are better for SEO. Articles which generate natural links, lead to better organic traffic. Moreover, the Panda algorithm is focused on high-quality content which is shared on social media platforms, including Google+. Penguin is interested in pages which naturally attract people.

How to Stand Out from the Crowd

Although I encourage people to become more personal in their blogging habits, you shouldn't make it all about yourself or be overly dramatic. Be that cool teacher that you admired in your childhood. This means that you have to put your fingerprint on what already is great content. Here are a few tricks that will help you on your way to success:

1. Emotional triggers:

I was talking about emotional triggers earlier. These triggers are what bring people to your page. I like to call them incentives, because they have the power to not only attract people, but also persuade them to read the rest of the content on your site, maybe even share it. They can come in the form of catchy titles, psychology-driven hooks, or an enticing meta description.

2. Unique Content:

It is not enough to come up with an awesome title and description. The content has to be good in order to leave people wanting for more. While personal writing comes natural to some, others struggle to bring that needed twist to their stories. If you are having difficulties you should try to crack or joke, or ask a question. Every person has questions, and no matter how successful you are, it is only human to reach out to others.

3. Catchy Article Titles:

Find feel good, inspirational titles. Focus on titles that are bizarre, shocking, inspiring, awkward, hilarious, or moving. Moreover you can play with emotions like love, lust, anger, and friendship. Decide what type of blogger you want to be. If you want to be funny, will you use sarcasm or humor? Try to think what audience you are trying to attract, and develop a strategy beforehand.

Tug at the Reader's Heartstrings

Remember the saying "Curiosity killed the cat?”. Humans are as curious, if not more curious than cats. This is why you have to create unique titles and descriptions. Make them personal. People like to read stories. Did you know that Twitter users re-tweet a lot of “personal stories” be it success or simply a thing or two someone did to overcome their situation. For example, would you rather click an article with the title "Risks of Obesity”, or "How I managed to Overcome Obesity”? With the second title I already give hints to two things: I have a possible solution to your problem and, I am also a living example that it works. As a result the title is not only a problem solver but it is also motivational story. On the other hand the first example looks like something I took out of my Anatomy Book.

Another great title idea would be something that hints to a controversial post, for example a rhetorical question. While solution givers only show one side of the coin, How to posts accompanied by rhetorical questions exemplify both disadvantages and advantages. With such an approach you are more likely to get reactions from readers. Even disapproval is better than an empty comment box, because the whole idea is to generate a discussion. Another example of argument generators are top lists, because most people don't have the same tastes. Yet again, you are fueling a productive discussion.

Last but not least, motivational posts are incredibly popular because they create that warm fuzzy feeling we hate and love at the same time. Nevertheless, this strategy should be approached only after you have a decent number of followers.

Conclusion

Adding a personal twist to your blog is only one of the many things that should be done in order to gain credibility and traffic. Sadly, it is something that most bloggers forget or fail to do. As bloggers we write a lot. Some subjects are more fascinating than others, and to be honest I don't feel that all topics are naturally interesting for me. Nevertheless, I try to make the most of things, and enjoy topics through discovery, questions and personal experience. In the end it's not only information that attracts readers, but also emotions.


Article courtesy of Social Media Today

Top 10 Must Read Tips to Run a Successful Facebook Business Page

Marketing your business on Facebook is something that should be well planned and requires that you understand the platform to insure the success of your Business Page.

Here are 10 tips you can use to run a successful Facebook Business Page:

1. Find the Answers

Why: Why should you be on Facebook?

Not every business should be on Facebook! Figure out where your target market is and focus on the platform(s) that will have the highest pay off for your business.
What: What are your goals or what are you trying to achieve.

Some of your Goals may be:

• Create brand and/or product awareness
• Build a community
• Show your expertise
• Educate
• Stay top of mind
• Increase your reach
• Generate traffic to your website
• Build new partnerships
• Provide Customer Service
• Increase sales, Etc.

Who: Who is your target?

Have a clear idea of who you want to reach on Facebook. The more you know about them, the better you can target your message.

How:  How are you going to get there?

Figure out which best strategy will help you achieve each goal. Strategies are never set in stone, you need to review and revise as needed.

2. Use the Space Given Wisely

Facebook gives you space which can leave a lasting impression on your Page visitors. Make sure to pay close attention to your Cover image, Profile image and About section.

• Cover image size: 851 pixels by 315 pixels and may not include more than 20% text.
• Profile image size: Upload images 180 pixels by 180 pixels (shows at 160 pixels by 160 pixels)
• The types of information that appear in the summary box are specific to your Page’s category. The About section under your profile image may allow for your to write around 155 characters which will be visible on your profile. Make sure to include your website address if you can.

3. Your Cover Should Talk

Your Cover image is prime real estate on your Facebook Page and it’s the first thing your Page visitors will notice. Your Cover image should express who you are as a business and your Page visitors should understand what your business is about at a glance.

View Slide Presentation: Top 10 Must Read Tips to Run a Successful Facebook Business Page 

4. Post Regularly

Posting at random or not regularly enough can leave a negative impression on your page visitors and affect your reach. Also, posting too frequently can have an adverse effect on your Page engagement. Find your rhythm by testing your frequency and watching your numbers to optimize engagement.Creating aContent calendar can help you stay on track and makes the process easier to manage.

5. Understand the Platform 

Facebook EdgeRank

Did you know that not all your fans see your posts?Actually probably less than 16% of your fans see your Page posts! Edgerank determines what posts appear on a Facebook user’s newsfeed. Facebook EdgeRank formula includes:

• Affinity: Measures the relationship between the viewing user and the creator of the story. The closer the relationship the higher the score.
• Weight: Different types of posts carry different weights (photos, videos, status updates, links, etc.). The higher the weight, the higher the score.
• Time Decay: As a post ages it continually loses value.

Page vs. Profile vs. Groups


Pages are for businesses and are entirely open to the public and search engines. Pages can also have applications and custom tabs to help engage with your audiences. You can have as many Pages as you want and there are no limits on the numbers of fans (likes) you can have.
Profiles are for your personal use and represent you as a person. On your profile you have “friends”. You can have up to 5000 friends and you’re allowed to “like” up to 500 pages. You’re only allowed to have one personal profile. You can control your visibility with the privacy settings.
Groups are for people who share a common interest. Group members can participate in chats, upload photos to shared albums, collaborate on group docs and invite members who are friends to group events. In Groups, there are 3 Privacy Options: Open, Closed or Secret.

Facebook Terms of Service (TOS)

Breaking Facebook rules may result in having your page shutdown without notice. Be familiar with the TOS. Keep in mind that TOS may change without noticed as we recently saw with the Cover image rules. Visit Facebook to learn more https://www.facebook.com/policies.

Insights

By using the Page and Post Export option in your Facebook Page insights, you will have valuable data to help you understand how people use your Page and what works best for your business.  Facebook insights can provide valuable data to help you measure your Page success. Keep track of your numbers and adjust accordingly!

Help Section
Facebook Help section can provide valuable information and is often underused. If you’re stuck, visit the help section first! Visit Facebook for more https://www.facebook.com/help/pages.

6. Use Facebook’s Features

• Vanity URL
• Post Targeting
• Pinned Posts
• Highlighted Posts
• Featured Likes
• Custom Tabs
• Events
• Post scheduler
• Offers
• Promoted Posts
• Milestone
• Questions

7. Respond to All Comments

Yikes…Only around 30% of brands respond to comments (source: Socialbakers.com). 

Respond to ALL comments and make sure your settings ( under Manage Permissions) allows for people to post on your Page and your Page has turned on ”messages”, so that people can send you private messages. 

8. Cross promote

To increase your Page visibility, you need to tell people about it. Don’t forget to link your personal Profile to your Page. Promote your Page on:

• Other social networks
• Your website
• Business Cards
• Marketing material
• Events
• Newsletters

9. Invest in Your Page

It’s becoming clear that Facebook ads are no longer an option for businesses. Include Facebook ads to your marketing budget to help increase your Likes, engagement, visibility, promote events, market your products or services, etc.

• Promoted Posts
• Sponsored stories
• Facebook ads
• Offers

10. Provide Value 

The 80/20 rule. Try publishing around 80% original and curated content that provides value to your followers and no more than 20% promotional content. Promotional content includes selling your products or services, posting about how great your customer find your business (unless your clients post it directly on your wall), showing your work or portfolio, promotion of your accomplishments, etc.

Relevant Content. Provide a mix of content related to your products or services. All too often we see Pages that post about random topics that are totally unrelated to their business. Don’t stray too far off your topic!

What’s In It for Them? Whenever you post to your page, remember that your page visitors want to know “what’s in it for them”. Be mindful of the content your post on your page to make sure you provide value to your visitors and fans. Most Facebook users Like pages to:

• Receive discounts or promotions
• Stay informed
• Get entertained
• Interact and connect
• Get Educated
• Show support

Bonus Tip!

Don’t put all your eggs in Facebook’s basket! Facebook can be a great marketing tool, but it still needs to be supported by other channels.


Article courtesy of Social Media Today

10 Questions to Ask When Creating Your LinkedIn Company Page

Given LinkedIn's more than 200 million members, a company page on the popular professional networking site can provide a valuable venue for recruiting talent and promoting your products and services. But while setting up a LinkedIn company page is relatively common, some business owners have questions and wind up making potentially costly mistakes.


To generate the kind of results you're looking for, it's important to consider many details when setting up a company page on LinkedIn. 

Cambridge, Mass.-based business-to-business marketing software firm HubSpot, for instance, found LinkedIn to be nearly 300 percent more effective for visitor-to-lead generation than Facebook and Twitter, says Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot marketing director and co-author of The B2B Social Media Book (Wiley, 2012).

To help you create a standout LinkedIn company page, here are 10 essential questions to ask:

1. Who should set up and maintain my company page?
If you're a startup with only a handful of employees, consider assigning the task to someone on your team who is an active LinkedIn member, preferably with some digital marketing knowledge and experience. At a larger company, a qualified employee in the marketing department would likely be up to the task.

If you're creating the page yourself, begin by going to LinkedIn's Create a Company Page section and selecting "Start Now." Next, enter your name and company email address. Then, follow the prompts to enter a description of your company and its products and services.

2. How should I describe my company?
Every LinkedIn company page features a brief explanatory About section. This is your chance to tell potential customers and employees about the number one thing that you want them to know about your business, says Lana Khavinson, senior product marketing manager at LinkedIn.

Describe exactly what your company does and what your overall mission is. You can also provide some basic information such as headquarters location, website address, the industry you're in, the company's public or private status, founding date and number of employees.

3. What images should I use?
A banner-style horizontal image is the first thing someone visiting your company page will see. That's why it's critical to choose an attention-grabbing image that reflects your brand and draws people in to learn more about the company, Khavinson says. CNBC's main LinkedIn image is an example. It features its famous peacock logo at an interesting angle, with newsroom flat screens in the backdrop.

You can also use your main image space to highlight the latest company news and events. For example, Xactly Corp., a San Jose, Calif.-based sales incentive management company, recently promoted a conference with a photo of the keynote speaker and an overlay of text detailing the event's date and time.

4. Should I include videos, too?
Both Khavinson and Bodnar recommend adding videos as a way of bringing your brand to life, whether they're professionally produced or simply shot on a smartphone. Video content to consider: passionate customer testimonials, product demonstrations that are anything but dull, snippets of your CEO speaking at a webinar or conference, and behind-the-scenes vignettes that show the lighter side of your brand or office culture.

Keep your videos short and to the point. "Sometimes video is the only thing people have time to click on," Bodnar says, "so you have to grab their attention right away, in the first few seconds."

5. What should I list in the page's products and services section?
Meeting the needs of your target market should be top-of-mind when listing your products and services, Bodnar says. So, describe what each of them will help people accomplish.
Also, it's important to carefully choose which product or service to feature first on the list. People often skim online text and might not read past the initial product or service description.

6. How often should I post status updates and what should they be about?
Status updates let you reach out to LinkedIn members who follow your company page. Your status updates will appear in their main LinkedIn Home view, which looks and feels similar to Facebook's News Feed.

Ideally, update your status no more than three to five times a day about company events, achievements and product releases. You also should try to highlight the "human, less hard sell side" of your business, Bodnar says. For instance, you can pepper your status updates with links to blog posts, memes and videos that might resonate with your target audience. Doing so can encourage a two-way conversation with your followers through the comments section of your page.

7. How can I encourage LinkedIn members to recommend my products and services?
Often, all you have to do is ask, Bodnar says. HubSpot includes an option to recommend its products on LinkedIn via customer surveys. You might also create a section on your main website or blog that reminds satisfied customers to recommend your services, complete with a link to your LinkedIn page.

Recommendations lend credibility and trustworthiness to your brand, Khavinson says. The more you receive the better. And you can always delete unwanted recommendations.

8. How can I promote my page?
You can add a LinkedIn "follow" button to your company website and put your company page's URL on your business card, email signature and your e-newsletters. Another option is to ask your employees to create LinkedIn member profiles, if they don't already have them, and request that they regularly like and share your status updates.

LinkedIn pay-per-click (CPC) and pay-per-1,000 impressions (CPM) ad campaigns can be effective ways to boost your page traffic quickly. You control the cost of your ad campaign by bidding and setting a budget.

9. How can I track the effectiveness of my page?
LinkedIn provides analytics, similar to Google Analytics, for each company page. Only your page administrator can view the results. LinkedIn Analytics can help you see who's visiting your page and what types of content they click on, like and share most and least often. You'll have access to statistics about your follower community, including how it's growing and what kinds of LinkedIn members you are attracting.

10. How can I directly recruit talent from my page?
Millions of job seekers visit LinkedIn every day to research employment listings. To recruit the best talent in your industry and show them content specifically targeted to their professional background, you can contact LinkedIn about adding a premium LinkedIn career page that connects to your company page. Your career page shows LinkedIn members your current job openings and employee testimonials. It also gives job seekers an opportunity to directly apply and to contact recruiters within your company.

Article courtesy of Entrepreneur Magazine

Facebook adds hashtags, mends missing link to pop culture

The social network bends to support a mainstream mode of digital expression popularized by a competitor.

 

Facebook has added support for hashtags, fixing a broken link that prevented its 1.11 billion members from associating themselves with celeb gossip, breaking news, and popular memes.
"Starting today, hashtags will be clickable on Facebook. Similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, or Pinterest, hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion," the company wrote in a blog post Wednesday announcing the update. "When you click on a hashtag in Facebook, you'll see a feed of what other people and Pages are saying about that event or topic." 

Popularized by Twitter, hashtags, or content tags denoted by the "#" symbol, allow for nuanced articulation and let social networkers insert themselves into real-time conversations happening around events, television shows, and breaking news. On Facebook, members will now find that hashed words and expressions are clickable, whereas before they were dead text. 

The company said that people can also search for hashtags from the search bar, click on hashtags that originate from other services such as Instagram, and compose status updates right from the hashtag feed.

The addition comes at a crucial time for Facebook, which is quickly losing relevance with tweens and teens who are getting more enjoyment out of other services such as Twitter and Instagram. The belated addition won't immediately repair the service's reputation with this hashtag-loving crowd, but it could instantly boost overall engagement on the site and encourage some to choose Facebook over Twitter when chatting about their favorite television shows.

For the time being, it looks as if Facebook's hashtags work on the Web only. The company said it plans to release new features as well as its own version of trending of topics in the weeks ahead.


Article courtesy of c/net

10 Things to Post on Social Media That Aren't Your Blog Content

Social Media 101

Engaging your customers via social media is a day-in and day-out process that requires serious creativity and a continual effort to post relevant, eye-catching and informative material. You should simultaneously promote your brand and impress your customers. If this sounds like a lot to juggle, we understand; effective branding and customer interaction via social media is a new art that can seem like a vast, undeveloped frontier where companies are essentially flying by the seats of their pants.

Most companies who are using social media correctly know the value of a strong blogging presence to inform and entertain their customers. But while social media is a multiple-times-a-day priority, your followers will start to get a bit bored if you post links to your own articles exclusively. That leaves a lot of space to fill in your various social media universes, meaning your company will have to utilize other forms of interaction to keep your company’s brand on the front page of your customers’ feeds and visual planes.

If you’re in need of some ideas for filling up the space, consider utilizing an idea from our list below:

1. Landing Pages

Providing links to landing pages on your various social media outlets helps you, the business, capture form conversion information (a fancy phrase for the names and emails of interested parties). The people that are already connected to your brand, i.e. the people who follow you on Twitter and “like” you on Facebook, get exposure to your brand’s name, logo and tone, and you get to present them with the opportunity to communicate back with you, providing you with leads that you can hopefully transform into customers.

2. eBooks for download

Similarly to a landing page, the value of attaching an “ebook for Download” to your various social media networks is to entice your customers with information that they find attractive enough to click on, thus upping the chances that they will provide you with their information. All of this helps give your brand visibility on your chosen social media platforms, as well as providing you with valuable leads on potential customers.

3. Specials and Deals

We might be stating the obvious here, but the value of posting special deals, discounts and coupons on your social media sites lies primarily in the uncanny ability of discounts and coupons to drive traffic to your business’s page. If they like your product enough, they’ll be more than willing to continue purchasing it at full price.  

4. Relevant News Items

Knowing your customer base’s interests can create tons of value in their loyalty to your brand. Posting news items that you think will be of interest to the people who buy your product, or the people whom you would like to buy your product, can go a long way in keeping them in your social network circles and actively paying attention to your brand.

5. Your Employees’ Personal Blog Content

Showcasing your employee’s blog content helps give your company a human aspect that is attractive and engaging to your followers.

6. Links to Your Other Social Media Websites

If you feel that your Twitter or Facebook can’t fully encompass all of the aspects of your brand’s personality, you can give your followers and fans the rest of the story by leading them to your other social media outlets. Your brand gets exposure, and your followers get to know your company more personally.

7. Memes

Everyone loves a good laugh, and getting in with the trends when it comes to internet humor almost demands that your company know a good meme when it sees one. Posting appropriate memes on your business’s social media networks helps build a personality among your followers and gives them a laugh at the same time.

8. Videos

Visual content simply performs better on websites like Facebook and Twitter. Providing your followers with instant gratification visual stimulation does more to help keep your business in the forefront of your customers’ minds than simple text. And an interesting and engaging (and short) video that details your product or service is an excellent way to pull potential customers in.

9. Surveys

Conducting a casual survey via your business Facebook or Twitter is an easy way to give your customers the chance to interact with your brand, and it also communicates your business’s regard for its customers’ opinions.

10. Contests

Another way to drive traffic to your page and give your followers a little competitive jolt amid the usual drudgery that is their Facebook or Twitter feeds is to create a fun contest wherein the winner gets a special discount or other attractive reward. After all, people like to compete.

Posting engaging content on your social media outlets can’t be limited to blog posts and other text-only content; doing so is the easiest way to push your business’s brand to the bottom of your followers’ interest-meter. Just remember that variety is the spice of life, and creating variety in your business’s social media presence can create a telling advantage over your more uniform competitors.


Article courtesy of Social Media Today

Pinterest adds ability to search your own pins

The social network includes a "Just my pins" filter for the site's search function.

 

Pinterest is rolling out a new search feature that will let users search through their own pins, the company said last Tuesday. 

The image-centric social-media site says the feature will come in handy when looking up recipes for dinner or crafts for weekend projects. According to a blog post from Pinterest Software Engineer Hui Xu:

When you type a word into the search bar -- like San Francisco, beaches, or BBQ -- you can filter results by clicking "Just my pins." We'll show you everything you've pinned with that keyword in the pin description. Be sure to add words in your descriptions that will help you find that pin again.

Pinterest is still rolling the feature out on the Web and plans to add it to mobile soon.

Article courtesy of c/net

9 Ways to Build Your Pinterest Audience

In her book Ultimate Guide to Pinterest for Business, marketing and branding expert Karen Leland provides a Pinterest roadmap that will help you drive website traffic, boost your brand and build business. In this edited excerpt, the author outlines nine strategies that will increase the number of people following your boards on Pinterest.

If you're looking to be highly proactive in increasing your Pinterest following, here are some strategies to consider:

Build more niched boards.
Take a look at the most popular players on Pinterest, and it will become clear they have a plethora of boards, usually between 50 and 100, on average. It's also obvious that those same users have gone to great efforts to make their boards as niched as possible so they stand a better chance of being found (and followed) by a targeted audience. For example, if you're a cookbook writer, a single board named "desserts" that features all manner of sugary goodies would work, but you might draw more followers if you took that same board and split it into four:

• Pies and cakes
• Cookies and bars
• Chocolate
• Ice creams, sorbets and puddings

By refining your boards to be more relevant to the people who are the most interested in those specific topics, you increase your chances of getting followers.

Jump on the trending topics bandwagon.
People, places and events that are popular at the moment make great bait for finding new followers. Topics that are trending will be getting keyword-searched on the site, and if you have a pin that fits, you stand a good chance of picking up some of that traffic. Reachli.com says that pins related to trending topics see an average 94 percent increase in click-throughs. So it pays to pay attention to the trending topics on Pinterest and to what's trending on other social media sites. A few great resources include:

• http://trendsmap.com/ provides a real-time mapping of Twitter trends across the world
• http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends shows the current hot searches in the United States

Post to your most popular boards.
For those boards of yours that have a significantly larger following than others, post with slightly more frequency. Since more people are following these boards, your chances for a higher rate of repins -- and hence new followers -- is greater.

Follow high-profile and highly relevant people.
While the criteria for whom you follow should first and foremost be the relevance of their pins to your business and brand, there's a case to be made for having at least 10 percent of whom you choose be the big dogs in their fields. By following these power players, you increase the chances that they'll follow you back, repin, like, and comment on your images, and give you greater exposure to their large followings.

Use keywords in all your pins.
Paying attention to SEO is a significant part of pinning. The more on target you are with the keywords you use in your boards and pin descriptions, the more likely you are to draw followers searching for and interested in those topics.

Promote Pinterest with your email newsletter.
Given the stringent no-spam requirements that exist for email marketing today, it's a safe bet that the people already on your distribution list want to hear from you. Several ways to build your Pinterest following with a newsletter include:

• Announcing your presence on the site in a regular newsletter you send and encouraging readers to click through and follow you.
• Sending out a pithy, photo-heavy announcement about your Pinterest, inspiring your tribe to find out more.
• Enticing readers to visit your Pinterest by placing a Pinterest icon that links through to your page on all email newsletter communications and featuring a "hot" pin or two you've recently posted.

Add Pinterest to your email signature line.
You have the opportunity with every email you send to anyone -- client, potential client, friend, colleague, stranger you just met on the airplane -- to promote your Pinterest and gain followers. Simply add the dedicated URL of your Pinterest to the end of your signature line, where the links to your other social media (website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) live, and allow people to follow you with a single click.

Reciprocate.
A good best practice is to always check out a new follower, or someone who has liked or repinned one of your images, and consider whether you want to follow them back. Some of the criteria to take into account include:

• Are they a major player in the same space? If so, consider following them, since your audiences are likely to be the same.
• Are they pinning interesting, beautiful or highly informative content? If yes, they're worth following as a regular resource for repinning.
• Are they someone on whose radar you'd like to be? Following someone increases the chances they'll follow you back and gives you regular opportunity to comment, like and repin their images.

Article courtesy of Entrepreneur