New Research: Americans Hate Social Media Promotions
Posted on 08. Apr, 2012 by Jay Baer in Blog, Email Marketing, exacttarget, facebook, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media research, Twitter
Among other disruptive characteristics that have altered the nature of business forever (real-time interaction, every customer is a reporter, customer service is a spectator sport, etc.) a major way that social media changes the game is the Democratization of Voices.
Your Company Needs to Be Human Because You’re Competing with Humans
Social media is the first time in history that companies communicate alongside real people, and with no inherent advantage. Go to your Facebook Wall and scroll down for a while. Mine looks something like this:
Friend
Friend
Friend
Brand
Mom
Wife
Brand
Acquaintance
Acquaintance
I’ll bet yours is approximately the same. Now look at Twitter (public feed of the people you follow, not lists). Basically the same, right? A mixture of people you know, people you love, people you want to know, and companies. All of them using precisely the same tools and formats to jostle for your attention. This is simply unprecedented.
Your Mom does not buy full-page magazine ads adjacent to car companies. Your friends do not make 60-second radio spots. Your high school ex-girlfriend doesn’t put up freeway billboards (unless she’s even more deranged than most). Those are brand tactics, not people tactics. Yet in social media, brands and people are using the same toolbox.
Because social media strips away the corporate communication advantages (money, personnel, expertise) they have enjoyed forever, brands often try to fight through the clutter of social media and curry your favor by giving you the BEST OFFER EVER. The paradox is that’s exactly what we don’t want.
We Don’t Want Promotions in Social Media
We the people don’t want promotions in social media. It’s not as if we signed up for social media sites so that we could hang out with software companies and hotel chains and T-shirt purveyors and ham merchants. We signed up to connect with each other, not with commerce.
New research from my friends ExactTarget (I am proud to have them as a client) puts a mathematical fine point on our collective abhorrence for social promotions. In their 2012 Channel Preferences Study (download it here for free) 1,500 Americans ages 15 and older were asked about their usage of email, social media, and text messaging. The results are astounding.
Even for companies that we have given permission to send us offers (not Spam), only 4% of us prefer those messages to be delivered via Facebook, and just 1% via Twitter.
Only 4% of us would look at Facebook first to find a deal from a company. Another 10% would look at Facebook second.
Where do we prefer to receive and look for promotional messages? Email. That old, neglected war horse of digital marketing still delivers the dollars, as 77% of survey participants want promotional email from companies, and 44% would look to email first to find a deal.
Be Social Don’t Do Social
I’ve been critical about Facebook’s Timeline and how the company is forcing companies to act like people on the platform. But they’re right. If we so clearly don’t want special offers and promotions clogging our social streams, companies must focus on being social, and worry less about doing social media in ways that approximate direct marketing.
I’m not saying never run a contest or a promotion or a special offer or a threshold deal in social media. But if your company doesn’t have a social media editorial program that emphasizes spontaneous, personal, human, light-hearted, interesting, funny, timely, and photo-driven content, you are swimming against a powerful tide of customer desire.
Smart companies use social to turn customers into fans, and fans into volunteer marketers. They worry less about squeezing every nickel and click out of each tweet and status update.
The more you sell, the less you sell.
I’d like to hear what you think in the comments. Are companies headed down a blind alley by relying too much on social media promotions? Get the Channel Preferences study for free here.
New Research: Americans Hate Social Media Promotions
Posted on 08. Apr, 2012 by Jay Baer in Blog, Email Marketing, exacttarget, facebook, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media research, Twitter
Among other disruptive characteristics that have altered the nature of business forever (real-time interaction, every customer is a reporter, customer service is a spectator sport, etc.) a major way that social media changes the game is the Democratization of Voices.
Your Company Needs to Be Human Because You’re Competing with Humans
Social media is the first time in history that companies communicate alongside real people, and with no inherent advantage. Go to your Facebook Wall and scroll down for a while. Mine looks something like this:
Friend
Friend
Friend
Brand
Mom
Wife
Brand
Acquaintance
Acquaintance
I’ll bet yours is approximately the same. Now look at Twitter (public feed of the people you follow, not lists). Basically the same, right? A mixture of people you know, people you love, people you want to know, and companies. All of them using precisely the same tools and formats to jostle for your attention. This is simply unprecedented.
Your Mom does not buy full-page magazine ads adjacent to car companies. Your friends do not make 60-second radio spots. Your high school ex-girlfriend doesn’t put up freeway billboards (unless she’s even more deranged than most). Those are brand tactics, not people tactics. Yet in social media, brands and people are using the same toolbox.
Because social media strips away the corporate communication advantages (money, personnel, expertise) they have enjoyed forever, brands often try to fight through the clutter of social media and curry your favor by giving you the BEST OFFER EVER. The paradox is that’s exactly what we don’t want.
We Don’t Want Promotions in Social Media
We the people don’t want promotions in social media. It’s not as if we signed up for social media sites so that we could hang out with software companies and hotel chains and T-shirt purveyors and ham merchants. We signed up to connect with each other, not with commerce.
New research from my friends ExactTarget (I am proud to have them as a client) puts a mathematical fine point on our collective abhorrence for social promotions. In their 2012 Channel Preferences Study (download it here for free) 1,500 Americans ages 15 and older were asked about their usage of email, social media, and text messaging. The results are astounding.
Preferred Channel for Promotional Messages From Companies Whom I Have Granted Permission to Send Me Ongoing Information
Even for companies that we have given permission to send us offers (not Spam), only 4% of us prefer those messages to be delivered via Facebook, and just 1% via Twitter. 77% of us prefer offer to be delivered via email.
Only 4% of us would look at Facebook first to find a deal from a company. Another 10% would look at Facebook second.
Where do we prefer to receive and look for promotional messages? Email. That old, neglected war horse of digital marketing still delivers the dollars, as 77% of survey participants want promotional email from companies, and 44% would look to email first to find a deal.
Be Social Don’t Do Social
I’ve been critical about Facebook’s Timeline and how the company is forcing companies to act like people on the platform. But they’re right. If we so clearly don’t want special offers and promotions clogging our social streams, companies must focus on being social, and worry less about doing social media in ways that approximate direct marketing.
I’m not saying never run a contest or a promotion or a special offer or a threshold deal in social media. But if your company doesn’t have a social media editorial program that emphasizes spontaneous, personal, human, light-hearted, interesting, funny, timely, and photo-driven content, you are swimming against a powerful tide of customer desire.
Smart companies use social to turn customers into fans, and fans into volunteer marketers. They worry less about squeezing every nickel and click out of each tweet and status update.
The more you sell, the less you sell.
I’d like to hear what you think in the comments. Are companies headed down a blind alley by relying too much on social media promotions? Get the Channel Preferences study for free here.
Is Social Media Strategy Required or Redundant?
Posted on 25. Mar, 2012 by Jay Baer in Blog, Guy Kawasaki, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media ROI, social media strategy, social media tools, Twitter
I don’t have a problem with Guy Kawasaki. I enjoy his books. His track record in business is substantial. We have friends in common. But on the subject of social media strategy, we disagree in every possible way.
Last month, Guy was interviewed (that happens a lot) in Inc. Magazine about social media, as was asked whether entrepreneurs should hire a consultant and develop a social media strategy. (edit: for clarity, this is the exact question he was asked: “Let’s say an entrepreneur is new to the whole social media thing. There’s a tendency to hire a consultant and formulate a plan. Is that the right approach?”) To which he replied:
No. Just dive in…It’s very difficult to create goals and strategies for something like Google+ or Facebook or Twitter if you’re not familiar with Google+, Facebook, and Twitter.
I reject everything about this sentiment, but perhaps most vehemently the notion that you should have a strategy for Google + or Facebook or Twitter per se. There is no such thing as a Twitter strategy. Or a Facebook strategy. Or a Google + strategy. Participation in these (or other) social outposts are tactics used in service of a social media strategy, which in turn is in service of a marketing (and sometimes customer service/retention) strategy, which is one element of an overall business strategy.
The goal is not to be good at social media. The goal is to be good at business because of social media. Never forget that.
The Pyramid of Social Media Strategy
A Social Media Strategy of Denying You Have a Social Media Strategy
Perhaps the greatest irony here is that Guy Kawasaki actually has a very clear, multi-faceted social media strategy that maps to business outcomes. He advises people to just wing it, while he is doing anything but. Is this a disingenuous misdirection, or a semantic misunderstanding?
Inside the Guy Kawasaki Social Media Strategy
Recently, Kawasaki has embraced Google + as tightly as any non-Google employee on Earth not named Chris Brogan. (I like Google + myself, and believe Google has the leverage to eventually make it a major player. Guy’s new e-book on Google + is doing well, and I admire him sticking to his guns and predicting that the pundits have prematurely written the platform’s obit). I enjoy what Kawasaki does on Google + as his curated links are almost always interesting photos or videos. He clearly understands what is often missed about Google Plus – that it is a multi-media discovery network.
But like most of the popular members of Google +, Kawasaki made his social media bones elsewhere, most notably on Twitter where he has 750,000 followers. Let’s look at that element of the social media strategy.
Each day on Twitter, Kawasaki shares 25-50 links to interesting content on a vast array of topics. He does not interact personally from his @GuyKawasaki account. No replies. No mentions. No thanks. Just link after link after link after link. Unlike most heavy curators on Twitter, however (including me), Kawasaki does not link to source material. Instead, he links to his own Alltop website, where he excerpts the original content and then includes a link for the “rest” of the story. (disclosure: On a couple of occasions, my blog posts have been tweeted from his account)
Each of these Alltop pages include five banner ads. Thus, Kawasaki is directly monetizing his tweeting by running ads on top of content he did not actually create. Whether you agree with its lack of humanization and intellectual property mechanics, if that’s not a social media strategy then the Hunger Games isn’t going to start a youth archery boom in the U.S.
Another mystifying quote from the Inc. interview:
You really can’t spend money on social media unless you really try. Social media is really more about effort than expense.
Firstly, I’m guessing the providers of social media management software (a hundreds of millions of dollars per year industry) would disagree with Kawasaki’s thoughts on this point. I do too, but for a different reason.
As Charlene Li said first, social media isn’t inexpensive, it’s different expensive.
Effort IS expense. Everything in life, business, marketing, and social media has an opportunity cost. All the minutes you spend on social media are minutes you could be spending on something else, and even if your full-time job is social media, there are labor and overhead costs associated with your participation. It’s not an insignificant time investment to do it well, and to give the impression that social media is “free” is reckless and incorrect, like having Lindsay Lohan host SNL.
Social Media Strategy is Easier Without All That Pesky Labor
Perhaps one of the reasons Kawasaki overlooks the effort required to excel at social media is that he hasn’t had to expend as much as the rest of us. Kawasaki has at various times been listed on the Twitter and Google + “recommended followers” lists, which enable you to accumulate hundreds of thousands of followers in short order. But that doesn’t really bother me. Follower counts are overrated anyway, and there’s a lot of people with even more followers whose value to humanity is subject to debate.
Snooki showing her social media "strategy"
To be sure, the links shared on Kawasaki’s Twitter account are uniformly interesting. They scream “click me” and you could easily devote a decent chunk of each day following those links. (in fact, one of our clients – Right This Minute – is a daily TV show and website that takes the same approach but solely with awesome videos). But the thing is, Kawasaki doesn’t find all the great stories he tweets, or write all the excerpts, or even send all the tweets. His Twitter account is ghost-written (at least partially) by professional staffers, and has been for years.
This makes his quote about social media being free even more puzzling. Are these ghost-tweeters working for oxygen and tap water only? If so, I need to talk to the HR Director at Alltop immediately. (disclosure: my managing editor tweets one “greatest hits” post of mine each night from my account)
Social Media Strategy That Actually Has a ROI
I don’t know enough about Guy’s Facebook, blogging, and other social media programs to understand how they fit into the master plan, but I can guess at how the Twitter program supports the business strategy, because it drives direct revenue. We can actually determine the ROI of the Twitter program (which is how you calculate social media ROI – always at the tactic level first. Then, you combine the ROI of each tactic to determine the ROI of the social media program in its entirety).
I am of course guessing at these data points, but here’s how you’d go about the calculations:
Return
- Average of 35 tweets per day x 30 days = 1050 tweets per month.
- Average click-through rate on each Tweet of .2% (what I average) = 1,500 clicks per tweet = 1.575 million clicks per month.
- Average sharing rate of 1% (a bit lower than usual, due to excerpts only) = 15,750 sharing-driven visits = 1,590,750 total visits per month.
- Average pages per visit of 1.25 (what I average) = 1,988,437 pages viewed per month.
- Five ads per page (one is sometimes a self promo, so make it 4.5) = 8,947,968 ad impressions per month.
- Average ad CPM of $2 = $17,894 in gross ad revenue per month from Twitter program.
Total Monthly Return = $17,894
Investment
- 2 half-time employees at average of $3,333/month each + 40% overhead factor = $9,333 per month in direct labor costs.
- 10 hours per month at $500/hour yield rate for Guy’s oversight = $5,000 month in indirect opportunity costs.
- Amortized server/design/admin costs = $2,000/month
Total Monthly Investment = $16,333
ROI (Return minus Investment, divided by Investment) = 9.5%
What do you know? The Guy without the social media strategy may be making almost 10% off of every tweet.
Social media has too much opportunity (and too many pits of real-time quicksand) to just blindly jump into the deep end of the pool. Of course, if you’re only involved in social media personally, these rules don’t apply. My wife – who is on Facebook only to connect with actual friends and family – does not need a social media strategy. But for business? I don’t care if you’re big or small. B2B or B2C. New or old. Enthusiastic or suspicious. You need to know how and why you’re getting involved with social media so that you can rightsize your resources, relationships, and expectations.
A social media strategy allows your company to focus on being social, without worrying as much about doing social media and the tactic du jour. It provides guidance (and math) that help you make better and more effective decisions in the social universe.
To me, it’s worth it.
You?
Social Networking Spam – 5 Rules for Marketers
Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Josh Mackey in Blog, email, facebook, Guest Posts, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media measurement, social networks, spam, Twitter
Josh Mackey is General Manager at PeekAnalytics, a Social Audience Measurement Platform. (More importantly, a family man and sport loving Aussie who loves life).
There has been a lot of talk recently about social networking spam – inactive and bogus accounts on social platforms. While I agree inactive and spam accounts can raise unwanted questions for platforms, these claims should not discourage marketers away from the platforms themselves. Instead of admitting that this “social thing” is not as easy as all that, some are pointing fingers at the platforms, saying SPAM! SPAM! Bad ROI…Spam! Bad CTR…Spam!
The rhetoric above might make for a great headline, but for me it’s lazy sensationalism. Anyone who claims that Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn or Facebook do not have robust ecosystems, full of amazing insights and opportunities for brands as well as individuals alike, is simply delusional. That said, marketers who face pushback on social networking spam issues need to be prepared to respond head on.
The advice below comes from insights that I have gleaned from being neck deep in social audience measurement product development for the past year and a half.
Rule #1 – Don’t mix the water with the wine.
Instead of focusing on the spam or inactive accounts, marketers should just accept there is some “spam” mixed in with the “bacon” on every platform, channel or network. It’s about finding tools, best in class techniques and smart marketers that will allow you to get to the bacon, “smell” the bacon, get to know the bacon, and in the end, get the bacon to buy your product and then tell their friends to also buy your product. Mmm bacon!
Don’t skew your analysis with incomplete data. You are better off dealing with a quality subset of audience data to analyze rather than a much larger mess of incomplete and questionable data. Set yourself up with a “minimum cutoff” point that excludes accounts out that don’t have a certain amount of information you require to form a complete analysis. A Twitter account with nothing more than an @name, sharing dating site links every hour on the hour, provides little usable data and obviously stinks of spam. Analyze your audience with a tool that allows you to filter out incomplete and junk accounts.
Rule #2 – Seek out real people.
Social Networking Spam – You Are What You Tweet
Go out of your way to engage with people who are transparent about their identity (I personally think Google+ has this right). Someone who unites their online and offline identity is much more likely to not only engage with people they have met offline (e.g. building stronger relationships), but will also generate a more trusted and larger network online than people using only fake identities and/or usernames. In very few cases do I trust a person or content when that is hiding behind a fake name with no digital footprint or identity. Unfortunately, many marketers have been duped and lured into buying followers from sketchy sites. Trust me: this is not the way to social media success and will only create a false economy by skewing your ROI metrics to unattainable levels.
Rule #3 – Engage with others as you would like to be engaged with.
Remember that a quality audience will always trump quantity. There are many theories that all you need on social media is “100 true fans” to get a message started. The definition of a true fan can be debated, but in reality, for the viral effect to happen, all you need is good content and a few raving fans who have trusted networks of their own for a message to go far and wide. Therefore, focus on building a community of people who will support you as you support them.
Rule #4 – Be humble and honest with yourself!
Take a realistic view of your audience. If you have 10,000 followers, don’t use 10,000 in your click through percentage calculations. Understand that some accounts are inactive, some are social networking spam, very few people sit on Twitter all day waiting for you to tweet. Use tools that try and measure the true size of your audience at any one time and tweet during hours that your audience is potentially awake, engaged, etc
Rule #5 – Remember and respect the meek! For the meek shall…also buy your products.
Every fan matters! 40% of active users don’t tweet! Find a tool that can measure your entire social audience and don’t just focus on the active (talking) audience. You have customers who have chosen to follow you (which may be the only action you see from them on Twitter) but they still have the ability to purchase your products after they read about a sale at the local store from your tweets!
Conclusion
Who doesn’t remember naysayers who claimed: “spam will kill email,” “IM is killing email,” “Social will kill email,” etc? Guess what: Just like the humble text message, email is fine; the value that it delivers for users and marketers remains because it is a powerful and imminently affordable communication platform. Twitter, Facebook, Google+ all have spam issues, no different than every other valuable communication platform that ever existed. Each platform is currently taking unique and aggressive steps to ensure the average user experience is not marred by spam. Social networking spam filters are still in the relatively early days, but big progress is being made.
The value is there; you just need to know where to look and how to create value and a reason for consumers to care about your brand. Get over the “spam” siren call and focus on finding the bacon! If you can’t or refuse to, please feel free to build a platform that is user friendly, has millions of users and is spam free…we will all come join your platform and make you super rich! It will be awesome. Really.
Riding the Collective 140 to Overnight Success
Posted on 28. Feb, 2012 by John Jantsch in Blog, Duct Tape Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
Riding the Collective 140 to Overnight Success
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
The other day someone once again swore to me that you couldn’t sell using Twitter – those 140 characters just aren’t enough to get your message across.
The fact is I’ve sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of books, courses, consulting and speaking via Twitter and he’s right, 140 characters aren’t enough.
Image Fathzer via Flickr CC
The secret to selling on Twitter, and in any setting really, is the collective 140 or the sum total of useful content that you put out there every day. Please note the word useful in that last sentence. Unless some group of potential customers finds what you’re sharing useful, it qualifies as good noise and little else.
Marketers have been selling using 140 characters or less for years. Go back and dig up some old issues of magazines like Popular Mechanics and flip back to the classified ads and you’ll find some great examples of tiny little ads selling access to what somebody thought was useful information. Many of those ads ran for years, meaning somebody was making money.
Some people have wondered over the last few years how I’ve turned the Duct Tape Marketing brand into such a success in such a short time. (Note that success and time are both relative terms.)
Well, here’s how and, there’s no real magic, anyone can stumble to success in the same manner.
- I have produced and sent 572 weekly newsletters
- I have written 2,709 blog posts
- I have written 3 books containing 213,549 words
- I have produced 121 “how to” workbooks
- I have written 11 eBooks
- I have conducted 173 online seminars
- I have presented 156 live workshops and speeches
- I have recorded 315 podcast episodes (thanks Jared Dees for reminding me of this one)
- I have crafted 11,491 tweets
And somewhere along the line someone found some of it useful.
So, yes, you too can be a 25-year overnight success by riding your collective 140 into the sunset.
Online Marketing News: Facts Tell & Stories Sell, Start-up Tips from Tech Giants, Mobile Skyrockets, Breaking Up With Customers
Posted on 24. Feb, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, content marketing, Content Marketing Institute, Search Industry News, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, Twitter
The History of Content Marketing
From the dawn of time people with things to sell have been using stories to attract, engage, and retain customers ala #optimize. The infographic above from the Content Marketing Institute takes us all the way through the evolution of content marketing and provides some meaningful insight into what companies have done in the past to generate results. You might learn a thing a two, plus it’s a great read.
”6 Start-up Tips From the World’s Biggest Tech Companies” Every company has to start somewhere. Famous companies such as Google, HP, and Microsoft were built on a set of core principals including creating long term customer relationships and listening to feedback. This post provides tips from some of the largest companies in world on how to get through the start up phase of your business. Via Inc.
“38 Million Americans Visit Social Networks on Mobile Devices ‘Near Daily’ [STUDY]“ A recent study released by comScore found that 64.2 million U.S. citizens use mobile devices to access social networking and more then half of them are visiting daily. Curious to know what type of information they’re reading and sharing? Via Mashable.
“10 Ways to Deal With Upset Customers Using Social Media” As hard as you try there will almost without exception be negative feedback about your company. What can separate you from the competition is the way that you handle this interaction. Each negative comment is an opportunity to address a problem or help retain a customer who might otherwise be lost. This article provides 10 very helpful tips on what you can do to turn a negative into a positive. Via SocialMedia Examiner.
“The Top Reasons Customers Break Up With Brands Online” Do you know why customers may be choosing to “break up” with your brand? This infographic provides some very interesting statistics on why consumers choose to unsubscribe from email campaigns, “unlike” your brand on Facebook, and stop following your company on Twitter. Via Ragan.
“What Matters in Social Business?” We can all agree that social business is top of mind for many marketers. However, we need to understand what matters most in social business. Understanding how online marketing has evolved and the role it will continue to play is key in creating a long-term sustainable strategy. Via CMS Wire.
TopRank Team News
Ken Horst – Google’s new Latitude Leaderboards suggest gamified check-ins are coming to Google+
Google’s recent update for Google Maps for Android included a new gaming element which is tied to its “Latitude” location app. This new update includes an overall leader board among friends and it leader boards by location.
Clearly Google has a plan to incorporate their check in service with Google+ and adding the gaming aspect is another indicator that Google is serious about fighting for this space. Will all this be enough to steal significant market share from heavily entrenched Foresquare? Stay tuned! Via The Next Web.
Brian Larson – Researcher: Facebook’s 2012 Ad Sales to Top $5B
Facebook ad revenue is expected to increase by 2 billion year over year. That’s right, social media giant Facebook is expected to reach 5.1 billion in ad sales revenue in 2012, according to eMarketeter. Of that 5.1 billion, 2.6 billion is expected to come from display ad sales. Trailing close behind in display ads is Google, which eMarketer expects to draw 2.5 billion in ad sales revenue.
As Google expands its footprint, it should come as no surprise that eMarketer predicts Google will surpass Facebook in display ad sales in 2013. Via ClickZ.
Time to Weigh In: Have you incorporated storytelling into your content marketing strategy? If so, what results have you seen? How do you currently handle negative feedback online and is it working?
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Online Marketing News: Facts Tell & Stories Sell, Start-up Tips from Tech Giants, Mobile Skyrockets, Breaking Up With Customers | http://www.toprankblog.com
How and Why I Use Buffer
Posted on 30. Jan, 2012 by John Jantsch in Blog, facebook, Reeder, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
How and Why I Use Buffer
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
One of the services I believe marketers should provide their followers and community members these days is that of filtering and aggregating good, relevant content.
I subscribe to over 100 blogs and I hear over and over again how much some of the folks that choose to follow me on Twitter and Facebook appreciate that I share what I think some of the best reads from each day.
I share other things in those platforms as well, but I generally find 8-10 blog posts daily that I think people will appreciate.
The problem is that when I scan through my RSS Reader, something I do before most of my readers have had breakfast, I don’t want to Tweet all 8-10 at one time because it kind of overwhelms a handful of people and leaves little for those that get on social networks at other times of the day.
To solve this problem I started using a free app called Buffer and not only am I hooked, I’ve seen its use by many other publishers skyrocket of late as well. (The free version only allows you to have 10 updates in the buffer and is limited to one user.)
Why I use it
The Buffer app is a tool that allows me to easily bookmark and schedule Tweets or Facebook updates from any browser or mobile device. This way I can effectively spread my Tweets out over the course of a day, whether I find something in my morning reading or as I surf around throughout the day.
The times that Buffer posts the updates are preset by me so I simply fill up the Buffer and it does the rest. You can hit the post now option to immediately post and you have total control over when it posts. I have a pretty good feel for the best times to post for my readership but you might want to use a tool like SocialBro to gather some research into the best times for you.
Buffer also produces statistics so you can see how many people clicked on links you shared, the estimated reach and the number of Retweets.
There are some other tools that can accomplish much of what Buffer does, for example TweetDeck allows scheduled Tweets, but Buffer just works much better with the way I work and makes it much easier for me to be more active in sharing.
How I use it
While there is an iPhone app for Buffer the way I choose to use it is a little different than some I suspect.
I do most of my feed reading using the Reeder app on my iPhone. (Note this is different than Google Reader) The reason I love this app is that it allows me tap into my Google Reader account and have all my feeds that I organize there. (You can install Buffer as an option in Google Reader too)
The real feature I love though is that it gives me a handful of options for sharing and handling the posts right from the within the app. I can bookmark and tag it to Delicious or Pinboard, add to Facebook or Twitter, paste to Evernote, copy the link or email the title and link.
To use this app with Buffer I use the fact that Buffer gives every account holder a unique email address that will post items to the their Buffer account. So, as I read my posts I simply hit the “mail link” function in Reeder and it sends the title and link to Buffer. Anything that I put in the subject of the email will be posted as the body of the Tweet.
Buffer then puts all my emailed updates in the queue based on the times I’ve picked and viola – nice bit of posting scheduled throughout the day. Buffer also allows me to connect my branded linked shortener that set up with bit.ly so my Buffered links are shown as ducttape.me – a nice bonus in the scheme of things.
Look around and you’ll see a number of blogs adding the Buffer button to their posts to make it even easier for people who use this tool to share.
You should also grab the Buffer extension for your browser of choice or drag the Buffer bookmarket to your toolbar so that you can add items to Buffer as you surf throughout the day. I use the extension for Firefox and it puts a little Buffer icon at the bottom of the page and gives my one click posting to Buffer.
Online Marketing News: Google+ Search, $10 per Twitter Follower, Facebook 1 Billion Users, Foursquare Search Engine, Social ROI: No, Really!
Posted on 13. Jan, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, foursquare, Search Engines, Search Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube
Search, plus Your World
The big news this week centers around the changes that Google has rolled out related to Google+ integration with search, which as the tech press buzzing. Google is aiming to bring users additional search functionality that is incorporated with their Google+ profiles. The official Google blog states that “you should be able to find your own stuff on the web, the people you know and things they’ve shared with you, as well as the people you don’t know but might want to… all from one search box.” Industry observers are saying it’s too much Google+, all the time.
Regardless, it’s a new dimension on the face of search and that spells opportunity (for those optimists among us) to Optimize. Here are a few tips on Google+ optimization. Be sure to add TopRank to your Google+ circles!
It’s an Oh So Social Web
“Facebook projected to hit 1 billion active users by August” There are about 6.9 billion people currently living in the world, and Facebook is projected to capture close to 14% of that number by the end of this summer. According to a new study, the Facebook user count will hit 1 billion by the month of August. Via Digital Trends.
“Anywhere in the world, foursquare Explore can find you something interesting (now on your computer!)” How do you search for personalized recommendations in the real world? This is a huge and difficult problem. Most real-world searches are one-size fits all. The new web version of Explore is powered by 1,500,000,000 check-ins, tens of millions of Tips, and over half million Lists. Explore is powered by check-ins and foursquare Tips, it’s not just personalized, it’s specific. Via Foursquare.
“Some Advertisers Are Paying Up To $10 Per Follow On Twitter” Marketers spent an estimated $100- to $150-million on Twitter advertising to reach its 100 million users last year, compared with forecasts of nearly $4-billion for Facebook and its 800 million users. So far, Twitter’s advertisers have been prepared to pay $1 to $4 for each new follower through “promoted accounts”, though some – such as car makers – are bidding more than $10. Via Financial Times.
“YouTube accounts for 25% of visits to social sites in December” Market research analyst James Murray shares that there were record levels of Internet traffic at Christmas, with 2.18 billion visits going to online retailers in December. Murry also shares that the right blend of traffic from social media, affiliates, and other sources is essential. But, that it is more important than ever for marketers to optimize both paid and organic campaigns. Via Econsultancy.
“71% More Likely to Purchase Based on Social Media Referrals [INFOGRAPHIC]” Consumers are currently connecting, rating, discussing, and consumer more product information and review then ever before. The infographic in this article illustrates the importance of ecommerce inbound marketing. Via Hubspot.
We’re With the Brand – Tips
“5 Tips for Making Your Brand More Social” As social media only continues to increase in value companies cannot afford to shamelessly self promote or opt out from the conversation all together. Requests are being made that companies respond in real time, across multiple channels. Via Social Media Examiner.
“How to Build Recognition for Your Unkown Brand” In the marketing and advertising world the word “frequency” refers to the number of times a consumer must see or an ad before they purchase the product. According to this article frequency works because it is all about building trust. As consumers we tend to be weary of anything new. However, if we are shown a product or brand repeatedly we begin trust what that company has to offer. Via Wall Street Journal.
TopRank(ing) News From Our Team
Emily Conley – “Real-Life Examples of How Google’s “Search Plus” Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy”
Google’s recent implementation of the “Search Plus Your World” feature has everybody talking about whether the new feature benefits Google users, or just the company. This article dives into the initial impact of the change through a user perspective. The “Search Plus” feature has huge implications in terms of search and social…this is only the beginning of what is sure to be a long debate! Via Search Engine Land.
Ken Horst – “Pinterest: 13 Tips and Tricks for Cutting Edge Users”
As we’ve seen in previous weeks, Pinterest traffic and interest is growing like crazy, recently breaking into the top ten social media websites. In addition to the 13 tips in this post, I’ve also found it useful to create pin boards of images from my blog or web site. Each image is a link back top the originating web property and if the images are cool, users can also see some nice referring traffic as well. Via Mashable.
Alexis Hall – “SoLoMo Revolution Picks Up Where Hyperlocal Search Left Off”
I thought this post on Social Local Mobile Search or the “SoLoMo Revolution” was interesting. It discusses how companies like Shopkick have been successful using new mobile technology to offer shoppers a highly personalized experience. Via Mashable.
Discussion: What do you think about the new Google+ integration with search? Do you think it’s too much? What about $10 per Twitter user? Or $1? Do you think Foursquare can compete as a local search engine? We’d love your feedback on these stories and feel free to suggest other top stories we missed.
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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Google+ Search, $10 per Twitter Follower, Facebook 1 Billion Users, Foursquare Search Engine, Social ROI: No, Really! | http://www.toprankblog.com
Online Marketing News: Google+ Who?, Know Thy Customer, Social Media Law, TopRank Team News
Posted on 06. Jan, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, Search Industry News, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
Who’s Using Google+?
The launch of Google+ in 2011 has put Google in the social networking boxing ring. When it comes to user statistics some of them may surprise you. This infographic by Flowtown shares some interesting information about the increasingly popular social media site.
- 63% of users are male
- Only 17% of users are considered active
- 61% of top 100 brands have a page on Google+
Online Marketing Tips & Tricks
“10 Brand-Building Steps For Beginners” For many companies 2012 marks the year that they will begin implementing a social media strategy. This article provides 10 easy steps for those who have not yet many the plunge into social marketing. Via Fast Company.
“5 Tricks from a LinkedIn Jedi” According to David Gowel many entrepreneurs are not using LinkedIn as well as they could. Gowel also shares 5 key takeaways on marketing using LinkedIn for both newbies and Jedi’s in training. Via Inc.
How Well Do You Know Your Audience?
What Comes Before The Landing Page – The Crucial Role Of Psychology-Driven SEO” While landing page design is important, it is not the most important factor in attracting the right audience. Knowing your prospects, understanding their pain, and speaking their language are all key components of creating a successful landing page. Via Search Engine Land.
“How to know what your audience really wants” Chances are your audience isn’t interested in your sales message, your company news, or hearing from you in general. What they are interested in are answers to their questions and solutions for their problems. How can you stand out from the pack? Answer their questions and let them know why your unique solutions will help solve their problems. Via Chris G.
Internet News Hot Dish
“Daily Report: A Legal Battle Over a Twitter User’s Identity” We find Twitter in the middle of yet another legal battle. This time the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts is attempting to attain information regarding a Twitter account used to share information about the “occupy” protests. What do you think? Should this information be shared? Via New York Times.
“5 Predictions for Social Media Law in 2012” In 2011 there were numerous court battles caused by information shared via social networks. As more and more companies begin utilizing social media as a sales and marketing tool we can except to see even more court battles, and laws being passed. This article shares 5 predictions for changes to the law in 2012. Via Mashable.
“Social marketing gems: Tools to make sense of chaos” A social media strategy is only effective if you can measure it’s success. Christopher Hosford shares four tools that can help measure, promote, and respond to your social media activity. Via BtoB.
“Google Announces “Megasitelinks,” Image Search Improvements & Better Byline Dates” Starting in November 2011 Google began releasing a monthly overview of site changes to the public. The release for December included over 30 changes! This article provides a peak into some of the changes you may not be aware of. Via Search Engine Land.
The TopRank Report = News from Our Team
Ken Horst – Branded Content Advertising Spend At All Time High
Branded content advertising hit an all time high in 2011. In addition, 16% of companies surveyed said they would be aggressively shifting from traditional marketing to branded content in 2012. Via MediaPost.
Top 3 reasons companies listed for using branded content;
1. Educate customers
2. Customer retention
3. Brand loyalty
Brian Larson – Google+ Sees Massive Membership Growth
I think this is a fascinating story detailing the resurgence of Google+. With the use of the social network flattening out in October, this new growth (largely the result of Google+ Business Pages) makes the social network that much more relevant to our audience. Via Mashable.
Alexis Hall – NSTIC, Google & SEO
This interesting story features a video discussing the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) and the Identity Ecosystem, and what it means that sites like Google, PayPal and Equifax are now credentialed providers. The article discusses the impact of credentialed providers on online privacy, data collection and why any of it matters for SEO. Via Search Engine Watch.
Emily Conley – The 5 Things Yahoo’s New CEO Scott Thompson Should Do Right Away
This article outlines 5 things that newly appointed Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson (former president of PayPal) should do immediately to leave his mark on the Yahoo brand:
- Move on the buyout position – China-based web firm Alibaba (40% Yahoo owned) has expressed interest in purchasing Yahoo
- Fix the board – The board’s June 2010 failure to oust CEO Carol Bartz rubbed shareholders the wrong way
- Follow Google and choose a direction – Yahoo has positioned itself as an innovative tech company, but should hone in on what they currently do well and focus efforts there
- Fix the brand – Yahoo’s old brand image could use an innovative, technology-savvy update
- Build a strategy to compete with Facebook – Yahoo needs to stake a claim in the social media realm
It will be interesting to see how 2012 unfolds for Yahoo. As one of the most visited sites on the web, Yahoo’s next steps could have a big impact on the world of SEO. This is a story worth following! Via Fast Company.
Today marks the end of the first full work week in 2012. I’m curious to know if you’ve kept your personal and professional resolutions so far?. If so, what were they? Have a great weekend!
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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Google+ Who?, Know Thy Customer, Social Media Law, TopRank Team News | http://www.toprankblog.com
4 B2C Examples of How Companies are Using Twitter to Attract & Engage Customers
Posted on 03. Jan, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in B2C, Blog, case studies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, Twitter
If you are a B2C company, interaction on a social platform like Twitter can increase engagement and even sales if executed properly. Small businesses like Tender boutique in Birmingham, Michigan have promoted special offers on Twitter and sold out in just a few days.
Social interaction via platforms like Twitter allow companies to gain a true understanding of their prospect base and serve as a real-time source of market research.
Customer engagement is a key benefit of executing a B2C Twitter marketing strategy. A recent survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey found 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from or recommend a brand they follow. Twitter is also a great resource for crowdsourcing new ideas, getting feedback on current products or campaigns, and figuring out what it is that your customers really want.
Still not convinced that Twitter has potential for impacting your business? The four examples included below provide insight into how other B2C businesses both small and large have used Twitter to attract and engage new customers.
San Francisco’s Creme Brulee Man
Photo from @cremebruleecart
Curtis Kimball began selling crème brûlée from a food cart in the Mission District of San Francisco in 2009. At the time, the crème brûlée cart was not licensed, so his only way of communicating with potential customers was through the use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. After only a few years, The Creme Brulee Man has over 20,000 followers on Twitter alone. Curtis still uses his Twitter account as a means of letting consumers know where he will be on a daily basis. What started as a small meager cart has now become thriving catering and food cart business in the heart of San Francisco, largely due to one man’s innovative use of Twitter.
JetBlue Tackles Issues via Twitter
Photo from @JetBlue
JetBlue Airways has taken a customer focused approach to Twitter since first signing up in 2007. The airline company is focused on solving customer issues, providing flight information for concerned passengers, and receiving feedback. The flow of communication almost reminds you of talking to an actual employee at the ticket counter. JetBlue will do everything from looking up your flight number, to providing refunds or credits via the communication on their Twitter account. With over 1.6 million followers JetBlue is keeping customers happy and encouraging interaction.
Frozen Yogurt with a Twist
Photo from @tastidlite
Tennessee based frozen yogurt company Tasti D-Lite has been in business since 1987. Recently, the frozen yogurt company has taken social innovation to a new level. In addition to an active blog and social networks the company has created a loyalty program that is linked to customers’ social profiles. A swipe of the card in-store can create a check-in, Tweet and Facebook status update. A recent article in Entrepreneur magazine said that Tasti-D-Lite has found 1 in 5 TastiRewards members are generating connections to at least one social network, and 18% of those are generating automatic check-ins on foursquare.
Sharpie Attracts a Younger Generation
Photo from @sharpie
Sharpie recently ran a campaign to attract teenagers via their Twitter network. The campaign was aimed at self expression through creativity using the product. Through a combination of promoted Twitter accounts and a tweet campaign targeted at users with interests in music and writing, Sharpie was able to increase their follower base 600%. Users also began using the hashtag #Sharpie which reflected positive brand association with conversations about creativity.
These four B2C companies are only a fraction of the consumer focused businesses online who are seeing an impact on customer acquisition and engagement through the use of social media sites like Twitter. As you can see there is a common theme of: listening to the customers, providing information customers need, and rewarding customers for their loyalty.
What B2C companies do you think have done a good job of engaging their followers? Which companies do you follow? Are you following @toprank on Twitter? You should!
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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
4 B2C Examples of How Companies are Using Twitter to Attract & Engage Customers | http://www.toprankblog.com
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