June 2015

70+ Blog Post Title Templates [Infographic]

June 29, 2015/by Corey Padveen

What should you title your next blog post? What will attract readers?

These are a few questions most bloggers and marketers face when deciding what to title a blog post. Considering how much content is flooding news feeds and streams, a catchy title is crucial. It is the first thing a prospective reader will see and it is a determining factor in whether or not they will click through to your content.

These blog post title templates are designed to drive higher clicks on your content and follow some proven formulas that work online. Take a look at TwelveSkip for an even more comprehensive list of great blog post title templates, and check out HubSpot for the original infographic!

New Ways to Improve Customer Service on Twitter

June 22, 2015/by Corey Padveen

Some recent changes have made it possible to really improve customer service on Twitter.

Customer service has long been an area where Twitter has proven to be a valuable asset. The ability to communicate directly with clients (or prospects) in real time has made it possible to satisfy even more customers on a very public stage. That said, at 140 characters, there have been some limitations to what can be voiced.

That has all changed.

Twitter recently announced the lifting of those limits to allow users to communicate via direct message the same way they would via text: without any limits to how long a message might be.

Why are they doing this?

It is no secret that Twitter has been looking for ways to improve its business performance. Everyone loves using Twitter; the network is simple, it has proven to be extremely effective for brands and it can be quite versatile.

But that has not translated into huge sales or skyrocketing stock prices. The result has been a number of efforts to change, including the recent resignation of CEO Dick Costolo, and now, some changes to the platform itself.

80% of Twitter users are active on mobile, and finding a way to increase the native value of the social network (particularly on mobile) is crucial. The difference between Twitter and, say, WhatsApp? Character limits. People love (and sometimes hate) that about Twitter. Your feed is easily digestible, but when you want to go into more detail, it can become tedious. You need to use the direct messaging capability to exchange phone numbers or emails, then communicate off-network.

Twitter is now trying to change that by lifting those character limits in direct messages.

How does this impact brands?

For brands, this change means a lot more time can be spent dealing with customer service issues on the network itself, without asking customers to take a conversation off-network or offline.

In a lot of cases, customers simply want to have their issues heard. People (for the most part) are realists. They know that an issue might not be resolved (perfectly or immediately) but they still want a place to vent and an acknowledgment that they are being listened to by the brand. By opening up the direct messaging in this way, Twitter is providing a space for exactly that.

Now, customer service conversations that do not involve personal or financial information can take place entirely on the network. This allows brands an opportunity to communicate more thoroughly, as opposed to simply using Twitter as a starting point.

This also presents a new opportunity for Twitter.

Where will Twitter go with this?

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Twitter make a move into a pseudo-SaaS space with a customer service platform separate from its existing direct messaging space. This would have to be carefully calculated by Twitter, as this is a fairly crowded space with some big players (think Desk, Zendesk, Zoho, Capterra, etc.). But Twitter has one thing going for it that others do not – it’s Twitter.

By creating a customer service portal that businesses can subscribe to, brands can begin to offer in-network service that essentially makes the process of communicating with brands seamless. This is similar to what Facebook is trying to do with Messenger, and it will be an interesting experiment (from which Twitter might be able to build).

Conclusion

There is, of course, the possibility that Twitter is simply trying to make the communication between parties a little easier (when they move into a more private setting) in an effort to compete with the plethora of messaging apps that currently dominate the market (mostly owned by Facebook).

What comes of this is anybody’s guess, but in the meantime, it makes servicing customers a little bit easier for brands.

Some Key Social Business Metrics

June 15, 2015/by Corey Padveen

What are some of the most important social business metrics?

When it comes to running a successful social business, one of the most important thing to consider are your metrics. Knowing what you will be measuring as a marker for success is something that should be established at the outset of your social business strategy’s implementation.

In this video, a few of the more important – both obvious and less obvious – social business metrics are covered. Remember: you can never know if your program or campaign is successful unless you know (from the start) what your measurement criteria are going to be!

2015 Internet Trends (What to Watch For)

June 8, 2015/by Corey Padveen

For 20 years, Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has been producing her report on Internet trends.

Some of the 2015 Internet trends to watch for might seem obvious. After all, there are certain trends that began years ago that are still on an upward tick. That said, there is still a lot to be excited about when it comes to what’s trending in the online world. Sift through the SlideShare below to see what we can be looking forward to in the coming year!

2015 Internet Trends Report from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

8 Google AdWords Best Practices to Keep in Mind

June 1, 2015/by Corey Padveen

To get the most out of your next SEM campaign, keep some of these Google AdWords best practices in mind.

Google AdWords can be a complicated beast. While it is simple on the surface – a campaign is fairly easy to set up and automate – there is so much more happening beneath that top level. Next time you plan on running a Google AdWords campaign, keep some of these best practices in mind to get even more out of it.

Take Advantage of Remarketing

There are people out there that have already expressed an interest in your product or service. They’ve come to your website and visited certain pages. By dropping a simple pixel on a specific page, you can remarket to these users – users who are, essentially, low hanging fruit – and drive more clicks (and conversions) at a lower cost.

Customize Your Messages

The messages you serve to a remarketing list need to be different than those you serve to the average user. In fact, the messaging you use in each of your keyword groups needs to vary based on the specifics of the audience (and content) that you are targeting. A generic ‘click here’ message will almost certainly be overlooked. Personalization – even just a little bit – is going to make a huge difference in your click-through rate.

Get Creative with Your Creative

It is no secret that the glory days of the banner ad are behind us. Most web users have become so accustomed to seeing ads wherever they turn that they tend to ignore virtually all of them. So, when it comes to a display campaign, let the creative juices flow. Use different colors, highlight your product and make your call-to-action as clear as possible. Standing out is going to be the best way to drive valuable clicks.

Use Your Extensions

If you have the opportunity to use extensions in your AdWords campaign, do it. Extensions are factored into your Ad Rank, and they offer an opportunity for a user to do more than simply click to a landing page. Call extensions are particularly useful if you plan on running a mobile campaign, since a user will simply have the ability to click-to-call if your product or service is relevant.

Think Mobile

Every year, mobile becomes more important to the success of an advertising strategy. When running an AdWords campaign, consider the implications of mobile, and optimize your campaign, creative and, perhaps most importantly, your landing page, with that in mind. The last thing you want to see is an extremely high bounce rate because your mobile audience landed on a page that wasn’t mobile-friendly.

Monitor Your Bids

It might seem like an easy option to let Google set the bid for your campaign, but you might be spending more per click than you need to (with a few changes). Try instead to set the bid yourself, monitor the campaign and make changes where necessary in order to ensure that you are getting the most bang for your buck.

Capitalize on Your Opportunities

Google AdWords presents you with a number of prospects – from new keywords to campaign adjustments – in the Opportunities tab. Pay close attention to what’s being recommended, as these tend to work quite well. Remember, while Google might be trying to make as much money as possible, they also need to ensure that their product adds value to those who use it. This is one way in which it does that.

Leverage Google Analytics

While there are insights available in the AdWords backend, there is plenty that can be learned from your Google Analytics dashboard as well. Be sure to link your AdWords account to your Analytics profile before beginning your campaign so that you can keep a close eye on the performance of the campaign on your website as well.