Content Marketing Archives

The 3 R’s of Successful Social Media Marketing

August 27, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What does it take to have a successful social media marketing program in place?

Social media can help propel your business further ahead than you ever thought possible, and much faster than you ever thought, as well. However, in order to find yourself with a successful social media marketing program, there are a few important things you need to keep in mind.

Below are the 3 R’s of a successful social media marketing strategy, and should always be at the forefront of your campaigns.

1. Respect

It sounds simple enough. We all know that we should be respectful of one another online. That said, there is no shortage of examples where brands disrespect each other and, even worse, disrespect their audience.

There is never an excuse for rudeness online. Never mind the fact that it is simply improper etiquette, but from a PR standpoint, everything you say is seen by the world-wide web. When you publish something callous or inappropriate on one of your social channels, your entire online audience, and in all likelihood, some extended audiences will see your brand portrayed in this negative light.

Keep your brand in the good graces of your audience. You might find the socialsphere unnerving and, at some times, completely enraging. It is always important to take a step back and cool your head before responding.

2. Respond

We never tire of pointing this out: engagement is the cornerstone of any successful social media marketing strategy. People are online to talk. If you are leaving comments and questions unanswered, what service is your social marketing program providing for your brand?

It is important that you actively engage in as many of the conversations around your brand as you can. This is helpful for a number of reasons. It keeps you in the loop of what is being said, it shows your audience that you care and, perhaps most beneficial of all, it keeps you abreast of any unhappy customers and allows you to help them deal with their issues before they spiral out of control.

Engage with your audience and your brand will shine on social.

3. Routine

Social media can never be an afterthought. Not if you plan on driving business with it, anyway.

Your social media program needs to be as fully integrated in your overall marketing strategy as anything else. Like a blog, your website or a press release, you should have a content strategy, a posting schedule and an engagement manual that applies to each of your social channels. Taking your social media seriously will result in far greater results than simply posting content whenever you remember to do so, or whenever it is convenient.

What other important rules (not necessarily starting with ‘R’) can you think of when it comes to success with social marketing? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

4 of the Best Content Curation Tools

August 21, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What are some of the best content curation tools that exist for bloggers and marketers?

If you’ve ever written a blog or managed social networks, you know how difficult it can be to consistently produce great, original content for your readers and fans. When publishing content on a regular basis, one of the easiest ways to facilitate the activity is to use one of the best content curation tools on the market.

Below are 4 of the best content curation tools that exist on the web. Take a look at them and see how they can help you find great content to review and share with your readers and fans on social media.

Curata

This enterprise-level content curation software scours the web for topic-relevant content. Though it is not for everyone – it boasts a starting price of roughly $1,000 – it does sift through a tremendous amount of content and produces only the most viable and high quality content to share to your social networks and blog.

There is also an option of hosting a microsite for those without a standalone blog.

Aggregage

Community building is one of the most difficult tasks faced by any social or marketing manager. To build a community around your content requires a lot of time and a serious commitment.

Luckily, Aggregage is designed to build communities around relevant content by sourcing it from around the web. You choose your niche, and Aggregage will find blogs, whitepapers, articles and other bits of content to share to your audience.

BagTheWeb

Have you ever found yourself on a website or blog with great content but no way of sharing it with your communities? BagTheWeb is designed to help you find great content, place it into your topic “bags” and share those “bags” with communities of interested readers.

The tool makes it very easy to collect content from anywhere and share it everywhere.

Eqentia

Though there are plans for individual users with Eqentia, this content curation and engagement platform is designed for serious enterprise users.

The enterprise version of the software allows users to mine for content, curate tens of thousands of items, edit the filters in real-time that bring the content to your portal, re-publish content, brand your curated content, integrate social media accounts and, lastly, monitor analytics to see how your content is being perceived by your audience.

All in all, Eqentia is designed for users that are very serious about publishing topic-specific content.

Though these are some great content curation tools, they are not the only ones. There are several other tools out there – free and paid – that can help you with your publishing efforts.

How do you source great content to share? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Facebook Marketing: 8-Step Checklist to Getting Started

August 6, 2013/by Corey Padveen

When it comes to Facebook marketing, there are a few steps that need to be taken when getting started.

You have a company, you have a page and you are ready to get started with your Facebook marketing program – all great things!

But in order to find success with your Facebook marketing, there are a few things you need to do right at the outset.

Below is an 8-step marketing checklist for getting started on Facebook (in order).

1. Pick a Page Name (if possible, with a keyword)

If you are John Smith and you own a steakhouse, try and name your page ‘John Smith Steakhouse’. Keywords in the page name are among the few areas on Facebook where they can benefit SEO, so try and get it in there when you choose your name.

2. Create a Vanity URL

A long Facebook URL with a bunch of numbers at the end of it is not very nice to look at. Go to https://www.facebook.com/username and create a vanity URL for your page to maintain professionalism.

3. Optimize Your Sections for SEO

Your About section and your mission statement should have links and keywords close to the front in order to optimize your page for SEO. Do not leave any sections blank. It simply does not look good when people come by.

4. Add Photos and Videos

This includes your profile picture (Hint: 180X180px) your cover photo (Hint: 851X315px) and your page photos (Hint: They fit into 400X400px space on your Timeline). Get content up quickly so you do not have an empty company page.

5. Add Tabs to Your Page

A ‘Like’ box and a selection of photos is not impressive. People want to see that you pay attention to your Facebook page the same way you would pay attention to your customers. Add some custom tabs to your page and make it look great! (Note: Tabs should highlight your goals and expertise.)

6. Promote Your Page

It may sound silly, but people are generally a little hesitant to ‘Like’ a page that has no activity. Reach out to friends and existing clients and invite them to ‘Like’ your page in order to get the ball rolling. You might also want to create a promotion of some of your content for a few bucks to a targeted audience and build your audience that way as well.

7. Familiarize Yourself with Insights

Facebook recently updated their Insights, and there is a lot to learn. As a page owner, you should know what Insights are available, what they mean and how you can use them to increase the business you drive from your page.

8. Start Engaging!

Ask questions, share updates and encourage conversation on your page. Though the average engagement rate on pages falls somewhere in the 0.5%-1.5% range, you should be aiming to shatter that number with your page!

These 8 steps are crucial to getting started with Facebook marketing. However, once they have been taken, it is time to start watching business grow with the help of Facebook!

Which step do you think is the most important? Do you have any others? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Equity: Real-Time Marketing

August 2, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What makes real-time marketing such a valuable asset to business?

Real-time marketing is a phenomenal tool and one that is severely under-utilized in business. According to David Meerman Scott, real-time marketing is only practiced by 28% of Fortune 100 companies, yet these companies saw significant growth in their stock prices over a designated period of time while other that do not engage in the practice saw a 2% drop.

So how exactly does real-time marketing generate Social Equity for your business?

Increased Lead-to-Buyer Efficiency

Imagine the ability to engage with a lead the moment they express an interest in a product or service you offer. Then imagine the value of reaching out to that user before any of your competitors in the hopes of beginning the nurturing process, leading to a conversion.

That is real-time marketing.

By monitoring social media effectively, you can find conversations as they are taking place and engage with users on different platforms in real time. Thus, as the intent to buy is made clear, there is little time lost in nurturing the prospective client. This helps to make the conversion process more efficient and much faster.

Increased Market Share and Presence

As with the point above, the ability to actively participate in conversations surrounding your industry as they are taking place opens an entirely new opportunity to increase your brand’s presence and share in the market.

If, as users of social networks are discussing industry keywords, you (appropriately) participate in conversations and make them aware of your brand, you gain a significant competitive advantage over other industry brands.

Now, it is important to ensure that you are engaging properly, and not deterring potential clients from your brand. However, if done the right way, the results can be your brand coming to mind before any other when buyers are faced with a decision.

Increased Brand Loyalty

People prefer a humanized brand. The big corporate image simply does not work for people. They want to know that the company with which they have decided to do business will care about their needs, help them in any way they can and present themselves as more than a logo or a product.

Real-time marketing offers potential clients that kind of security. By responding to comments, questions and concerns in real time, or engaging in conversations around your industry across the social web, you can reassure prospective clients that your brand will out-serve any of your competitors.

Real-time marketing can have tremendous benefits to your business. Though the advantages are clear, few brands are properly participating in the practice. Be among the first in your industry, and see your success levels increase dramatically!

Is your brand engaging in real-time marketing practices? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

6 Types of Content to Post on Facebook

July 2, 2013/by Corey Padveen

There is no shortage of content to post on Facebook, but what type of content is going to help build your business?

Recently, Wishpond published an infographic detailing Wal-Mart’s journey to 30 million Likes on Facebook. With 28 million of those coming from their targeted market in the US, they are the biggest Facebook brand in the United States. That’s quite an achievement.

So how did Wal-Mart get there? A lot of elements factored into their success, but when it comes to the types of content to post on Facebook, every brand can learn a thing or two from Wal-Mart.

Below are the six types of content observed by Wishpond that Wal-Mart shared on Facebook to bring their brand to the top.

Product-Specific

Roughly 45% of the content shared on the Wal-Mart Facebook page is product-specific. There is often talk of avoiding promotional content, but if you are not trying to showcase what you have to offer, then you are not really making an effort to drive business, are you?

Wal-Mart found a nice balance in sharing content about their products a little less than half of the time.

Fun and Entertaining

About a tenth of the content shared by Wal-Mart are fun internet memes with little or no correlation to their products or services. Simply sharing content people will enjoy seeing.

Engagement-Oriented

Roughly 13% of the content on Wal-Mart’s Facebook page encourages fan participation. Asking questions, opinions and other engaging types of content are important to keep your fans coming back and get your fan base growing.

This type of content is also a great way to get user feedback and find out what’s going well and where you should make some changes.

Informative and Useful

If you can provide helpful information that your users can actually put into practice, then you are providing a service that makes your page all the more valuable to your audience. For Wal-Mart, this type of content makes up roughly 15% of their posts.

Culturally Significant

Again, a tenth of the content shared by Wal-Mart relates to events and culture in their target market. By sharing content that is socially and culturally relevant to their target audience, they give their target audience all the more reason to become fans on Facebook.

Social Awareness

Lastly, another 10% of the content shared by Wal-Mart sheds light on events, organizations and causes that are culturally and socially significant to both the brand and the audience. People like to know that there is more to a brand than business. Show a lighter, more thoughtful side of your brand. Goodwill is just as important as anything else your company does.

Wal-Mart has found an excellent balance of content on their page. Take a look at it and you will understand why.

What type of content do you think is most important to be sharing on Facebook? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

21 Types of Content People Love [INFOGRAPHIC]

May 27, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Content is king when it comes to success online; and that holds true for your blog, your social media and your website.

It is no secret that content is going to be the driving force behind your success online, and for that reason you need to be creating content people love. Content is the crucial link to engagement, which is the first step towards the sale. If you are not creating content people love, then it will be hard to get there.

Luckily, there are certain types of content people love and engage with on a regular basis. The key is figuring out how that content fits in with your brand’s message. In the infographic below, 21 types of content are laid out that have been shown to produce higher levels of engagement with your audience. Why? We can all relate to it! If you can find a way to incorporate these messages into your posts, then you can be sure to see your engagement rise across all of your marketing channels.

Take a look at the types of content people love and let us know which one you most often engage with, and which one you most often see generating engagement for your brand online! Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Marketing Industry Report 2013 – The Highlights

May 22, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Recently, Social Media Examiner published their 5th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report, and there were some rather interesting findings.

The Social Media Marketing Industry Report surveys thousands of marketers from a number of industries to get a picture of the state of social media marketing in our industry. The data compiled always provides some excellent insights, and this year proves no different.

Below are some of the most interesting highlights from this year’s report. To read the full report, click here.

The Importance of Social Media is on the Rise

Since last year, there has been a 3% increase – from 83% to 86% – in the proportion of marketers who believe that social media is important to their business. Furthermore, of the marketers surveyed, the most important area where they are looking to increase their presence and knowledge is in the realm of blogging. 62% of marketers want to learn more about blogging and 66% plan on increasing their involvement in the activity. It is, after all, one of the best ways of driving traffic and establishing your brand as an industry-leader.

Measurement is a Top Question

Among the most pressing questions marketers want answered when it comes to social media marketing is measurement criteria. Considering the relative novelty of the marketing platform, there are still a variety of ways in which people are measuring their efforts, and there is no one convention that the industry as a whole sticks to. That is why 87% of marketers are looking for answers when it comes to measuring the return on investment (ROI) from their social media efforts.

There Are Still Marketers Adopting Social Media

A whopping 75% of marketers have been engaging in some form of social marketing for less than three years. Of those, 23% have been engaging in social media marketing for less than twelve months! So if you’ve been involved for a few years now, you’re way ahead of the game.

Marketers Are Slow to Adopt to Mobile

Only about 28% of marketers have optimized their blogs for mobile. Though the number of mobile users accessing the web and blogs is on the rise, many marketers have been slow to match.

Social Media is Becoming Heavily Integrated

A staggering 79% of marketers agree to some extent or another that they have integrated their social media into their regular marketing efforts. It is important to note that social media is not a standalone tool; it is simply another piece of the marketing puzzle that will help you build your brand, and it should be properly incorporated into existing strategies, not replace them entirely.

Exposure and Traffic Are the Biggest Benefits

When asked about the greatest benefits of their social activity, a significant 89% of marketers stated that their brand’s involvement in social media has increased exposure, while 75% stated that they had seen their traffic increase.

Increased Leads from Increased Involvement

Perhaps the most impressive statistic from the report relates to lead generation from social media. According to the survey, by devoting a minimum of six hours per week to social media marketing, roughly 64% of marketers saw an increase in their lead generation from social networks.

These are just a few of the great stats and findings in the report. To read the full report, download it here.

What findings do you find most impressive/shocking/interesting? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

The 2013 CMO Survey: Marketing and Social Media Highlights

April 15, 2013/by Corey Padveen

The marketing and social media highlights of The 2013 CMO Survey have revealed quite a few intriguing things to look forward to.

In 2008, The CMO Survey was created in order to measure the trends and direction of marketing across all industries twice a year. The most recent publication, February 2013, showcases an upward trend in the use, measurement and importance of social media marketing.

Below are a few of the highlights (both in regards to social media and marketing in general) from the most recent report and some insights into what these findings mean.

A New Marketing Focus

There were a few key takeaways outside of social media that are important to note. One common theme prevailed throughout the entire report: there is a shift in the approach marketers are taking in order to achieve their goals.

There was a 28% increase in the emphasis on a diversification strategy. Furthermore, the most important strategy for marketers in the coming year is to increase organic growth. This could mean and helps explain the major upward shift in the importance of social media marketing. Organic growth requires wide, viral reach, and few if any other marketing techniques offer it in the same way as social.

Marketers in all sectors except for B2B-Product (B2C-Product/Service, B2B-Service) plan to increase marketing spending in the coming year. And, perhaps the most important finding with regards to spending, is that spending on traditional marketing and advertising is plummeting.

The Importance of Social Media

The CMO Survey introduced some figures that were as shocking as they are important (particularly for social media marketers). For marketers all over the world, in some of the largest companies on the planet and a wide array of verticals, social media is essential. In fact, it is going to be a cornerstone of effective marketing strategies in a very short timeframe.

Within five years, social media is expected to be, on average, 22% of marketing budgets. In fact, right now social media accounts for 8% of marketing spending and in the next twelve months, it is expected that social media will account for nearly 12% of marketing budgets.

What’s more, marketers are finally starting to understand the importance of a diverse return on investment (ROI) measurement system. There is such a high return from a social media marketing program, yet there has, to date, been a focus solely on financial returns. While these are important, it is crucial that marketers understand that they are only one of the many types of returns offered. Below is a breakdown of the measurement criteria for social media, and how those criteria are shifting.

These are just a few of the impressive highlights from the report. To download a full version of the report, click here. Give it a read and see if there is anything that stands out to you!

Which of these findings do you find most shocking/surprising/important? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Pinterest Marketing: 7 Useful Tools

April 9, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Pinterest marketing recently received a boost with the integration of backend analytics on Pinterest. These 7 tools can further benefit your Pinterest marketing strategy.

Little by little, Pinterest is becoming more business friendly. First, there was the launch of business pages, and recently there was the announcement of integrated insights for businesses. This is an exciting time for Pinterest marketing, and for those evangelists, here are some great tools to help boost your Pinterest marketing efforts.

1. Piqora

Formerly known as Pinfluencer, Piqora is a fantastic tool when it comes to Pinterest marketing. With Piqora, users can build campaigns, track results, obtain more in-depth insights than those provided by basic analytics and measure both your influence in your community and the influence others have on their communities. This is an excellent tool for those serious about Pinterest marketing.

2. Pinpuff

Ever wonder how influential you are to your Pinterest community? Pinpuff is a fairly simple and easy-to-use tool that lets you know how influential you are to your community on Pinterest. Similar to the influence-measuring features in Piqora but without all of the technical elements.

3. Shopinterest

We have mentioned how to create catalogues in Pinterest, but what if you took your Pinterest marketing a step further and allowed your followers to not only see products you offer, but purchase them? Shopinterest, in beta at the moment, is currently offering users the ability to build stores and sell goods to engaged users – for free!

4. Reachli

Reachli is great not only for Pinterest, but any form of visual marketing. The tool allows you to build your campaigns and market them across a variety of networks. You can then closely track the progress of your campaigns with the broad analytics offered in the backend, and adjust your campaigns according to where you see the most success.

5. Pinalytics

A great tool that takes the insights offered for free in the backend of your own profile and applies them broadly across the entirety of the social network. Use Pinalytics to search for a keyword, term or user and see all of the trending activity and analytics that go with that search. This is a great tool to see what topics are garnering high levels of engagement.

6. HelloInsights

This great Pinterest tool provides you with a set of helpful insights that allow you to ‘pin intelligently’. Use the information to find out what is working, what isn’t and where, when and with whom you are getting the best results.

7. Pinstamatic

Ever wonder why some people have better boards than everyone else? With Pinstamatic, you can be right on top with your competition. This tool allows you to customize your boards to maximize engagement with add-ons like quotations, music maps and much more!

These are just a few of the great tools out there that should help with your Pinterest marketing. Pinterest is still an evolving tool, so keep your eyes open for new changes and updates that are geared to help marketers.

What tools do you use when it comes to maximizing your Pinterest marketing strategy? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Pinterest Marketing: Need-to-Know Updates [INFOGRAPHIC]

April 1, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Pinterest marketing underwent a major overhaul recently with the site’s re-design, and there are a lot of changes marketers need to be aware of when it comes to Pinterest marketing.

Pinterest has long been a favorite medium for the visual marketer. In fact, last week, our Social Equity segment focused on the value added to your business as a result of your Pinterest marketing efforts. Well, we thought we would start the week off in similar fashion by showing you exactly what (major) changes Pinterest has undergone in the last couple of weeks as a result of their site re-deign, and how your Pinterest marketing strategies might need to be tweaked as a result.

One of the most interesting sections in the infographic below is the ‘Features Removed’ category, which details what is no longer available on Pinterest. When it comes to Pinterest marketing, the three most important features to disappear are undoubtedly links, tweeting pins and liking boards on Facebook.

With regards to links, do not forget that embedded links still exist, so make sure to embed a link to your website or landing page in each of your images. It is the featured link in your description that is no longer included. The difficulty that arises with the other two lost features is that it makes one’s efforts to create a cohesive, interconnected social media marketing strategy somewhat more difficult. You’ll need to be a little more creative when it comes to your Pinterest marketing in order to maintain brand consistency across all of your social networks.

That said, the features added to the newly re-designed Pinterest make Pinterest marketing a whole lot of fun, and introduce an entirely new business aspect to the photo sharing social network.

Have a look at the infographic below and let us know what your favorite new feature is or what you will miss most from the old Pinterest design! Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Content Marketing

t2Marketing International

Marketing Rundown

Insights

Books, white papers and more

Specialized Expertise