Social Media Marketing Archives

Social Media Case Study: Oreo

May 23, 2013/by Corey Padveen

It is tough to say what story was bigger in Super Bowl XLVII: the stadium blackout or Oreo’s real time brilliance.

The most memorable moment of the 2013 Super Bowl was not a last second touchdown, or a heartbreaking finish, but rather a lengthy blackout that broke Twitter records. And what took place on Twitter from the brilliant marketing minds at Oreo was a simple post that blew social media marketers away.

Hundreds of millions of people were watching when the power went out in New Orleans. Twitter began flooding with activity from confused fans and viewers. It wasn’t long before a simple tweet from Oreo became the focus of the entire event, and the focus of marketers, bloggers and news sources for the days that followed.

The tweet was retweeted over 15,000 times, Oreo’s follower count increased by roughly 8,000 and their Facebook post (of the same image) received over 20,000 Likes. Oreo, in the midst of an Instagram campaign, also saw their Instagram follower count increase from about 2,000 to 36,000 after the game – the majority of whom joined in on the campaign after seeing the tweet and/or Facebook post.

The real-time marketing efforts of Oreo were simple, inexpensive, impromptu and the results were outstanding. Below are a few of the key takeaways marketers can learn from this little effort from Oreo that went a long way – very quickly.

Social Media Never Sleeps

Granted, Oreo posted their image during one of the busiest social media events of the year, but the fact remains: if you are running a social media program, you should know that it is not your typical 9-5 gig. A presence on social media needs to be ongoing and engagement with your audience should always be a focal point.

Be Ready When Opportunity Knocks

The marketing team at Oreo was not sitting in a control room waiting for a blackout to occur at the Super Bowl. (Though we are sure there is no shortage of conspiracy theories!) This was a spur of the moment post, and one so topical that it was literally the only thing on anyone’s mind.

Commentary in real-time on ongoing events is always going to receive more recognition than a post that is late to the party. That is not to say that you should have posts waiting and ready to go for any and all events, just don’t miss an opportunity when it comes knowcking, because when it comes to social media, events like this are few and far between, and pass rather quickly.

The Soft Sell is Key

This is a sales ad. Whether or not it looks like one, the goal of this bit of quick-thinking is to get you thinking about Oreo the next time you are in the market. Social media is all about the soft sell. Creating an engaging personality for your brand is what drives sales on social, and that is exactly what this ad does for Oreo. It is quirky, fun, and gets Oreo on the mind.

An ad like this turned thousands of people into brand advocates, and the proof of that is in the shares, likes, comments, retweets and other types of engagement. Remember, when it comes to selling on social media, you want to create content that engages others to share your brand’s message, not just you.

Some quick thinking created a tremendous social media case study for Oreo. A little bit of effort and ingenuity paid off big time, and others took note. Just a short while later when Poland Spring faced a similar situation, they tried a similar response, but were nowhere near as successul as Oreo. They simply weren’t quick enough.

What did you take away from this social media case study? Have you changed your strategy since this took place during the Super Bowl? 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!

8 Tips for Optimizing Posts on Social Media

May 21, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Optimizing posts on social media can significantly boost your engagement, reach and influence across a number of networks.

When it comes to optimizing posts on social media, there are certain elements that are universal, and should be applied to posts on every one of your networks. Below we have showcased some of the most important tips when it comes to optimizing posts on social media.

Engage Your Audience

No matter where you are posting, you should be sharing content that engages your audience. Sure, sharing fun facts and information is important, but are you following that up with a related question? Where is the incentive to get your audience commenting, liking, sharing and talking? It is always going to be important that you keep engagement in mind no matter where you are posting.

Optimize Your Content for SEO

Each network contains different elements for SEO. (To find out more about those in detail, read some of these articles.) It is important that SEO is on your checklist when it comes to social media. Each network possesses different benefits when it comes to SEO, and in order to increase your findability, you need to incorporate those into your posting strategy.

Maintain Your Voice

The voice you create for your brand on social media needs to be clear in everything you write. Consistency is going to be crucial to getting your message across. After all, on social media, people are engaging with your brand’s personality, not simply your company. By maintaining that personality across all of your posts, people will be all the more willing to engage with you.

Consistency is Important

A posting spree followed by weeks of silence is going to hurt your brand. Consistently sharing relevant content with your network will keep your brand on the forefront of their mind, and it will do wonders when it comes to converting those fans into customers. Furthermore, sharing content on a regular basis will encourage visitors to return to your page frequently.

Make Sure You Are Linking Back

Social signals are of ever-growing importance in the world of SE (see the point above) and using social media as a back-linking strategy is going to be a big asset. When creating content on any of your chosen networks, be sure that you are linking back to your site whenever possible. As your build your network, this will serve as one of the most important linking strategies you have in place.

Engage in Conversations

Social networks are great for broadcasting your brand and showcasing your expertise, but the best way to see your referral traffic skyrocket is by engaging in the conversation with your network on your own posts. When someone responds to a tweet, post or update on any of your channels, you should engage with them. Whether it is a retweet, a share, or a simple ‘Like’, people will appreciate a reciprocal effort to engage.

Explain Your Links

Simply sharing a link with no explanation as to where it is going will mean a low click-through rate. Create a short but enticing description to go along with your link. Perhaps as a question that encourages the reader to find out more. When linking on social networks, provide readers with a reason to click on it.

Be Visual

There is a reason why Pinterest is so popular – human beings are visual by nature. Google+ is a great place to share images, and on Facebook, photos generate 104% more comments than the average post, and 53% more Likes. Use the visual nature of most social networks to your advantage, and get your content seen.

These are just a few tips you can use when looking to optimize the content you share on social media. Can you offer any other tips? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

5 Tips to Optimize Landing Pages for Conversion

May 20, 2013/by Corey Padveen

If you properly optimize landing pages for conversion, then you can expect higher clicks, results and engagement!

Social media is a great referral source for landing pages, and with every landing page we are hoping for some form of conversion. Whether that is a sign-up, a download or a purchase, we want visitors to take that next step.

In order for a landing page to work in your favor and lead to that next step, you need to properly optimize landing pages for conversion. There are several ways you can go about doing this – after all, optimizing a site or a page may differ depending on who you are trying to target. But when it comes to surefire ways to effectively optimize landing pages for conversion, there are 5 main items that should always be on your checklist.

Is there a clear Call-to-Action (CTA)?

When I get to your landing page, do I know what to do next? Is it clear how I am supposed to proceed? This is going to be the most important element to any optimized page – you need a clear Call-to-Action.

According to the inbound marketing experts at HubSpot, you’ll want to avoid negative action phrases like “Submit” and focus more on phrases like “Download Now”, “Get Your Free Trial”, “Speak to an Expert” or “Buy Now”. This reduces anxiety and friction for the visitor.

Do You Convey Who You Are?

When I get to your landing page, do I know who you are? Be sure to brand your page. Consistency is everything when it comes to online marketing; you are creating a personality with which people are interacting, and that personality needs to be as apparent on your landing pages as it is on your social networks.

Is It Simple?

Am I going to be turned off by your landing page? Using flash, too many colors and varying fonts is going to turn people off and result in lower conversion rates. You are going to want to keep it simple, to the point and clean. The easier it is for the visitor to find and click on your CTA, the higher those rates are going to be.

(Extra Tip: The only area where there should be a contrasting color on your landing page is in the CTA button.)

Is Your Page Properly Formatted?

Headlines, images, and forms are just a few examples of professionalism when it comes to landing pages. And professionalism is key. If your page is all over the place and I don’t feel like it was put together with professionalism in mind, I am, in all likelihood, going to leave the page without asking for more information, buying now, or downloading your e-book. Proper formatting goes a long way.

Here are some examples of stunning, effective landing pages.

Can Your Content be Shared?

I love what I see. I not only want to get more information for myself, but for my colleagues and friends. Is there a simple way for me to do it?

Make sure your content is shareable. I shouldn’t have to copy your link, go to my Outlook, create an email and do the work for you; the more steps there are, the lower the conversion will be. With the click of a button (using ShareThis, for example) I should be able to share your content to every one of my social networks and my entire email address book.

While you are going to want to configure some landing pages differently based on the audience you are looking to target, these elements should remain consistent across every one of your landing page campaigns.

Have you seen success with landing pages? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Equity: The Viral Effect

May 17, 2013/by Corey Padveen

We all strive for the viral effect when sharing content on social media, and when it happens, we need to know where Social Equity is derived.

Virality is one of the most common terms when it comes to social media measurement. How many people are we reaching? Is our content being shared? Is our network growing? Is our business growing? It all relates to virality. Yet, while we measure what the viral effect might be, we may not be taking note of how it adds Social Equity, and therefore value to our business.

In this week’s Social Equity segment, we aim to explain how the viral effect on social media adds value to your business in three ways: credibility, exposure and network growth.

Credibility

If Company A and Company B are both pitching your project but Company A has an outstanding track record, dozens of referrals, an impeccable portfolio and a proven history of success, whereas Company B has no distinguishing benefits, you will most likely choose Company A. That is not to say that Company B might not be capable of producing good work, but without the same level of credibility that is backing Company A, it is hard to choose Company B.

The viral effect adds a tremendous degree of credibility to your brand. Your name popping up on news feeds, timelines, in groups and on search engines means you have made a name for yourself. When it comes to making a choice between you and your competitor, you can bet that the credibility garnered from the virality of your company’s content will make a big impact.

Exposure

Once again, if you are choosing between two companies, and Company A is easily discoverable for a given topic while you have to dig deep to even find a mention of Company B, chances are the choice is Company A.

Discoverability is at the heart of success in the online world. The goal we are all aiming to achieve is inbound business. According to the inbound marketing company, HubSpot, inbound leads cost 61% less than outbound. The exposure you receive from viral content can translate directly into inbound traffic, calls, leads and business.

Network Growth

If you’ll recall, our first Social Equity segment discussed the example of the dentist. Essentially, the added value of the dentist’s online presence and the size of his network allowed him to sell his practice at a much higher price than if he was relying solely on his current patient roster. The growth of your network resulting from the viral exposure of your content will lead to Social Equity in the long-run.

Keep in mind, virality is not a one-hit-wonder concept. Of course, there are examples where content goes viral without a business strategy behind it. (It is almost guaranteed that the sneezing panda wasn’t intending to capitalize on the massive audience that watched the video.) In business, if your content goes viral, you can expect to see a spillover effect. While not everyone exposed to your content will look to familiarize themselves with your brand, there are those that will. Down the road, this increased network will mean big value for your business.

Have you seen any of your content go viral? Tell us what you noticed in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Case Study: Comodo

May 16, 2013/by Corey Padveen

It doesn’t take a big brand to do something innovative that warrants a social media case study!

If you’ve ever scrolled through the images of Instagram, you know that food is a pretty popular subject on the photo-sharing network. Comodo, an independently-owned restaurant in New York City, recognized the app’s popularity, and decided to integrate the food photographing hobby into their establishment.

Essentially, the idea was to allow users to share their experience in a very natural way that not only promoted diners’ experiences in the restaurant, but also provided user-generated publicity, virality and some pretty nice images of dishes to a wide audience.

The video below does a great job of outlining the premise of the campaign:

The Lessons

This is a simple, cost-effective concept, but there is a lot that marketers can take away from the study.

Make Social Media a Part of Your Brand

There should not be a distinction between your physical brand and the one you have created on social media. What Comodo did was integrate their social media efforts into the dining experience. Thus, the same friendliness, fun personality they were aiming to establish online was personified in the restaurant itself.

There needs to be fluidity in all of your marketing efforts. Consistency is how you will be identified by markets that are both familiar and unfamiliar with your brand. The marketing team behind Comodo realized that and the proof is in the campaign.

Provide Clear Avenues for Engagement

You’ll notice in the video that Comodo’s menu offered the hashtag for sharing images on the bottom. Direction is something that many brands often forget to provide, and the result is a less than optimal social media campaign.

In order to see the greatest benefits from your efforts in social marketing, you need to let people know how, where and with what type of content they should be engaging. Don’t rely solely on organic engagement, help the conversation get started. Two examples of this are Best Buy’s Twelpforce and Comcast Cares. Both are Twitter channels that provide nothing but support, and that is made perfectly clear everywhere they are mentioned.

Adapt Your Marketing Strategies to Your Audience

It’s hard to believe how unique this case study is. It was simple to execute and the results have been outstanding for Comodo. Yet, we still see more billboards and bench ads than we do hashtags when it comes to restaurant marketing.

Comodo’s success arose from the very simple fact that they adapted their marketing for a new generation of consumers. While not all of their customers will be using Instagram to promote the restaurant and the dishes, imagine how much they would lose out on if there were no social media initiatives in place! The opportunity cost of not engaging in social marketing is far greater than the cost that goes into such a program.

Although Comodo is a small, local restaurant, they managed to do something innovative, creative and successful. Social media marketing provides avenues down which anyone can create a viral sensation out of their business.

Do you know of any other small businesses that have used social media to create a viral effect? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

How Organizations Structure Social Media Teams [INFOGRAPHIC]

May 15, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media teams can be responsible for some of the most crucial marketing decisions when it comes to your business, but how are social media teams structured?

The importance of strong social media teams is right at the top of the list when it comes to modern marketing. Yet, because social media is so new and so fast-paced, many businesses – both large and small – are not sure how they are supposed to go about structuring their social media teams.

One of the most interesting figures in the infographic from Go-Gulf below is right at the top: 65% of organizations assign social media tasks on top of regular job responsibilities. Furthermore, 25% of companies are using interns to manage social media! The many benefits of social media for business are of growing importance to a company’s success. That being the case, assigning an inexperienced staff member to manage your social media will certainly not lead to a revenue-generating program, and the numerous benefits that can be derived from social media will be lost.

The result of this lackluster effort on the part of most organizations? Only 5% of organizations are highly satisfied with the results generated from their programs. It doesn’t take a statistician to see the correlation: if you are not devoting the proper resources to your social media program, you cannot expect to be satisfied with the results!

Have a look at this infographic to see how companies are structuring their social media teams. What data do you think is most interesting/surprising? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

4 Important Social Media Metrics

May 14, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Marketers are always looking for the best social media metrics, and these four social media metrics will be among your most important.

We are always faced with the task of measuring our social media campaigns in order to generate ROI reports. No matter what your goals are at the outset, there are going to be certain social media metrics that you will need to keep in mind when compiling these reports.

Influence

Granted, this is a somewhat arbitrary metric. Some might venture to argue that influence is not a metric at all. However, it is something you are going to want to pay attention to. There are plenty of services – like Klout, Kred and PeerIndex – that will provide you with a concrete number to help measure your influence, but you will want to do a little work on your own.

Pay attention to the groups, communities and networks where you are seeing your highest levels of conversation, and audience engagement. If, for example, on Facebook you see that your content is shared five times more than it is on Twitter, you might want to reevaluate your Twitter strategy in order to increase the influence you have on your community there.

Engagement

As noted above, engagement is something you are going to want to keep a close eye on. Engagement is at the heart of a successful social media program, and it is going to be one of if not your most important metric.

When measuring engagement, it is important to keep in mind that a conversation is not the only form of engagement. Look at instances where you audiences are engaging with content by simply liking, or sharing it. These are social signals, and are very important to both SEO and a success program. Take note of the types of content where you are seeing the most engagement, and modify your campaigns accordingly in order to maximize those levels wherever possible.

Share of Voice

Looking at the conversation taking place around your own brand is one thing, but how big of a share in the industry discussion does your brand have? This is why it is important to measure share of voice.

Your share of voice is the percentage of mentions in your industry that relate to your brand compared to your competitors. This is an important metric for a few reasons, the most important of which is to know where you need to become more involved in the conversation. To help you measure share of voice, there are free tools like Social Mention that can be used.

Social Referral Traffic

In the Traffic Sources section of your Google Analytics dashboard, you will see where your traffic is coming from. This is going to be a key focal point for a successful program.

To know whether or not your social media program is driving traffic and, subsequently, leads and business, you need to be monitoring that activity. This will give you a good indication of where your efforts and the strategy you have in place are paying off, and where you need to make adjustments. Engagement, influence and a significant share of voice are great metrics, but if those are not converting into leads and sales, then you need to modify your approach.

These may only be just four metrics, but they are universal and among the most important when it comes to social media metrics. You will need to look at these no matter what kind of a campaign you are conducting, or what your goals are.

What other social media metrics do you use? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

5 Things Brands Should Never Do on Social Media

May 13, 2013/by Corey Padveen

An effective social marketing strategy is as much about what you should never do on social media as it is about what you should be doing; sometimes, the former is even more important.

There are plenty of articles, books and white papers that lay out social marketing strategies. But sometimes, the best strategy is knowing what to never do on social media. Acquiring new leads and customers is a difficult, labor-intensive task. But losing them can be as simple as not knowing what you should stay away from.

The tips below lay out 5 things that you should never do on social media as a brand.

Never Go In Without a Strategy

A strategy is going to be your best friend. Without one, it will be impossible to find success. (And when we say impossible, we mean it; even if you are successful, how will you know it?)

Before diving into the world of social media marketing, you need to have a strategy in place in order to establish a few things. First, what channels are you going to focus on? Second, how are you going to measure success and determine where your program needs modifications? Third, how do you plan on engaging with your audience on each network? And finally, what are the long term aspirations for the program? Answer these questions with a strategy, and your program will be much more successful.

Never Speak Ill of Your Social Competition

Your words are out there, and actions like this are simply in bad taste. While you might be competing for the attention of the same leads as your competition, you are much better off showcasing why you are the better choice and not why your competitor is a worse choice.

Never Focus Only on Selling

Social media is all about the conversation. If you do nothing but sell, it won’t be long before you are selling to no one. Your social channels will quickly become ghost towns if you are not making an effort to engage. Social selling is a tricky process, and one that needs to be approached carefully. If all you are using your social media program for is selling to anyone who will buy, you are better off shutting the program down completely – you’re wasting your time.

Never Ignore Your Audience

Remember when we said social media was all about the conversation? (It’s right up there!) When people comment, or ask a question or even retweet on Twitter they are reaching out to your brand and you need to be there to join in the dialogue. A one-way conversation from fans defeats the purpose of your social media program. The conversation is the beginning stages of that social selling process, and if you are not taking advantage of that, you are missing out on the benefits of social media entirely.

Never Ignore Your Analytics

Analytics are essential to the success and growth of your program. The insights you can pull and the improvements you can make with the help of analytics are going to be among the most important weapons in your arsenal. The issue is, most people never bother to look at the insights any further than the most superficial statistics. You have 1,000 likes on Facebook? Great! None of them fit your target demographic? Not great. Analytics are going to be the first step towards optimizing your program and effectively executing your social media strategy so that it builds your business, and ignoring them can irreparably hinder that success.

Keep these tips in mind when executing your social media program and it will certainly help you find success.

Can you think of any other pointers that brands should stay away from when engaging in a social media program? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Equity: Big Value in Company Pages

May 10, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social Equity receives a major boost with the added value from company pages on different networks.

From LinkedIn to Facebook, there is a way to feature your company, its services, history and expertise on almost every network. the result? Major Social Equity.

In this week’s Social Equity segment, we look at how company pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube add value to your business.

Facebook and Google+

We all know about Pages on Facebook and Google+. But with so much taking place on the networks, it is easy for your content to get lost in the noise. The most frustrating part? You might have some great content and a product that attracts a lot of potential customers. Having Facebook and Google+ Pages allows those leads to find everything you are offering in one central place.

Facebook takes a lot of criticism for their EdgeRank algorithm. But the truth is, EdgeRank provides a means of filtering out the noise so that those who “Like” your page, product and content have all of the information you share to the pages featured on their news feed.

The value in Facebook and Google+ Pages is simple: these are hubs that allow reciprocal engagement between your brand and fans in a central place while offering you a chance to share content towards which they have expressed an interest. On the plus side (that’s a pun, considering the point that follows) +1 and shares from your pages add a considerable benefit to your SEO, which further derives value to your business.

LinkedIn

The Company Page on LinkedIn is the strongest in terms of adding value to your business.

First, there is the Services tab. The ability to showcase your products and services to an engaged audience disrupts the conventional model of print advertising. Furthermore, the ability to link these sections to appropriate landing pages means both the ability to create backlinks and the ability to drive sales and traffic through LinkedIn.

Second, there is the ability to build a following on your page (as with other networks) and share content to those followers in an effort to drive new business. Unlike Facebook and Google+, LinkedIn offers the ability to broadcast and showcase your business to the engaged audience following your page. Users are following you knowing that LinkedIn is a medium in which companies aim to derive new business, and an active, engaging and popular page translates into Social Equity.

YouTube

A YouTube channel is an important feature, and one that can be very beneficial both in terms of its value to your business’s image and your overall Social Equity.

The ability to centralize all of your videos means two things: first, viewers can easily find your videos and, on the channel, discover more about your business and research your company further, outside of YouTube. Second, the optimization of a channel and your videos can be a tremendous SEO tool. Lone videos in the YouTube universe can easily disappear. With a discoverable, optimized channel, your business is easily showcased to your audience in video form.

Effectively, the true value of all of these pages lies in the disruption they cause to conventional marketing. No longer are you required to focus on print marketing. These pages are your corporate portfolio, and they are live, evolving elements that continually showcase your business.

In which social media company pages do you find the most value? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!