Tag Archive for: social media marketing

10 Great Resources to be Reading Over the Holidays

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If you have some down time, have a look at these ten excellent resources that every digital marketer should be reading over the holidays.

1. Mashable

It’s no secret that we love Mashable. There is a ton of great content constantly being uploaded to inform marketers about updates to networks, as well as how-to guides and industry news. It is definitely a resource to check out periodically over the holiday season. We have even included it in a list of great resources for sourcing blog content.

2. Hubspot

Another blog that every marketer should be reading over the holidays (and during business-as-usual) is the Hubspot blog. The largest inbound services provider is always sharing great information that can be used by a marketer in any field.

3. Social Media Today

If your looking for a great set of content being shared by social media industry experts, then Social Media Today has you covered. With articles being published regularly, you can expect to find some brand new content over the holiday season.

4. Search Engine Journal

If you want to know about search, then Search Engine Journal should be one of your top stops. There is always a selection of great content to choose from covering everything from organic SEO to paid search tactics.

5. Alltop

Guy Kawasaki’s content curation site is always pulling in some of the best content from around the web. While it is not limited to industry content, you can easily filter your searches to include only results in search or social.

6. Moz

The Moz blog is a little more technical, but highly informative. Though the core discussions of the blog are primarily search-based, you can expect to find a lot of information about social as well.

7. Social Media Examiner

At this point, most social marketers know about Social Media Examiner. The website won’t miss a beat over the holiday season, continuing to share great content every day that marketers can really use.

8. Occam’s Razor

Although Avinash Kaushik’s blog is not updated on a daily basis, there is plenty of content (relaying information at a very high level) that marketers can use. Why is this a good resource for reading over the holidays? Well, simply put, articles are not easy reads. There is a ton of information here, but with this down time it is a perfect opportunity to absorb what he has to say.

9. Jeff Bullas

Again, Jeff Bullas is not publishing new content every day, but what is available is years of published content with a ton of great information. Jeff Bullas focuses primarily on lists and statistics, and what you can find on his blog can lead you to more great content all over the web.

10. Top Rank Blog

Lee Odden’s blog is another great resource being updated regularly over the course of the holidays. Be sure to stop by to see what great new information he has to share.

And there you have it. Ten great resources that you should be reading over the holidays. We hope you are relaxing and getting some much deserved R&R. Enjoy!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Social Media Holidays Wishlist [INFOGRAPHIC]

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What were people asking for most on their social media holidays wishlist this year?

Social media is a place where people go to talk about things they like, want, need and, around this time of year, a place for people to make social media holidays wishlists. Just look at what happened to one lucky girl on Reddit when Bill Gates was her Secret Santa!

So what were some of the most talked about gifts this year on social media? Take a look at the breakdown in the infographic below, and see if anything you hope to get made it onto the list.

What do you hope to find under the tree or in your stocking? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

social media holidays wishlist

Tips for Tumblr Beginners [VIDEO]

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If you’re using Tumblr, then you should follow these helpful tips for Tumblr beginners!

Changes to Google in 2014

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Google updates its algorithm roughly 500 times per year, so we can expect some significant changes to Google in 2014.

changes to google in 2014Changes to Google are not uncommon. Very recently, Google completely overhauled their primary algorithm and introduced the world to Hummingbird. In 2014, we won’t necessarily see a move quite as significant (the last time Google implemented such an update was over a decade ago) but we can surely expect to see some changes to Google and the way we, as marketers, should adapt for it.

Focus on Conversation

If we know one thing for certain about Hummingbird, it is that it focuses on the conversational aspect of search. The assumption should no longer be that people are looking for, “Buy black winter hat cheap,” but rather, “Where can I buy a cheap black winter hat?”

The latter is referred to as a ‘soft search’ and this is the direction in which we need to focus our efforts as search and social marketers. Google made it clear when they introduced Hummingbird that it will integrate very heavily with Google’s social layer, which focuses on conversation in Google+ and other social networks.

In 2014, we should expect this focus to increase and optimize our content for these kinds of soft searches as opposed to focusing on keyword density (but that’s nothing new).

Focus on Social (Even More)

Expanding on that point about the social layer, changes to Google in 2014 will surely include an even greater focus on social activity. The reason why Google has transitioned to a soft search approach is because of how many people turn to social media in order to conduct their searches now.

When over 95% of people trust the recommendations made by friends and family, you know they are more likely to quickly post a question (like the winter hat example above) to Facebook while conducting their own research on Google. Considering links on social networks contribute (quite significantly) to improved search rankings – and we can expect that contribution to rise in the coming year – this should continue to be a focus for your brand in 2014.

Focus on Mobile

The world is going mobile. In fact, estimates suggest that by the end of 2013 (so, in other words, now) there will be more mobile devices than there are people on Earth. And by 2017, there will be an estimated 1.4 mobile devices on Earth per person. Suffice it to say that mobile is important.

As mobile devices become smarter and more user-friendly, people will increase their use of their mobile devices and slowly move away from their desktop. Not to mention the fact that in the developing world, mobile devices are much more readily accessible than desktops. One of the major changes to Google in the coming year is going to be an increased focus on mobile.

Ensure that your website, app and all of your content are optimized for mobile in order to ensure that it is easily shareable and discoverable. Over the course of the year, Google will be sure to incorporate mobile readiness into search rankings in a much bigger way.

google on mobile phone

focus on google+Focus on Google+

The fact that there are still detractors from the platform is mind-blowing. This is a social network owned an operated by a search giant that openly tells people to focus on social media. What better place to share your content than on that platform’s social network?

Every year, Google+ becomes more important to search. Bit by bit, Google is transforming their business structure to become a more social company. Doesn’t it behoove your brand to be active on the networks they own?

These are just a few of the changes we can expect to come from Google in 2014. What will you do differently? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

The Best Holiday Video Campaigns of 2013

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Creative holiday video campaigns are always something people look forward to, and 2013 did not disappoint.

holiday video campaignsThis year, quite a few brands decided to take a crack at the viral route and create a holiday video campaign that they felt would touch the hearts of the millions that watched and make these brands top-of-mind – if they weren’t already. But there is something different about marketing during the holidays that not every brand understands.

While the holiday season is make-or-break for many companies, it is also a time of giving, sharing and coming together. So, the aggressive salesperson angle will usually fall flat. This is the time of year when creativity needs to reign supreme, and these five brands did exactly that.

Instead of approaching the season as a time to sell, they approached as a time to give, laugh and, perhaps most importantly, make people feel good. The holiday video campaigns put together by the five brands below are certainly among the best this year, and some of the best we have ever seen.

Have a look and pick your favorite!

WestJet Christmas Miracle: Real-Time Giving

This is as heartwarming as it is impressive. A lot of thought went into creating this brilliant campaign and it does a lot to make you seriously consider abandoning all other airlines for WestJet.

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2013 – The Bear and the Hare

As noted above, this time of year is all about friendship and coming together. John Lewis, a UK-based retailer, made the millions of people who watched this video feel something very strong without using a single word.

Heineken – Carol Karaoke

Taking chances isn’t necessarily the first thing one thinks of when asked what comes to mind at the holidays. But Heineken managed to make that the focal point of this holiday ad.

Apple – Misunderstood

With an alternative perspective on today’s glued-to-your-phone culture, Apple helps people relate to technology on a much more personal level with this moving ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlmVqH_5HM

K-Mart – Show Your Joe

Last but certainly not least, we all love to laugh. This funny advert from K-Mart leaves viewers with a chuckle again, without the use of a single word. It takes great creative minds to make people react without a blatant call-to-action.

And there you have it! These are five of the best holiday video campaigns of the 2013 holiday season. Which one is your favorite? Did you love one that wasn’t listed? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Google’s Latest Patent: Taking the Social Out of Social Media

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One of Google’s latest social media patents promises to make the automated features of social media so realistic, you would never know the difference.

social business robotLate in November, Google received their latest social media patent. According to the filing, the new platform is designed as, “A system and method for automatically generating suggestions for personalized reactions or messages.” What does that mean? Well, for individuals and businesses, Google is now making it possible for you to be active on social media without ever being active on social media.

The program is designed to adapt to your voice and activity trends in order to react to posts, share content and essentially run your social profiles without you ever having to do a thing (once it has gathered enough information about your activity, of course).

No matter how you look at it, there are going to be two basic, extreme schools of thought: those that love the idea and feel as though it is going to make running a social business easier, and those that hate it. (NOTE: Those that hate it are probably the ones with an actual social business.)

The Secret to a Successful Social Business

It might not sound like a secret, but it seems so many people are still in the dark when it comes to understanding what it takes to run a successful social business: work. Hard work, investment and dedication are the most important tools you will need in order to succeed with your social business.

So many people know that social media is crucial to the longevity of their brands, but they keep looking for shortcuts. Shortcuts will not get you anywhere. Using a tool that automates your brand’s presence on social channels might work for Google rankings, but it won’t work for customers.

Bringing automation into the mix is exactly why so many people have moved away from conventional customer service avenues (like the phone and even email) and towards social. And how often are we shown examples of an “Epic Fail” when a brand sends out an automated response on Twitter? People want to interact with people. Even when it is a big brand, the human component that social media offers is why people continue to choose it over other means of communication.

Creating Your Voice

There are some forms of automation that work. Some brands choose to automate tweets in order to ensure that important messages are seen by the broadest audience possible. For those that use Hootsuite, some brands might choose to upload a content schedule for a number of networks. This is all fine once you have established your voice in a market. But it is the real-time responses and comments that people react to most.

Recycling your articles might be a great way of getting fresh eyes on old content, but if social has taught us anything, it is that real-time marketing is where you find your greatest success. People want to see that your brand is active on social channels. They do not want you to simply be present.

Running a social business is a serious commitment. No matter how many shortcuts are created, people are still going to want to talk to you. It is hard for any brand to call itself a social business when they are actively trying to avoid the social part of the term.

Would you use a product like this? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

How to Create a Twitter Ad Campaign [VIDEO]

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It is easy to create a Twitter ad campaign, and you can do it for your brand by following these simple steps!

Why You Need to Focus on Facebook Mobile

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Facebook mobile is now more important than ever, and your strategy needs to incorporate Facebook mobile in a number of ways.

facebook mobile for businessIt is no surprise that Facebook mobile is now among the most important focal points of a successful social business strategy. Over 70% of Facebook’s users are accessing the network through a mobile device, and an increasing proportion of Facebook users are now only accessing the network via their mobile devices.

In order to capture the attention of this large and continually growing audience, you need to incorporate Facebook mobile into your strategy in a big way.

Some Interesting Facts About Facebook Mobile

A recent study by Shareaholic has revealed some very impressive data with regards to the importance of Facebook mobile.

In the last year, the referrals generated from Facebook (for businesses) have grown by 58.81% (year-over-year). How did they do this? Mobile.

As the chart below shows, referrals from mobile devices have increase a whopping 253.25% in the past year! What’s more the study finds that more than half of Facebook’s referral traffic growth has been the direct result of mobile activity.

shareaholic facebook mobile stats

As more and more people rely on their smartphones for everything from phone calls to everyday business and social use, the importance of a mobile component to your social strategy increases.

Below are a few ways you can take advantage of this growing trend and capitalize on the value of Facebook mobile referral power.

Create Mobile-Specific Ads

There exist some incredible features on the Facebook advertising platform that so few businesses are taking advantage of.

When you create a Facebook ad, you have the ability to target your ads to mobile devices. What’s more, you can specify the type of mobile device being used. Now, if you pay attention to your Google Analytics, and see that a large proportion of your mobile audience is coming from iOS, you know that you can create an ad on Facebook that targets only users with an iPhone! (Yes, this is actually something you can do.)

All it takes is a little tweaking and you will be able to really boost your success with Facebook ads click-through rates.

Create Mobile-Friendly Content

This is really more about creating content that is Facebook-friendly. Writing a long-winded story as a post is going to be annoying enough as it is for your fans on their desktop. Imagine how much more frustrated they would be if they had to scroll past in on their mobile devices as well. And do you expect anyone to click on images and see the full thing if it does not simply show up on their mobile News Feed? Probably not.

People want something fast and easy – that goes double for mobile users. Your content should have a clear message delivered fast and in an easy-to-view way. This way, you can encourage your mobile fans to click on links and read more if they are interested.

Share From Your Device

If you are using Facebook as a business – or even as a professional – then you should be using it to share content from your device. Post to your page from your mobile phone and check in at different locations. Generally, this increases engagement with your mobile audience, and should certainly be tried. This tactic also helps humanize your brand, and helps users relate to your company on a more personal level.

Try out some of these pointers and see if you can start capitalizing on the huge surge in mobile referral traffic from Facebook!

Do you access Facebook on your mobile device? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

5 Places to Share Your Blog Posts Every Day

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To increase your blog’s readership, you need to share your blog posts to a number of feeds every day.

share your blog postsWhile there are some writers that own a blog simply for the joy or writing, those of us with a business blog are looking for one thing above all else: readers. In order to increase your blog’s audience, you need to share your blog posts on a regular basis, and these five channels need to be on your daily list.

1. Your Business Pages

If you own a social business, then you undoubtedly have business pages on networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and others.

Your audiences on these pages are inherently your most loyal. They have decided to follow your brand and be notified of the content you are sharing, so why not give them what they are asking for?

Share your content to these pages for your highest CTRs as soon as it is published. Your audience is waiting for it.

2. Your Personal Accounts

It might seem obvious, but people often forget to share their content to their personal accounts. The mentality is that if it is for business, it should be shared to a business page. Yes, but also no.

First, you never know who might be interested in what you have to say. If you write an article and post it to your personal Twitter account, one of your followers might click on it because of the captivating title, read the article and subscribe to your blog. Right there, you might have found a new lead that you would have otherwise missed.

Second, as an employee or owner of a social business, you are your brand. People follow your company as they would follow you. The article was not written by ‘Brand X’, it was written by John Doe of ‘Brand X’. Employees are the best brand advocates out there. Take advantage of that.

3. Social Bookmarking Sites

This is good for both the short- and long-terms. Sharing your articles to bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon mean that they will be archived for a long time to come. You never know when someone might find it, bookmark it or even share it themselves.

Keep in mind that while your content might be most popular shortly after it is shared, it can still be discovered down the road. You’ll want it to be discoverable in places where longevity exists in much greater fashion than on some of the larger social networks (i.e. Facebook and Twitter).

4. Groups and Communities

If you are a member in industry-specific LinkedIn Groups, or Google+ Communities, then you are sharing and reading content that everyone in that group might potentially find interesting. When t2 employees first started sharing articles to LinkedIn Groups (particularly those in the social media realm) we saw our traffic more than double in the first month.

People join social groups and communities to find content relevant to the work they do. If you share it with them, they will be all the more likely to read it.

5. CommentLuv-Enabled Blogs

For those of you that are not familiar with CommentLuv, it is a WordPress plugin that welcomes all comments and links to be shared. Now be careful, this is not encouraging you to post spam. Spam is spam no matter what fashion it appears in.

Familiarize yourself with your industry’s blogs that have enabled CommentLuv and, when you find an article that is relevant to your most recent post, share a comment and provide a link to your relevant material. This is not going to come up as often as the other means of sharing your content. You are really going to have to do some work in order to find these blogs. However, when you do, be sure to leave a relevant comment (do not simply post a link – that’s spam) and share a backlink to your article. This is good for increasing readership and SEO.

Try out some of these tips and watch your readership and subscription rate increase. It is all a question of finding your most engaged audiences!

Where do you share your blog posts every day? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

How to Create LinkedIn Ads that Generate Results

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LinkedIn Ads are a great way to reach large audiences of professionals and generate new exposure for your brand.

how to create a linkedin ads campaignAs with any platform that offers an advertising model, LinkedIn Ads can really give your brand a boost when it comes to reaching new audiences. However, considering the detailed nature of the professional network, LinkedIn Ads allow you to target audiences in a far more specific way than any other social ad platform.

Consider your Facebook profile, then compare it to your LinkedIn profile. On Facebook, you might leave out your work details, education, and keep your interests private. That can make it pretty hard for an advertiser to include you in their targeted campaign. However, on LinkedIn, we go out of our way to tell people where we went to school, what our work history looks like, every detail about what we do now, and by showcasing groups in which we are members, we tell everyone what we are interested in professionally. When it comes to LinkedIn Ads, that’s a gold mine of information.

Next time your decide to run a LinkedIn Ads campaign to promote your Company Page, take some of these tips into account to generate great results.

Study Your Audience

In the ‘Analytics’ tab on your LinkedIn Company Page, you can learn a lot about the people that have looked at your brand.

If you scroll down, you can see exactly what the ratios are for your brand’s fans in terms of the industries in which they work, their level of seniority, their company size, industry and more. Figure out what your most active audience looks like and create ads targeted to those demographics. Clearly, your message resonates with people who fit that criteria.

linkedin ads 1

Leverage Competitor Insights

In the ‘Insights’ tab on your company page, you can see what other Company Pages your fans have followed or visited. Do a little research and see what your competitors are doing. Not only can this give you some idea of what the competitive landscape looks like, it can also provide useful reminders to include information you might have forgotten.

If you are sharing an audience with someone, you want to ensure that you are sharing as much information as possible and then some.

Use Your Targeting

As noted above, targeting your LinkedIn Ads is far more extensive than most networks out there. Take advantage of every section that exists. Even if you do not have your Company Page insights at your disposal, use the targeting options for A-B testing.

Target different industries, skills, locations, ages and more in order to ensure that the most specific audience is seeing your ads. When it comes to testing, this is a great way to determine what types of ads resonate with different demographics, and which audiences are most engaged with your content.

linkedin ads 2

Sponsor Your Most Popular Content

As with Facebook and Twitter ads, you can promote different posts to broad audiences on LinkedIn.

When looking at your Company Page stats, find the articles that reached the largest audience and had the highest engagement rates. Then, promote that content to your targeted audience and grow your follower base. This is a great way to not only increase your audience size, but showcase your excellent content.

Follow these simple steps next time you are running a LinkedIn Ads campaign and you will be sure to see some great results!

Have you created a LinkedIn Ads campaign? How did it go? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Tag Archive for: social media marketing

Case Studies: Vestas

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Vestas – a multi-billion dollar wind energy pioneer – used LinkedIn to combat rising competition.

Case Studies vestasLate in 2011, Vestas, a Danish manufacturer and provider of wind-based energy systems, was faced with a global recession, increased competition and an unpredictable regulatory body. The result was a decline in revenues and the burden of bringing the company back to its usual standards fell on the branding and marketing departments.

When one thinks of a Case Studies, multinational energy providers are not necessarily the first companies to come to mind. What Vestas showed, however, was that social media marketing can deliver results for companies in all sorts of industries, even those where you might least expect to see an impact.

The Campaign

The Vestas campaign was among the most impressive ever put together on LinkedIn. It encompassed several parts and was tailored, effectively, to each of the 400,000 people who were reached. The campaign, titled Energy Transparency, aimed to accomplish a very specific goal, according to Morten Kamp Jørgensen, Director Brand Management, Group MarCom and Customer Insight, Vestas:

“The goal of the campaign was to start a discussion and education process for carbon conscious corporations to directly invest in wind energy rather than just buying Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Many corporations are already investing directly in renewable energy and we wanted to encourage this and engage corporations who have sustainability targets that make them more likely to invest in wind.”

To do this, Vestas launched an InMail campaign to 622 targeted executives at 50 energy-conscious companies, created customized LinkedIn banner ads for the 400,000 employees of said companies, partnered with Businessweek for a special offer for the InMail participants and created custom landing pages for each of the 50 companies’ executives and employees.

The results were outstanding. (You would hope so with that much work!) And while this is a huge campaign – one that not every company would need or be capable of executing – there is a lot to learn for marketers.

The Lessons

Do Your Research

Vestas did not succeed because they blindly launched a campaign on LinkedIn – far from it. Months of careful planning went into this campaign, starting with research into the companies most likely to respond. Again, the 50 companies selected were chosen based on specific criteria that made them excellent candidates.

When putting together a marketing campaign – social media or otherwise – you will only succeed if your campaign is built on a solid foundation of research and data to back up your decisions.

Customize Your Campaign

The banners, the landing pages, the InMail – everything about the Vestas LinkedIn campaign was customized and tailored to fit the individual seeing the content. Adding a personal touch keeps your audience invested.

Sharing generic content leads to fewer click-throughs and, subsequently, a lower conversion. If you personalize the different features of a campaign, you stand to generate a much higher success rate than if you do not.

In with the New, But Not Out with the Old

Vestas took several marketing styles and created a huge campaign that blurred the lines between conventional marketing and new marketing. From LinkedIn, to banner ads, to magazine spreads – they covered all their bases and, more importantly, they connected every aspect of the campaign together.

It is important for marketers to remember that social media is not the end all be all of marketing. While it does present some great new opportunities, it should be looked at in unison with your conventional marketing efforts. Vestas realized that and the numbers prove that they got it right.

Which lesson do you think is most important to pull from this campaign? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

5 Tips for Dealing with Customer Complaints on Social Media

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There are certain ways to go about dealing with customer complaints on social media.

customer complaints on social mediaAll customer complaints are not the same, but there are certain features that are true to every one, and certain best practices that should always be adopted when dealing with customer complaints on social media.

The most important thing to note when it comes these complaints is that under no circumstances should any customer complaint go ignored on social networks. In addition to this one universal rule, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to dealing with customer complaints on social media.

Always Be Courteous

A 2011 survey on Customer Rage conducted at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University found that 90% of complaining customers want one thing above all else: to be treated with dignity. Yet, only 40% said that this is the kind of treatment that they received.

At Zendesk, the philosophy is to treat a complaining customer as you would treat (or, at least, hopefully treat) your grandmother. Kindness goes a long way, because for a lot of complaining customers, they simply want to vent.

Respond Quickly

If I am a dissatisfied customer and I send you a tweet and hear nothing for days I might be tempted to take my efforts to the next level. The same survey mentioned above also found that 88% of people who had a negative experience with a brand chose to deal with their issue by telling their friends about it. In the age of social media, “friends” could mean tens of thousands. So act fast to help your customers or things could get way out of hand.

Be Knowledgable

Have you ever called a customer service line and found yourself waiting on hold every time you ask a question because your service representative doesn’t know the answer? It’s frustrating. Having answers to customer questions and complaints (both on and off social media) is your most powerful weapon, and you should always have an answer locked and loaded when an issue arises.

Be Proactive

The answers and solutions your customers are looking for should be readily available in as many places as possible. If an issue comes up once, you should always assume it will come up again and prepare for it the next time it does.

The faster you can resolve someone’s issue the happier they will be, and a proactive approach to customer service is going to help you do just that.

Use Your Experience

While this is not a method for dealing with a customer complaint directly, it is a means of using these situations for the benefit of your company. Customer complaints are a great way of figuring out where your product or service needs work. It is your product, so for you, it is perfect. For others, that might not be the case.

Adapting your product or service to the requests and complaints of customers is a great way of making your product more user-friendly, and it is going to make your job of customer service a lot easier down the road.

How do you deal with customer complaints on social media? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Case Studies: Nutella

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Marketers were shown exactly what not to do on social media in this week’s Case Studies on Nutella.

Case Studies on nutella It is a brand that so many are fond of. And yet, in this week’s Case Studies on Nutella, this brand showcases exactly how they damaged that loyalty by not understanding the rules of the social media game.

On February 5th, 2007, Nutella super-fan, Sara Russo held the first annual World Nutella Day. Over the last few years, the unofficial event has become something of a phenomenon: 40,000 Facebook fans, 6,500 Twitter followers and featurettes on authoritative blogs (understandably, considering Sara Rosso and fellow Nutella fan Michelle Fabio operates their own blogs).

Case Studies on nutella what not to do on social mediaFor most brands and marketers, this is a dream come true. A fan-organized day, recognized internationally that promotes your product and touts its excellence…for free! This kind of publicity is the thing of legend, and it would make sense, after years of loyalty and dedication to Nutella, that Rosso be recognized and thanked by the brand and its parent company, right?

Well, she was certainly recognized by the brand, but the thanks must have gotten lost in the mail. All that showed up was a cease and desist letter from the legal department of Ferrero, Nutella’s parent company.

In what is widely perceived as a catastrophic brand blunder, there is a lot that marketers can learn. Sometimes, the best lessons are those that teach us what not to do.

Let the Good Times Roll

It was never suggested that World Nutella Day involved Nutella or Ferrero officially. In fact, it was very clearly understood to be unaffiliated with the brand. It was just a group of fans proclaiming their love for a tasty product.

When fans are talking and generating buzz, feel free to engage, but don’t step in front of a moving train. The momentum that this event has built over the last six years is much more delicate than it might appear to be. This kind of traction is easily derailed (sorry about all the train metaphors) if not approached carefully. So, when there is buzz about your brand, and the results are nothing but positive, let it ride.

It’s not every day you get free positive publicity.

Everyone Sees Everything

Perhaps the largest oversight in the actions taken by the legal team at Ferrero was not considering the power of social media and the viral effect.

If the only thought was that a paper copy of a cease and desist was going to remain hidden from the public eye, then shame on the senior executive that approved the course of action. Everyone, in every department should always consider the vast power that virality and social media can have on any given action. The question, “What happens if this gets out on Facebook?” should never go unasked, and that is exactly what happened in this situation.

Case Studies on nutella 2Love Your Loyalists

Brand loyalists are the key to your brand’s expansion and long-term success. If you are the only one talking about your brand, eventually people might get tired of listening. So when you see someone professing love for your brand, reach out and thank them; never ask them to stop. In fact, go out of your way to make sure they continue.

Andrea Stegmann, a fan of World Nutella Day expressed her shock and disappointment on the event’s Facebook page: “This is some sad news. And I actually lost respect and love for Ferrero. You’ve [done] nothing but promote Nutella. They should thank you and send you Nutella for a life time. And not send cease and desist letters.”

After the outcry, World Nutella Day was reinstated and the cease and desist was dropped by Ferrero. But it all could have been avoided if the power and influence of a strong social community was taken into account from the outset.

What actions do you think Ferrero should have taken in this case? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Social Media: Week-in-Review, June 1, 2013

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In case you missed some of the topics we covered this week, here is the social media week-in-review!

21 Types of Content People Love [INFOGRAPHIC]

Content is the root of a successful marketing campaign, no matter the medium. When it comes to content, however, there are certain types that flop and then there are others that engage your audience like never before. In this great infographic, we look at 21 types of content that always drive good engagement with your audience.

new features on pinterestMake Use of the New Features on Pinterest

Pinterest keeps rolling out some great new features that marketers should all be aware of and use to their advantage. Take a look at what some of these new features are, and find out how you can use them to your benefit, whether it comes to your own marketing efforts or those of a client!

4 Ways to Increase Sharing of Your Blog

Your blog is one of the best ways you can showcase your expertise to your audience. It is a hub where almost all of your links might point, and one of the key steps in the path to conversion. So how can you go about increasing the shares of the content on your blog? Take a look at these 4 great tips to help increase the sharing of your blog content!

Case Studies cadburyCase Studies: Cadbury

Cadbury is known for having some of the most delicious treats on the market, and they did something very sweet (sorry – it was just too easy) to thank their fans and boost engagement rates on their content. Find out what Cadbury did in this week’s Case Studies!

Social Equity: Video Blogging

Blogging is an exceptional tool when it comes to getting found, and engagement rates see a spike with video content over any other type of content on social media. So, naturally, it would make sense that video blogging can add considerable value to your business. Find out what that value is in this week’s Social Equity segment!

Have a look through some of these great articles and enjoy your weekend!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Case Studies: Cadbury

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How did Cadbury make their social media presence as sweet as their candy?

Case Studies cadburyIt was early in 2012 that Cadbury realized they were approaching the 1 million fan mark on Facebook. It was around that same time that they realized that only about 16% of fans ever saw any of the content they were posting to their social networks.

Cadbury wanted to get the most out of their social media marketing, and they knew that for an internationally-recognized brand, 16% simply wasn’t good enough. So they decided to do something so big that it would grab the attention of a lot more than a mere 16%: they built a Facebook ‘Like’ thumb out of chocolate to say thanks!

The results of this gesture were 40,000 new Facebook fans and engagement of well over 30% for this campaign. Clearly, there are a few takeaways marketers can pull from this campaign by Cadbury.

Always Engage Your Audience

Engagement is going to be at the forefront of any successful social media campaign. Your audience needs to have a purpose for viewing your content, and providing engaging content is always going to be on top of that list of reasons.

Simply sharing promotional information, or a piece of text, isn’t going to entice anyone to share, comment, or necessarily like your content. The results? It hurts your EdgeRank and can be somewhat damaging to your brand’s growth on social media in the long run, due to the lack of exposure.

Case Studies cadbury 2Let Your Fans Know You Care

Whether you are a Cadbury with 1 million fans or a Mom n’ Pop with 100, you should always let those that have become fans know that you care.

Success on social media stems from the ability to reach a wider audience than on any other medium, and each fan is another new network of possibilities. So when reaching milestones, show your fans you care – you’d be surprised at how appreciated those gestures are.

Never Ignore Your Analytics

It took Cadbury until the million fan mark to realize that only 16% of those fans were engaging with the brand. Moreover, Cadbury is an international brand; imagine how few fans are engaged with your small business on Facebook if only a small fraction are engaging with a brand like Cadbury!

The reality is that roughly 98% of people who ‘Like’ a brand never return to that brand’s page. You need to find a way to optimize your content and your strategy in order to get those numbers as high as possible. Don’t ignore your analytics. They are providing valuable information that is going to help your brand blow up on social media!

The Case Studies on Cadbury’s Facebook campaign provides a great set of Do’s and Do Not’s for marketers.

Which of these lessons do you think is most important? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Social Media: Week-in-Review, May 25, 2013

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In case you missed some of the topics we covered this week, here is the social media week-in-review!

optimize landing pages for conversion t2social5 Tips to Optimize Landing Pages for Conversion

Landing pages are great resources for converting leads into customers. Whether you are looking to get them to download an ebook, register for a webinar or sign up for a demo, a landing page is going to be one of the most important steps in the process. In order for that to happen, however, you need to be optimizing your landing pages for conversion using some of these universal tips!

8 Tips for Optimizing Posts on Social Media

Sharing content across different networks with an engaged audience is one of the best ways of building exposure, influence and traffic. In order for the process to be successful, there are a few things that every marketer should keep in mind. Take a look at these 8 great tips for optimizing your content posting strategy on social media!

social media marketing cloud t2socialSocial Media Marketing Industry Report 2013 – The Highlights

Every year, the folks at Social Media Examiner put together a fantastic report highlighting some of the major findings in the realm of social media. This year was no exception, and we have featured some of the highlights from this year’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

Case Studies: Oreo

Among the memorable moments at Super Bowl XLVII were the heroic efforts by some football stars, an extended blackout that enraged social audiences, and, the biggest event for social media marketers, a tweet for the marketing team at Oreo that created some major waves in the world of social media. Take a look at this week’s Case Studies to find out what marketers can learn from Oreo’s big play.

Social Equity: The Big (Now Even Bigger) Value of Tumblr

Tumblr is a great platform for blogging to an already engaged audience, and the recent acquisition of the social network by Yahoo! gives it even more value for brands and marketers. Find out where there is value added to your business from a presence on Tumblr in this week’s Social Equity segment!

Have a look through some of these great articles and enjoy your long weekend!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Case Studies: Oreo

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

Case Studies oreoThe 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.

Case Studies oreo 2

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.

Case Studies opportunityBe 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 Case Studies 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 Case Studies? Have you changed your strategy since this took place during the Super Bowl? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Social Media: Week-in-Review, May 18, 2013

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In case you missed some of the topics we covered this week, here is the social media week-in-review!

5 Things Brands Should Never Do On Social Media

Social media can be an exceptional tool in your arsenal when it comes to building up your business and your exposure. However, unlike the old saying, not all publicity is good publicity, particularly on social media. Take a look at these five activities that should be avoided by brands looking to succeed on social media!

social media metrics t2social4 Important Social Media Metrics

Marketers are always looking for the best ways to measure their social media programs. There are some metrics that will be looked at more closely than others, depending on your goals. However, these 4 important social media metrics are universal and should be studied over the course of any program!

How Organizations Structure Social Media Teams [INFOGRAPHIC]

Social media is a relatively new marketing concept, and there are still many marketers and companies wondering how social media teams and initiatives should be structured. Take a look at this detailed infographic to see how organizations are structuring their social media teams and programs!

Case Studies instagramCase Studies: Comodo

It is no secret that Instagram is notoriously filled with pictures of our food. And sometimes, meals are just so stunning they need to be photographed! Comodo, an independently-owned restaurant in New York City recognized the influence of Instagram and decided to harness its popularity to build their virality and business. Read more in this week’s Case Studies!

Social Equity: The Viral Effect

Virality is one of the most commonly measured features of a social media marketing program. It is also an important factor when determining the reach, success and power of your brand on social networks. In this week’s Social Equity segment, we look at the value added to your business from the viral effect.

Have a look through some of these great articles and enjoy your weekend!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Case Studies: Comodo

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It doesn’t take a big brand to do something innovative that warrants a Case Studies!

Case Studies instagramIf 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.

social media engagement avenuesProvide 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!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

Social Media: Week-in-Review, May 11, 2013

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In case you missed some of the topics we covered this week, here is the social media week-in-review!

social media week in review4 Tips for Creating a Great Facebook Ad Campaign

Facebook Ads are everywhere. Whether we notice them or not, we are always seeing ads pop up on the social network; they have just done a pretty good job of making them look like business as usual. So why do we click on some and not others? Find out how you can increase click-through rates on your Facebook Ad campaigns with these great tips!

The Importance of Mobile in the Marketplace [INFOGRAPHIC]

Mobile marketing is of ever-growing importance. Every year, it is becoming more crucial that marketing strategies incorporate some facet of mobile, or risk missing out on a massive, engaged and growing audience of potential customers. Find out why mobile marketing is so important in this great infographic!

Understanding the Facebook EdgeRank Algorithm

Many of us have heard about the Facebook EdgeRank algorithm, and some of us may even have an idea of what it is. But like any proprietary algorithm, the details are often scarce and it is unclear what the exact function is. In this article about the Facebook EdgeRank algorithm, we aim to explain, simply, how it works and what you need to know about it when it comes to marketing.

Case Studies volkswagen t2socialCase Studies: Volkswagen

Volkswagen India was hoping to leverage the Indian market on their quest to becoming the largest automotive brand in the world by 2018. The marketing minds at Volkswagen decided, after some very careful planning, that their best avenue for success was LinkedIn, and their efforts paid off greatly. Find out why in this week’s Case Studies.

Social Equity: Big Value in Company Pages

Company pages, channels and accounts are available on nearly every major social network. We often take them for granted, but the value that company pages add to our business is pretty impressive. Find out about the benefits of company pages in this week’s Social Equity segment.

Have a look through some of these great articles, enjoy your weekend and have a relaxing and happy Mother’s Day tomorrow!

t2social social medis marketing strategies

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