social media strategies Archives

Social Media Marketing: 4 Reasons for Business Blogging

January 14, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media marketing is not relegated to social networks; a business blog can drive some of your best engagement.

While a large proportion of social media marketing will inevitably take place on social networks, it is not simply about using Twitter and Facebook and drive engagement with your fans. If the ultimate goal is conversion – be it through a download, a visit, or a purchase – then social media marketing cannot end with social networks. In fact, this is only the first step in your social media marketing efforts. The real engagement and conversion opportunities should be taking place on your website. But without compelling content, you might lose your audience the moment they step virtual foot onto your website. So how can you go about extending your social media marketing efforts outside of major social networking sites? Create and manage a business blog.

Business blogs are a phenomenal way of increasing traffic, engaging with your audience and driving up conversion rates. If your website is nothing more than a multi-page, custom-named and built online ad for your product or service, then the results will be the same as they would if your social media marketing efforts were to simply tout your company without ever making an effort to engage with your audience: poor. Sharing helpful, insightful and engaging information through the use of a company blog is a great way to not only encourage visitors to come back for more reading, but an incredible tool for increasing your discoverability and conversion.

Below are just a few of the reasons why having a business blog can take your online business to the next level.

1. The Proof is in the Numbers!

The inbound marketing experts at HubSpot conducted quite a bit of research and found that a business blog is one of the best ways to increase your business’s exposure and sales. They noted that 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog and that companies that blog get 55% more web traffic. Those numbers are hard to ignore. Ask any marketer (or business owner, for that matter) if they would opt into executing a program that drives that much additional traffic, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who says they would not.

2. Blogs Boost Your Discoverability

One of the best (and simplest) ways to increase your SERPs on search engines like Google is to use a blog. Google’s algorithm includes as some of its main components ranking criteria like keywords and fresh content. A blog allows you to both optimize pages for sets of keywords and to consistently produce new content that search engines love to rank. Furthermore, engagement and link building through your blog further helps to increase your search rankings. Lastly, every entry to a blog registers as a new page to be indexed. The larger your site, the greater your chances of having pages indexed by Google, and a blog offers that better than any other alternative. Integrating your social media marketing with your blog – that is, pinning photos, tweeting new articles, publishing links to your blog on Facebook and Google+ – will do even more with regards to increasing your SERPs.

There are few other methods out there that work as well as a blog when it comes to increasing your search rankings. That said, in order for your blog to work, the strategy you have in place when it comes to building your blog needs to incorporate SEO (i.e. optimizing your posts). So be sure to take that into account before you begin blogging.

3. Showcase Your Expertise

In past posts, we have noted how detrimental self-promotion can be when it comes to social media marketing. Social networks are about one thing: being social. And when a brand bombards its followers with promotional content – the social equivalent of e-mail spam – it runs the risk of losing those fans. A blog, however, is a great place to showcase your knowledge and expertise without directly marketing to your readers. Sure, a call to action is essential, but these can be left to the end, after you’ve shown all that you have to offer. By posting engaging, informative content, it becomes increasingly clear to a reader that your company is the right one for a particular job. So take advantage of this opportunity and highlight your genius with helpful blog posts.

4. Engage Directly with Your Fans

Engagement through social networks is a great way to talk to your fans, but your fans might not necessarily take the time to engage with you. There is also the issue of the short shelf life of a social post. Facebook posts have been found to have a lifespan of roughly three hours before the public loses sight of it (and that is on a good day) and tweets have notably less – maybe 20-30 minutes – considering the volume and speed with which feeds fill up.

A blog, however, is an archive of all of your content. And when a visitor reads through your post, you have accomplished two things: first, you have intrigued someone enough that they have decided to visit your site and read further. Second, you have created an opportunity where you can be engaging directly with your fans through comments on your site. This allows you to both communicate with leads in a much more intimate atmosphere, and find out exactly what your audience is looking for, thereby allowing you to tweak your social media marketing strategy appropriately.

While a business blog is a great way to boost your social efforts, it is surely one of the more time consuming tasks when it comes to social media marketing. Creating original, engaging and consistently updated content with a strategy behind it is not as simple as sharing photos on Facebook or short tweets on Twitter. And in order for a blogging strategy to work, you need to be committed to it. This takes time and resources. But the results are proven and you stand to reap a whole lot more from a blog than nearly any other social effort.

Does you company blog? Have you seen results from your blogging efforts? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

36 Social Media Rules of Engagement [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 11, 2013/by Corey Padveen

When it comes to social media success, knowing the best practices is crucial.

Time and time again, we stress the importance of following certain best practices when it comes to your social media strategy. Sometimes it can be hard to keep up. But, regardless of how much there might to keep track of, it is vitally important to the success of your social media campaigns that you follow best practices so as not to lose out on possible successes.

While these rules might be modified or discarded over time – depending on what you are looking to get out of your social media program – there are some that will always remain. The infographic below details 36 rules of social media engagement and conduct. While some of these may seem simple or even trivial, they are there for a reason. Over time, as your program evolves, these rules should be your constant. Keep in mind that while social media might be changing, people (your customers), in general, stay the same. So have a look at these social media rules of engagement and see if you could be doing anything differently.

Can you think of any social media rules that are not present here? Which ones do you think are the most important when it comes to business? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

SEO Guide: How to Choose the Right Keywords for Your Website

January 10, 2013/by Corey Padveen

You might have great content, but if you are not choosing the right SEO keywords for optimization, you might not get anyone to see it.

There are plenty of SEO tricks and tips when it comes to getting found on search engines using targeted keywords, but the only way to ensure that your results are not only growing, but qualified, is to have an SEO strategy in place when it comes to selecting your keywords. One of the trickiest parts of building a social media strategy is that most people have no idea how search engine ranking positions (SERPs) are determined, nor do they know how to go about maximizing their efforts when it comes to increasing their SERPs. Below are a few of the best practices we have observed when it comes to choosing the right keywords for SEO on your website.

1. Don’t Go Overboard

While you might think that optimizing your site for dozens of keywords is your best option for maximizing SEO, the reality is that too many keywords will dilute your results and won’t help your SEO for any one category. We have found that optimizing for five keywords is the golden ticket when it comes to SEO. So, while your industry might have hundreds of keywords to choose from, try and keep it simple in order to avoid missing the mark entirely. Ultimately, you want a keyword density across all of your content between 2% and 5%. What is keyword density? This is the number of times your keywords are mentioned in relation to the total number of words in you content. So try to keep that in mind as well when drafting your posts.

2. Love Your Industry, Not Only Your Brand

Industry keywords perform much better than specific brand keywords. You might think that the more you mention your specific brand, the higher it will rank. While this is true, people might not be searching for “Acme Car Repair” – in fact, the majority of searches will not. So you are better off optimizing your content for the generic “car repair”, and other industry keywords as opposed to simply optimizing for your brand. While the ultimate goal is for people to be searching for your brand specifically, it may not start out that way. Not all of us are a Coca-Cola or a Harley Davidson, and may not have an internationally recognized brand name. So focus on the generic and allow your brand to reach the top of those results organically.

3. Do Your Research

Before choosing any one keyword, it is important to know whether or not you are choosing the right keywords. In keeping with the previous example, you might think that “automotive repairing” is the right keywords for your brand. But without the proper research, you might not realize that “car repair” has not only more global search results, but less competition density. How can you figure this out? The Google Keyword Tool allows users to search for keywords for free, and helps you choose the best keywords for you industry along with other suggestions for comparison.

The image above shows a comparison of these two keywords in terms of monthly Google search results along with some additional suggestions for other keywords. Studying this data will allow you to choose the best keywords when it comes to drafting your content for SEO.

4. SEO is an Ongoing Process

SEO is constantly evolving, and if you optimize for a set of keywords today, it might not be the same tomorrow. (Well, it might be the same tomorrow, but you know what we mean.) This holds particularly true for seasonal industries. Say you are living in the Northeast – the search term for “cheap winter tires” will be much higher during the winter months than in mid-July. So be sure to update your content regularly (corporate blogs are a great way to do this) and do your research on a regular basis in order to ensure that your site’s SERP does not drop over time.

5. Speak with the People

While your car repair company might be full of experts using complicated mechanic jargon throughout the course of the day, that does not mean that your average customer will have any idea what that means. As a result, he or she will not be searching for those terms when trying to find you. Optimize your results on a global level and avoid using complicated internal terms so that even the least savvy customer stumbles upon your page. Expertise is a great thing to have, and will result in increased business, but optimizing for terms that most people do not use will never help your SERPs.

Can you think of any other keyword selection tips that will help boost your SERPs? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

SEO Friendly Websites In Five Easy Steps [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 9, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What steps can you take to make your site SEO friendly?

The search engine experts at SEOmoz have put together a succinct yet helpful image detailing some of the necessary steps when it comes to building an SEO friendly website. There is a certain order of operations one needs to follow when conducting search engine optimization, and this graphic representation of those steps put into perspective what you need to do in order to get your site on the search rankings fast track.

As we (and many others) never tire of pointing out, content is king. Without compelling content, even the most optimized sites will fail when it comes to both SEO and driving traffic in the hopes of converting them into customers. So start by finding your niche and writing engaging content for them. Once that is done, you will be able to move onto these five steps of SEO operations brought to you by SEOmoz.

How do you go about conducting your SEO for your website? Have you followed these tips from SEOmoz? If not, do you plan on tweaking your strategy to incorporate them? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

How to Use SEO for Your Online Reputation Management

January 8, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Reputation is everything, and using SEO, you can manage your reputation to boost your business online.

We all strive to be the best in our respective industries. That said, the larger we grow, the greater the chances that we might find ourselves facing a PR crisis on social media. It might be a simple mistake, but the world of reputation has become much smaller since the advent of social media in business, and the backlash can be significant if appropriate steps are not taken to both address the issue as it takes place, and manage one’s online reputation following one of these issues. Studies show that nearly three quarters of lost business can be attributed to poor customer service or a poor experience, so burying your head in the sand in the time of a PR crisis (and the moments that follow) can prove to be far more devastating to your company’s reputation than tackling the issue head on.

Below are a few pointers that can help you deal with a PR crisis on social media when it strikes, and manage your reputation using SEO tactics following such a crisis.

1. Monitor Your Brand

Whether you’re using a highly advanced listening system or simply following your brand’s mentions using Twitter search, it is crucial that you listen to what people are saying when it comes to your business. Simply ignoring an issue and hoping it will disappear will lead to the issue growing beyond your control. Remember, networks like Twitter have been described as a forum where people tell truths to strangers. Don’t let that truth be something negative about your brand management.

2. Engage with a Dissatisfied Audience

Turning a disgruntled customer into a brand advocate should always be your goal when it comes to social media engagement in the time of a crisis. Instead of a post like, “I hate [Your Brand] because of [Reason],” you should strive to see that same user sending something out along the lines of, “Thank you [Your Brand] for all your help! I will definitely be coming back!” There is a fine line between these two posts despite the fact that they are on completely opposite sides of the sentiment spectrum. And that line rests in how you deal with an issue. So approach dissatisfied customers the same way you would a satisfied one, and resolve their issue before it proliferates.

3. Rebuilding After the Storm

There are a number of SEO tactics that can be employed when it comes to reputation management following a PR crisis. While a crisis might only last a few hours, the backlash on search engines like Google can be ever-lasting – and the damage to your business could be significant. So, how do you go about managing your reputation after it has been damaged by a crisis?

There are several black hat techniques that are frowned upon by both the community as a whole and Google. Review sites like Yelp! are taken into account quite heavily by the search giant, and posting dozens of positive reviews from newly formed accounts will not help as much as you might think. Using proper SEO techniques, you can manage your reputation to promote the positive aspects of your brand while quashing the negative.

First, consider the source of a negative post. Google prefers not to rank content from the same domain more than once. So, for example, if you see that a negative post has popped up on a major news site, try and get another, more positive up there and share it in order to replace the negative one. Shares and links are still the most heavily weighted element when it comes to SEO, so if you can get a positive post from the same source to outrank the negative one, you stand a good chance of eliminating the negative result from the top of your searches.

Second, posting positive content about your business will help your improve the quality of your results. Unlike the poor technique we noted above, this has to do with responding to negative reviews and publishing positive content on or about your site to relevant blogs. Engaging with your unhappy audience in a positive way will better your search results, and new, relevant and high-quality content will always triumph. Remember, you will not necessarily be able to remove content from Google – that it not what the search engine is for. But you will be able to replace content if you approach the process the right way.

Last, create a hub that points to all of your positie content. As the circulation of your content grows, so will your search rankings. There are a few ways of going about this. You can create a domain name with your search term (your brand) in the title – if you do not have one already. You can mention yourself in all of your positive content. You can (and should) link all of your content due to the fact that links are a crucial part of SEO. And you should be posting often. Fresh content is always preferred to dated articles, so a blog will certainly help when it comes to reputation management using SEO.

SEO for reputation management can be a tricky process. But this process is made much more difficult if you ignore issues as they arise. So monitor your brand and engage with your audience to avoid a PR crisis. And if they do arise, take the necessary steps to improve your reputation using the SEO tactics highlighted above.

Do you know of any other tips that might be helpful when it comes to managing your reputation online? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Optimizing Tags for Maximum SEO Results

January 7, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Where can you be optimizing your title and description to get the most out of your SEO efforts?

SEO has long been one of the primary tools when it comes to getting found. The landscape of SEO, however, has changed drastically over the last decade (and even more so in the last few years with the advent of social media). Keywords are no longer the most relevant aspect of your SEO efforts, but that does not mean that you should be ignoring them entirely. In an earlier blog post about social signals and their impact on SEO, we noted that shares and links are the most crucial aspect of your SEO efforts. But if you are using your keywords properly, then your SEO will be all the more successful. Below are a few pointers to help you maximize your SEO when it comes to your meta descriptions.

1. Use the Space You’re Given

There are character limits to SEO. Your Page Title can have 70 characters, Meta Descriptions are limited to 160 characters and there can be no more than 10 Meta Keyword phrases. If you think a short, keyword-heavy description is all you need, think again. Use as many of the allotted characters as possible. These titles and descriptions are the first thing visitors will see when searching for your site, and you don’t want it to be irrelevant to their search. While you might have great content on your page, it may not be clear from the lackluster title and description you have provided. So be sure to get the most out of the characters you have so potential visitors aren’t left looking for something else.

2. Organic Results are Derived from Organic Descriptions

Keywords are important for SEO. That is no secret. But what some people seem to forget when writing their titles and descriptions is that Google’s algorithm takes into account the quality of your writing. Content farms that are full of keywords with no real substance are relegated to the bottom of search results. This includes descriptions with no real substance, as well. If your title and description are simply full of your keywords in the hopes that Google will register your page under that category, you might be disappointed. The Google algorithm is designed to produce quality results, not simply keyword-heavy pages. So when drafting your titles and descriptions, be sure that your keywords are included organically. This will produce the best results when it comes to your SEO.

3. Include a Call to Action in Your Description

Posts with calls to action statistically have exceptionally higher results than posts that do not have any. This holds true in a number of fields, and that includes page titles and meta descriptions. Search rankings are increased with organic traffic in addition to quality. And considering the great results observed with calls to action, it is extremely beneficial to have one in your meta description to increase your organic traffic.

These are just a few tips that can help you get the most out of your titles and meta descriptions. By employing these methods, you can expect to see a big jump in your search rankings and, subsequently, your traffic.

Can you think of any other tactics that would help your search results? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Strategies Are Overlooked by Executives [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 5, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media strategies need to be considered when making business decisions, yet many executives overlook them.

This is an issue that has long plagued the advocate of social media strategies. Executives are often hesitant to incorporate social media strategies in their business decisions, and these choices can be quite costly. The irony is that executives of larger companies, on a much larger scale, do consider their social media strategies when it comes to making decisions. So why do smaller businesses not follow suit? We have past the point where people can argue that social media is not crucial for the growth of a business – be it local or worldwide. There is simply too much evidence to the contrary.

And yet, a recent study shows that the majority of small businesses and B2B companies are ignoring social media strategies in their decision-making processes. We noted in a post a while back how small businesses are using social media, but it would seem that this strategy has not caught on fully. Have a look at the infographic below to see where executives are missing the mark when it comes to their social media strategies.

Have you had trouble dealing with your executives or a client because of skepticism when it comes to implementing social media strategies? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Strategies Trending in 2013

January 4, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media strategies are constantly changing, and we can expect to see some new ones grow in popularity in 2013.

Social media has brought about quite a few changes in the way companies conduct their business online. With the advent of social media strategies in business, brands have completely restructured their approach to online marketing. Below are a few of the rising trends in social media strategies that we can expect to see pick up steam in the new year.

1. Customer Surveys No Longer Anonymous or Confidential

More and more we are starting to see brands transitioning away from conventional customer service approaches and incorporating this facet of their business into their social media strategies. This shows two major changes: customer satisfaction is no longer measured at a fixed point in time and it is no longer a measurement that is hidden from public view. We have often stressed that engaging with your customers in real time, be it for positive or negative comments, can do wonders for your business, and several companies are starting to realize that. No longer will companies wait for a crisis to arise before addressing an issue en masse. Instead, issues can be dealt with in real time using social media, which the public can see and appreciate (be they customers or not).

2. Social Analytics Result in Higher Efficiency

Considering every word posted on social media is stored in a virtual database, it is no wonder that there are virtually endless insights to sift through and analyze. What does this mean? Companies can use these analytics to conduct business more efficiently. Self-reported demographics, sentiment analysis and precision monitoring of activity allow businesses to see exactly how they can modify both their social media strategies and conventional marketing strategies in order to generate the highest results at the lowest cost. Social media is no longer simply about driving traffic and revenue (although that it still a major part of it) but also about smarter business.

3. Expect More Competition

Corporate espionage has often been a shady grey area when it comes to moral business conduct. Well, whereas in the past it required undercover operatives infiltrating a company (pardon the melodramatics) social media has not only made corporate espionage easy, but free and legal. Studying a competitor has never been easier than with social media, and we can expect to see several businesses using it to their advantage. By studying a competitor’s data, client feedback and successful campaigns, brands can manipulate their offers and promotions to mimic or even best a competitor’s in order to poach business. While this may not be the most ethical way of building a social media program, the hurdle of morality has never stopped businesses from profiting in the past.

Can you think of any other trends we can expect to see pick up momentum in 2013? Do you plan on implementing any of these tactics in the coming year? Tell us in comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Marketing: Top 3 Twitter Marketing Tools

January 3, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What tools can you use to enhance your social media marketing when it comes to Twitter?

Social media marketing has paved the way for developers to create some fascinating and efficiency-boosting tools when it comes to Twitter management for your business, but with so many tools out there, it can sometimes feel like the more complicated aspect of your social media marketing arises when you have to choose the right tool for your Twitter management. Below is a breakdown of the three best social media marketing tools to manage your Twitter efficiently.

1. Hootsuite/Seesmic

Millions have signed up for and are currently using Hootsuite to manage their corporate Twitter accounts. The numbers alone go to show that this is a powerful tool when it comes to social media marketing, and there are a few reasons why. First, Hootsuite allows users to amalgamate all fo their Twitter handles under one roof, which eliminates the time wasted when it comes to managing multiple handles for one business. This may seem like a minor detail, but when you think about it, how much time can be wasted switching from account to account throughout the day and managing all of these accounts properly? It adds up.

Second, Hootsuite is one of the only tools available that allows you to integrate your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ accounts. Once the API is made available, Pinterest will be added to the mix, and virtually all of your brand’s social media marketing efforts will be manageable under the Hootsuite dashboard. No other programs make it as easy as Hootsuite, but that does not mean you can simply sign up and go. Yes, Hootsuite is a relatively intuitive program, but in order for your social media marketing to be successful, you need to take the time to learn the program. This means signing up for the Hootsuite University and going through every aspect of their training. It does not take long, and the benefits to understanding the program in its entirety will make for a much simpler management of your social media program.

There are also some strong reporting capabilities when it comes to the management system, so you will be able to observe, tweak and develop reports for your campaigns that allow both you and your managers to see exactly how successfully your programs are working.

2. SocialBro

SocialBro is a tool developed exclusively for Twitter and, more importantly, focuses on optimizing your Twitter efforts to get the most out of your campaigns. The reporting capabilities of SocialBro are unparalleled, and the data derived from the software gives insights that will help you maximize nearly every aspect of your campaigns.

SocialBro develops reports that show exactly where your tweets resonated, at what times you stand to derive the greatest benefits from tweeting, where your audience is most active throughout the day and week, and so much more. Using these reports in-house will allow you to quickly and efficiently modify your social media marketing strategies in order to ensure that every aspect of it is performing at peak levels and driving the highest results.

We have pointed out multiple times in past posts how crucial strategy is when it comes to successful social media marketing, and SocialBro allows you to optimize that strategy much faster than almost any other tool available on the market.

3. Buffer

Buffer is a simple, efficient publishing tool that, like Hootsuite, allows you to incorporate Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Combined with SocialBro, this tool is made all the more impressive as you can coordinate your scheduling with the reports generated with SocialBro to ensure that your social media marketing is functioning at maximum capacity and you are not missing out on any opportunity.

Buffer allows users to load multiple accounts, schedule posts and messages across a variety of networks, and provides some solid analytics when it comes to the success of your campaigns. (Never ignore the power of good reporting!)

There are also a ton of great apps and extras that are available with Buffer that make your social media marketing management that much simpler.

While these are just a few of the tools you can use to manage your Twitter and social media marketing, they are certainly not the only ones. However, these have been tried, tested and are true, hence our listing them as the top 3.

Can you think of any other tools that you have worked with and find to be among the best? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media: Moments to Remember 2012 [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 2, 2013/by Corey Padveen

What were some of the biggest social media moments of 2012?

There was no shortage of major events that took place in the world of social media in 2012. Having rung in the New Year earlier this week, we thought we would take this opportunity to share an infographic detailing some of the biggest social media moments of the last year. We all remember Kony, Gangnam Style and the Facebook IPO, but there might be a few moments we forgot about, or even overlooked. Have a look below for the social media year in review, and tell us in the comments or on Twitter is there are any other major moments you can think of that aren’t listed!

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