Social Media Pathways.

Mobile: Marketing To Convenience – Part 1

Kalyn — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:38:39 +0000

Part 1: Marketing Convenience

Mobile Marketing may be the ultimate in social media marketing as it offers it all: proximity to your clients, geo-positioning, and websites or local businesses as your fingertips. In a nutshell, mobile text marketing is texting messages to customers or clients that have opted into your text list. It enables you to communicate, like email, but more directly by sending text messages to their phone. Mobile texts are the only marketing that provides an immediate response since approximately 95% of text messages are opened within five minutes of receiving. I’m getting ahead of myself though. Let’s rewind.

The book 1984 was a topic when I was in Jr High. Introduced as presenting ideas that were meant to make us all panic, since big brother would be watching in the future, I wasn’t phased at all. Teenagers have bigger fish to fry than petty government invasions, after all.

Fast forwarding a couple decades later, big brother looks different than it did when I was a teenager. Although George Orwell may have arguably predicted some present-day government behaviors, I’m astonished at how many I choose myself with my phone.

Modern Day Marketing

I get up in the morning and head to the kitchen, where I check in with my phone for the first time. My smart phone

gives me any email that came in overnight, shares the day’s forecast, so I know how to dress, and let’s me know of any text messages that may require immediate response or action. Of course, my checking my phone continues throughout the day.

Here’s the thing. Lately I’ve started reading staggering statistics because I consider myself a Marketing Maven, since I co-own a company running social media marketing for our clients. Within the marketing, I’m always looking to see how my clients (and my company) can best stay on the cutting edge of social media using the best marketing practices available. So, here are some of the staggering statistics I’ve recently uncovered*:

86% of mobile internet users are using their device while watching TV
Americans average 2.7 hours per day on their mobile device

Being an authentic entrepreneur, the question that 1984, these statistics and my phone all lead me to ask is who is in charge of my routine behavior?

Well, for today let’s brush off the idea that big brother knows where I am, since I have a smart phone, and that I look to my smart phone to direct my day! We can do so because the cup is always either half full or half empty and it is important to make an intentful decision as to how we see the glass and then run with this view.

Yes, I’m on my phone all the time – though I’m hoping I’m not on the phone for 2.7 hours a day or texting while my favorite show is on TV! Yes, I can see why smart phones are rising in popularity and why mobile devices (smart phones and tablets) are rapidly replacing laptops– because they are so convenient.

I do think that I can turn my geo-locator off my phone, so that no one knows where my phone is, though I’ve taken advantage of my Google Plus friends being on the map, telling me when they will be arriving to see me. Curse or blessing?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog in which I’ll talk about turning this curse into a blessing and about mobile marketing that can benefit your business.

* Source http://www.b2bmarketinginsider.com/mobile/18-stats-on-the-mobile-market-you-need-to-know-infographic?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+B2BMarketingInsider+%28B2B+Marketing+Insider%29

Marketing to the 90% – Part 2

Business Blogs: Why do you need one and how do you make one?

Carl — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:40:47 +0000

“Blogs Will Change Your Business. Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up…or catch you later” Bloomberg BusinessWeek

In the fast-paced world of internet marketing and social media it can often seem overwhelming to small business owners struggling to find their niche in the sea of options, this need not be the case. Simple and effective tools are easily found and put in place to not only increase your digital footprint, but also to give you a better connection with current and future customers.

Blogs are one of the most effective means of sharing your expertise in your industry with customers. They are easily updated to keep information fresh and relevant, and they are available even after you have gone home for the day. A blog with relevant content can be seen by customers both near and far, and can be an important tool for making new business contacts as potential clients can learn of your experience in the field before even walking into the office.

Blogs are also important when you are actively working on raising your placement in search results. Many search engines today look not only at keywords, but also at how often fresh content is added to the site. Simply by adding and regularly updating a blog you can keep content fresh, and make yourself that much more visible in search results.

In addition to being able to quickly update your blog, customers will also be able to find information relevant to them even months after you post an article. Archived articles give customers access to a wealth of your information, and the ability for them to add comments means that even months after you post an entry you could still be using it to assist clients and recommending courses of action to your blog readers.

Now that you know why a blog is an essential part of your digital toolkit, you might be wondering how difficult they are to set up and use. The answer is: not difficult at all. Blogs are easy to install, whether as a fresh page of their own or as an add-on to existing web pages. They are also easy to use, allowing you to work regular blog updates into even the tightest of existing schedules.

Getting Started with a Business Blog

Getting started with a business blog is easier than you might think. There are no special tools required, and with readymade blogging platforms even the most novice of web users can easily set up their own blog in minutes. In fact, only three things are needed for the most basic install of a blogging platform. You will need hosted web space, a copy of your blog software and an FTP client. Once your install is in place then you will be able to add additional items such as themes and plugins as your needs determine.

One of the easiest blog platforms to install and use is WordPress. This free blogging software installs quickly and easily onto your hosted web account. In addition to its ease of use, there is a large supporting community, members of which often release free themes and plugins to vastly expand the looks and capabilities of this already hardy blogging platform.

Another advantage to WordPress is that it is robust enough to be the basis of your entire website, or versatile enough to be added onto an existing site. If you are merely adding a blog all you will need to do is provide a link to it from your main page, and if you are in the process of re-doing your website you will find that WordPress is ideal for basing an entire site upon.

Once you get started blogging about your business and what it does you’ll find even more ways to make a blog work for you. From being able to simply interact with your customers in a new way, to increasing your digital footprint you’ll soon see the rewards of adding such a vital component to your digital toolkit.

Resources

Download WordPress from the link below, then browse some of our recommended web hosting providers for the web hosting package that suits your needs.

http://www.wordpress.org

Web Hosting Providers

The Holy Trinity of Social Media: Using a Blog To Help Your Business Succeed

Carl — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:37:38 +0000

For many small business owners, expanding their marketing efforts into the digital frontier might seem like a lot of unnecessary work. Existing customers, word of mouth and local advertisement might seem to be sustaining the business.

How would you like to not just sustain your business, but make it thrive? The simple fact is that more and more of your potential customers are going to the internet to research local products and services. By establishing yourself and your business as the local business of choice in internet searches you set yourself in a good position to take on new clients who are shopping for your services.

58% Of Americans Use The Internet To Research Products And Services

One of the most important things about having an internet presence for your business is making it easier for your customers to find you. According to a Pew Internet study, 58% of Americans use the internet to research products and services before they buy. This means that if you cannot be found in search results you are missing out on more than half of your potential customers.

63% Of Searches Are Through Google

Of the major search engines used today, Google is the most popular with more than 63% of internet searches conducted using Google, according to the tracking site Hitwise. This is why you want your business to not only be seen in Google Search results, but be among the top results.

It Is Critical That Your Business Show On The First Page Of A Search

The website Search Engine Watch cites an Optify study in which it was found that the average click through rate of websites and content that are seen on the first page of a web search was just under 9%, but results on page two garnered an average of only 1.5% click through rate. For those web pages who are ranked as the top result for any particular search they averaged just under 36% of the clicks from the search.

What does that mean? What the above means is that not only is it critical that you show up on the first page of any search results for your industry, but it also means that you need to appear as highly ranked on that page as possible.

How Do I Improve My Search Engine Ranking?

So how do you improve your placement in the search engine rankings? One of the most effective ways is by having and actively maintaining a blog for your business. Google considers the age of the content as one of the important factors when determining the ranking of a result. Using a blog, and updating it often, ensures that you always have fresh content for the search engines to consider when ranking. This will not only help your ranking within Google Search, but also allow you to interact with your customers in a different way.

In about a week we’ll post another blog for you on the easiest way to set up a self-hosted blog.

Citations:

Jansen, Jim. Online Product Research. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Sep 29, 2010, http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Online-Product-Research.aspx, accessed on Dec. 8,2011.

Hitwise. Search Engine Analysis, http://www.hitwise.com/us/datacenter/main/dashboard-23984.html, accessed on Dec. 8,2011.

Goodwin, Danny. Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [Study]. April 21, 2011, http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2049695/Top-Google-Result-Gets-36.4-of-Clicks-Study, accessed on Dec. 8,2011.

Marketing to the 90% – Part 2

Kalyn — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:03:51 +0000

Social Media Marketing- Be Found

Get Your Social Media Marketing Mobile

I had ten minutes and thought I’d drop by and get something quickly on my way to my office – where is that shop? No problem, I’ll look them up on my smart phone and get the address. So, I do and the website pops right up.

Just one problem: I can’t read through the whole site, especially with such small text. I can’t even see the menu to go to a ‘contact us’ kind of button. Their site is not mobile optimized. How does a traditional website fair in your social media marketing?

Social Media Marketing: Being In Reach Means Being Mobile

The next two staggering statistics we should all keep in mind for our businesses is that 90% of people start via a search online and by 2013 more people will use mobile devices, their smart phone or tablet, over a PC.

I now believe the 90% about shopping starting on a search engine- sure, a search engine is the yellow pages nowadays. My six year old (who may never know what a yellow page book looks like) knows that we go to a search engine to look up her latest question – what is a hurricane, how do dolphins breathe and who sells the toy she wants to buy. My mother does the same thing, though she searches for airplane tickets to come see her granddaughter, winter clothes and so on.

This time the statistic that more people will get online on a mobile device over a PC is the one I question. After all, I understood this to be true already and certainly in the rest of the world. Here in the states it seems like everyone has a smart phone, and although I know that’s not completely true, I do find people prioritizing a smart phone or tablet in their lives. With tablet prices now being as low as three to four hundred dollars, unless you buy Asian tablets that cost less than a hundred dollars, tablets are taking over the Best Buy computer section. The shrinking PC offerings alone represent what the market is purchasing and the mobile device sections far exceed the PC.

Are You Capturing The Mobil Social Media Marketing Audience?

It isn’t uncommon for clients to look at me with confusion and surprise on their faces. When they start to think about all the pieces of online and social media marketing and how those are orchestrated well together. There are so many pieces between a website, social media sites, a mobile site, your email list, your search ranking…

Yes, there are many pieces to your modern social media marketing, and including a mobile site for shoppers on the go needs to be one of the things you do for your business. So many people head out the door and then get hungry or need to look in a different store – and once they are out, they are looking on mobile devices.

What Should Your Mobile Social Media Marketing Target?

Making your mobile version of your website should be simple, if you are going to make it easy for clients and customers to find you and get the information they need from you. A mobile site should be, first and foremost, like a business card. It should offer limiting information because on the go less is more. Your logo is primary; this is how you are recognized. Next to it make sure to talk about what your business is and what you offer. Make sure that your clickable phone number is on the first page and easy to see. Your address should come next, which can also be clickable to a map, making it easy for your client or customer.

The next important information is a button allowing your viewer to see your full site. A viewer on the go who has a tablet or some time may want to look deeper in. While you want to include a few menu buttons on your mobile site about your offerings, though not as many as you would on your website, you want to give your mobile viewer access to what you are best known for or what you specialize in. This is why menu buttons on a mobile site are generally at the bottom of the page, not at the top the way they would be on a traditional web site. This is also where you want to place your social media icons.

A mobile site allows your social media marketing to keep you friendly, familiar and easy to connect with or find. If you want a great example of a good mobile feel and look, look to Google. A search on Google for a local shop or restaurant makes finding what you want easy to find, to see and to click through to.

Modern marketing is social. Today’s consumer is accustomed to feeling close and connected with family and friends through their social media circles. They are used to being able to look anything up and find out about almost anything. In a world where so many things can be reached through our fingertips, you need to make sure that your social media marketing is available to your clients and customers fingertips too.

Social Media Marketing To The 90%

Kalyn — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:04:39 +0000

Part One

Social Media Marketing To Tap Into 90% of Purchases

by Kalyn Bastion-Gerber

I read a staggering statistic yesterday: 90% of all purchases begin on the internet.

As a business owner and as someone who runs marketing for others, I saw my website flash in my mind. Instantly the questions we all need to ask came to mind:

Is my site easy to navigate?
Is it easy to understand what my site offers?
Do visitors know how to become a client with just one click?

Next my critical mind kicked in: 90% of all purchases? Isn’t that too high? Then I thought about the things I purchase. Groceries aside, I do look online to research a product; I browse a favorite site offering purses and jewelry for fun (modern-day window shopping) and I even look at Best Buy online before going in. Groceries aside, my family and friends all do the same thing.

Now my rational mind got to thinking that 90% might be low.

Yes, it is a small internet-world. I can buy almost anything from anywhere and my tablet is the first place I look.

The Next Two Social Media Marketing Staggering Statistics:

You have 10 seconds to capture someone’s attention before the average person leaves your website – and 78% trust online opinion.

I just spoke with a girlfriend who is going on a first date – and in less than ten seconds, in just a few second, long enough for her to say “he’s taking me to Pascuals” I gave her a thumbs up.

Ten seconds may seem like too short a time for someone to make a conclusion about you and what you offer, but the truth is it doesn’t take long to make a quick first observation and decision as to whether to exit a site or move on. The only other reason to take more time before jumping to a conclusion about a site is the opinion or recommendation of others. The opinion of those who have been before will, no doubt, cause a viewer to look deeper at a site, which is why social proof, or online opinion, is so important.

The Holy Trinity of Social Media Marketing

How do you work with these statistics? The most beautiful websites with no traffic won’t enjoy those 90% visitors – something must drive the traffic to your website, whether it is ad words, social media or your website’s search engine rank (so that your website shows on the first page of a Google search). The most socially active businesses, on the other hand, with no blog won’t enjoy the purchases either!

Yes, social media is free, but the time commitment is considerable. The key to capturing the purchases online, whether you sell online or have a retail shop, is to use the Holy Trinity of Social Media. You must use Twitter and Pinterest to create your online community or network of followers who like what you offer and are or are becoming your loyal customers. Then you need a place for people to be able to interact and hear about you and your business’ offerings. For quick and various updates, Facebook informs your followers and can help capture email addresses. For more in-depth information about your business, your blog is pivotal.

When used in conjunction your social media marketing will draw traffic in through Twitter and Pinterest, will keep your community informed about you through your blogs and Facebook updates and will allow you to reach a widening audience as you share more and more about your wonderful services, specials, discounts and your businesses personality.

Staggering Social Media Marketing Statistics

10 reasons to realign your website (infographic)

Blog, Blog, Blog

Kalyn — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:41:20 +0000

Social Media Marketing: The Importance Of A Blog

What does a blog have to do with your social media marketing?
I must begin by telling you that when I first heard about blogs several years ago I thought that the word “Blog” sounded like it should be describing an amorphous, one-eyed amoeba.

In this business, I’ve changed my definition! Today I’ll change your definition too.

Benefits of social media marketing

From Social Media Examiner

“The number-one benefit of social media marketing is standing out in an increasinglynoisy world. A significant 88% of all marketers indicated that their social media effortshave generated more exposure for their businesses. Improving traffic and subscriberswas the second major benefit, with 72% reporting positive results.

Nearly two-thirds of marketers indicated a rise in search engine rankings was a benefitof social media marketing. As search engine rankings improve, so will businessexposure and lead generation efforts, and overall marketing expenses will decrease.Slightly more than half of marketers found social media generated qualified leads. ” Social Media Examiner”

How Social Media Marketing Leads Turn Into Customer Conversion

As per Hubspot, social media marketing is becoming a powerful form of marketing. This form of marketing, as you know, offers you the benefit of exposure 24-7 and can provide a world-wide reach. More and more, businesses are finding the power of social media marketing and increasing their inbound marketing, as seen in this chart:

Hubspot

We know you too are enjoying the benefits of this greener and economical marketing which creates a direct community of followers for you.

More interesting still is which social channel converts leads to customers most?

You may be surprised to learn that your blog is what most grabs the attention of potential sales, illustrated by the graph below.

Hubspot

In the Holy Trinity of Social Media Marketing (a Blog, Twitter, and Facebook), your blog is the center of the web in your social media marketing. Clients who do not have blogs do not enjoy as much activity on their accounts or as many sales as those of you with a blog.Of course, we drive traffic to your blog (and website) using Twitter, primarily, and Facebook. The key to our Holy Trinity of Social Media is to create a web, if you will, of content, allowing followers to know you better and better.

This is because a blog allows a potential client to get to learn about you, about what you specialize in and about your business’ brand. By getting to know you, an association is formed in their perception of you. If you sell amazing artwork, when they think of artwork (and purchasing it) and when they have read your blog (and emails) then they think of you!

Conclusion: You Need To Be Utilizing A Blog In Your Effective Social Media Marketing

If you aren’t currently blogging or having us write your blogs for you, your social media marketing efforts are not what they could be. The Holy Trinity of Social media accounts for both sides of a coin to make you money: both the traffic and the content are needed in your marketing. After all, traffic with no where to go means followers can’t hook into your business. On the other hand, blogs with no traffic mean that even the greatest information about your business can go unread.

Whether you have the time and inclination to blog for your business or whether we are providing this service for you, kudos to those of you who are not leaving money on the table!

And for those of you who aren’t blogging, come talk to us! Let’s get your business buzzing and increase your brand presence through social media marketing!

How Much Blog?

Apparently there is no such thing as blogging too much! Our final graph shows a direct correlation of blogging frequency to customer acquisition.

Hubspot

Again, the greater the more information you make available about your business and brand the more your followers get to know you and perceive you as you want them to.

No, we don’t think you need to publish a blog a day or twice a day! We include links to your past blogs on Twitter as well as your new ones. While this doesn’t replace blogging more frequently, it does offer a variety of blog hooks to capture clients on through the web of your social media.

Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization: Better Together

Kalyn — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:46:44 +0000

If you’re selling something online, or even if you’re selling something offline but use a website to help drive traffic you have probably heard the term ‘SEO’ (Search Engine Optimization) but are you aware of what this is and how it relates to your website?

What You Want To Know:

“97% of consumers use the Internet to research products or services in their local area”

(http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/two-more-studies-confirm-people-research-online-buy-locally/2901/)

What You Need To Know:

How to rank your website on Google, especially since Bing and Yahoo tend to follow Google, so when you rank on Google you tend to rank well on Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.

What You Are Probably Now Asking:

How does Google determine my page position?

Great question!

Google, technically speaking, determines rank based on two things: on-site optimization and off-site backlinks.

And now, for the first time, Google is starting to add social media signals to their algorithm.

Let’s put this in language I understand!

Google, relatively speaking, runs a popularity contest and list sites based on how popular they are. The idea being that, if you are popular, what you have to say should be heard more so. On the other hand, if you are not then you likely don’t offer what people want or need to hear. Google determines this by looking at your site and how you define yourself. Key words on your site and your site’s description and meta tags tell Google what you say your site is all about. Then Google looks to your affiliations with other sites in your same category. These are the back links. After all, the more other sites link to you, especially authority sites, the more Google thinks you must know your stuff and be popular. When an authority site’s links to you it raises your rank, since, in Google’s eyes, the authority site has a well established reputation.

Social Media

Thus, you are probably trying to determine how social media fits into your goals for your website and business as well. How do you use the tools of social media to raise awareness of your site and drive business?

The good news is that the best practices for both search engine optimization (SEO) and social media optimization (SMO) and marketing overlap in several key areas.

Social Media Marketing

While the goal of SEO may be to attract your audience through search, the goal of social media marketing is to foster relationships with new and existing clients leading to more awareness of your business and more traffic to your website. By maintaining a dialog with your customers you are more likely to be remembered when it comes time for them to make a purchase.

Good Social Media Marketing tactics include:

Create Viral Content – With over 845 million active users per month on Facebook* sharing photos, information and “Liking” 2.7 billion times per day, providing useful and dynamic content that makes customers want to share your information is imperative.
Increase Your Reach – With 2 billion views per day on YouTube* and one out of ten internet users getting on to YouTube, it is more and more important to demonstrate yourself and your brand through video marketing on youtube.
Twitter, the second largest social media site with over 465 million accounts*, is another great place to increase your reach. Tweet valuable content, of which 92% is re-tweeted*, and your informational, interesting or fun update can go viral.
Become Image-Friendly – Look out for the new kid on the block- Pinterest! - “Pinterest is generating more referral traffic to websites than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn combined.” A picture with few words will take people on Pinterest (with over 13 million users as per http://onlinemarketingbits.blogspot.com/2012/03/pinterest.html) to your website to see the original image.
Notice: The population of the USA is 312 million people, which is smaller than the populations on Facebook or Twitter, and Pinterest’s users are rising at record rates.

While other elements of social media campaigns will vary depending on the customer base and the industry, these core elements should be present in almost any social media campaign.

Now Google also looks at the popularity of your sites on social networks. The more your site is mentioned or seen on social networks with a link to your site, the higher Google will rank it.

The Sweet Spot

Branding and advertising yourself today is multi-faceted. Customers want content whether they find you though a search engine or are a part of your existing social networks. What kind of content? If you can answer a question, provide valuable insight into your product or even entertain them, then you have something of value.

Even better, proper use of both SEO and Social Media Management will improve both efforts:

Customers arriving via search who find useful content are already engaged, making it a great time to display your social media links on your website to strategically convert them into social media followers.
Place your best and newest content in front of your social following. Good content gets talked about and shared, thus creating the links that lead into your website and boost your SEO.
The content on both your website’s blog and your social media will increase awareness and traffic of your business and increase your SEO, your search ranking.

Search engines look for authority sites, and by interacting with customers you can build your authority as a key resource. When used properly, both efforts boost the other. Search engine optimization and social media marketing really are better together.

*Stats http://www.business2community.com/social-media/48-significant-social-media-facts-figures-and-statistics-plus-7-infographics-0167573

Analyzing the Benefits of Google Analytics

Jennifer — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:39:14 +0000

An internet presence is vital for any business; however there is more to it than just hosting a web page with your hours of operation and a phone number. To truly make the most of your internet presence you need to determine how much traffic your website is receiving, how your customers find you on the web and how they interact with your website once they are there.

If you’re not tracking your visitors with a service such as Google Analytics you are missing out on valuable information about your website. Google Analytics can tell you how many people are visiting your page, how they are coming there and even how long they stay.

How many people visit your website?

• Do you know how many visitors you get to your website?

• Can you track trends from day to day?

• Do you get the most visitors on Sunday, or Thursday?

• A statistics counter can help answer these questions for you.

If you are not counting the visitors to your web page you then you’re not getting the information you need to determine how effective your site is. A website is a powerful marketing platform, however if you’re not tracking it you don’t know if you’re talking to a small group or a stadium sized crowd. As a business owner you likely have goals for your website (and if not, you should), so make sure that those goals are being met.

How do your customers find you?

• Did visitors to your website go to it directly or were they led there by a Google Search?

• Were they referred to your site from a social media post or a news article?

• If you’re not monitoring where your traffic is coming from then you are missing a vital component to increasing and keeping visitor counts to your website high.

Part of making your website work for your business is understanding how people to come to it in the first place, and then how they navigate it. Google analytics can track not only how visitors interact with your website, but it can also tell you how they came to your website to begin with. You can discover which search terms you show up under, or which other websites are referring customers to yours. By knowing what leads customers to your website you can decide to strengthen those aspects even more for increased traffic, or build up other areas of your site to increase leads to more of what you have to offer.

Why do Customers stay on (or leave) your website?

• What part of your website is most popular?

• When people visit where do they spend the most time?

• How much time is your customer spending on your page?

• By identifying what your customers are looking at once they have arrived, you can determine how effective some of your messages are.

It happens every day; somebody clicks the dreaded ‘back’ button without exploring your site. Called the “Bounce Rate”, this is something you want to minimize. Instead of focusing on why they are leaving, focus on the things that people stay for. Do your visitors immediately head to your blog? Do they click on offers or sales notifications? Google analytics can tell you where on your page your visitors go, and more importantly how long they stay there. This is content that is already engaging your customers, so if it’s not easily accessible to first time visitors then it is time to put it in front of them. By focusing on what is already working and making sure that new visitors can find your most compelling content you will see your Bounce Rate drop and interactions climb.

Why Wait?

Google Analytics is an effective way to not only monitor how your customers find you on the internet, but also what keeps them there. Using the insights you receive you can focus efforts to build up parts of your site that need more focus, or strengthen what people are already looking for. Instead of merely maintaining an internet presence with a little work and knowledge you can make your business thrive.

No related posts.

Timeline’s Great Effect

Jennifer — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:00:05 +0000

New Facebook format increases fan engagement by 46 percent

Facebook just rolled out its new timeline format late last month, and already its impact on businesses is being carefully monitored. Simply Measured, a social media analytics company, measured fan engagement on the pages of 15 early adopters of the timeline.

The study found that the timeline increases fan engagement by 46 percent per post. Engagement with interactive posts, such as those that include videos or photos, increased up to an astounding 65 percent, according to the study.

Early on, Facebook promised the upgrade would help tell a company’s story and encourage its fans to engage directly with its page. It seems to have delivered on its promise.

The Value of the Visual

Engaging multimedia content is more important than ever on the new Facebook. The timeline is highly visual and allows you to draw attention to engaging or important content with the pinning capability.

Much of the increase in engagement the study found was the result of users’ ability to locate compelling content more easily and continue to engage with it over the course of weeks instead of days.

Now that interactive content stands out more, it is even more important to make sure you are including it on your page. Photos, videos, and surveys are all great ways to capture the interest of your fans.

A Storytelling Medium

Overall, the study found the timeline increases fan engagement by 14 percent. Its ability to tell a company’s story in a richer, more engaging manner is a great advantage. Use it to help your fans learn about you, discover what is important to your brand, and engage with you in a richer way through pinning important events or information, noting important moments in your history, and including plenty of photos and video.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to increase your reach and your impact on your fans. Make sure your new Facebook page is engaging and well designed before the deadline for the switch at the end of this month.

Embracing Change: Why Timeline for Facebook Pages is good for your business!

Jennifer — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:49:44 +0000

By now you’ve seen the notifications on your page management, and you may have already started switching your Facebook Page over to the new Timeline format. However, have you looked into all of the benefits that the new format offers? If you haven’t, then take the time now to look at how Timeline can help your Facebook presence.

A picture is worth 1000 words

The old adage is that “A picture is worth 1000 words”, since a single picture can receive more reaction than a text post of the same content.

You might have already noticed that the Facebook Timeline format has room for stunning pictures in the cover photo and in milestones. These large format images are perfect for showing off exactly what your brand has to offer.

Your cover image is the first thing that your customers will now see on your Facebook Timeline Page, so use it to describe your brand… without the 1000 words of writing. Decide how you want to portray yourself to your customers, and choose an appropriate cover photo. There is no end of creative options you have before you: a photo collage can present the highlights of your brand, or a single focus can remind customers of a core element. Ask yourself what you want customers to think of when they think of you and your product, and capture that in an image. Just remember that there are a few new restrictions on the photo cover; cover photos are not to contain promotional, information or call to action elements. However, you can have these in other areas of your page.

Focus Where You Want It

New in Timeline is the placement of your apps. Gone are the days of obscure links down the sidebar with your promotions and link pages. Your apps are now clearly placed just below your cover image. Take advantage of this new placement and the new larger App Images to bring new focus to your coupons, promotions, videos, information and more.

One of the best ways to highlight your apps is to make use of the app images. Now, instead of just a text link, you can highlight your app with a picture that informs your customers of what they will find in the link. Additionally the ability to rearrange most of the apps helps you to shift the focus to what you want your customers to see first.

Get Inspired!

Still trying to decide how to portray your brand in Timeline? Don’t be afraid to look to other businesses for inspiration. Here are stunning examples of some of our clients already using Timeline. Or look at what some of your favorite companies are doing to help you decide how you want to portray your page.

Plaza Cafe

The first thing you notice about the Timeline for Plaza Café is that your mouth starts watering at first sight of the collage of menu items. Then perfectly placed underneath is the link to the latest coupon so that suddenly hungry visitors have incentive to be diners. http://www.facebook.com/plazacafesouthside

Waxlander Gallery

The Cover Photo for Waxlander Gallery evokes a sense of wonder from the viewer. Sculptures rise from the garden, while the artwork hanging on the side of the building draws the eye around the image. The overall effect is very welcoming and seems to invite the Timeline visitor to come to the gallery and see what other treasures are hiding. http://www.facebook.com/waxlander

Mark White Fine Art

Mark White Fine Art brings the focus to the widely popular sculpture garden and a medley of movement. The visitor is greeted with a stunning photo of the Kinetic Wind Sculptures. The bright patina of the sculpture against the clear blue sky is immediately eye catching and reinforces the fact that Mark White is a visionary in the field of Kinetic Sculpture. http://www.facebook.com/markwhitefineart

Canyon Road Merchant Association

The Cover Photo for the Canyon Road Merchant Association is simple yet elegant. The large text both catches the eye and reinforces that Canyon Road is a destination rather than a product. The theme is then continued with a simple collage of photos showing some of what you’ll find there. http://www.facebook.com/canyonroadmerchantsassociation

Andiamo! Neighborhood Trattoria

Underneath a sophisticated collage of menu items and logo is a shining example of how you can make app images and placement work best for you. Visitors to the Andiamo! Neighborhood Trattoria Timeline page can make reservations with a single click. Once the reservations are made the diners can then like the page and print out a coupon to take with them for their meal. http://www.facebook.com/andiamosantafe