Managing a brand’s social media details—both large and small – seems endless. And it is! But there is a way to lighten the load without giving up control and without losing focus.
The brands that are most successful in social media know the secret to getting things done and maintaining a stellar image. They have help.
We’re not suggesting that they hire someone to do it all for them. Rather, they partner with smart resources that make sure their brand shines in the best light.
You probably already know that inbox clutter is the enemy of email readership. Whether it’s subject lines that are more “meh” than marvelous, or promotions that bore rather than bedazzle, the content you offer your audience via email marketing has to be interesting, relevant and valuable to them. This is especially true with promotions. Here are some tips and best practices to get you thinking about a summer promotion campaign with serious chops.
We’ve previously mentioned the value of links and that having them is like having a referral: the better the source, the stronger the referral. This is a key part of search engine optimization (SEO), and it’s something that every website should constantly strive to earn. But there are no real short cuts to earning quality links. It takes work, networking, quality content that people want to link to, and an active outreach effort. This is why links are important to search engines – they signify that you have a quality website.
We talk a lot about what to say via social media. In fact, you may think we’re a bit obsessed with the Who, What, Where, When and Why elements of social media engagement. And we are. For good reason. No matter how much you think about – and how carefully you plan – your campaigns, new schools of thought are constantly popping up that make you wonder if you’re doing it right. We all process and apply things differently. Similarly, what’s good for one business is irrelevant for another. That’s why we’re always looking for parameters to help guide our clients along the way.
Allow me to share share with you the following statistics. Thank you kindly for reserving judgment.
These figures make some people break out in hives, but for me, thanks to Gmail’s super dependable search feature, having thousands of emails doesn’t bother me. Like, at all. If I want to search my massive inbox for the Yummiest Summer Succotash Recipe Ever (it really is) to send to my mother-in-law, it’s no problem. Search. Done. I move on.
You’ve read it over and over again: content is king. You also know that to engage your audience, you’ve got to post high-quality content that not only grabs their attention but also adds value. So you sit down in front of your computer, and you’re stumped. You feel like you don’t know where to start or that you don’t have anything to add or you’re just completely overwhelmed. Sound familiar?
Producing content for posts, tweets and updates across all of your social media platforms can be daunting. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a grab bag of ideas to pull from when nothing new is coming easily to mind.
Links were one of the very first tools in the SEO tool kit. Think of them as the hammer. Things have definitely evolved. You don’t always need a hammer anymore, and it may not be the most important tool you own, BUT it is still very useful and every toolbox should have one.
That said, never pay a link farm to get you links. This is a scam – there are no two ways about it. They have bad links that won’t do anything for you in the long run, and they can get your website kicked off of Google. Yes, that does happen.
So let’s talk about good links, the kind you want and should be working to get every single day. A link from another website – especially a reputable one – is like a recommendation with your resume. The more people/websites that approve of you, the better. Not only do you reap the reward of their credibility and respect by being affiliated with them, but you’ll also be viewed as more popular. Garner more and more links and your website will rise on Google. This can’t be bought, it must be earned.
As professionals, we don’t need to do things just for the sake of doing them. In fact, if we can’t identify exact purpose or relate efforts to ROI, we’re apt to nix things from our To Do Lists pretty quickly.
Social Media is—and isn’t—the exception to the rule. We often hear from folks who are looking for “other” marketing solutions because they don’t feel social media works for them. Sometimes, the reasons social media efforts aren’t working are very apparent.
Usually, the biggest reason for ineffective, unproductive social media presence is because it’s too one-sided. If your social media venues contain nothing but ads and commercials about your brand or product, you may want to re-consider your strategy.
It’s no secret that a primary goal of any marketing campaign is to change or influence consumer behavior. You want consumer’s choices to directly or indirectly enhance your sales results, and there are several ways to ensure this. Knowing your audience is key, but even more important is your ability to provide them with something of quality—not only a quality product, but quality content that educates, inspires and/or builds loyalty and trust. Read on for some ideas on using email marketing to change consumer behavior for the better.
Before you go deep into the Twitterverse, make the most of your time, energy and money by developing a strong content strategy that will engage your community and that supports your business objectives.
In its social media strategy guide, HootSuite offers a list of things that your strategy should include: 1) what types of content you intend to post, 2) how often you will post, 3) target audience for each type of post, 4) who will create the content and 5) how you will promote the content. Since we’re focusing on Twitter, each of these will play out a little differently in the context of our 5 steps to Twitter content stardom. Read more
