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Tag: social media marketing

Improving EdgeRank on Facebook Pages: Chasing the Mythical 16%

Facebook has been rather straightforward about the fact that Pages only reach about 16% of their fans on average organically. The social media giant recommends posting engaging content, such as videos and photos, or asking questions of your fans in order to reach a wider audience. Of course, they also heavily recommend promoting your content so that more of your fans have an opportunity to see it and interact with your page. But, what if you simply don’t have the budget to spend on social influence?

We typically don’t sponsor posts on Search Influence’s Facebook account, so it seemed like the perfect candidate for a case study on organic reach. I started the project in March with no real goal other than figuring out if our reach could grow just by changing the type of content we were sharing on our page. I was already posting on a daily basis, but we saw very little interaction with our fan-base, and practically no interaction from fans who were not directly connected to our office (employees, spouses, my mom…).

The Experiment (and a little trial and error):

I began posting much more image-heavy content and focused a lot more on interacting with our biggest brand advocates– our employees. Sharing photos increased post reach from the get go, but reach grew exponentially larger when we tagged our employees in photos of them. That simple act could take a photo from a reach of 350 to 500 or more. We also took some of our internal contests to the Facebook page, asking our fans to weigh in on the “Best April Fool’s Day Meme” and “Best Group Costume”. These questions were seen by thousands of users, because a News Feed “story” is created for each person who answers a question. We also posted photo albums of company events, which were quite successful in terms of reach.

After only two weeks of focusing on sharing pictures, albums and videos on our page in addition to our daily blogs, the results were glaringly obvious. The reach difference between a link post and an image post ranged anywhere from 15-40%, which is a sizable amount when you’re looking at our total fan count. On average, the image posts were reaching 34% of our fans, with some reaching upwards of 54%. The link posts featuring our blogs? Not so much. They reached only 14% of our fans on average and often much less than that. I will happily admit to being a big data nerd, and these numbers certainly don’t lie.

But… what does this have to do with EdgeRank?

To calculate EdgeRank, Facebook looks at three main factors for each post (or “edge”): Affinity, Weight, and Time Decay. The “Weight” factor is where post type plays in, and clearly has a huge impact on how frequently your “Edge” gets seen by your fans. By utilizing post types with a heavier Weight, you are more likely to show up on users’ News Feed, and therefore much more likely to get interaction (which increases your “Affinity” score for that fan). When you really think about the algorithm, these two elements are so intertwined that one distinctly begets another.

By increasing the Weight of our posts, we reached a wider variety of our fans. As those fans began seeing more of our content, they interacted with it, which further increased our Page’s reach amongst our audience. After a few weeks of posting more heavily weighted content, we were seeing a larger Reach for ALL of our posts, not just those with images. We also took the knowledge we gained about post types and applied it to our blog posts– posting a blog with a photo instead of just a link improved its organic reach significantly. By slightly modifying our posting, we greatly improved our interaction level and reach. Have any other good ideas to improve Facebook Page EdgeRank or Reach? Let us know in the comments!

July 23, 2013
5 Ways to Use Instagram for Business and Build Your Social Media Presence

Many businesses, small and large, have started using Instagram as a way to build their brands and online presence. Not only is Instagram an effective and useful way for businesses to promote themselves, but it is also a way to create connections with customers through engaging content. Also, photo sharing through Instagram allows a business to reach customers without an overload of clutter and superfluous content.

1. Employ Hashtags to Increase Discoverability

According to the press page on Instagram, they currently have 130 million active users. In order to captivate this large audience, the use of keywords is essential. It’s been said by many Instagram gurus that using less than three hashtags in a post drastically limits your discoverability. Sites like top-hashtags.com tell you what hashtags are trending and most used at the time, but anything relevant to your content is good to use. For example, a local non-profit organization for music can often use the hashtags #NOLAmusic #NOLAevents #NOLAnonprofits. If you’re a local business in a city with a well known abbreviation, you should always attach this abbreviation to keywords in hashtags in order to target your ideal audience. It is important for all businesses to understand what audience they are targeting on a social media platform like Instagram.

2. Sponsor Contests

Many businesses use Instagram for contests and giveaways. A great example of this is the cruelty-free, handmade cosmetics brand Lush and their giveaway using the hashtag #LUSHtravels. They encouraged users to post a picture of their favorite products for traveling using the hashtag. The contestants with the best photos would win a new set of their favorite products. This not only promoted participation with the brand but also created free publicity and positive reviews for their products.

3. Create Hype for New Products

Another way businesses can use Instagram to their advantage is to excite their audience about upcoming products. A company that does this effectively at the moment is the vegan cosmetics brand, Lime Crime. They are constantly creating new products for their customers, and the last set of new lipsticks they released were so anticipated that their site was crashed by too many orders on the release date. Lately they’ve been posting sneak peeks of a new lipstick color and locations of cosmetics expos where you can try it out before anyone else. Product promotion and sneak peeks are a great way to keep people feeling like they’re in the loop and not missing out on anything.

4. Utilize Cross-Promotion with Facebook

According to Ragan’s PR Daily, 60 percent of major brands, including Starbucks and Nike, are using Instagram. Many of these brands also share their pictures from Instagram on other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Although Instagram dropped Twitter support in December, they have gracefully regained popularity since then. ZOG Digital provided a chart that shows the effectiveness of cross-promotional engagement with other social media platforms. See above.

5. Humanize Your Brand via Engaging Content

Instagram is a great way for businesses to create a personality for their brand. It allows a business to mold the way it is perceived by their customers. A great way to create positive brand recognition is through engaging content like behind the scenes photos and interactive and unique hashtag involvement. The online eyeglasses brand Warby Parker has effectively done the former by showing pictures of their employees enjoying a recent “Field Day” where they show a philanthropic side to the company with relay races for charity. Also, Instagram itself has an exciting hashtag event called Weekend Hashtag Project where every weekend a theme is chosen and the best user photos taken over that weekend are posted the following Monday on the company’s blog. This kind of content makes users feel connected and shows how the product itself can be used to its fullest.

Whether you choose to engage customers or simply promote your content, Instagram is an effective tool to improve your brand and is quickly becoming a necessity for any well known brand.

July 15, 2013
Turn Quiet Customers into Brand Ambassadors with the Right Social Media Content Strategy
Thanks to Panda and social signals becoming more prevalent than ever in Search Engine algorithms, content both on and off-site is moving to the forefront of most SEO and online marketing strategies. Truly exceptional content not only ranks well, but is shared virally and provides a real value to the reader.

Something I really began believing at PubCon NOLA this year is that social signals for search go beyond just whether someone likes or shares your content. The social signals Google is looking for have more to do with whether your customers are talking online about their experience with you after their purchase.

Source: mvellandi Flickr http://bit.ly/8vqROG

The problem here is the ratio between people who want to shout it from the rooftops when they have a bad experience to those who openly share when they are excited or had a positive experience. In today’s social age, everyone is a journalist, food critic, secret shopper and referral source. The average Facebook user has 229 friends on the social network, meaning that if they so choose, they can instantly alert at least 229 friends to stay far away from the new Italian restaurant in the neighborhood after finding a hair on the pizza.

That’s pretty powerful. There aren’t many other platforms that allow one individual to communicate with so many others so quickly, and to be so expressive while doing it.

As a business, you’ve probably been told that you need to be marketing on social media to protect your reputation online and grow your business by generating leads or driving more customers into your store. I would challenge you to think beyond that.

When is the last time you had a great experience at a local restaurant? Did you tell anyone about it? If so, how many people? Now think about the reverse. Chances are, you told a few more people about the negative experience than you did the positive one.

It is time to change our thinking when it comes to social messaging, beyond the traditional “lead gen” mindset. Rather than trying to push your product on someone who’s never used it or heard of it, why not look for opportunities to engage your existing happy but quiet customers and get them talking? Social media gives marketers and businesses the opportunity to turn a customer into a brand ambassador.

Yes, we have to make sure we watch out for Panda and keep an eye on that pesky Google and their algo updates when it comes to on-site content strategy. I don’t mean for my focus on social to suggest that you should move your entire content strategy off your own website and onto social platforms. But, if we think about using our online content strategies to lift up our happy customers, get them sharing and engaging with us, just imagine the viral potential to reach their friends and family–new business you haven’t yet tapped into.

You’re probably like, “Ok, I get your point, but how do I DO that?” Funny you should ask! Social media content strategies will vary by business and industry, but here are some tips for converting your social media following into brand ambassadors:
1. Tone down the sales messages and pushy language. No more than about 20% of your social messaging should be self-referential or portray a sales message. Within this 20%, remember that the goal of these posts should be to provide a real value proposition to the audience. This could include specials, deals or contests.
  
  While this is basically a self-promotional post for Shutterfly, an online photo service, they are providing a value to their customers with a create-your-own cover photo featuring dad for Father’s Day.
1. Reward your loyal customers and followers with exclusive information. Whether is a sneak peak into an upcoming in-store special or just a “Did You Know” fact, people love to feel like they have the inside scoop, so give it to them!
  
  Online retailer HauteLook hosts designer pop-up sales for a limited time until inventory is sold. They effectively use social media to make their audience feel like they’re getting the inside scoop while also promoting the upcoming sale.
2. Feature your fans. Everyone loves to be recognized, so give your fans a moment to shine by choosing to feature them every once in awhile. They’re more likely to share the content with their friends and family (increasing the potential reach of your future posts).
3. A little subtlety goes a long way. I’m a big proponent of including a call to action in your post, but it’s best not to take it to the extreme. Providing a share-worthy piece of content to your pre-qualified audience with a slight nudge can never hurt.
  
  Disneyland provides a great piece of content with a direct call to action: share. And share they did! The piece resonates well with their audience and was timely for the Mother’s Day holiday.
1. Post well and post often. At PubCon New Orleans this year, Alison Zarella (another AZ girl!) said it best: “the newsfeed is crowded.” As a business or brand, your competition on Facebook is not limited only to the business across the street that sells the same product. You’re also competing for your audience’s attention with the likes of their moms, distant cousins, besties and frenemies. If you don’t post great content and do it consistently, you’ll never be seen.
2. Reply, reply, reply! Make sure to reply to your customers who comment or post with questions! Facebook and social networks are where people spend a lot of their time these days, so getting a quick reply and notification of that reply is what they expect.
3. Be flexible and test for yourself. Above all else, try new things and test multiple approaches with your fans. There’s lots of information and data out there about what works, when to post and how to do it, but the truth is that every industry is different. You’ll never know what is the most effective for your brand until you try new things, compare results and adjust your approach.
July 1, 2013
Company Profile: Culture Shock LLC

One of the reasons I love New Orleans is that living local is part of everyday life. People love shopping and eating at local businesses. Thankfully, you won’t find many chains in the New Orleans zip codes (you need to go out to Metairie for that)! My friend Christine Alex recently started a jewelry business that imports handmade pieces from several countries across the world. This Q&A profiles her company, touching on why it totally fits in with the local New Orleans vibe.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I came up with the idea for Culture Shock when I was traveling abroad. I thought it was cool to bring back jewelry instead of postcards to my friends and family. The jewelry became a hit and eventually more and more people began giving me money and asking me to bring items back for them. That’s when I thought it would be really neat for people to be able to buy handmade items from all over the world without having to leave their couch. Culture Shock became an LLC in October 2012 and officially launched on January 18, 2013.

What is the goal/vision for your business?
When I studied abroad, I gained a deep level of respect for other cultures and as a result, appreciated my own culture so much more. My goal is to educate my customers about other cultures while selling them a piece of someone else’s culture to wear.

What products do you offer?
I sell jewelry that I hand picked from all over the world. The biggest countries that I receive my inventory from are Nicaragua, India, and Nigeria. Aside from offering a selection of imported items, I also began creating my own ethnic inspired items. In addition, as a way of honoring my own Creole culture, I created an apparel line under Culture Shock called Naturally Creole. This line offers a selection of Creole-themed apparel and accessories.

Do you have an online presence? Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest?
Yes, I have a website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Facebook and Instagram receive the most engagement from followers. I have noticed usually the same people follow us across social media platforms.

Why do you use Facebook? What is the benefit that it is bringing to your business?
I use Facebook because it’s where my customers are, and I want to develop a relationship with them. Facebook allows my customers to understand the personality of my brand and learn more about my company and the products that I offer.

On the content she posts to her platforms:
I try to post content related to the countries that I import my items from. I post photos, videos, and open-ended questions. Pictures usually receive the most activity from our followers. On Pinterest, I pin items from our website.

Do you run any contests on Facebook? If so, what kind?
Yes, giveaways.

On her customers:
Word of mouth and social media have been important in building brand awareness and getting people to buy our great pieces. I’d love to get more interaction from our social media followers to continue to build the brand!

Business Info:
Culture Shock, LLC
P.O. Box 2217 Harvey, LA 70059
504-256-3337
www.cultureshock101.com
www.facebook.com/cultureshockllc
Twitter: @cultureshockllc
Pinterest: cultureshockllc
Contact email: [email protected]

June 18, 2013
#Facebook #Hashtag #Apocalypse

I love a good hashtag, y’all. I think everybody does! They are great engaging pieces of content in social media posts that can really build engagement among your followers. They are also extensions of your post that allow you to specify your tone and point of view. Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, and several other platforms have all integrated hashtags into their interface and users love them. Personally, I’ve been using hashtags with these platforms for years, and I find that it really allows my sarcastic personality to shine through!

Well I have BIG news for y’all. Between 11pm last night (when I last checked my facebook) and 9:30 am (when I first checked my facebook today), Facebook rolled out the use of hashtags. And I gotta say… I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Now, we all knew this was coming. There have been rumblings of it for weeks! But, it is finally here. I feel like an apocalypse has happened in the social media world. I mean, c’mon… hashtags are just for Twitter and Pinterest right? Right?! Apparently not.

What I’m interested in is how the hashtags will be incorporated considering Facebook’s privacy settings. I am hashtagging under the pretense that hashtags are for trending purposes. But if my settings are “Friends Only”, does that mean that my post will not be part of what is trending on Facebook? I’d love to know the answer to that one!

Here are some shots from the trending hashtag, #hashtag, as of this morning. Some people are stoked, and some are not so stoked. How do you feel about this?

Hashtag Haters:

Hashtag Lovers:

June 14, 2013
5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

1. A New Google Search Result in Beta – Search Engine Land

As usual, Google is always testing new search results and the way the results display. Dr. Peter Meyers of Moz recently noticed a change in the Google search interface. The results displayed included restaurant reviews from Reason, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal when he searched [mexican restaurants].

2. Facebook Cuts Ad Units – Facebook

In a recent announcement, Facebook plans to consolidate its ad offerings down from 27 to close to half of that. Offers for online deals will disappear and they are changing way “Sponsored Stories” are laid out. Expect these changes to slowly roll out.

3. Beware of Big Brother – The Guardian

If you have heard of this NSA PRISM program, you should pay attention now. The Guardian uncovered a top secret document that showed that officials had direct access to systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other internet bigwigs. The document was allegedly used to educate intelligence operatives on the program.

4. Google is now Displaying Option to Claim Local Business in Search Results – Mike Blumenthal

Jade W of Google announced that Google will now start displaying “Are you a business owner?” to direct branded search results. Although it is a minor change, it seems as though Google is attempting to engage small business owners more. Have you started seeing this change for other SMBs?

5. Yahoo’s New Search Results – Search Engine Journal

For those who still use Yahoo as their primary search engine will notice a change in the search results. Yahoo has attempted to de-clutter the SERPs and moving search results higher up on the page. Do you like the new changes? Will you start using Yahoo?

June 7, 2013
Pinning for SEO: Pinterest Can Boost Your Rankings

Pinning for SEO: Pinterest Can Boost Your Rankings

Pinterest is a hot topic right now, and not just for people wanting inspiration for their future wedding. While blogs, websites, and the big-name social sites get all the SEO airtime, Pinterest can get overlooked, even though it has huge potential to boost your company’s rankings. With the right tactics, you can start pinning your way to greater exposure, one infograph or product at a time.

Sneak In Keywords

Pinterest may appear to be all about the images, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to scatter your keywords around the site—and doing so can provide a big payoff. Your profile’s “About” section is only 200 characters long, but making those words count will give search engines something to do.

For each board you create, incorporate one or more keywords into the title; that will make them more interesting to search engines, and more likely to be spotlighted. And when you pin, edit your image file names to include keywords, and utilize the 500-character description for each pin to scatter keywords. Remember to go back and edit previously pinned images, too, so you don’t lose those valuable SEO opportunities.

Check and Uncheck

There are two little features in Pinterest that can make all the difference for your SEO. Both are under “Settings.” Make sure the option to hide your boards from search engines is turned off; hiding your pins will defeat the entire point of using Pinterest.

While you’re on your “Settings” page, click the “Verify Website” button. This step certifies that the website on your profile is, in fact, yours, and puts a check next to the domain in search results. That check translates into increased traffic and higher SEO rankings, since both consumers and search engines are more likely to find you legitimate.

Go Outside the Platform

Pinterest, like any social media, is most useful as a connection tool. Link to your website, blog, Facebook profile, LinkedIn profile, and any other sites connected to the company, from your Pinterest “About” section and/or your pin descriptions. Encourage users to view more of what you have to offer by directing them beyond the images on your boards.

Additionally, pull your pictures from outside Pinterest to generate fresh content. While repinning creates connections, new pins draw attention, as they haven’t been seen before. Search engines scan pin quality as well as text, so pin high-resolution images whenever possible.

Board Smart

Think of your Pinterest boards as your welcome signs, drawing in users and search engines with strong titles and an enticing variety. Put your best boards up higher, since viewers often see just the top one or two rows, and edit each board to make sure it has a category. When you sort your images based on customers’ needs and desires, your Pinterest can become a well-organized storefront, even if you don’t sell products. And with the new Pinterest Web analytics, you’ll be able to see at a glance what’s working and what needs to disappear.

Pinterest may have started as a virtual corkboard for the crafty, but it’s exploded into nearly every realm. Take on the pinning challenge and make it work for you!

Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. She specializes on the topic of small business tips and resources. ChamberofCommerce.com helps small businesses grow their business on the web and facilitates connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide.

May 20, 2013
5 Tips for Non-Profits to Get Social
Due to financial limitations, many non-profits find it difficult to increase their online presence. It may be difficult for local non-profits to compete with the big brands that are creeping on their digital space. Yet there are a few ways for non-profits to interact with their target audience online for very little out of pocket expense. What is this magical tool that non-profits should be utilizing? Social media, of course.

Social media outlets prove to be great tools to capture, engage, and inform your supporters. It works as a way to provide a face to your cause and keep your loyal audience up to date. A recent study by Craig Newmark reported that 92% of non-profits are on Facebook and 90% are on Twitter. Non-profits are spending more and more time investing in their social media marketing. However, simply signing up for your social media account isn’t enough. How do you reach your audience? What do they want to hear? What will get them excited?

Five quick tips for non-profits when crafting your social posts:
- Sneak Peeks: everyone appreciates a good inside scoop! Are you about to launch a new product or event? Why not let your social media audience get the inside information first. This will create buzz around your brand!
- Insider Photos: you most likely know that pictures are a great addition to your social posting and should be worked in whenever possible. Including behind the scenes pictures is a great way to engage your fans and highlight your supporters. It provides a great “this is what happens when you aren’t here” anecdote. Team Gleason does a great job of including behind the scenes shots to keep their Facebook Fans engaged and sharing interesting content!
- Keep your posts relevant: is there an upcoming organization event? Post about it! Is there local breaking news? Tweet it! The beauty of social media is that you’re able to comment on things as they’re happening. You want to stay relevant and timely.
- Link to your site: how do you expect your social media to impact your web traffic if you don’t link to your site? When appropriate, link back to your site so fans can learn more information. Links work best when paired with an eye-catching graphic. Check out what The Museum of Modern Art did with a link to purchase tickets online.
- But don’t always link to your site: yes, you want to drive site traffic, but you have to do it carefully. There is nothing social media users hate more than the self-obsessed page. The majority of your posts should be great and engaging content. Self-promotion should be the minority of your updates.
And don’t worry, non-profits. The social media sites want you to succeed! Facebook even recently released a resource center for non-profits. So get to posting and watch the fans and site visits increase!
May 13, 2013
5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

1. Back to Basics: Meta Descriptions 101 – Search Engine Journal
If you haven’t looked at your meta descriptions in over a year or 6 months, it may be time to refresh your meta data. Meta descriptions are the ones that will show up in search results, so they should sound coherent to humans. Read this refresher on meta tags.

2. Thinking about adding 10,000 pages to your site at once? Take caution. – Search Engine Land
If you are adding a large number of pages to your site, it is better to do so in stages according to Google’s Matt Cutts. Adding them in batches may be better. Releasing thousands of pages at once may cause Google to manually review your site for any suspicious behavior.

3. Want to learn how to segment out your image search in Google Analytics? – Blind Five Year Old

Google image search, universal image search, Bing image search. How do you keep them all separate? AJ Kohn from Blind Five Year Old walks you through the process of setting up filters for image searches in Google Analytics. Read and implement.

4. Foursquare emphasizes its local search in its latest app update. – Search Engine Land

Attempting to take on Facebook and Yelp, the social check-in company rolls out its 6.0 update for its app. With local search as the primary focus of the new update, Foursquare users will see nearby recommendations and discovery features. Check it out.

5. Are Facebook fans really worth it? – Mashable

According to a Syncapse report, a Facebook fan is valued at $174. The study takes a look at Facebook fans versus non-fans and analyzes their spending behavior along with their brand loyalty and several other factors. Would you agree with their estimation?

April 19, 2013
5 for Friday — Links, Stories, & Posts for Your Weekend

The Holy Grail Of Internet Marketing: Owning The Whole SERP — Search Engine Land

Search Influence’s very own Will Scott gives a brief how-to on the essential methods of owning your search engine results page. The main points he hits in the post are the importance of branded SERP ownership, branded AdWords campaigns, branded organic results, Google+ and local optimization. But the “real win” of owning the whole SERP is obviously taking over your non-branded ranking page. One of the more surprising tidbits for PPC naysayers is “It may seem crazy to pay for clicks to your site, especially if your site shows up in the first position organically, but the data shows that having both the first and “zeroth” positions increases clicks by up to 89%.” Now, that’s a big increase!

How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy — SEOmoz

This informative post briefly touches on the importance of content marketing (it’s the future!) before moving on to some examples of companies that are doing it right, with “it” being what the author calls “phenomenal content.” What these examples all have in common is that they are bite-sized and easily sharable examples of content that is pinpointed to the intended audience. Probably the most useful thing in the post is the detailed step-by-step content strategy.

How to Use Pinterest to Build Trust and Loyalty — Social Media Examiner

We’ve already talked about why your business should be on Instagram, and these reasons also apply to Pinterest (and maybe its smaller, more bro-tastic counterparts like Gentlemint, Manteresting, and Dudepins). And now with analytics for business profiles, you can get data about how your followers are interacting with content. But how do you build trust and loyalty among those followers? This post is a great how-to. Main takeaways: tell your company’s story with humor and portray it as fun and friendly; recognize your loyal customers; make your boards a resource for your followers by including useful information; verify pins have valid, working links before sharing them.

After You Read this Article You’ll Forget It (at least the first half) — Copyblogger

This post telling you how to enhance your content marketing is itself great content marketing. What’s not to love? From the click-bait title down to the excerpts from his book, the author has made a great point about the usefulness of illustrations in your content and promoted his own product, making this whole post an example of how to do it.

How to Create and Promote Successful Social Media Giveaways (and build SEO Links) — Search Engine Journal

The title of this post really says it all. This is a fantastic step-by-step guide to setting up and executing a giveaway. Any business can benefit from the added exposure, but as the post mentions, you can also use this as an opportunity for link building. When you add the giveaway to an existing page on your site, the value of that page increases, even after the giveaway is over and you remove the code.

April 12, 2013