4 ways to become an Instagram rock star

 Internet News, Marketing, Your Brand  469 Responses »
Sep 112012
 

First off, Instagram is obviously a visual medium. Photos should look good, tell a compelling story, or get a laugh whenever possible. Follow the old rule of “know your audience.”

Secondly, brands should use #hashtags, which is how Instagram photos are organized into albums. Brands can leverage popular #hashtags to help users discover their content and create new #hashtags to organize their own content.

Finally, whether your brand is using one of Instagram’s mobile apps or you are building a custom application that uses Instagram’s API, integrate your other social media channels. Share to your other channels, and let your users share to their personal networks. It is worth noting that Instagram is a mobile-only social media platform. But other services, via Instagram’s API, make viewing on the web possible. A favorite of mine is Web.stagram.com.

So what fundamental knowledge do brands need to succeed on Instagram? Consider these simple tips.

MORE:  4 ways to become an Instagram rock star – iMediaConnection.com.

 

5 Ways Your Business Should Use Twitter Hashtags Mashable 5 Ways Your Business Should Use Twitter Hashtags

 Marketing, Your Brand  316 Responses »
Sep 102012
 

Assuming you already have a Twitter account dedicated to your small business, you should also be investing in hashtags as part of your social media strategy.

But let’s back up a bit, in case you’re unsure what a hashtag even is in the first place. Designated by a number sign (#), the hashtag is paired with a word or phrase to perform a variety of functions. Twitter users attach hashtags to tweets as search mechanisms, categorizing tools and marketing tactics.

In your business’ case, you may choose to attach a hashtag, such as #smallbiz, or even your brand’s name itself, as #nike might do. This improves the chance that other Twitter users will find your tweet in targeted Twitter searches. But hashtags also streamline your own processes. For instance, you may ask users to include a unique hashtag in their own tweets as part of your newest Twitter marketing campaign. Throughout your campaign, the hashtag files tweets for easy search and organization within Twitter.com.

Now that you’re familiar with the basic hashtag concept, let’s apply principles specific to small businesses. Follow these five tips to improve your brand’s hashtag strategy.

MORE:  5 Ways Your Business Should Use Twitter Hashtags Mashable 5 Ways Your Business Should Use Twitter Hashtags | The top source for social and digital news.

 

5 techniques to turbo-charge your Facebook page

 interface, Marketing, Your Brand  524 Responses »
Sep 062012
 

Every startup dreams of building a thriving Facebook page, with millions of loyal, engaged fans who actively take part in contests, post comments, and share regularly — creating a viral buzz. But if you’ve managed a Facebook page, you know it’s not that easy and at times can be extremely challenging.

Here are five techniques that I’ve used to turbo-charge our Facebook strategy; we’ve grown to 14,000 fans with very little advertising, almost doubled our weekly total reach over the last 10 days (up 98 percent), and recently doubled our “people talking about this” measurement, increasing it by 113 percent.

Create a leader board and recognize your top fans

In addition to your ordinary posts and photos, it’s key to enable your fans to create a community. Give them a reason to interact with your page. We implemented an app powered by Booshaka called “Top Fans Pro.”

MORE:  5 techniques to turbo-charge your Facebook page

 

How Pinterest and Instagram are changing your brand strategy

 Marketing, Your Brand  440 Responses »
Sep 042012
 

These new platforms are social at their core. So it’s instantly about more than putting a few images on a page; it’s opening a window into your brand. What companies share must strike a balance between bringing to life a genuine brand story and providing content that inspires and compels action. Furthermore, marketing strategies for how brands engage with consumers should reflect how and why consumers are using those channels.

Following are tips for navigating the waters of these new visual platforms using a combination of direct marketing best practices and our learned understanding of digital and social behavior.

If you’ve ever been a part of a website implementation, you know the biggest sticker shock is always the photography — how much it costs to produce high quality photo inventory. Yet the rise of new visual platforms has made this component more important than ever. Brands must consider the quality of photography and what images should represent their products and services.

MORE:  How Pinterest and Instagram are changing your brand strategy – iMediaConnection.com.

 

Why Social Marketing Will Deliver Positive ROI for Your Brand

 Internet News, Marketing, Your Brand  404 Responses »
Aug 292012
 

If you are an agency or a brand trying to decide whether or not social media marketing is worth the investment, consider these numbers from recent studies of social media users:

  • 78% are directly influenced by branded posts when making purchases
  • 74% encourage friends to try new products
  • 80% try new things based on friends’ suggestions

MORE:  Why Social Marketing Will Deliver Positive ROI for Your Brand – Adrants.

 

How to turn social followers into email subscribers

 Marketing, Your Brand  232 Responses »
Aug 272012
 

Of course, you don’t want to avoid social, but you should try to pull those customers ready for a deeper relationship into your email campaigns. Tactically, this is simple. You can post a message leading to your newsletter, or host a form field right there in the social platform.

But you’ll need a good reason for an engaged social follower to become an email subscriber. You need to show not just the value of your emails, but appeal to the unique social character of that follower. And guess what — not all followers are the same.

MORE:  How to turn social followers into email subscribers – iMediaConnection.com.

 

Article: How to edit your Facebook page

 interface, Your Brand  261 Responses »
Aug 232012
 

In the upper part of your page, there is an Admin panel, which we will overlook for now, but later on, it will be a very important tool to track a progress of your Fan page. Under the Admin panel there is a place to set up and edit your Facebook page. You can add/change profile picture of your Facebook page, you can add/change cover photo, you can add/ change the ‘About’ information and lastly, you can write a status, add a photo or a video, or create an event, add a milestone, or ask a question.

Profile Picture

Facebook Profile Picture is a very important part of your Facebook page. When people are searching for Pages, the Profile Picture is one of the first things they will see. So bear that in mind, when you will create your stunning Profile Picture. The Facebook Profile Picture is displayed in 120×120 pixels resolution and Facebook will automatically create a 50×50 pixel miniature that will be displayed along with your Page’s updates and is also displayed in the Facebook search results.

MORE:  Article: How to edit your Facebook page – Socialbakers.

 

Why social media agencies are a farce

 Marketing, Your Brand  73 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

Social media, although still quite a hot topic, is only one piece of the brand building and customer acquisition puzzle. An effective marketing strategy is inclusive of various mediums; each communicating the same message in their own unique way. Social media definitely has its place within a marketing strategy, but just like faxing, rarely is it the sole medium.

The reality is this isn’t a warning just for social media agencies; it’s a warning for any agency that tries to encapsulate their diverse marketing services within a single industry buzzword.

In a recent Adweek article about social media agencies becoming less social, Jim Tobin, president of Ignite Social Media, stated the following: “Social is a totally different discipline, it’s part SEO, it’s part [audience] development, it’s part advertising, and it is part PR. There’s a lot of interest in specialists out there.”

His view of social media is quite holistic, almost to the point where you could call these specialists “online marketing specialists.”

MORE:  Why social media agencies are a farce – iMediaConnection.com.

 

A step-by-step guide to digital strategy creation

 Marketing, Your Brand  370 Responses »
Jul 262012
 

Defining an organization’s digital strategy is the ultimate test in balance, creativity, and prioritization. For nonprofits, throw in the added constraints of a limited budget, sometimes limited manpower, and goals and tactics that differ from for-profit businesses (such as collecting donations as opposed to selling goods or services). I recently authored a white paper titled “Creating a Digital Strategy for Nonprofits – Part 1: Building Blocks of your Digital Strategy,” drawing on both my digital strategy expertise and track record of success with my agency’s clientele. The purpose of the paper is to give marketing leaders in nonprofit organizations a practical, step-by-step guide to defining and auditing the building blocks of their digital strategy and putting the foundations of a program in place to make it a living document that can be continually refined.

The white paper covers the process of auditing and defining the components that fit in your digital strategy and serve as the basis of your strategic recommendations. This process consists of six steps of goal-setting and identification, and a seventh step that outlines a plan, which you can analyze and adjust over time. It’s not rocket science; it’s just a simple and organized approach to creating a digital strategy to help grow your organization.

Goal-setting
The first step in the process is to make sure you understand both your organizational goals and your audience goals,

MORE:  A step-by-step guide to digital strategy creation

 

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