Category: Social Media

5 Easy Steps To Get Started With Pinterest Ads

Post author By Jon Rognerud
Post date December 10, 2015

how-to-setup-your-first-pinterest-paid-ads-boards

Social media platforms have long been regarded as the way of the future.

Marketing teams, online professionals and digital marketing agencies are going to move through these platforms quickly. Those companies who maximize findings from results and platforms will be the ones winning in their respective niches. That’s you!

welcome-to-pinterest-ads-chaosmap-advertising-boards — Welcome to pinterest ads – create traffic and engagement

However, those who ignore them will quietly slip into the background over time.

Pinterest is one of those juggernauts growing and becoming a meaningful option as time goes on.

Pinterest statistics are growing. You should consider the numbers and demographics and see how they fit into your world.

Pinterest is estimated to reach 47.1 million users in the U.S. in 2015 – @craigpsmith

Experts in the industry are stating Pinterest is going to be one of the most powerful marketing tools in the upcoming year. The community is vast and the ad manager is top notch with its layout and efficiency.

The CEO of Pinterest stated that it’s grown to over 100 million users (New York Times).

Let’s take a look at what it takes to get started with Pinterest ads for those who are just getting started.

Understanding The Advertising Process

Before diving headfirst into the ads process, it is critical to understand how the platform works. Those who don’t take the time to understand these intricacies are going to lose out on a lot of money.

Don’t let this happen and put in the hard work that is required to first understand how things work.

APPROACH #1:
There are two specific methods for promoting pins on this platform. One is reserved for larger businesses (i.e. partners) in the form of the “reservation style promoted pin“. This is reserved for companies who are putting down a set amount from the beginning and will have their spot reserved on the system for keywords. (Read the Pinterest spend article from Adage).

The going amount for reserving spots for keywords comes in at around $1 million. For most, this budget is rather extreme and won’t be feasible at all. This is where the second approach is available.

APPROACH #2:
The second approach uses the method of auctions and bidding. You bid for a specific keyword and have your pins put up for a certain amount of time. It is a CPC (cost per click) based method and each keyword and “topic” is going to have different fees attached to them.

Competitive keywords with a lot of people bidding will go higher than others. It is the same as seen on Google Adwords.

This is often the right way to go as long as the right keywords are being targeted and focused in on as needed.

The two different campaign types are: a) engagement campaigns, and b) traffic campaigns

Engagement campaign:
Track your audience’s signals of intent. You get charged for each engagement (closeup, repin, click) on your Pin.

Traffic campaigns, traffic to your website:
Send a motivated audience to your content. You get charged for clicks to your website.

pinterest-engagement-ads-traffic-ads — Pinterest Campaign Types

Step 1: Setup Your Business Account

Let’s move onto putting together a business account and getting those ads up to rake in the leads.

It begins by setting up the account as that is going to get the ball rolling in the right direction. You will have to go the website (business.pinterest.com) and fill out the details that are required.

It will ask you for information in relation to what is going to be advertised and personal details. It will also ask for financial information to make sure the money is going to come from a secure place (i.e. credit card).

Figure out all of this information beforehand to make the application process go through as needed. Make sure to enter all relevant and correct information on the form. They will vet the information and if there are concerns, the account is not going to be approved by the person responsible for the task.

Be patient and make sure all of the information adds up and provides the value that is required by Pinterest and their policies. Don’t overlook anything.

Step 2: Get Approval For ‘Promoted Pins’ On Pinterest

The next step is to wait after the application has been sent into Pinterest.

They are going to look through the information that has been put in the application to make sure you have not wasted their time and have put information that is truthful and correct.

They are going to generally take care of you pretty quickly as the main account has been approved.

Feel free to reach out to the account team if the process takes longer than you expected.

Step 3: Begin To Create Pins (For Your Ads)

The next step is going to take a look at creating the pin(s) that you are looking to put up in the advertising section.

You are going to want to make this as professional and aesthetic as possible because it is going to have a role to play in how many people click on it.

You don’t want to overlook these concerns as it could lead to the campaign falling apart. This happens a lot more than businesses would expect. Just putting up a pin is not going to do enough. It has to gain traction and that begins by making sure you are creating the right pins that will work.

TIP:
How to make great pins and boards is a must read. (And, download the pins guide PDF too)

The pin has to be made for the main board, so you have to understand it is not a ‘one and done’ type situation. The pin has to last on your account and then be put up. You can’t just customize a pin and hope to take it off afterward.

Plus, you’ll develop many different pins for engagement and contribution to your growing community.

There are certain rules you have to adhere to. These rules include what is not allowed (i.e. drugs, alcohol, porn) and no obvious call to actions (click here!) as those are against the rules of the platform.

Step 4: Select The Right Pin For Promotion Purposes

Make sure the pin that you are going to be promoting is coming from your own account and is not attached to another board. This happens a lot more than people would like to see.

Creating, managing and editing pins are keys to your success, as you build your foundation. Driving Pinterest traffic to poorly created content is “failure before you begin”.

(To learn more, download the complete Pinterest Ads guide here).

They put the pin on the group account and that is when the entire group gets promoted rather than your page.

You want to make sure it is only on your page and then it is being promoted. This will drive all of the traffic/leads to your account as desired.

You always want to make sure you are paying attention to this moving forward.

What should you be looking to do with regards to the promotions? You have to take a look at how many people are searching up specific terms. You can and should visit others in your marketplace and do competitive research.

Step 5: Assess The Keywords And Launch The Ad

This step is key as this is where the research comes into play. You have to take a look at the search terms that you can use.

Learn more from the Pinterest Campaigns Guide here.

Select the location, gender, and device you want to work with. Be careful and try to spread the money in order to get data to work with.

Pinterest Ads: demographics and targeting options

This way you can optimize based on what combination works best.

The same goes for your CPC budget. Look to go to a reasonable amount. Also, be careful with regards to the URL destination. You will want it targeted to the right place or you will lose out.

Once you submit, you’ll see this notice. It may/will take longer for newer accounts.

CONCLUSION:

You are ready to go and you will be able to put up more campaigns as you proceed and continue to test. This is what matters and you will see results.

Pinterest ads can be a great way to go, and you should definitely test if your business is very image-driven. But, many businesses are using Pinterest.

Don’t end up on the wrong side of things when it comes to marketing trends that can have a big impact for your business. Pinterest and its advertising products can be maximized to ensure results are coming in.

Pay attention to the steps listed in this post and then move forward with regards to the value being provided.

When you are able to make the most of these steps, you will see the results roll in with ease. Your conversion rate will start to go up as well.

If you need help – feel free to reach out:

NEED SOME HELP? Contact Us Here and schedule your time.

Tags pinterest, Social Media

How To Begin Your First Twitter Ads Traffic Campaign

Post author By Jon Rognerud
Post date December 8, 2015

twitter-ads-how-to-start-a-winning-ad-campaign

You have conquered Google Adwords and Bing Ads with relative ease.

You trounced over Facebook’s Ad system and made an absolute killing.

You have decided it is time to defeat the world of hashtags.

Like many of the other advertising platforms available online, Twitter has its unique personality to deal with.

What can Twitter ads do for your business?

Unlike, Google Adwords though, you do not need a manual to get started.

In fact, Twitter might just be one of the best options for a newbie advertiser to get their cyber wallet wet with.

So whether you are a small business owner just getting started or a grizzled, veteran advertise this is our guide to getting started with Twitter ads within the day.
(Good Read: “How Twitter Ads Can Help Your Business“)

But, before you begin – make sure that you have confirmed that your potential customers live and hang out on Twitter.

Nothing worse than learning a new advertising platform, and discovering that your “tribe” is not active there. Twitter management can be made fun.

Understanding Your Main Goal

Before you drop one dime on using Twitter’s ad system, you will have to decide on what your main goal is.

With that in mind, are you looking to gain more Twitter followers, leads, or brand impressions?

Getting To Know Twitter’s Advertising Program

Once you know what your goal is and what you expect to gain from Twitter it is wise to have a basic understanding of how their advertising program works.

Twitter uses different styles that is designed to promote either accounts, tweets, or trends.

Similar to Facebook, Twitter allows you to target people through their interests, locations, and other demographics.

It is an exceptionally easy way to get targeted traffic from Twitter. With Twitter, the ad marketing term used is known as “Promoted”.

This helps Twitter users understand the difference between an organic post and one that is paid.

Where Twitter excels right now is in the amount of ad cost. What that translates to is that it is less expensive to get Twitter traffic. This is a pure advantage for smaller businesses who are looking for the biggest bang for their buck. Important: cost is relative of course. If your cost per click (your adspend) is less than what you are selling, you win.

While Twitter may give you the benefit of being able to work within a smaller budget, and still get results, it is limited in a few other ways. The ad interface is can be somewhat complicated for a beginner to get the hang of.

The problem we personally have with Twitter as of right now is its inability to truly customize the ad experience. This can run into a problem with your ad spend. For example, if you do not want ads to be displayed after 8 PM EST, you have to log into your Twitter account to change the settings.

This can be difficult if you have many campaigns running at once. So if you are looking to get the absolute most out of your daily ad spend you will always have to stay on top of your ad settings to get the best performance.

Now that you understand the basic ins and outs of Twitter PPC campaigns it is time to see how easy it is to set one up!

Four Simple Steps To Getting Your Message Out To A Twitter Audience:

Step One: Choose Your Weapon

As we discussed earlier one of the first steps in creating a Twitter ad campaign is making the decision to promote either tweets or your account.

This is going to be you first big decision, but don’t panic, it’s not that hard. If you are looking to build up a large following on Twitter in hopes of taking over the world or breaking the internet, promoting your account will be the way to go. Basically, promoting your account is just an excellent way to make yourself feel / get popular.

For most marketers, the better option is going to be promoting your tweets.

Here you will be able to craft some ingenious and witty tweets to entice your followers to click thru to your landing pages. With good copy and targeting, you will be able to convert these followers into leads and customers.

Choosing to promote a tweet gives you the power to show your audience what you want them to see at any given time.

Step Two: Choose Your Audience

Once you have decided on what you will be promoting it is time to decide on who you want to see your message. You want to make sure you are paying for the right type of traffic that will convert into leads and customers.

The more interest a person has in the message you are trying to convey the higher your chances are in getting that conversion.

Twitter allows you to target your campaigns by keywords, interests, and followers. Not to get too technical, but you can also scrape visitors from your database or a list of website visitors using the Tailored Audience feature.

Not sure how you should target?

If you are looking to create a campaign by targeting followers and interests, you will need to gather a list of users with similar interests as the followers.

For example, you could create a list of all the followers of Tim Ash and Amy Africa, two top online marketers. From this list alone you should have more than enough of an audience to promote to in the internet marketing niche.

The same tactics would be used for anything from dog training to culinary cooking.

If you choose to target through the use of keywords you will be seeking out users who have used your keyword in a tweet or search. Your tweet will either show up in the search results or their personal timeline depending on your preferences.

Through this type of targeting, you may be able to focus in on a more specific audience than the other way.

If you are brand new to Twitter as an advertising platform, I would suggest creating a campaign by targeting followers and interests.

This will put you in front of a large new audience very quickly. Once you are established on Twitter move into creating keyword campaigns.

Step Three: Drill-down Targeting

Now you are in for a real treat as we can further drill down our audience.

This is where things really start to pick up and get exciting. You can begin to drill down your audience by sex, age, location, and even device platform.

If you are a small business owner, looking to see locally, you will want to use these setting.

If you are a dog groomer looking to get your name out in (local ad strategy) New Jersey, this is where you do it. Likewise, if you are selling a digital weight loss product you will want to think globally.

If you are looking to target people who are always on the go you can drill down to mobile users or find those who are still attached to their desktops at home.

Once again these are the setting you will need to tinker with to get the ultimate in conversions.

Lastly, if you are looking to promote muscle builders or a testosterone enhancer you will want to promote to men.

Whereas, if you are promoting beauty and pregnancy, a female audience may be more in line.

Step Four: Ready, Set, Tweet

Believe it or not, all the hard work is done!

Can you imagine you are ready to get your ads live on Twitter? How long did this take, maybe a half hour? Regardless, let’s finish this rodeo up.

You have done all the research and targeting and now it is time to start creating your tweets. (You may already have tweets in your history that are performing well. You can use those if the messaging and the targeting makes sense).

Of course, if you are not skilled at creating good copy this can be outsourced to a capable freelancer.

You do have a couple of options here.

If you have tweets that you have already crafted you can resend them out as promoted content. Or as we have touched up send out brand new tweets.

When you compose a new tweet you can send it out as a standard tweet which is a regular organic tweet or as a promoted only tweet.

Once you have completed these tasks you have to decide on a daily budget and what you want your maximum spend to be.

Always keep these numbers with something you are comfortable with and will be OK with if by some chance the campaign doesn’t work (which is very possible on your first try). All that is left it to hit the publish button and your ad will go live. Please validate and test.

So… was that good – or GOOD?

You are now well on your way to dominating the Twitter demographic.

Whether you are an experienced internet marketer or a small business owner just getting started with paid advertising, Twitter can be a great tool to connect with your audience to drive sales and leads.

With a little bit of time and dedication, you may find that Twitter is your new love in the paid ads community.

Tags beginners, social ads, twitter ads

Social Media

7 Unusual Facebook Advertising Tools To Save Time And Get ROI on Ads

Post author By Jon Rognerud
Post date December 7, 2015

Whether you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur you must have used Facebook Ads.

…at least at some point, right?

If not – you really need to be considering FB advertising strategies and tools. Plus, the power of the pixel is here to stay. That’s true for many primary ad platforms (see upcoming posts).

It is one of the most cost-effective ways to bring laser targeted traffic to your website and offers, including apps and more.

However, we are not here to discuss the validity of Facebook advertising (but it’s obvious!).

We are here to find ways to streamline the process and make advertising quicker, easier, and more cost-effective.

Isn’t that about all we can ask out of life in general, let alone our advertising efforts?

The following are 7 Essential Tools Every Facebook Advertiser Needs To Try At Least Once.

Bonus Tool:

We really like the Facebook Video Ad Creator from Promo.com (Give it a try and start making engaging creatives that drive brand visibility and generate more clicks)

All these tools are designed to make your Facebook Ads experience more enjoyable and will help improve your overall return on investment!

1) Qwaya

Qwaya is one of the many paid tools on the market that have been designed to take your Facebook marketing campaigns to the next level.

A quick tour shows the depth of this power tool.

Qwaya was developed in my neighborhood country of Sweden, and is one of the best tools on the market if you are looking to scale up your current operation and also by automating the entire A/B testing routine, and advanced boolean logic.

One of the problems many marketers have faced with using Facebook’s Power Editor is its lacking ability to split test, and with efficient reporting.

With the use of Qwaya, you have the ability to test every imaginable aspect of a campaign.

In fact, it is very easy to lose several hours playing with this tool. You can mix the creatives, targeting, and imagery to find the absolute perfect ad …all automatically.

While Qwaya is highly powerful it does come with an equally powerful price tag. For an individual account, Qwaya will set you back $149 per month.

For a business to use Qwaya with up to five user accounts it is $249 per month at time of writing. In addition, Qwaya can be further customized to fit the needs of your agency.

This platform offers a generous 2-week trial period to give the system a good workout. But, this is not for beginners.

2) Ad Espresso

If you happen to be more of a visual marketer you will enjoy the set up and interaction with AdEspresso Facebook Ads Management.

It tries really hard to give the advertiser a good user experience that is not bogged down in trying to learn how to use the tool.

This would perhaps be my recommendation for users who are actually just starting out with Facebook Ads.

The interface and language is almost identical and it take very little time to get up and running with the tool.

With Ad Espresso’s platform, you can easily create multiple ads and see what they are going to look like in real time.

With Ad Espresso it only takes moments to have 4 separate ad groups with 64 different ads. Imagine trying to do all that manually! You would have ads floating in your head for the next week.

What makes Ad Espresso so user-friendly is its ability to give the user a full report on exactly what is working best and what elements would work better together.

By combing all this data is is very easy to create the super ad set.

Ad Espresso has a wide variety of pricing options starting at $49 and moving up to $299 per month.

This tool starts new users out with a 30-day free trial that offers full service. This can be a great place to start for you.

3) Ad Stage

Ad Stage is an excellent tool for advertisers who are looking to expand their horizons outside of Facebook. While Ad Stage offers excellent information for Facebook it can be used with multiple networks.

With just the simple inputting of accounts, you can have access to Bing Ads, Google Adwords, Twitter, and LinkedIn networks. This becomes a huge timesaver when everything you need is on one platform.

Ad Stage offers a unique feature of being able to target users by using both the “and” and “or” settings. (It’s not the only tool on the list, so read on)

For example, you can target users who follow the New York Giants and either Philadelphia Eagles or Pittsburg Steelers.

If those are not your teams, forgive the analogy! This can be a very popular tool for extreme targeting.

Ad Stage is available in three monthly plans starting at just $99 and will continue up to $399 per month.

The difference between the plans depends on the number of advertising accounts and the amount of ad spend on a monthly basis.

As with other tools, Ad Stage comes with a 14-day trial to evaluate the program.

4) Social Ads Tool

For those who run an online ad agency, Social Ads tool is one that should be investigated. This tool is designed for users who have a monthly ad spend of $10,000.

Unlike all of the other platforms on the market, Social Ads allows the user to create up to 5,000 ads in bulk quantity.

One of the best features of Social Ads is the page optimization function.

With this, a campaign is automatically created that will boost your most popular posts. This is an excellent way to make sure that your most popular content is always being shown to your audience.

While the price of Social Ads may make some individuals faint, it is important to remember that Social Ads is designed for large ad agencies who require a lot of advertising.

With that being said, service starts at $500 per month with a percentage of the advertising spend.

5) Facebook Ads Exclusion Targeting

One of the best in-house tools provided by Facebook for advertisers. This tool is designed to to help advertisers not target the same people more than once.

With this tool and functionality, you can also exclude specific audience members from new promotions in order to gain new leads.

This tool is designed to help reduce waste on ad spend and lower your cost per action or cost per click. There is no added cost to use the Facebook Ads Exclusion Targeting tool.

6) Facebook Ads Manager App & Power Editor

With the Facebook ads app, you will have the ability to revise ad budgets, edit existing ads, as well as track general ad performance.

“Power Editor is a tool designed for larger advertisers who need to create lots of ads at once and have precise control of their campaigns. To access Power Editor, you’ll need to go to www.facebook.com/ads/manage/powereditor in the Chrome browser on a desktop computer.”

One of the most powerful features of this app is the ability to create ads from previously published ads as well as photographs on your mobile device. The Power Editor is a must, but beginners should wait until comfortable with the ads manager.

7) Hootsuite Ads

One of the newer tools to the block is Hootsuite Ads which was just recently released from beta.

This tool is unique in the aspect that this tool will automatically create Facebook Ads based on your organic posts.

In addition, the tool will scan for the best amount to bid for as well as the best targeting.

This tool is designed to help beginners master the art of effectively advertising without having to do much work.

While the Facebook Power Editor is an incredible tool to get anyone started using Facebook Ads it becomes limited as you being to scale up (think big) your campaigns.

Check out a great power editor tutorial by the awesome (Twitter ID) Jon Loomer here.

The above tools are designed to help you effortlessly create more effective campaigns that are designed to increase your ROI.
FREE: Download the free Social Media Performance Handbook that will show you how to set up your social media campaigns in 7 simple steps. Includes 2 bonus strategies not found in this post.

Tags facebook ads, Social Media, tools

Categories
Social Media

Blab.im – What 11 Things Everyone Should Know About Blab Social Media App

Post author By Jon Rognerud

Post date December 3, 2015

What is Blab.im?

Are you wondering what the Blab.im app is?

Well, it has only been around for a few months (April 2015) so it’s only natural for a lot of people to remain clueless about it.

But many online experts already consider it as “the next big thing.”

That’s not an easy title to get considering the stiff competition in the world of digital marketing.

But Blab.im has managed to penetrate a tough market, introducing an innovative twist in what we know as live, social broadcasting. (Find Blab CTO Furqan on Twitter, he’s very responsive and friendly too.)

Blab is a live streaming platform in which 1 to 4 people can co-host a “blab.”

Before you quickly dismiss this application as just another Periscope rip-off, it’s important to take a look at its features and what it has to offer over the competition.

There are already a few live streaming video software on the market such as Meerkat and Periscope (Twitter product), but Blab.im sets itself apart thanks to its very intuitive design and focus on group conversations.

The Benefits of Using Blab.Im

Video streaming has been so popular over the past decade.

It allows businesses and ordinary individuals to connect with other people who share the same interests. It’s an effective way to get real-time feedback from and engage in conversation with online users.

Many say that Google Hangouts already allows several people to video stream at the same time, and the enormous user base of Google makes it the superior choice.

But Blab.im is simply more functional, flexible and easier to use.

You do not need to have any technical background about video creation to use the application.

Blab.im does basically everything for you.

You just have to have a camera and a microphone, and you’re good to go.

The developers of Blab also understands that people love using their smartphones and tablets, which is why they have created a mobile application that works just as well as its desktop counterpart.

If you’re a desktop user, you simply have to visit the official website of Blab.im and register.

You can also take your video streaming tool to your mobile device by downloading the Blab.im mobile from the Apple Store.

For current updates on development and the Blab Questions / Answer blog, find it here.

Both big brands and plain individuals can use Blab.im to engage in conversation with other people and build relationships with them.

What’s great about blab is that you can have up to 3 other people to talk during the live video stream.

Other video streaming services such as Periscope only allows one person to host a video, which could be intimidating for some people especially introverts.

Blab.im also makes it extremely easy for businesses to team up with influencers or experts in their industry and host a live video to drive a significant amount of traffic.

This can be an extremely beneficial tool that could generate a lot of new leads and increase the visibility of the business’ products and services.

On top of all this, Blab.im prides itself as a social networking platform which promotes genuine interaction among its users.

Other social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter have been criticized as lacking in this regard.

It’s definitely a breath of fresh air to have a new online avenue in which users can interact and talk with other people about virtually any topic under the sun.

Here are 11 Tips You Should Know To Get Started With Blab.im

1. Join Blab.im

As mentioned earlier, you can reach Blab.im on desktop through your web browser. Simply enter Blab.im on the search bar and click on the official website.

You will then see a button saying “Sign up now.” You will be authenticated with Twitter.

Click on the button and follow the instructions. You can also choose not to sign up if you just want to lurk around the site, but you won’t be able to join a blab.

You can also download the mobile app for your iPhone or iPad, beta. Android is also out. Right now, signing up with Twitter is the only way to join Blab.im.

2. Find Blabs To Join

Now that you’re registered, it’s time to jump around the site and see what it’s all about.

The user interface is very intuitive.

Everything is laid out in a very organized manner, allowing users to easily distinguish the purpose of each button and tab.

The easiest way to find blabs that would interest you is by using the Tags column located on the far left of the home screen.

Blab Tags: (“interests”)

When you click on a tag, blabs that are placed under that specific tag will show up.

You can click or unclick on multiple tags to narrow down your choices.

3. Use the Search Function

If you want to search for a specific blab or user, then the search function is your best friend.

You simply have to type in the name of the blab or the username of the host. The search box is located at the top of the screen, a little to the left.

Keep in mind that the search results will display blabs for on air, scheduled and replay blabs.

Here is an example of shows that relate to “social media on blab”

Be as specific as you can when using the search function so you can quickly find the blab or username you’re looking for.

4. On Air Blabs

The home screen also displays three tabs, the first of which is labeled On Air.

Basically, On Air blabs are videos that are currently being live streamed. Just click on the tab and you will see all blabs that are On Air as of the moment.

After choosing a blab that interests you, just click the watch button to join the live stream and participate in the conversation.

On Air blabs are the quickest way to join live video streams with other people on the site. You’ll see your Twitter / name profile when you join. (Hopefully, the hosts/participants will notice you too!)

5. Scheduled Blabs

The second tab is the Scheduled blabs.

As the name implies, these are videos that are set to be aired on a specific date.

After clicking on the tab, you will be presented with a list of scheduled blabs. You can filter the choices in order to easily find a blab you want to watch.

You then click on the subscribe button so you can get a notification when the blab is about to go on air.

6. Replay Blabs

One of the best things about Blab.im is that it allows users to record their blabs for future viewing.

Users can also embed the videos on other social platforms or on their own website.

The Replay blabs are already recorded, which means you won’t be able to actively participate with the hosts of the video.

But it’s still a useful feature that allows you to watch a blab that you may have missed due to a conflict with your schedule.

You can use the “Tell a little bird” link to share on Twitter, and also “Tell your Friends” on Facebook.

7. Set Up Email Notifications

It’s also recommended to modify your settings and set how you want to receive notifications.

Just click on your image located in the upper right hand corner of the screen and then click on Settings.

Under Email Me, you can select or deselect the different options depending on your own preferences.

Notifications make it easy and convenient to keep updated with what’s going on with your friends and whether they have released new blabs.

8. Host Your Own Blab

Hosting a blab is a lot easier than you might think. You just have to click on the Start a New Blab button located right beside your profile image.

You then have to fill in a few information regarding your blab. Enter the title of your blab and choose up to 3 tags that are most relevant to the topic.

This enables other people to find your blab and subscribe to it. You can then choose to host the blab now or in the future.

If you’re scheduling a blab, you will need to enter the date and time. Remember that the time indicated on the site is adjusted to your time zone.

9. Get On Early When Hosting a Blab

If you’re hosting a blab, it’s better to get on early so you have time to fix any technical issues that may arise and to invite co-hosts.

Aside from the presentation itself, you should also check whether your camera and microphone work perfectly.

The last thing you want to happen is to let your viewers wait as you try to iron out these issues that could have been avoided.

10. Use Short Codes

Watching a blab and participating in the conversation is the core of Blab.im.

However, there could be times when your message doesn’t get noticed due to the sheer number of people trying to get their voices heard.

An easy solution to this is to use short codes.

For instance, you can use /q when asking a question.

This flags your comment as a question, distinguishing it from the rest of the comments for easier viewing.

There are also plenty of short codes which you can use to express your opinion including /shrug and /tableflip.

11. Give Props

One of the easiest ways to get involved in the live video stream is to give props. You can think of props as similar to likes in other social sites.

They don’t really have a value; they simply tell the person that you appreciate his or her content.

You can give as many props as you want to any of the 4 persons on the screen. The two hands indicate the number of props the person has received.

These are just some basic tips to help you get started with Blab.im. Keep in mind that the key here is consistency.

By scheduling your blab ahead of time, giving it a title that best describes what the video is about, and having other people as co-hosts to keep things fresh and interesting, you can creep your way up and become the next Blab superstar!

Here’s the beginner’s guide to social media – if you need to get started. It’ll help you to build a better online strategy with social:
FREE: Download the free Social Media Performance Handbook that will show you how to set up your social media campaigns in 7 simple steps. Includes 2 bonus strategies not found in this post.

Tags app, blab.im, Social Media

Categories
Social Media

5 Ways To Grow Your Business Through The Power Of Social Media

Post author By Jon Rognerud

Post date November 25, 2015

You may have conquered offline advertising.

Your sales team is out there doing the “warrior-networking” thing and is creating nice commissions for itself.

Your website sits at the top of Google for an incredibly competitive word. (personal injury attorney, accident attorney, anyone?)

Top 10 most expensive keywords:

However, you cannot seem to crack the social media code.

It is no surprise as social media is an entirely different beast with approaches & algorithms that make only partial sense to those of us familiar with SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

We know that social media is a vital part of our online business strategies, yet we are unsure how to prepare, launch and become continually successful at it.

This is even more true for small businesses who may not have the budget or time resources for a social media expert.

It is next to impossible for a small business owner to run their business and try to create even the first successful social marketing campaign.

If you have no idea where you should be heading with promoting your business with social media we are here to help.

Here are five expert tactics that will bring your social media efforts to an entirely new level.

1) Engagement Is The Key To Success

Too many businesses take to social media and try to make a strong presence quickly, (blasting out content, pictures and quotes) and commenting on social networks with feedback like “great”, “enjoyed that” or “learned a lot” and nothing more.

(From The Awesome Buffer Blog)

The problem is they are only making half the effort that is needed for success.

While they may actually read all the comments on their own or others posts and tweets — that is as far as they go.

As a business, you need to be willing to go the distance and truly interact with your audience, and create posts that speak to them. That includes engaging on other platforms too.

Audiences need to know that someone is on the other end and actually listening to their problems and hearing their questions.

Try to contribute to your community with your knowledge and experience.

Responding to your audience brings a feeling of familiarity to your business. You no longer are just a business, you become a trusted friend.

Your willingness to care is going to take on a life of its own as your answers and comments are shared by your audience.

While this is a relatively simple task it helps to put your business on the map that is one that listens to and cares for their audience.

This one simple task can help you jump over your competition by leaps and bounds.

Pick a time each day or week where you address this, and track the data via your web analytics.

2) Offer Exclusive, Entertaining, Useful Information And Deals

You have to give your audience a reason to follow you on social media.

Simply asking and saying ‘please’ is not enough anymore. In fact, outright ethically bribing your audience to follow you may be the only way to gain followers and an audience, especially in the beginning. If done with integrity and a helpful intention, it will work.

From ConnectedTimes (with Gary Vaynerchuk (Twitter))

But, do not feel as though you have to bribe your audience with monetary gifts and rewards all the time.

Sometimes the act of sharing exclusive information with your audience is all that is needed.

People like the feeling of being in an exclusive club and receiving high-quality information can be their gateway drug within your business.

Another tactic you can use on the promotion of your business is by sharing exclusive sales and deals that are not offered anywhere else.

While your audience will love the special deals, you will enjoy the immediate boost in sales.

If you are feeling generous, the best way to promote your business on social media is through the use of freebies and sweepstakes.

Everyone loves to get something for free and this is all the more true with online relationships.

Simple sweepstakes that involves the giveaway of an inexpensive product has the potential of reaching thousands of targeted audience members.

Remember, the more unique you can get with your sweepstakes theme and prize the more people it will reach.

However, gone are the days of the “get a free iPad” campaigns. These will not help your business since tire-kickers and freebie-seekers are the only ones you’ll get.

3) Build Up Your Reputation

Social media is one of the best platforms to build up your online reputation.

As you already know your online reputation is one of your most valuable assets available to you.

Courtesy Ogilvy – Social Reputation

Without a good reputation, your efforts online will more than likely fall flat.

You can use your time on social media by offering insights, opinions, and valuable information to your visitors.

By simply sharing this information you are building an incredible online reputation while you are promoting yourself. An incredible way of killing two birds with one stone, if you will.

Your reputation builds because all you are offering is helpful advice and tips. That is why it is so important in the early stages of promoting your business that you stay far away from self-promotion.

Your audience can smell a sales pitch a mile away and this will do more harm to your reputation than those hefty commissions can solve.

4) Use All Platforms That Are Available To You

Many businesses will only use Facebook or Twitter and forget about all the other resources that are available to them.

Just because you don’t think Pinterest or Tumblr would offer much of an impact in promoting your business doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them.

(Courtesy MarketingCharts)

In fact, many times you may be able to grow a rather large following if you are able to tailor your contact to the type of audience that hangs around those platforms.

However, the smartest step is to do some research first. Where is your audience hanging out? Perhaps you are in a B2B environment? You should consider LinkedIn and create not only your personal profile there, but also create LinkedIn company pages.

If you are unsure what you should be sharing on Pinterest or Instagram, spy on some of your competitors and follow along those similar lines. Once you see that your content is being enjoyed by the audience, start getting creative with the content that you share and create.

5) Video Is As Social As You Can Get

Too many businesses are forgetting the absolute engagement power that comes with creating content for YouTube.

YouTube is still one of the largest social media powerhouses and should not be ignored.

Courtesy CandorPr.com

It’s the 2nd largest search engine and owned by Google. YouTube is a good platform to promote your business online.

YT should be used to get very personal with your audience and is perfect for creating how-to videos and tips that your audience will appreciate. Create a few short videos to start. Begin by answering the top 5-10 most common questions that customers and prospects ask.

These videos are very easy to create and your audience is going to love sharing these.

As an added bonus the link back you will receive from is valuable for targeted traffic. It include an editorial “no-vote” in Google’s eyes, but still important to direct traffic to your segmented website.

One of the most important things to remember about promoting your business online is that you have to build a reputation that instills a sense of trust and loyalty. Without these two components, your campaigns are likely to fail.

Conclusion:

These are just a few ways you can start promoting your business and building a loyal following…So to recap, here are the 5 strategies to review:

Create interaction: Engagement Is The Key To Success

Infotainment: Offer Exclusive, Entertaining, Useful Information And Deals

Brand reputation: Build Up Your Reputation

Be omnipresent: Use All Relevant Platforms That Are Available To You

Get personal: Video Is As Social As You Can Get

We always love to hear what your methods have been in successfully promoting your business through social media.

What are you using now? Fill in the comments below, would love to get feedback:
FREE: Download the free Social Media Performance Handbook that will show you how to set up your social media campaigns in 7 simple steps. Includes 2 bonus strategies not found in this post.

Tags business, growth, Social Media

Categories
Social Media

7 Critical Tools For Social Media Metrics Tracking and Management (#6 Is A Must)

Post author By Jon Rognerud

Post date November 19, 2015

There is no question about it, social media has become an integral part of your digital marketing strategy.

The success of your campaigns is more dependent on data and as a digital marketer you need to be able to identify the vital key metrics of your campaigns through social media analytical tools.

These tools help you to zero in on exactly what is work and what need to be improved upon.

While tools are only part of the play here, a more comprehensive strategy must be put in place to develop an approach to the top CMO expectations:

Take on top-line growth

Own the customer experience

Dig into data-based insights

Operate in real-time

Master metrics that matter

With any social media campaign, or marketing campaigns in general, you must also get answer to these critical business questions:

• What is our most cost-effective marketing channel?
• Which messages resonate best over Twitter (or your most topical social network)?
• What is the best channel for building awareness?
• What is the most efficient way to drive customer engagement? (Is it also the most effective?)
• Which campaign brought in the best return last year? Last quarter?
• How healthy is our brand? (reputation)
• What product or line of business drives the most brand value? (See 80/20 rule of business)

As you are well aware trying to keep up with the trends in social media can be a full-time job in itself. For your social media campaigns to be effective you need to be able to balance a combination of customer insight, entertainment, and timing. In short, you have to be an almost perfect human being, at the very least a really good digital marketer.

Since we are not all perfect, I have found some of the best social media tools that are going to help take your efforts to the next level. Without any particular order let’s begin!

1) Kissmetrics

Let’s start out by looking at one of the most popular analytical tools on the market, Kissmetrics. (Update Sept 2018 – domain was sold, try Tend.io instead! BTW, Ryan and team have top-notch support and very knowledgeable in this space!)

Kissmetrics keeps things easy to track all the visits on your website, as well as what they do and where they come from.

Through using this software, you have the ability to super focus in on what is exactly bringing visitors to your site and keep replicating it.

Unlike other analytical tools, Kissmetrics dives deep into the ROI of your account.

Some of the incredible features of Kissmetrics include reports of how many opt-in and outs, extensive A/B split test reports, as well as how people are behaving on your site.

Kissmetrics operates on a principle of volume as to cost. With the lowest of plans beginning at $200 and moving up the chain to $2000. Kissmetrics is the brain-child of super-entrepreneur Neil Patel and you can have the opportunity to try it free for 30 days.

2) Social Searcher

Social Searcher is a set of tools that believes in having some serious power under the hood! There is no sign-up even required and you can begin by entering in your brand name. It is literally that easy! The program offers an easy to use interface with simple side-by-side reports for Facebook, Twitter, as Google+.

Through Social Searcher, you can also generate detailed analytics. The free version will show you such information as how many posts per hour, day, or even week.

When you upgrade to a premium package you have many more options available to you. Included features of the premium package include email notifications as well as the ability to export data directly to Excel.

You can get started with Social Searcher for free or upgrade for around $30.

3) Followerwonk

Have you ever wanted to dive into your Twitter followers and learn more about them…if you are that brave?

By using this tool that was developed (bought out) by Moz, you have the ability to find out:

where your followers are from

when they are active

how long they have been on Twitter

Followerwonk presents all of this information in easy to understand charts and graphs. This allows you to connect with the most active users in your niche and follow the type of content that is being actively shared.

Followerwonk’s basic service can be used for free.

To unlock all of the features, you will need a Moz Pro account which starts out a $99 a month.

5) Sprout Social

Sprout Social is much more than your typical social media management software. You are able to create reports for multiple Facebook and Twitter profiles.

This enables you to easily follow multiple niche accounts. The reports give you more information than you could possibly use and is very user-friendly.

Sprout Social allows you to generate engagement reports that allow you to analyze response times, follow trends, as well as workflows.

This is a tool that will be used for multiple tasks throughout the day and will become the essential go-to tool.

Social Sprout begins at just $59 per month.

6) Google Analytics

Perhaps the granddaddy of analytic tools on our list, Google Analytics has superb social media metrics that will enable you to measure the conversion values of your social media efforts. (Note: make sure to use with Google Tag Manager)

The problem with Google Analytics is there is more of a learning curve involved with setting it up and understanding some of the terminology.

However, once you do get set up the information you receive will have a large impact on your social media efforts.

Google Analytics requires you to input more information than the other options on our list.

GA is best used to find out where your visitors are coming from and which social media channels are the most relevant.

For those who are on a budget, the free price tag of Google Analytics is highly valued, and can’t be beat. Some will not use it because of privacy concerns, but that’s not you?

7) SocialMention

Perhaps one of the very helpful social media tools on the market right now is Social Mention.

This tool will provide you with all the information you need to analyze your keywords and top influencers in the market. (Note: there are many others, like Radian6 (Salesforce) and buzzsumo that can be used for larger corporations and projects.)

SocialMention manages to combine all of these various metrics and give you everything you need to know about your target audience. It’s easy to expert keywords and data into CSV files.

This can be a huge time saver when trying to determine content needs and offers.

And searching and monitoring for your brand reputation is an important part of your ongoing digital marketing work.

This is another tool that has made it to the list, simply based on its ease of use.

If you are like us, you do not want to read a 100 page manual just to get started. With SocialMention all you have to do is type in your brand name and the software gets to work!

A tool like that you would expect to be paying for in blood, but this is another essential that is free to use.

Conclusion

If you have been struggling with keeping track of your social media accounts and overall market research, you can rest easier and become more productive with any of these featured tools.

You will now have all the data you need at the tips of your fingers, enabling you to make much more informed decisions as to what you should be posting and when among other issues.

There is a tool for every budget as well. Whether you are just starting out or already have several clients under your belt.

Do not leave your social media marketing tracking and management to chance, start using one of these tools today and see the difference they can make.

FAVORABLE MENTIONS: (we like both)

https://simplymeasured.com/
https://www.agorapulse.com/
FREE: Download the free Social Media Performance Handbook that will show you how to set up your social media campaigns in 7 simple steps. Includes 2 bonus strategies not found in this post.

Tags social media metrics, tools

Categories
General Social Media

9 Content Creation Tips For Profitable Social Media (Copy This List)

Post author By Jon Rognerud

Post date November 10, 2015

Any social media marketing campaign lives or dies according to the quality of its content.

No matter what you do, if your content does not sparkle, you are not going to get the results that you want.

When you look at the people who seem to dominate social media, you will find that they all have one thing in common: …

…great content (with a plan)

If you are having trouble coming up with such content, you may just need a bit of inspiration.

Give the following tips a try, and see if any of them give you the nudge that you need to get started.

1. Tell Good Stories

Human beings are creatures that love narratives. We love stories that have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and that surprise us or tell us something new.

Focus on telling great stories in your content.

Remember, there is always something else to read or watch online, so unless you grab your audience’s attention right away, they are going to click away and go somewhere else.

2. Focus On Strong, Positive Emotions

Content that evokes a strong emotional response from the audience is going to be more successful than content that does not move people. In addition, when marketing your brand, you need to make sure that these emotional responses are positive ones.

The most popular content online tends to be the most emotional, and stories that evoke positive emotions are far more likely to be widely shared and potentially go viral.

Try this tool and see what the top posts are for your industry. Then, test with new headlines and new, updated content that helps and engages your audience.

You’ll see that content with strong emotions and call to action draw visitors in.

3. Get To The Point

No one wants to waste five minutes reading a lengthy introduction just to find out what you have to say.

Keep your content as short and sweet as possible. The more concise your articles are, for instance, the easier it will be for people to absorb your message, and the less likely they will be to get bored and click away.

Say what you have to say within a few sentences.

Keep polishing your pieces until you have boiled them down to the basics.

4. Craft Catchy Headlines

Your headline is the first part of your content that anyone sees, so you need to spend time creating ones that are going to make people want to keep reading.

No matter how amazing your content is, if it has a dull headline, few people are going to bother to click on it.

Make it clear that reading your content will give people valuable information without requiring a lot of effort from them.

5. Use Images And Videos

Online, a picture is really worth a thousand words, or possibly more!

Every article that you write needs to have compelling graphics and videos accompanying it.

Studies have found that even a single image in a post can double the number of times it is shared.

Infographics, how-to videos, and other visual content can dramatically improve the reception of your content.

If you do not feel up to creating your own, hire a graphic artist who is able to make what you need.

6. Post Frequently

If you only post new content on rare occasions, it doesn’t really matter how amazing it is.

If you really want your marketing campaign to take off and give you great results, you need to post new content as frequently as possible. This does not mean spamming people with hundreds of links per day, but it can mean making a dozen or more updates in 24 hours.

The more you post, after all, the more opportunities there are for people to share your content.

Once you post something, keep promoting it as long as possible. You may annoy a few people, but the results you get will be worth it.

7. Be Sure To Give Credit

If you use an article or an image from someone else, be sure to link back to it.

Not only does this increase the amount of traffic those sites get, but it improves your own reputation. Other people will be more likely to link back to you and send traffic in your direction if you have done the same for them.

Retweet people who tweet your content and thank them for doing so.

Follow people who follow you. Leave positive comments on other people’s pages.

8. Use The Data

It is not enough to just post content and send it out into the world.

You also need to take the time to study how each piece does so that you can know what works and what doesn’t.

Which pieces get the best responses? Which ended up being ignored?

By studying all of this data, you can look for patterns that you can then use to improve your content. You may discover that certain topics are much more popular than others, or that some days are better than others.

Many social media tools provide dashboard within them. Tools like Sendible, Hootsuite and Buffer, for example.

9. Give Them A Valuable Takeaway

You need to leave your readers feeling as if they have gained some practical knowledge from your content.

They need some concrete, down to earth advice that they can use right away. Not only does this leave them feeling more satisfied, but it also makes them more likely to go on and share your content with other people.

Creating great content for your social media marketing campaign can take some time.

Give these 9 tips a try and see how well they work for you.

Before long, you will get the results that you want!
NEED SOME HELP? Contact Us Here and schedule your time.

Tags content creation, content creation t, profits, Social Media

Categories
General Social Media

6 Smart Social Media Solutions For Professional Services Businesses

Post author By Jon Rognerud

Post date November 4, 2015

In light of the broad reach of social media today, many professional service businesses are seeking to engage in a professional manner in the online community for marketing and informational purposes.

While there are no hard rules on how professional service businesses, such as financial advisors, attorneys, or realtors, must approach social media marketing and information sharing, businesses should always develop appropriate guidelines that not only outline online goals, but also establish a base for professional online conduct.

Here are six smart social media solutions that professional service businesses should include in their social media guidelines and follow precisely to make their online experience with social media sources a success.

1. Providing an honest look at the business

Identifying your particular position and role for the company will not only create a sense of authenticity but also establish credibility among other social media users. Business related information posted must be accurate and verifiable to avoid misinterpretations by prospects. Honesty can go a long way when representing your business in social media and misleading statements or facts are oftentimes easily discerned by others.

2. Practicing common courtesy and respect

When posting in social media forums, ensure that only meaningful, appropriate content will be used. When responding to other posts, comments should always reflect the overall integrity and professionalism of the company. Only respectful, insightful comments will cast a positive light on a business and possibly establish a future relationship between the company and prospects. It is important to always handle disagreements with other users politely and abstain from becoming overly defensive or treat the matter in a way that would reflect negatively on the business.

3. Respecting privacy and confidentiality

Prior to posting business-related content in social media forums, it is imperative to ensure that doing so will not violate privacy or confidentiality rights. Many reports, privileged conversations, or client-related matters are not intended for public sharing and may not be legally disclosed. It is best to use common courtesy and ask permission for publishing any content that may be subject to privacy and confidentiality rights. Any content posted in social media forums will be widely available for viewing by users from all over the world.

4. Capitalizing on expertise

Composing unique content about your business that reflects personal expertise and insight will not only give the posts a natural voice, but may also help build a readership of individuals interested in your individualistic perspectives on business happenings and activities. A great way to employ professional expertise in social media is to create a separate website or a business related Facebook page and to post brief insightful tips or opportunities for free consultations. Industry-specific information, events, statistics, and reports also make for great conversation starters. When posting niche-specific content, always ensure that the general public will be able to understand the information provided by avoiding industry lingo and ask for input.

5. Establishing a personal connection

To help build a positive reputation for your business, try to connect with other social media users by displaying your personality in your posts. Sharing personal thoughts, stories, and background may help other users to connect with you on a more personal level. Many professional services businesses, such as financial planning or real estate, may seem rather intimidating to the general public and being able to see the professional as a real person with similar values and life experiences will help prospective clients relate to you more easily.

6. Employ other media tools to relate information

When looking to provide simple overviews of events, activities, or news pertaining to your business, it may be helpful to make use of other online media tools in conjunction with social media to get the message across. Producing short but professional video clips and creating brief blog post that can be advertised on your social media profile to keep online prospects updated on recent happenings can be a great way to increase online viewership and readership.

Regardless of industry, professional service businesses must take a smart approach to social media use to avoid engaging in online activities that may result in violations to privacy and confidentiality or would cast a negative light on the company. In the end, online social media behavior should always reflect the same professionalism, respectfulness, and common courtesy that the business person would demonstrate in person.
BONUS: Get the free lead generation guide that will show you how to quickly get more leads from traffic. Includes 2 bonus strategies not found in this post.

Tags internet marketing, professional services, Social Media

Categories
General Social Media

How to Measure Social Media Marketing Success Easily (ROI and Goals)

Post author By Jon Rognerud

Post date November 4, 2015

Tracking social media is a two-fold approach.

Know this: social media is a ‘media’ (press) darling. Consider how many posts and references show up for social media every hour, everyday.

SEO, or search engine optimization, on the other hand – has been around a lot longer, but doesn’t get as much credit or love these days.

Perhaps our friendly journalists think they are the same? Hope not.

The professionals who understand the difference between user intent, tactics and overall strategies for the two forms of online marketing (drawing the line here), are clear that they both can have solid impact – for really any business.

SEO tends to be easier to track for many (keywords to conversion as an example), social media – not. But, if you cannot answer the “what and the why”, you’re not doing great in either, or you are just getting started.

It’s hard to track real ROI with social media marketing. (Really?)

For most businesses the best sales and marketing campaigns involve forming strong relationships with customers/clientele. It’s because of these relationships that companies can flourish and grow as they build trust and loyalty with their patrons.

As a result, it’s no doubt social media marketing found its way into the business arena. Effective networking is a key factor to implement in order to grow a business; and social media provides that opportunity.

Yet how does a business know if its social media marketing campaign is effective? How can the level of success be measured?

The answer is two-fold.

The first.

This is arguably the most important task to accomplish when deciding how to use social media marketing for your business. Determine your objective(s).

What is it you want to accomplish with your social media marketing efforts?

And, do you know what is going on right now in your marketplace (conversation)?

Whether your business is a PR firm, technology company, recruiting firm, nonprofit organization or a simple ice-cream parlor in a small town, there is something you want/need to accomplish with social media marketing.

It could be as tangible as increased sales and profits or less tangible like getting responses from customers about how to make improvements to your product or service. Or, getting success stories and testimonials to increase your credibility profile.

Maybe your purpose is simply to increase your product’s brand awareness. Whatever your objective is, that will be what is weighed in order to measure your social media marketing success.

Without a clear picture of your objective, the effectiveness of your social media marketing campaign can never truly be measured. We think in terms of baselines to compare with as you grow.

The second.

When you want to measure the ROI on social media marketing efforts, the second option is probably what is most commonly meant when the question is raised. That is (analytics) “tracking”.

With pay per click or sales tracking a business owner has a tangible means of measuring; however, with social media tracking it is much less straightforward and the method depends on the site and approach.

Facebook, for instance, might be measured by the number of confirmed friends and engagement on ads to posts and landing pages;

Twitter might be weighed by the quantity of retweets following a tweet; number of followers acquired in a month;

A Web Forum might look at the quantity and quality of its threads. The list goes on and will continue to grow as the world of social media continues to grow and evolve.

Free tools like Social Mention helps to capture “sentiment” – another metric that can be used for reputation management.

The bottom line is this: measuring the success of social media marketing is subjective, and each business must identify what objective it wants to accomplish. When that aim is being met, the business can say with confidence that its social media marketing campaign is effective and is a success.

Ultimately every business needs to have a plan in place that describes the goals and ROI objectives throughout the entire customer journey – from the first click, last attributed click and via the funnel.

Determine what the lifetime value is of your customer, break them down, and backtrack from there. Your advertising and marketing budget should be evaluated against total Return On Investment over time.

Next, try some tools that can help:

BudUrl, Bitly – track how many times people click on a link you share

Twitter Search – powerful search in real time, advanced search helps to drill down and inject yourself into the conversation as well

Twilert – Google alerts for Twitter – free

Google Analytics – free – ability to track traffic, content, referrers (where traffic came from) and a lot more. Make sure to install Google Tag Manager and set up Event tracking via Triggers.

Lead Generation EBook – Free download to learn the latest insights on how to create leads from social media and advertising overall
NEED SOME HELP? Contact Us Here and schedule your time.

Tags goals, measurement, ROI, Social Media

Categories
Social Media

Top 10 Amazing Social Media Success Stories You Can Learn From Now

Post author By Jon Rognerud

Post date August 10, 2015

The social media platform has quickly become known as a significant part of a successful internet marketing strategy. This post presents ten of the most successful social media campaigns, with a brief description of why each one worked. Social media campaigns follow a process. You can learn more about starting a social media marketing campaign here.

“Will it Blend?”

( Campaign by Blendtec )
There are few internet users who are unaware of the enticing videos by Blendtec; each documenting a heavy-duty item being demolished in one of their heavy-duty blenders. These videos went viral across YouTube and other social media networks partly because of their absurdity, encouraging people to watch an iPhone, tennis shoe, or other novelty item being chopped to pieces. Since the campaign, sales have raised 700%, proving the importance of thinking outside the box.

Australia’s Tourism

( Queensland Campaign )
This campaign was directed from Facebook, and drew over 375,000 internet users to the official website of the campaign. They encouraged viewers to participate by offering a large reward for one lucky participant, and spread the word by including other social networking platforms, such as Twitter and YouTube. Because of this campaign, web searches for Queensland rose 40%, and 9,000 tickets to the area were purchased directly from their website. Needless to say, it did the job of increasing tourism, and it did so on a minimal budget.

“Create Next Donut”

( Campaign by Dunkin’ Donuts )
Dunkin’ Donuts increased their sales, as well as their internet presence, significantly with their offer to let consumers create a menu item. With over 130,000 submissions, and 174,000 registered voters to determine a winner, this is one of social media’s incredible success stories. The wide exposure can be credited to the use of multiple social networking platforms, and the creativity of the promotion.

“My Starbucks Idea”

( Campaign by Starbucks )
Starbucks shocked internet marketers around the nation by not only utilizing existing social media networks, but creating one themselves! They noticed the great success brought on by interactive platforms, and created their very own site designed specifically for user feedback. The “My Starbucks Idea” website presents users with different suggestions on how to improve products and services, allowing them to make suggestions and respond to existing suggestions with their opinion. They also provided a regularly updated blog with news on progress, allowing users to see how their feedback was used throughout the development process. By directly asking consumers what they want, they increased web engagement and ensured the success of future campaigns.

“The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”

( Campaign by Old Spice )
Old Spice created a series of YouTube videos advertising their product that quickly went viral, averaging over 23 million views. Their most successful video has over 32 million views, and that number is growing on a daily basis. These videos present different versions of the “ideal” man, with an amusing tag line that insinuates Old Spice can “smell your man into a romantic millionaire.” Because of the humor, the videos led to a number of spoofs, increasing their popularity even more. They even received press coverage for their originality and success.

Dell Campaign

( Dell Social Marketing Group )
Dell is one of only a few companies that can boast of a return on investment from their Twitter campaign, which can be primarily credited to the “Dell Outlet” campaign. What makes their campaign so successful, however, is their use of multiple social networking sites. In addition to multiple Twitter handles, they offer a diverse network of informational blogs, and they maintain an active presence on Facebook. Their dedication to social networking has led to over one million dollars in revenue.

“Comcast Cares”

( Campaign by Comcast )
There was a time when Comcast users were dropping like flies out of disappointment with the company’s services. Most of these people have changed their tune, however, and it is all thanks to the “Comcast Cares” customer service outlet started on Twitter. With a social media platform that allows direct connection between consumers and help agents, they have decreased complaints dramatically. They also monitor mention of their name on various social media platforms, ensuring that anyone who has a complaint will be met with an offer to help.

“Check-in”

( Campaign by Domino’s )
Domino’s pizza credits Foursquare with a 29 percent increase in their profits. By creating promotions that encourage customers to “check-in,” they have increased the mention of their company across social media networks. Facebook has a similar feature now, which has also been successfully used to increase sales.

Blog Campaign

( by IBM Marketing )
IBM is a unique social media success, as their dramatic increase in profits can be linked primarily to the creation of numerous blogs. They offered their employees the opportunity to set up their own blog, as well as their own Twitter account, allowing them to directly communicate with customers. This led to a 10 to 1 return on investment, equaling close to $100 billion.

Zappos Twitter Outreach

( Campaign by Zappos )
Zappos proves the worth of sites like Twitter by becoming the leading online shoe store in the country via innovative use of social media. The CEO of the company, and other employees, keep active Twitter accounts, engaging with customers and encouraging open lines of communication. Often thought of as the company that instigated widespread corporate Twitter use, Zappos brings a large personality into their campaign by remaining fresh, humorous, and informative.

What do you think?

There is a formula for success in social media. If you want to learn more, feel free to reach out to us. We can provide you a social media marketing campaign demo.

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