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Best Practices of Social Media Marketing

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Back in the good old days of the Mad Men era, advertising lived and died by television, radio, newspaper, and billboards. You simply had your creative directors, account managers, artists, and so on. Not even the great Don Draper or Peggy Olsen could have predicted that one day, newspapers and magazines would be struggling to make ends meet with printed editions. The words digital strategist, graphic design, and social media marketing were unheard of. Now, advertising lives online. Why? Because we live online. In fact, people check their social media accounts about 17 times per day. This number might seem ridiculous at first, but it actually makes total sense.

Let’s Talk Numbers

Take a moment and think about all of your different social media accounts. Immediately, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter pop into your head. Oh yeah, and now that you think of it, you also love to go on Pinterest and YouTube from time to time. According to a Global Web Index Social Report, the average social media accounts per user sits at 5.54. As far as daily active engagement, people are on an average of 2.82 platforms. Of course, in the older age range, these numbers decrease slightly, while younger age ranges increase slightly.

With these numbers in mind, it’s important to realize that when brands play in this space, they need to be cohesive with the environment. Even it’s called “social media marketing”, users don’t want to feel like they are being marketed to. Lately, engagement on social media, making it imperative that your brand’s content stands out. Follow these best practices when it comes to different platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to help your brand gain popularity with users.

 

2016 social media marketing statistics

Instagram

Hashtags, hashtags, hashtags. Make sure hashtags are relevant and specific to the brand. For instance, if you’re writing a post for a wedding cake from Charlotte Bakery, don’t just put #cake. This makes it very difficult to track the brand’s performance. Instead, try #CharlotteWeddingCakes. This unique hashtag makes it easy to measure how the campaign is doing.

Capitalization within hashtags with multiple words is also key. By capitalizing each word, users can read and understand the hashtag with ease. Isn’t #ReadingWithCapitals easier than #readingalllowercase?

Quality photos and videos are winners. Make sure the brand’s images are taken with high quality cameras. Instagram is all about filters, so make sure the brand’s posts utilize the different styles- just like other users! It’s also important to properly size images according to the specific platform. This infographic from Social Times highlights the appropriate image sizes for Instagram and other prominent social media platforms.

Interact with users when called to do so! Creating enticing content is important, but retaining brand followers cannot be left out.Social media marketing doesn’t end when you hit “post”. Make sure you’re reading comments and checking out what the brand has been tagged in. Respond to comments from users with the brand’s voice in a timely fashion. Thank users for their feedback (whether positive or negative). To initiate interactions, ask followers to answer open ended questions and respond to what they have to say. Keeping a high level of engagement with Instagram users and followers of the brand fosters a meaningful relationship that would not otherwise exist.

Facebook

Business pages are a fantastic resource for consumers on Facebook. Branded profiles bear a striking resemblance to individual Facebook profiles, which allows brands to be seen as more humanistic. A business page should always have complete and updated information about the company. If the page is for a brick and mortar restaurant, it is imperative that the page prominently feature information such as the location, hours of operation, contact phone number, a link to the website, etc. It is extremely frustrating for users when this information is missing or inaccurate. For a brand such as Oreo, the page needs to update users with exciting information that pertains to them. While those that follow Oreo may not care about where an Oreo plant is located, they do care about interesting new flavors of Oreo cookies. Make sure the content within the business page caters to the users needs and reflects the brand’s image.

Time posts well to ensure the most interaction. Users tend to check Facebook frequently throughout the day, so be sure to post when the brand’s target audience is most active. Do research and test posting at different times to see what times are most effective. You may think posting after business hours on week days is the way to go, however you could find that you’re missing out on weekend activity. Don’t want to worry about branded social media posts on the weekend? Tools like Hootsuite can help you schedule out posts ahead of time so you don’t have to do so manually.

Take advantage of Facebook live video for a new, exciting way to engage with users. Live video is already immensely popular within the Facebook community. If something is happening to the brand that fans would be interested in, start streaming! It won’t be long before streaming becomes a key player within social media marketing. If you’re looking for tips and tricks on how to get involved with Facebook live video, there are many resources already available.

Twitter

Be concise in order to get the brand’s message across clearly. You may be thinking, “I’m only allowed 140 characters, doesn’t that make my message concise?”. Not necessarily. It’s surprising how often brands try to cram multiple messages into 140 characters. That’s why it’s a good rule of thumb to stick to one clear idea per post. This allows followers to quickly consume and understand the brand’s message.

Keep track of trending hashtags and utilize them when they are relevant to the brand. Checking out the trending hashtags is a great way to stay on top of what users are excited about on Twitter. Thankfully, Twitter has a whole section devoted to trends, making it easy to see what’s hot in real time. If there is a trend that is highly relevant to the brand, jump in! However, if the brand appears like it’s reaching to be a part of something, users may react negatively.

Use images and videos frequently to entice engagement from followers. Twitter posts with an image or video are about 3 times more likely to receive engagement. Retweeting images and videos about the brand from fans is also highly encouraged. This builds stronger relationships with fans while creating brand awareness among other Twitter users.

Keep Yourself Educated on Social Media Marketing

When it comes to social media marketing, there are always new updates, tools, and processes popping up. That’s why it is so important to stay up to speed when it comes to marketing through social media. Get more wins by being proactive rather than reactive with social media marketing. Your followers will take notice.

 

 

mobile phone with twitter, Search Has Gone Social, Blog by Infinite Reach Agency

Search Has Gone Social: 3 Reasons Why This is Great News!

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Here’s what I love about search and social media. First of all, it’s our business. Plain and simple. Second, it makes the intangible—well, nearly tangible. More than ever before companies are approachable, available and are listening to what their fans and community are thinking, feeling and saying.

The “old-school” days of cutting off a label from your favorite cereal box and dropping it in the mail are from a different time in history. What used to feel like months in receiving any notification back from a company will happen now in a matter of just hours (maybe minutes) with social media and I believe we all cheer as things are much easier now.

Communication is so much faster and really getting to know a company by way of what they publish coupled with their response time is amazing! Yay, technology!! Right? Right.

Search Just Became More Interesting!

Aside from Google+, Google Search is going deeper in the social game. Their last agreement with Twitter expired in 2011 and a lot has changed in the world of technology since then. It’s been a few weeks and now that Google and Twitter have recently signed their (new) deal, Google will have access to Twitters data feed. Yes, things are about to really get interesting.

While Google hasn’t given us much to go on other than the announcement, great news is that this is going to take some time to implement. Our friends over at Stone Temple Consulting reports that out of 138,635 tweets tested, as of right now less than 8% of tweets are being indexed in search results. Unlike other Google algorithm changes, we have some time to adjust to this one!

Tweets that become visible in online search results will give their potential consumers and extra tidbit of info–the will experience the “flavor” of your company right on page 1. And, according to an article on Hubspot; Google is going to index tweets in REAL time search results. The impact of this deal on SEO and website traffic is huge as these two industry giants bring the two worlds of marketers and consumers together—front and center.

With the billions of websites that are published, Google has no idea whether your company is real or even one that is sharing quality content. Their end goal is an optimal user experience delivering quality content and what people are looking for.

Link building in social platforms does just that, it reinforces your quality information. Google loves links but it also loves reinforcement that your web content is relevant to what the end user is searching for and as those links are shared they receive a little extra juice from search engines regarding which websites are credible and should be ranked for what keyword phrases.

Here’s 3 Reasons Why This Is Great News! 

  1. Seriously Impacts SEO

Let’s apply how links get Google juice to how we think Tweets will be indexed. Most tweets will be treated the same way. Knowing how Google works they will implement search algorithms that will populate tweets that offer the greatest value to those searching.

Further, a link that gets several retweets or the number of times a tweet gets favorited could very well contribute to SEO and the probability of a bump in ranking as they reflect the activity that specific link produced among social sharers. It obviously contained valuable information and therefore reinforces everything from brand identity to the outbound company voice and philosophies.

Remember—you are the company you keep. If those that retweet and favorite your tweets have a lot of followers or are considered influencers—this will help greatly! The more followers the better–now is a fantastic time to start growing your audience as Google will most likely index tweets from those that have a lot of followers.

  1. Impacts the Marketer

First and foremost—Twitter just became more valuable than ever to your online social interactions.

Companies will have to rethink their social strategies for marketing as this will make their social media interactions more visible to consumers. This is actually a great thing! Perception is everything and now companies will need to be more cognizant of their message while they sit a little taller and be a little more polished in front of their consumers.

Community managers will be more nimble and work harder at understanding the impacts of their interactions while quick to respond to areas of concern. If there is bad PR coverage it very well could reach Google and blow into a huge PR issue that will need to be addressed and contained.

  1. Fresh Content = Building a Stronger Online Community

This deal will lead to more original content. We can’t stress the importance of how updating your websites with fresh, relevant content on a regular basis is to your business. Google appreciates when a website is updated with fresh and relevant content often, which is also true when it comes to your social media accounts.

Create and curate original content on Twitter, especially. Having social profiles that are not updated on a regular basis is like having a dirty front poor to your business. It only takes once for a prospective customer to stop in to a Facebook page or Twitter feed that’s not being utilized and just as a car runs out of gas on the side of the road, so does that potential customer.

Since your feeds can potentially be seen straight away on the front page of Google, remember to put your best foot forward and gain followers by giving them great, fresh but useful content. This will overflow into those you follow, other influencers, lists and more. Use images, hashtags and links to get more followers to retweet and interact with you. Thank others for sharing–all in all, be a good twitter citizen.

Make it easy—just always be posting! If the social media profiles associated with your website are active with frequent, quality updates then the search engines take into consideration that your business is authentic, engaged, and valuable to readers..AND  your prospective clients love you for it.

If you don’t have time, hire a community manager. Or better yet, hire us! It’s what we do and we take your entire internet strategy into consideration when planning your posts. We call it the Power of the Triangle. Click here to understand more or fill out this contact form for a complimentary 30 minute consultation! We’re happy to invest our time to help you figure out a solid strategy!

Again, for most, tweets aren’t going to appear in search results overnight. It’s going to take some time for Google to get on top of their tweet indexing game. That means you have some time to make internal adjustments on how you can leverage this new change for the better. It’s great news, really and certainly news that we’re excited about. Yes, search HAS gone social!

 

Tweet Like a Pro | Social Media | Infinite Reach Agency

Are You Tweeting Yet? Tips to Tweet Like a Pro

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Tweet Like a Pro | Social Media | Infinite Reach AgencySo you want to Tweet. That little blue bird can be so confusing.  We’re unsure what to do, how to Tweet, who to follow. There’s an entire new vocabulary to learn in order to send a message of only 140 characters out to the electronic masses.  We’ve done a bit of research, and these are a few of the most helpful tips for becoming an expert Tweeter.

Six of Our Best Tips to Tweet

  1. Have a Plan – A content marketing plan is key to social media marketing. Have a plan designed to communicate your brand, events, and marketing information in a consistent manner. Forbes.com has a pretty good article on integrating Twitter into your marketing plan. Focus on building your brand, incorporating your identity into every Tweet you tweet.
  2. #Hashtags – Make sure they are relevant to your tweet. Use them sparingly. Media Bistro recommends limiting your hashtags to 2 per tweet. It makes reading cumbersome to have to wade through 5 or 6 hashtags in a tweet! Your followers will appreciate limited #Hashtags!
  3. Know Your Audience –  If you don’t know your audience, you don’t know what is relevant to them! Learn how your products and services can improve their lives – learn how you can give value to your customers.
  4. Consistency – Keep your message consistent. If you’re all over the place, you’ll confuse your followers.  Remember, Twitter is a conversation between you and your followers. If you make a left turn when they are expecting you to continue along the same road, you might just lose them!
  5. Keep it Simple – You only get 140 characters to convey your message. Keep it simple and easy to read. Read up on Twitter short hand – you can find a nice little Twitter Dictionary that will get you up to speed on Twerminology and allow you to abbreviate and still be understood!
  6. Share the Twitter Love – The Twitterverse is not a solitary place. It’s a worldwide network of conversations. Take some time to thank you followers, engage in discussions, and promote or endorse other businesses you know and like. Practice good Twitter Karma and it’ll come back to you a hundred times over!

The Long & the Short of It

Twitter is a valuable resource to help you market your business, build a brand, and engage potential customers. Treat it with the same care you would the rest of your marketing plan. Need help with your Social Media Marketing plan? Contact us for a consultation!