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Optimizing Social Networks For Online Marketing
“Social media marketing” is one of those fancy umbrella terms that covers a good deal of labor and practices in the world of marketing. The focus of course, as is with many kinds of marketing, is to reach out to and “acquire” customers. While one of the front runners for doing that is content marketing, there’s a lot more that can be done through social media networks – specifically to optimize them for customer engagement and “woo-ing”
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your social media networks that you involve in your online marketing.
Avoiding Common Social Media Mistakes
We frequently discuss the right things everyone should be doing but how often do we talk about the things that should be avoided? After all, we’re only human. That makes us less than perfect. Group that with the fact that half the time we make stupid decisions that leave us looking like bumbling idiots and you wonder how any brand can survive being run by people.
No wonder Skynet will be so successful.
How To Maintain Inspiration While Writing For Your Content Marketing
Content marketing has its ups and downs, and one of the major snags we run into when we’re doing any kind of content marketing is that brick wall that sucks away inspiration and stops marketers dead in their tracks.
It’s a harsh reality but one we face on a regular basis. You spend all that time selecting a certain niche, getting sites put up, the blog, the content marketing strategy, the topics, the theme, the keywords… and then you start trying to put content together and you fall flat on your face.
I remember so many occasions where I needed to produce a brief report, or get a blog post written. The concept was in my mind and I had the swirling embraces of a beautiful outline that absolutely refused to form into a cohesive thought that I could utilize. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stared at a blinking cursor on a blank page.
How To Propel Traffic By The Thousands With Blog Marketing
Whether you’re a personal blogger or a company blogger, everyone has a similar goal in mind regardless of the vertical – you want more eyeballs on your blog. It’s a simply concept for the most part and doesn’t seem like it would be too terribly difficult but a lot of things need to fall into place if you want to capture a wider audience with your blog marketing.
The most obvious is that you have to get the word out about your content, letting the world know that your blog exists. Obviously if no one knows it’s there they aren’t likely to stop by for some tea and a witty quip or two.
@MarkShurtleff Taking Twitter Too Far?
We’ve heard amusing and horrifying stories of content being shared through social media that really didn’t belong there. We also know some of the risks of following people, be they friends or just people we network with, in the fact that there is often copious amounts of overshare.
So how do people stand on the issue of an execution being announced… in a Tweet?
Earlier today, the convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by a select Utah firing squad – It’s been 14 years since there has been an execution of this kind in the United States. Shortly before the execution the Attorney General Mark Shurtleff made the announcement of the execution via Twitter in a short series of Tweets.
I’m at a bit of a loss because I’m trying to decide if these kinds of Tweets are even remotely necessary. How do you correctly convey emotion and sincerity with 140 characters, especially when talking about death?
One message stated: “I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner’s execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims.”
The post before that said “A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justice.”
This type of incident raises the question about what kinds of things are appropriate within Twitter, and what topics should be avoided completely. There’s an old saying that there is a time and place for everything – so is Twitter the place for discussion or announcement of a very serious execution of human life?
Some things are perhaps better left the news and other media, and a lot of Twitter users are agreeing with the notion that the Tweet was inappropriate and out of place. I admit that I do find it unappealing, but at the same time I wonder if people would react the same to others discussing the matter in the same light.
Is it less the subject matter and more the issue that the person who made the decision for the execution made the Tweet?
Interesting points and questions to ponder as we think about the we choose to speak and the words we use to engage the followers of our businesses online. What is seemingly innocent to one (or many) is also offensive and inappropriate.
Companies Finally Take The Hint In Social Media
If you put your ear to the ground you can hear something. It’s the dull crackle of fire dying away. The heat rolls back as frost seems to slowly take hold. The noise dies down, the fear slips away.
I think hell is starting to freeze over.
As I look at companies engaging followers in social media there is a sincere outreach and the companies are actually listening to people. I never thought I’d see the day and swore it would be one of those “When pigs fly” “When hell freezes over” kind of scenarios before the majority of businesses realized that listening within social media needed to take place before engagement could occur.
I’ll admit that a number of companies have been getting social media marketing right from “OK Go!” but many companies and organizations have struggled to connect with people in this new medium. They still trying to follow old rules of marketing and PR within social media that have little to do with engagement and are more about practical application of sales headlines in mass media. People within social media don’t dig baiting.
They also don’t appreciate a company inviting them to be fans while that company proceeds to turn on the propaganda loudspeakers. That makes it impossible to interact.
Take it one step farther with poor engagement and rude behavior from those individuals assigned to handle social media accounts for marketing and PR and you can see why the outlook has been kind of grim. While I did maintain a feeling of being a bit despondent about the outcome of marketing with social media and business presence there I did have some measure of hope. It’s like cheering on the worst team in sports. They’ll get a win eventually… you just know it. You hope.
It’s almost comical sometimes watching a new company jump into social media marketing without firm research and a solid stand. It’s a bit like watching your dad play with his first video camera. In that scenario, everything gets recorded and he can’t put the damn thing down. In social media, the company wants to share everything and share too much and sell too hard.
If you’re broadcasting then you’re not listening.
If you engage your audience without taking the time to fully understand who they are as well as how they relate to you then it’s not engaging at all. You’re just a walking, talking live advertisement that can’t be shut off – unless of course they un-friend your business.
I have a friend who works in Emergency Medicine as a Paramedic. Every once in a while they get a rookie that comes on fresh out of school with very little “street smarts”. They know the text book from front to back and they walk in with every item strapped to their pants and belt. They could walk on scene without a trauma bag and run the show. They talk up every conversation about EMS and medicine and despite the fact that they’ve been doing it for 6 months they have horror stories that make them sound like they flew missions in Vietnam.
They’re called Trauma Troopers. They occupy more time talking about nothing than listening and learning something relevant. That’s the personality and position you don’t want when your business enters social media for marketing and outreach.
Listening and acting on what you learn is more powerful than any method of engagement, and there are many companies that get it right. Here are some crystal clear examples of companies that are doing it right on Facebook:
Those are indeed big ticket brands, but there’s a lot to be learned from the social media “engagement” of these companies. They know when to stop talking and listen.
Are PR Agencies Taking Over Social Media?
The way marketing is being handled in social media has been a topic that comes and goes. Putting up a big fight are the PR agencies that have dominated traditional marketing methods for years. They aim to dominate the big brands in social media and feel that they’ve got all the guns and ammo necessary to make that happen. There also beliefs that they have something that other, smaller social media firms don’t have – time tested resources and strategies.
The question is whether or not those strategies and resources even apply to the new world that we all live and work in. It’s true that anything and anyone can adapt to changing times if they decide to do so but are the big PR agencies trying to muscle into social media as they currently are or are they adapting “tried and true” formulas to function in this new world.
Is Customer Acquisition Your Focus? If So – You're Making A Mistake
A number of marketers have been focusing their efforts on the angle of grabbing up customers. The benefit of that focus is measurability. In a world of smaller budgets and a focus on ROI for every campaign this is a good idea but actually moving the customer from “Awareness” to “Contemplation” to actual “Conversion” is a small part of the deal as we step into the age of social media dominance.
The mass of the work actually comes after the purchase. It has to do with the experience that the customer or client had with your company throughout the sales process, and the ongoing relationship that will be established and nurtured with your company over the long term.
How To Optimize Your Twitter Profile Page
People are at the heart of marketing. Whether you’re talking about the old rules of marketing and PR where two or more people shook hands and stood around blowing smoke or more modern marketing where we engage prospects online in social media as well as in person.
In order to engage people, people need to be involved. Automated marketing doesn’t work nearly as well as true human engagement where a consumer can put a face and personality to the information and content their dealing with. That’s why it’s so important to take the time to flesh out profiles – especially on Twitter.
Twitter has become a monster source for content marketing and lead generation, particular in local or geo-specific marketing. The problem with the micro-blogging platform is simply a limitation on space so you have to optimize the space you have in order to convey the message that you are human, you’re relevant and worth following.
Viral Marketing with 1.21 Jigawatts
Viral Marketing is one way to ensure that not only do you generate leads from the initial people you target, but that those leads become conduits for your campaign and begin to rapidly funnel it out to others by word of mouth, forwards, social media sharing, etc. It’s hard to say what will go viral and what won’t. People by nature are fickle and what works today won’t work a week from now. It’s about as easy to understand as a flux-capacitor.
