Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

The #1 Reason to Send Traffic to a Facebook Fan Page Rather than a Website (and How to Leverage Facebook for Greater Brand Awareness)

Monday, January 25th, 2010

by Jesse Bouman and Amanda Moshier

It’s no news social media is changing the landscape in online marketing. One of the more influential social media tools is the social network Facebook, and the practice of sending viewers to a company’s Facebook page and not its homepage is a growing trend (See Carl’s Jr TV Ad). More companies should take heed.

Not every company ‘needs’ social media and not all traffic should be sent to Facebook, but most brands need at least a presence on the main social networking sites. Read on for the #1 benefit of sending consumers to your Facebook fan page and how to start looking at social media as a branding vehicle.

The value of filtering website traffic through a Facebook fan page

The main reason brands set up a presence on social networks like Facebook is to create a bond with consumers they hope results in organic word-of-mouth generated via enthusiastic fans. On Facebook, the relationship between a brand and its consumers develops via interactions occurring on the brand’s fan page. Frequent two-way conversations strengthen the bond between brand and consumer. Likewise, the more interaction, the better the chance a consumer becomes a brand evangelist (someone excited about promoting your brand to friends and peers) and, where applicable, a customer – which is exactly what you want and the #1 benefit of sending traffic to your Facebook page.

Sending traffic to your Facebook page doesn’t mean your website is out of the picture; ideally, sending traffic to Facebook excites users about your brand and compels them to visit your website with more enthusiasm than they would have had visiting your site blind.

To get people excited, however, you must create a Facebook fan page that rocks.

How to create a Facebook fan page that rocks

If your create your Facebook Fan Page properly, it will encompass much of the content included on your website. In turn, sending traffic to your Facebook page does not mean a lost opportunity to educate consumers about your brand; rather, it is an opportunity to engage with consumers before they visit your site, increases the chances they will travel further down your sales pipeline.

Let’s look at Wpromote’s Facebook fan page:

wprofbpageexample

Looking at the screenshot above, you can see it is possible to feature a lot of content on a fan page. In addition to providing background information on our company and mission, we share product information via a ‘Services’ tab which links backs to respective departmental web pages, links to our other social media profiles (Twitter, etc.), and photos and videos of our staff to put faces to the Wpromote name and make us more accessible to consumers and fans.

Providing users with enough information about your company and clear options to further engage with your brand means interested parties will take the time to visit your website; since you’ve already engaged them, the chances they take steps to communicate and hopefully, do business with your company, are higher.

Leveraging a Facebook fan page for greater brand awareness

By now you likely gather sending people to a Facebook fan page means more time spend with your brand, higher levels of consumer engagement, and better odds a consumer becomes a customer, but that is hardly all Facebook can offer.

In addition to acting as a consumer engagement tool, Facebook makes it possible to spread the word about your brand virally with relatively little effort, thanks to the way it shares information. Specifically, Facebook posts user actions to the main News Feed which notifies a user’s friends about pages they have become a fan of in addition to other common activities.

In turn, if one user becomes a fan of your page, this exposes your brand to an entirely new set of potential fans (with no extra action required on your part). The same goes for any action a fan takes on your page, such as answering a question, posting a link, or commenting; all user-generated actions boost brand awareness exponentially.

To understand how information travels on Facebook, consider this scenario:

Fan X answers a question posted on your fan page. His 478 friends are made aware of this activity via the News Feed, and 2 of his friends become fans of your page, exposing it to their 284 and 938 friends, respectively, and the cycle continues.

In this instance, one post and fan’s comment on that post potentially exposed your brand to 1,700 new people. Does your homepage offer the same ripple effect?

The bottom line

Utilized smartly, Facebook is a powerful marketing tool. To leverage the potential ripple effect offered by Facebook networking, create an optimized fan page, let people know about it by any means possible, and engage fans to build relationships and foster viral word-of-mouth.

If your company does not have a Facebook fan page or you are unsure if your fan page is being utilized properly, email jesse@wpromote.com or follow Wpromote on Twitter @wpromote to discuss your Facebook presence and overall social media strategy.

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Posted in Social Media | 6 Comments »

5 Social Media Don’ts to Avoid If You Want to Make a Positive Impression

Monday, September 14th, 2009
Social media is a savvy and cost-effective way to connect with consumers.

Social media is a savvy and cost-effective way to connect with consumers.

With the popularity of social media on the rise, more and more companies are entering the fray. Many recognize the value of branding themselves online in a low-cost, transparent way and engaging with consumers in their target demographic, many of whom have become accustomed to ignoring traditional advertisements and basing their purchase decisions instead on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and peers. For this reason alone, any brand seeking a foothold in the future can almost not afford to leverage social media on some level; the problem is many brands simply don’t know how.

If you are a business looking to get started in social media, you are on the right track. But just as social media done well will help expose your brand to the right consumers, committing social media faux pas can leave you worse off than before you started. Don’t let this happen.

To help you get a handle on navigating what is still very much a new frontier, we have compiled a list of five social media don’ts and what to do instead.

1. Don’t use an alias

When conversations about your brand are taking place online, valuable knowledge can be gathered regarding what the consumer wants and how your company is stacking up against competitors. While it may be tempting to eavesdrop on these conversations without revealing your identity, doing so would defeat the entire purpose.

Identify your social media profiles with your company name rather than an alias and you will have taken the first step towards creating a lasting relationship with consumers by enabling them to connect with you online. In addition to the branding benefits you will reap, using your real name will help your social media profiles rank in the search engines for keyword searches related to your brand, giving you more control over valuable online real estate.

2. Don’t use a hard sell

Social media is about conversation, and leveraging these conversations as marketing tools requires a delicate hand. Using a hard-sell approach in your communications is almost guaranteed to fail and should be avoided no matter what. This is not to say spreading the word about your new priuct launch  dr 50% sale is prohibited, but the majority of your communications should be focused on engaging consumers.

Rather than focus on selling your products and services, devote your energy to culling and sharing interesting and useful content (articles, blog posts, quotes, etc.) that doesn’t directly benefit your brand. Make sure this content is aligned with ideas and values that matter to your demographic and consumers will form positive associations with your brand.

3. Don’t ignore your users

Talk to your users. It lets them know you care and gives your brand a voice.

Talk to your users. It lets them know you care and gives your brand a voice.

Setting up your profiles on popular social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter is important, and sharing proper content is key, but it doesn’t stop there. If you do the first two things well, you are likely to amass a network of interested consumers who want to talk to you. Let them.

Succeeding in social media requires active participation from you, the brand. Failing to engage in real, 2-way conversations with your users will hinder your efforts online and hurt your brand offline. Users expect interaction, so make it a priority to respond to messages, comments, and posts. Doing so will let users know you ‘get it’ and help brand your company in a tangible, transparent, and memorable way.

4. Don’t neglect your profiles

Once you setup your initial profiles, build your network, and begin conversing with users, it is easy to get bored. Results may not be obvious or immediate and taking the time out to engage with your network may not seem like a priority – after all, you’ve established a presence online and you own your brand name across all the important networking sites, so what more is there to do? The answer is a lot.

Continue updating your profiles with fresh content and engaging with users even after the initial push. Not only does failing to update your profile make your brand look bad, it prevents your brand from reaping all the rewards of social media such as access to valuable market research and strong relationships with consumers. Likewise, being lazy about updating your profiles can undo the good work you did initially by making your brand appear behind the curve and giving consumers a reason to engage with competitors.

Help yourself stay on track by scheduling time each week to maintain your social profiles and then stick to your schedule until it becomes habit. Consistent interaction is the only way to make a real impact!

5. Don’t be an island

Maximize your opportunity to connect with consumers by building profiles on all relevant sites.

Maximize your opportunity to connect with consumers by building profiles on all relevant sites.

Not every social media site is the same. Demographics skew differently on individual sites and messaging can be tailored accordingly. Once you identify the social media sites relevant to your brand and create profiles on each, don’t forget to connect the dots.

Include links to profiles on other networks on each of your individual profiles and you will pave the way for more users to discover you online. Even if users don’t visit you on another site, making it clear you have a presence elsewhere will raise awareness for your brand and generate word-of-mouth, maximizing your chance to reach users who would not have found you otherwise.

We hope you enjoyed these tips. If you have any questions, or want to learn more about social media marketing, please email viral@wpromote.com!

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Posted in Social Media, Viral Marketing | 3 Comments »

SES San Jose Recap

Monday, August 17th, 2009

If we were to assign a theme to Search Engine Strategies in San Jose, it was quality over quantity. Although there was a 50% decline in attendees, the Wpromote crew got to meet many up-and-coming online businesses looking to take advantage of search marketing . ses2Our main purpose for this show was to meet firms just like this and let them learn about our approach towards search. Before I begin to write about the event, we would like to thank all the firms and individuals that stopped by our booth to inquire for information, and for those who won our fortune cookie prize (we hope you weren’t behind the wheel minutes later).

Going into its 11th year, SES San Jose featured over 150 speakers on topics such as SEO, link building strategies, PPC management, local marketing, mobile marketing, and social media optimization. With over 100 companies, SES San Jose provided a pleat of information for many online marketers and online businesses. Despite the economic downturn and a decrease in attendees, reading blogs or websites that talk about search marketing would not have cut it this time around.ses3 All the companies that stopped by the Wpromote booth received an onsite audit of their website. Our team showed all the firms what improvements could be made and how Wpromote could help them boost their presence online.

The biggest buzz at SES San Jose seemed to be about social media optimization. Everyone was curious to know whether social media would produce qualitative links and help them rank organically, which it can, although we see the one to one interaction channel as a more valuable asset than links. Most of the people and companies that stopped by our booth were curious to hear our approach towards an integrated SEO and social media campaign and our main message was to “prepare for the future of search and make sure to tap into the social channels because they will take you wherever search goes.”

All in all, ses4Wpromote was able to educate all those who stopped by our booth about the importance of SEO, PPC, social media, and customized analytics. Search marketing is starting become more and more mature and so is Wpromote.

Despite not having the option of attending the Google-hosted dance offered last year, Wpromote was still able to find its groove. Tuesday night was filled with appetizers, GoogleTini’s, Joe’s restaurant on San Carlos street, and an Alice and Wonderland nightclub. Some memorable moments from the night include Michael Stone shooting laser beams at us whenever he had the chance, Michael Wilde’s Scottish dance (a must see), and Gabriel Peralta’s snoring when we got back to the room for bed, which literally hurt my soul the next day. Overall the night was amazing, we got to hang out with our Yahoo account representatives and make new friends with all the companies that attended the tradeshow. Wpromote’s next appearance is at ad:tech Chicago. Come by Booth #34 and say hello Sept 1 & 2 at the wonderful Navy Pier!

-Eminem

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Posted in Wpromote | 4 Comments »

Viral Marketing Debunked, Part 2: 5 Viral Transmission Tactics to Make Your Content a Smash

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Welcome back to the second part of our series on viral marketing! In part one, we dispelled some common viral marketing myths and explained the value of viral tactics in a time when engaging consumers with traditional methods is becoming more difficult. This is not to say viral marketing is ‘easy,’ however, and the success of any viral campaign is largely dependent on two factors: the quality of the viral content, whether a video, microsite, widget, game, or otherwise, and the transmission tactics used to seed it.

Today, let’s discuss five time-tested viral transmission tactics that can be used to seed any viral content and how to make them work for you.

1 - Blog Outreach

One of the fastest ways to get your viral content seen by your target demographic is to secure coverage on influential blogs in your niche. For example, if your product is something targeted at moms, you would want to reach out to the most highly read bloggers in the parenting niche. If your product is targeted at college students, you would want to reach out to top bloggers in that niche, and so on.

When reaching out to key bloggers, a common tactic is to keep it simple and make your intent clear. Write a friendly email introducing yourself and let the blogger know what you are promoting and why you think it makes sense for their audience. Include a link to your content and wait for responses.

2 - Social Networking

Social networking is a powerful way to seed viral content. When you share content on a social network, you are sharing it as a ‘friend,’ and it is seen as more of an update than advertisement. Although setting up social networking profiles on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn solely for the purpose of marketing your viral content is not recommended, establishing a presence on social networking sites in advance of your promotion and maintaining them after the fact can work wonders to spread your viral message and brand yourself online over the long term.

Select the social networks that make the most sense for your brand and begin to grow your networks at least one month in advance of your promotion. Add relevant connections, establish two-way communication, pose questions where applicable, and share compelling content two to three times per week to build credibility. When it comes time to seed your viral content, it will seem as if you are simply sharing another ‘update’ with your network and your content is likely to be well received.

3 - Microblogging

Microblogging, a communication platform built around the sharing of short, text-based messages, has revolutionized social media by making it acceptable to connect with people you have little to no history with in the offline world. Although the same connections can be made via larger scale social networks, microblog networks take the focus away from the profile and put it on the conversation. With microblogging, what you have to say can matter more than who you are, and a well-turned phrase or highly relevant article can grow your microblogging network faster than you might expect.

Similar to social networking, it is best to establish your microblogging network at least a month in advance of your promotion. Creating a profile on Twitter is the obvious choice, and in some cases, may be all you need. While niche microblogging networks like Blellow do exist, anyone with a profile on a niche site more than likely has one on the larger, more popular sites as well, so use your resources wisely and go where the people are if you want a great response. Add connections and share relevant content to grow your network. If you’ve done your work beforehand, once it comes time to seed your viral content, it will seem natural to update your network with a targeted link, and people are likely to respond.

4 - Social Bookmarking

If you’ve ever shared a link with someone via e-mail, IM, Facebook, or Twitter, you understand the drive to share compelling content with your connections. Social bookmarking takes this to a new level and gives Internet users a way to organize, save, and share information using a set of tags or keywords that classify the content accordingly, also known as a ‘folksonomy’. This classification system makes it easier for Internet users to find relevant content based on its corresponding tags and popularity among other users, and popular bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit allow users to rate content, the highest rated content given maximum visibility on the sites.

Driven by word-of-mouth, social bookmarking is inherently viral. While it can be difficult to control the fate of the bookmarks you submit, tagging your bookmarks with relevant keywords will put your content on the right track to being discovered. If people catch on, and your content is truly worthwhile, your bookmark will spread like wildfire, generating buzz, blog coverage, bookmarks, page views, and more.

5 - Digital Press Releases

When leveraging the power of a press release in a viral marketing campaign, the basics are still the same: craft a newsworthy release, keep it pithy (read: no more than 400 words), and submit. Paying to distribute your release on digital PR sites often allows you to target specific industries, geographic locations, and websites; take advantage of this feature if you want to get attention, because the people interested in your release are the ones most likely to talk about it.

When it comes to the timing of your release, however, things get a bit trickier. In the scope of a viral campaign, it is often smarter to use a press release to capitalize on buzz already created. Distributing a press release after you’ve already created a significant buzz with a PR stunt at an industry conference or a hilarious viral video can help generate more interest in your brand than distributing a release simply to announce your video would. Wait until people are talking about you and then use a press release to keep them talking. People will be more interested in your release if other people are interested, too!

I hope this article helps you better understand viral marketing tactics and how to make them work for you. If you have any questions about viral marketing or would like more information, please email viral@wpromote.com.

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Posted in SEO, Social Media, Viral Marketing, Wpromote | 4 Comments »

3 Online Advertising Trends You Should Know About By Now

Monday, May 11th, 2009

In scanning my Google reader for blog fodder over the past several weeks, I noticed the same three topics coming up over and over: social media, mobile advertising, and real-time search. Some of you may be familiar with these trends, and if you are an online marketer, let’s hope you are. For those late to the party or looking for a little clarification, here is a brief overview of three things  reshaping the way users experience the web and advertisers do their jobs.

1 - Social media is a big deal

courtesy of Mobasoft.com

It’s been in the spotlight for awhile, but the time has come when no marketer can afford to ignore social media, if only for the fact that competition is fierce, and all your competitors are using it.

Campaigns are becoming more integrated and the ad industry must get social or risk being left behind. This is not to say traditional forms of advertising are disappearing while blogging, social networking, and video sharing take over, but traditional campaigns now require an interactive component to be competitive, and that component usually involves social media.

Still don’t believe social media is a big deal? Check out this list of ‘20 Reasons Why You Cannot Ignore Social Media,’ culled from powerhouse media agency Universal McCann.

2 - Mobile advertising

From lab.77agency.com

With smart phone’s becoming the mobile phone of choice,  and the iPhone’s ease-of-use changing the face of mobile search, marketers are becoming increasingly aware of the value in mobile marketing.

According to an article in Mediaweek last month, “smart phone users are clicking on ads (53 percent), requesting more information or a coupon (35 percent) and making purchases via their handsets (24 percent).” If those kinds of stats don’t impress you, they are impressing marketers, and with mobile use predicted to rise over the next several years, optimizing content for the mobile web is a top priority for major brands.

Moreover, innovations like ‘shakable-ads‘ are giving users more compelling reasons to interact with brands while using their phones, making it clear that when it comes to mobile marketing, the possibilities are endless.

3 - Real-time search is on the rise

Twitter real-time search

If you’re an early-adopter or work in the web/tech industry, you’ve probably realized Twitter search is infinitely useful. Likewise, when it comes to accessing real-time, up-to-the-minute data like emergency broadcasts, sports scores, or verdicts, Twitter search beats Google, hands down.

The next logical step? Monetization. And the first to figure out how to make text ads work in real-time search will likely be Twitter. The microblogging service recently announced its plans to begin indexing links included in user tweets, as well as monitor the rank and reputation of Twitter users, and its only a matter of time before Twitter will begin serving text-ads, as well.

I hope this recap was informative. See you next time!

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Posted in Business, Internet News, Marketing, Online Advertising, Social Media, Technology, Yahoo! | 7 Comments »

Should Google Buy Twitter??

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Is it inevitable?

Don’t say you didn’t see it coming.

Last Friday, the blog world churned out post after post investigating claims that Google is in talks to buy Twitter.

There was quite a bit of finger-pointing going on - whose sources were more legit, who was reporting on derivatives, blah blah blah. I’m less interested in handing out journalism awards and way more excited to discuss just what a Google takeover would mean for Twitter users, marketers included.

For those unfamiliar with Twitter, check out this blog post. If you aren’t sure about what Twitter means to marketers, this should give you an overview.

For Twitter users, addicts, and fans who don’t necessarily tweet but understand its value, I want to know what you think. The idea that Twitter could be controlled by Google is upsetting, to say the least. One of the best things about Twitter is the fact that it feels very open and free (AKA not controlled by a global corporation, like Google). On top of that, the fact that tweeting is so useful and fun makes it feel like I’m getting away with something every time I tweet.

Despite my emotional attachments to Twitter as it stands today, there are folks out there making rational and rather convincing arguments about why it makes sense for Google to acquire the microblogging service, and David Berkowitz, Director of Emerging Media for 360i, is one of them. In an article featured on Advertising Age’s all-things-digital blog, Digital Next, Berkowitz writes:

Despite all the buzz that Twitter gets, it’s still a blip on marketers’ radars right now, and most marketers who are interested in it don’t use it as well as they could for brand monitoring or communicating. That said, a Google acquisition might help Twitter provide more value to marketers (and maybe gain a revenue stream in the process) and would help steer marketers in the right direction with Twitter, as well.

Berkowitz makes a good point. Assuming he is right about Google’s ability to turn Twitter into a transparent tool and squeeze as much marketing juice out of it as possible, maybe a Google acquisition makes sense.

Can Google squeeze $$$ out of Twitter?

On the other hand, part of the Twitter’s mystique is precisely the fact that not everyone knows how to use it…and those who do are doing great things. Moreover, not everyone feels that Google has done a great job with the properties it has acquired in the past (YouTube, Blogger, etc.).

What do you think? Does everything cool have to go mainstream? Is there a way to monetize Twitter without selling ads? Is it possible for Twitter to continue to grow and remain a solo entity? Post your thoughts below.

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Posted in Business, Google, Internet News, Marketing, Social Media | 15 Comments »

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