Category: Social Marketing

Infographic by Full Impact Studios

Social media have been so widely utilized nowadays that it has reportedly surpassed Google as Americans’ “number one daily activity” which explains why more and more marketers and entrepreneurs are promoting their business through these platforms.

The potential for business growth via social media is almost endless. Whether you want to gain subscribers, promote a service, or sell a product, the use of social media helps build your social brand. In this era where digital transactions and communication has become commonplace, it is nearly impossible to see any business not to be taking advantage of the growing social media trend.

However, not everyone succeeds in building their brand via social media. Mostly, because some have let their social media networks grow cobwebs, while others have fallen victim to poor social media practices. Using social media for branding isn’t and shouldn’t be too complex. For businesses that desire to join their ranks and build up their brand, here are several social media branding strategies to implement.

Article Contributed by Carol Williams

One social media gaffe can seriously hurt even the strongest brand, not to mention the reputation of a small business. Facing outraged consumers and trying to apologize is the last thing you’d like to happen. One wrong step will drag behind your brand reputation for years – the internet never forgets.

How to avoid risking your reputation on social media? By developing a strict social media policy that will ensure a smooth operation of your company’s channels and build an awareness of standards for social media. Here are 6 helpful tips for developing a social media policy at your small business.

1. Establish the basic rules

Before developing a social media policy, you need to have a clear understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish through social channels. You can achieve it by asking yourself the following questions:

• Which platforms do you plan to focus on in your social marketing?
• What are your goals on social media?
• With which tools will you manage your channels?
• What sort of content are you planning to share?

Once you’re done developing your social media strategy, you need to think about the practical side of your policy. How will it respond to key industry changes? How do you plan to spread the awareness across your small business?

Every single employee at your company should know of the policy’s existence – even if they won’t be directly responsible for managing your accounts. Communicate it to everyone and prepare a special information package for those who will take care of social media. Make sure the communication is concise and clear.

If you decide not to communicate your policy, people will be left in the dark and if they gain access to your channels, they might potentially commit some serious mistakes. Especially if nobody is checking their work. This is what recently happened to American Apparel, which posted a gif of the exploding Challenger on their Tumblr page.

The brand had to deal with heaps of negative feedback and made it even worse by admitting that their social media manager was born after the tragedy and had no idea about what stood behind the picture. This kind of poor decision making can have serious impact on your brand reputation online. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-american-apparel-challenger-20140703-story.html)

2. Show how to respond on social media

It’s a good idea to sketch possible interactions between your brand and the audience, providing potential ways to respond. Write down different scenarios for communication and prepare your managers to deal with different consumer responses. A procedure for responding will be useful when they’re pressed for time when facing a negative response.

When done right, responding to negative comments can become a significant marketing boost. Just have a look at the example of Smart Car, a brand which playfully responded to a negative tweet sent by a consumer with an infographic. Needless to say, their response went viral and brought them even more following on Twitter. (http://mashable.com/2012/06/21/bird-poop-smartcar/#Sh31ADl7Mikg)

3. Give a definition of a social media crisis

The truth is that a social media crisis can mean many different things – it will mean something specific to your business. Take your time to define what it means to you and suggest a plan of action for each kind of crisis to help employees alleviate its negative impact.

It’s a good idea to monitor other brands in the industry and see what they’re going through. Over time, you’ll find it easier to define a social media crisis and learn through your mistakes. Don’t worry about them – they’ll only help you grow and might have a positive effect on your brand if you deal with them instantly and with a dose of transparency.

One of the common social media issues is the use of Twitter hashtags launched for specific marketing campaigns. We’ve seen hashtags being hijacked by consumers over and over again. It recently happened to McDonald’s when the brand debuted a refreshed version of their mascot, Ronald McDonald, using a simple hashtag #RonaldMcDonald. The plan backfired when consumers started to use it to criticize the makeover. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/caroltice/2014/10/30/why-ronald-mcdonald-failed-on-twitter-branding-lessons/)

4. Identify the level of employee involvement

Your policy should make sure that all workers have sufficient understanding of how social media work for branding. You need to decide whether to bring your employees on board to participate as representatives of your brand online. This is something that can have a strong positive impact on your reputation. But if you plan to encourage their participation, you should provide them with a rulebook to follow when using social media. Otherwise you risk falling victim to a terrible social media gaffe.

Even the CFO of Twitter could use such a rulebook. Anthony Noto recently tweeted what was probably a private message, disclosing Twitter’s plan to acquire an app called Shots. Revealing such plans in public is probably the last thing you’d like to happen to your brand. (http://uk.businessinsider.com/anthony-noto-twitter-cfo-dm-fail-2014-11)

5. Pick the right speakers for your brand

Your policy should also state who has access to your social media accounts and specify people authorized for posting on the behalf of your organization. Define any restrictions or limitations to this authorization, for instance specific regions or employee teams.

Sketch a list of traits employees should possess to be considered the right fit for the job. Even if someone is really talented in marketing, it doesn’t automatically make them perfect for representing your brand online. If a quick Google search reveals extreme political opinions, take it as a warning sign.

If you decide to hire an external agency, take your time picking the right one. Remember what happened to Chrysler in 2011? The company which manged @ChryslerAutos Twitter account had an employee famously tweet “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to f#*!ing drive”. Facing consumer outrage, Chrysler was forced to apologize profusely for a tweet that wasn’t even their creation. Needless to say, the company was fired from the job.

6. Make the most from social listening and analytics

Your policy needs to offer a strategy for social listening and monitoring. Keeping an eye on what’s being said on social media is key if you want to reduce your response time when something bad happens to your brand. Dealing with negative user content is impossible with a delayed response. A web event can gather steam in a matter of minutes and can instantly slip out of anyone’s control.

Monitoring online conversations helps to spot and address such issues before they bring serious damage. US airways once sent a very inappropriate response to a customer complaint on Twitter and took an entire hour to delete it. Clearly, they stood no chance against the public and the embarrassing screenshot made headlines all over the web. Response time does count. (http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/us-airways-just-tweeted-out-one-of-the-most-graphic-things-y)

A clear social media policy will help you to carry out your social media interactions and avoid the danger of terrible PR disasters which happen to many brands who never care to develop their social media policies.

About the author:

Carol Williams works as a Community Manager for fruit shippers from Florida – http://www.orangesonline.com/. She loves to share her experience in social media which she combines with her passion for writing.

Article Contributed by Jennifer Livingston

Social Media continues to gain in popularity every day. Having a social media site which powerfully promotes your brand is a must in today’s highly competitive social media markets.

In this article, we discuss six techniques you can use to powerfully promote your brand across social media platforms.

1. Schedule Your Content Updates

Having valid metric data about your audience allows you to time your content releases right before peak user activity, thus increasing its impact. However, don’t limit your releases to pre-peak, off-peak times are also ideal to explore for their increase potentials.

Tools such as Facebook Insights allow page owners to view performance data related to their sites, such as how many likes a page has received and traffic data related to activity with the page’s assets.

Supporting this, Facebook.com for Business provides additional support that is useful for promoting your website, boosting your posts and assisting with “calls to action.” Business also provides options for creating promotions and offers.

2. Encourage Content Sharing

A huge boost to your site’s popularity can be gained by making it easy for your page’s content to be shared. It goes without say that the content must be entertaining and have value at some level, and clearly support your brand.

Some general content sharing guidelines:

• Users want to share useful and entertaining content
• Allowing users to enter comments and rate the content increases its virility potential
• Content should be optimized for the social media platform
• Give credit to the content’s creators

3. Solicit Brand Advocates

Use your existing networks to encourage sharing your brand content. Encourage specialty blog creation supporting your brand.

Having brand advocates such as Walmart’s Mommy Bloggers increases proliferation of your brand’s image and gives high energy enthusiasts a venue to promote your brand in memorable ways, broadening brand reach.

4. Utilize Brand Influencer Strategies

Content value increases dramatically when it references brand influencers.

Brand influencers are popular figures, experts and leaders, and influential consumers in your market. They provide a form of highly leverageable endorsement for your brand. They generate enthusiasm and interest in your brand and they allow you to be noticed by an audience which otherwise might not have taken notice of your brand.

Cite brand influencers in your content; reference their websites. Drop them an email to let them know that they’re referenced on your website.

Ask them for an interview or a recommendation and when practical ask them to co-create content.

A recent successful brand influencer example would be Johnny Walker’s Instagram campaign which utilizes brand influencers who have traveled to Milan for Formula 1, enhancing the product’s online image substantially.

5. Post Valuable Content

Post content that entertains your audience but at the same time provides insight, information or other value unique to your brand.

A few question to consider your content’s value to your audience includes

• Is your tone specific and the content clear?

• Does it address actual concerns that your audience has?

• Is it accessible to your reader’s level of understanding?

• Does it clarify something that is confusing to your audience?

Relevant content increases user accessibility to your content in the way that a closed captioning service makes audio multimedia accessible to the hearing impaired.

6. Increase Brand Impressions

There are different perspectives on re-posting content. However, re-posting content is not necessarily something to be frowned upon. Content that is reposted can be offered from another angle. For instance, if you offered an entertaining video in one campaign, leveraging that again in a followup piece some time later showing how things have changed since can be a powerful way to increase brand impressions with your audience.

It is important however that the new angle offers your content in a substantively different way. Most online users take offense to tactics that look like spam campaigns.

Recap

Building a successful social media brand image is a necessary step to building your social media audience. In this article we discussed 6 proven strategies used by successful social media campaigns.

A strong social media presence is necessary to your brand. Through social media platforms you have the ability to reach your target audience and create a level of authority within your industry. As you probably already know, it’s not enough for you to simply create an account. In order to gain authentic followers and really establish a name for business, you must also incorporate strategic marketing strategies.

While some marketing strategies will depend upon the purpose and goal of your business (i.e. whether you’re looking to sell a product, increase your blog following, or just inform the masses), there are some that are commonplace for all businesses. Below are 7 strategies you should incorporate into your business social media accounts to increase your social media presence and improve your brand:

1.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Thought this concept only applied to your company website? Think again. SEO techniques should be applied to your social media platforms as well. As Savage Global Marketing, a Florida SEO Company states, efficient SEO techniques helps you to reach the top of search engine page results, which ultimately helps your customers find you faster. Start using relevant keywords and phrases into your posts for improved visibility on social media platforms.

2.  Varied Content – When posting content to your social media accounts it should not only be of good quality, but also a good variety. Followers want to be intrigued by what they find or else they will move on to other pages. Adding engaging, informative, and creative content to your social media pages will keep them interested on the regular basis. Switch up your posts by adding articles and videos.

3.  Proper Timing – Timing is everything when posting information. Not many people are glued to their social media accounts 24/7, which means if you want to reach the majority of your target audience, you’re going to need to time your posts efficiently. For instance, if you’re trying to target young adults you might want to post early in the morning (before work), midday (near lunchtime), and in the evening (when work is finished). Entrepreneur gives a table of suggested times to post for each social media platform.

4.  Engage Your Audience – If your target audience simply wanted to read a bunch of information, they’d find your company website. The point of social media is to get “social” with the audience and show them that you can relate to their interests. The best methods for engaging social media users would be to ask questions and also respond to their comments. It lets them know that they’re more than just a dollar sign to your business and helps them to develop a level of trust with your brand.

5.  Use Hashtags – Hashtags(#) are the new thing. While they used to be a method used only Twitter, they are now spotted on all social media platforms. Incorporating these into your posts allows users to easily filter and find your content a lot easier. When using hashtags, you do want to make sure that they make sense and are relevant to the content you’re posting as well as your brand.

6.  Incentives Work Wonders– In order to receive the business of customers you have to be willing to give. Using incentives on social media platforms is a great way to engage followers and get new business. It doesn’t have to cause you to go bankrupt but small prizes, giveaways, or even discounts can go a long way in the eyes of a consumer. Start incorporating incentives into your posts. For example, the first 50 people to like your page will receive a coupon for 10% off their next purchase.

7.  Share Your Social Media Status Everywhere – Just as no one is going to know you have a website without sharing the news, no one is going to know you have a social media account if you don’t spread the word. Try as best you can to make sure that you use social media buttons and links when promoting your business online. This includes on your website, content you create, and any other platforms that you utilize on the web.

Social media is vital marketing platform for businesses of all sizes. It is a free and reliable source that allows you to connect with your target audience in a more personal matter while also growing your business. Start incorporating these seven strategies into your social media campaigns for improved visibility and credibility. Though it may take time for you to figure out how to make these methods work best for your target audience, once you’ve gotten the hang of it you will find that your following increases and with any luck your profits as well.

Article Contributed by Kristen Matthews

Just like an outreach email should be easy to look at and digest so is this blog post!

1. Type with a purpose

Before you send that outreach email, peruse the blog, hone in on what you are asking for of the bloggers you’re pitching and what you are willing to give to them for their time and awesomeness.

Emails that are super short and to the point have the best response rates because, let’s face it, we are all slammed and time is too precious to read a lengthy email!

The first sentence of your email should state who you are and why you are reaching out.

2. Don’t overdo the subject line

When inboxes fill up, it’s common practice to delete a bunch based on subject lines. Something that is over the top or too “salesy” are the first ones to be clicked in to oblivion.

Try asking a simple question or having a conversational subject line like “Your latest post on xyz pain point was awesome” or something as simple as “let’s collaborate” is more effective that over thinking it.

3. Tweet or comment on a blog post after you send the email

Because of SPAM and the massive amount of emails that go out a day, we all know that emails get lost in the mix.

Of course your email should stick out with the subject line and the intro but just in case it didn’t get noticed it’s great to tweet at the blogger or comment in their blog post that you sent an email about working together.

4. Write like you talk

I think one of the side effects from the world becoming so digital is that we are left longing for some human to human interaction.

Because of that the most successful blogger outreach emails that I’ve seen are written very conversationally.

Talking about commonalities, posts you like and keeping it light are all fantastic.

5. Find a fun fact in the “about me” section

Along the lines of my suggestion to write like you talk I always recommend to take pitches one step above finding the name of the blogger and also finding a fact or blog post to cite in your outreach email.

Now, don’t be creepy and say something that is irrelevant. A fact that they say about themselves in the “about me” section that lines up with the values of your brand or makes it apparent that the two of you are a good match is a perfect fact to mention in your pitch.

About the Author

Kristen handles all things digital marketing and PR for GroupHigh and loves everything about it. Feel free to reach out to her anytime with outreach marketing questions because she loves to be a resource! kmatthews@grouphigh.com She loves life in Boulder and when she’s not in her marketing sandbox she can be found in the trees, at a local brewery, making art, listening to bluegrass or cooking up something yummy!