Social Media Privacy?
Another day, another Facebook privacy disaster. The world’s most prolific social media platform today announced two different security issues. Interestingly enough, they made the announcement the same day as some other big news dropped. I don’t think it is a stretch to believe this timing was unintentional. In its latest privacy-shattering revelation, Facebook says it “unintentionally” uploaded the email contact lists of 1.5 million new users without permission. Following an investigation that stemmed from their earlier admission that it was requesting email passwords from certain new users in order to verify their identities, Business Insider found that the site was then performing an import of the user’s email contact list without…
Social Media Marketing in 2018: Next Steps
I’ve resisted the urge to write about the Facebook privacy meltdown and ensuing faux-panic. In truth, I believe most of the controversy is entirely overblown and extreme examples are being made. But they are being made, nonetheless. And Facebook isn’t helping itself. Where does that leave businesses? Many feel that they “must do something” as a small, yet vocal, subset of consumers and lawmakers are calling for “something” to be done. We’ve seen large brands like Tesla, SpaceX, Mozilla, and Playboy all say they are giving up their Facebook presence. Another outcry. Another PR-driven opportunity to “take a stand.” Late last year, for the first time ever, Facebook reported a…
The Social Media Algorithm and Your Business
“Every day we’d be having meetings saying, ‘What was Facebook’s algorithm change today, and what can we do?’ It was always an issue,” said Jessica Rotkiewicz, who worked as a news and branded content producer at LittleThings until she was laid off last April. “At the end of the day, the company was relying on another party they couldn’t control.” Digiday highlighted a small ecommerce company, LittleThings. As the company grew from their modest beginnings in the pet supplies industry to a social media favorite sharing inspiring content, they realized they had an unhealthy dependency on Facebook. On a whim, Facebook could adjust their algorithm and decimate the viewership of…
The Social Media Echo Chamber
What many users of social media do not realize is they are the product being sold. More specifically, access to them (the users) is what is being sold. Advertisers will spend mounds of money for access to specific people. The more specific, the more money those advertisers will pay. So, naturally, it is in the best interest of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Medium, and Snapchat to keep users coming back. Ideally, more frequently and for longer periods of time. Additionally, it is important for those users to feel good about being on those sites. Because, who wants to hang out where they don’t feel good? So platforms like Facebook,…
How to Talk to People
Step 1: Don’t talk to people. Don’t talk at people, either. When we talk to or at people, it presumes we will be doing the talking. Instead, talk with them. Listen to them. This is especially important in difficult conversations. Instead of trying to win the argument, listen and share your story. When we listen first, our verbal posture changes to become more welcoming for a conversation instead of a defensive argument. – Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash
Honing Your Brand Voice
It may seem funny to think of your brand having a “voice.” But the language- the words, terms, phrases- you use in professional communication says a lot about your brand. Those intentional choices provide a consistent feel for your customers. Does your doula service say moms, mothers, or mommas? Do you have clients or customers? Do you have employees, partners, team members? Do you sign your correspondence Sincerely, Respectfully, All the best, xo? Do you provide photography services or capture meaningful moments? While these examples may seem subtle; our goal is a consistent “voice” for your brand. Think back in high school civics when we had to draft resumes. They all started with some…
What is Engagement Bait
[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Medium-styled Post Title and Meta” background_color=”#fbfcfd” _builder_version=”3.0.89″][et_pb_row admin_label=”Post Title and Meta” _builder_version=”3.0.89″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_post_title admin_label=”Post Title and Author Information” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.89″ title_font=”|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”28px” title_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.8)” title_line_height=”1.3em” meta_font=”||||||||” meta_text_align=”center” meta_font_size=”18px” meta_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.8)” meta_line_height=”1.8em”] [/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_post_title admin_label=”Featured Image” title=”off” meta=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.89″ title_font=”|700|||||||” title_text_align=”center” title_font_size=”28px” title_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.8)” title_line_height=”1.3em” meta_font=”||||||||” meta_text_align=”center” meta_font_size=”18px” meta_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.8)” meta_line_height=”1.8em”] [/et_pb_post_title][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.89″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.89″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Blog Post Body” _builder_version=”3.0.89″ max_width=”800px” custom_margin=”|||10%” background_layout=”light”] Recently Facebook announced their improved efforts to reduce the spread of “engagement bait” — the act of using reactions, comments, and shares to trick algorithms into showing content more frequently and to a broader audience. This has some marketers concerned. Understandable, since Facebook’s organic reach (the number of…
How to Choose the Right Digital Marketing Mix to Grow Your Business
Social media, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, PPC — the list of digital marketing tactics go on and on. And on top of that never-ending list, it always seems like there are new marketing strategies popping up every month. With all the different choices, how do you know which form of digital marketing is best for your business? To help you decide, we’ve taken four different scenarios and recommended the best digital marketing tactics. While there are many different ways to accomplish each goal listed below, we’re just going to focus on one or two digital marketing methods that have worked for us in the past. [Tweet “You don’t need…
How to Tell Where Your Website Traffic is Coming From
After months of trial and error, your website is finally getting a couple extra thousand visitors every month. You think, I’m doing something right! Break out the champagne! Not so fast. While an increase in website traffic is definitely something to celebrate, you need to first understand where these visitors are coming from. Someone coming to your site from organic search will behave differently than someone coming from Twitter. Here are three ways to tell where your website traffic is coming from: 1. Create a Basic Site Survey The easiest way to find out where people are coming from is simply to ask them in the form of a survey.…
How to Create 8 Pieces of Content in 2 Hours
You don’t need to forgo a night’s worth of sleep to create quality content. Nor do you need extra caffeine or superpowers. The secret to creating a ton of quality content in a short amount of time is to repurpose existing, successful content. This saves you time and effort, allows you to reach new audiences, and makes your content stretch even further. [Tweet “Repurpose existing, successful content to reach new audiences and save you time.”] Repurposing is about taking a published blog post and breaking it up into smaller pieces of content in new formats. In order for your repurposing efforts to be successful, we recommend that you have a…
The Best and Worst Ways to Generate Leads
There are the best and worst ways to do everything. There’s the best way to write subject lines, there are the worst ways to use Facebook, and there’s the best way to design a homepage. But what are the best and worst ways to generate leads? It’s easy to invest money in social media, email marketing, and content marketing, but do they really work and are they worth the money? [Tweet “Lead generation is a pot of gold for every digital marketer; but we must avoid fools gold.”] Here are three of the best ways and three of the worst ways to generate leads: 3 of the Best Ways to…
Must Be Present To Win
To be relevant in today’s economy, you have to be where your customers expect you to be. No longer is it enough to “be” on social media, to have an ecommerce store, or have a blog … You must have the means in place for your customer to meet you where they are; to speak their native language. If they speak SnapChat, be responsive there. If they speak Vine, be alert there. If they speak Facebook/Kik/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram/Blab/Messenger/YouTube/SMS/WhatsApp/Tumblr/Whisper/Yik Yak/MeetMe/SlideShare, show up ready to play. Being accessible is one thing; being present and attentive is something else.
Understanding Customer Personas
Understanding customer personas, sometimes called ‘buyer personas‘ or ‘buyer personalities‘, is an important first step in the inbound marketing process. Knowing the overall personality of your customer, where they live, their age, their interests / hobbies / likes / dislikes, makes marketing to them much easier and relevant. It allows you to add contextual relevance to their needs. Customers Come First Connecting with your customers is the single most important thing to your business. And without it, your products don’t sell, and you lose your customers to your competitors, more often than you care to admit. Now that we’ve gotten that out in black and white, it’s time to talk about how…
How To Develop a Social Media Strategy
Whether you care to accept it or not, social media is here to stay. It is becoming a powerful marketing tool for businesses all over the world to connect with their customers. The questions is no longer, “should we be doing social media?” It is now, “are we doing social media right?” One way to do it right is to have a strong social media strategy. Many brands are simply using social media as a way to promote themselves. They’re not using it as it was designed: as a communication platform. Social media is a two-way street of dialog between a brand and the consumers. Unlike traditional marketing platforms – like…
The Best Social Media Platform For Promotion is….
Which social media platform is best for promotion? …all of them. Or none of them. Frankly, this popular question is only one-half of the right question. A better question is Which social media platform is my audience on? [Tweet “Don’t just seek out the best social media platform to promote on. Seek out the platform where your audience wants to form a relationship with you.”] Marketing to teens on LinkedIn is likely to result in failure. Teens aren’t flocking to LinkedIn. Similarly, marketing to the VP of Sales of Ginormous Corp on SnapChat will result in a goose egg. Asking only half of the question is like asking, “which car is…
The Invisible Link Between Social Media and Sales Conversions
For modern marketers, simply being on social media is not enough. There are too many gimmicks; too much noise; too much drama. Instead, ask yourself, “What are we going to do with social?” The answer is to introduce call to action to drive intentional outcomes. Using social media with measurable purpose is the invisible link between social and sales. Without a purpose, and a way to analyze your efforts, you are adding to the noise and drama. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy…
S is for Social Listening – Part 2
Just the other day, I encouraged brand leaders to look at social media as a listening platform. This is an area that many small businesses think larger, more established brands can outperform them. Quite the contrary. As if on cue, I witnessed the following transpire in real time, and was disappointed at the (lack of) response by a national brand. Exhibit A: [email protected] lost a lot of respect 2day. Took today off, scheduled service repair never showed up. Called 800 # & no one can help either #fail — Bryan Kramer – Keynote Speaker (@bryankramer) October 22, 2014 https://twitter.com/adamf2014/status/524743162347008000 @bryankramer @SEARS they also seem to pay a lot of attention to their…
The First Step of Your Marketing Strategy
Your primary marketing mission should be to add value to your customers. Everything else will fall into place. When the focus of your marketing strategy is to add value, you naturally align with the needs of your customers. No longer is your sales department the ‘enemy’, but a team of trusted industry advisors. When a customer or prospect feels valued, they seek you out. What a powerful position to be in. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an increasingly noisy sales and marketing world,…
S is for Social Listening
Interruptive sales strategies suck. No one wants to get your generic, unsolicited email or phone call. You don’t need to wish for a way to gauge interest in your product or service. Social media was made for listening. It offers a gold mine for sales people to listen for folks who need their services. Prospective buyers are taking to social media to talk about their interests, pain points, frustrations, wants, and needs. Start listening for leads. — About the Daily Marketing Minute The Daily Marketing Minute is my project for the last quarter of 2014. Each day, I will deliver bite-sized, fat-free nuggets of sales and marketing insights. In an…
How to Convert Your Sales-Oriented Pipeline to a Customer-Oriented Pipeline
Today’s consumers are entering the buying process much more educated and from a number of entry points. Some will come to your brand based on the recommendation of a friend, others will see a sponsored social media post, others will come in “cold” from a generalized search engine query. Your sales process must be able to accommodate these various entry points and anticipate the needs of these folks. The hardened sales process of yesterday will not work for today’s buyers, and certainly not for tomorrow’s. With some simple steps, such as defining your customer’s buying process, behavior monitoring, and measuring; you can begin to create a sales pipeline that is more…
How to Start Your Professional Social Media Presence
By now, I’m sure the need for social media in your business is apparent. That said, a recent survey indicated that only 6% of businesses were successfully using social media to generate sales leads for their brand. If you are a part of the staggering 94% not using social media (or not using it efficiently) to generate sales leads, there is still time to create a plan and expand your reach. Social is a platform that has completely changed the marketing landscape for both large and small brands. Never before have businesses had the opportunity to experience a two-way street of communication between themselves and customers. Q: Why should we…
How to Generate Business Leads from Pinterest
Pinterest is one of the more popular social media platforms today. In fact, if you are not careful, you can find many hours of a lazy Saturday afternoon consumed by it…. not that I am speaking from experience. Pinterest is popular because it gives users the ability to quickly and visually categorize things they like. The psychological cues are powerful and will help keep the social network pinned to the top of our minds for quite some time. Who Should Be Using Pinterest Both B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) brands have struggled with how to use Pinterest in their social media and online marketing strategies. Rather than trying to shoehorn…
Time Management Tips for Social Media Brand Managers
One of the top concerns with any brand owner or manager is the time suck that is social media. It seems that any “quick update” on Facebook results in the loss of a week’s worth of productivity as you mindlessly check out pictures of cats, food, and your friend’s children. That said, social media is critical for the overall success and expansion of your brand, so we cannot ignore it completely. For that reason, I have made a list of time management tips that we use internally to keep social media from taking over our lives on a daily basis. Time Management Tips for Social Media Managers Be Intentional From…
How B2B Trade Shows can Benefit from Social Media
Some of my favorite speaking gigs are B2B trade shows. Most often, the attendees of my sessions are business owners themselves, or a representative tasked with learning “how to do social media”. It is exciting to me to see the “Aha!” moments on the faces of those who realize social media isn’t just for sharing stupid cat pictures, memes, or drunken photos of the weekend’s transgressions. The point that usually causes the most enlightenment is that there really is no “B2B” marketing. In reality, business decisions are made by humans. A business does not determine sources, vendors, or emotional connection – humans do. Social media, at its core, is a…
