InternetMarketingClub.org Presents: Understanding Instagram Analytics Part 2

Today's webinar is part 2 in Matt Wooddy's Understanding Instagram Analytics series, focusing on social tools Simply Measured and Nitrogram. If you are still getting used to Instagram and want a convenient way to monitor all of your activities, look no further than this webinar. Many brands have turned to Instagram to further their marketing strategies, while some brands have yet to adopt the campaign practices.


Click here to register for FREE (10-31-12 at 12:30pm EST)
http://bit.ly/anareg2

About Matt Wooddy:

For the last five years, Matt Wooddy has used his social wizardry to completely turn around the presence of over 200 Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts. Clients have included 99x, Pontiac, Meatcamp Productions, Red Bull, Discount Tire, Prick Magazine, Motorsporting, Art&Ink Publications, CustomUSB and more. Understanding that social media is more than just a place to promote your brand, he uses personal interaction and entertaining messages to improve the branding and interest of any given company. Matt has also provided content and copy edited for several nationally and internationally published alternative lifestyle magazines.
Click here to register for FREE (10-31-12 at 12:30pm EST)
http://bit.ly/anareg2

7 Noteworthy Mobile Ads Insights & Stats

Recently, Mashable released an article of insights into the world of mobile based on a couple of valuable studies. Encapsulating statistics from an annual presentation on Internet trends by Venture Capitalist Mary Meeker and a study by leading mobile ad platform Opera, some statistics have been unveiled that require your attention.

Here are 7 insights & statistics I extracted from these sources:

1. The effective cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for desktop web ads is about $3.50, while the CPM for mobile ads is just $0.75; (Mary Meeker)
2. At $2.85, the iPhone has the highest average CPM for mobile ads of any smartphone, but still falls short of the CPM ($3.50) for web ads on a desktop. (Opera)
3. In comparison, print ads can command rates of as much as $100 CPM. (Opera)
4. iPads had a CPM of $3.96 (more than a dollar higher than the iPhone) but accounted for less than 7% of mobile traffic in the second quarter of 2012. (Opera)
5. It isn't recommended that advertisers take the same approach of using desktop web ads for mobile - tailor a specific strategy for your mobile campaigns. (Mashable)
6. It is worth the investment to build and test mobile specific landing pages for lead capture. (Mashable)
7. An alternative to using “cookies” for mobile, geofencing technology may be used to target ads based on GPS locations. (Mashable)

As mobile usage and adoption continues to grow, it is inevitable that mobile advertising costs will increase. Remember, the key is testing! Keep an eye on how the market is evolving and evolve with it. How do you plan to test mobile ads for your business?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

4 Ways to Handle Negative Posts Online

A friend of mine recently called me freaking out about a negative post her company received on Yelp. My advice? "Don't Panic." A negative review is not the end of the world, but it is something that needs to be immediately addressed. Better yet, have a plan for this type of scenario already in place and you won't need to go through the "freak out" stage if it does happen to you - you'll simply spring into action. 

You could have the best customer service in the world as well as a superior product, and there will always be that one person who finds something to complain about… And they will do it (gasp!) online. Having a social media policy creates guidelines for how to respond when a customer posts something negative about your company or product. There are four basic ways to handle a negative post or comment:

1.       Answer the post – it shows your concern for customer issues and your willingness to make improvements where possible.

2.       Ask the person posting to contact you – this hopefully takes the conversation offline, but it still shows that you are responsive as a company. This can also be combined with #1.

3.       Delete the post, if possible – if the post was made on your Facebook page, for example, you could simply delete it; however, this could cause the user to leave additional angry posts, exacerbating the issue.

4.       Ignore the post – this is not recommended unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Responding to issues online and in the public view can help to alleviate the present issue, and can also work to prevent additional negativity on the Internet, which can quickly become a reputation management problem. A pro-active approach to combating negative posts is having great content that shows up in organic search results. This doesn’t happen overnight, though, so in the meantime, make sure you’re addressing customer issues as they come up – either in the real or virtual world. Paying attention to what your customers are saying is a good way to find out where you need to make system improvements and increase overall customer satisfaction.

Does your company have a social media or PR policy in place? How do you handle negative posts about your company online?

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents: Understanding Instagram Analytics

If you've tuned into our recent Wednesday Webinars of September and October, you've learned a great deal about Instagram and how it can help your brand marketing efforts. IMC host Matt Wooddy is back with this week's webinar dedicated to fully exploring the advantages of Instagram analytics tools, such as Statigram and Simply Measured. With tools such as these to help your campaigns, you're sure to become the next Instagram wizard!


Click here to register for FREE (10-24-12 at 12:30pm EST) 
http://bit.ly/instalytics


About Matt Wooddy:

For the last five years, Matt Wooddy has used his social wizardry to completely turn around the presence of over 200 Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts. Clients have included Discount Tire, Prick Magazine, Motorsporting, Art&Ink Publications, CustomUSB and more. Understanding that social media is more than just a place to promote your brand, he uses personal interaction and entertaining messages to improve the branding and interest of any given company. Matt has also provided content and copy edited for several nationally and internationally published alternative lifestyle magazines.

Click here to register for FREE (10-24-12 at 12:30pm EST) 
http://bit.ly/instalytics

Foursquare Shifts Focus to Localized Search & Recommendations

Have you visited the Foursquare website recently? As part of Foursquare’s effort to monetize their service, they have unveiled a new prominently featured search box on the homepage. You may notice its striking resemblance to the classic Google search box, which may very well not be a coincidence. A former Googler is on the team that has been working on improving the Foursquare algorithm and the overall search experience and as a result, they have unveiled this release.

This new search box functionality is for logged out users. Now Foursquare.com will provide lots more value to the logged out user than ever before. They have collected intelligence over the past 2 years, spanning from check-in data, lists, likes, dislikes, tips etc., which have all been factored into the search results. And for the app users, all of the standard rich features are still available – no changes to your experience whatsoever.

Does Yelp have some competition to be concerned about? As Foursquare moves further into the local search and recommendations realm, it sounds like they will be taking on Yelp head-on.

Do you see this direction working for Foursquare? Or, do you think they will always be seen as an augmented reality check-in service?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents: Instagram for Brands (Today!)

In the latest edition of the Room 214 POV series we explain why Instagram is a perfect opportunity for brands to connect with a highly engaged community. 

We go over the main features, provide examples of successful initiatives, and give you tips to make your community a success.

Click here to register for FREE (10-17-12 at 12:30pm EST)http://bit.ly/regbrands


About Room214:
Room 214 is a leading social media agency that focuses on three core areas: 1. Business Intelligence: social media research and monitoring 2. Program Management: search and social campaign planning and execution 3. Application Development: custom Facebook, mobile and dashboard applications From funded start-ups to Fortune 100, we help companies engage customers, humanize their brands and build upon what works. If leadership in your market is the goal, this agency should be your agency.
Click here to register for FREE (10-17-12 at 12:30pm EST)http://bit.ly/regbrands

Facebook PPC Ads that Kill

Facebook’s pay-per-click (PPC) is still considered fairly new. Nonetheless, we’ve been playing in it long enough to put together some best practices for marketing on Facebook. These tips will help you get an edge over the competition in Facebook’s advertising platform:

1. A picture is worth a thousand words – Although Facebook ads allow for a small image, it is very easy to blend in with all the visual stimulation happening on a person’s page. We recommend using bold, bright colors to help your ad stand out. Red or orange is good – stay away from blue or white, which are Facebook’s colors and acts like camouflage.  You can also add a bright border to your image to make it pop out from the screen. Always keep the image (and the ad itself) to a singular focus. Trying to fit too much into one ad will definitely limit your ROI; besides, you can simply create another ad with different information. 
2. Get to the point – As any marketing professional knows, your ad copy should be geared toward your target audience. Since these ads are so brief, focus on benefits and include a call to action – the stronger, the better! We’ve also found that mentioning the company name works quite well. Remember, you only have 90 characters for body copy, but sometimes less is more so try writing only 40-70 characters and test your ads.
3. Hit a bulls eye – Targeting your ads is obviously important, but this feature is continuously changing on Facebook, so we suggest you learn about all the different targeting options and stay up-to-date (hint: we often post updates on this blog.) We also recommend that you turn on the “show social activity” feature, even if your ad goes to an external link. We call this “passive word of mouth” and you can see how it shows up in the example below. 

 Do you have any other tips for creating a successful advertising campaign on Facebook? Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

New Strategies for Your Mobile Playbook

As you may have already noticed, I place a lot of importance on having a mobile strategy for your business. Interacting with your customers via mobile in some form or fashion is inevitably going to be a part of your business’s future. Mobile is a critical component to the overall success of your marketing strategy.

Google has released an update to the prior Mobile Playbook that includes new strategies on mobile creativity and ROI. The two main areas of focus expanded upon examples of compelling mobile creative and measuring the real ROI of mobile and its associated impact on a business.

The Playbook also features case studies covering the 5 mobile conversion types. This consists of mobile web, from apps, phone calls, cross-device and in-store. Using the “mobile web” conversion type case study as an example, TicketNetwork’s mobile site was designed with two critical components at the forefront – speed and simplicity. Four months after launch, ticket sales from mobile grew by 184% due to their efforts to build a mobile site that made the purchasing process easy for the consumer.

You can find the updated Mobile Playbook here. What mobile conversion type have you experienced the most success with?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: mroach

'Cascading Content' Social Media Strategy for the Busy Professional

Every business owner and professional at this point should at least know that social media is vital to a healthy business. However, not every busy professional has the time or money to dedicate to social media – or so they think. Jay Berkowitz of Ten Golden Rules has created a model called ‘Cascading Content’ that provides a simple social media strategy for any company or individual. The infographic below illustrates the concept:

Click image to view larger

Think of Cascading Content like a waterfall: you must start with a full pool, or in this case, a main piece of engaging content, such as an article, press release, video or presentation. You add this main content to your website (it’s great fodder for the search engines) and then break it up into smaller bits that are digestible by the different social media sites. For example, the long version of this blog post is an articlethat is posted on the Ten Golden Rules website and has also been sent out in an e-newsletter. Once this blog is posted, I will write brief posts for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, G+ and, since we have a cool infographic, I can even post it on Pinterestwith a link back to the full article.

There were three articles that were written for the e-newsletter and posted on the website, so I can follow this process for all three articles. Although this should not be the only content in your social media channels, Cascading Content is a quick and easy way to stretch the great content you do have over several weeks to populate your social media channels and engage your audience. And remember, people like to get their content in all different ways – some prefer reading a blog post like this one while others would rather receive an email or follow a page on Facebook. With the Cascading Content model, your content is available in whatever format your audience chooses to see it.

How do you manage your social media currently? Have you ever tried anything like Cascading Content or would you follow this model? Tell us about your experiences in the comments below.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents: Managing Time Effectively On Tumblr

Tumblr might be a small-time social platform tool, but it's a major microblogging solution for those looking to save a little time with their online messages. What is Tumblr? What is microblogging exactly? In this webinar, you'll learn more about Tumblr and how to effectively manage your time with yet another successful social networking site. Are your online efforts really reaching the potential audience your brand deserves?

lick here to register for FREE (10/10 at 12:30pm EST)
http://bit.ly/tumblreg


About Matt Wooddy:

For the last five years, Matt Wooddy has used his social wizardry to completely turn around the presence of over 200 Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts. Clients have included Discount Tire, Prick Magazine, Motorsporting, Art&Ink Publications, CustomUSB and more. Understanding that social media is more than just a place to promote your brand, he uses personal interaction and entertaining messages to improve the branding and interest of any given company. Matt has also provided content and copy edited for several nationally and internationally published alternative lifestyle magazines.
Click here to register for FREE (10/10 at 12:30pm EST)
http://bit.ly/tumblreg