Popular Articles on Business 2 Community |
- Is Your Brand at Risk of Missing the Social Commerce Revolution?
- Social Media Trends to Look for in 2014
- 7 Tips To Instagram Photos That Will Get You More Likes (Infographic)
- What Can ‘Family Guy’ Teach Us about B2B Lead Generation?
- Content Marketing is Difficult – Get Over It
- Blogging for Business: A Must-Have Editing Checklist
- Think Before You Tweet: Using Corporate Social Media Accounts Responsibly
- 14 Customer Service Questions to Ask for 2014
| Is Your Brand at Risk of Missing the Social Commerce Revolution? Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST Establishing a business presence on social media has become a primary focus for companies large and small across practically every industry in existence. However for businesses that utilize eCommerce platforms to execute sales transactions online through their websites and affiliates, up until now there has always been a barrier preventing them from reaching their full sales potential on social media. Historically companies looking to generate online sales from their social media presence needed to direct people out of the social media platform and to the company's website or online store in order to complete the purchase. However there is almost always a negative impact on conversions when a prospect has to leave the site they are on and visit another site in order to complete a transaction, which means businesses have been missing out on a significant number of potential sales — until now. With the arrival of "social commerce," companies can now make sales within social media platforms, so the customer never has to leave the site. In general, social commerce is when businesses use social media platforms to process sales for online products or services. This means that companies can create a storefront on their Facebook page that has the functionality to complete sales without requiring the customer to leave the social network, or can even embed the ability to make a sale within a post or photo about a particular product. Social commerce is successful because it allows companies to capitalize on one of the most persuasive marketing techniques — social proof. Social proof is powerful because humans naturally look to others in their peer groups to determine what "appropriate" behavior is. If a person observes a large number of their peers behaving in a certain way, they will feel a strong desire to behave that way as well in order to maintain their status within the group. And if that behavior is buying a certain brand, it can be extremely profitable for the business behind it. Companies take advantage of social proof when they make owning their product or using their service a visible part of a group's identity. By showing testimonials from people whom we identify as our peers, for example, businesses can influence us to believe that buying from them is the "appropriate" behavior for someone like us, since so many other people in our group are already doing so. In order to maintain our identity, we feel driven to purchase this brand as well, and very often we do which is why social proof is such a common and effective marketing tactic. When it comes to social commerce, this type of social pressure can become an even stronger force for driving sales. Instead of simply showing other hypothetical people like us, when social media sites are turned into sales platforms businesses can show our actual, real-life friends instead. Imagine logging in to Facebook and seeing newsfeed activity from half a dozen of your friends about how they all just purchased the same new product. Chances are you will at least be compelled to look up that company to see what all the attention is about, and the odds are good you will feel inclined to make a purchase, too. Because it's by far the most dominant social network, Facebook has become one of the primary drivers of social commerce. Social commerce on Facebook has even been given its own term, "F-commerce." Because it has substantially more people than any other social network, Facebook provides businesses with the widest possible reach of prospects to target with social commerce campaigns. If you're looking for an F-commerce sales platform, Soldsie is a clear leader in the field (they've also recently added features to their platform allowing businesses to sell on Instagram). They allow your customers and prospects to make a purchase directly within your Facebook posts and pictures. All you have to do is post a status update or photo containing a product of yours, and then if someone wants to make a purchase all they have to do is leave a comment that contains the word "Sold" somewhere in it to make a purchase, and then continue browsing their newsfeed. As soon as they leave this comment their Facebook account will be connected to Soldsie, which may require authentication, and the email address in their Facebook profile will be accessed to send an invoice for them to complete the sale. They can finish it at their own convenience, however, which dramatically increases conversion rates compared to asking people to leave Facebook immediately to complete the sale. On top of that, when a person leaves a comment containing the word "sold," like "This product looks awesome, I'm sold!" Facebook will show this activity to the customer's friends like it would any other comment that user made. When the customer's friends see this comment, they will be influenced by social proof to make a purchase of their own. If they decide to buy, once again they will leave a similar comment and that will spread to a new group of friends. This enables your store to go viral, and not just your content. For this reason, businesses typically triple their sales using Soldsie. |
| Social Media Trends to Look for in 2014 Posted: 03 Jan 2014 10:10 AM PST
With the New Year approaching, it is important to start coming up with new strategies to keep your company fresh and successful in 2014. It is never too late to come up with a new type of marketing that allows your company to reach customers at an eventful time in the year. These new trends for 2014 are easy to maintain and add an extra touch to jump start the new year. Social media marketing has grown tremendously over the past couple of years and there is no doubt that this will be any different in 2014. In order to keep your company at the top of a customer's interest list, it is important to stay up to date on the latest trends that will attract more customers. Here are a few trends that will be sure to arrive early in 2014… Content. Images. Hashtags. Employees. Google+. 67% of social media marketers prefer Google+ over Facebook when it comes to engagement, searches, and even targeting content. Storytelling. Even though the year is coming to an end shortly, there are still plenty of new ways to connect and engage with old and even recent customers made over the holiday season. With these new trends arriving early in 2014 there are many New Year's resolutions to provide for your company. From starting on a whole new platform, telling stories, and even creating specialized content there are many ways to keep your company in a fresh new light after the hype of the holidays. What other trends have you heard about starting in 2014? |
| 7 Tips To Instagram Photos That Will Get You More Likes (Infographic) Posted: 03 Jan 2014 07:10 AM PST
Instagram has quickly become a very popular social media. The site already has over 150 million users. Businesses need to get on this network and share photos too. It's not just enough if you just post photos on Facebook, as if you haven't heard, young users are leaving it. And one of the reasons as pointed out by this TIME article, by Victor Luckerson, is that people now prefer using different networks for different purposes and not just using Facebook for everything. Teenagers are using Twitter for statuses, Instagram for photos and spreading their activities across various networks. Last week I shared the infographic on How to Use Google+ for Business as I haven't written much about Google+ on this blog. Therefore this week I am sharing with you an infographic, on Instagram, another network I haven't really written anything about on this site, except for the infographic on How to Thrive on Social Media With Images. From this infographic, by Curalate, you will learn what types of images get the most 'Likes' on Instagram and you can use the tips to take photos with similar qualities to build your presence…
Infographic Credit: Curalate Sign up to have our latest blog posts emailed straight to your inbox and get the Free Video Tutorial "How to Use Pinterest for Business?" Are you using Instagram to promote your business? What photo qualities bring you the best results? Please leave your comments below. |
| What Can ‘Family Guy’ Teach Us about B2B Lead Generation? Posted: 02 Jan 2014 08:47 PM PST
Cartoon series fans have had a love-hate relationship with 'Family Guy', the brainchild of voice actor, writer and producer Seth MacFarlane. Although the show has built a large fan base, not a lot of people know about its tumultuous past, being resurrected not once, but twice. Recently, the show has been generating buzz again due to the passing of one of its beloved characters, Brian Griffin, the anthropomorphic family dog. Whether it was a marketing plot to boost ratings or simply an inevitable storyline fate, 'Family Guy' can give insights to marketers on how to effective connect with an audience: 1. Cater to the true fans Throughout its run since 1999, the show has never tried to get the affection of everyone, unlike its rival shows such as The Simpsons. Rather, it focuses on entertaining those which appreciate the nature of the show, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones who would determine the success in TV ratings, not the non-fans. 2. The power of free content The history of 'Family Guy' is educational to every marketer who is trying to attract attention online with free content. Despite being cancelled in 2000 and again in 2002, Fox was convinced to bring the show back. And the reason is un-ignorable: strong DVD sales. If people are more than willing to pay to own DVD copies, Fox (the show's home station) would be a fool not to show it on TV for free and get tons of advertisers. 3. Where the real selling happens Fox owns the intellectual property rights to 'Family Guy' and its wide range of merchandise is one of the primary avenues where revenue is generated. T-shirts, action figures, stickers, posters, video games, song clips, ring tones, name it. McFarlane gets only a percentage of these sales, but he's not complaining. There are other ways he's using the show as a money machine. 4. Delegating the strenuous tasks to others It's safe to say that 'Family Guy' started out as a one-man show; MacFarlane involved himself in every aspect. There were times when got burnt out. Now, he outsources much of the production of his shows, although he still voices three of the main characters, and even brings together the music. It goes to show that you don’t have to run the business by yourself; tapping external help, such as an outsourced lead generation services company, can take some work off your shoulders so you can focus on what you love most – running the business. |
| Content Marketing is Difficult – Get Over It Posted: 02 Jan 2014 02:00 PM PST I don't need to look at your marketing strategy for 2014. I know for a fact that content marketing is somewhere in the mix. It's probably near the top of your list, sitting neatly alongside social media and email marketing. I'm also guessing, there are a number of question marks next to the content marketing bullet point on your plan. The thing is, content marketing is such a wide ranging discipline if it is not properly planned it will raise more questions than answers. At this moment you are probably asking yourself the following questions:
It is because content marketing is difficult that makes it such an effective strategy – if it's produced with care and attention to detail. Note: Just because content marketing difficult, doesn't mean you should discount it. A decent content marketing strategy will enhance virtually everything else you do online. Without content adding value and aiding conversion, expensive acquisition marketing techniques such as paid search will certainly be more expensive than they need to be and have the potential to destroy any margin you might have in a sale. Because content marketing has become something of a buzz word recently (although the concept of using content to build reputation and drive sales is nothing new) a whole industry has sprung up promising quick wins and easy content marketing solutions. Let's think about this for a minute. Nothing in business is easy. Most successful businesses solve problems for their clients via the services they offer. In a similar vein, as marketers we strive to offer our clients (or employers) a solution to the difficult problem of engaging with potential clients, aiding the sales process and retaining customers. To suggest this process is simple is easy is an insult to the profession. Some marketing techniques will drive quicker returns than others but nothing in marketing is easy – and this includes content marketing. In an ever deepening sea of content, great content will also rise above plain old, good content, driving visibility and adding credibility via the major search engines and social networks. Weak content will just weigh you down and sink to the bottom. Why Do So Many Marketers Discount Content Creation When Planning Their Social Media Activity? I asked the attendees at a recent content marketing seminar I was leading: Who is on social media? As you would expect, everyone raised their hand. I then asked who blogged, and only a handful of delegates kept their hands in the air. My next question was directed at the non-bloggers. If you're not blogging, what on earth are you doing on social media? The vast majority of attendees admitted to using social media just to link to other people's content. In short, they were pouring fuel on other people's thought leadership. In some cases, they were sending traffic directly to their competitors. Why would anybody do this? We all know that creating content is difficult. We've also got consider the fact that many companies haven't got a clue how to track and analyze their social media engagement. Because of this they struggle to justify any real investment in content creation. Instead, they throw themselves into social media with no real thought or strategy. This is because they believe social media is free and that there is very little they can do to track their investment in real time (they are wrong on both counts). How do you encourage your clients/staff to invest in creating killer content? What are the biggest hurdles you must overcome to build a strategic, cohesive, socially enabled content marketing strategy? What are you content marketing ambitions for 2014? Share your comments in the box below: This post first appeared on the iContact Email Marketing Blog. |
| Blogging for Business: A Must-Have Editing Checklist Posted: 02 Jan 2014 01:35 PM PST
But producing high-quality content isn't easy. Sure, most of us can write a passable blog post. But taking that blog post and writing it in such a way that it's optimized for the Web is completely different than writing other kinds of content. Having the skills to ideate, develop and distribute content that serves your audience, well that's no small accomplishment. What separates Joe Blogger (or Cheap, Inexperienced Writer) from producers of effective online content isn't just a great content strategy; it's also a fierce commitment to the editorial process. The reality is that a lot of corporate blog content out there is just flat-out bad. We've found that many writers of blog content are either very inexperienced, in general, and/or writing without much, if any, guidance and direction. This might be because they're part of one of the many "content farming" efforts of more businesses than we can count (more on that another time), or because they've never been taught how to write for the web. And in order for writing to be great, your editing skills have to be even greater. As you work to develop a content strategy, keep in mind that your content should aim to do a number of things. These include:
Notice what sits at the top of that list? Not content that touts your capabilities and success stories, but content that serves the needs of your customers and prospects. If you take away nothing else from this post, let it be that. Here are some tips to help you along the way: Choosing a Topic When brainstorming topics for your corporate blog content, ask yourself some simple questions:
If you use these questions as the foundation for your content ideation, you'll be off to a good start. Choosing a Title Poorly crafted blog post titles can drastically impact your readership. When I speak on this topic, I nearly always cite a stat from Copyblogger that simply says: 8 in 10 will see your headline …. 2 in 10 will click through If you don't master the art of crafting a compelling headline, you can forget about anybody being interested enough to stop what they're doing to read your post. Best practices for blog titles are as follows:
This is usually the first thing a reader will see, so you'll need to be creative. Consider… Blog Structure and Formatting Structuring your blog so that it's easily digestible is key to creating good content. Here are some basic rules that we try and follow:
Sourcing and Attribution High-quality content often includes supporting information from other sources. It's of vital importance to cite these sources not only to give credit where credit is due (the right thing to do), but also to avoid plagiarism. Give proper attribution by asking:
Polishing and Publishing Researching and writing content for your blog? Very important. Editing, editing again, then re-editing your work? Even more important. Follow these final suggestions to make sure you've got it just right: When it comes to editing, spell check is good, a human being is better. Sometimes you're too close to your own work, especially if you're writing a piece you're passionate about. Write your post, then enlist the eyes and the brain of a friend (or a colleague) to give it a once-over. You'll be glad you did. Read it aloud..When all the proofreading is done, take a few minutes to read your post aloud. It might sound silly, but this is something that works. It's one of the best "final tests" on the planet. Double check the spelling and styling of sources' names, company names, titles and other proper nouns? Two seconds here can save you tons of embarrassment later. Check all your links to make sure they're working correctly. Think about search engine optimization as you're editing in these final steps. This doesn't mean keyword stuffing, either. It means careful consideration of your title, your opening paragraph, and how you treated the wording of the content you developed. Telling search engines what you're writing about is just as important as making that point clear for humans. Finish up with a great META description that succinctly sums up what the post will deliver, not to mention well-chosen tags. Make sure all your images have alt tags and unique descriptions and you're in good shape—ready for the "publish" button. What did I miss? Other resources you might like: Copyblogger: Writing Headlines That Get Results V3: 6 Keys to Writing for Your Small Business Blog AgBeat: Improve Your Writing By Making It More Concise Photo Credit: Unhindered by Talent via Compfight cc |
| Think Before You Tweet: Using Corporate Social Media Accounts Responsibly Posted: 02 Jan 2014 12:06 PM PST Online, mistakes live forever. While it's becoming standard practice for businesses to use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, many of them seem to be at a loss when it comes to using these platforms effectively. Here are four ways you can improve your company's online presence and avoid making costly mistakes. Proofread The Grammarly team pitched popular brands against each other in the ultimate grammar battle to see which heavyweight household names value good writing the most. By comparing the companies' recent LinkedIn posts, they discovered that Pepsi makes four times as many writing errors as arch-rival Coca-Cola (3.6 mistakes per 100 words/0.9 mistakes per 100 words). Facebook misses more errors than its social media frenemy Google (4.3 mistakes per 100 words/1.1 mistakes per 100 words), while Ford not only ran over competitor GM but emerged the winner of the battle of the brands (0.5 mistakes per 100 words/1.3 mistakes per 100 words.) Why does good grammar matter? Writing is one of the most important ways that a company can show that it is credible, cares about accuracy, and pays attention to detail. Do Your Homework First The archives of the Internet are rife with ill-considered auto-tweets and scheduled posts that inadvertently made light of disasters, such as the shooting in Aurora or Hurricane Sandy. Even companies that outsource their social media presence to a media management firm often find themselves with their feet firmly wedged in their mouths. Corporate social media campaigns sometimes backfire, especially on Twitter and Facebook. For example, McDonald's well-intentioned #mcdstories tag was intended to encourage happy, media-friendly stories from their customers. Instead, they got jokes about dog food and obesity. Similarly, JP Morgan's disastrous #askJPM opened the floodgates for harsh (though sometimes hilarious) criticism about the bank's bailout and lending practices. The moral of these, and countless other, horror stories? Always think through the possible implications and misinterpretations before launching a campaign or posting a tweet. And double-check that you know why a particular hashtag is trending before you hitch your wagon to it. Keep an Eye on Your People As the lines between personal and company social media presence continue to blur, a thoughtless or inappropriate comment can ruin a person's career. Consider Justine Sacco, a PR executive whose tone deaf tweet about the AIDS crisis in Africa caused her to be international news in December of 2013. After getting fired, Sacco issued an open apology for her remarks, but the damage to her reputation had already been done. Dorie Clark, writing for Forbes, advises companies to encourage employee participation in brand's social presence. When they fear what employees might do or say instead of encouraging a positive social culture, Clark argues, companies are missing out on an opportunity for engagement and development. Unfortunately, incidents of employees behaving badly and engagement campaigns gone wrong have left companies less than enthusiastic about welcoming employees and customers to the discussion. Use Humor Responsibly Humor can be difficult. What one person finds funny, another might find offensive—but watered down, politically correct humor isn't likely to get many retweets or shares. Finding a balance is very difficult, and brands (or their representatives) are likely to be called out for making off-color comments. Humor can be done well, however. During the live Sound of Music broadcast, DiGiorno Pizza's Twitter account exploded with a series of pun-filled, good-natured comments on the broadcast. The Bottom Line: A company that can't even manage to use Twitter without causing an international incident will lose the trust of their customers, partners, and employees. Whether you're at the social media helm of a major corporation or a local bakery, think before you tweet. |
| 14 Customer Service Questions to Ask for 2014 Posted: 02 Jan 2014 04:30 AM PST |
This holiday season is an important time to market your products and services, as well as create engagement to attract new and existing customers through social media. There have been numerous tips and tricks buzzing over the past several weeks about finding the perfect holiday strategy for your company. However, as the season comes to an end, many may be stuck on where to begin for the New Year or resort back to the traditional ways of the past.
Unless you're dead, you've doubtless heard the phrase, "content is king." There's a reason that people spin this line, which, I mean, who are we kidding, has become more than a bit of a cliché. But it's because when done correctly, 
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