Popular Articles on Business 2 Community |
- The Pros and Cons of Social Media Automation
- Google Plus: 6 Reasons You Should Be Using It
- 3 Stats About the Not-So-Secret Weapon of Marketing Automation
- Top 16 Social Media Predictions For 2014
- This Trumps Customer Experience
| The Pros and Cons of Social Media Automation Posted: 19 Dec 2013 06:37 AM PST
Social media automation is one solution for increasing social media effectiveness. It allows social media users to create content and schedule their posts to be shared on a variety of different social media platforms throughout the day. Sounds perfect, right? While there are many benefits to using social media automation, it’s important to also realize some of the drawbacks before committing to using it as part of a social media strategy. The Pros of Social Media AutomationConvenienceProbably the most obvious benefit to automating social media content is the convenience. With programs like Hootsuite, Buffer, and even Facebook's own scheduling system, you can create content and schedule it to appear at a specific time on multiple platforms. This is great for companies operating on multiple social sites and need a way to quickly post messages to each of them. Reaching More People More OftenWith the added convenience of automation, users can schedule their posts for the most valuable times throughout the day—the times when their followers are most active and engaged. Automation allows businesses to post their content when it is most likely to be seen and make an impact, which is especially important for sites like Facebook, where when you post matters for your overall reach. Delivering Content ConsistentlyThe convenience also allows businesses to ensure that they are constantly updating their platforms with new content. Consistency in delivery helps a business to build a loyal following because they’ve proven they’re reliable. Even if something unexpected comes up, automation allows a business to still meet their audience’s expectations by ensuring that updated content is delivered on time. The Cons of Social Media AutomationPotential for NeglectWhen a business uses automation—especially if it’s business on the busy side of things—it can be easy to let the social media aspect of the business to get neglected. If your automated posts aren't monitored for their overall impact, posts can quickly become irrelevant and your audience could leave. Businesses also lose out on vital opportunities for human connection by using a third-party app instead of posting and interacting by hand. Potential Loss of Human ConnectionSocial media is meant to be just that: social. An effective strategy is about building relationships. However, if a business falls into the trap of neglecting their social media strategy, human connections are negatively impacted because of the lack of interactivity between the brand and the audience. A complete reliance on automation can strip a business of the opportunity to respond to the questions and concerns of its audience in real-time. Posting During Tragedies/EmergenciesAutomating content can unfortunately create some negative opportunities when potentially insensitive posts are shared during a time of tragedy or emergency. Businesses need to remember that automation ensures consistency in their delivery, but this is an area where it can backfire on them. An example of a social media fail in the midst of tragedy was when Guy Kawasaki’s Twitter continued to post and re-post his content after the Boston Marathon bombing. The posts stuck out in the midst of a stream of other posts about the tragedy. When someone suggested he turn his tweets off, he responded negatively. Many people found this to be insensitive. Is Automation Right for Me?Knowing the pros and cons of social media automation allows you to better decide if this method is right for your business. However, no matter if you choose it or not, you should follow these simple tips to avoid social media disasters:
By being aware of the pros and cons of automating social media content, any business can increase their social media effectiveness.  |
| Google Plus: 6 Reasons You Should Be Using It Posted: 19 Dec 2013 06:11 AM PST Social networking platforms run the gamut of features, usage patterns, and adoption, and Google Plus is no different. If you are in the social media marketing game, you should already know a lot about Google Plus. That includes the biggest knock on it as a social media platform – that adoption remains too low for most social marketing professionals to care. But hey, times change and 2014 is upon us. If you haven't gotten on board with Google Plus yet, now is a great time to re-evaluate your reasons for not doing so. While you are reflecting on it, take a moment to review our reasons for using Google+ below. No matter what your overall goals are, there is a place for Google Plus in your overall strategy. 1. Google Plus Adoption Is Increasing RapidlyGoogle Plus is no longer a fledgling platform aiming to get on the map. It has surpassed every other social network aside from the almighty Facebook. Multiple sources have reported this growth, going all the way back to the early part of 2013. Take a look at the numbers from the second quarter of 2013, as reported by Jeff Bullas, below. SOURCE: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/09/20/12-awesome-social-media-facts-and-statistics-for-2013/ With such widespread and growing adoption, user engagement on the site has been on the upswing. Like all social networks, Google Plus gives you as much value as you put into it. If you spend time curating good content, connecting with the right people, and generally helping out where you can, you'll find that it isn't quite the ghost town many have made it out to be. When you also consider Facebook's missteps regarding privacy, news feed ads, and now auto-play video advertising, the opportunity for Google Plus to kick in the door and push for the top spot is ripe for the picking. Regardless of what you think about Google, when they set their minds to achieving something significant, they hit the mark more often than not. 2. Content Indexes Quickly When Posted on Google PlusAmong the SEO sect, it is common knowledge that links posted to Google Plus are not only DoFollow (as opposed to the standard NoFollow on most social networking platforms), but they also cause the page being referenced to index very quickly. We have tested this on both our own content and others. Especially if you or your client is less knowledgeable in SEO, this is an easy way to get content crawled and indexed without having to dig into more technical items such as managing an XML sitemap or pinging the new page from a ping service. Did you also realize that Google Plus updates themselves are automatically indexed by Google and can rank for keywords or semantic matches to the text in the update? That makes for a second SEO opportunity to rank. One thing I like to do is to share the link to the original content, which targets a primary keyword. Then add a description with another variation of the keyword to position yourself for some semantic or long tail upside. 3. Authorship Markup Improves SERP VisibilityAlthough studies have come out in 2013 claiming that Authorship Markup adoption is high, the reality is that most of those adopting it are within the communities of tech writing, SEO, content marketing, and similar areas. Most enterprises are still not on board fully, as it highlights individual authors rather than just pushing the brand and the company's products. I can't stress strongly enough how much of a competitive advantage authorship can provide for your search presence. Not only does it position you as a key author / entity on Google, with special expertise in your area of focus, but it also helps increase CTR in the SERPs. For those of you who are unfamiliar with how authorship markup modifies your SERP listings, take a look at my own listing below from Return On Now. Similar to all the other benefits of Semantic Markup, the addition of the thumbnail in the above listing helps highlight it among the other results on the page. According to a study fielded by Catalyst Search Marketing, rich snippets such as authorship markup can improve CTR by as much as 150%! 4. There Are Some Great Google Plus Communities
And then there are the groups that curate participants and content carefully, have great moderators, and incite a great deal of useful conversation. I have at least two solid SEO groups on Google Plus that are great for discussing the latest Google algorithm antics and the best ways to manage semantic markup for SERP visibility. Yes, they are uber-geeky topics, but surely you can find at least one or two communities of value in your own area of focus. For me, this stuff is fascinating and important. 5. Google Plus Activity Already Impacts Local SEOI recently came across a guest post on Search Engine Journal by Sergiu Draganus, which summarized a study to identify what the most important ranking factors were for the local carousel. The results were very interesting to say the least. Google properties, including Google Plus, are incredibly important to the carousel. They are also very impactful on the 7-pack of local results, which is still important when it appears in the SERPs. Check out Sergiu's overarching observations from the data he collected below: The correlation chart indicates that Google considers its own factors as the most important: qty of +1-es on Google+ Business Page As you can see, nearly all of the top factors are related to Google Plus. If you operate a local store or other facility where customers can visit you, it would be in your best interest to start taking Google Plus / Pages and your overall Local SEO strategy seriously heading into 2014. 6. Publisher Markup: Poised To Make An ImpactAre you aware of what Publisher Markup is? Similar to Authorship Authority, Google is clearly analyzing ways to assign authority to publishers, i.e. websites across the web. As of now, publisher markup is available and recommended but not really impacting SERPs or ranking in any discernible manner. However, the very fact that Google has established it has rather large potential implications. For one, it allows website owners to verify that they are real entities with Google, much like authors can establish themselves as individual entities. While that has value for verification of authenticity (a key component of the Google Plus strategy), I am convinced that there is more to it. Many of us write for multiple websites. For example, I write my own content on Return On Now, but also contribute to Search Engine Journal, CMSwire, Social Media Today, and other websites. Since there is no clear hierarchy of ownership between a publisher and an author, Google needs some way to verify identities without forcing one entity to be a subset of another. Enter Publisher Authority.If your website is a verified entity and you are a verified entity, then Google can one day start incorporating rankings according to both website and author authority. They keep telling us not to worry about PageRank and other legacy authority metrics, and I'm convinced that this is the center of a new authority measurement system they have in the works. SummaryThere are many more reasons to consider using Google Plus more actively, but these six are enough to keep me engaged with the platform. If I am right about the publisher authority commentary above, 2014 is stacking up to be a very important year in the evolution of SEO and Google's ranking approach. I, for one, can't wait to see where this all takes us. Now go sign up for Google Plus already!  |
| 3 Stats About the Not-So-Secret Weapon of Marketing Automation Posted: 18 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST
63% of Companies That Are Outgrowing Their Competitors Use Integrated Marketing AutomationThis is an impressive stat. It tells us that if you want to grow—and if you want to beat your competition—there is some advantage to be found in marketing automation. Marketing automation has increasingly become a not-so-secret weapon for businesses seeking to grow their customer base, and the voice-based component is just one more tool to keep in the arsenal. Marketing automation for lead gen uses emails and web forms, and voice-based marketing automation is just a building block to supplement that foundation, using call analytics from your marketing ads and campaigns to improve results and voice broadcasts, IVR phone surveys, and SMS texts to generate more phone leads. Used separately, they are excellent. Used together, they are unstoppable. 40% of Higher-Growth Companies Are More Likely to Use Marketing ROI to Assess CampaignsThis stat is a definite sign of marketing smarts. Marketers who keep an eye on what generates leads and what doesn't and use that information to make decisions about campaigns are on the right track for truly optimized marketing strategy. There is a critical gap, however, that even the smartest marketers don't always know how to fill, and the voice component of marketing automation can do the job. If we're not tracking phone calls, then our picture of our ROI isn't complete. When prospects pick up the phone to call, traditional marketing automation can't track that event, but voice-based marketing automation can patch that leak. 78% of High-Performing Marketers Indicate That Marketing Automation Systems Are More Responsible for Improving Revenue ContributionMarketers know the value of impressions, clicks, and leads, but smart marketers know that what really matters is revenue. Tracking your online conversions is one thing: downloads via web forms, newsletter signups, email list registrations are all great data points and should be tracked. Tracking phone calls, and more importantly what drives those phone calls, is also extremely important in order to understand how well your marketing efforts are performing. However, what you really need to know is how those online and phone leads get moved through your sales funnel to revenue. That's how you really understand ROI. So if you want to see what is contributing to revenue, the buck doesn't stop with just marketing automation: you need to automate your voice interactions as well. These stats tell us that marketing automation is no secret: companies across many industries are using it to improve their business. The secret, then, is the combination of marketing automation and voice-based marketing automation: a double whammy that is sure to take your campaigns to the next level. To learn more, download this free white paper, Tracking Phone Leads: The Missing Piece of Marketing Automation.  |
| Top 16 Social Media Predictions For 2014 Posted: 18 Dec 2013 05:47 AM PST For me the New Year is always an opportunity to look back on what we have learned, how we have grown and focus on where we are going. Seems like just yesterday we were writing out predictions for 2013, excited for where the year would take us both personally and professionally. 2013 delivered a wake-up call for many brands. Smart business leaders realized (if they hadn't already) that social media is here to stay. They also started to understand it's much deeper than a tweet stream or Facebook page. Smart brands know it's about social integration, about taking steps toward being a social business more than it is learning how to tweet. It's a journey, not a destination. There is not some magical end point that a brand can boldly claim, "we are a social business." Instead, it is a journey of transformation, learning and growing. It's about becoming more humble and transparent than ever before. We must embrace imperfect perfection and embrace the fact that authenticity trumps perfection at every stage of social business evolution. So what's in store for 2014? I could write on this for days but finally landed on 16 top predictions for now. Would love to hear your thoughts and if you agree with me. What are your predictions? 16 Social Media Predictions for 2014 1. Brands will begin to learn what it means to be a social business.Now that the hype of Facebook is settling in, the Facebook algorithm is tanking and the excitement to build fan pages is decreasing, brand leaders will accept the only way they are going to see the positive side of the ROI equation is to roll up their sleeves and get to work. There is no fast track, magic pill or social media made easy button. Businesses of all sizes must know their audience, define their goals and align social where it can have the most positive impact. Business leaders must realize quickly, becoming a social business is a journey, not a destination.
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| This Trumps Customer Experience Posted: 17 Dec 2013 06:30 AM PST Is there really anything more important than a great customer experience? A few weeks ago, I wrote a guest post for Jeannie Walters of 360Connext titled, A Great Customer Experience Trumps… . At the end of the post, I posed the question: “What trumps a great customer experience? Only one thing. Can you guess?” Today, I’m going to answer the question. Quite simply, the answer is: the employee experience. I’ve been talking about the importance of employees in the customer experience equation since my days at J.D. Power and Associates 20 years ago, and yet, in the heat of customer experience design efforts, employees are forgotten. Don’t believe me? There’s a ton of evidence out there now that makes the link between the employee experience and the customer experience and, ultimately, on business outcomes. Temkin Group published their Employee Engagement Benchmark Study earlier this year, and here are some findings: Among companies whose financial performance is significantly better than that of their peers, 75% of employees are highly or moderately engaged, compared to 47% at under-performing companies. Companies with a significantly better customer experience than their competitors, 75% of employees are highly or moderately engaged, compared to 34% at lagging companies. Edelman put together a compilation of seven studies on employee engagement. One of those studies is by Aon Hewitt, and according to Edelman, it reveals: Every one percent increase in employee engagement indicates a 0.6 percent growth in sales, accordingly to Aon Hewitt's 2013 Trends in Global Employee Engagement report. Applying this logic to a $5 billion company with a gross margin of 55 percent and 15 percent operating margin, a one percent increase in engagement would be worth $20 million – hardly pocket change. Gallup has done a lot of research, as we know, on employee engagement. They recently published some findings: In a recent study, Gallup examined 49 publicly traded companies with EPS data available from 2008-2012 and Q12 data available from 2010 and/or 2011 in its database. This study found that businesses with a critical mass of engaged employees outperformed their competition:
This graphic summarizes nicely how employee engagement drives business outcomes. Towers Watson has conducted their own employee engagement research, and their findings show that companies with high levels of employee engagement saw a 19.2% increase in operating income, while those with low levels of engagement experienced a 32.7% decline in operating income. An HBR article fr0m 2010 states this interesting statistic: “…some – including Starbucks, Limited Brands, and Best Buy – can precisely identify the value of a 0.1% increase in engagement among employees at a particular store. At Best Buy, for example, that value is more than $100,000 in the store's annual operating income.” Beyond Morale offers an e-book with 99 interesting statistics about employee engagement, like this one: Increased employee engagement was accompanied by a 12% increase in customer satisfaction and significant double‐digit revenue and margin growth over the past three years. -Serco Study And this one: Companies in the Best Companies to Work Study for in the period 2004 – 2008 increased their revenues by 94% and their profits by 315%. In their Sharpen Customer Experience Focus with Employee Engagement report, Forrester cites this example: Dell found that customer Net Promoter Scores (NPS) were twice as high for experiences delivered by highly engaged employees.3 And a meta study of 7,939 business units in 36 companies, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, found that higher employee engagement scores correlated with higher customer satisfaction and loyalty measures. Brian Gareau has put together a page of resources that highlights some of the research done over the last 10 years that proves the linkage between employee experience and business performance. I’ve taken liberties in this post to skip right from the employee experience to business performance without mentioning the customer experience. We already know, with perhaps one exception, that a great customer experience drives business growth and success. What we fail to acknowledge is that the people behind the delivery of that customer experience must come more first. Need one more bit of evidence? I could cite a bunch of other studies, but let’s go to the grandfather of all evidence, the Service-Profit Chain. Read the HBR article – as well as their follow-up, which shows how companies are applying its principles today – and the book(s). Image courtesy of HBRThis 1999 article from Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge summarizes the work that Sears executives did to rebuild the company to focus on customers. The article talks about the new business model and what they discovered: “There is a chain of cause and effect running from employee behavior to customer behavior to profits.” Imagine this: their model is data-based. (See the notations regarding the colors/shapes in the sub-heading of the image below.) Make no mistake. Employees who enjoy their work – are passionate about what they are doing and for whom they are doing it – deliver results. I wrote previously: Because of that enthusiasm and passion for the brand, for the business, employees are eager to contribute to its success. And when we’re all working together for the success of the business, I believe that, ultimately, customers will win, too. As will your shareholders.  |
Social media gives people a unique opportunity to connect with others and share ideas all around the world. While individuals make great use of social media to stay connected with friends and family, businesses are also using social media as a marketing strategy. What makes some businesses effective with social media while others flounder in the vast sea of social media content? While some businesses may have the resources to hire someone to focus on their social media strategy all the time, many don’t, and with all the other responsibilities employees have as well as the many tasks that need to be accomplished, it can be difficult to spend even a fraction of the time necessary to maintain an effective social media strategy.
A recent study by Lenskold Group and The Pedowitz Group reveals some interesting stats about the state of marketing automation and which marketers are using it successfully. Let's take a look at those numbers so we can learn more about what this means for you.
2. Can't buy me love.
Human beings have been and always will be at the core to social media and social business. Social media is about people, relationships and conversations that happen 1:1. It is human beings who are behind the avatars. It's humans who listen, read, click, like, follow, share and talk about your brand. Brands must realize that it is human beings they need to inspire, not just Facebook algorithm and scientific formulas. The heartbeat of social media is you. The question is will you be a healthy, contributing part of social media in 2014? Watch Video-> 
According to a recent study from IBM, 71% of CEOs believe human capital is a key source of sustained economic value. The real question is will they put their money where their mouth is. The smart ones will. Employees are the greatest asset and potentially the best brand evangelist you can have. Social media doesn't transform your organization when you jump on Facebook. Social media reveals your organization, good and bad. Investing in the human beings within your organization is time, effort and money well spent. Data, analytics, technology, and mobility will all play critical roles in this advancement of smarter, more agile, collaborative and innovative workforces. Read-> 
IDC predicts there will be 1.3 billion mobile workers by 2015. It's no longer "should I build a mobile website or blog," it's now "how can I build the best possible customer experience both on and offline. Mobility must come first, not second or as a band-aid. Customers are not thinking "what device should I use that Brand A's website will look best on". Instead they will grab whatever device is charged and not stolen by their 10 year old, spouse or co-worker. You have approximately 5 seconds to deliver a good experience on your digital and social platforms or else they will go elsewhere. Read-> 
Many business leaders will want to throw in the social business towel. After they attempt to throw in the towel, get fired or quit they will then realize they must dig their head out of the social sand. They need to set goals, objectives and focus on achievable strategies and tactics that they can implement with their given resources. They must cross as many things off of their list as they add to it! It's about making data driven decisions, doing more of the right stuff versus just doing more social stuff to beat out Facebook. Remember, that's what got most of them into trouble with the Facebook algorithm to begin with. Work smarter, not harder. Read-> 
Brands that invest in infrastructure for their communities will see improved results. People are overwhelmed with brands and community leaders begging them to join their communities. Brands must step up and be able to demonstrate why anyone should take the time to invest in their community and the people within it. Read-> 
We are going to help you get integrated and stomp the Random Acts of Marketing (RAMs) once and for all in this 
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