social media marketing
March 31, 2016
3 Ways to Optimize Your Website for Social Media Marketing
While just about every website undertakes some form of SEO these days, there’s another marketing opportunity that's often missed altogether - optimizing your company’s website for social media marketing.
There’s much more to effective social media marketing than simply setting up a Facebook page with your company’s name attached to it. Unfortunately, many small businesses treat their company’s website and social media accounts as two mutually exclusive parts of their digital marketing strategy. In reality, both should be closely intertwined.
Here’s the deal - when your website and social media platforms are working in unison, your digital marketing results have the potential to grow exponentially. An increased number of site visitors, a more engaged social following and - most importantly - more sales are sure to follow when you successfully integrate these two important elements of digital marketing. The following are three key ways to ensure that your website is optimized for social media success.
1. SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS
Before anything else, the first thing you need to do is make sure that there are links between your website and your social media accounts. While including your website URL in your social media bio is a fairly straightforward practice, far fewer companies use their website to directly link to their social media accounts.
Sure, it may take a bit of extra coding or the installation of extra apps to accomplish this for your site, but it's well worth the effort. Just like you put your website URL in your social media profile in the hope that it'll generate visitors to your site, so too do your website’s links to your social media accounts increase your likelihood of gaining new followers on these platforms. As long as these links are prominently displayed, your website can easily generate new social media followers.
That’s not your only option for generating social connections, however. Tools such as AddThis and ShareThis allow you to embed social media share buttons on each page of your site, making it easier for site visitors to share a piece of content on their own social profiles. And when sharing sidebars also include share counters - like the below example from Content Marketing Institute - it provides a level of social proof and credibility, further increasing the likelihood that visitors will view your information as trustworthy and authoritative.
If you’re not sure where to begin in this process, start with the basics - connections to Facebook and Twitter are a must, but integration with other social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest can also give your business a major boost. And if you need help, there are plenty of tools available online that can notify you if any social media elements haven't been properly integrated on your site.
2. CONSISTENTLY PROVIDE NEW, QUALITY CONTENT
2. CONSISTENTLY PROVIDE NEW, QUALITY CONTENT
Producing unique, high-quality content isn’t only an SEO essential. If you want your website to make a legitimate contribution to your social media marketing, you need to consistently provide interesting and unique content through your blog. And the better your content is, the more likely it'll generate shares on social, thus building awareness for both your website and your various social media accounts.
And you don’t need to limit yourself to written blog posts either. Infographics, videos and other forms of content can make your website more engaging and give your followers a greater incentive to share your posts on their own social media accounts. Visual content that sparks an emotional response is much more likely to be effective in this regard.
Another bonus is that by creating quality content for your website, you also provide material that can be used in crafting your own social media posts. For example, let’s say you just published a blog post titled “6 Essential Spring Gardening Tips.” This is the perfect type of content to push through your own social media channels - especially since Buzzsumo’s analysis of the most viral content of 2015 found that posts that included practical tips, quizzes or a unique spin on trending topics tended to be among the most shared.
3. MAKE IT INTERACTIVE
Users flock to their many social media accounts for interaction, and your website can take advantage of this as well by letting users comment and generate their own content on your site. But rather than forcing site visitors to undergo a convoluted registration process to participate, you can follow the example of Mashable and others who further leverage social media to their advantage by allowing users to register with their social media accounts.
Lucas Miller-Social Media Today
March 4, 2016
1,097 WORDS TO CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT CONTENT WRITING
Content marketing rocks today. Content writing rocks, too.
With that in mind, every entrepreneur tries to implement it to their business strategy. Content marketers have their glory days now.
However, only a few clients understand that content marketing doesn’t equal content writing. The word “content” confuses them and makes them consider every content marketer a writing guru.
Yes, content marketers know what a good text looks. And yes, they know what components it should have to reach out the audience.
But content marketing is more about marketing than content. And a good content marketer is not necessarily one who writes. He is the one who makes content meet a company’s objectives and marketing plans; he is the one who knows how and where to distribute content for attracting and acquiring the target audience, and he is the one who understands what content to use to achieve required results and drive profitable customer action.
And if a marketer doesn’t write himself, he needs the help of a good content writer.
And here the problem appears:
Everyone writes today. But far from everyone is a writer.
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T TRUST A WRITER
There are three key components of marketing: Message, Market, and Channel. And there is no power structure between them: all three are significant, and all three go simultaneously.
Just imagine a tripod. It won’t stay if one leg is broken. It needs all three.
Plus, this triangle is closed: each component “feeds” others. One component can destroy your marketing tripod. You have several variants to do that:
- right Message – wrong Market – right Channel
- right Message – right Market – wrong Channel
- right Message – wrong Market – wrong Channel
- wrong Message – right Market – right Channel
- wrong Message – wrong Market – right Channel
- wrong Message – right Market – wrong Channel
- wrong Message – wrong Market – wrong Channel
And only one variant to save your marketing tripod is:
- right Message – right Market – right Channel
As a content marketer, you control two components of this triangle, which are Market and Channel.
But it’s your content writer who controls Message. So, you should be careful when choosing the one to write for you.
I bet you know about a term such as Message-Market match. Or mismatch.
What can a mom living in a small town and selling her 500-word texts with titles like “5 Principles of Success” for $5 write you?
It was a rhetorical question. The problem is, there are hundreds of such content writers on the Web, and they write texts about marketing, management, technologies, and many other difficult topics.
Your biggest mistake as a content marketer is entrusting such writers with your customer communications.
One email, well-written and sent to right people, can bring hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It’s important to realize that the marketing psychology on the Web works the same as offline. So, you should control who talks to your clients online – John Smith considering himself a professional copywriter or the influencer in the niche, a business founder, and a CEO.
MORE THAN WORDS…
A text is not just words.
It’s an encoded mind of those who wrote it, with all their experience and world’s view. When you write, you insert your mood and your self into the text; that’s why 500 words written by one person will never equal 500 words written by another one.
500 words can change the world. 500 words can change a country. 500 words can inspire a person to leave his job and start a business. 500 words can save someone from suicide.
But someone considers 500 words nothing but the wind that blows and doesn’t influence anything.
Meanwhile, writing is a difficult skill. The financial outcome of a web text may be bigger than one of engineer or accountant work. A piece of content you publish online may appear the best seller that brings customers and helps to achieve corporate objectives and marketing plans.
HOW TO FIND A GOOD CONTENT WRITER
First of all, make sure you look for them at right places. Forget about freelance websites, places such as Fiverr, content mills, etc.
You need people who write a lot.
Two variants work here:
1) Top bloggers in your niche
You can see their performance by checking readers’ reaction: likes, shares, and comments.
2) Journalists
Not all are good but some are worthy writers. Check by the same criteria – likes, shares, comments, and views – and pay attention to the publications where they post their writings. In a perfect world, it will be a place where your target audience meets.
For example, a journalist of Cosmo would be a perfect writer for your project on clothes.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT
Generally speaking, every text pursues two aims:
- a) to provoke a reader into doing something (subscribing, downloading, making an order, commenting, etc.)
- b) to build loyalty with potential customers.
High-quality content is not that written with tricky words. A pro content creator will write as he speaks. The power of his texts is not words but meaning and truth, so he’ll be able to tell a story with simple words.
Content marketers read a lot, so it won’t be difficult for you to catch a rhythm, form, and atmosphere of the text you evaluate. A high-quality text captures you at once, and it’s like an adventure novel you can’t help reading.
For content writers, it’s not easy to create such texts. Research and in-depth insight are their shadows, and they help readers see the strengths and benefits of your product or service. To succeed here, content writers should know your audience by sight.
Why?
Otherwise, a content creator will write something, spending time and money with no understanding why, what, who, or where his texts go.
Or, he will write as if he was John Smith, your client. As far as you understand, it’s a bad idea: big chances are, there are no other John Smiths among your clients.
What to do?
Share buyer personas with your content writer.
Provide the following information:
- Who is your client?
- Where is he from?
- What is his profession?
- What are his hobbies?
- What does he love?
- What does he hate?
- Where does he spend his free time?
- What problems does he have?
- Where does he spend his time online?
With all these questions answered, your content writer will know whom to write Message and what Channel you’ll use for his text to win the Market.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Content writing is a significant skill to sharpen. Persuasiveness wouldn’t go amiss for communication, even if it’s not about texts only.
So, choosing a content creator to write texts for your projects, make sure your target audience already love him.
What are the secrets to success in marketing? We picked the brains of some of our favourite marketers from Thomas Cook, BBC Worldwide, Holland and Barrett and Unilever.
Don't stop learning
In an age where digital and marketing trends come and go, like the changing of the wind, it is imperative that you never stop learning. Even if what you are learning is not directly associated with your current position or even your dream career, knoweldge is power and will only make you stronger.
If you are not learning anything new in your current role, you will not only fail to get ahead, but will in turn lose value as your skills and knowledge become outdated and redundant over time.
In the words of Sara Holt, head of brand and global campaigns at BBC Worldwide: "The key to success in marketing today is to be learning constantly".
Take risks
Playing it safe may feel more comfortable, but as the old adage says: 'nothing ventured nothing gained'.
Lysa Hardy, chief marketing officer at Holland and Barrett, says: "Mistakes are a good thing, you can learn from your mistakes, but the biggest mistake people make is to not take risks, because they are afraid.
"Taking risks is when some of the best work in marketing is produced."
This encouragement to take risks was also echoed by Tim Hunt, marketing director for Guardian News and Media, saying: "Take risks, bravery is very important. It is easy in retrospect to say how easy something was, but you need balls to try it first."
Look before you leap
How long should you stay in a position before moving on? The answer may vary from person to person depending on a number of factors, as does the answer depending on which marketer you ask.
Geoff Seeley, global communications planning director at Unilever, warns: "Don't get sucked into a routine." This is particularly true if you wish to avoid stagnation in development. But as Andrea Newman, head of advertising and marketing communications at HSBC, says: "When you look at a CV and see someone has moved every 18 months, you get suspicious from the get-go."
Martin Dyhouse, marketing director for Thomas Cook, adds: "If you have been in a job a year then offered a promotion, then great. But if [changing your job] off your own back, then be cautious as I've never learnt the role of a job in just a year, and neither has anyone I know".
Set realistic goals
Having a five-year career plan is a great thing, but don't be too set on a linear path.
As Thomas Cook's Martin Dyhouse says "Wherever you want to end up, three, five or 15 years down the line – it is more of a zig-zag approach than a straight line - If you do not know where you want to be, then doing a wrong role will still be educational as you will learn about what you like and what you don't like.'
Andrew Jones, marketing director at BSH Home Appliances,says that you should: "Make decisions for the right reasons, not just to get ahead. The path maybe non-linear but you will get there eventually."
HSBC's Andrea Newman says something quite similar with: "Always chase status, not salary, as the salary will follow".
Do what you are good at
Capitalising on the areas in which you excel will always make you stand out from the pack. Jacco Van der Linden, marketing director of Heineken, says: "Play the game you are good at, and don't play anyone else's games.
"Playing politics to get ahead does not work - there are more people playing chess, rather than Monopoly, just concentrate on the task, and you will get recognised."
Or as Tim Hunt puts it more simply: "Good work speaks for itself."
by Alex Player, Marketing Magazine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
