Posts Tagged ‘Twitter

01
May
13

HootSuite: SEO Killer or a Hotel for Owls?

By Mark Plumb Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Facebook, HootSuite, Marketing, SEO, Social Media and Twitter
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HootSuiteWe are fans of HootSuite, the convenient, social media aggregation tool. We use HootSuite to scheduled posts in advance for the agency and for clients. HootSuite saves time publishing content to Twitter and Facebook. It keeps all social media streams in one location. HootSuite enables us to map out a tweet schedule, collaborate and edit future tweets.

However, we have been asked a very interesting question: Does using a third party social media pre-scheduling tool negatively affect our SEO ranking?

For this to be true search engines would not only be scanning and evaluating content, but focus on the posting methodology. We cannot find evidence that search engines are penalizing third party application programming interfaces (API). It is important to note that HootSuite makes is easy to post redundant content and commit other SEO errors.

However, we have found a HootSuite opponent – Facebook. According to a HubSpot study, content shared by third party API services received fewer likes on Facebook and fewer clicks. Facebook sees tools like HootSuite as possible vehicles for spam, and punishes Facebook pages that rely on these tools for the majority of their postings.

Our recommendation for marketers:

1. Use HootSuite to schedule non-time sensitive social media.

2. Do not use HootSuite as the exclusive method to post content.

Social Media is about engagement and if all the content provided is automated, is there much engagement? Also, it is critical to be timely and relevant. If there is a new story that has captured the collective attention of the country and you are posting a video that shows a behind the scenes look at an event, nobody is going to pay attention. Worse yet, you look like you are out of touch.

Tell us if you have used HootSuite successfully and if you agree that third party API doesn’t affect your SEO.  Share your stories with us on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow @Weise_Ideas on Twitter.

14
Mar
13

Vine’s six-second video new to social, provides marketing opportunity

By Mark Plumb 5 Comments
Categories: Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter and Vine
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GAP Vine TwitterTwitter, which currently claims around 500 million total users, recently launched the new video platform called Vine.  This platform allows users to share videos. In social media terms, think of Vine as a combination of Instagram and YouTube.

Vine allows users to create looping videos for friends and family, but the recording time must be six seconds in duration.

According to cognitive research, as humans we can comfortably process 2-3 words and one image per second. A Vine video of 18 words and five images should be your maximum. A six-second video is comparable to Twitter’s required 140 characters or less for a tweet.  Currently, Vine is free, but only available for the iPhone. However, it is making a large splash with fans. In just one weekend, more than 100,000 videos were uploaded to Twitter via Vine.

Many businesses are jumping on this six-second-video-clip bandwagon and are utilizing the tool for marketing purposes. Companies, such as GAP, Topshop and Threadless are using Vine as a platform to shoot short video clips of behind-the-scenes action. We expect to see teasers of larger marketing and promotional campaigns on Vine.

Vine also helps companies to drive traffic to other social media channels by including an essential call-to-action at the end of the video, such as “follow me to Twitter” or “like our Facebook page”. If done well, these clips should emotionally connect to the story, which is a vital component of marketing. Another brilliant marketing aspect of Vine videos is the endless looping, and repetition is key in increasing awareness of a brand or product.

For marketing endeavors, Vine can be a great tool to drive traffic, promote a product, etc., so long as the video includes a call-to-action in the end of the six- second clip.

Will your company be joining Vine to leverage marketing efforts? Do you think Vine will be better over time like fine wine or simply another in a line of social media apps that decline?

A huge thank you to Sarah Shepard for her research and contribution to this blog.

Share your thoughts about Vine with us on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow @Weise_Ideas on Twitter.

15
Aug
12

MOLOSO: Rewarding your loyal customers through mobile and social media

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Arby's, B2C, Brand Loyalty, Business Strategies, business to consumer, chick-fil-a, Dunkin' Donuts, Facebook, Followers, Foursquare, Location Based Social Media, Marketing, Mobile advertising, Mortons, Peter Shankman, promotions, Social Media, Social Networking, Subway, text messaging, Twitter and Uncategorized
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Image

We’ve heard it over and over again: social media is a great, cost effective way to drive traffic into your business and create better brand awareness.

But what about the people who already know and love your brand? It is time that you show your loyalty customers some love.

First, ask yourself what makes your loyalty customers special and what do you want to accomplish? Do you want them to buy more or buy more often? Knowing your goals and the personality of your target audience is key is determining how likely they will respond to your attempts to reward their loyalty.

Second, do not forget about your social-loyal (SOLO) customers. For example, I am a huge SOLO customer of Dunkin Donuts. I follow them online and as soon as the Denver franchises open I will be a loyal buying customer. Here are a few ways to make your loyalty customers feel special:

Texting: Life revolves around our mobile devices. It has been shown that 73% of Americans send and receive text messages. This is a personal way to reach your loyal customers to offer them exclusive time-sensitive offers, notify them of their membership status and bring them in during your slower hours. Check out these examples:

  • Nail Salon: Monday & Tuesday special: free member only upgrade!
  • Frozen Yogurt: You only need 3 more purchases to qualify for a free 10 oz yogurt!

Facebook, also known as the face of social media, visually advertises your business, and allows you to interact with your followers. Loyal customers want to feel special, and through Facebook you can have conversations with them, give away specialty membership contests and reward loyal customers from their Facebook Check Ins.

Also, do not assume your loyal customers know all of the services you provide. Use Facebook to further advertise add-ons, special events, catering, monthly specials and new offers. If they are following your page, they are interested. They will be excited to know they can get more products and services than they may have thought.

  • Chick-fil-A: they offer their catering information (seemingly less known to the public) and (to date) have 2.4 million people talking about their page, and 6.2 million likes

Foursquare: Nearly half (46%) of American adults are smartphone owners as of February 2012. Foursquare is an app that lets you ‘check in’ at the businesses you frequent. If you go to one place more often than your friends do, you become the “Mayor.” The race to become the Mayor gives customers incentive to go, and to go repeatedly. You can further emphasize this incentive by offering the Mayor free products, upgrades, discounts and invites to exclusive events.

  • Arby’s Mayor special: they get to sit in the “4Square Mayor Booth” and get to taste test new sandwich offerings. They also get the special badge on their Foursquare profile.

Twitter: Tweeting may have less impact on purchasing behavior, but is a great outlet to educate your loyalty crowd. Customer service via Twitter is also useful because it will reach a vast number of customers and show them that you are concerned with their happiness. Exclusive offers for free products can also be advertised through a link to sign up with your membership or by registering to join your clientele base.

  • Morton’s: Peter Shankman tweeted to his 150,000 followers, “Hey @Mortons – can you meet me at Newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, Thanks :) ” – and they did!
  • Subway: incredible customer service through conversations with their followers regarding what they like and dislike.

With 12 million Americans using social media daily, you have a high probability that your loyal customers will be reached and appreciative that you have taken the initiative to thank them for being loyal. A little appreciation will keep them coming back, and more importantly, spreading a positive word about your business.

What advice do you have for businesses that are trying to reach their loyal customers? Give us your thoughts from the loyal customer point of view on Facebook at Weise Communications or on Twitter @Weise_Ideas.

25
Apr
12

Back Tweet Driver: Eight Twitter Habits to Avoid

By Mark Plumb 3 Comments
Categories: Advertising, Communications, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter and Uncategorized
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As much as we love the unprecedented access to newsmakers and the powerful search engine of Twitter, there is a dark side to the micro blogging service. In some cases, spammers and twitter bots pollute your feed and your @tweets. Sometimes your timeline is overrun with the solo opera (Me, Me, Me, ME), self-promo artists and links that go nowhere. Since we know these are a few of the things we can’t stand about how some people use Twitter, it is important for anyone wanting to use Twitter for its intended purpose to know what types of behavior you need to avoid.

Here is the list of dubious Twitter behaviors:

1. The Snob – When you follow back fewer than 10% of the people that follow you. If you do not choose to follow people back, you are not engaging with your audience. The winning formula is being open, transparent and freely sharing with information.

Interestingly, breaking this rule is the norm for celebrities, but we know there are different social media rules for celebrities. For example, if your name is Lady Gaga with more than 23 million followers, we’ll cut you slack for following back fewer than 2.3 million.

2. Blah, Blah, Blah – You average more than 24 tweets per day (excluding @reply.) These people are pumping out information and not engaging. This tweet volume is the fast track to being ignored or worse…saying so much without saying anything makes you background noise, like a ceiling fan.

3. What He Said – If your tweets either average more than 70% retweets, or more than 50% famous quotes, nobody is going to consider you a thought leader. You become a “hype man” always telling people what someone else said. Mix in an original thought.

4. Snoozefest – If you have fewer than 30% of people follow you back, you are following too many of the first three categories and at the risk of insult…your twitter feed is kinda boring.

5 – 8. Spam-tastic – the following makes you look like you are spamming, even if you don’t think you are:

  • If more than 90% of your content is pushed out from an RSS feed (look like a twitter bot), or
  • More than 50% links to apps (like Foursquare, and paper.li), or
  • More than 25% of the time you post the same link URL (self-promo), or
  • More than 80% of your tweets are links (shameless plugs)

If you are doing one of these, you look like you are spamming, if you do more than one – you are a spammer. Unless spam is your end game, incorporate more appropriate Twitter behavior: ask a question, answer a question, and respond to an issue with your opinion.

I have examples of each one of these categories; I’ll share on request. For example, tweet me to find out who averages more than 125 tweets per day and NEVER replies.

Shout out to @twitcleaner for cataloging the type of behavior and setting thresholds to let us know where innocent Twitter mistakes can make you look terrible. Did we miss anything? Share your thoughts here or on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow us on Twitter at @Weise_Ideas.

Did you see our “Wall Tweet Journal: Four Twitter Tips to Improve Your Presence Today” on the SideNote?  We can’t help ourselves, if we tell you things you shouldn’t do, we have to give equal time to best practices, right?

23
Apr
12

Wall Tweet Journal: Four Tips to Improve Your Twitter Presence Today

By Mark Plumb 2 Comments
Categories: Communications, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter and Uncategorized
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Reporters, news-gathering organizations, celebrities and many businesses have unleashed Twitter as a tool to find, engage and expand their fans and followers.

However, when marketers start tweeting, they can’t understand why they are not making connections and seeing results. I heard a colleague describe Twitter as opening your glove compartment, shouting your info into it and slamming the door shut. Not particularly satisfying.

Resisting the urge to say “You’re not doing it right,” I promised to deliver four tips to improve your Twitter presence that can be implemented today.

1. Make your Twitter bio meaningful and searchable – You have 160 characters of searchable content, use the keywords you wish to be associated with you and/or your company.

Below are two profiles, one has 17 followers and the other has more than 146,000 followers, can you tell which profile has the bigger following?

I have a deep relationship with sleep and I’m about whatever, man!

Social Media Thought Leader, Consultant, Speaker | Author The New Relationship Marketing | Coauthor Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day | Scottish-Canadian

I’ll spare the first bio the embarrassment. The second bio belongs to @MariSmith. Mari recently co-hosted a content-rich webinar with @GuyKawasaki. The webinar is titled “7 Hottest Social Media Business Trends Impacting Your Profits Today.” Since I’m using Mari as an unauthorized example, check out her webinar for other social media trends to leverage today.

2. Use Twitter Lists to gain credibility about a subject – A Twitter list is a selected group of Twitter users. All Tweeps have the ability to create and be a caretaker of a Twitter list. When you click to view a Twitter list, you’ll see a stream of Tweets from only the users included in that list. As you build lists of Twitter users with content that you believe is valuable on your subject expertise, you become a resource for others as your lists are shared.

Here is a hidden SEO tip: Link your Twitter feed to your website (RSS feed) and include your Twitter handle (@username) in the naming convention of your list. When your Twitter list is shared with others, your list will link back to your website through your Twitter handle.  It takes patience and a strong Twitter list curator mentality, but as your credibility increases, it will also impact your SEO.

3. Maintain laser-like focus on your subjects – Friends and colleagues know that I am a proud graduate of the University of Oklahoma and a huge fan of Oklahoma football (Boomer Sooner!) However, my twitter feed positions me professionally as focused on marketing, social media and SEO. It is not the venue to discuss the latest recruit, coaching decision or blowout victory. We recommend multiple twitter accounts, one focused on your professional brand and another that feeds your personal passions.

4. Twitter is a conversation, engage your audience – Nobody really cares what you had for lunch. Instead keep these four words in mind: ask, answer, retweet and respond. The key to engaging is asking and answering questions, retweeting interesting items on topic and responding to subject related inquiries.

If you are looking for an easy way to get involved, Twitter comes to the rescue, through @twchat. There is a collection of nearly 600 chats you can participate, check out this schedule of chats. Your bound to find at least one that you can engage and grow your audience.

To summarize your Twitter action items: optimize your bio, curate Twitter lists, use multiple Twitter accounts and participate in a Twitter chat. You can get these done today.

Let us know how much impact you see after implementing these tips. Share your thoughts here or on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow us on Twitter at @Weise_Ideas.

Be on the lookout this Wednesday for “Back Tweet Driver: Twitter Habits to Avoid” on the SideNote.

18
Apr
12

How franchisors capitalize on social media – help your baby prosper

By Mark Plumb 1 Comment
Categories: Advertising, customer service, Facebook, Franchise, Franchising, Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter and Uncategorized
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Its free, its accessible, and it reaches billions of people.  Social media is providing three key factors that should be putting dollar signs in the eyes of franchisors.

Being active in your marketing efforts while maintaining control over how your brand is portrayed is a key for franchise success. Creating awareness, engaging customers, building customer loyalty, and boosting sales are all goals for franchisors, and social media doesn’t just accomplish these things; it does it with a smile.

Smashburger, a fast-casual, gourmet burger franchise is a prime example of how a small business can catapult into the big leagues via social media. Birthing from three Denver locations, this restaurant became a smash hit with its expansion to 150 locations nationwide. With more than 77,000 followers on Facebook, reaching out to bloggers and their tweeting prowess, they have solidified the social media tools for expanding a franchise.

Just how did they do it?  Here are a few suggestions they have for your franchise success:

  • Get on the same page as your customers

People like to talk about themselves and what they want and like.  Give your customers the chance to feel like they are a part of how your product or service is expanding. Use queries relating to feedback on a new product or answer their questions and complaints. If your franchisee is going to prosper, they have to listen to the desires of their target market. Take these examples from Smashburger’s Facebook and Twitter:

 

  • Make your interaction enticing

Posting information about a new product or service can be effective, but allowing the customer to be a part of the decision is even better.  Trivia contests, voting pools and giveaways allow the customer to feel like their opinions are creating your brand.  Interactive coupons also keep customers engaged and coming back to your page to check out what is being offered today; keeping your business in the forefront of their mind.  Smashburger called out for votes and shared a link where they could vote to help their burger make it to the final round of the Dallas Morning News Burger Madness bracket:

 

  • Keep it interesting

Consistency in updating your social media profile will keep people interested.  That said, humor and playfulness should not be overlooked. Simply creating a chuckle from your customer will improve their retention of the message you are conveying.  Check out how Smashburger used humor to reach their customers:

 

Moral of the story, if you aren’t using social media you aren’t gaining the best exposure for your businesses. It is an opportunity to engage customers and that engagement can lead to loyal customers. Be sure to allocate enough resources to effectively manage your social media presence. Your franchisee will thank you. And even more importantly, they won’t go rogue.

A big thank you to Bre Wolta for her research and help uncovering Smashburger’s social media success.

26
Mar
12

I’ll have a burger please, with a side of social networking

By Heather Horsey 1 Comment
Categories: Advertising, Blogs, Business growth, Business Strategies, business to consumer, Facebook, Marketing and Twitter
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

If social networking hasn’t become the craving of the century, I don’t know what has.

Not only are people fascinated with how communication has turned into an interactive dialog, but whether they are finding friends on Facebook, tweeting their every move on Twitter, or now marketing their own customized burgers in the new frenzy that 4food has created, they are finding every excuse to play on the social media playground.

The restaurant, 4Food, in midtown Manhattan has brilliantly introduced a way to make creating your own burger an interactive experience.  Like some other build your own burger joints, the patty comes in a variety of meats (even veggie) and you can chose every aspect of your meal, from bun to sauces.  The donut shape of the patty is eye catching, however, leaving a hole in the middle of the patty for you to fill with a variety of “scoops” ranging from mac and cheese to Thai eggplant curry.

What sets 4Food apart is the marketing privilege the consumer acquires after their creation (from the 140 million combination possibilities) is complete.  Through 4Food’s accounts on Facebook,  Twitter  and their blog, you can name and market your personalized burger.

After you have marketed your creation, you earn a royalty every time that burger is ordered at 4Food.  The $.25 payment is credited to your account on 4food.com.

The learning curve is small, but fun for customers who currently use the provided iPads to order at the restaurant, and will be able to order on their smartphones in the near future.

The exposure that this new burger joint is experiencing purely at the fingertips of their customers is remarkable.  Social networking has driven itself to virtually take the legwork out of marketing for you, purely for free…how is your business using the power of social media to expand?

 

23
Nov
11

Social Media Education – It’s Elementary

By Mark Plumb Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Communications, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , ,

I recently participated in a symposium and one of the topics was the basics of social media, hosted by my colleague Heather Horsey. I was surprised at some of the questions:

  • How do I get a hashtag? How much does it cost? How often can I use it?
  • When I set-up our company Facebook page profile, everything the company does is updating on my personal wall and to my personal email, how can I delete that?
  • Our company doesn’t want negative comments, is there anyway to choose the comments we want to post on Facebook?
  • When I was tweeting on the Twitter, I didn’t see any results. How can you make sales on the Twitter if nobody is interested?

The intent behind the questions were genuine, but I quickly came to the realization that there is a massive education effort needed regarding social media in business. If we can assume that social media is now an essential function of any business, executives will treat it as a discipline that they must understand.

This will lead to educational opportunities, as companies cannot make strategic decisions without understanding social media. Executives will see social media as function that cannot be ignored. Companies will begin building internal social media teams and it will cross multiple business functions from customer service to employee recruiting.  Any company not fluent in the language of social media will be at a significant disadvantage.

This is an opportunity for the marketing department to step up, take a leadership role in social media education and enhance its value to the entire organization.

Hopefully, we’ll never hear anybody ask about ‘tweeting on the twitter’ again.

Let us know if you think social media education will even extend to the C-suite, even if they never post, tweet or check-in. Share your thoughts here or on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow us on Twitter at @Weise_Ideas.

14
Oct
11

Next Trend in Social Media – Editing Social History

By Mark Plumb Leave a Comment
Categories: Communications, Facebook, Quora, SMM, Social Media, Social Networking, trends, Twitter and Uncategorized
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Someone tags you in an unflattering picture on Facebook, you are incensed about something and you tweet a response, you answer a question on Quora without a critical piece of information, wouldn’t be great if there was a social media EDIT button?

Whether it is potentially personally embarrassing or taking an action to protect yourself from an employer, we expect to see a service in the near future for people who want to selectively edit their social history. A Silicon Valley smartie is undoubtedly working on a tool to delete photos from other people accounts, an automatic clean up of your Facebook wall and other actions to sanitize your social history.

With the controversy over Mark Zuckerberg and questionable privacy policies, we believe there will be a fundamental shift from hiding information to cleansing information. The interest in electronic brainwashing will increase and will have impact and influence for the foreseeable future.

For example, what politician would like that picture from the long, lost college days deleted from view and access well before they make the run for political office.  Wouldn’t President Obama like to have the famous picture of him smoking (right) when he was in college stricken from the public record.

In a world where perception is reality, former Iowa State head basketball coach Larry Eustachy lost his job over pictures (left) that surfaced about him drinking beer (well, Natural Light) with underage college coeds.  Some might argue that the choice of “Natty Lite” is the greater offense. Wouldn’t he like a social media cleanser?

According to the survey by Marist College in New York, half of all users on Facebook and Twitter polled say that verbal or photographic miscues lead them to believe social media does more harm than good.  We’re fairly confident that former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner agrees.

Let us know what you think will happen when someone from the ‘Millennial Generation’ runs for President. Without selectively editing social media history what do you think will happen to every tweet, Facebook status or blog post they ever wrote? Share your thoughts here or on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow us on Twitter at @Weise_Ideas.

02
Sep
11

Are we ready for flu season?

By Heather Horsey Leave a Comment
Categories: Communications, Facebook, Skittles, Social Bookmarking, Social Media and YouTube
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Are we ever going to have a worry-free season? In summer, we liberally apply sunblock to prevent skin cancer. In winter, we wash our hands often to fight against viruses. The spring brings pollen and allergies to battle and of course fall is the best time to get vaccinated against common flu. With flu season right around the corner we wanted to bring attention to public health communication in social media by taking a look at a successful campaign.

Social media has become an integral part of immunization communication for many public health organizations, nonprofits and health care providers. The Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition (CCIC) has created an award-winning campaign, Immunize for Good, designed to answer parents’ toughest questions about childhood vaccines and reinforce a parent’s choice to vaccinate.

As a statewide nonprofit, CCIC works with community organizations, health care providers, public health departments, businesses and policy makers to ensure children get the vaccines they need to keep Colorado healthy. A 2010 national survey shows that while 88 percent of parents follow the CDC-recommended vaccine schedule, more than half, 54 percent, have concerns about vaccines. In response to these concerns, CCIC, in partnership with the Colorado Immunization Program and the Vaccine Advisory Committee of Colorado, launched this exciting and content-rich social media campaign in order to encourage parents to vaccinate and reassure them that they are making the best decision for their child’s health. Parents were informed about the benefits and potential side effects of the vaccinations thru Facebook and Twitter. The campaign was very successful, helping increase awareness of new studies proving the safety of immunization and helping answer questions for concerned audiences. This campaign showcases that social media can be a powerful tool to raise awareness for public health organizations and health care providers.

To learn more about what CCIC did to make a successful communications campaign, visit them on Twitter or follow them on Facebook. If you are looking for a way to learn more about social media and health communications, join me for a Coffee Talk session with the Colorado Healthcare Communicators on Wednesday, September 28. I’d be happy to discuss your organization and how social media might help reach your target audiences.

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