by Amber Miller | Dec 10, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
Cliff Notes for Social Media – Part 2
Welcome to part two out of three for our Cliff Notes for Social Media series! Today we are going to discuss the 12 dumbest mistakes you can avoid when using social media for business. Read below and let us know if you’re guilty of doing any of these things. Don’t worry, no judgement here… We’ve all been new to social media before and it took a bit for us to figure it out too.
The 12 Dumbest Mistakes to Avoid In Social Media
- Posting long, messy, nasty URLs. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly.
- Posting too often. Rein this in by posting only when you actually have something to say.
- Not spacing your posts. Sending 20 posts in 10 minutes and then not posting the rest of the day is – well – dumb.
- Not making sense. Posting, “ARGGHHH” with no other information just annoys people. Post complete thoughts that actually mean something.
- Too much personal stuff. You’re doing social media to promote your business or service, right? Then keep it 90+% business and less than 10% personal.
- No picture. Yes, you need a profile picture. And yes, it should be a good one. If need be, pay to get your portrait taken – it’s worth it.
- Wrong picture. Your profile picture needs to be of YOU, not a puppy or a cheerleader (unless the puppy or cheerleader is you.)
- Not giving credit or attributing the wrong source. Give credit where credit is properly due. Always.
- Being wrong. Again, check your facts if you’re unsure.
- Being a jerk. No matter how much you disagree, the other person is never an idiot, a moron or a jack*. Remember, once you put it on the net, you can NEVER take it back.
- Getting political. You’re entitled to your own politics, but they have no business mixing with your business. Keep them 100% separate at all times.
- Ignoring shares and RT’s. Someone retweets or shares something of yours, what do you do? If the answer is nothing, you lose. Instead, THANK them for sharing your content and start a conversation.
Are you simply having a hard time getting a handle of it all? Did you know we provide full service social media management services? Let us handle all the crazy for you. Contact us today to get started.
Part 1
Part 3 (coming soon)
by Amber Miller | Dec 2, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
Remember Cliffs Notes? They’re summaries of longer work, designed to get a student up to speed quickly without having to read the entire book. Sort of a cheat, you might say, but a very effective cheat at that.
There are volumes written about how to succeed dramatically and radically with social media. And then there’s our own version of social media notes, designed to help you become a social media savant in no time.
Ready? Here are the cliff notes presented in a three part series. Below is the first, The 15 Rules of Social Media. The other two will be posted throughout the month of December so make sure to check back for updates!
Remember, these are short but exceedingly powerful. Ignoring any one of them may be perilous to your bottom line.
The 15 Rules of Social Media Marketing:
- Help others often, eagerly and without thought of benefit to yourself.
- Be patient with others. Remember, you were once new to social media, too.
- Share great content.
- Forward great content and credit generously.
- Thank often and thank liberally.
- Be yourself, not a cardboard cutout. Show your personality.
- If you don’t have a personality, grow one and then show it.
- Blog often and intelligently.
- If you don’t know something, say so. Then find out and get back to them.
- Don’t just talk – have real conversations. Remember, these are real people, not just avatars and photos.
- Find the time for social media. Schedule it in and then just do it.
- Use tools to schedule posts and monitor mentions. Social media is one facet of your marketing campaign – it’s not your life.
- Don’t automate the whole process. Be there. Reach out and interact. Find the balance between automation and the personal touch.
- Laugh at yourself. Tell tales on yourself. Show your human side – people aren’t friends with Superman, they’re friends real people who have real challenges and real faults and can laugh at themselves.
- Admit your own mistakes and then move on. The mistakes make you human, but dwelling on them makes you annoying.
Still not sure if what you’re doing is right? Contact us today for a detailed analysis of your social media account and recommendations on how you can get the most out of your social media marketing efforts.
by Amber Miller | Nov 23, 2016 | Blog, Marketing
Now we all know Facebook is a powerhouse when it comes to doing paid marketing, but did you know that YouTube is another amazing option to think about when spreading your message?
Here are a few big options you need to consider to start moving your ad budget to YouTube.
- YouTube is huge– “Huge” is probably putting I mildly with more than 1 million unique user visits each month. They have over 6 billion hours of video that are watched each month on YouTube. That comes out to almost an hour for every person on Earth.
- YouTube Clicks are Cheap– YouTube is part of the Google AdWords system so you get the ease of the AdWords interface without the expensive clicks.
- Video is easier than ever– While videos do require a little bit of work and technical know how there are many tools and resources available to make this part a breeze.
YouTube has a lot of unused ad space available right now. Don’t be afraid to use this powerful ad platform when it comes to getting your message out there.
There are three different ad types when it comes to YouTube ads:
Ad Type 1: In-Stream Ads:
In-Stream ads are designed to capture the attention of your potential prospect in the first five to ten seconds of the ad. After the five second mark viewers have the option to click skip ad and continue to watch the video they were attempting to watch
This type of ad is used to gain visibility and is charged on a Cost-Per-View (CPV) basis. The amount you will pay per view depends heavily on how in depth you want to target your audience. The ad is free until it reaches 30 seconds or is played in full (whichever comes first), after that you will be charged for the view.
Below is an example of an in-stream ad:
By using this type of ad they are able to disrupt the viewers attention and force them to focus on the message about their offer. With this type of ad the user is given the choice by YouTube to continue watching the ad or skip it.
If users click on the video image they will be directly taken to the ads landing page or offer.
Ad Type 2: In-Display Ad
In-Display YouTube ads are the ads that appear to the side of content you are watching on YouTube. These are the ads that are shown at the top of “recommended content” and can catch users attention as they are viewing other content.
Below is an example of this type of ad:
You should choose In-Design ads if you want to build your YouTube channel subscribers or if you want more views on your YouTube content. These type of ads do not take users to your website like the previous ad type. However, you can build call-to-actions into your ad to direct users to a specific page if you wish.
Ad Type 3: In-Search Ad
YouTube In-Search ads appear in response to a specific search query into the YouTube search box. These type of ads are placed above the organic listings and contain a little yellow ad box next to their thumbnail image.
This type of ad is great if you want to get views on your YouTube content but don’t want to be as intrusive with your message like the In-Stream ad.
As you can see, YouTube is a great addition when it comes to paid marketing. When determining what your marketing goals are and how you can get the best ROI on your marketing, this powerhouse should be considered as a great addition to any marketer’s toolkit. Smart to Finish can assist you in determining which type of ad is going to work best for your end goal. We can also assist in the set up and tracking of these types of ads. Contact us today to get started!
by Amber Miller | Nov 14, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
Do you have a social media game plan for 2017?
Are you looking to have a competitive edge when it comes to your business? If you don’t have a written social media game plan then it is easy to allow this part of your marketing to fall to the wayside. You need to figure out the right balance of informative, advertising, and conversational posts when it comes to utilizing this power marketing strategy.
Social media should be used to generate leads and drive traffic to your website and/or offers. It is very clear that businesses achieve greater results and satisfaction when they take a more comprehensive approach to social media. Every action you take on social media needs to be a part of a larger social media strategy. That means every update, tweet, reply and comment should be part of an overall strategy that drives towards a pre-determined goal. This can seem a little complicated and daunting but if you take the time to create a written plan the rest of your social media efforts will fall into place.
Here are a few steps that you can take today to create your social media strategy for the coming year:
Step 1: Conduct an audit of your current social media strategy
Prior to creating your social marketing game plan you need to do an assessment of what your current social media marketing efforts are and how they are performing for you. Are they creating a larger following? Are they achieving your overall goals for your business? Are they helping to get your message out in a way that is cohesive across all platforms?
Step 2: Create or optimize your social media accounts
Once you have done a complete audit of your social media accounts it is time to drill down your online presence. You need to determine which social media platforms best meets your social media goals. If you need to create additional social media profiles on the platforms you are not already on then this is the time to create those profiles. If you do have profiles on your ideal social media platforms then this is the time to optimize your profiles so they best meet your business and audience needs.
Step 3: Create your social media goals and objectives
The first step in any plan is to sit down and establish clear, defined goals for your and your business. When you have these goals this will allow you to determine if your actions are moving you towards the end results you are hoping to achieve. If your efforts aren’t accomplishing your goals you can make tweaks along the way until they are.
A simple way to start your plan is to map out three goals your want for your social media efforts. You need to make sure you ask yourself what your goal will look like when completed and you need to determine what you will use to track your progress.
For example:
For Pinterest, we will share photos to communicate our company culture. We do this by posting three photos a week to achieve 30 shares and at least five comments.
Step 4: Get some inspiration
This step is designed to give you some inspiration that supports your social media goals. You can turn to industry leaders, your competitors, clients, industry publications and blogs. There is a wealth of knowledge already available to you that you can integrate into your social media marketing plan. This is great when trying to find out what type of content and information to share via all social media platforms. You need to determine how to give that information your voice which allows you to stand out and separate yourself from your competitors.
Step 5: Create your social media marketing game plan
Your social media marketing game plan is going to be essential to succeeding at social media. Your game plan should consist of strategies for content creation and content curation as well as a calendar for posting.
Your game plan should answer the following questions:
How often will you post your content?
Who will create or source your content?
How will you promote the content?
Who is your intended target audience for each type of content?
What types of content do you intend to post and promote?
Your editorial calendar will list the dates and times you intend to post content to your blogs and social media platforms. Create the calendar and schedule out your content in advance. Planning can be done on a weekly or monthly basis.
Step 6: Monitor, test and adjust your social media marketing plan
To determine if your social media efforts are obtaining the goals your have set forth in earlier steps you will need to be constantly monitoring and testing. You will need to build testing capabilities into every action you take on your social media platforms. You can track your links by utilizing url shortener’s and track your page visits by utilizing Google Analytics. Record and analyze your successes and failures and adjust your plan accordingly.
The most important thing to remember when it comes to social media marketing is its’ ever-changing nature. Sooner or later, you may realize newer platforms may better suit your needs than the ones you are currently using. Don’t forget that you can add networks if you think they will perform better and remove networks if they are not performing like you thought they would. As you grow you might need to grow your social media efforts as well. This type of marketing plan is meant to change so be flexible and open to new ideas and trends.
The team at Smart to Finish can help you to determine what your social media game plan should look like. We can help assess where your current strategies are, what needs to be optimized, and whether or not your current plan is obtaining the over goals you have set forth for your business. Contact us today to get started.
by Amber Miller | Nov 10, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Web Design
Have you spent hours working on the perfect website only to find out your conversion rate is kind of lame? You’ve done some A/B testing on layout and content but nothing seems to be working…
Have you tried changing the colors?
Studying and understanding the psychology of color is critical when it comes to maximizing your websites overall design. Getting your color scheme right can help compel customers to take action by grabbing their attention and triggering the right emotions needed complete the sale. But take note… it’s not as simple as changing the color of a button to red or a header to blue. While color can mean something to every person, it’s meaning can vary from person to person depending on their personal preferences and cultural background.
Let’s take a brief look at our STF color chart… it will give you a general understanding of how colors can make us feel:
The color of psychology goes beyond changing the colors on your website. You really need to take your whole brand into account. Below we’ve listed a number of companies who have built their entire brands around specific colors.
Orange (companies that want to express a fun, cheerful, and confident culture) – Nickelodeon, Amazon, Fanta, and Shutterfly
Red (companies that want to express a exciting and bold culture) – Coca Cola, Netflix, Target, and Lego
Blue (companies that want to express a more dependable and trustful culture) – Dell, Lowes, AT&T, and Pfizer
Have you thought about how you want your brand to be expressed? Do you consider your company fun and bright like Nickelodeon, or dependable and strong like Lowes? If your company is actually a luxurious purple company, it doesn’t really make sense for your site to be bright red. Start off with some purple accents and backgrounds then work in some blues and greens to help buttons and other calls-to-action stand out. Don’t go overboard on the color options, keep it simple. Stick with 2-5 colors, tops! If you’ve got a whole rainbow on your site, all you’re going to do is confuse people.
In all reality, figure out what your color palette is and what might attract your niche market the most. If you’re having a hard time trying to figure out what your brand personality is and how you should update your site colors, shoot us a note 🙂 We love helping companies show their true colors to the world!
by Amber Miller | Oct 24, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Training
Word-of-mouth advertising aka referral marketing is one of the best ways to market your services and/or products. Like seriously…. Not only can it give you the highest return on investment (ROI) but it’s easy to get started – and a lot of times CHEAP to get started. Honestly, there’s really no better way to hear about a product than getting an honest opinion from a trusted peer.
Kathleen talks a lot about referral marketing and how it can help spread the word about whatever it is you want to share. In addition, she talks a little bit about Thunderclap – a pretty nifty tool to book the selling power of books. Give it a read! Then let us know what you think in the comments – Have you had any success with word-of-mouth advertising? Have you tried some of Kathleen’s tips and tricks?
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