January 9th, 2012
by Daniel Hadaway
Recently, I’ve been hearing ads on the radio for a national company that provides email distribution software for small businesses. This company has made a name for itself by spending big bucks on traditional advertising promoting their online software to send email newsletters. Now I’ve heard their ads before, but this one stuck out in my mind, for one big reason.
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Filed under: Email Marketing, Social Media | Tags: audience, conversion, Email Marketing, email marketing content, email marketing subject lines, fans, followers, Social Media | View Comments
December 20th, 2011
by Daniel Hadaway
If you’re planning to begin marketing your business online, there’s a chance you’ve got a plan laid out for all the different types of marketing you’d like to utilize. It’s important to note, however, that while most businesses will see success from all online marketing channels, different types of online marketing lend themselves more favorably to specific vertical markets.
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Filed under: Display Advertising, Marketing, Online Reputation, Paid Search, SEO, Social Media, Web Design | Tags: ad, advertising, audience, click-through, conversion, conversion rates, convert, display, google, Marketing, Paid Search, SEO, Social Media | View Comments
December 15th, 2011
by Marcus Snyder
The year is almost over and that can only mean one thing – list season. Every one who is anyone is busy creating their lists of 2011 and Facebook is no exception as they recently posted the 40 Most Shared Articles in 2011.
Most of the headlines jumped out as being extremely familiar. After all, who could forget the announcement of the 13th Zodiac Sign or the homeless man with a golden-voice? Not me. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Marketing, Online Reputation, Social Media | Tags: facebook, link building, Marketing, Online Reputation, SEO, Social Media | View Comments
November 14th, 2011
by Marcus Snyder
On June 28, 2011 Google rolled out their own social media platform called Google+. The demand, excitement and potential for this new service was HUGE.
10 million users joined within the first two weeks. In October, the number of unique users grew to over 40 million. This pales in comparison to Facebook’s 800 million active users, but then again, they’ve got seven years and mainland China on their side.
For a couple of months, users added their friends, lumped them into circles and then sat back waiting for something magical to happen. It didn’t take long for interest to wane and people began to go back to their old haunts, Facebook and Twitter. Google+ was quickly becoming a social graveyard. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Content, PR, Social Media | View Comments
November 8th, 2011
by Daniel Hadaway
Search Engine Land just posted an infographic based on some research they recently wrapped. The 2011 State of Digital Marketing Report provides some key insights into how marketers are viewing the roles SEO, Search and Social Media play in effective marketing:
SEO currently has the biggest impact on lead generation. Marketers (both B2B and B2C) currently view SEO as the most effective tool for generating leads, which isn’t surprising considering the positive perception and emphasis the digital marketing world has placed on it during the past 5 years. But, the current emphasis and “trendiness” of social media as a marketing tool is driving change on this front… Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Marketing, Paid Search, SEO, Social Media | Tags: advertising, display, Marketing, Paid Search, SEO, Social Media | View Comments
August 23rd, 2011
by Marcus Snyder
What time of day should I post? How long should my status messages be? Is it okay to ask followers to like something?
These are just a few of the question that every page administrator faces daily. There are a lot of “best practices” floating around out there that helps with these inquiries, however, there isn’t a whole lot of data to back them up … until now.
The people over at Momentus Media analyzed the top 20,000 Facebook pages to find out which posting techniques really work and placed their findings online for the entire world to see. For each analysis, they dissected 10,000 – 250,000 posts to find out exactly what drives interaction, and more importantly, how to replicate it.
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Filed under: Content, Marketing, Online Reputation, Social Media | Tags: facebook, followers, how-to, online reputation management, PR | View Comments
August 18th, 2011
How to Deal with Negative Comments About Your Company
It really is an inevitability: At some point in the life of your business there is bound to be someone who has a bad thing or two to say about your company. Even if you always do everything right, someone isn’t going to like you, and they’ll be determined to tell the world about it.
More often than not, the first place people go when they have something negative to say about a company these days is Twitter. Of course, they do this because all of their friends are on Twitter, but they also do this because they know your company is most likely on Twitter too!
Twitter (and social media at a higher level) have become the main medium for expressing dissatisfaction with a company or brand. So you need to be prepared to deal with the negative posts when they start showing up. Here are a couple of ideas for how to do that:
Address the issue in private, and ask the poster to remove the negative post.
Finding a way to address a customer’s complaint via the medium he or she used to express that complaint can do a lot to solve negative feedback. Doing this says “We’re paying attention to you and your criticism and will meet you where you are to resolve this for you.”
Once you’ve resolved the issue, it may be appropriate to ask the person to remove the negative post. This should only be done when you perceive the original post to contain factual inaccuracies or exaggerations about your business. The idea is not to erase the incident from existence, but to ensure the truth is being told about your brand. If someone says “I came to XY Restaurant yesterday and my sandwich was horrible”, you should leave it be.
In situations like the one above where it is not appropriate to ask someone to remove a negative post, you should encourage him or her to create a second post, highlighting the positive outcome and how you addressed their complaint. In the above scenario it may be “Big thanks to XY Restaurant for contacting me and giving me 2 free lunches in the future, in order to make it up to me!”
Many times addressing the issue directly can turn a negative into an eve bigger positive!
Provide an alternative location for customers to voice complaints.
It never hurts to attempt to prevent a negative comment from being posted about your brand in the first place. Create a page on your site, and link to it from your social media profiles, that is dedicated to accepting critiques and feedback from your customers.
Many times this will be enough to encourage the customer to communicate via this direct channel as opposed to a public social media post.
Of course, once you receive the negative feedback via this page/form, make sure to address it! Customer service is still important to your customers and your business, so don’t neglect it!
One thing to never do: Get into a public argument.
The last thing you want as a brand is have your audience become polarized by a public battle with a disgruntled customer. Avoid confrontation in public like (insert scary disease here)! No one wants to see that in their social media feed and it won’t turn out good for you, no matter what!
Negative critiques of your business will eventually happen. It’s important to keep an eye on what’s being said about your brand and stay proactive! Stay on top social media platforms and communities and remember: Your reputation exists whether you choose to control it or not!
by Daniel Hadaway
It really is an inevitability: At some point in the life of your business there is bound to be someone who has a bad thing or two to say about your company. Even if you always do everything right, someone isn’t going to like you, and they’ll be determined to tell the world about it.
More often than not, the first place people go when they have something negative to say about a company these days is Twitter. Of course, they do this because all of their friends are on Twitter, but they also do this because they know your company is most likely on Twitter too!
Twitter (and social media at a higher level) have become the main medium for expressing dissatisfaction with a company or brand. So you need to be prepared to deal with the negative posts when they start showing up. Here are a couple of ideas for how to do that:
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Filed under: Online Reputation, PR, SEO, Social Media | Tags: controversy, facebook, followers, online reputation management, PR, reputation, reputation management | View Comments
July 18th, 2011
by Marcus Snyder
David Berkowitz recently posted an article on Social Media Insider that, in exactly 906 words, called Google+ dead in the water. While his perspectives are interesting (and at times, entertaining), they’re flawed. This service has yet to be fully released to the public. Calling this platform irrelevant and bereft of life is premature, at best.
Let’s be honest, adding another social media platform into the mix may be a bit overwhelming for some. Managing Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare, etc. can be exhausting, and initially I too questioned the demand for another major hitter to enter the game. I was wrong. Everywhere I turned, there was someone pleading for an invite.
This begs the question: Why is everyone so eager to hop on the Google+ bandwagon? Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Social Media | Tags: controversy, google, google plus | View Comments
June 21st, 2011
by Daniel Hadaway
FlashXML.net wrote an interesting (and useful) blog about the reasons employers look at your Facebook account.
The article lists 10 reasons that are unique in some ways, but all pretty much boil down to this: Are you an honest, upright person? To put it another way: Are you the kind of person that employers want working for them?
This article got me thinking, and not about my secret life as a lip-dub star and the voice behind the Bronx Zoo Cobra Twitter account. No, it got me thinking about how your business is no different than an employee in this article. And your employer is every person who has ever considered doing business with you.
Think about that… Every person… Ever.
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Filed under: Blogging, Content, Online Reputation, PR, Social Media | Tags: centralcast, facebook, facebook page, online reputation management, reputation | View Comments
July 7th, 2010
First impressions are certainly memorable and often lasting depending on the approach, and in the case of sustainable social media, the process for that first hello and handshake is quite similar when you break it down into simple, actionable steps.
Following these 5 simple steps will provide you, your brand, your cause and your conversations a platform to engage like-minded communities with the intent of forging sustainable relationships:
- Listen
- Introduce, not self promote
- Engage and comment on conversations
- Start conversations (think “helpful”)
- Offer free advice and favors without expectations
The first step is where most of us fall flat on our faces. Once you dip that first toe into a social community, rather than leaping in armed to the teeth with promotional information and product sales sheets, take a step back and observe – Focus on conversation trends, identify the most popular or thought leaders in community and try to understand the temperature of the community (will they be receptive to your message and why/why not).
The second step is a natural follow-through to the listening process. Once you’ve listened and determined the temperature of the community and who the thought leaders are and how they are engaging each other and the community as a whole, offer a personable introduction with the caveat that you are there listen, learn and participate.
The third step requires active participation in ongoing conversations. By providing thought provoking commentary, you’re working to establish yourself as a trustworthy member of the community. You’re not self promoting, but asking questions, engaging and guiding the conversation into new avenues without expecting it to land on your site.
The fourth step is an extension of the active participation process. Once you feel comfortable enough to venture out on your own, offer an olive branch to the community by providing helpful advice, information, tips, etc.
That leads to the fifth and final step in your journey to sustainable social media. By offering value to the community without expecting favors or rewards in return, you’re legitimately focused on the long-term positive evolution and not the personal, short-term gains that your engagement could provide your business/brand. While the word “free” may make some of us cringe, it’s not about losing out on a sale in the immediate that you should be concerned with. It’s the “everybody wins” mentality from focusing on the relationships that will net much greater rewards down the road.
Filed under: Social Media | Tags: 5 steps social media, social media tips, sustainable social media | View Comments
