Visual social marketing is exactly what you think it would be—using images, videos, infographics, etc. to help convey your message to your target audience on social media platforms. It is a tactic that many companies have already incorporated into their media relations plans because of its effectiveness. Photos and images are more likely to become viral through an increase in shares, comments, and retweets compared to plain text. This tactic ultimately increases a brand’s social media presence.

Infographics have risen to the top of visual social media tools due to their differentiating ability to stand out amongst other marketing tactics. With instant access to consumer information and the increasing ability to share content, social media has helped the infographic excel.
Read the rest of this entry »

Start small and define your goals. Some experts believe there are about 500 different social media resources out there. You don’t need to be active in all of them; just find out which ones your customers, prospects, and competitors are highly involved in and then narrow it down to the top two tools. Using any more than that puts you at risk for spreading yourself too thin.

Now define your goals, and try to make them quantifiable. For example: What do you want to accomplish? Leads, sales, or something else?

Generate a content calendar. Don’t try to wing it because it can lead to rushed, poorly thought-out posts that no one will want to read. Plan around key dates:

• What trade shows are you planning to attend?
• When do you have product releases?
• When are your prospects’ buying cycles and what stage of the buying cycle are they in?

Then supplement with helpful, informative topics; don’t make the mistake of trying to sell in each post. No one wants to read a sales pitch.

This calendar will help sell the ideas to your superiors, because…

You need to have buy-in at every level of your organization. Social media tools are usually free, but your time and the time of your co-workers are not.

To get good content, you are going to need additional resources from many, if not all, of the departments in your company. Writing for these resources is outside of most people’s daily workload and you may need help to persuade them.

Plus, someone will need to own these tools, manage the calendar, and work with the corporate website owner.

Now commit, integrate, and support. Ever seen a blog that hasn’t been updated in two years or a Facebook page with no information? How about a company that never responds to comments on these pages? Yeah, it’s sad.

Social tool abandonment happens for many reasons. Maybe they didn’t have time to properly run it or they left their job and no one inherited the ownership. These types of things can make your brand look small and weak. It’s vital for multiple people to have access to the social media tools and to share ownership.

Integrate and support your posts with your traditional and digital marketing campaigns. If your communications work together with a consistent topic and message, then all of the tactics will produce better results.

Facebook announced sweeping changes to its News Feed layout in early March—and with 40% of all time on Facebook spent looking at the News Feed, marketers need to be prepared to adjust their content and engagement strategy.

According to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg, the News Feed changes are designed to give users a more personalized and customized experience. The three main changes are as follows:

• Visual content will be more impactful—photos and videos will receive increased prominence in the News Feed.
• News Feeds will have sections—users will be able to filter content, similar to selecting a specific section of a traditional newspaper.
• Mobile and desktop experiences will be integrated—Facebook will have the same look and feel on all devices.

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the buzz, content marketing is not a new concept. At its core, it is simply publishing and promoting relevant content that helps customers make decisions. But before you begin publishing, take the time to understand your customers’ journey.

Begin by identifying exactly who your target is. Create a persona for your target, whom you will support along their purchase journey.

Based on this persona, deliver the type of content this audience will appreciate. If it’s teenagers, they may not want to read white papers, but may read an infographic or watch a short video.

Understanding your target’s media consumption and social networking habits will help you determine where content needs to be placed, and how and where it should be promoted. Your website or blog may be the place for detailed content, but Twitter and Facebook posts can drive your audience there with minimal effort.

It is critical to understand your target audience’s purchase cycle. Understand when they do research, when they are in evaluation mode, and what happens at the moment of purchase. Deliver content that helps them make decisions at each point in the purchase cycle.

As a marketer, be clear about the purpose of every bit of content you deliver. Is your goal to influence, educate, or drive specific action—or are you just looking for referrals?

Having clear goals will help you measure the success of your content marketing activities. Determine your key performance indicators and let them be your guide to revise and optimize your content and your strategy.

And remember, it’s okay to retire older content as part of the optimization process.