Are Your Social Media Efforts Under-performing?
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing on May 30, 2012
Something which marketors and businesses often forget about social media, and fail to incorporate into their social media strategies, is that social media marketing is not advertising. With traditional advertising, a business rents a space which is already in view of a potential audience – the side of a bus, a billboard, popular television channels – and are assured that their product will be viewed by hundreds of millions, daily.
When it comes to social media, the audience is out there, and the business must draw them in. Simply having a Twitter account or a Facebook page is not enough, your potential audience must know you’re there, and also, they have to want to come and see what you’re saying. Even then, social media marketing is a two-step process.
Once you have gathered an audience, you need to earn their trust. Social media is social! People use it to chat with their friends and keep up with celebrities daily doings. They aren’t necessarily there to be sold to.
This is where content marketing comes in. In the ideal world of online marketing, the Venn diagram of content marketing and social media marketing would overlap each other completely. Businesses need to offer their online audience something interesting to keep them engaged, and this doesn’t always have to be discount codes.
At RoryMartin.com, we know the difference, and we use content marketing as part of our social media strategy to draw in an engaged and relevant audience for your business and product – the kind of audience more likely to convert into customers, and satisfied ones at that.
Buffer Your Tweets for Round the Clock Social Media Branding
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing on May 29, 2012
If there’s one thing which puts companies off using Twitter, it’s the perceived need to be present absolutely all the time. Should businesses be employing people to staff their tweetstreams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week? Even with the incredible popularity of Twitter, and the expectation that any company worth their salt will be present there, this doesn’t seem like the best use of staff power, or resources.
So what can you do to appear present on Twitter at all hours? There are quite a few Twitter scheduling apps currently in creation, and we’re going to talk about these today.
Buffer is a scheduling tool which automatically tweets the content you give it at a time calculated to have the best probability for a retweet or click-through. This is definitely a tool to use when tweeting information you want the most possible users to see; such as links back to your new product, or competition information. You can also see the analytics of each tweet: how many people potentially viewed it, and how many people clicked through. The free version allows you to add one Twitter account and have ten tweets scheduled at one time, then there are two paid options with appropriate increases in the amount of social accounts you can add, and technical support which you receive.
Timely is very similar to Buffer, with one advantage – the free option is unlimited. Unlimited accounts and unlimited tweets. Again, the times for the tweets are pre-chosen for the highest probability of a click-through or retweet, and you can view the analytics for each tweet. There isn’t an option to change the times of the tweets, and the schedule sets for three tweets a day; early morning, lunchtime, and late evening. Both Timely and Buffer do offer a ‘post now’ option, as well as a browser plug-in, so if you find an article which you just can’t wait to post then you can click on the browser button and create your tweet, and either post it straight away or load it into your queue.
Twuffer is still in Beta at the moment, which makes it slightly unreliable, but it does have a huge advantage over Buffer or Timely, and that is the ability to choose the times of your tweets yourself. You can literally schedule a tweet for every five minutes of the day. One thing to be aware of is that it doesn’t always allow you to post the exact same tweet, so even if it appears to be scheduled, it may not tweet. As it is in Beta, there are occasionally problems with the site not tweeting any of your scheduled tweets all day, and then suddenly posting them all in one go, but this is rare. The tool is completely free, with no limit to the amount of tweets which you can schedule. While you can’t add accounts as you can with Timely, you can sign in and out with different accounts.
This tool looks more complicated than the others, but its functionality is much the same. You can use it to simply schedule unlimited tweets over five accounts, or you can take advantage of its advanced features to create reports and join organisations. If you’re monitoring a particular campaign, then the analytical reports which it provides are more in-depth than Buffer or Timely’s, so if you’re looking for a great all-rounder, then this would be it.
Taking just a few minutes each morning to schedule important tweets for the rest of the day will have a huge impact on the social media branding of any company or business. Using Timely and Buffer, you can discover the most effective times to tweet. Using Twuffer or Hootsuite you can schedule more tweets around these times to really boost your on-line visibilty.
At RoryMartin.com we stay on top of the latest developments in social media branding in order to bring you the highest quality advice in promoting your brand online. We didn’t discuss the importance of engagement in this post and while we’d love to auto-tweet and never have to look back, the truth is Twitter is about CONVERSATION. You have to take time to check your Mentions and Interactions and directly engage with customers and prospects.
Optimize Your Mobile Site for SEO and Reach a Wider Audience
Posted by Rory Martin in Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing on May 18, 2012
With 1.2 billion mobile web users using their smartphones to search the internet every day, you need to make sure that your mobile site is grasping and keeping the attention of your audience. Here at RoryMartin.com, we strive to bring you the latest news and information on SEO and Social Media strategy, and we have advice for you on how to correctly optimize your mobile web site for the best user experience.
First off, think about why a user would come to your mobile site. What information are they looking for while on the move? Brands like Walgreens understand that most mobile users are looking for their nearest store, so location search is firmly at the top of their mobile site. Develop a searcher persona of a mobile user based on keyword, demographic and psychographic research. Motivations of this user ought to be the basis of your mobile site.
Once you have a site filled with content appropriate for mobile users, it’s time to think about SEO. Late last year, Google introduced a smartphone bot which access mobile sites in a similar way to iPhones, but they have been rather reticent on how the bot likes mobile sites to be optimized. Luckily, SEO experts out there have been working on figuring this out. Much of what is true for desktop SEO is true for mobile SEO: avoid duplicate content, avoid black hat techniques, and make sure your pages have tags relevant to the content.
However, there is one issue with mobile sites which might find your site ranking a little too low for your liking and that is 404 errors and misdirects. There is a risk that Google’s new smartphone crawler may be overly literal at first, and rely exclusively on the redirects that are in place, but not evaluate other signals or algorithmic elements. 404 errors on the mobile web can occur from something as typical as trailing slashes, or a misplaced capital in the url. Having lots of these errors on your site hinders crawling and indexing, and can cast your mobile site in a bad light. Check your content frequently for indexed 404 errors in Webmaster Tools to catch these issues as they arise, especially when adding more pages and redirects.
Finally: splash screens. There are a lot of people who think it’s a great idea to have a splash screen when someone first accesses their mobile site. We definitely want people to see something amazing when they come to our mobile site but from an SEO point of view, splash pages are a terrible idea, and their main effect is to cause visitors to leave your site!
If all of this seems a little too complicated, rest assured that we at RoryMartin.com are just waiting to work with you to improve the search engine optimization of your mobile site, and give you and your audience the benefit of our experience in social media marketing.
Improve Your Social Media Strategy – Expert Advice
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing on May 14, 2012
How many social media platforms are you on, as a company? At the very least, we expect companies to be on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. How do you use these platforms? This question might be a little trickier to answer. There is a lot of information on the internet about how companies and brands should be marketing themselves using social media strategy, which can lead to information overload and a desire to never tweet again. However, we at RoryMartin.com have been doing some research and have discovered key Social Media Takeaways from top social media experts which will work to improve your social media marketing strategy.
It’s not about creating accounts, It’s what you do with them – Krista Neher
You might have a wide social media presence, and be visible on every platform a social media consultant can name, but what are you doing once you’re there? You can do so much more than tweet and post company information. Use Twitter to respond to customer queries and complaints, and Facebook to promote sales and offers. Don’t just be visible, be personable.
Life is not about being liked it’s about being effective – Chase McMichael
Are your social media strategies geared more towards getting people to click that ‘Like’ button, or to share and recommend your carefully created content with their friends and family? Some companies chase after the elusive ‘Like’ at the risk of losing their brand message. Stay true to the essence of your company, and see real client engagement with your social media.
Twitter Golden rule – Give before you get – Hollis Thomases
In these times when everyone and every business has a Twitter account, people are becoming ever more aware of when they are being treated like a walking wallet. Provide followers with value on Twitter and they will want to share their experience of your product or service with their own followers.
What can be found, can be optimized – Bob Tripathi
Whatever medium you’re sharing content through can be picked up by search engines. Make sure to use the right keywords, tags and phrases, so that the people who go searching will find you. And remember to link back to your website!
We hope you found these tidbits of advice as useful as we did at RoryMartin.com where we are always on top of the latest news in social media marketing; all the better to pass our expert knowledge onto you.
Have You Gone Overboard on Your Search Engine Optimization?
Posted by Rory Martin in Search Engine Optimization on May 3, 2012
The rules of search engine optimization are always changing, and at RoryMartin.com we keep on top of those changes, for your benefit. Recently, Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, made a comment about how the search engine will soon be penalizing sites which go overboard on their SEO. Some typical ways of improving rankings will now be responsible for pushing your site off the front page; maybe it won’t even appear at all.
Previously, search engines have assumed that a website or blog post which mentions certain words, over and over, will be relevant to that word, which seems logical. However, some SEO practices repeat certain words more than necessary, to the point where the website content becomes useless, but ranks highly. We are assured that keywords are still important, but optimization tricks such as duplicating content and writing repetitive post and page titles will be no-go. Primarily, the search engine will be looking for signs of life.
We’ve compiled a few tricks of our own to help your website and social media strategies stay afloat as the changes roll out.
To begin with, try to consolidate any duplicated content. For instance, if you have one page on ‘Decorative Lights’ and one page on ‘Fairy Lights’ with similar general product descriptions, this could work against you.
Too many links in your website could become a problem as well. It can be difficult to know where to draw the line, especially if you sell a main product and accessories – you will need a thoroughly linked website – but a footer full of arbitrary links is a distraction for the user and a point against you from Google.
Even too many links into your website can now affect you negatively, although this is mainly a problem if they come in from penalised websites. Instead of arranging linkshares with websites, try to cultivate a social media presence; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn links are all being integrated into Google search algorithms and are seen as more trustworthy – social media is all about people sharing useful links rather than bots spamming keywords, after all!
We want to help you improve your search engine optimization strategy, so if you’ve noticed a drop in your traffic, or if you’re just starting out with your website, get in touch and let us give you the advantage of our expertise.
Social Media Strategies Made Simple with TweetReach.com
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing on May 1, 2012
Have you ever wanted to know how far one of your tweets travelled? Or how many people are exposed to your twitter account on any given day? Maybe your company regularly throws hashtag parties, where lots of people join in, but you’re never sure who else is listening. With TweetReach.com, you can know all of this in seconds! Just head on over to their user-friendly search interface, type in your twitter handle, a marketing phrase, or recent hashtag, and get a snapshot report which displays all the important analytic information up front. You can search for free as many times as you like, but each search will only return data for the last fifty tweets. There is a paid option, but it’s still a fantastic free resource for monitoring real-time events.
Let’s look at the ‘Reach’ first. This is how many accounts your tweet, or hashtag, reached. You are able to see everyone who actively retweeted or participated in your event, but all of their followers too. Say you have a reasonably small following on your personal twitter account, around two hundred and fifty followers. Search your twitter handle and you may be pleasantly surprised to discover that a couple of judicious retweets by followers means that you have reached up to eight thousand accounts!
Numbers like this are great, but engagement is what Twitter is all about. So, secondly, TweetReach shows you the top contributors – accounts with the highest number of followers to have retweeted you – and the most retweeted tweets.
If a hashtag promotion is a part of your social media strategy, this information is more valuable than gold dust. You can immediately discover the major influencers in your conversation, alongside which tweets in the conversation are getting the most play. In a nutshell, you can find out who is engaging, and why.
Why is this information useful? If you know which users are the most engaged with your product or most vocal about your promotion during a social media campaign, then you can use that data to concentrate your efforts on a more targeted market next time. Instead of spreading out a net and catching empty tin cans, you can bait your hook appropriately to lure the clients you really want to your site.
If your aim is to bring clients back to your website, then a follow-up to TweetReach use is to monitor the click-throughs coming in from Twitter during the promotional time. If you then compare conversion rates to the engagement data, you’ll have a wealth of information on the kind of Twitter campaign which draws in paying customers against the kind which just gets people chatting.
RoryMartin.com specializes in social media strategies, so if you’re as excited by this as we are, get in touch to have social media marketing made simple for you.
Social Media Marketing News – LinkedIn Announces New Features
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing on April 16, 2012
Are you making the most of LinkedIn for your business? LinkedIn doesn’t think so! That’s why they’ve just announced two new upcoming features for company pages – ‘Targeted Updates’ and ‘Follower Statistics’. At RoryMartin.com, we’re dedicated to keeping ourselves at the cutting edge of social media marketing, and using that knowledge to put your business in front of as many eyes as possible. Early figures from these updates suggest that targeting specific portions of your followers could improve audience engagement with your company by up to 66%. That’s traffic which you can’t afford to lose out on.
Targeted updates mean that you can put relevant information in front of the people who are really interested in it. Say you have a product which you market to small-to-medium businesses and one which works better for larger companies. Now you can choose which size company sees which LinkedIn update. You can also segment your updates according to industry, job function and geography. With this kind of targeting, you can afford to share more information more frequently via LinkedIn. Where you previously, perhaps, updated three times a day in order to catch people on their lunch breaks and other peak browsing times, now you’ll be able to update more often without appearing to be spamming.
Targeted updates works in tandem with follower statistics as you can check out engagement levels, update impressions and recent followers. You’ll be able to see within days whether your targeted updates are reaching people, and improving engagement. This then provides the means to create bespoke marketing strategies for each area of interest among your followers.
Want all of the benefits but can’t spare the time? Let RoryMartin.com do it for you. Social media strategies are our speciality, and we can’t wait to get to grips with this new way of increasing follower engagement!
Pinterest Influences Web Design Trends
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on March 15, 2012
Pinterest is big in the social media marketing sphere (Haven’t heard of it? Click here to read about how businesses can use Pinterest), and it’s making waves in web design as well. The unique layout Pinterest offers is becoming incredibly popular with businesses who are looking to reinvent themselves online. In fact, some magazines from publishing giant, Condé Nast, are launching new designs using a grid-style layout, with minimal text and tons of pictures. Not only are publishing houses looking at this new style, Flickr – the popular photo-sharing website – is set to upgrade and redesign it’s site within the month, to make it look more like Pinterest.
The success of this type of layout could be because Pinterest users say they need to create and curate, organize and compartmentalize ideas in an increasingly scattered digital world.
Companies are working to create sites that feel more like brand lifestyles than sales pitches and corporate information. Mashable’s Community manager, Meghan Peters says that Pinterest allows users to “experience the web in a way that makes them feel productive and inspired”. This is one of the bigger roadblocks to creating an engaging corporate experience. In fact, Flickr has switched to this design style because, ““We see in our first metrics that people consume a lot more photos, they interact so much more with photos in this view.”
In web design and typeography, Pinterest is also inspiring designers – not through its layout, but through mood boards created by other illustrators, graphic designers, typographers, etc. We’ve been using Jquery plugins that accomplish Pinterest-like layouts for the past couple of years. Our vertical layouts emulate the forward thinking of Pinterests vertical layouts.
What we do at RoryMartin.com is remain technology agnostic. Since we use the latest and greatest technology from the vast world of open source developers we can stay ahead of the times when it comes to making our customers’ users happy.
Pinterest’s success is an example of proving our philosopy; that new information architecture can and should be adopted based on what users tell us they want. In this case – Pinterest users spoke up – and we will continue to listen.
Pinterest for Your Business
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on March 6, 2012
The new rage in the social media sphere is Pinterest – an online scrapbook where users can pin and share images in an easily customized way. Users create boards inspired by their favorite topics or brands; using a “pin it” button from their toolbar, they can instantly share their inspirations to their network of friends. Within moments, other users can pin that image to their board, creating a social network of image sharing and inter-linking. Some of the best candidates for Pinterest’s vast network of sharing include wedding planners, digital designers, foodies, fashion lovers and interior decorators.
Why is this good for a business? Members use images from the web – and those images are often linked to the websites where the images originated. But it’s not just all pretty photos – California restaurant chain Tender Greens uses Pinterest to showcase images of chefs at work, and the ways in which they plate catered foods. Another example – retailers like Raymour & Flanigan or West Elm can show off catalogue shots featuring their designs, and users can talk back by showing those retailers inspirational images for their living spaces. This gives businesses a chance to have a two-way visual dialogue with their customers. Some businesses using Pinterest – such as Wedding Republic – have seen a 75% increase in traffic through Pinterest.
Users say they love Pinterest because it’s like getting magazines delivered straight to your desk, without adding clutter or cost.
How do you use Pinterest to promote your business?
Spend the time using the platform. Like any social media site, you will not see results unless you can put in the time. It takes constant interaction on any platform to keep your brand relevant. Also build relationships with “Pinners” who have quality boards, and who post quality images. Influencers who have a solid relationship with a brand are more likely to talk about that brand.
Keep it simple – cluttered boards are a surefire tactic to keep “Pinners” from NOT clicking on your page. Mimic Pinterest’s uncluttered design, but be sure to include ONE link back to your site through each pinned photo. Also, make sure your business is a good match for Pinterest. If you sell pianos, make sure you can provide aesthetically pleasing imagery to “Pinners” who will use your images. If you sell power sanders? It will probably be difficult to see a return on your time investment using Pinterest. And remember – don’t just promote yourself. Social networking is about sharing a vast array of ideas. Pinterest users are savvy when it comes to spotting boards that are too-self serving. This means you must interact more than just promoting your own products.
If in doubt, try out a daily theme! Come up with a theme or slogan and build themed boards around that, using at least 1 product from your homepage. Be selective, be inspiring, and be creative.
Read the Terms and Conditions – Pinterest is based on pinning images, but make sure the images you’re adding are your own. There could be ramifications to pinning copyright images.
And above all, remember to interact – Pinterest is built on a concept of networking, and networks all depend on connection. Ensure you take a little time to build that connection with other Pinterest users.
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At RoryMartin.com, we are focused on creating and executing effective social media campaigns for our amazing customers. We offer a full set of services; whether you need website design and web development, search engine optimization, or social media marketing. From entrepreneurs to established businesses, we do the work so you don’t have to – making social media simple.
Engagement Focused: Sevenly.org
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on March 1, 2012
We’ve heard a lot about the hip new startup, Sevenly, that provides users with an easy and efficient way to make a difference in the global community. What we like about Sevenly is that their web design offers a strong call to action, content that is presented in a way that’s easy for users to digest, and places a focus on how users can give back to their community. Sevenly CEO, Dale Partridge says, “In today’s world, if you aren’t constantly improving your website… you’re falling behind… We listen to our customers and figure out what they want and what would make the process of supporting our causes easier…”
The site makes sure to include an in-depth explanation of what they do and how they donate their funds. They also offer cause statistics, and highlight how Sevenly users have contributed to their charity partners. Sevenly’s users are encouraged to support campaigns by both making donations and promoting the cause through social media. The new site design is committed to building awareness, finding funding, and building a following.
The design is heavy on imagery, light on text and highly graphic for impact. It focuses on numbers, statistics and charts to show each user how they’re helping the community. They also have full Facebook integration, allowing users to comment and share their own stories.
We liked the way the site was focused on user engagement. As businesses start to use Facebook more, we feel it’s important to remember that Facebook should be a social media tool, but it shouldn’t be the ultimate landing page for clients or users looking to find out more about your brand. It’s important to have an engaging corporate page, where users can go to ultimately connect with your business. We give Sevenly’s site an A+.
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RoryMartin.com is a Seattle Web Design company that specializes in Seattle Search Engine Optimization and Seattle Social Media Marketing. To make an impact with your website visit us at RoryMartin.com.
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