Facebook is becoming PinterFaceTwitIgram

This might sound silly, but everything that we all used to know and love about Facebook seems to be a distant memory. Facebook USED to provide a well-rounded and user friendly experience which led to it being the #1 place that people spent time on the internet. Currently, Facebook is acting like a jealous 2 year old trying to snatch up features of other social networks that it wants to play with.

• Bigger, more visual Newsfeed & Timeline – Pinterest
• Encouraging people to use shorter, more concise text in posts for more engagement – Twitter
• Facebook bought Instagram, therefore more Instagram integration – Instagram
• Introduction of hashtags – Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram

Perhaps this is just the evolution of the social network and eventually they will all be the same, however currently they are all very different. Each channel has its own culture and users act accordingly. No matter what Facebook tries to do, these other channels will ALWAYS win. They were the innovators of these features. Facebook can rush to catch up, however they are too big, have too many users and have been around too long to switch things up so much in such a small period of time. Facebook can sample all it wants from other social channels; however Facebook will still only just be Facebook. If the little guys can innovate and change the game, why cant Facebook?

The post Social Mashup: Why PinterFaceTwitIgram is NOT a good thing appeared first on THAT Agency.

Erika Ter from Auryn’s Lair on her experience with using Facebook:

“Facebook has been a great help because people will actually follow us. People feel more connected and will have actual conversations about our products and anything else they want. For us, awareness leads to sales. I hate to say this, but our goal lately has been to build Likes. It’s not so much about the number of Likes because realistically a small portion of your fans will see your content. Those Likes lead to increased traffic and word of mouth.”

Courtenay Mims from Silver Fire Dreams talks about her experience with Etsy and alternatives:

“I have used Etsy, however I really prefer using a platform called Art Fire. Art Fire allows me to use as many pictures I want, have as many listings as I want and I just pay per click, rather than per item. Once you are locked into a price, you don’t pay anything else, ever. I feel like Etsy is more of a closed environment whereas Art Fire is more open and is dependent on the efforts of the person. It’s up to you. Etsy does help the business owner; it’s just that Art Fire has worked better for me.”

Ashli Szymanski from CS Studios FX, S&S Accessories and Vestiphobia on her experience with Facebook

“Most people never ask us if we have a website, it’s usually if we are on Facebook or Etsy. For us, it’s easier to get in contact with people through our Facebook page opposed to them having to navigate a website. We get a lot of referrals for bigger projects from Facebook.

I never really look at the advertisements and act because of them. I’m more likely to do something because a friend of mine liked a page or recommended something, not so much because of an advertisement.”

Melanie Gracie Phillips from Live Steamy on Etsy and Facebook:

“I actually love Etsy. They have amazing organization and they are much easier to use than Amazon or eBay.  At first, I wanted to use Etsy to promote my art and poetry; however if you’re not know, you don’t really make a lot of money. We have seen some good sales for the more gimmicky products that we have, which in turn has seemed to help out the sales for art products.

In terms of other social channels, we are on most of them! For the most part, Facebook has worked out really good for us so far. Social media has been very helpful. We are testing a small Facebook Ad campaign set at $1.00 per day and we have gotten lots of Likes. It’s definitely worth it.”

While many of these vendors might sell comparable products, they each have a different take on how effective certain social media channels are when it comes to their small business. A majority of vendors preferred Facebook and Etsy as their go-to channels; however others saw the need to expand and dabble in Pinterest, Twitter and Etsy. It was a pleasure getting to know each of them and I have personally made sure I connected with them. You should too!

The post Confessions from Small Business Owners Using Social Media appeared first on THAT Agency.

Aaron Wormus – @AGuyOnClematis

“Ignore all tips, find someone who you think is great with social media and copy everything they do.”

Lisa Concepcion - @LisaTakesMiami

“Decide if your Facebook account is for personal or professional purpose then set your privacy settings and communicate accordingly. Don’t muddy the waters with status posts about a guy you’re pining for alongside industry news. Your credibility will be shot. Best to have a like page for business and a personal page for personal use without any link to the business. Keep things separated.”

Alex De Armas - @_AlexDe 

“Tip: Knowing your audience, analyzing past posts & determining a media schedule is crucial when it comes to building lasting relationships & engaging your audience.”

 Demi Pietchell - @mmmBRAINCANDY

“Develop an outreach ecosystem within your community. Mutually evangelizing the businesses, clubs, nonprofits, goods and service providers in your area as a team helps to build the buzz for everyone.”

John Saunders - @JDSaunders_

“When used strategically, hashtags (#) can be a great tool for boosting the reach and engagement of Google+ and Twitter posts. Focus on keywords that users in your vertical would search for and implement them in your posts naturally (i.e. Great #socialmedia tips for new marketers). More users will see your message and your engagement will increase dramatically.”

Leyda Hernandez - @LeydaHV

“To best track conversions from Facebook you should start by setting up ecommerce tracking in Google Analytics so you can track your visits, revenue, transactions, conversion rate, and per visit value from Facebook as the traffic source. Use a social dashboard to gauge what type of content, what posting time and date, and frequency is optimal for your conversions, so you can utilize this insight for your future content curation and creation efforts. If appropriate, use coupon codes to test and track the success of sales promotions and different incentives from that platform’s audience. Make sure to keep in mind that there will always be a margin of error of people who saw you on Facebook and then typed in your url into a browser versus clicking-through.”

Alex Wall - @markethacker 

“Provide value. Nobody logs on to Facebook to see promotional posts or branded content or paid ads. If you’re not giving your target audience information or entertainment that is of value to them, they’re not going to pay attention to you because, unlike with traditional advertising, they have the option of silencing you through unfollowing, unliking, or hiding your content.

Also, watch your metrics, look for upticks in engagement, and cross-reference your most successful social media posts so you can find the common thread that is getting you the most traction.”

The post Fluff-less Tips From Social Media Superheroes appeared first on THAT Agency.

“So what is the difference between inbound and outbound marketing anyways? How do you know where you stand on the spectrum of traditional and current?”

Below we’ve put together a simple guide to different forms of online (and offline) marketing to give you a good start…

New “Inbound Marketing”

• Focuses on Communication With Customers. By building communities focused in and around your brand beyond the purchase decision, you are able to see a great increase of loyal, satisfied, repeat customers who advocate on your behalf.
• The Customer Finds You! Your role as the Brand is to answer their questions. This is where marketing tactics like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) come in. When people type in “Where is the best taco stand in San Francisco?”, SEO and PPC help you and your brand to show up as an answer. This also makes for a high likelihood that this person will turn into a customer rather than tune you out.
• Marketing Provides Value to Potential Customers. Any opportunity to teach or provide useful information via blogging, whitepapers, infographics provides an additional opportunity to build credibility and trust with your customers.

Old “Outbound Marketing”

• One Way Communication – “we speak you listen”. This is when companies only care about reaching as big of an audience as possible with their message. This includes anything that interrupts a consumers daily activities with a marketing message. There is no two way discussion. There is no personal feedback.
• You Seek Out The Customer. Since there is no two way discussion. In order to gain more customers a company has to actively seek out customers via direct mail, tv, radio and phone with ads and marketing messages. Due to modern consumers increasing ability to tune these messages out, this tactic is becoming ever more ineffective at translating into sales.
• Marketing Provides Little or No Value to Potential Customers. Once again there is no teaching or education or value being provided in the marketing message itself. Consumers are not asking for the marketing message and so interaction is limited.

If you were going to summarize the main difference between inbound and outbound marketing, you could in one word… Attention.

Do your marketing efforts seek to provide valuable information and open communication in order to earn someones attention? If you do, then you are an inbound marketer!

Do your marketing efforts seek to interrupt someones attention by pushing out your product or message out into a consumers daily habits, hoping that they turn into a customer? If you do this, then you are an outbound marketer…

“So what is all the buzz about?!? …It’s in the ROI!”

Inbound marketing has an extremely high ROI in most cases compared to traditional outbound marketing. Many studies show a difference of around 60% better Cost Per Lead than traditional methods.

Earning peoples attention through providing value leads to better customers and a stronger brand. By communicating with customers your company is better able to gain the Attention needed in the consumers mind to purchase from you. People are increasingly in control of the information they consumes as the knowledge of the world is literally at their fingertips. Trying to interrupt their flow of information and attention is more likely to frustrate the consumer than entice them to buy.

So real quick, here is a list of things that good Inbound Marketers do:

1. Blogs – including whitepapers, ebooks, podcasts, videos, interviews, infographics and more
2. Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube etc.
3. SEO – Building a quality site and networking with other websites to improve your ranking in Google, Bing, Yahoo, AOL, Ask etc.
4. PPC Advertising – Paying to show up as a potential answer to customer needs in the above search engines.

Types of marketing that Inbound Marketers avoid include:

1. Telemarketing & cold call sales – Because everyone loves getting a sales call in the middle of dinner…
2. Direct Mailings – When was the last time you saved that overpriced super glossy postcard in the mail?
3. Radio & TV Ads – Ever record your favorite TV show and start watching it a half hour later so you can skip all the commercials and watch uninterrupted? If you don’t already, your welcome for the tip.

Outbound Marketing is increasingly being traded in for Inbound Marketing methods. Not to say all Outbound Marketing is bad or entirely ineffective. It’s simply wise to focus first on Inbound channels first to maximize ROI.

The post Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing appeared first on THAT Agency.

Create Trust

Looking for a new home to buy or rent can be incredibly stressful and people are very likely to turn to social sites for recommendations of Realtor.  How many times have you seen your friends on Facebook ask if anyone needs a roommate or if anyone knows a good Realtor.  Studies show that people trust recommendations from peers way more than marketing messaging, so why not place yourself with the people you are hoping to serve? By striving to create trust, you are not only opening yourself up to be recommended, you are also setting yourself up to be the choice of the person who received no social recommendations and has to go on their gut instinct. How can you create trust as a Realtor  Show people who you are! Highlight your staff, your policies, your previous clients or anything else that a potential client might ask. Do your best to answer questions before people ask, THIS creates trust. Of course, you don’t want to bombard people with information about you or your company, however tactfully helping people to get to know you will help them to trust you.

 Provide USEFUL Information

While you definitely do want to make it easy for people to get familiar with you on social sites, that alone won’t cut it. You have to show them you know the ins and outs of your business. Be sure to incorporate industry information that would be useful to someone looking for a new place to buy or rent. This can be mortgage rates, where the highest/lowest rent can be found, highly rated developments and even home decorating ideas. By diversifying your content with useful information, you will not only be trusted but will also be top of mind when it comes time for the potential client to choose a Realtor.

 Use the Right Tools

One major social media mistake I see in the real estate industry is either not using each platform properly or simply setting accounts and waiting. If you are in real estate and you do NOT have a Facebook business page, stop what you are doing and go create one. Business pages allow you to leverage Facebook Advertising options and insights. These are vital to your social success. To truly see the return on your time spent on social sites, you have to be using the tools available to you appropriately.

Get Creative

Realistically, after you have successfully placed a person into a new home there won’t be much communication between you. THIS is where you have to get creative. Provide your social communities with creative content to keep them engaged. Show them unique decorating ideas, ugly homes, expensive homes, life hacks and anything else that you think is interesting. If you can keep them hooked, you are likely to get their recommendation.

 Don’t be Afraid to Sell Every Now and Then

With all of this talk about creating trust, being useful and getting creative, we should also remember that the social accounts are meant to generate interest in real estate listings. Don’t be afraid to highlight your listings periodically. Be sure to point out why the listing might be perfect for someone looking for a new place to buy or rent.  If you are strategic about when you publish content about your listings, you are likely to see a great response from the community. From experience, people will actually message you asking for more information.

Are you in the real estate business? Are any of these tips actionable for you?

The post Social Media Tips for the Real Estate Industry appeared first on THAT Agency.

1) 15% of consumers use social networking site to search for local businesses.

This might seem like a small number, but I think that general perception is that there wasn’t much search (in traditional terms) being done on social media sites. This data point tells us that the opportunity is there and that the trend exists.

2) 71% of social media users say that they are more likely to purchase from a brand they are connected with.

One of the biggest perks of a brand being social is that they get to connect directly with consumers and create brand affinity and advocacy. It makes complete sense that people who connect socially with brands online are more likely to buy from that brand. However, it is important to keep in mind that just because they connect with you, it doesn’t me they will ABSOLUTELY buy from you. Many times we fall into this fallacy that 10,000 Facebook likes automatically equals cash. This is not true.

3) 23% of brand marketers are developing social strategies but are still having a hard time executing them.

No matter how great a strategy looks on paper, executing it is completely different. This stat might actually be a bit low, as many brands start with a strategy in mind, but just end up “doing things” on Facebook and Twitter. To ease difficultly with executing a social strategy, allow yourself ample time to put your plan into place, analyze it and calibrate it as needed. Create a strategy that allows for some flexibility if needed. The world of social media is ever changing, so your game plan should be able to change quickly too!

4) Social media sites and blogs now account for approximately 25% of the total time Americans spend online.

Social media has gone from a past-time, to a habit and is now becoming engrained in our online culture. I expect this number to grow as future innovations in social media come about.

5) 63% of local searchers on social media sites are more likely to patronize a business with info on a social site.

Think about your own habits when researching a new brand. You might Google them, read some reviews or even poke around on their site. One thing I guarantee you will do is see if they have a Facebook page. Consumers trust peer recommendations more than they trust marketing speech from a website. Brands are doing a disservice to their consumers and themselves by not having an active social presence. An active community suggests that a brand is credible. People want to see the engagement and content. If they are like me, they are also looking for negative comments and how they are handled.  Make sure you are findable and approachable on social sites and you will be rewarded by your consumers.

6) 91% of local searchers say they use Facebook to find local businesses online.

Similar to the previous point, people want to investigate businesses online before spending their hard earned money with them. With the development of Graph Search, this will become more and more prevalent. The key here is to put your best brand face forward and always strive to maintain a growing and active community. This sounds cliché, but the same way you would optimize a webpage for search engines, you have to optimize your brand and community for PEOPLE. Ready or not, people are searching for you or a brand like yours on Facebook and other social sites. It’s time to get with the program!

The post 6 Stats That Will Restore Your Faith in Social Media appeared first on THAT Agency.

1) Focus on Quality!

One major thing that has been a turnoff to me when it comes to mobile advertising is how intrusive the banner ads are. To be effective in the world of mobile social media, we have to move our advertising messages from banners to the news feed. Whether this is on Facebook or Twitter, marketing messages have to become less intrusive and more viral in nature. Being welcomed into users’ news feeds will become increasingly important in the future. Considering this is where users spend a majority of their time, marketers should take a look at their content and advertising strategy to ensure that what they are publishing is high quality.

 2) Consider Mobile Constraints & User Experience.

Compared to desktops, mobile devices have very small screens. We have to keep this in mind when creating content. Always consider the constraints that a mobile device presents and the experience of the user. Be sure that your images are the appropriate size and that your text is short and sweet. Nobody wants to spend time trying to zoom in and out to take in your content. The attention span of the social media user is notoriously short, and I would argue that it is even shorter when it comes to social media viewed on mobile devices.

 3) Get Familiar with Paid Mobile Advertising Options

I am definitely not a proponent of letting money do the marketing for us, however getting comfortable with paid mobile advertising options. For Facebook, sponsored stories and promoted posts will become vital to community growth. History has proven that Facebook likes it when you give it money and I expect this trend to continue.

Marketers have to realize that vertical is the new horizontal and mobile is the way of the future. We must all adapt our social strategies and storytelling to mesh with what the mobile social user demands. In the end, a quality social media strategy is your best mobile advertising strategy.

The post 3 Ways to Ensure Your Social Strategy is Mobile Friendly appeared first on THAT Agency.

1) Go to the place page that you wish to claim and click on the settings drop down beside the message button. Select the appropriate option. In this case, we will select “Is this your business”.

2) Once “Is this your business?” is clicked a pop-up will show asking if you are the official representative of the company/page. Check the box.

3) A screen will be shown asking you to confirm your relationship to the business. Fill in all relevant information including the publicly listed phone number.

4) Next, you will be asked to select the phone number in which Facebook will call to verify the information. Select the phone number and click submit.

5) A new box will show displaying the number that Facebook will call. You may also select a preferred language. An automated system will call your phone and give you a 4 digit pin.

Once you have the code, input it where directed in the next box. The method I showed here outlines the phone number verification method. There are 2 other ways to verify including using an email address that includes your business’s name or official documentation that has the business’s name, address and phone number on it. The times I have tried to verify via phone, Facebook actually was busy so it might take a few attempts.

Do you have duplicate pages about your business out there?

The post How to Claim a Facebook Page (That Isn’t Yours) appeared first on THAT Agency.

1. Social Sites Have High Domain Authority

Search engines are always trying to serve up credible and relevant content, so what is more credible and relevant than social hubs where people are having REAL and ORGANIC conversations? Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have some of the highest Domain Authority on the Internet, so you definitely want as much of you content on these sites as possible. Links from these sites will also suggest that your website is active and valuable.

 2. Studies Show That Social Signals Influence Ranking Factors

SearchMetrics did a study last year that found that the number of people that Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all have aspects that are important for SEO.  For Facebook, the amount of people who like your brand and shares of a webpage showed evidence of ranking influence. On Twitter, the amount of Followers that a brand has and tweet mentioning a brand’s name are very important. Google+ is more straight forward as the amount of people that have a brand in circles and +1’s are major signals there.  For a peek at SearchMetric’s study, click here

 3. Tweets with Links get Indexed by Google Faster and More often!

Not too much to elaborate on here. Tweets that include a link help that page get indexed faster and more often. SEOMoz did a study about this some time ago, so this point might actually be a bit dated. However I think it makes sense to suggest that a user tweeting a link shows that the page is credible.

4. Social Media Increases Brand Visibility

If a brand can easily be found, you can easily be linked to. Social media can help increase the amount of inbound links and citations because of possible super-sized brand visibility. Make your brand easy to find and easy to brand-stalk!

5. Increase in Positive Customer Reviews

Being active on social media sites allows for more customer touch points to resolve potential issues. Every successful resolution shows people that a brand really values their business. The more happy customers you create, the more likely a positive review will pop up on a major review site. Customer service and social media is a match made in heaven.

The post 5 Reasons Social Media and SEO are BFFs appeared first on THAT Agency.

First, let’s take a peek at the breakdown of the portion of the study which analyzed where online brands are spending time.

As you can see, a majority of the brands surveyed have presences on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. It seems like many have yet to fully embrace Pinterest, LinkedIn, Blogs, Instagram and Google+. I thought this study was very interesting in that it was also found that there was a huge disconnect between where brands are spending time and the places that influence consumers buying decisions the most. Outside of retail and brand sites, blogs were the highest ranking resources on the internet according to the study. 31% of respondents in this study said that blogs influence their purchasing decisions. Blogs slightly edged out Facebook. Who would have thought that blogs would remain a decently influential tool in today’s online marketing landscape. Sure, they have always had SEO value, but this result just further drives the point home that people are always looking for rich and relevant content. If you deliver it to them, you influence their decisions. It’s simple. For laughs, let’s set the two graphs side by side to see the disconnect between where brands are and where they SHOULD be.In summary, it appears as if brands are relying on  the big 3 of social media more than ever, but consumers are turning to peers and blog articles for guidance when it comes to making purchases. I was particularly surprised that blogs had more influence over buying decisions than Facebook, what about you?

The post Want to Influence Online Consumers? Don’t Forget to Blog! appeared first on THAT Agency.