26 Social Media Marketing Tips from the Pros

26 Social Media Marketing Tips from the Pros

 

Are you looking for actionable tips to improve your social media marketing?

Are you wondering what the common themes of social media experts are these days?

This April, 1,100 passionate marketers from every corner of the world traveled to San Diego for Social Media Marketing World (#SMMW13), to find out.

The number of conference takeaways and buzz was immense.

For this article, I’ve focused on 26 takeaways from SMMW13, including notable quotes by presenters and their session titles.

CATEGORY: Calls to Action

#1: Get More Leads With Calls to Action

Throughout the conference, the topic of calls to action (CTAs) came up in numerous sessions. What is a CTA?

A social media call to action is an integral and often overlooked element of an effective social media strategy. Social media gets prospects, customers and the public primed to want to find out more about your offering or to engage with you further, but you must lead them to the next step in your sales or other conversion process.

Regardless of the platform—blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.—posts will receive better success rates if they contain calls to action, compared to ones without them. So, all the more reason to use them!

From the post, “Theft: 9 Ways to Protect Yourself From Losing Your Data” by Michael Stelzner.

#2: Optimize Your Facebook Posts With Calls to Action

“On Facebook, posts that include the call to action “share” receive more shares, comments and likes.”

—Mari Smith, 10 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Reach

Sometimes just the act of inviting someone to share your post will be the encouragement a fan needs to take your suggestion. Once they share the post, it will travel on further to their colleagues, friends and family, thus expanding your reach. Truly one of greatest benefits of social media!

This post was shared by 42 people, in addition to 59 likes.

#3: Grab Readers’ Attention With CTAs

Examples of calls to action include: click here, sign up today, get your ticket, join us at, RSVP here, buy now, enroll here, check this out, click, and comment.

—Rich Brooks, Beyond Likes: How to Turn Fans Into Customers; Amy Porterfield, Facebook Strategies to Launch a New Product; Pat Flynn, Podcasting for More Exposure, More Leads and More Money

When a reader is on your page and you have the privilege of having their attention for even the shortest span of time, make your CTAs an integral part of your marketing plan. Something you had front of mind—not an afterthought. Then you’ll have some influence on where readers navigate next and what steps you want to encourage them to take.

Calls to action grab attention.

#4: Get the Most Bang for Your CTA Buck

Make your CTAs crystal-clear and stick to one CTA per post. Avoid excessive calls to action.

—Cliff Ravenscraft, 15 Tips for Creating a Podcast People Can’t Live Without

When you present clear and direct CTAs, you reduce the risk of overwhelming readers with too many choices. They came to your post to learn something and the last thing you want to do is to make them feel they have to give you everything if they decide to become a follower of your content.

Decide what action you want users to take.

#5: Experiment With Different CTA Touch Points

On Twitter, if you want to target people who aren’t following you, try using a call to action to engage.

—Kyle Lacy, 5 Social and Digital Trends Impacting Consumer Behaviors

Twitter is a fast-moving stream of content. Updates can quickly flow by readers. While they’re deciding on whether to read your full update, a call to action can help seize the moment. If they like what they see, they’ll be more inclined to follow you, retweet your message and visit your website.

Reach out and touch someone!

#6: Take the Guesswork Out of CTAs

Effective calls to action can result in completed lead generation forms, phone calls and email signups.

—Rich Brooks, Beyond Likes: How to Turn Fans Into Customers

When you put a call to action out there, you’ll know which ones have been effective. For example, if no one is signing up for your free website consultation, ask yourself if the call to action is buried too far down on the page, could the wording be more enticing, are readers worried that once they do that they’ll be hounded by salespeople?

What can your call to action do better to be more effective? Knowing the answer will enhance your marketing efforts.

Gather information with forms.

To learn more about CTAs, a 13-Point Checklist to Optimize Social Media Calls-to-Action can be found in an article by Heidi Cohen.

CATEGORY: Content Strategy

#7: Give Content the Priority It Deserves

It may not be much of a surprise that the topic of content received “royal” treatment at SMMW13. Whether the focus of a workshop was on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, etc., many focused on the importance of fresh, frequent, quality content.

“Content is King but engagement is Queen, and she rules the house.”

—Mari Smith, 10 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Reach

Content is kind of a catch-22. The best content in the world won’t receive traffic unless people engage with it—sharing, commenting, liking, etc. Give your content the royal treatment—dot the i’s, cross the t’s, and most importantly, make it engagement-friendly. Then you’ll be able to see great results!

15,000+ tweets and pics sure sounds like good engagement!

#8: Be Generous With Your Content

Useful content that people continue to remember long after the post was read becomes “sticky.” The content keeps you in the person’s mind. They may be willing to check out your products and services. By giving generously and gaining a reader’s trust, you earn a reputation of being a reliable resource. With all the competition out there, useful content will help differentiate you in the marketplace.

Content is fire, social media is gasoline. Content should be so useful that it’s seen as a “YOUtility”; in other words, content marketing that is so useful, people will want to keep you close and even be willing to pay for it.

—Jay Baer, How to Create Customers for Life by Informing More and Promoting Less

Switch from a “me” to a “you” mentality.

#9: Keep the Content Flowing

We’ve all been there. Landed on a blog that hasn’t been updated in months. Or on a Twitter account that has an egghead avatar and was abandoned in 2010 after the user wrote: “Hello world.” What’s wrong with these pictures? Lack of content.

[Only] 36% of people surveyed believe their content marketing is effective. Biggest challenges they’ve faced are producing enough content and the kind that engages.

—Joe Pulizzi, 10 Content Marketing Secrets That Will Propel You Beyond the Competition

Content requires a strategy, a production schedule with designated authors and engaging topics that encourage readers to return. Find ways to cover your content bases with an effective content plan.

Verbal and visual content that delivers on a frequent and regular basis will increase your chances to catch up to your competitors and join the ranks of those with effective content marketing strategies.

How will you create more content?

#10: Offer Subscriptions to Your Content

Content can easily be missed on Facebook, Twitter and RSS feeds. One way to help ensure that your content is seen is through subscriptions.

Focus on subscriptions to your content; for example, “Join over 40,000 of your peers. Get daily articles and news delivered to your email inbox and get CMI’s exclusive ebook…free.”

—Joe Pulizzi, 10 Content Marketing Secrets That Will Propel You Beyond the Competition

Delivering daily articles and news to a subscriber’s email inbox is highly effective for busy businesspeople. Even if their inbox is overflowing, when they chip away at reading their emails, they’ll find your content pointing and linking to your articles.

Users may miss your tweets but will be more likely to receive your email.

#11: Give Credence to Analytics and Post Data

Social media data is the keeper of all kinds of useful information such as location of readers, topics and keywords that attract and time and day an update is more likely to be seen by your audience.

Amazing content yields great leads. Don’t get attached just to shares—find out which posts are getting leads.

—Brian Carter, Turning Social Advertising Into Leads and Sales

Set aside time each week to review your analytics and what you can learn from them. Content may not magically convert a lead to a customer, but you’ll be more likely to increase your funnel of leads when you provide great content.

Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut around the sales cycle. Print placement ads, radio and TV commercials never promised that either. With social media marketing, you still have to work a lead!

Could it be any clearer?

#12: Give Your Posts More Pizazz

Some posts read like they’re just giving the facts, something that you’d find in an old-time Yellow Pages ad.  Nowadays, we have to go the extra couple of miles.

Posts that are shareable give advice, warn, amuse, inspire and amaze… don’t be boring.

—Cliff Ravenscraft, 15 Tips for Creating a Podcast People Can’t Live Without

“Don’t be boring” might be one of the harshest tough-love pieces of advice that you’ll receive. But it’s true. How many times are you more willing to read an article with catchy titles and cool images or watch a video with great camerawork and music or listen to a podcast that presents a dynamic interview or industry report? If you build amazing content, they will come!

What? We need to be interesting, too?!

#13: Meet Social Media Followers Where They Are

How many times have you felt that a company isn’t letting you in? That they’re not telling you more about the business culture or values that are important to them? One of the true assets of social marketing is the ease with which we can converse with our followers.

One kind of content that has been effective for TaylorMade is real-time, ‘inside-the-ropes’ information to consumers.

—Liz Phillips of TaylorMade, Twitter Marketing: Success Tips From Brands

Real time is the real thing. Inside-the-ropes information makes followers feel a part of an online community—and connected.

Consumers like to be in-the-know.

#14: Tune Into What’s Being Talked About

Time passes quickly and topics do, too. It’s become increasingly important for social media marketers to know what readers are most interested in today, this week, this month—and as projected into next year.

Content is the greatest sales and trust-building tool in the world.  Find the most common phrases and their keyword rank in monthly searches.

—Marcus Sheridan, How to Build a Business Blog That Grows Your Brand, Generates Leads and Makes Sales

With free and paid keyword tools at our disposal (e.g., Google Keyword Tool, Long Tail Pro), you have a tremendous opportunity to tap into the content that is resonating the most with your audience. This will cut down on useless projects and make each and every post an important spoke in your marketing hub.

Using higher-ranked keywords will make a difference.

#15: Look for the Best Ways to Promote Your Content

Content promotion is an important part of content marketing strategy. With the ease of ebook creation, many businesses have found that putting together new or repurposed content into an ebook format may be one of the most advantageous ways to get their content out there.

Ebooks are best used to promote content. Businesses should focus on the value that users will receive from your content.

—Rebecca Corliss, How to Generate Leads With Social Media

Ebooks offer the ability to create cost-effective, well-designed pieces that don’t require the expense of printing.

HubSpot displays their ebooks on a Pinterest board.

#16: Know Thy Customer

By keeping your customer in mind during your content strategizing, you’ll be more likely to engage the people you’re looking to attract.

Use the social data you have about your customer to improve content strategy.

—Kyle Lacy, 5 Social and Digital Trends Impacting Consumer Behaviors

Buyer personas and knowing how topics rank among their interests will be helpful ways to improve content strategy.

Knowing who you’re talking to is a big part of the content equation.

#17: Write Great Blog Posts

In an earlier 26 Tips piece, we discussed Tips for Writing Great Blog Posts. Writing great content involves many aspects beyond the ideas you set down on the page. It includes factors such as layout and design, formatting, whether the content is original or curated and more. Producing quality content requires proactivity.

Take an active approach to content development. Create content all the time.

—Amy Porterfield, Facebook Strategies to Launch a New Product or Program

Even when you’re not in the middle of a new post, jot down ideas as they come to you and see whether you can work them into a post.

Keep the content rolling.

#18: Think Beyond the Written Word

Content assets include images, videos, printed word and audio. When you have an idea for what you want to communicate, you may find that one format will serve your audience better than another. At SMMW13, there was a lot of buzz about podcasts and the impact that mobile phones and working on-the-go have on our ability to reach people, even when they don’t have time to sit down and read an article.

Podcasts cannot live without content.

—Cliff Ravenscraft, 15 Tips for Creating a Podcast People Can’t Live Without

What information could be communicated to your audience via a podcast?

Offer a variety of topics.

#19: Deliver Targeted Content

If the demographics of your target customer are diverse, then targeted topics or specific platforms may suit one audience better than another.

Slice and dice content to make it highly targeted… be consistent, authentic and relevant.

—Michael Bepko of Whole Foods, Twitter Marketing: Success Tips From Brands

Maybe you have one blog that speaks to a younger audience and another that addresses issues of more concern to middle-aged people. Messaging isn’t one-stop shopping.

Whole Foods takes “slicing and dicing” very seriously (and literally).

#20: Motivate Customers

Don’t just communicate. Motivate. Find the niche area that makes readers stop, listen and watch.

Who are your customers, what do they want to hear about, what do they talk about to friends and family, what are their obstacles, what are their worries, how can you inspire them, how can you coach, mentor and motivate?

—Brian Carter, Turning Social Advertising Into Leads and Sales

Make your content motivating and inspiring.

#21: Use Keywords Strategically

Keywords should stay front and center. Don’t think of them on a piece-by-piece basis. Instead, what are the topics that will cover the range of topics of most interest to your audience?

Develop 5 key topic areas and at least 20 unique pieces of content for each of 100+ keywords per year.

—Joe Pulizzi, 10 Content Marketing Secrets That Will Propel You Beyond the Competition

Being prepared with topics and keywords will make it easier to create unique content.

Knowing keywords and topics you will be writing about will help keep you focused. Readers will learn what they can expect.

#22: Alter Your Ways of Looking at Content Development and Delivery

Your content strategy will make a lot more sense to your authors and your audience if you think about people and where they are in the sales cycle. The information will be helpful in making a decision about whether to write a blog post, conduct a webinar or engage in a LinkedIn group forum.

Map content to customers’ journeys through the sales cycle—awareness, interest, consideration, purchase, retention and advocacy.

—Lee Odden, How to Integrate Blogging With Content Marketing That Inspires

Targeting content to the sales cycle can be highly effective.

To learn more about content marketing, 10 Content Marketing Tips can be found in an article by Cindy King.

CATEGORY: Email and Social Integration

#23: Integrate Email and Social Media Marketing

Consider this: “Email has had a long history, beginning in 1971 when U.S. programmer Raymond Tomlinson allegedly sent “QWERTYUIOP” as the first network email, and he was the first to connect his computer to his mailbox by using an ‘@’ symbol… Email has become a major part of our lives, consuming 28% of our workday.”

With the maturity of media, preceding ones will become displaced. Email, which has been a key player for 20 years, hurt postal delivery. Today, many are using Facebook messages instead of email.

—Mike Stelzner, Social Media Marketing in 2013: New Research and Its Implications

Facebook messages improve the odds of having direct contact.

#24: Interact With Your Audience Via Opt-In Emails

With the subscriber opts into your emails, your business can get in front of your audience’s eyes on a daily and weekly basis.

The inbox is the best social network in the world.

—Chris Brogan, Are We Getting Better or Just Busier?

Social Media Examiner not only sends email updates, but also tells you the number of subscribers.

#25: Vary Your Email and Social Integration Strategies

Below are a number of great suggestions from presenters at SMMW13:

• Advertise on Facebook to your email list.—Brian Carter, Turning Social Advertising Into Leads and Sales
• Subscribers who follow brands on Twitter are three times more likely to open an email than a subscriber who’s not on Twitter.—Kyle Lacy, 5 Social and Digital Trends Impacting Consumer Behaviors
• During the promote phase of a Facebook campaign, build your launch email list with a signature promotional giveaway. When launching, your email list can be your most powerful profit-generating resource. Use an autoresponder as part of your email campaign.—Amy Porterfield, Facebook Strategies to Launch a New Product (autoresponder)
• The third time you email someone, just pick up the damn phone.—Jay Baer, How to Create Customers for Life by Informing More and Promoting Less
  

  Set up any number of email messages to be sent either immediately after a new user subscribes to your mailing list, or after any period of time has passed.

To learn more about email and social media integration, 9 Ways to Integrate Email and Social Media Marketing can be found in this article by DJ Waldow.

#26: Set Personal and Business Goals for Social Media

• Personal: Self-expression, exercise writing, be a useful resource, connect with bloggers, contribute to the community
• Business: Brand awareness, elevate publicity, support customers, recruit, attract new business referrals, create an editorial calendar

—Lee Odden, How to Integrate Blogging With Content Marketing that Inspire

• Google Analytics to create and track goals via a goal funnel, a series of pages leading up to the goal destination—for example, a contact page.

—Rich Brooks, Beyond Likes: How to Turn Fans Into Customers

Be sure to create and track your business goals.

To learn more about setting social media goals, 4 Social Media Goals Every Business Should Measure can be found in this article by Andrew K. Kirk.

Concluding Thoughts

Perhaps the most telling number about the significance of social media marketing was reported in the April 8, 2013 PeekAnalytics report for the hashtag #SMMW13 that states:

The content [at SMMW13] was shared by consumers who have a combined total of 4.8 million social connections across their social graphs.

The speed-of-light communication that social media provides with its far-reaching capabilities is unprecedented and undoubtedly will continue to change the way businesses engage with customers, prospects and leads. What will we be talking about at SMMW14? Stay tuned!

Marketers overwhelmed by mobile messaging options

Marketers overwhelmed by mobile messaging options

 

By Chantal Tode

May 15, 2013

 

Marketers have a staggering number of options when it comes to messaging mobile users – SMS, push notifications, in-app alerts and mobile email – and many are overwhelmed just trying to decide which to use and when.

Mobile is an important way to message consumers, who increasingly have their smartphones and tablets within arm’s reach 24-hours a day. However, it is easy for marketers to fall into the trap of sending too many messages and annoying users, especially when the same message is being delivered across mobile’s multiple messaging platforms.

“Marketers are overwhelmed with the number and variety of communications channel in the mobile and social space today,” said Matt Silk, chief marketing officer at Waterfall Mobile, San Francisco.

“Navigating the optimal use cases for SMS, Passbook, push, mobile email, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or others has grown exponentially in complexity in the last couple of years,” he said.

“The key to attacking this problem however is simply putting the customer first and prioritization.”

A push notification from Walgreens

Message overload
SMS is a widely popular method for reaching mobile users and is expected to remain relevant for some time.

However, mobile users are also increasingly using their devices to check for email messages, making it imperative for marketers to ensure their emails are optimized for mobile.

Then there are push notifications, which are becoming a popular way to reach users who have downloaded a brand’s app. These can include local push notifications, app-originated notifications and in-app alerts.

But the choices do not stop there.

Mobile social is another increasingly popular way to communicate with a mobile audience. Soon, there will also be HTML5 push notifications, giving marketers a way to message users who are on their mobile Web sites.

Being relevant
The challenge for marketers is that because mobile is such a personal medium, users have a high expectation that messages be relevant and add value to their lives.

There are ways for marketers to address these issues, including A/B split testing and increasingly sophisticated user analytics that provide customer context. As with any direct marketing strategy, testing and learning is key.

“There are an increasing number of choices for how marketers can message consumers on mobile. However the challenge is aligning the choices, or channels, with the user experience on mobile,” said Brendan O’Kane, CEO of OtherLevels, San Francisco. “For example SMS gets tremendous cut-through, however is not a channel that a user would associate with app communication and might work better in directing users to mobile Web pages.

“Email is now ubiquitous on mobile, however the volume alone can overwhelm users and lead to users ignoring emails,” he said. “Similarly push is more closely aligned with reaching users who have downloaded the publisher’s App. 

“Also there are a growing number of messaging opportunities in the app experience itself, from local push notifications to in-app alerts to message fragments embedded in buttons and the content itself. Hence one of the challenges for marketers is aligning the channel with the target user experience on mobile.”

 Managing ongoing communications
One place to get started with addressing this issue is to ask customers in a communications preferences panel, survey or service call what types of communications they want and where, when and how they want them, per Waterfall Mobile’s Mr. Silk.

He also suggests marketers review the unique strengths of each channel and compare with their customer requests alongside a realistic appraisal of their ability to effectively manage an ongoing communication strategy via each channel.

SMS should continue to be the major way marketers communicate with users, per Fatema Hamdani, global account director at Syniverse Technologies, New York.

For example, Syniverse is working with large hotel brands for on-property messaging to get offers into visitors’ hands for on-premise restaurants. These companies are also looking at using Waif to determine a user’s location so they can send an SMS message to inform guests that their appointment at the spa is soon and how to get there.

Ms. Hamdani also notes that many marketers do not recognize that they may be reaching the same user with the same message three different times across SMS, push and email.

It important for marketers to think of mobile messaging as a two-way communication channel.

“Don’t think of it as siloed experiences – there is a complete customer engagement whether it is push, email or SMS,” Ms. Hamdani said. “You especially want to get them how they want to be reached.

“You can’t be giving users the same message across all three – it will be annoying,” she said. “Using mobile CRM to help navigate through all of this messaging is critical.”

“You need to think about mobile as being interactive. Gen X, Y is hugely driven by instant gratification and the fastest way to reach them with an interactive message is SMS – they send something and get it back right away.”

OtherLevels’ Mr. O’Kane recommends marketers develop a clear strategy that identifies the needles they would really like to move, the segments that will most likely move them, and develop a tactical messaging plan for each segment. 

For example, light app users might be targeted with messages that encourage re-engagement, while heavy users might be targeted and encouraged to share content with their social networks.

It is also important to identify the right metrics to measure.

“Review analytics that reveal the total effectiveness of the messaging campaigns,” Mr. O’Kane said. “Most messaging vendors with basic analytics reports merely report messages sent vs. messages opened, but that’s not the complete picture.  Marketers need to evaluate conversions to goals. 

“For example, how many messages encouraging heavy users to be social were opened and how many resulted in a click to share?,” he said.

5 Ways Marketers Can Keep Updated on Facebook Changes

5 Ways Marketers Can Keep Updated on Facebook Changes

 

By Rachel Sprung Published May 7, 2013

Are you struggling to keep up to date with the latest Facebook changes?

Are you conducting activities that are against Facebook’s policies?

It isn’t easy to keep up with all of Facebook’s updates.

Here are 5 ways marketers can stay up to date on Facebook updates and policy changes.

#1: Follow Facebook’s Business Pages for regular updates

Just like businesses keep their Facebook Pages updated with the latest announcements from their company, Facebook also keeps their Pages updated to inform their users about the latest changes and announcements.

In particular, Facebook for Business, Facebook for Privacy and the Facebook blog often post updates when there is a change to their guidelines.

Facebook for Business takes you step by step to create a business Page that is effective but also follows their guidelines.

Facebook for Business Page to learn how to reach the right audience.

The Facebook and Privacy Page post an update every time they revise a guideline or policy.

In addition, they post tips every week to make sure people are informed about some of the changes that they made previously. Following this Page will allow you to stay up to date when there is a new announcement and also stay informed about older policies.

Facebook and Privacy Page, how to exercise your choice to share what you want.

Here’s an example of a Facebook and Privacy update.

Finally, you can find updates on the Facebook blog.

You can add the Facebook blog to your RSS feed so you receive a notification every time there is a new post. This can help you gather real-time information to make sure your presence online is always relevant.

Facebook blog where you can find out what’s happening behind the scenes at Facebook.

#2: Follow the Facebook Tag on TechCrunch

Technology journalists jump at the news of a Facebook update. One of the best ways that we as marketers can stay updated on this topic is to follow technology journalists or even the Facebook tag on websites like TechCrunch or Mashable.

To find the tag, scroll to the bottom of an article and you will see at least one tag on the article.

To find all Facebook articles on TechCrunch, you can go here.  This will allow you to quickly and easily find all of the latest updates to Facebook in one place.

The Facebook tag on TechCrunch.

#3: Set a Google Alert for Facebook Updates

A hack to get Facebook updates as soon as they happen is to set up a Google Alert with the term “Facebook Privacy.” That will send an email right to your inbox with any articles that are written about updates to Facebook guidelines or new privacy rules. And you can be sure that there will be a ton of articles written whenever Facebook updates anything.

Once you create your Google Alert, type in “Facebook Privacy” as your search query.

You can choose what type of results you want, whether its news, blog articles, videos, discussions, books or everything. You can choose the frequency you wish to receive these updates and the number of updates you would like. Finally, you can insert your email address to let them know where you want the results delivered.

Facebook Privacy Google Alert setup.

After that is set up, you will receive emails that look like the image below. They will separate your information by the type of result, allowing you to be instantly notified when there is something important to know about Facebook.

Facebook Privacy Google Alert Preview.

#4: Follow New Posts on AllFacebook

AllFacebook is the unofficial Facebook blog that can be a great resource for anything new that is posted about Facebook. They consistently update their website with new information on Facebook, whether it be news about their guidelines and privacy issues or just general updates that marketers should know about.

In addition, they host an annual conference called the AllFacebook Marketing Conference in San Francisco where attendees can learn even more about marketing with Facebook.

The AllFacebook blog.

AllFacebook Marketing Conference coming in June 2013.

#5: Follow Social Media and Tech Experts

In addition to the blog articles you can read and conferences you can attend to learn more about Facebook updates, there are many thought leaders who can be great resources to learn everything you need to know to market on Facebook.

People like Mari Smith, Andrea Vahl and Pete Cashmore are great resources to follow on Twitter and stay updated on Facebook news.

When there is something that marketers need to know, you can be sure they will be discussing it and sharing their knowledge on the subject.

Apple’s focus on mobile tracking issues poised to drive ROI, ad budgets

Apple’s focus on mobile tracking issues poised to drive ROI, ad budgets

 

By Chantal  Tode

May 1, 2013

 

Starting today, Apple will no longer accept applications that use a device’s Unique Device Identifier to track users in an attempt to get marketers to embrace its own tracking standard, the Apple Identifier or IFA.

While Apple started deprecating the use of UDIDs last year in the wake of growing concern because the standard does not allow consumers to opt out from mobile ad tracking, marketers have been reluctant to switch to something else. However, the conversion tracking enabled by the new IFA standard should help marketers optimize their marketing by channel and creative, resulting in a lower cost per acquisition and higher returns on investment.

“With Apple’s IFA now replacing UDID, marketers can adopt this new standard in their ad tracking, with the knowledge that it provides device level opt out for consumers on all iOS 6+ devices,” said George Kennedy, vice president of marketing at TapSense, San Francisco. “Because of the legal grey area around UDID, many marketers decided to simply remove tracking altogether and others tried to rely on other IDs to track ROI.

 

“With the legal issues from UDID now resolved, much of the friction that was holding back large advertising budgets is starting to be released and we anticipate spend in iOS mobile advertising to rocket throughout the year,” he said. “IFA is ultimately bringing confidence to the industry which will benefit brands, agencies and ultimately the mobile user.

“IFA will help to bring confidence, regulation and increased spend to the iOS mobile advertising market and greatly improve ROI in ad campaigns that were previously running without any tracking.”

The conversion funnel Apple’s IFA alternative enables users to opt out of any tracking method by changing a setting at the device level. It has been available since the release of iOS 6 last year, but should start to gain wider traction now that UDIDs are no longer an option.

IFA also offers deeper visibility into the conversion funnel, making it easier for marketers to understand an acquired user’s lifetime value. In turn, this will enable marketers to focus on getting users who spend in their apps.

Marketers can use conversion tracking to attribute users to the right source and avoid having to pay twice for the same user from different networks.

Additionally, marketers will be able to follow users through the conversion funnel and identify drop off points so they can correct them.

Early movers Other benefits of IFA include being able to use only one conversion tracking SDK in apps so marketers can avoid managing multiple SDKs and the ability to work with publishers, ad networks and other third parties.

“The biggest benefits will come to the marketers who capitalize on IFA early,” Mr. Kennedy said. “IFA will not only allow them to track campaigns, but gain visibility deep into the conversion funnel.

“Smart marketers can then use this data to optimize and improve their advertising, making it work more efficiently to get a greater return on their ad spend,” he said.

“Also, because acquisition costs on mobile are still a fraction of what they are on the PC, the big wins will be for those who figure out how to transition their PC business from the Web and acquire high value users cheaply. Before the prices go up in the next two to three years.”

Universal approach needed However, despite the benefits offered by IFA, it is still focused exclusively on Apple and does not address the broader issue of tracking ads across mobile platforms or outside iOS apps. Without such broader tracking capabilities, marketers are still hampered in their efforts to drive ROI from mobile.

As a result, some are calling for the adoption of a universal approach to device recognition such as is offered by AdTruth and others.

“The Apple Identifier moves iOS app developers away from cookies, but it fails the universality test because it is limited to one platform and only one use case – mobile apps,” said James Lamberti, vice president and general manager at AdTruth, Scottsdale, AZ. “For marketers to derive the greatest ROI from their mobile campaigns, they need a solution that is able to scale and function on all devices, in any operating system and in every use case across desktop and mobile Web and app.

“There’s an opportunity for the entire industry to adopt a universal approach to device recognition, and that opportunity is here today,” he said.

“With universal device recognition technology such as AdTruth’s, can better reach audiences at scale while respecting consumer privacy and choice.”

Facebook’s mobile fortunes improve but rich user experiences still lacking

Facebook’s mobile fortunes improve but rich user experiences still lacking

 

By Chantal Tode

May 2, 2013

 

Facebook executives are talking up what they say are significant advances made in mobile during the first quarter, including the launch of Facebook Home and improved targeting capabilities. However, Facebook continues to look for ways to deliver rich advertising experiences to mobile users.

The social network’s mobile advertising business took another leap forward during the first quarter of 2013 as ad revenues from mobile reached 30 percent of total ad revenues, up from 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 14 percent in the third quarter. Overall, Facebook’s revenue from advertising totaled $1.25 billion, up 43 percent from the same quarter last year.

“We are still in the early days of what we are doing and that is particularly true in mobile,” said David Ebersam, chief financial officer at Facebook, Menlo Park, CA. “A year ago we didn’t have any mobile ad revenue and now it is 30 percent of our ad revenue.

“We believe that mobile has the opportunity to be huge for us if we can execute well,” he said. “We’ve got a really large mobile user base, they are very engaged and spend a lot of time with us. We have an ad format that works for us on mobile and we have identities, so that we can put the right ad in front of the right people.

“Obviously, we will continue to develop tools to enable us to monetize our advertising better and potentially in new ways as well. The big opportunity that is right in front of us is trying to make the mobile advertising product higher quality and more relevant.”

Home sweet home
During a conference call with analysts to discuss the first quarter results, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the launch of Facebook Home is an important milestone for the company because it creates a completely new mobile experience for users and promised that it would be rolled out to more people and will continue to be updated with new services in the coming months.

Facebook Home is available on Android devices and enables users to users to interact directly with friends from the home screen and lock screen of their device. Users do not need to go into the Facebook app to view notifications from their connections.

While there are no ads at first, Facebook has said they will be there eventually.

The social network also introduced new advertising products during the first quarter such as Lookalike Audiences, Managed Custom Audiences and Partner Categories, which help marketers improve their targeting capabilities on Facebook, including on mobile.

In a big win for the company last month, GM reportedly launched a mobile-only advertising campaign on Facebook for the Chevrolet Sonic.

The second largest U.S. marketer famously pulled all of its advertising from Facebook last year shortly before the social network made its initial public offering. While GM’s departure played a role in Facebook’s rocky second half, the automaker has reportedly decided to return to Facebook following numerous refinements of its mobile advertising offerings such as better targeting capabilities.

“I think they definitely have improved their mobile advertising offering but I think that the challenge for anybody including Facebook is how do you make it a rich experience on the small screen,” said Matt Wise, CEO of ePrize, Pleasant Ridge, MI. “They are making advances in targeting but I don’t think they have solved the rich user experience yet.

“This is something that a lot of people are working on,” he said. “I am encouraged by the fact that Facebook is putting so much focus on it – it encourages me that some new innovative models will come out.”

User insight
Other key results from Facebook’s first quarter ended March 31 include that mobile monthly active users totaled 751 million as of March 31, an increase of 54 percent year-over-year.

Facebook also reported that Instagram reached 100 million monthly active users in the first quarter of 2013 and the monthly active users totaled 1.11 billion, up 23 percent year-over-year.

The social network’s revenue for the first quarter totaled $1.46 billion, up 38 percent year-over-year. The company’s net income totaled $219 million, up 7 percent year-over-year.

“Facebook has reported that its browser usage has shifted almost completely over to their mobile apps – 80 percent of total users – and is now allocating massive resources to monetizing its mobile traffic, drawing big spenders to experiment with various advertising techniques,” said Sephi Shapira, CEO of MassiveImpact, Tel Aviv, Israel.

“A key to sustainable future growth in ad revenue will be a utilization of Facebook’s vast amount of user data in ad serving techniques, making ads substantially more relevant to the end user and in turn more profitable for the advertiser,” he said.

What Marketers Need to Know About the New FTC Disclosures

What Marketers Need to Know About the New FTC Disclosures

 

By Sara Hawkins

Are you confused about the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) disclosure rules and how they relate to your social media activities?

Do you want to know more about what you need to disclose and how to make disclosures on social media to comply with U.S. consumer laws?

In March of this year, the United States Federal Trade Commission released the first update to the .com Disclosures guide.

Here’s a look at the key points in this update relevant to social media marketers today.

Read the .com Disclosures guide for full details.

The Environment Has Changed

First, it’s important to understand the environment in which this guide was published.

With the first release in 2000, the .com Disclosures guide was an attempt to narrow the gray area of how marketing and advertising worked on the Internet so companies could maintain compliance with consumer protection laws.

When the initial .com Disclosures guide came out, we were breathing a heavy sigh of relief having “survived” Y2K.

There was no such thing as an iPhone (first sold in 2007), Twitter was 6 years away, MySpace was on the horizon (2003) and many were eagerly awaiting Windows XP (2001).

A lot has changed since the year 2000. Image source: iStockPhoto.

Even more important, a lot has changed since the research that went in to creating the .com Disclosures guide was done back in the late 1990s. More than a decade of technology has come along and how we communicate now is vastly different than it was 5 years ago, let alone 13.

For the past several years, advertisers were trying to overlay new technology onto guidelines that never projected the platform. And in trying to do what’s right, there have been instances where it has all gone wrong.

Initial Observations

While the .com Disclosures guide of 2013 does reduce some confusion, it does not eliminate it entirely.

Before breaking down some of the key points, if you read the guide one thing you’ll likely notice missing is how all of this applies to nontraditional businesses. Bloggers, entrepreneurs and startups, for example, may not consider themselves digital advertisers but, in fact, many are.

It’s important to know how this will affect your business to avoid confusion. Image source: iStockPhoto.

In addition, many of the examples presented don’t relate to how many online companies market or advertise their products or services. In my opinion, the biggest disadvantage of the update is it’s still heavily weighted toward “big company” digital advertising and does not provide much guidance for nontraditional marketing and advertising programs.

As marketing, brand, social media, PR and digital professionals, what does the 2013 .com Disclosures guide mean for you? With regard to consumer protection laws themselves, not much. With regard to how digital marketing and advertising programs are executed, there will likely need to be changes.

These Are Not Laws

The .com Disclosures guide is not definitive law. Rather, the guide is just that—a guide. For all the times you’ve wished you knew exactly what the law meant, this is your gift.

Consumer protection laws have not changed and the FTC still maintains oversight of most of those laws.

Consumer protection is to ensure the rights of consumers as well as fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. Image source: iStockPhoto.

Truth in advertising laws have applied to every aspect of web and mobile communications since the technologies were developed and as they change. There is no change in the fact that all consumer advertising and marketing must be free from deception and unfair practices.

The guide was designed to offer insight into common consumer advertising and marketing programs that seem to be of greatest concern to the FTC regulators.

They Apply to Anyone Engaged in Digital Advertising and Marketing

Since consumer protection laws apply to everyone who advertises or markets to consumers, so does the .com Disclosures guide. Compliance with the guide is voluntary; however, practices inconsistent with the information provided in the guide can be the basis of corrective action taken by the FTC.

While the FTC has specifically stated that they are not monitoring blogs, websites or individual social platforms, the agency is fielding thousands of consumer complaints daily.

A one-off inconsistent blog post won’t likely be enough to draw the agency’s attention, but a pattern of noncompliance by bloggers may trigger an investigation of a brand’s or agency’s practices.

If you’re working with a brand or agency, pushing their message on your website (whether paid or not), appropriate disclosure will be expected. As a digital marketing or advertising professional, it will be of significant importance to ensure all programs with third parties include appropriate disclosures.

One example in the guide (Example 21) included a sponsored blog post and specifically noted that the blogger, while including a disclosure, should have placed her disclosure differently.

The FTC considers that this blogger should have made the disclosure more obvious. See the Examples section at the end of the .com Disclosures guide for all examples.

While bloggers may be required to place a disclosure in accordance with laws related to endorsement and testimonial advertising, clearly the FTC is including bloggers in this new guide as well.

Automating Social Messages May Need Reconsideration

There are various schools of thought about automating social engagement, but those who use some form of automation will need to review how it’s used and, if necessary, what changes may be needed.

The FTC has made it very clear that the inability of a platform to allow for an appropriate disclosure does not excuse the need for disclosure.

Hashtags Are Not Necessary

While hashtags allow for easier searching on some platforms, the FTC has not specifically said hashtag use would or would not make a disclosure compliant.

The hashtag is used by many across platforms. Some platforms are adding hashtag trackability. Others are removing it.

The FTC wants to focus on the message, and adding “#” before a word, in their view, is not necessary.

Is it helpful for the brand? Maybe. But remember, the FTC’s focus is consumer protection.

Character-Restricted Platforms Must Still Have Disclosures

The FTC has clearly stated that if your advertising message and disclosure cannot both be made in the limited number of characters, then that medium may not be appropriate.

The goal of the disclosure is to allow consumers to understand that what they will be reading or clicking on is an advertisement, is sponsored, or involves some type of business relationship that may have influenced the information provided.

In Example 15 of the guide, using the words “ad” or “sponsored” may be sufficient if provided BEFORE the message.

You must make full disclosure obvious on all social platforms. See the Examples section at the end of the .com Disclosures guide for all examples.

For disclosures that are lengthy or unable to fit in a space-constrained platform along with the message, the advertiser may link to a website where the disclosure is clear and conspicuously displayed.

The Disclosure Must Be Clear and Conspicuous

As with all truth in advertising laws, the consumer must know he or she is being sold to before reading something or taking action to purchase. And keep in mind that the advertising or marketing message may require more than one disclosure.

When it comes to digital advertising, there are many variables that play into how a message is delivered. Sites are optimized for different browsers, mobile devices vary in size, apps use different interfaces and yet the exact same information may be shown.

How consumers see the information may impact their ability to determine the truthfulness of the message.

All disclosures should be:

1. Proximate to the information so the consumer does not have to hunt for it
2. Of at least the same size as the message
3. In the same format as the message
4. Accessible on all platforms used
5. Understandable by the consumer

Check out the full text of the .com Disclosures guide to find out all of the suggestions provided.

Be mindful of technology limitations or quirks.

Many consumers hate pop-ups, so they install blockers on their browser. There are some mobile operating systems that do not read certain scripts. And there are apps that may have limitations depending on whether they are free or paid.

Despite all of these unique characteristics of technology, digital advertisers and marketers must ensure their disclosures are seen by consumers. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to ensure that all providers (be it their own website, social media platforms or blogs) are capable of including an appropriate disclosure.

If a disclosure is included in hover text but a consumer can’t see hover text on a mobile device, this will not be considered a meaningful disclosure. Disclosures that are on subsequent pages on some mobile devices but not on others need to be standardized so consumers aren’t forced to hunt for them.

Advertisers Are Responsible for Ensuring the Disclosure

In today’s online media, it’s not uncommon to find advertising and marketing promotions driven by social media shares or blog posts. While many brand and PR reps want to respect the authenticity of the hired influencer, the fact remains that the advertiser (the brand, the PR company, the digital agency, etc.) will most likely be held responsible if the FTC determines consumer protections were missing and corrective action is necessary.

Bloggers are often unsure what, if any, disclosure is required. Since the consequence will likely fall to the advertiser, the advertiser (whether it is the brand, the PR company, the digital agency, or the like) should feel comfortable providing guidance to any and all parties and platforms about what disclosure may be required and where the disclosure will need to go.

If you want to use a hyperlink for your disclosure, take the time to read pages 10-13 of the guide and seek legal counsel to ensure your link will be deemed adequate.

Don’t Just Link to a Disclosure

How many of you have ever clicked on a disclosure link at the bottom of a website? How many have seen a graphic at the bottom of a page you were reading and had no idea what it really meant?

In an effort to be compliant, companies have formed to “help” brands, online companies and bloggers meet FTC disclosure requirements.

Unfortunately, for the average consumer, these custom links or graphics are not meaningful disclosures. If you, an online professional, aren’t always sure what something like http://discl.se/Level6 would mean, then neither does the average consumer.

You can find this example of insufficient disclosure in the .com Disclosures guide.

This is not to say hyperlinks to a disclosure page are always inappropriate. In certain circumstances, such as when a lengthy disclosure is necessary or the disclosure is not integral to the claim, a hyperlink to a disclosure may be acceptable.

For most circumstances that trigger a disclosure, a hyperlink may not sufficiently alert the consumer to information needed to make an informed decision if the link is not accessed.

Relying on hyperlinked disclosures requires the consumer to be sufficiently educated to know they must click for important information.

Read the Guide to Understand “What” Disclosures to Use and “Where” to Put Them

Overall, the 2013 .com Disclosures guide provides insight into what an FTC investigator may be looking for when evaluating digital advertising and marketing programs, claims and promotions.

The FTC recognizes technology is continuously changing. However, enforcement will continue to be scrutinized using traditional criteria, which may not wholly translate to these new and innovative platforms.

While the guide provides detailed insight, what it is clearly lacking is the “when.” It contributes greatly to the “what” and “where” with regard to disclosures, but still leaves advertisers and marketers searching for clear guidance on exactly when one is required to disclose.

7 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Engagement

7 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Engagement

Is your company’s social media as stale as last month’s bread?

Would you like to get more people-to-people interaction and begin a real conversation with your audience on social media?

No matter your company’s industry or size, you can encourage these deeper connections and improve your social media engagement.

Here are some tips to help you encourage people-to-people interaction, whether you are on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Foursquare or Instagram.

#1: Use Facebook to Highlight Employees and Reach Out to Fans

Your company is only as good as your hardworking employees—so don’t be afraid to highlight them.

SEOmoz uses Facebook photo albums to highlight their employees.

The SEOmoz Facebook Page does an excellent job of this. Two examples in particular really jump out.

The “Then and Now” photo album: Employees provided photos from their youth along with recent photos of themselves. This is a great way to show fans the human side of SEOmoz. Plus, the baby pictures are adorable.

SEOmoz does a wonderful job of featuring employees, like in this “Then and Now” photo album.

The “What are Mozzers listening to?” photo album: All it took was snapping photos of employees with their headphones on and asking them what they were listening to. The result is an inside look at company culture.

The MLS team Seattle Sounders FC creates Facebook Events and invites their fans.

The MLS team Seattle Sounders FC creates Events for both their games and promotional events like player meet-and-greets.

Is your company holding an event that’s open to the public?

Then create a Facebook Event so followers can RSVP and add it to their calendars. This is a feature that is often overlooked by businesses—even many professional sports teams don’t create Facebook Events for their home games.

To get your juices flowing, here’s a short list of the types of gatherings where a Facebook Event could be perfect:

• Seminars
• Webinars
• Open houses
• Charity events
• Conferences

In the example below of the 500px Facebook Page, they use Facebook to feature their fans.

For the photographers who are lucky enough to be featured, it means tremendous exposure to the Page’s almost-300,000 fans. As for everyone else, this type of post makes them feel part of a community with the possibility that they could someday be featured.

As a photo-sharing service, 500px is a natural fit to share user content on their Facebook Page.

Social media gives companies the ability to easily recognize their customers and fans.

Depending on your company’s niche, there are numerous ways to feature your customers and fans. For example, you can highlight contest winners or encourage users to submit their own photos and videos.

#2: Get Personal on Twitter

Get creative by using video to connect on Twitter.

You can use Twitter Vsnap to send personalized videos. Vsnap is a tool that allows you to record a video message with a maximum length of 60 seconds. Use this to send a personal video message to a follower on Twitter.

Every new follower Vsnap gains on Twitter is sent a personal video message through the service.

Making these short video messages personable is easy. Look at your target’s Twitter bio to see if something interesting jumps out and use this to craft your message. Or say thanks to someone who shared your content or became a new follower. Or answer a question someone has about your company.

Businesses have already found several creative uses for Twitter’s Vine app, which allows you to take 6-second video clips.

These short videos can be fun to watch and encourage viewers to connect with you further.

Your Vine videos don’t have to only be about your products. Here are some other uses your company might want to consider to connect with your audience:

• A tour of the office
• Individual Vine videos for different teams
• Encouraging customers to Vine about your business

Let people know who’s tweeting.

Have you ever noticed companies who include the initials of the person tweeting at the end of each tweet? Or companies who include the Twitter handle of the person(s) tweeting in their bio?

Both of these strategies are a great way to make a branded Twitter account feel a little more human and the interactions more personal.

Time lets you know who is responding to their account on Twitter.

The TIME Twitter account includes information on who is authoring the account’s tweets in the bio section.

Be part of the conversation.

Don’t ignore people who take the time to tweet to your company.

The Whole Foods Market Twitter account makes it a priority to respond to tweets.

Sometimes just acknowledging a tweet can make someone’s day—potentially making that person loyal to your brand for a lifetime. If you take the time to tweet, take the time to respond to complaints, compliments and questions in a timely manner.

Use humor to make your followers laugh.

Old Spice is known for their quirky marketing and branding, and it shines through on Twitter as well.

You never want to force it, but humor can be an effective way to make your company seem less robotic. And with the constant stream of information on Twitter, breaking it up with a laugh is always appreciated.

#3: Use Google+ Circles, Communities and Hangouts to Create Valuable Conversations

Create and share Google+ Circles your followers will find useful.

One Google+ feature that is sometimes underutilized is the ability to share Circles.

Your company can become a resource for users looking for more people to follow related to your company’s industry. After sharing the Circle on Google+, you can copy the link and share it in a blog post or on Twitter.

This is an example of a recent Circle featuring almost every speaker at SMX West.

Furthermore, this allows your company to connect with the people in the Circle you’ve created and build your audience. They may see the Circle you’ve made and decide to share it on their own profile.

Here are some examples of the type of Circles your company could create and share:

• Industry leaders
• Speakers at conferences
• Favorite writers

Get active in the right Google+ Communities.

Google+ Pages are able to take part in Google+ Communities like any other user: Pages can create, join, moderate and participate.

Chances are there’s already a Community that fits your company’s industry. If so, join the discussion. If not, make a new Community and invite others to join.

To learn more about Google+ Communities, check out this article from Mike Delgado.

Use Google+ Hangouts.

With Google+ Hangouts, your Page can start a video chat with up to nine people. This is a great opportunity to connect with your audience.

This Google+ Hangout with chef Nigella Lawson isn’t just solid content; it’s a fantastic way to have followers interact with The New York Times Google+ Page.

This New York Times Hangout featuring Nigella Lawson is a perfect example. It features a host—Lawson—and three home cooks who wrote in describing how they fared making Lawson’s pasta recipe and why they wanted to be included in the Hangout.

#4: Participate in LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn Company Pages can feature up to three groups on their page in an effort to have more people join the group(s).

Much like Google+ Communities, participating in LinkedIn Groups is another opportunity to join the discussion in your company’s industry and answer questions. As an added bonus, more professionals in your field will see your company.

This is a great opportunity for you to get more visibility for your company and to interact with people who may be interested in your products and services.

#5: Use Pinterest to Invite Others to Pin on Your Boards

Your company’s Pinterest boards don’t have to be limited to just company pins. Collaborate with other users to give your account a more personal feel.

For this style challenge, Home Depot invited others to pin.

To invite other Pinterest users to pin to a specific board, go to the board and click Edit. Next to “Who can pin?” type the users’ names or their email addresses (Note: in order to invite someone, you must be following at least one of that user’s boards.) Click Save Changes.

Once the invited users accept your invitation, they’ll be able to pin to the shared board. However, you can always remove the user and remove their pins. Moreover, invited users cannot change a board’s title or description.

Pinterest is just as much a community as any other social network. So remember to make the time to interact with other users by commenting on and repinning their pins. While you’re at it, follow users’ boards that fit your company’s industry so you have a fresh stream of related content every time you login.

#6: Don’t Forget to Engage on Foursquare

Use Foursquare to leave tips.

When a Foursquare user visits a location page, they’ll also see tips from other users.

If your company has a location (or multiple locations) on Foursquare, leave tips at your own locations to show users the personable side to your company. These can be simple, or perhaps even offer an inside joke.

Leaving tips at other businesses in your area provides a way to offer your authority on your industry. Best of all, Foursquare users get insightful tips and tricks.

For example, maybe you own a travel agency and leave tips on the feedback you’ve heard about particular attractions. Or maybe you own a food website and leave tips at popular restaurants.

You’ll find fun facts from the History Channel in the tips section of several landmarks.

In the above image, the History Channel provides some fun facts.

Again, you’ll be actively adding to the community.

Use Foursquare to create interesting lists.

Creating lists of places based on a general theme can help your company be seen by more people on Foursquare.

Lists are something Foursquare users appreciate because they act as a resource that’s easy to save. For instance, your company could create a list of its employees’ favorite lunch spots. Or the list could be the best places for company outings.

The Travel Channel has some food tips galore from Adam Richman.

Travel Channel has a list with the places Adam Richman has visited on the show “Man v Food Nation.” Over 8,000 users have saved it.

If you do decide to create a Foursquare list, login using the desktop version of Foursquare and make it from there. Compared to doing this on your phone, it’s much easier to find and save places to your list with more screen real estate.

#7: Get Creative With Your Hashtag on Instagram

Creating a hashtag and encouraging users to submit their photos is a smart way to stand out and be personable on Instagram.

The NBC News Instagram account recently asked users to tag their winter storm photos with the hashtag #NBCNewsPics. After the weekend passed, they chose four of their favorite user-submitted photos and featured the photos as a single image. In the description, they gave credit by including each user’s Instagram username.

By creating a hashtag, NBC News encouraged users to submit content AND was able to feature their favorite user-submitted photos.

Featuring user photos in this fashion on your company’s Instagram account adds to the community. It also shows that you’re on the social network to contribute more than just your own photos. There are several examples of companies doing this, including those in industries like journalism, sports and travel.

The easiest way to feature another user’s photo is through the use of third-party websites like Statigram and Webstagram. Both websites have the option to repost underneath all photos. Before reposting, don’t forget to obtain permission from the user first.

Use These Tips for More People-to-People Interaction

Use these examples to inspire your social media efforts and you’re sure to increase your social media engagement as you connect with more people in your community.

Advances in voice recognition spur personalization for marketers

Advances in voice recognition spur personalization for marketers

 

By Lauren Johnson

April 29, 2013

As marketers continue to hunt for ways to make mobile more contextually-relevant, the growth of voice recognition points to significant opportunities for marketers to tailor experiences at a more granular level.

Publishers, financial institutions and travel companies are all verticals that have recently leveraged voice recognition to create personalized mobile applications. Additionally, voice recognition presents marketers with a way to break up advertising with unique mobile-only elements.

“For mobile advertising in general, it is unclear how well it is working,” said Peter Mahoney, chief marketing officer at Nuance, Burlington, MA.

“People are taking creative from other formats and shrunken it down – as a result, consumers haven’t interacted to the level that advertisers had hoped for,” he said.

“By giving people a way to have a dialogue, it is an actual way to interact with an ad in a format that is somewhat challenging on a smaller screen.”

Building a two-way conversation
One of the reasons that voice recognition is beginning to play a more prominent role in marketing is because marketers are increasingly getting a better understanding of consumers through data.

Per Mr. Mahoney, voice recognition requires that marketers not only have a significant amount of data about their consumers, but also that consumers have a strong understanding of the brand.

Voice recognition also has particularly strong implications for direct response advertisers to cut down on the number of steps required for a consumer to take.

Take an entertainment company, for example. Instead of directing consumers to a mobile landing page to buy tickets to a movie, a marketer could use voice recognition to let consumers directly buy a movie ticket from an ad.

Nuance recently rolled out a new voice-activated mobile ad format for marketers to create a two-way conversation with consumers. Nuance has partnered with agencies and ad companies including Digitas, Jumptap, Millennial Media and OMD to help bring advertisers on board with the technology.

A demo of Nuance’s voice-activated ad

“What these voices ads allow you to do is dynamically drive a personalized conversation and the ability to gather more data,” Mr. Mahoney said.

“You can calculate gender and say that it’s a man or woman to personalize the ad towards,” he said.

“You need to ensure that you have segmented your audience – you need to define offers and messages that are relevant to those segments.”

Lead by example
There have been a few interesting recent uses of voice recognition from financial institutions and publishers that are all geared at creating more personalized mobile content.

For instance, Hearst Corp.’s Esquire launched an app that solely relies on voice-recognition to help users find the right piece of style, fashion and drink content (see story).

The Talk to Esquire iPad app

Financial institutions and insurance companies that depend on users filling in multiple fields of information to access their accounts or file claims also have a big opportunity with voice recognition to streamline the mobile experience for consumers.

ING Direct Canada, for example, is experimenting with voice recognition in its apps so consumers can speak into their devices to complete banking transactions (see story).

Both of these examples point to voice recognition as being used as a part of more contextually-relevant messages, which is key according to Ron Croen, CEO/founder of Volio, San Francisco.

“In terms of technology, marketing through such experiences is not just about voice recognition – the transcription of words or the listening – but also about language understanding – what the user means or the understanding and about the response to what is heard and understood,” Mr. Croen said.

“When combined with an image of a real person, the interaction is more human and realistic. Users respond to such applications with more interest, cooperation and openness,” he said.

“As a result, in the future it will be used in applications for information sharing and gathering, customer service, product information, education, advice and coaching.”

Mobile challenges
Personalized, contextual experiences are the end goal for marketers nowadays.

However, few marketers are leveraging the core built-in capabilities of mobile devices such as voice to do this, especially on mobile sites.

A new report from Monetate and Econsultancy found that only 14 percent of marketers are personalizing their tablet sites, and 13 percent of marketers are doing the same with their mobile sites.

To compare, 43 percent of companies offer personalized experiences for desktop users.

Despite the lack in executions, 94 percent of companies surveyed in the report agreed that personalization is critical to current and future successes. 

Part of the reason that marketers are wary about investing more heavily in digital with personalization comes from brands not getting significant ROI from Web, per the report.

“Consumers expect a consistent experience from a brand across all touch points, such as tablet, smartphone, in-store and desktop, although different devices serve different purposes,” said Marifran Manzo-Ritchie, spokeswoman for Monetate, Conshohocken, PA.

“When it comes to smartphones, consumers look for in-the-moment content that responds to their current situation,” she said.

“Mobile marketers that don’t tailor Web experiences for smartphones and tablets run the risk of alienating or losing customers.”

How to Target Facebook Ads Based on Purchase History, Lifestyles and More

How to Target Facebook Ads Based on Purchase History, Lifestyles and More

 

Would you like to get more out of your Facebook advertising?

Did you know you can now target Facebook ads based on people’s purchase history, job roles and other external insights from major data providers?

Facebook continues to roll out advertising tools that allow marketers to target their ideal customer in ways not seen before.

What Are Partner Categories?

Within the past year, Facebook has launched Custom Audiences, Conversion Tracking, Sponsored Results, Lookalike Audiences and a whole lot more.

Partner Categories is the latest tool added to your Facebook toolbox. Here’s what you need to know and how to use Facebook’s Partner Categories to reach the audience you want with your Facebook advertising.

Facebook partnered with Acxiom, Datalogix and Epsilon to make Partner Categories a reality. These partners provide data on Facebook users’ online and offline activities away from Facebook to create more refined targeting opportunities.

Up until recently, you could target ads to Facebook users based only on the information they provide in their profiles (age, gender, school, location, employer) and both precise and broad interests.

One of the previously added features—Custom Audiences—changed that, adding the ability to combine your offline customer list (email addresses, phone numbers and Facebook UID numbers) with your Facebook advertising efforts.

And now Partner Categories enters the fray to provide access to even more data for Facebook marketers.

Acxiom, Datalogix and Epsilon provide more than 500 categories that you can target associated with things like purchase history, job role and lifestyle.

There are more than 500 Partner Categories to choose from.

Instead of giving you a list of all 500-plus categories, here are 10 examples that provide a glimpse into the power of Partner Categories:

• Household size of 6 (8,842,800 users)
• Upscale department store credit card user (34,618,400 users)
• Home office supply purchases (2,638,300 users)
• Aftermarket vehicle purchase over 48 months ago (11,952,800 users)
• Baby food & products buyers (10,497,100 users)
• Casino vacations (4,242,000 users)
• Dog owner (12,643,500 users)
• Fitness buyers—runners (5,950,600 users)
• Teacher/educator (223,000 users)
• Donate to veteran causes (7,016,400)

As you can see, these partners are providing Facebook with a ton of data. Individual categories can include up to several million users.

And Facebook will continue adding to this list.

Partner Categories and Privacy

I know what you’re thinking: AHHHH! Advertisers know how much money I make? What I’ve bought? PRIVACY ALERT!

Rest assured, advertisers know nothing about you as a user. As Facebook marketers, you simply tell Facebook to target users in a specific group, and they do it. It’s the same as when we target women who are age 35-44, live in San Francisco and work at Facebook.

There are no lists of users. There’s just a category name and the number of people who are in it. Facebook does the rest.

When ads are displayed that utilize Partner Categories, users will be able to get more information about what company shared their information and how. Read this post from Facebook about advertising and third-party partners for more info.

Why Are Partner Categories Important?

It’s all about relevancy and efficiency.

Stop wasting your money advertising to people who don’t care about your product, service or niche. Focus on those most likely to relate to what you have to say.

This also opens up opportunities for selling on Facebook. Imagine you are in the travel industry and offer packages for seniors. You could target users in Datalogix categories like this:

• Take cruises (13,020,0400 users)
• Affluent baby boomers (17,098,700 users)
• Leisure travelers (22,800,900 users)

You could then target those who qualify in all three groups, and your list is cut down to about 4 million users.

Or maybe you sell new Ford trucks valued over $30,000. You could target users in Datalogix categories as follows:

• Pickup truck owner (17,904,500 users)
• Make is Ford truck (10,647,400 users)
• Vehicle age is 6-10 years old (31,187,100 users)
• Price is $30K-40K (2,249,400 users)

If you cross these categories, you end up with about 37 million users.

But your dealership is in Milwaukee, WI. If you target only men within 25 miles of Milwaukee who fit within these categories, the new audience is 71,500.

That’s right. Just over 70,000 Ford truck owners in the Milwaukee area (that’s a lot of Ford trucks in the Milwaukee area!) who may be on the lookout for a new Ford truck. You can target them.

Powerful, right?

How to Use Partner Categories

First of all, this is only available to advertisers within the U.S. for now. If you’re outside the U.S., stay tuned.

Second, Facebook says they are rolling this out to both Power Editor and the self-serve ad tool. I only have this within Power Editor. If you want access to all of the good stuff, you should be using Power Editor anyway.

While creating an ad, go to the Audience tab. Under Precise Interests is a Categories box. This holds both Facebook Broad Categories and Partner Categories.

Partner Categories are found in Power Editor under Precise Interests.

As mentioned earlier, you can grab categories from Acxiom, Datalogix and Epsilon. Just know that you can only pull categories from one of those partners for an individual ad.

Expand Acxiom, Datalogix or Epsilon to view the categories contained within them. Then select any of the categories that you want (again, only select categories within a single partner group).

Here’s what it would look like based on the travel company example from earlier.

Click on the categories you want to target. Make sure to pull from only one partner per ad.

Hover over a selected category and a tooltip description will come up. Here’s the description for “Affluent Baby Boomers”.

Hover over a category once you’ve selected it to get a full description.

You can choose to target people who like ANY or ALL of these categories by clicking on the drop-down to the left…

Target either ANY or ALL of your selected Partner Categories.

If you don’t feel like digging through all 500-plus categories (it’s admittedly a bit clunky to expand and collapse repeatedly to find what you want), you can also start typing a keyword in the category search.

I started typing “Marketing” and the category “Sales/Marketing” came up.

Instead of collapsing and expanding, type a keyword in the search to find your ideal Partner Category.

Partner Category targeting can then be used in addition to your other targeting like age, gender, location and interests.

Partner Category Reminders

To recap, here are the main things to remember if you’re going to start using Partner Categories today:

1. Target users based on buying activity away from Facebook.
2. Use Power Editor.
3. Only available in the U.S.
4. Target multiple categories, but only one partner at a time.
5. Use Partner Categories in addition to other targeting.
6. Nothing changes regarding privacy.

 

26 Mobile Apps to Improve Your Business and Networking

26 Mobile Apps to Improve Your Business and Networking

 

Have you been spending more of your mobile time using smartphone apps than browsing the web?

Suffice it to say, you’re not alone.

There are more than a million apps available and according to Sunil Gupta,”Users spend on average, 82% of their mobile minutes with apps and just 18% with web browsers.”

In this article, you’ll find apps to consider using to help you with your business and social activities.

Due to the enormous number of apps to choose from, I focused on apps that are convenient and provide social value.

Note: For consistency, all screenshots were taken from iTunes app store. I also looked for apps available on both iPhone and Android—and if not identical products on both platforms, another one with similar functionality would be available (see #3 for example).

Here are 26 apps, an A-Z guide to help you conduct business and network while on the go.

#1: Adobe Reader

Do you need to work on PDF docs on the go?

Adobe Reader offers features to view PDF documents, store and access documents in the cloud with Acrobat.com, navigate through PDF content, annotate and comment on PDF documents, fill out forms, organize documents, electronically sign and print and share.

“Easily access, manage and share a wide variety of PDF types.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#2: Bump

Do you want to easily share documents with those around you?

With Bump you can share contact information, photos, videos and files by simply bumping two phones together. You can also share contacts, photos and files with others and sync with your computer.

“Send your contact info, photos and music to the people around you who have this app.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#3: CardMunch Business Card Reader

Have you been holding onto a whole bunch of business cards from the last conference you went to? Looking for a solution for the cards you collected at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego?

Convert business cards to address book contacts and add them as connections on LinkedIn. CardMunch provides card-capture functionality for faster card scanning.

“Turns your business cards into contacts, now with LinkedIn integration.”

iPhone | Android *Yulu Card Reader
Free

#4: DocuSign Ink

Do you need to get that document signed, sealed and delivered?

With DocuSign Ink you can sign, send and store documents and even create a signature in different colors and formats.

“This app allows me to do my paperwork without having to download and print the papers, then sign and fax them in.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#5: Easy Note + To Do

To-do lists have a way of growing when you don’t chip away at them little by little. Using an app for note-taking and managing lists can make them feel much more doable.

The Easy Note + To Do app allows you to organize notes in folders, check items as complete, assign a due date and prioritize.

“Good basic functionality with an attractive and clutter-free design.”

iPhone | Android * EasyNote Notepad To Do List
Free

#6: Foursquare

Whether you’re in a familiar location or somewhere new, Foursquare has your back and 30 million others, too.

“Open up the app to discover and learn about great places nearby, search for what you’re craving, and get deals and tips along the way.”

“I really like seeing what my friends are doing. It’s also useful to find places I’ve been before or remember when I was last at a certain place.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#7: Google+

You don’t need to decide whether to check Google+ or leave your desk.

The Google+ app will help you stay connected via hangouts, photos and updates from what your friends are sharing.

“Sometimes the best things in life are small and simple yet packed with powerful connections!”

iPhone | Android
Free

#8: Highlight

Are you feeling particularly social today?

The Highlight app may be just what you’re looking for with its notifications when friends are nearby, ability to see mutual friends and messaging within the app.

“This app provides a good idea of what the near future of mobile + location can be.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#9: Instagram

Taking photos on a mobile phone offers users spontaneity plus the ability to visually transform a picture and share it immediately.

Instagram includes filters and borders, blur effects and easy sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare.

“A photo can say more than a status update ever will.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#10: Job Search

Searching for a new job can be time-consuming and stressful.  Using an app during a job search will help make the most of your time.

With the Job Search app you get access to information from company websites, recruitment agencies and job boards in the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, India, South Africa, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and Australia.

“Shows a lot of jobs available in my area.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#11: Kindle

You don’t need a dedicated e-reader to take advantage of reading on the go.  With the Kindle app, you can stay up to date with books, eBooks, magazines and newspapers right on your smartphone.

And while there are more reading choices than you’ll ever have time for, if keeping up with social media–related books is of interest, you can certainly do that. iPhone users can search for books within iTunes and Android users can find social media titles on Google Play.

“Being able to read books on the go without actually having to carry them with me is so convenient.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#12: Logo Mania Quiz

Marketers recognize the value of a memorable brand logo. These apps will let you test your skills and make a game of identifying a logo.

If your business is rebranding and reassessing the value of your corporate logo, this may be a fun way to review the strengths of well-known logos. (You can play Angry Birds or Words with Friends later!)

“Can’t stop.”

iPhone | Android *LOGO Mania
Free

#13: Meetup

Is online time usurping much of your day? There’s still nothing like the face-to-face experience.

The Meetup app will help locate meetups around topics of interest to you including social media, tech, business and entrepreneurship—and of course a range of fitness, hobbies, community, parenting and dog meetups, among others.

“It’s nice to see what people are doing in the community and be able to be involved.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#14: Nook

Similar to the features mentioned about Kindle, the Nook reader app will help transform your smartphone into your own library on the go.

There’s still nothing like holding a print book in your hands, but with these apps you’ll never find yourself without something to read when you’re waiting for the bus or train and the unexpected long time in a waiting room.

This may not be the most desirable way to read something like War and Peace, but the convenience and ease will come in handy. Plus both apps will sync with your Kindle or Nook device and let you resume reading where you left off.

“Love being able to have my book handy, no matter where I am!”

iPhone | Android
Free

#15: Odometer

Do you need to keep track of mileage for a business trip?

Odometer apps will simplify the process and help you store the date and number of miles traveled.

“Export history as .CSV file on Odometer +.”

iPhone *Odometer + $.99
Android *Odometer Free

#16: Photo Covers for Facebook Lite

Facebook cover photos are excellent real estate for business branding. The iPhone and Android apps referenced here will make it easy to create a new photo cover and post it while on the go.

Use your own image or choose one from a library of images that you further customize with special effects, captions and more.

“Simple but spot-on.”

iPhone | Android * Timeline Cover 4 Facebook Lite
Free

#17: QR Reader

Whether you want to scan a QR code (Quick Response Code) or create one, there are a number of apps that will add meaning and destinations (websites, special offers, contact information, etc.) to those ubiquitous codes.

Use the QR Reader to check out how other businesses are using QR codes and see if one makes sense for your business.

“Has so many options, is easy to use and distributes my code!

iPhone | Android *Scan
Free

#18: (i)Reddit

Reddit describes themselves as the “front page of the Internet.” If you’ve come to rely on Reddit’s news aggregation from countless sites, you’ll be happy with these apps knowing that you never have to leave home (or office) without Reddit again.

“This is a fantastic way to interface with Reddit.”

iPhone | Android *Reddit News
Free

 #19: Square Register

What will your smartphone do next? Take credit cards?

If you’re headed to a tradeshow, conference or a community event where you’re planning to sell your products, the Square Register app makes it possible to swipe credit cards and have payments delivered to your bank account within 1-2 days.

“I love the convenience w/o the contracts and additional fees that are attached to the traditional credit card machine or merchant services contracts.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#20: TED

If TED conferences are new to you, then you’ll be in for a thrill with their app that makes the wonder of these talks a mobile experience. There’s a wealth of information right at your fingertips.

Whether you want to buff up on some business-related topics, technology trends or be inspired by ones that are rated jaw-dropping, there’s clearly something for everyone on TED.

By #20, I don’t know about you but I’m feeling that if only there was an app for creating more hours in the day, we’d be all set!

“The TED app is great and perfect. It encourages you.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#21: UberSocial

UberSocial, previously known as Twidroyd, is a mobile app that enables users to post new tweets, monitor and keep up to date on hashtags, lists and people you follow, while also managing other multiple social accounts all in one place.

“It’s always been my most favorite mobile Twitter app because it’s so easy to use and has many features.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#22: Vintique

Want to look retro? Having several different styles for your photos on social accounts will add variety and make your images even more shareable.

The Vintique app allows you to add effects that give an old and classy look to photos.

“Fun to run pics thru all the effects.”

iPhone    *Vintique $.99
Android *Vintique-Photo Editor Free

#23: WiFi Finder

Need to find WiFi areas while traveling to make a Skype call or save on some of those minutes?

The Wifi Finder app features over 550,000 free and paid locations in 144 countries worldwide.

“Found hot spots I didn’t know were in my town.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#24: (e)xcel Contacts Lite

Business is all about contacts and making sure that you have a good solid list that you can access while you’re on the go is essential.

The Excel Contacts app will help you move contact information to and from your phone.

“Transfer contacts to and from your smartphone.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#25: Yelp

Making a decision about where to eat, shop or play has become more streamlined with mobile apps. Yelp has a very large and loyal following and is definitely worth checking out, especially when you’re in a new city.

It’s also very interesting to see how the places you’ve come to know, within close proximity to work and home, rank within the Yelp community. And, if you’re so inclined, you can add your two cents!

“No matter where we are, local or traveling, I can always find so much more on Yelp.”

iPhone | Android
Free

#26: Zendesk

It seems fitting that the last app on our list would be focused on customer support.

In this article we’ve run the gamut of the sales process; for example, maintaining and engaging contacts, promoting businesses with photos, QR codes, credit card payments, plus more. Managing customer support via mobile phones has also become a necessity.

With Zendesk you can view, update and create new help desk tickets, configure support ticket fields and add comments.

“Very simple to use, giving you peace of mind while you’re on the move.”

iPhone | Android
Free

Concluding Thoughts

As mentioned above, the average number of apps a person downloads is 40 and only around 15 are used regularly. Finding your core group of apps can be a very personal decision, establishing the kind of information you want and need to be able to access.

26 apps only scratches the surface. Hopefully along the way you’ve discovered some new apps to download and explore.