6 Ways to Acquire New Customers via Social Media
We all know social media is an important tool for brand awareness and customer acquisition — but how exactly are you supposed to convert random Twitter and Facebook users into real-life customers? Well, that depends. Different brands have different challenges when it comes to customer acquisition: "If you’re our customer, you’ve signed up for a year-long service, unlike the Starbucks of the world, where you can be a customer by coming in for a cup of coffee one day," says Lisa D'Aromando, social media community manager at Equinox. Whether you're a clothing shop, a restaurant or a subscription service, you must tailor your strategy so that it makes sense for your brand. "I'm a big believer in creating and sharing meaningful content," says Danni Snyder, co-founder and creative director at jewelry brand Dannijo. But what does it all entail? 1. There are 340 million tweets sent per day — odds are that a few of them are referencing your brand, though you may not realize it. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
10 Ways to Optimize Your Ecommerce Site for Google Search
Ecommerce websites have several inherent qualities — shallow copy, duplicate content and a large product catalog — that make it challenging to achieve a high Google ranking. But there are some best practices you can employ, in addition to traditional SEO techniques, to help your ecommerce site gain traction on Google. It's relatively simple: The more that you pay attention to the pitfalls of search, the more you can benefit from search. Do you have a successful strategy to rise through the rankings in Google? 1. Thanks to Panda, the latest update to the Google algorithm, content does not only have to be unique, but it also must have a level of quality. To get unique content at little cost, encourage your users to upload reviews, comments, photos, videos, etc. 2. Duplicate content will lower your search rank and is a common challenge for ecommerce sites. The tighter control you keep over content duplication, the more likely your page is to come up in the ranks. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Why Automating Social Media Marketing Could Hurt Facebook
Jeremiah Owyang is an industry analyst on customer strategy and partner at Altimeter Group. As author of the blog Web Strategy, he focuses on how corporations connect with their customers using web technologies. What if there was a way to determine the best time to share your tweets, Facebook updates, and response-worthy content? That's the thinking behind a new wave of companies that claim to have social media communication down to a science. Although the business is young, there are a lot of players out there already. For any marketer looking to get a handle on their social media marketing, these companies have a solid selling proposition. Alternative social networks could emerge. There is, of course, one possible downside to the spread of social media automation. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, MaxUser
Top 25 tips from the Getaway Travel Blog Conference | Getaway Travel Blog
If you’ve been keeping an eye on Facebook and Twitter, you’ll know that the second Getaway Travel Blog Conference (or #GTBC as we’ve come to know it), sponsored by Cape Town Tourism, was quite the success. The speakers had so many fascinating and inspirational things to say that most of the 160 delegates went home with renewed spark to improve their own blogs, or to start brand new ones. Seeing as it’s difficult to sum up an entire day’s worth of talks, I put together a list of top 25 tips gained from the incredible line-up of local and international speakers. For more on the 2012 Getaway Travel Blog Conference click here. About finding your niche and getting personal 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. About imagery 7. 8. 9. 10. About social media 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. About writing great content 16. 17. 18. About the technical and being professional 19. 20. 21. 22. About not being afraid (of working hard) 23. 24. 25. Here’s what other people learned at the 2012 Getaway Travel Blog Conference: Bizcommunity Flow
Avoid These 7 Social Media Fiascos | BNET
Last Updated Jul 7, 2011 9:27 AM EDT The list of scandals, embarrassments, missteps, and P.R. fiascos tied to social media seems to grow every day. Everyone knows the stories of disgruntled customers whose online complaints go viral, attracting millions of sympathetic viewers. Or the employees who get companies into trouble with an ill-advised post on the company's social media accounts. What is a business to do? Following are 7 lessons that will reduce the risk of social media failures for your own brand: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. No Heads in the Sand In an age of social media, brands no longer live in a 24 hour news cycle. Opting out of all social media is not the answer. So be aware of the hazards to your reputation, and remember these 7 lessons as you bravely navigate the risks and rewards of engaging with customers in a world where everyone now has a virtual megaphone. Related: © 2011 CBS Interactive Inc..
