It can be difficult to get your followers to engage with your content on social media. Just because you are producing great content and your chest swells with pride when you read it, doesn't mean you've successfully caught your followers eyes and enticed them. When it comes to content, you want your followers to want to comment, "like", share or tell their friends without you telling them too. This can be done with not only exciting content but a different approach as well.
What is ySocial? ySocial is Thrive's Newest YMCA Solution. We understand that YMCAs are busy in their day to day routines, their main concern is their members and providing them with the best possible experience. Here at Thrive, we wanted to provide YMCAs with a variety of content choices to post on their Facebook pages.
Struggling to gain more Instagram followers? Like most social platforms there is a "time frame and best day" to post. Yes, there is research proving that certain days and times are best for postings, but there are plenty of people at other times that aren't considered ideal that might be better followers to gain than other times.
Vine has really taken off in the social media world. With only 6 seconds of video to work with, brands are coming up with creative ways to use that time to get their messages out. Some are making them funny, some are informative and some are just meant for contests.
Did you know there are different types of Facebook fans? The same message can't always be targeted correctly to all the fans or members of your audience like you want it to.
Yesterday I posted about the 2013 Facebook Changes That You Should Know About. Today I bring you the entire list of Facebook Changes that you as a user and business should know in order to better your Facebook presence.
Facebook has been busy this year with all the changes they have made to the News Feed, timelines, personal profiles, business and interest pages, Graph Search and verified profiles. Despite Facebook wanting to keep us constantly on our toes….a learning curve comes with each change. Learn all the changes that have happened in 2013 and how they affect you and your Facebook presence.
At Inbound 13 we saw several great speakers that made points about Inbound Marketing that many companies should start adopting. We want to add some of those people to our "Remarkable Speakers" list to watch for.
Tiffany Sauder, President at Element Three, gave a very interesting talk on "Create A Winning Inbound Brand" at Inbound 13. One of the very first things she mentioned in her session, is still ringing in my head and is so simple and easy to understand; A brand is so much more than a product or label.
Now that statement is not something that many people think of. Everyone is worried about the exterior of a brand. Well what are they known for? Who are they? How popular are they? I'm sorry I thought I left high school years ago - not leaving it to get my degree and then go back again. Since when does every brand have to be judged based off their exterior look?
What I learned from Tiffany? Here we go:
For example, Tiffany walked over to another session audience member, pointed to her iPhone and asked, "Do you know how this works?" and the audience member seemed a little puzzled but responded "I'm not sure what you mean. It just works." She proceeded to ask, "What does it do for you?" This is was a response starter. People started to shout out what their iPhone is used for - staying connected, work, emails, checking in on family, etc. This makes perfect sense to me now that she used the iPhone example. People who are looking for a product don't necessarily care how it works. They want to know what it is going to do for them. It's that simple.
In Tiffany's words: Brands that look like crazy town - should own it. Every brand to an extent looks like crazy town but owning it makes them different.
Tiffany showed an adorable picture of her daughter wearing a fairy costume with a puffy pink jacket and a Rudolf nose that she insisted on buying. Tiffany affectionately said her daughter looks like "a hot mess". Most brands do look like a hot mess but the ones that own it are the ones that are the best brands and the most well known. They do things right.
What brands can you think of that are "a hot mess" that you admire, watch, monitor or have a loyalty with?
As many of you know we are at the Hubspot conference this year, brushing up on our inbound marketing skills, finding the latest and the newest cutting edge marketing strategies and bettering ourselves to better you and your brands. What have we learned so far? Well, sleep is a must. Trying to conceptualize the newest marketing solutions, grab coffee before all the other cranky marketers drink it all AND grab a decent seat to see the PowerPoint screen, is difficult without at least 6 hours of sleep. Coffee is a must. Wake up early and get your coffee - otherwise you are out of luck. Twitter is the place to be when looking for quotes and statements done by the speaker that you weren't fast enough to write down. You will be retweeted at least 5-7x throughout the day. Wearing your badge outside of the conference will bring you new friends very quickly. Seriously.
We have heard talks from Arianna Huffington, Brian Solis, Seth Godin, Nate Silver and so many more. Their main points? Empower yourself. Listen to your customers. Don't just talk - you need to listen. Does that always happen with marketers? Nope. Do we try? Maybe. Are the cutting edge, brilliant companies doing it? Obviously. Should you be one of them? Absolutely.
Anyone telling you that social media doesn't change the face of how you manage your brand is living in a cave. Social media is where you are able to listen to your audience and where your true marketing plan begins. But not only do you need social media to enhance your marketing plan, you need great content as well. Be creative. Be the first to do something. You don't have to put yourself on the map necessarily but you need to draw attention to the great things you are doing.
How well are you marketing your brand? Are you using a well rounded marketing plan? Learn to stay ahead of the curve. All the marketers in the sandbox will be jealous and follow your lead.