While Facebook may be the most popular social media platform, some brands are discovering Twitter can be just as effective for growing your business and turning followers into leads and sales. However, it isn’t always easy to start building a real fruitful presence on the site.
According to Search Engine Journal, only 34% of marketers on Twitter are successful at finding leads on Twitter. Does that mean the hugely popular service isn’t fertile land for marketing? Not necessarily. You just have to understand Twitter before you can expect to start finding good leads.
Too many companies just Tweet whatever they can think of without any sort of strategy. But if you take the time to learn the ropes and see what works and what doesn’t, you can start Tweeting with a purpose and drawing in loads of quality leads.
Over the weekend, HubSpot and Market Domination Media released this infographic filled with useful tips and statistics that can help you craft a game plan so you can turn Twitter into a lead generating machine with a little time and testing to find what works best for you.
Promoting a tweet on Twitter just got a lot easier. While users have been able to promote tweets in the past, it required going through the company’s self-service platform. Now users can use the “quick promote” tool to quickly and easily promote a tweet.
Twitter designed quick promote expressly with small and medium businesses in mind. All you have to do to increase your tweet’s visibility is go to your tweet activity dashboard at analytics.twitter.com. Then, you simply have to select the tweet you want to promote and click the option to promote the tweet in the left sidebar.
For now, the service is relatively limited compared to Facebook’s extensive ad platform. Currently, Twitter only allows you to target quick promoted tweets to users similar to your followers. Although nothing is confirmed, it seems likely the company will expand the options in the near future.
The more useful features for small businesses hoping to increase their Twitter visibility is the ability to set small budgets and receive an estimate of how many people you are likely to reach.
After you’ve set the budget and promoted your tweet, you can watch its performance in real time using the analytics dashboard.
The service isn’t revolutionary, but it was in dire need for one of the most popular social platforms around. Now, small and medium businesses can benefit from Twitter ads in the same way big brands have been for over a year.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2015-02-05 12:52:322015-02-05 12:52:32Twitter Makes It Faster and Easier For Small Businesses To Promote Tweets
Twitter likes to tout itself as the social media site to watch events unfold as they happen, but a recent online survey suggests the majority of people will be sticking with Facebook during the Super Bowl this weekend.
According to the results of a survey by Salesforce Marketing Cloud, 66% of respondents plan to use Facebook while they watch the game, compared to just 56% who said they plan on using Twitter. Instagram came in third with 31% and Snapchat followed with just 11%.
Marketing Cloud’s survey received more than 400 responses over the past week, which means the survey is far from scientific. Nonetheless, the results do provide some insight into viewer behavior on social media during the big game.
The findings also showed that over 60% of Super Bowl viewers will be watching with a smartphone in hand, 24% will have a tablet, and 20% plan to watch with their laptop.
The results also provide some demographic information. Unsurprisingly, younger users leaned towards newer social media channels such as Snapchat, which will be used by approximately 45% of people between the ages of 12 and 24. However, Facebook and Twitter still led the poll within the demographic. Over 80% of 18-24 year olds will be Tweeting during the game, while 66% plan on posting to Facebook.
It is also not surprising to find Facebook had the biggest pull with older viewers. Over 75% aged 35-44 say they will use Facebook, compared to 54% who will use Twitter. This trend continues in the 45054 demographic, with 71% planning to use Facebook and 54% planning to use Twitter.
Perhaps the biggest shock in the results is the distribution of gender amongst social media platforms. Facebook overwhelmingly draws in female users, with 78% planning to post during the game. In comparison, only 45% of women plan to use Twitter. The results were distinctly reversed for men, 68% of whom will be Tweeting, compared to 55% for Facebook.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2015-01-30 12:14:202015-01-30 12:14:20Survey Shows Facebook Is The Favorite For Super Bowl Sunday
Twitter is making some big changes to its feed for the first time since the company established itself as a major social media platform. Users are spotting a ‘While you were away’ feature which helps sort through the noise of your feed to find the best content.
The feature is not available for everyone yet, but the increasing number of users seeing it suggests it will be fully available soon. Twitter is currently declining to confirm when a full release is expected.
OMG, it appears Twitter is testing a Facebook-like algorithm for the Home stream called "While you were away…" pic.twitter.com/CpQQMLp0VO
‘While you were away” is the first notable non-chronological feature available on Twitter, making a significant break from the traditional time-sorted feed on the site. Twitter indicated something similar was coming back in November, when the company said it would allow you to find the ‘best’ tweets from your feed since you last opened Twitter.
“Every time you open the Twitter app, you’ll see something great,” said the announcement.
In the past, Twitter would alert users to popular Tweets with email and push notifications. The new feature should streamline the process to make it easier for users to catch up with their friends without having to scroll through endless posts.
‘While you were away’ may also have some potential benefits for businesses as well, depending on the platform’s algorithm. With continued visibility of successful posts, there is a greater chance for people to see anything you share once it has gained traction.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2015-01-05 12:40:512015-01-05 12:40:51Twitter Starts Showing Users New ‘While You Were Away’ Feature
Instagram made big news recently by speeding past Twitter in active users, reaching 300 million to Twitter’s 284 million. Perhaps surprisingly, Twitter’s board members didn’t seem concerned by the numbers. Evan Williams, Twitter co-founder and board member didn’t mince words when he reportedly told Fortune “I frankly don’t give a s*** if Instagram has more people looking at pretty pictures.”
Well, if the last report wasn’t enough to give Twitter’s board pause, maybe a new study on brand engagement will make them less flippant.
Social analytics firm Socialbakers compared the top 25 brands in Instagram engagement with the top 25 on Twitter and found Instagram received up to 50 times more engagement rates per post.
By comparing three months of data ending December 9, Socialbakers found the average Instagram post for a major brand has a per fan engagement rate of 3.31% (counting likes and comments), whereas top brands on Twitter only receive an average rate of 0.07% per tweet including retweets, replies, and favorites.
Throughout the three month period of the study, brands included averaged 38 times more total interactions on Instagram (6.5 million a month) compared to Twitter (167,000). Socialbakers didn’t release a full list of included brands, but they did divulge five brands appearing on the lists for both Twitter and Instagram: Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks, GoPro, Forever21, and Aeropostale.
Socialbaker’s report isn’t much of a shocker in light of past reports. A previous Forrester Research study released last May found Instagram’s per follower engagement rate for major brands to be an astounding 120 times higher than Twitter.
As the year comes to a close, countless companies are releasing their 2014 recaps and best-of-lists, including Facebook and Twitter who have both recently released their year in review which highlights the top trends, topics, locations, and content across social media his year.
Facebook
Here are the top updates, trends and locations on Facebook in 2014:
Top Global Topics
World Cup
Ebola virus outbreak
Elections in Brazil
Robin Williams
Ice Bucket Challenge
Conflict in Gaza
Malaysia Airlines
Super Bowl
Michael Brown/Ferguson
Sochi Winter Olympics
Most Talked About US Topics
Ebola virus outbreak
Ice Bucket Challenge
Robin Williams
Super Bowl
Michael Brown/Ferguson
World Cup
Conflict in Gaza
US midterm elections
Malaysia Airlines
ISIS
Most Checked-Into US Locations
Disney properties
Universal Studios Hollywood
Times Square
Yosemite National Park
Grand Canyon National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yankee Stadium
Las Vegas Strip
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Madison Square Garden
Twitter
Using the site 2014.twitter.com, Twitter has released their top moments and perspectives of 2014 that can be juxtaposed with previous years. Here are some highlights:
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-12-15 12:27:292014-12-15 12:27:29Facebook and Twitter Release Their 2014 “Year In Review” Lists
Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media platforms around. With new estimates saying Instagram pulls in 300 million monthly users, the photo- and video-sharing app has bypassed Twitter’s official user count of 284 million. The new numbers mark a 100 million user increase since March.
The company announced the milestone yesterday, along with the announcing that Instagram would begin verifying accounts similar to Twitter’s method of certify celebrity or high-profile accounts.
The verified badges for public figures and brands will be coming within the week according to Instagram, who says the badges “will make it easier for people to identify and follow the authentic brands they care about.” The blue badges will appear next to names on their profile pages, as well as in search.
The increase in users leaves only a few social media sites ahead of Instagram, including Google+, LinkedIn, and Instagram’s companion company Facebook. The site is extraordinarily popular among youth and brands, and predictions see it continuing its fast growth.
In the announcement, Instagram also said it would be purging fake accounts from the site, so brands can expect to see a relatively small follow count decline.
Twitter has grown from a small social media platform to one of most popular ways to share and interact with everyone from friends and family to celebrities and clothing brands. But along the way Twitter also got a reputation for being one of the most highly efficient marketing tools possible.
While Twitter isn’t the first social media platform to allow brands and public figures to interact with their audiences, it has continuously been one of the most powerful and easy to use platforms available. The only thing holding it back was a lack of analytics tools.
Last month, Twitter took the first step in rectifying this issue by launching an analytics dashboard similar to Google Analytics that specifically focused on Twitter. The analytics dashboard did everything from measuring the performance of your tweets to monitoring how many people are seeing each tweet. Too bad only advertisers and verified users had access to it at the time.
Thankfully, everything changed yesterday when Twitter engineer Ian Chan announced the wide release of the analytics dashboard via a tweet.
Twitter also added a new page to the help center which explains everything you could want to know about using the dashboard and familiarizing yourself with the layout. To get access to the analytics dashboard, you only need to have an account that has been open for more than 2 weeks and primarily tweets in English, French, Japanese, or Spanish.
As I discussed yesterday, reports are coming out that earlier this year mobile traffic overtook internet traffic coming from desktop computers. Today, a new study has been released which adds to the evidence that 2014 will be remembered for being the tipping point between desktop and mobile or universal internet usage.
The study from social data and sharing tool provider ShareThis found that sharing via smartphones and tablets has surged more than 30% during the second quarter of the year. Using data pulled from its network of more than 2 million U.S. publishers, ShareThis found sharing had gone up 27.8% for smartphones and 3.5% for tablets when compared to the first quarter. In the meantime, desktop sharing has dipped 5.5% in the same time.
Pinterest and Twitter are the big winners of this jump in mobile sharing, as ShareThis found 75% of pins and 71% of tweets come from smartphone and tablets. That means mobile users pin and tweet three and two times more than their respective desktop users.
Of course, Facebook still dominates overall social media sharing, with 64% of total content shared. However, that percentage is 3.9 percent less than what they showed during the year’s first quarter.
All week we try to keep you up to date with the most important SEM news across the web, but inevitably there are smaller stories that fall through the cracks. That’s why we compile all the most important news we missed this week all in one convenient place every Friday. Despite the distractions of the world cup, there have been some pretty big announcements throughout the week. So, let’s get to it.
Google Preps Online Retailers With Best Practices
With the clock ticking before Shopping Campaigns becomes the default campaign type for running Product Listing Ads at the end of August, Google is trying to help prepare retailers and marketers by issuing best practice guidelines to help everyone make the transition smoothly.
For the most part, the guidelines listed aren’t far off from the original PLA recommendations. Yes, the paper covers product feed optimization and newer updates, but most of it is a refresher for those who have been working with retailers for a while now, including classic rules like “use relevant titles and high quality images.”
However, marketers and retailers may be interested in the new recommendations about how to structure new shopping campaigns, especially as we enter the transition period.
You can download the whitepaper of the guidelines from Google here.
Sneak a Peak at Google’s New Reconsideration Rejection Forms
Last week, Matt Cutts made headlines throughout the SEO community by announcing that Google will be revising their reconsideration requests rejection notices with more detailed information in some cases. Of course, there were plenty of skeptics, but an example of the rejection notices has been shared on Twitter by @johnwarddoyle.
Surprisingly, it seems Google made good on their promise.
Don’t get too excited. The individualized response is short and easily missed, but rejection notices at least offer some useful information for repairing a site now. Largely the note is the same as before, but down at the bottom you will see a new section titled “A note from your reviewer.” Here, you will find specific advice relevant to your site that could be potentially highly useful.
Facebook Shows Off Their Snapchat Competitor
After having a $3 billion offer refused by Snapchat – the popular self-destructing photo messenger app – Facebook is trying to fight back. This week Facebook announced Slingshot, an app obviously influenced by Snapchat’s concept, but with a new twist.
Slingshot does allow users to send photos or short video messages that will delete automatically after a short period of time, but there is more to it:
To get started on Slingshot, shoot a photo or video… add some text and color, then sling it to a bunch of friends. Here’s the deal: friends won’t be able to see your shot until they sling something back to you. They can then reply with a reaction – or simply swipe your shot away.
The concept encourages reciprocal communication more and could potentially catch on, but it could just as easily fall apart in the shadow of it’s better-established rival. With the faltering youth activity on Facebook, it is hard to know how much traction this type of app can get.
Major Brand’s Seeing Engagement Plummet on Facebook
Speaking of Facebook’s problem of bleeding activity and user engagement, recent reports show that it isn’t just the teen demographic evaporating from the site. Facebook analytics provider Simply Measured says consumer engagement with Facebook posts from almost all top Interbrand companies are down significantly from last year.
According to the firm, monthly engagement is down over 40 percent since May 2013.
Only two brands on the list (MTV and Harley Davidson) say increases in engagement, while the others saw huge decreases. Overall engagement was down at least 50 percent.
Most troublesome for Facebook, the report outright cites the decreasing organic reach available on Facebook as a primary blame for the decline in engagement.
Facebook’s Graph Search Makes Its First Appearance on Mobile
While Facebook’s Graph Search hasn’t been officially released on mobile yet, but it is most likely getting very close to being rolled out. Over the past week, many people reported encountering a test showcasing in-depth integration for the Graph Search for mobile users with all the same features you’ve come to recognize.
The most anyone has gotten out of Facebook is the response “we’re testing improvements to Facebook mobile search.” But, I would wager the release will be sooner than later. The current testing version for mobile seems to be able to handle all the complex searches capable on desktop and appears to be largely ready for release.
Twitter Finally Adds Animated GIF Support
Twitter’s announcement this week may seem super minor, but it has received nearly as much coverage this week as any other bit of information relevant to online marketing. The reason is simple: internet users love GIFs and this week Twitter announced you can now post and view animated GIFs on Twitter’s website and mobile apps.
Of course, the announcement came in the form of a Tweet featuring an animated GIF from Twitter Support.
Previously, users could share links to GIFs via third-party services like Imgur, but starting this week you can now share and view the moving images directly on Twitter.
Importantly, GIF’s won’t start playing automatically in your feed like they do on Tumblr. Instead, when a GIF is shown, a white play button will be overlayed, allowing you to choose when a GIF starts playing.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-06-20 13:27:452014-06-20 13:27:45Quick SEM News of the Week – June 20, 2014
Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media platforms around. With new estimates saying Instagram pulls in 300 million monthly users, the photo- and video-sharing app has bypassed Twitter’s official user count of 284 million. The new numbers mark a 100 million user increase since March.
