Social media is one of the best tools modern marketers and business owners have to connect with their demographic and build their brand. But, social media can also be a bit fickle or harsh. You can spend months or even years creating your brand’s online presence and building up an audience, only to create a massive PR problem with a single post.
As the saying goes, the bigger they are the harder they fall. Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+, having a big audience only means you have more eyes scrutinizing your every Tweet and Pin for a potential scandal or brand breakdown.
You don’t have to get too worried though. Nearly every big social media mistake can be avoided by following some simple rules. Search Engine Journal shared a list of 30 ways you can make a mistake on social media. While the list may seem long, it provides a complete guide to social media – from building an audience to avoiding any meltdowns or missteps in the future.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-06-16 14:03:392014-06-16 14:03:3930 Big Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
We are just a day away from the start of World Cup 2014, and this year’s competition will be the most socially connected yet. Social media use is at an all-time high, and Twitter and Facebook are locked in a battle for the place as the dominant platform users turn to for keeping up to date with scores, game times, and fan response.
Though soccer is often treated like a novelty in the US, the sport actually has a strong and passionate audience across the country – not to mention the unbelievably large fan base around the world. FIFA claims that around 3.2 million people watched at least one game of the last World Cup in 2010, and this year seems likely to get even more viewers.
As Twitter and Facebook made clear with announcements yesterday, both platforms are hoping to get a piece of the action by rolling out campaigns aimed at promoting soccer and encouraging fans to turn to their specific platforms.
Facebook’s Trending World Cup Page
Facebook’s News Feed algorithm isn’t exactly well-suited for keeping up with real-time conversation like Twitter is, but it is offering a Trending World Cup page designed to help fans follow the latest scores, match highlights, and conversation. The page will even allow users to click through a global map which displays the Facebook popularity of top World Cup players.
Several people, including Marketing Land, have already used the global map to discover some fairly interesting statistics, such as England’s Wayne Rooney being strangely popular in Namibia.
As with all of Facebook’s trending pages, the World Cup page will also show the latest posts from friends, players, teams, and the media making sure you never miss a spectacular goal or scandalous foul.
Facebook users will be able to filter conversations based on the specific match they are watching as well, once the games have started.
Twitter’s World Cup Landing Page and Hashflags
Twitter users can already access a dedicated World Cup landing page via the hashtags #WorldCup and #WorldCup2014, which offers a scoreboard and updates with conversation about the event and games. Similar to Facebook, Twitter will also allow users to organize what content they are seeing by selecting “match timelines” that only show tweets about specific games.
This is fairly standard for users, but Twitter users from the last World Cup may be excited to see that “hashflags” are returning for the latest competition. Introduced for the 2010 World Cup, the feature displays flag icons of people who include appropriate three-letter hashtags in their tweets. Before the games kick off on Thursday, Twitter will also unveil “The World Cup of Tweets” bracket.
The social platform is also acting to retain new users who choose Twitter for their World Cup 2014 social needs by adding soccer suggestions to the sign-up process throughout the games.
“After you sign up and choose your username, you can select the team you’re supporting,” Twitter’s Xiaolei Li wrote in a blog post. “Then you can choose from a number of profile and header photos that represent your country. (Of course, you can upload your own photos too.)”
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-06-11 13:02:472014-06-11 13:02:47Twitter and Facebook Want To Keep You Up To Date With World Cup 2014
We are quickly reaching the point where every social media platform has their own advertising platform specific to their brand. Facebook has Facebook Ads, Google+ has +Post ads which display all across Google’s network, and of course Twitter has their own advertising platform, Twitter Ads.
As to be expected, each platform has its own upsides and drawbacks. But, if you can make it adjust your approach to the platform, advertising on the one of the largest social media sites of the moment is certainly an effective way to increase your reach and generate leads.
If you are thinking about expanding your advertising strategy to include Twitter Ads, Melissa Mackey recently explained some of the most important good and bad aspects to the platform you need to know before you get started.
Twitter continues to grow and draw in new users, but a new report from eMarketer suggests the boom may be coming to an end. Year after year Twitter’s growth is slowing down, and it looks like the trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
As eMarketer reports in their first-ever forecast of global Twitter users, Twitter’s user base will increase by 24.4% in 2014. If this is proven true at the end of the year, it will continue the pattern that has already been taking place for the past few years. In 2015, it is predicted Twitter’s growth rate could drop to just 9%.
In 2013, Twitter grew by 30%, and 2012 saw a 50% rate of growth. The majority of recent growth has come from overseas.
If eMarketer’s estimates are correct, it would put Twitter at a total of 227.5 million users this year, and 269.9 million in 2015.
Several people have noted that these numbers are quite different from Twitter’s own reported 225 million monthly active users, which the service said it reachedlast month. The difference in the figures can be explained however by eMarketer’s decision notto include business accounts and instances of multiple accounts. As they explained:
Our figures differ from Twitter’s reported figure of 255 million monthly active users in 2013 because we rely heavily on consumer data to weed out business accounts, multiple accounts for individual users, and other sources of potential double-counting.
These numbers paint a grim picture for Twitter, who has already admitted its trouble with retaining users, especially as Wall Street becomes increasingly disappointed in Twitter’s slow user growth.
Any business with a successful marketing system knows the importance of keeping up with the latest trends. If you don’t stay up to date, you can struggle with staying relevant or finding ways to connect with potential customers, which can quickly become a spiral into further irrelevancy.
But, it isn’t always easy to stay tuned in with the constant ebb and flow of new trends and competing interests. This has always been the biggest struggle for marketing teams. In the past it took enormous resources to track consumer trends, while now we have so much information on hand it can often be overwhelming.
In today’s constantly connected world, marketers and business owners have all the most up-to-date data on the rising trends all available with a simple click of the mouse. Instead of conducting public surveys to see what people are talking about, you can gain a significant amount of insight from checking out Twitter’s trending topics.
At the end of the day though, being completely connected with the hottest trending topics of the moment is wasted if you can’t convert that information into an opportunity to connect with your audience. The trends present an opening that you have to take advantage of.
Eric Sornoso’s recent article from Search Engine Journal teaches business owners how to spot their opportunity and strike when the right trends appear. With a little bit of trial and error, you’ll learn Twitter’s constantly changing trends present endless chances to get your name recognized.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-19 12:44:452014-05-19 12:44:45Turning Twitter Trends Into Opportunities For Your Own Business
With the constant stream of information coming out of the online marketing industry, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest updates without missing some important news. That’s why we compile all the biggest stories you may have missed this week all in one convenient place every Friday. This week, Pinterest dominates headlines. Let’s get started:
Pinterest Finally Starts Paid Test of Promoted Pins
Last fall, Pinterest announced they would be making their first foray into paid ads on the social media platform under the title of “Promoted Pins”. They ran some tests shortly after the announcement to gauge how their users responded to the ads. Now, Pinterest declared they have officially begun a small paid test of the Promoted Pins while working with a small group of brands from the U.S. The test will only be shown in Pinterest’s search and category fields.
Pinterest lists the entire list of brands taking part in the test, including ABC Family, Banana Republic, GAP, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. If you do happen to catch one of the Promoted Pins being tested, Pinterest would like users to give feedback via a form found here.
Pinterest Reveals the Most Popular Categories On Each Day of the Week
Just about every social media platform has their own mini-trends that influence what type of content gets shared the most at a certain time. Facebook users follow predictable patterns of usage times and the success of content on Reddit is partially decided by the “prime sharing times” when users are more likely to see new content. Similarly, Pinterest recently shared a post on their blog detailing the most popular categories for each day of the week.
4 Statistics About Pinterest You Need to Know
On the topic of Pinterest trends and data, RJMetrics recently ran a study of 50,000 random pinners and their pins to analyze how people are using Pinterest. At first glance, the data may seem like old news, however the details found in the study give strong insight into what pinners are interested in, what they are likely to share, and when they are most likely to Pin. For example, it is no secret that the majority of Pinterest’s users are female, but it may come as a surprise that around 80 percent of pinners are female, and an whopping 92 percent of all pins on the site come from women.
You can get all the details from the study in RJMetrics’ report on their site.
Google Maps Adds Location Based Quick Facts
Yesterday, Google announced via Google+ that they have added a new section on map results for location searches named “Quick Facts.” As many have pointed out, the section looks quite similar to the Knowledge Graph that appears on some Google searches, and has the same type of very quick information about the area you are searching for. The Quick Facts are pulled from Wikipedia and other data sources typically used in the Google Knowledge Graph.
You can get an idea how the Quick Facts operate thanks to the example Google released of the results for Angkor Wat in Cambodia below.
Twitter Introduces a Mute Button To Quiet Individual Users
Earlier this week, Twitter revealed they will be adding a new feature for its iPhone and Android apps, as well as Twitter.com, which allows users to mute specific people and forbid their tweets from appearing in your timeline. You can mute users two different ways. You can either mute a user from a Tweet by clicking on ‘more’ followed by ‘mute @username’ or you can mute users from their profile page.
When a user is muted, their Tweets and Retweets will be no longer visible in your home timeline and you won’t receive push notifications if you previously set up that feature for the user. However, the muted user will still be able to see, face, reply to, and retweet anything you share. From the muted users perspective nothing will have changed.
You will be able to unmute users at any time and the new feature is expected to be rolled out in the next few weeks.
Facebook and Twitter See Slightly Less Global Usage While Instagram and Tumblr See Big Increases
Facebook and Twitter still hold a strong hand on the social media landscape/ However their grasp may not be safe forever as new survey data from GlobalWebIndex shows a slight reduction in usage for both networks over the past six months. They Facebook may not be too nervous yet. The survey of more than 40,000 internet users in 32 global markets, excluding China, found that as much as 82% of users worldwide have Facebook accounts.
However, several reports suggest the small dip in usage may be an indicator of a growing trend within Facebook, opening the door of opportunity for smaller and more focused social platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr.
The survey also found a significant growth in the use of mobile apps. Out of all apps, Snapchat saw the biggest rise in use as it is accepted by more and more teens worldwide. You can download the full report from GlobalWebIndexhere, but Martin Beck also summarizes the findings over on Marketing Land.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-16 12:08:202014-05-16 12:08:20Quick SEM News of the Week – May 16, 2014
With the constant stream of news coming out of the online marketing industry, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest updates without missing some important information. That’s why we compile all the news you may have missed this week all in one convenient place every Friday. Let’s get started:
Google Updates Guidelines Regarding Redirects
Google has had a policy against redirects intended to deceive or manipulate search engines or users, but this week they updated their Webmaster Guidelines to explicitly include mobile-specific redirects. They also include an example of a deceptive mobile redirect with a scenario where “desktop users might receive a normal page, while hackers might redirect all mobile users to a completely different spam domain.” Google details the revisions in an announcement on their Webmaster Central Blog.
Google Wants To Help You Remember Where You Parked
According to Android Authority, Google’s latest update to the Android version of the Google Search App includes a new feature which can help users remember where they parked their car and even give directions on how to get back to that spot. For users parking at large venues, malls, or in heavily-populated areas, this could potentially be a lifesaver. The parking reminder works by asking if you want to save a location as a Google Now card. Then when you are ready to get back to your car, you just tap on the card in the app and directions will appear.
Search Ads Get More Revenue per Conversion When Integrated With Social
Online marketing is quickly reaching the point where you can’t approach it in a vacuum and hope for success. The days of keeping SEO, PPC, and social media marketing apart are fading fast, if they aren’t completely gone already. A new study from Marin Software confirms this y showing that advertising performs vastly better when integrated with a social advertising strategy. Jessica Lee breaks down the details of the study at Search Engine Watch, but you can also get the full white paper here.
YouTube Now Lets Channel Owners Attach Short Intros To Their Videos
This week, YouTube announced that channel owners can now add a three-second intro to their videos, allowing them to build a stronger and more cohesive brand presence across the video platform. Channel owners must upload the intro as an unlisted video, then click “Add a channel branding intro” on the InVideo Programming page. At that point, channel owners can select which videos should include the intro. However, YouTube has said intros can not be used as ads, sponsorship, or product placements, and should not be used by channels whose videos act as advertisements.
Twitter Earns 14 Million Monthly Active Users in Q1 of 2014
Twitter’s earnings report for the first quarter of 2014 shows they continue to grow in just about every area, even outperforming Wall Street estimates in all but one area. The area in which they have continued to struggle is gaining monthly active users, but even there Twitter is showing very positive signs. While not beating Wall Street estimates, Twitter monthly users did grow by 14 million since Q4 2013, culminating in 255 million total users. This is substantially more growth than shown n Q4 2013.
Vine is Coming To Desktop With New Features
Up until now, Vine has been confined to smartphones, but this week the social video platform has made the leap to desktop with a well laid-out website and some new features. The new features include top navigation in the left which includes the home feed and popular now feed, and all feeds can now be linked together in TV mode. The biggest addition however is the new search bar that lets users search by tag, person, or location for the first time. You can get more details in the announcement on Vine’s blog, or you can see the new site for yourself here.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-02 12:21:372014-05-02 12:21:37Quick News of the Week – May 2, 2014
More than a few online marketers are ready to declare desktop search to be dead, as the internet works to integrate platforms more than ever. But while mobile traffic is becoming an ever more important part of the search world, ignoring desktop internet usage could be a huge mistake.
One of the most important metrics for many online businesses are marketers is engagement. When you share something on your site or through Facebook or Twitter, the goal is naturally to interact with others. Sure, plenty of people spew out content without ever actually interacting, but anyone who takes social media and online interaction seriously knows that real engagement is what happens after you’ve shared.
Publishing and sharing content has tons of benefits, but users gain a better idea of who the company they are interacting with through commenting, messaging, and truly engaging a discussion. Consumers have shown more and more that they are looking for brands with a face, or at least a Twitter personality.
However, if you are marketing directly towards a mobile users or you are writing up a death certificate for mobile search, you likely aren’t getting as much as engagement as you could. A new study has shown that desktop users are the dominating force behind content sharing and engagement around the world.
The mobile share of total engagement has been increasing, but the latest data from AddThis still shows a 65%-35% advantage for desktop. There are many possibilities for the cause behind the disconnect. Martin Beck suggests the driving force is publishers who haven’t optimized content and engagement services for small screens, but that doesn’t explain away the differences observed on mobile optimized platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
More likely, the differential is created by different usage patterns across platforms. Mobile users are more likely to look up brief facts and information, but content that calls for engagement also often necessitates more thought and time to read. Quite simply, most people are more likely to do their reading, bookmarking, sharing, and commenting from the comfort of a desk.
With the constant stream of news coming out of the SEO industry, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest updates without missing some important information. Below, we will go through all of the news from the week that we missed the first time.
Yahoo’s Q1 2014 earnings gave some optimism that the company had some life in it, but don’t get too hopeful. The latest market share analysis of the search market shows that Yahoo is still falling, while Microsoft benefits and Google stays comfortable with their two-thirds of the market.
The idea of senior citizens being out of touch with technology is becoming increasingly questionable, as a new survey conducted by Thrive Analytics and the Local Search Association shows that older generations (including Boomers an Seniors) are embracing mobile to inform their local shopping process.
Google’s Carousel interface is less than a year old, but new screenshots suggest Google is already looking at the possibility of showing ads from the paid Google Shopping results within the content bar across the top of some search result pages. Pete Myers shared a screenshot of the test on the Moz Google+ page, and notes “almost everything above the fold is a paid result.”
Facebook announced the roll out of a new optional feature that will make it easier to find friends that are close-by. The new feature will notify you when friends get within a certain distance so that you can get in touch with them. The feature is completely optional and can be turned off at anytime, but both users must have the feature turned on to receive notification when they come within close proximity.
Rumors have been swirling that Yahoo is hoping to leverage Apple’s dislike for Google in order to become the default search provider for iPhones. Media outlets everywhere jumped at the chance to report on these rumors, but as Danny Sullivan shows, it would take something close to a miracle for Yahoo to have any chance of becoming the big search option for Apple’s mobile users.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-04-18 11:45:172014-04-18 11:45:17Quick News of the Week – April 18, 2014
It appears we are currently in redesign season for most major search engines and social media platforms. Over the past month, Google and Bing have announced redesigns of their search results pages (Bing’s is still in testing, but has been confirmed). Meanwhile, Facebook rolled out the latest version of their site, and now Twitter has announced a new design for profile pages, complete with a slew of new features.
It seems obvious that one of the major motivators for the redesign was to improve organization of the site. Marketing Land recently conducted a study that found one of the biggest reasons for people to quit Twitter was the lack of sorting, filtering and media, which are all major focuses of the new layout.
Source: Marketing Land
The biggest and most notable change however, is the huge profile header that spans the full width of the screen. The huge header is easily the biggest visual change, but the most important updates all fall below. The new features allow users to pin Tweets to the top of the page, which is the first feature that allows users to break the chronological flow of their page ever. You can also filter the tweets you view by three categories:
Tweets
Tweets and Photos/Videos
Tweets & Replies
One of the last updates is a bit more subtle than the rest. Tweets with more engagement have gained more prominence on the screen as fonts get bigger based on activity. The Tweets getting the most attention get bigger, while less popular updates will continue to be shown at the normal font size.
Source: Marketing Land
The new profile design and functionality is currently limited to a small group of prominent users such as Weezer, Zac Efron, & Michelle Obama, but Twitter promises all users will have access in the “coming weeks.”
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-04-09 13:37:482014-04-09 13:37:48Twitter is the Latest Site to Roll Out a Major Redesign
Social media is one of the best tools modern marketers and business owners have to connect with their demographic and build their brand. But, social media can also be a bit fickle or harsh. You can spend months or even years creating your brand’s online presence and building up an audience, only to create a massive PR problem with a single post.
We are quickly reaching the point where every social media platform has their own advertising platform specific to their brand. Facebook has Facebook Ads, Google+ has +Post ads which display all across Google’s network, and of course Twitter has their own advertising platform, Twitter Ads.
