How To Leverage Social Media

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Social media has been around for years, so it should be easy to figure out how to leverage it, right?

In part it is true, but things get complicated by all the misinformation circulating about social media marketing. From leveraging tactics to tracking issues, you are bombarded with conflicting messages, including whether social media marketing is worth using at all.

Here are 7 lies about social media marketing you probably believe:

Lie #1: The more followers you have, the better off you are

The game of numbers does not apply to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. These social networks are smart. If you have followers that aren’t engaged, the algorithms these sites use will make sure very few people see your message.

A perfect example of this is a Facebook fan page I started sometime ago called Gym Junkies.

Anytime a post goes up on that fan page, it typically receives over 2,000 likes and 300 plus shares. That’s too not bad, considering the page only has 93,695 fans.

There is another fan page on Body Building Tips and Tricks, and it has over one million fans. Can you guess how many likes and shares it gets when new content gets posted?

The good posts typically get 800 plus likes and around 50 shares. It’s nothing to brag about, considering the page has over a million fans.

What would you rather take? More followers or an engaged audience that’s ten times smaller? I hope you’d pick the engaged audience. Social sites look at how much traction your post generates in relation to the number of followers you have. If the ratio is good, they will start showing your content to more people outside of your circle.

That’s how you generate more traffic: focus on getting the right followers who will become your engaged audience.

Lie #2: Social sharing buttons will get you more shares

Did you know that adding social sharing buttons to your site will get you more traffic?

Although it sounds right, in most cases it isn’t true. Sure, for blogs, social sharing buttons work great because people love reading educational content.

But adding social sharing buttons to most sites will actually hurt them.Why? Because people don’t want to share your product pages or your about page. By placing buttons on those pages, you’ll just distract your visitors and decrease your conversion rates.

Just look at the image above from Add This. Do you really want to tweet out this about page? Or share it on your Facebook wall? Probably not.

Heck, these guys even add social sharing buttons to their Terms of Service Page.

Considering that they are the 197^th most popular site in the world, according to Alexa, and they offer social media tools, you would think they would generate more social shares than other sites. But a quickTwitter search reveals that no one has shared their terms of service page.

That should prove to you that adding social sharing buttons to pages that no one cares about won’t help you generate more traffic, but it will distract people.

The best place to add social media buttons is your blog. People will share great content, assuming it is free. But don’t expect them to share your lead generation, product, about, or services pages.

Lie #3: Social media traffic doesn’t convert well

If social media traffic didn’t convert, do you think Facebook would be worth over a 100 billion dollars? And it’s not just Facebook. LinkedIn is worth over 20 billion dollars, and Twitter is worth over 30 billion dollars.

These companies are worth a lot of money because their user base spends money. The users spend enough money to make advertising on these sites profitable.

I’m not saying you need to start spending money on paid social ads, but you should leverage these sites because their visitors do convert.

Just look at the image above. You will see the number of conversions TimothySykes.com received from Facebook. A hundred and forty three conversions from Facebook in one month isn’t that bad, considering it takes less than an hour to post images, quotes and status updates on Facebook. It netted the company a bit more than $26,000. To top it off, not a dollar was spent on Facebook ads.

Not only does social media traffic convert, but you can also measure that conversion. By setting up goals within your Google Analytics, you can see how much each of these social sites is generating for you.

Lie #4: Everyone should be leveraging social media

The biggest lie I hear about social media marketing these days is that everyone should be leveraging it. Although I wish it were true, social media isn’t a good fit for everyone.

For example, Palantir is a company you probably haven’t heard of even though they have raised $896 million. Why haven’t you heard of them?Because most of their income and revenue comes from government contracts.

Sure, they are on Twitter and Facebook. They even have a blog. But none of those things help them bring in revenue. A lot of what they do isn’t public, and never can be, due to their government contracts.

Social media won’t really help a company like this. All it can do is potentially make them look cool and hip and maybe help them recruit young talent.

There are some businesses that just aren’t cut out for the social web.

If your business doesn’t rely on income from the web (and you have no plans to change that), social media may not be a good fit for you. You can still leverage it as a recruiting tool or as a way to communicate with unsatisfied customers, but you are probably better off investing your time and energy into a different channel.

Lie #5: You need to participate on a daily basis

If you have great information to share on a daily basis, that’s awesome. You should use the social web on a daily basis.

But if you don’t, then consider using it less frequently.

Focus on creating high quality updates and interactions instead of being on these social sites because you have to. Posting on a daily basis doesn’t guarantee your success, and it won’t necessarily make your social accounts more popular.

If you look at the numbers, participating on the social media on a daily basis can actually hurt you. For example, do you know how frequently you should be posting on Facebook to maximize your reach? If you are thinking daily, you are wrong. Posting once every 2 days is the ideal frequency.

If you have something great to say or share, then post it on the social site of your choice. But if you don’t, then avoid posting.

Lie #6: What works for B2B companies won’t work for B2C companies

Every time I give a speech about social media marketing, someone from the audience says, “Those tactics look great for companies who target other businesses, but what should I do if I have a consumer-based company?”

Whether you have a consumer-based or business-facing company, you use the same tactics. From sharing great information to responding to people who have questions to promoting your own products and services, the tactics are identical.

For example, at KISSmetrics we tweet marketing-related content that helps other businesses.

Walmart, who targets consumers, tweets content that helps consumers, e.g, how to avoid bear attacks when camping.

As you can see, it doesn’t matter if your target audience is a business or a consumer. What works for one usually works for the other.

Lie #7: You should ignore negative feedback

The worst thing you can do is ignore negative feedback. If someone isn’t happy with you or your company, you shouldn’t ignore that person. Instead, you should embrace the criticism and try to improve.

Just look at Comcast. They even have a Twitter channel dedicated to support. Every time anyone tweets something negative about them, they apologize and try to help. It doesn’t matter if it is their fault or not, they are continually trying to improve.

Every time I tweet something negative about Comcast, I get a phone call within an hour. The company’s customer service fixes whatever issues I am experiencing and typically gives me a discount or a credit for the inconvenience.

Sure, you may be thinking they respond because I have over 100,000 followers, but they also respond to people like my sister, who doesn’t have even a few thousand followers. They offer her the same apology and incentives as they offer me.

Although Comcast’s service is terrible and their support isn’t great, I stick with them because I do feel they try to improve every time I give them negative feedback.

As a business owner, you should embrace negative feedback. Respond to it, and try to solve the problem without getting emotional. It will help your business get better.

Conclusion

There are a lot of misconceptions about social media marketing. Just because you read something in a blog post or hear something from a credible source doesn’t mean it is true.

Always do your own research, and try to improve. Social media marketing is here to stay, and it can drive a lot of business for you, assuming you are leveraging it correctly.

What other lies about social media marketing do you hear?

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17 Keys to Success in Social PPC

If you haven't jumped on the social PPC bandwagon yet, it's time you gave it some serious thought. While social PPC won't replace Google AdWords any time soon, it's become an effective source of incremental leads and sales for savvy businesses.

What follows are 17 keys to running successful social PPC campaigns. The first four apply to all social PPC, then we'll talk about keys to success for each major social PPC engine.

Social PPC Keys to Success

1. Identify Your Target Audience

In search, the target audience is "anyone who searches using my keywords." In social, much more thought must be put into the people and personas you'd like to reach. Are they consumers? Business owners? Teenagers? What do they like to do? Where do they work, shop, play?

Defining your audience is critical to success in social PPC.

2. Identify the Marketing Challenge That Paid Social Solves

Think about why you want to use paid social in the first place. Are you active organically in social media, but need a larger or more engaged audience? Are you struggling to reach a B2B audience because consumers also search on your keywords? Do you need awareness of your product, service, or company?

All of these can be great reasons to use paid social – the key is to think about what problem social PPC will solve for you.

3. Define Your Paid Social Strategy and Objectives

If you've done the first two steps, this will be easy.

If your audience is B2B decision makers, and your objective is lead generation, then you'll want to define your strategy and objectives as such. If your goal is audience growth, build that in to your strategy.

Mapping strategy out ahead of time sets you up for good results.

4. Segment Your Audience Based on How You'll be Posting

This is an overlooked and yet important part of social PPC setup.

It isn't unusual for advertisers to have multiple segments within their target audience. You might have different types of businesses that you want to reach, or you may be targeting both men and women, for example.

Look at your current social posts to see what audience they're intended to reach – and then set up your social PPC campaigns accordingly.

LinkedIn Keys to Success

5. Carefully Identify Your Target Companies and Job Levels

LinkedIn's targeting optionsare great for targeting individuals at specific companies and job levels; it's especially effective for B2B. But think carefully about how you want to target.

Do you want narrow targeting with specific job titles and companies, or do you want to cast a wider net and focus on categories rather than specifics?

Be especially careful about seniority targeting. If you need to reach decision-makers, you'll probably want to exclude entry level people. But be aware that the higher level you target, the higher your minimum CPC will be.

6. Be Ready to Pay $5+ Per Click

Speaking of minimum CPCs, LinkedIn's CPCs run much higher than other social PPC channels. The results are often worth it, but be prepared to pay $5 or more per click and optimize accordingly.

7. Use Sponsored Updates if Possible

LinkedIn Ads have two types of campaigns: sponsored ads and sponsored updates. In my experience, sponsored updates perform much better than sponsored ads. Sponsored updates show in a user's news feed, giving you premium placement.

If you're actively posting updates to LinkedIn, use sponsored updates whenever possible.

8. Segment Your Audience Based on How You'll be Posting

Think about how you'll be posting, and segment your audience accordingly. The LinkedIn user interface isn't very user-friendly, so it's more efficient to set up segmented campaigns at the outset.

Twitter Keys to Success

9. Carefully Identify Your Target Accounts or Keywords

Twitter Ads often feel familiar to those used to Google AdWords and Bing Ads, because you cantarget using keywords. You can also target individual user accounts. It's important to decide which option makes sense for you.

If you want to reach consumers, for example, make sure the keywords or accounts you target are focused on consumer content.

10. Use Images and Hashtags With Caution

It's important to note that Twitter Ads are a pay-per-engagement, not pay-per-click, program. You pay for anything that can be clicked (links, @ handles, hashtags, and images), as well as for each reply, follow, and retweet.

Twitter Ads are great for driving engagement and leads, but be aware that you'll pay for much more than just clicks to your website.

11. Test Lead Generation Cards

Twitter lead generation cardsenable advertisers to create a virtual "card" that attaches to a tweet. Users can take an action with one click, without leaving Twitter. The options for lead gen cards are nearly endless, and in my experience they perform very well.

12. Segment Your Audience Based on How You'll be Posting

You'll notice that segmentation is a theme here, because it's important. The Twitter Ads interface isn't much better than LinkedIn's, so it's easiest to think about targeting up front.

Facebook Keys to Success

13. Have at Least 1,000 Users in Your Custom Audience

Much has been said about Facebook custom audiences. They're a powerful way to reach specific users on Facebook.

Having a big enough audience is key to a successful campaign, though. We recently ran a test with about 150 users in a custom audience, and we got very few impressions and clicks. Hitting the minimum number of users is really important.

14. Use Sponsored Posts in Newsfeed When Possible

Similar to LinkedIn, Facebook offers both right-rail and sponsored post ads. Facebook has become so large that I'm not sure anyone looks at the right rail ads any more – and they don't even show at all on most mobile devices. Make the most of your advertising efforts by using sponsored posts whenever possible.

15. Relentlessly Test Images

It's common advice for Facebook ads, and with good reason. The image is what really attracts the attention to your ad – the actual copy is almost irrelevant if you have a good image.

Aggressively test images to learn which ones work best.

16. Use Lookalike Segments

An added bonus of using custom audiences is the ability to build lookalike audiences. A lookalike audience is a larger audience that Facebook builds of users similar to your custom audience. You can further customize the lookalike audience with exclusions.

If you aren't getting the results you expected from custom audiences, try using a lookalike audience.

17. Use Custom Audiences to Build Lookalike Segments

I've heard from a number of people that they create custom audiences not for ad targeting, but for the sole purpose of creating lookalike audiences. This is a creative way to have both specific and broad reach.

Conclusion

Social PPC is becoming an important part of the online marketing toolbox. Use these tips the next time you launch a paid social campaign.

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Tips to Make Money With Social Media

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could upload a picture of a cat with a propeller hat on a skateboard and make $ from it?

Well, some companies are…indirectly.

Think about it, if a news company like Mashable makes money off web quotas (pageviews/unique visits/etc.) and a cat picture on Facebook sends 50,000 people to their site, that cat picture is profitable!

Now, let’s take a small business like Any Size Basket (they make baskets). If they were to post that same cat picture on Facebook, all it might do is get a handful of shares, “likes”, maybe even a few new followers. If they’re lucky, maybe some visits to their site. Is this profitable, even indirectly? Nope.

But if that cat was gliding down a mountain in a custom-made ski-basket, then yes, at least indirectly, this picture could fuel some conversions (and more social traction).

What about selling sponsored social media? Did you know cost per tweet prices are public information?

How much would you pay for a sponsored tweet from The Next Web? Their Alexa traffic rank is 1,058 in the U.S. so I guess that’s pretty good…but I’d pay five bucks. Why? Because on average, their tweet gets 150-250 re-tweets by random people.

You know where I can get hundreds of irrelevant retweets for five bucks? Fiverr. I honestly don’t see the difference. With a follower count at about one million there’s too much noise and no way of guaranteeing the ability to reach a target audience.

So how much does The Next Web charge per tweet?

Yep, that’s right, $3,500 for most likely irrelevant exposure and a minuscule traffic spike. Can someone justify this to me?

Okay I’m done ranting, if people are actually buying this then kudos to The Next Web. That’s an insane profit per tweet.

Hustling tweets and pushing social shares isn’t really the job of a social media marketer; although it can seem like it at times.

What is a social media marketer?

According to popular definition, social media marketers basically have one broad goal: to increase traffic and/or exposure. But that goal is evolving. For the past three years we’ve seen a marketing outcry to get a dollar sign in there.

Personally, I think the goal should just be fluid, like public relations.

You can use social media marketing to fulfill a business goal (make money), gain exposure, or even change a disposition. Maybe your brand got a lot of bad press – social media marketers can help change that.

The existence of a “social media marketer” as a real job was initially laughable. It challenged all pre-conceived ideas of what social media was about. In a way, those who were laughing simply didn’t understand how a business could be “cool”.

Those same people expected social networks to fail after a few years of hype (which is true in some cases) because they couldn’t be visualized as profitable.

But here we are, it’s almost 2014 and companies of all sizes have employees with titles like “Executive Blogger”; “Growth Hacker”; “Social Media Rockstar” – you get the idea.

How do social networks make money?

Here’s a quick question: how much time do you spend on average driving your car per day? What about on social networks?

For many people, these numbers are close and when people invest this much time in something, it’s generally profitable.

But we have to pay for cars – social networks are free.

via Neilsen

The social network standards for making money are:

• raising venture capital/financing rounds
• outside investments and donations
• paid advertising
• get bought out by a larger company
• membership/subscription fees and premium business accounts
• miscellaneous fees (i.e. Facebook’s developer application fee)

These are all the popular dollar streams flowing through social networks and keeping them afloat. Without them, social networks would inevitably fade into the dark abyss of the web.

Fortunately, many manage to stay afloat, allowing businesses to take advantage of their platform and reach potential customers.

Successful companies using social media

Red Bull

Sitting at over 41 million likes, the Red Bull Facebook page has straight rocked social media.

One of the biggest reasons for their success is the initial brand messaging goal they set in place when they kicked off their social media campaign.

When we hear Nike we think just do it.

We we hear Red Bull we think gives you wings.

Both companies demonstrate the values and what it means to have wings. The media they post is focused on a lifestyle – not a brand.

Red Bull has many “extensions” of its main Brand Page. For example, the Red Bull Flugtag community page which is entirely dedicated to their awesome Flugtag event.

And here’s the full list of their extensions, which includes all of their media assets. Essentially, they are making money from a huge investment in social media by reinforcing brand qualities, increasing awareness, and really owning the social landscape for their brand.

Skittles

If we’re being honest marketers, we can mostly agree Skittles tweets > our tweets.

They just want to have fun!

And that goal seems to be the trend a lot of companies don’t understand. It’s the million dollar question:

How are going to make money from ‘having fun’? Do you really think smiles and sunshine and rainbows will increase revenue? WHAT’S THE ROI OF A RAINBOW?!?!

We need to break away from that mindset – not completely, but just for social media. People are spending their OWN time on social networks for their OWN goals. Marketers and advertisers can’t expect to profit from users with traditional practices, such as billboard manifestations as valueless sidebar ads.

Social media marketing is really evolving into a form of befriending people to market to them…hmm, maybe I should coin that term…befriend marketing…

List of social networks you should be considering for niche targeting

LinkedIn groups – There are over 1.5 million LinkedIn groups but the trick is to find the gems; the rare groups that have active members and proper management. How do you find these gems? Basically, search for groups that meet your niche keywords, such as (mobile advertising and New York) and comb through discussions until you notice the same members commenting/contributing on a regular basis. Check out the Group Stats to make sure the group is aged a bit (not some recent marketing ploy). Finally, jump in. See my description about subreddits below for ways to actually make money from being social.

Facebook Groups – There’s something about joining a “private group” that gives it an appeal unlike anything public. Maybe it’s the mystique of exclusivity but private Facebook Groups are excellent and creative ways to make money from social media. A friend of mine was invited to join a private Facebook group hosted by a market research group. They invited a select demographic (male, 21-26) and performed a type of virtual focus group for a set block of time. Later, my friend was raving about a new soda flavor that might come out. Indirectly, that brand is making money by building up anticipation and curiosity – the product didn’t even exist.

Google+ Communities - These are more media-based then social-based (like LinkedIn). Again, just search for relevant niche topics, join active communities, and contribute with value-added media and articles. The stuff you post can be straight from your site – as long as it’s adding real insight. Obviously you can’t just plug a product, but an in-depth case study about how a business profited from this product would be interesting to check out right?

A Few Niche and Useful Social Networks 

Ravelry - [from this site] a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration. The content here is all user- driven; we as a community make the site what it is. Ravelry is a great place for you to keep notes about your projects, see what other people are making, find the perfect pattern and connect with people who love to play with yarn from all over the world in our forums.

Classmates - [from the site] an online home for your high school class. With the largest directory of high schools and class lists available anywhere, covering 57 million people and including maiden names, Classmates makes finding, reconnecting and staying up with your high school class fun and easy. Classmates also has over 200,000 digitized high school yearbooks available for you to view and share photos.

Subreddits - this is the most overlooked place to make money from being social. Forget the media part. Join a community that fits or relates to your business niche and contribute to discussions. Demonstrate expertise and help people asking questions. Ask questions of your own. After awhile you’ll notice opportunities to name-drop your product; such as setting up an exclusive discount for the subreddit or holding a contest. Some members will even direct/private message you asking for additional advice, which is a great time to subtly recommend/mention your business.

Ways to make money with money on social media

Facebook Ads

Facebook’s advertising platform and algorithm cater ads to be more helpful than irrelevant. It’s a great way for new local businesses to gain exposure or for existing ones to get the word out about a new development.

One of the leading Facebook marketers, Brian Carter, lists 5 acquisition steps to make money from Facebook:

1) Someone clicks on your FB Ad, directs to a sales/landing page, they make a purchase/sign up.

2) Someone clicks on your FB Ad, directs to become a fan of your Page, they see an interesting post, they click-through to your website and make a purchase.

3) Someone clicks on your FB Ad, directs to a Squeeze Page, they sign up for email, they open a future email pitch, they click-through to your website and make a purchase.

4) Someone clicks on your FB Ad, directs to become a fan of your Page, they see an interesting post, they opt-in to receive texts/SMS discounts, they make a purchase with discounts.

5) Someone clicks on your FB Ad, directs to become a fan of your Page, they see an interesting post, they click-through to your website and click one of your onsite Ads.

These are simply the models; the main idea is that Facebook ads are like a fishing net. You can cast it to catch the attention of people who *most likely* might be interested in your business/service.

Even though Facebook Ads have a lesser value than  call-to-actions on your site, they are still versatile and attractive because they’re reaching *possibly relevant* people in a different environment.

One of the biggest cons with advertising on a social network is that no matter how *good* your Ad is and no matter how *relevant* it is, people just don’t care. This is and always will be the hot button issue with social networks. The only reason we use them is for the core values and functionalities that existed when they first released – we never cared (or asked) for Ads. But if you’ve been paying attention to social media marketing these past few years, you’ll notice the difference between a *good* Facebook Ad and a *poor* one is:

• A good Facebook Ad seems like something your friend might say
• A poor Facebook Ad looks like an Ad

PTP Programs

This is a rather *unethical* way to make money with social media (hence no links) – so we’ll just give you an overview. PTP or Paid-to-Post programs is literally micro-working for scrap change. You get paid to *do* social media. You get paid to:

• like things, comment on things, sharing things, and post things on Facebook
• tweet things, retweet things, favorite things, and post things on Twitter
• blog things, reblog things, comment on things on sites
• vote things up (or down)

Basically, you just get paid to click stuff. Sounds good right? Sure…if you’re okay with making pennies per click. Give it a month and the Carpal Tunnel surgery will do you over.

I’m not suggesting PTP Programs are the least bit viable; but they exist as a way to make money with social media. It’s the *founders* of PTP programs that are making money by offering things like “50 Guaranteed 100% All-Natural Organic Facebook Comments”

Celebrity Partnerships

Digital media agencies have been capitalizing on the potential of social media by forming relationships with brands and their clients, who are often celebrities.

As I previously mentioned, simply paying for a celebrity or high profile twitter account thousands of dollars for one sponsored tweet is futile and just plain dumb.

Instead, agencies are catching on with best practices and even paving their own path.

Example: The famous actress Felicity Huffman has her own website blog thing; “WhatTheFlicka”. She scored some bucks doing a write-up for Mattel and more importantly, Mattel received a celebrity endorsement. I mean the post received close to non-existent social traction; but now Mattel has a write-up about their summer program – it’s better than a tweet if you ask me.

YouTube Gold

Here’s where all the social media money mines are located.

• Creating a YouTube account and channel is free.
• Gaining an honest subscriber count is hard
• Creating *awesome* content is harder
• Consistently creating awesome content is the hardest

I recently read a comment from a YouTuber who makes a living off his videos. He has two revenue streams:

1. Ads
2. Sponsored/Paid product reviews

His comment described how after creating 100 high quality videos (about video games and PC gaming) over the course of one year his subscriber count was at a whopping 97. He was making scrap change off Ads at this point and doing free product reviews…

His advice? Don’t give up.

Soon after, his videos finally caught the attention of larger game review sites and fellow YouTubers in his niche with larger followings. Two years later (today), his subscriber count is over 6,500. His videos net 10,000+ views and he gets paid to do reviews now.

That’s just one success story as a result of tenacity and diligence.

Social Media Nuggets 

We often forget what social media really entails.

• This is social media.
• So is this (hit the forward button once it loads).

A website is a media form. A site like the 1st example is social in nature.

What does it mean to be social in nature?

Exactly what you’re thinking; people will naturally talk about and share it.

We often overlook the simplest things that can be redesigned as potentially viral social media:

• an about me page
• a newsletter
• a squeeze page

Some of the most successful examples are sole page sites that are created to be social in nature, with subtle references to an ulterior goal.

In fact, there are tons of people rocking it on social media.

What are your favorite examples of people doing social media right?

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