Category Archives for "Social Media Marketing"

7 Habits of Highly Effective Content Marketers

Want to be a better content marketers? Adopt these 15 habits.

Read the full article at: blog.hubspot.com

These tips could apply to business in general. The original post featured 15 posts, which I have cut down to the 7 best.

Here’s my summary:

1. Always Network: Networking builds your connections and grows the number of people that know about your business.

2. Actively listen to your audience: Read comments, emails and respond to people.

3. Constantly research: See who’s doing what and put aside insights to use as content for your own posts / blogs. Use a notepad or an electronic storage system such as Evernote.

4. Obsess over quality: Ensure what your produce is of good quality.

5. Constantly ask: ‘Does this provide value’? Good content teaches, enlightens, entertains. Is your content doing that for your audience?

6. Live in ‘Idea Mode’: Always ask questions, think of new angles and dare to dream. Don’t run with an idea right away – give it time to develop. Try sharing your idea with friends and colleagures to refine.

7. Always ask questions: Your job is to create a dialogues. If this isn’t happening, consider whether your content is hitting the right spot (it could also be that your content isn’t getting in front of your audience).

In the marketing world, we need to constantly question whether what we’re doing is working. If it isn’t, it’s worth adapting.

If you want a great book about habits, have a look for the book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. It’s a great read.

Have you adapted any of the above?

 

How to Write Content That Engages Mobile Readers – NZ Tourism Operators Take Note

Google’s new emphasis on mobile-friendly search results doesn’t require just good mobile design, it requires great mobile copywriting–Content Marketing Institute.

Read the full article at: contentmarketinginstitute.com

At least 25% of most websites are viewed on a mobile device, and especially so for tourism operators. If you don’t make content mobile friendly, you’re losing possible customers.

How do we write better content for mobile devices?

Here’s a quick summary for you:

– Look at how content looks on an average mobile phone: Keep your most important content to the top left triangle of the screen.

– Use images: People look at images more than text, they capture attention.

– Get rid of unnecessary words or phrases. Blair Pascal, The French Mathematician once wrote: “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”


– Create short, strong headlines. Long headlines get lost on a mobile screen.


–  Make your first couple of sentences count: You need readers to want more of your content. Don’t start out boring!


– Use short paragraphs: Reading long paragraphs requires concentration. It might look easy on a desktop, but it becomes too much on a mobile device.


– Tourism Operators take heed – a greater proportion of your visits will be on mobile devices.


Conclusion: Less is more! Write well and write less length. I would love to hear if you’ve experimented with writing for mobile devices?

9 Ways for Small New Zealand Businesses to Beat Big Corporations on Social Media

It’s time to find out how to use social as a marketing equalizer: here are 9 techniques SMBs can use to beat big corporations on social media.

Read the full article at: blog.scoop.it

Who doesn’t love seeing the underdog win?! One of the reasons I’m passionate about online marketing, is it’s ability to level the playing field: it allows smaller businesses to participate in a world of media that was once a domain for big business only (think TV advertising).

What have small businesses got over big busineses? These were the nuggets from this article?

  1. Be yourself: Dare to be different and stand out from the big companies. 
  2. Use original images – don’t use generic images.
  3. Care about customers and clients: Sadly many big businesses don’t do this well, or at all.
  4. Don’t try to please everyone: Find your audience and delight them!
  5. Limit your social media channels to 1 or two: Make your presence be known in those channels. Facebook is essential for most businesses (1.8 Million New Zealanders check Facebook every day).
  6. Appeal to people who love the underdog: Many people like to support the newcomer – but you have to offer value as well.
  7. Curate Content: You don’t have to produce 100% of your content. Find what your audience is interested in and provide them with it (hint: it may not be what you think it is. For example, Mortgage customers may be interested in household DIY tips).
  8. Be enthusiastic: Don’t adopt a boring corporate tone in your communication.

Don’t be intimidated by big companies, be swift, be nimble, and Be Remarkable! I’d love to hear what you’ve done to get ahead of big business.

Influencer Marketing Is The New King Of Content – #infographic

The amount of digital content that’s produced daily is mind blowing. With so much online noise, readers are getting smart about who they turn to for inspiration and advice, and meanwhile, they’re filtering out the rest. They’re turning to influencers that have earned their trust by constantly providing the best inspiration.

Read the full article at: www.digitalinformationworld.com

This great infographic demonstrates why it’s so important for your brand to build relationships with influencers in your industry. The statistic that jumped out at me was that blogs are the 3rd most important reference for consumers when making purchases:

“…when making overall purchase decisions, blogs trail only behind retail and brand websites”. Something to think about if you’re considering whether or not blogging is worthwhile. Hint: Content curated by influencers (including 3rd party curated content) has been proven to be more believable by consumers.

It’s definitely worth considering content curation in your marketing efforts (this post is curated and you’re reading Dickiebird’s comment on it).

Do you use inlfuencer marketing for your brand?

3 Types Of Content That People Love To Share On Social Media – #infographic

Want to make your content go viral? Add “How to, quizzes and picture lists to your content mix to harness the power of social sharing.

Read the full article at: www.digitalinformationworld.com

If you didn’t know it already, ‘HOW TO’ posts on social media and blogs are the most popular posts – people love to share content that helps themselves and others. This infographic demonstrates the research.

As the quote from Jay Bear goes: “Sell something, get a customer for a day. Help someone, get a customer for life”.

Tourism Marketers: Time to Rethink Messages

Cold dreary Winter is fast approaching and many of us have resorted to browsing through the Internet in search of some warmth.

So how can hotel operators best turn our idle calls and website searches into solid bookings?

An AUT University marketing researcher has identified a simple way that hotels can get traction with potential guests – by tailoring the promotional messages they send to potential guests, depending on how far away the proposed stay is, in time and in location.

Read the full article at: www.aut.ac.nz

This research about tourism marketing is nothing new to online marketing, but it’s great to hear it being backed by research at the AUT. Google Display (banner advertising) is great for reaching people in far-off places before they make a decision about waht to do.   

Closer to their visit however, one of the tools tourism marketers can readily use is targeted Facebook Advertising. The latest feature released by Facebook advertising offers tourism businesses the ability to target people visiting their region. This is a huge, affordable opportunity for small tourism businesses to put themselves in front of prospective customers.

For example: John visits the Nelson / Tasman Region for 5 days. Facebook knows he has an interest in outdoor adventure. Simon owns an adventure tourism business in the Abel Tasman National Park.

Simon specifically targets people like John so he puts an a ad together targeting people like John who are visiting the area with a nice picture and very little text.

Facebook knows John is visiting the region and will display the ad on John’s Facebook feed as a ‘Sponsored post’. John can visit Simon’s Adventure Tourism business website directly from Facebook and make a booking from his mobile phone. Costs start at as little as $2 a day. This makes advertising very affordable for small businesses.

Have you tried Facebook Advertising for your tourism business? I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment and let me know.

How to Create the Perfect Social Media Post

Creating just the right content is important. Great tips on how to craft the perfect social media post from Peg Fitzpatrick.

Read the full article at: pegfitzpatrick.com

A great post from Peg Fitzpatrick covering all of the essentials for Social Media success. “Social Media is the new television’ – personally, as a household without a television, I couldn’t agree more.

I appreciate the way Peg has described the different ‘voices’ for the various channels: 

Facebook

Post consistently and allow people to get to know you – it’s more of a personal, conversational platform.

LinkedIn

Be relevant and show your smarts. Don’t just post quotes and images – leave those to Facebook and Pinterest.

Google+

Use great images to stand out.

Pinterest

Use boards with a tight niche to keep with your theme.

Twitter

Use 120 to 130 characters maximum to enable re-tweets of your content.

Sure, there are other social networks, but these 5, along with Instagram are probably the most popular in New Zealand at present.

How To Write Content Marketing Headlines To Improve SEO

According to CopyBlogger, 80% of readers don’t read beyond the headline. Additionally, over 90% of internet users are turning to search engines on a monthly basis for new information. If you’re not catering to what your target audience is seeking by factoring SEO keywords into your headlines, you’re missing out on valuable conversions, clickthroughs, and improving the ROI of your content marketing.
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/brandviews/newscred/how-to-write-content-marketing-headlines-to-improve-seo-01262786#DzZSrpzvz2v1WMx1.99

Read the full article at: www.business2community.com

‘Start with the headline’ – this historical truth in marketing and advertising has remained vital to growing audiences: whether you are writing for a newspaper, website content, or an advertisement.

If you’d like the ultimate guide to writing headlines online, have a look at Copyblogger’s incredible online resource: http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines/

6 Simple Ways To Improve Your Content Marketing Impact | Marketing Technology

6 Simple Ways To Improve Your Content Marketing Impact by Douglas Karr on Marketing Technology

Read the full article at: www.marketingtechblog.com

Studies are continually proving the Return on Investment for Content Marketing. Here are some basic tips for experts and beginners alike:
  1. Use eye-catching headlines to grab attention.
  2. Stay original.
  3. People are visual animals.
  4. Add emotion.
  5. Create substantial content.
  6. Find & target the right audience.

Does that help? Please feel free to share with your networks.

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