Category: Social Media

The Pluses and Minuses of Google+

The following is my most recent blog on Mudbug Media’s Blog au Roux about how to determine if Google+ could benefit your social media strategy.

The buzz about Google+ has revved up again lately, possibly due to the negative press that has been recently circling around Facebook, like the sharks in shark week. The press around Google+ is also driven by recent changes to the social media platform, including custom URLs, social integration into Chrome iOS app, and the debut of the “slider” feature, which will unclog homepage feeds by allowing users to choose what and how often new posts from other users they have circled appear in their feed.

Even though Google+ is a known and changing platform, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to using it as a tool for marketing businesses and brands. Google+ is still a fairly new social media platform, finding its footing and place in the social media community. In addition, business and brands have only been on the social media platform since November, when Google+ unveiled Google+ brand pages. Even now, we are continuing to learn how best to use Google+ as a tool for connecting with customers.

So, how do you know if Google+ is right for your business?

The following breakdown of some of the pros and cons of using Google+ brand pages will hopefully help you decide if this tool could help promote your business.

Pros of Google+ Brand Pages:

  • Hangouts: Businesses can use video chats to talk directly to their customers. Hangouts can be used as a customer service tool to assist customers when they have questions or conflicts, as well as add a personal touch to customer service.
  • Circles: This allows businesses to target customers by demographic, interests, etc., so that they can better target promotional information and posts. Circles allow companies to reach the “right customers” with the “right message”.Google Plus Video Post
  • Posts: Google+ posts are much larger in size than Facebook wall posts, which is beneficial for posting images and videos, items that frequently increase user engagement. For example, videos in Google+ posts are full sized, and do not have to expand in order to be viewed.
  • Google Search Results Love Google+: Using a Google+ brand page to promote your business has the possibility of a very positive impact on your position in Google search result:
    • Google+ brand pages are indexed by Google’s search engine
    • +1 clicks on your Google+ brand page can help to increase you search engine rankings because Google ranks +1 items higher
    • Connect your Google+ brand page to your website by adding a Google+ Badge, a customizable widget that helps grow your Google+ audience and shows more recommendations for your page in Google search results
  • Social reports: Google Analytics is connected to Google+ pages. The social reports in Google Analytics provide metrics and insights into brand page activity.
  • Google direct connect: If your business has a Google+ brand page and someone types “+Company Name” in the search box, it takes him or her straight to your Google+ brand page.

Google Direct Connect Search

   Google Direct Connect Results

Cons of Google+ Brand Pages:

  • Limited Audience:While the Google+ audience consists of almost 40 million users, only 17% of those users are considered “active” or “frequent users”
  • The Google+ Demographic shows over 60% of users are male
  • Majority of users are between the ages of 25-34
  • Largest group of Google+ users is males between the ages of 24 and 25
  • While circles allow brands to separate customers into targeted groups, brands are only allowed to “circle” customers who have “circled” them
  • Google+ brand pages are tied to ONE personal account and additional admins cannot be added, so it is critical that companies carefully consider who will “own” the brand page because transferring or changing the connected account is not allowed. Ask this question: “What will happen if the person whose account is connected to the brand page leaves the company?”
  • A verification process for Google+ brand pages does not currently exist, so it is possible that someone else or competitor could create a false brand page for your company

Weighing the Benefits of Google Plus

Like other social media platforms, Google+ has its limitations and challenges, but it also offers features that other platforms do not. This changing platform can help businesses connect with customers through features like Hangouts, and understand their customers with Social Analytics. Based on the demographic of your customer base and social media goals,  Google+ may be a perfect match with your current social media strategy.

If you think that Google+ may be a beneficial component of your social media strategy, check out my post on creating an integrated social media strategy for your company. Also, check out more great articles on design trends, application development, and marketing strategy on Mudbug Media’s Blog au Roux.

Facebook Ads 2012 Report Recap

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Earlier this year, Social Fresh published the 2012 Facebook Advertising Report, an analysis of how advertisers are using Facebook’s advertising tools.

For the report, 347 Facebook advertisers were surveyed, and the results were analyzed by leading industry experts from Likeable Media, WebTrends, Buddy media, BlitzLocal, and Social Fresh. The follow is a recap of some of my favorite sections of the report.

Why Do Companies Advertise on Facebook?

Top Facebook Advertising GoalsBased on the report, companies advertise on Facebook for four reasons:

  • Brand awareness
  • Engagement
  • Conversions
  • Audience Growth

In addition, companies set their advertising goals based on these same four reasons. Continue reading →

Optimizing the Timeline Format for Page Engagement

Since the Facebook pages have changed to the timeline format, companies have seen, on average, an increase in post engagement (i.e. likes, clicks, shares, and comments). The increase is due mostly to an increase in user engagement on video and image posts, while engagement has decreased for text posts (not include and image, video, etc).

Mashable Facebook Timeline Eyetrack StudyIn response to the page format change, Mashable completed an eyetrack study to determine how consumer experience has changed. Consumers used to be focus the majority of their attention on the page’s news feed, both text and image posts. When viewing pages in timeline format, consumer attention is focused almost entirely on the visual elements, such as the cover photo, profile image, app thumbnails, and images. Content posts are usually the last items that consumers view. Continue reading →

What’s Their Worth? Facebook Vs. Pinterest Visitors

Pinterest has become a great sales tool for companies already using, and those beginning to use, social media to connect with their customers. It has also grown into one of the most popular social media platforms.

But, can it really compete with the “Big Kahuna” of social media, Facebook?

Does Pinterest drive valuable site traffic?

Do Pinterest users have a greater connection with the brands they follow?

Luckily, Boticca created a great infographic to answer some of these questions regarding “who does it better”, Facebook or Pinterest. For the infographic data, Boticca analyzed 50,000 Pinterest users and 50,000 Facebook users. They share their five most interesting findings in this fun infographic below. Continue reading →

How Social Media Has Changed the Sports Industry

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Sports industry social mediaAre you a social media and sports addict? Or just interested in the ways different industries use social media? Well, check out this great article on the role of social media in the sports industry. Using real-life examples, the article breaks down how social media techniques have been used to build player notoriety, create a culture around sporting events, increase ticket sales, and managing crisis situations.

http://mashable.com/2012/06/04/social-media-sports-tickets-infographic/#bbrOEKlj2mqP

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

social media editorial calendar

How to Bring Life to a Social Media Strategy

With many factors influencing the success of the real-time online conversations surrounding your company, social media can seem overwhelming at the beginning. These influencing factors include

  • Learning multiple platforms (ie. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs)
  • Maintaining a constant conversation with followers
  • Writing & posting on a schedule

By having a strategy in place and investing time each week to maintain and grow each profile, you will be better prepared to create a successful and fun social media marketing experience. Continue reading →

The Power of the Facebook Power User

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With 526 million active daily users, as of March 2012, Facebook usage is continuing to grow. Facebook users are sharing, liking, and commenting on more content than ever before.

Of all Facebook users,  20-30% are considered ‘Power Users’; the most active and influential users on Facebook.

An active user is defined by the number of times they complete one of the “key” Facebook activities each month. The key Facebook activities measured include:

  • Receiving/sending friend requests
  • Tagging or being tagged in photos
  • “Liking” posts and comments
  • Sending/receiving private messages
  • Status updates
  • Commenting on posts Continue reading →
Lowes Pinterest Profile

Building Brand Loyalty with an Integrated Social Media Strategy

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I recently wrote an article for the Mudbug Media blog titled “Build a Following with an Integrated Social Media Strategy.” In the article I used Lowe’s Home Improvement store as an example of a company who got it right.

The following are snippets from the article about each component of Lowe’s strategy:

Lowe’s Facebook Strategy

The core of Lowe’s social media strategy is their Facebook page. With over 1.1 million likes (almost twice as many as the main competitor, Home Depot), Lowe’s has created a successful strategy to communicate with their customers using this social media platform.

Lowe’s leverages the best features of the Facebook timeline format, the cover photo and the history timeline.Lowes Facebook Page

For their cover photo, Lowe’s uses an attention grabbing photo composed of the top pins that followers have re-pinned on Pinterest. They also tie their profile picture directly into the timeline cover photo and use it to drive traffic to their Pinterest account.

The success of Lowe’s Facebook strategy is due greatly to their positive and real-time interaction with fans. Lowe’s responds to the majority of questions and comments within minutes. When a fan has a question about a product, Lowe’s not only answer the specific question, but frequently directs them back to Lowes.com and includes tips on how to use the product.

Check out the full article to find out how Lowe’s mastered the art of responding to negative comments and leveraged the other features of the new timeline format.

Lowe’s Twitter Strategy

Lowes Twitter ProfileWith over 47,000 followers, Lowe’s uses Twitter to answer customer questions and concerns, as well as spread community awareness. As with their Facebook page, Lowe’s does a great job of taking the conversation offline for any negative mentions by asking followers to email them at a Twitter-specific Lowe’s email address. They also respond to all questions, comments, and mentions, often within minutes of the original Tweet.

Check out the full article to find out how Lowe’s uses hashtags to give back to their followers.

Lowe’s Pinterest Strategy

The rapid growth of Pinterest has many companies overwhelmed, but Lowe’s has leveraged the user base and Lowes Pinterest Profilegrowing popularity create to a strong presence on the new social media platform. With almost 7,000 followers (and growing), Lowe’s is building a strong community around their brand on Pinterest. The boards on their Pinterest profile include topics that interest all their different types of customers.

Lowe’s uses Pinterest as a resource tool for customers to find fun and new projects. For example, they have a board for grilling recipes, which includes links to both the full recipe and grills available at lowes.com. Other popular boards on their Pinterest profile are craft, landscaping, and interior design projects using Lowe’s products.

Check out the full article to find out why Pinterest was the perfect addition to Lowe’s social media strategy.

Lowe’s social media strategy has been a success because they appear to understand that social media is a powerful tool for creating and maintaining relationships with customers. Visit the Mudbug Media blog to find out the five key factors that make Lowe’s strategy a success and to read the full article:

Build a Following with an Integrated Social Media Strategy

Related articles

The Influence of Social Media on Sales

Check out this very interesting article by Nick Martin, recapping his recent presentation at the International Customer Reference Program Conference in Boston. In the article he breaks down his presentation into the following two categories:

Impacting the Right Conversations Means Influencing the Bottom Line

Business need to understand the different stages of the customer life-cycle. In order for businesses to target their audience correctly during each stage of the customer, they must:

  • Research top influencers
  • Determine target search terms & phrases customers use
  • Calculate a customer’s desired outcome

Four Common Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

  • Don’t assume that your target audience is already following you
  • Focus on building followers
  • Defining social too narrowly
  • Optimizing for search AND social

I highly recommend not only checking out his presentation recap but also the full presentation titled Unlocking the Value of Search and Social for Customer Evidence on SlideShare.