Shoutlet Fires Off New Trigger-Based Social Marketing Platform Here’s why social media marketing is broken: my company wants to launch a contest on our Facebook app and website and post about to all our fans and followers, post when we hit 1000 entries, and post again when the contest ends after 5000 entries. Sequencing like this was difficult because marketing team would have to monitor for those milestones to be reached, then manually rotate our apps and publish updates. Social marketing platform Shoutlet today launches a way to turn the cacophony of disparate campaigns into a concerted push. It’s called Social Switchboard, it uses trigger-based campaign publishing, and your marketing department wants it. Social Switchboard lets marketers schedule status updates, tweets, YouTube videos, emails, apps and more to be published when a trigger is hit, such as a Facebook Page reaching a certain Like count or a number of contest entries being submitted. I’m not worried for Shoutlet anymore. [Image Credit: redcmarketing]
The ultimate guide to increasing views and subscribers on Youtube channel Everybody wants more views for their videos on Youtube right? I talked a couple of days ago about the fact that videos rarely go viral and it's best not to set out with that goal but having said that there are some ways that you can get more views for Your Youtube video. The way that I always look at it is that if your video can get a thousand views through using the techniques below then you are giving the video every chance to be shared even further. These simple tips should help get you more views on Youtube.... Network Within Youtube So many people forget that Youtube is actually a social network and think of it only as a video site. Embed On Facebook One easy way of increasing views instantly is to put videos in to your own personal Facebook page or on Yout Facebook business page. Get Subscribers If there is one single piece of advice that I could give anybody it is to get subscribers on Youtube. Add Annotations Add Your Link To Email Signatures Embed The Video On Your Blog Or Website
If You Shake These Trees, Blog Posts Will Fall Out If your company’s blog has more than 5 posts — congratulations. 80% of corporate blogs are abandoned before that point. You too will run dry if you don’t continually refill your reservoir of ideas. Great topics will come to you at the oddest times. Jot them down in your iPhone or on an index card. Then when you’re trying to hit a deadline, you can bring up your list and select what inspires you at the moment. Here are a few ways to generate ideas on demand. Spy On Your Community What are people in your industry arguing about? Answer Customer Questions The easiest blog post ideas arise out of questions your customers (and leads) are asking you. Check Your Sent Folder You’re writing hundreds of words of content every day: in your email program. Conduct an Interview There are smart people all around you. Sponge Up Events When you’re at an industry event, you’re surrounded by content ideas. Attend to Your Own Experiences Take an hour and a cup of coffee on Friday afternoon.
Distimo: Being featured on Android Market boosts business Distimo, an analytics provider, has come out with its latest report and it has some interesting facts about what happens when mobile apps go on sale. The report shows vast improvements to an app’s ranking once it achieves “featured” status in both the iTunes and Android Market app stores. For instance, when it comes to Apple’s App Store most featured applications see an average jump in its ranking of some 15 spots or so, during the first three days. Not bad. What’s even more impressive than these iPhone numbers is those of the Android Market. That said, the research showing the effectiveness of the Android Market didn’t really surprise me all that much, as the one standout for me was the popularity of the iPad. Checkout all charts below, and tell us what you think about Distimo’s research? [via TechCrunch] About The Author Charles West
Why You Can’t Sell with Social Media (And 3 Things to Do Instead) Social media can give your company many different benefits. It can increase awareness and introduce you to new people. It can be used to help customer service, and follow-up with disgruntled customers. But it can’t sell. Market research giants Forrester Research and GSI Commerce looked at online retailer data in 2010. The results aren’t pretty. Less than 2% of all orders were from social networking shoppers. The most common objection to using social media is, “What’s the return-on-investment?”. So what’s the solution? How a Toy Maker Used Social Media to Increase Revenue by 300% The direct ROI of social media is usually dismal. But then again, so is almost every offline advertising method like TV, radio, print and billboards. They just aid indirectly, so it’s difficult to measure a direct conversion rate. Just like social media. Try telling toy maker Step2 that social media doesn’t drive sales. Step2′s use of PowerReviews and Facebook together provided some measurable gains. So who’s right?
Lab42's Surveys Offer Market Research Via Social Networks Using surveys for market research on Facebook and other social networks has become a popular way to gain consumer insight quickly and efficiently. Chicago-based Lab42 is an online market research startup that uses social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace, to obtain samples for online surveys. Similar to market research companies like Peanut Labs, Lab42 targets users on games and other applications within Facebook, and allows users to take market research surveys in exchange for earning virtual currency. Lab42 surveys start at $300, with results guaranteed in 5 business days. Lab42, which launched in August 2010, faces competition from a number of companies, including Peanut Labs and AskYourTargetMarket.
Optimizing Your Brand’s YouTube Channel At one point or another in your social media marketing efforts, somebody probably told you that your brand should post content to YouTube. So you did. But now you want to up the ante. How can you go about doing that you ask? Follow these six simple steps to optimize your brand's YouTube channel. Invest in a YouTube ad buy I've found that a lot of people aren't sure how to secure a "Brand Channel," or the paid version of a YouTube channel that has a clickable channel banner on the top, and plenty more customizable options. Cross-promote your social assets There are several ways to do this. 1- When you plan on posting a video to YouTube make sure you leave room in your content calendar for posting a link to that video on Twitter, Facebook, and possibly on your blog (or anywhere else that may make sense for your brand). 2- Link to your social assets in the channel banner at the top of the page. Turn on mobile Add annotations Organize your content
10 Videos to Boost Your Social Media Know-How I know how you feel. You search the web for videos to serve as great presentation intros, answers to challenging questions or just something fun to share with coworkers. And while it’s meaningful research, it’s a time suck. So here are 10 social media videos that are short, simple and can give your presentation, challenge or email blast that added punch. Gary Vaynerchuck: On Demonstrating Social Media ROI Setting the record straight, Gary gives some quick advice on social media ROI for businesses. Better than TV with Marcel Lebrun Marcel argues that social media is changing communications as radically as television changed media. Chris Brogan: Listening in Social Media Despite being recorded in 2008, Chris Brogan’s points remain true. King Brand Learns To Listen An animated tale of how active and engaged listening will help you have a successful brand and community (and make you crave marshmallows). Frank Eliason: Social Media ROI Ann Handley on Social Media ROI Mitch Joel Keynote at Social 2011
Socialbakers Reveals Prime Days of the Week for Social Business Sunday is the day when particular brands can expect higher levels of engagement with fans on social media platforms. That’s according to social media and digital analytics firm Socialbakers. When the social media audience is relaxed and feeling like Sunday morning, it seems that it is prime time for fast moving consumer goods and telecoms brands to get their message to hit the mark. Socialbakers monitors over 10 million Facebook pages and places, and this data is pulled from these pages. Telecoms brands for example, experience engagement rates of 0.11% on Sundays compared to 0.06% on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is certainly food for thought when product launches and press releases are traditionally released during the working week to gain coverage via news outlets. Visual stimulus Petrol-heads have different habits it seems. Sage advice, there’s not much point in spreading social marketing around without a plan.