by Jenna Elberson | Jan 11, 2013 | Interactive, Latest, Social Media
Have you noticed you’ve been losing Twitter followers and you don’t know why? Did you work hard to gain your followers and find yourself struggling to keep them? Do you have numbers but a very small engagement ratio? If you’re losing followers, then there is a good chance you need to adjust some Twitter techniques to stop this from happening.
Let’s take a look at how to gain and keep more Twitter followers:
Retweet like you mean it- One way that you can build and keep more Twitter followers is to retweet posts from other people. But be deliberate about it- don’t just spam RTs down your feed. Instead, take time to spot good posts from your network and share it, retweet from the blogs that you read and other great content you find on the Web.
Send @ Replies- Retweeting and sending @ replies to people is another good way to get them to follow you back. You don’t have to be following someone to talk to them or to see their tweets (unless they have a protected feed) so a good way to get more followers and to keep the ones you have is to take time to talk with people. Comment on their tweets, something interesting you read in their profile or tweet their blog post and you will find more people following you back and those who do follow staying around longer.
Follow Friday- Although it’s been around forever and is sometimes abused, Follow Friday (#followfriday) is still a good way to gain more followers and to keep the ones you have. If a follower sees that you are recommending them to your feed, they are much more likely to continue following you.
Buy some Twitter followers- It’s not enough just to buy Twitter followers though. You need to engage with those targeted users to keep them around. Did you buy Twitter followers and then fail to do anything to boost engagement? Buying followers will only get you so far if you don’t provide something for them to interact with. Even targeted fans will grow bored if you’re not using your Twitter stream correctly.
Create a Twitter content plan- Finally, the best way to get more followers to your Twitter is to create a Twitter content plan. Sit down and think about your target audience and your goals for using Twitter. What do you hope to accomplish with your Twitter account? What will your target audience want to read about from you? What types of content can you produce and share that will be of most value to them? Spend some time researching and planning and then you will have a Twitter feed that’s full of regular followers.
Twitter is a fast-paced micro-blogging social platform. If you’re losing Twitter followers, there’s a good chance you’re just boring them. While it only takes a few minutes to type out 140-characters or less, it pays off in the long run to put some thought into what you’re sharing.
Do you have some tips of your own to add to the list?
Lisa Mason is a Twitter addict, content marketing specialist and lover of all things social. Drop by and say hi @writerlisamason.
by Jenna Elberson | Dec 14, 2012 | Business Success
It’s that time of year again when everyone gets gathered for the Christmas holidays and here at 3H our office is decked out with purple tinsel, wreaths and a big tree full of PURPLE! Whether you celebrate the holiday festivities or not, this is the best time of year for gift giving. With all the hullabaloo (or should I say Hoopla!) over presents, it got me thinking about what I would like for Christmas. I’m always trying to find the most trendy and unique gifts for myself, even though I should be thinking of my family. It doesn’t help either being in the role that I’m in. Everyday I see posts and blogs about the latest trends in technology or coolest toys, making it hard for me to stay focused on gift giving and not gift buying for myself.
So what do you get someone who’s in the marketing field? Well I thought I’d turn this into a fun blog (hopefully) about what cool gifts to get a person in marketing.
Here is my “Marketing’s 12 Days of Christmas” gift giving list.
1. Traditional Books, Digitial Books, ebooks. Being new to marketing I crave for knowledge! Even though a book seems like too simple of a gift… often that’s the best gift. Marketers are always looking for the next trend, or how brands are built…. expanding their knowledge of marketing through books are a great way to do this.
2. Colour me Pantone. For all our designers out there. Did you know you can get their favourite Pantone colour on a iPhone case, mug, notebook, card case holder and more!
3. Hold that card! Regardless of the digital age, with digital printing being so accessible, cards are really in! The #1 thing any business person does when they meet someone is give them their cards… and that is always the first impression. It goes without saying, making sure the card you offer up needs to be pristine… what better way to protect business cards then with a cardholder. There are sooo many cool ones out there… funky, stylish, hip, humorous, conservative, design-y….
4. Say it’s me with personality! Who says writing on paper is out-dated? I know so few people are doing the writing on paper approach, but it’s that very fact that makes it a great gift. A personalized note initialized or named stationary adds a nice touch and is sure to be remembered.
5. Kitchen Design. For Graphic Designers these Photoshop Editor Magnets are way cool to have on your fridge to frame pictures. It looks just like the Photoshop layout!
6. The gift that keeps on showing up throughout the year! Besides books there’s added benefits to getting monthly marketing trends and how-tos from a magazine, like Marketing Magazine and better yet, they get to thank you every time it shows up!
7. Gadget my world! I carry my smart phone everywhere, even to bed! So if they are like me and in social media, getting a cool gadget attachment is a great option. For example, recycled speakers or if they love posting pictures on Facebook and Instagram, a camera lens attachment that allows for better optical zoom or effects like a fish eye lens.
8. Download your world.Whether it’s for movies on the iPad or songs for the iPhone, everyone is sure to love an iTunes gift card. A simple gift for pretty much anyone. This can be great to download apps that will help with time management or keeping in touch with clients.
10. Get a mini! I’m not talking about the car. Keeping connected is very important to us and the new iPad mini can be of great use. Especially when we’re on the go at conferences or on business trips.
11. Bag it! Having a stylish bag to keep laptops and important documents in is simply a “must have” when traveling to and from the office…. or any where else for that matter. Whether it’s one with lots of compartments, leather or handmade it will surely make a difference when traveling.
12. Make a statement. With the speed of business we are constantly on the go… and that increases the chances of bumping into things or worse… dropping our much loved computer on the floor. You can find tons of different sleeves… one that is just right for that “someone” special. Our computers are an extension of our persona, so having a sleeve that speaks to their personality is a bonus!
Regardless of what you get your family and friends this year enjoy the time spent with them and from the 3H family have a safe and happy holidays!
Have other gift giving suggestions? Let me know in the comments below!
by christine | Nov 22, 2012 | Branding, Business Success, Interactive, Social Media
The Social Media skills now required to maintain a good social media reputation has evolved. Most of us (businesses and brands) have our social listening strategy in place, writing content and posting on our social media accounts. So…how is it going? Are you monitoring your accounts, interacting with your followers on each account? If you are, good. We all know that it’s imperative to listen to what your customers have to say… as this will keep your brand honest and transparent.
Does your social media strategy include the necessary social media skills?
Being proactive in your social media accounts has never been more important. With the daily launches of new social media blogs and sites, keeping on top of your brand’s social calendar takes time and resources. Don’t lose faith! These efforts can and will be reap Brand rewards in the end. Engagement with your customers is imperative to keep the “stickiness” on your sites and also loyalty and trust with your brand. More importantly understanding and knowing how to handling both positive and negative feedback properly can be indeed a powerful tool to gain loyalty from your target audience and enhancing their experience with your brand. Keep in mind these steps below to become socially proactive:
1. Proactive and engagement on your social accounts should be your primary measurement of how your brand is doing. Keep an active conversation with your customers, so when and if a problem arises you can respond quickly with a solution
2. Respond Quickly to all Social Media Feedback, especially negative.
3. Don’t script your response. Be human and sensitive… an actual “real” live sensitive caring person (customized responses will go a long way to creating a supportive community online).
4. Support your response with detailed information; again give qualified information to help turn the negative experience into a resolved, positive experience. (We all remember being on the other end of those endless customer automated phone messages…that keep telling us to press the next sequence of number’s to get help, but in the end, it feels like we are on a never ending carousel spinning round and round, and in the end we hang up out of frustration or just get lost in a loop of unhelpful automated annoying computer generated voices.) We want our customers to feel that someone is actually listening and with a positive timely response your customers will probably post a very sincere thank you back and become a loyal customer in the end.
5. Dedicated customer service email and resources are a must. In support to #3, you have to specifically set up for your social media accounts. This will help garner a great customer support service within your social media communities. You should allow for a dedicated resource for these platforms to monitor what’s being talked about online and also join in on the conversation to build strong relationships and provide positive customer experiences.
6. Be Honest and Transparent…this will go a long way for validating that yes we all make mistakes, but lets work together to fix it and make it better by actually listening to what your customers are saying.
7. Be Empathic, stay objective. Look at it from the consumers point of view, have all your facts and as said earlier try to resolve as quickly as possible.
Now to make it all work! Now that you have your social listening strategy, resources, and your social customer service in place you need to add some tools to help you get the edge on your competition by taking charge of your social media and your online presence. You can start with some free resources and or customized packages. No tools work the same, so do your research. This is just a small sampling of links below to get you started:
RSS Feeds, Google Alerts, Track Tweets, Comments and Discussions on fan boards, etc, and Netvibes
Want to know more about social media? Download Social Media Understood here.
Please feel free to add comments, tips, and suggestions; I always like to hear how other people adapt new strategies to their social accounts. And remember be Proactive!
by cassandr | Sep 7, 2012 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Interactive, Social Media
In today’s day and age there are tons and thousands of blogs and growing. So how do you drive traffic to your blog? This is the million-dollar question that everyone asks.
Many people think that all you need is a catchy title about a popular topic, add in some popular search engine keywords and there you have it.
Well, it’s not that simple. Below are a few tips in building traffic to your blog.
Before getting started let’s begin stating the two basic reasons as to why regular readers follow blogs. Firstly, useful information is key in attaining followers and secondly highly engaging entertainment. If your blog substantially lacks either one of these don’t expect to get many followers because you won’t. You will need a different approach and a lot more brainstorming before reaching the next stage of building traffic.
Another key element in building traffic is you must be an expert in the particular topic you are talking about. There’s no sense in writing a blog if there’s no main focus. If too many unrelated topics are posted you will likely have an audience that will be very fragmented.
If your blog lacks expertise you’re just calling for trouble so, don’t expect to have an audience at all. But most importantly, have a focused direction.
If your blog offers valuable information, has a key focus then continue reading on about the tips and tricks of building traffic to your website.
1. Write Posts That People Will Want To Read
This sounds like a no brainer, but you would be surprised how many people forget to provide headlines and copy that will be interesting to your audience. If you write posts that the reader will find interesting they will likely come back and visit your blog regularly. That is only if you write often and regularly.
2. Use Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to Share Your Posts & Find New Connections
All three social networks attract a vast range of internet users around the world.
These networks which also be referred as “content distributors” meaning they can help you spread the word about your blog. Taking advantage of putting these networks will surely lead you on the path to success. Here’s how!
- Firstly, if you’re not already registered on these accounts I suggest you do so.
- Make sure you fill as much of these profiles as you can otherwise they will not look credible.
- Remember to connect with users on these sites whom already share a professional relationship, and begin following industry luminaries, and influencers.
- Share content with your peers especially anything that you feel is interesting enough to possibly go viral.
3. Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines
It is important when writing blog posts that you remember to optimize your pages for search engines to find them. I can’t stress this enough but you must include relevant keywords. A rule of thumb is to not overload your post with too many keywords or words that have not relevancy with what your talking about.
4. Tag Your Posts
It takes literally a few seconds to do yet people still don’t spend the time doing so. Adding tags to your blog posts is worth the time in terms of building additional traffic to your blog. They’re also key to helping readers find your blog when they are specifically searching for a topic, and can be easily picked up by search engines.
There are plenty other tips and tricks for building traffic to your blog. These four tips mentioned above are simply a good place to start and by no means the only ones. The blogging world is constantly changing and if you want to get to the top you must continue to read up on these trends.
How do you build traffic for your blog?
by cassandr | Sep 5, 2012 | Branding, Business Success, Interactive, Social Media
Have you ever wondered how to tell a real account from a fake account? The tricks they use, and the game they play? Well you’re not alone.
Unfortunately many fake Twitter accounts pop up everyday, some harder to spot than others.
The downside to fake followers for brands is significant. The number of followers a brand has becomes irrelevant if the followers are fake. Measuring social media is already a difficult process, but once you throw in accounts that add no value other than a number it becomes even more difficult.
How do you truly measure social media success if a brand gets nothing in return from its Twitter followers?
StatusPeople is an App that is a social media management tool that can easily help businesses and brands track their social media communities and if they are real or not. Over 150,000 people have used the Fakers App to find out what the quality of their followers is.
Barring the use of any Faker App, here are some online do-it-yourself identity checks to help you spot the fakers, right off the bat:
1) Style and Personality
Before following a Twitter account make sure to do a quick review of their biography. It is also very important to check out their tweets and the daily conversations they engage in. This can easily display the style and personality of the individual you want to follow.
2) Huge Amount Following, Small Amount of Followers
This is a pretty self-explanatory indication if an account is fake. If an account is following thousands, while only a few are following back, this is more than likely a fake account. One of the first things to check is if they truly work for a specific company; you could possibly expect to see other employees following them.
3) The Follow/ Unfollow Game
Have you ever had someone follow you on Twitter and then unfollow when you don’t follow back? Some people do this in order to have a positive ratio of followers to follows. These types of accounts wait a couple days for you to follow them, and then unfollow the people they recently followed. They continue and repeat the process until they have the desired number of followers.
4) No or Very Few Photo Uploads
Many fake accounts do not post many or any photos at all. Fake accounts typically have pictures of different people; this gives the illusion that this is in fact a real person.
5) More Than 50 Tweets a Day
Many fake accounts use services that provide them with automated tweets. These accounts do not target their tweets nor do they write there own content. In other words, they just let the software do all the work and send out as many spammy messages as possible.
Fake Twitter followers negatively affect both consumers and brands; brands in particular should remember quality is always better than quantity.
How do you use your Twitter followers to enhance your business strategy?
