Category

Social Media

Apr 01
Love0

A Rewarding Moment — Getting Mad Props on a Client’s Facebook Page

By Communications, Marketing, Social Media

We work with the team at The C’ville Market; we help them with branding, their social media presence, their marketing, and their public relations. We love getting to know them and helping share their stories with customers and with the community at large.

Today we had a gratifying moment because a customer commented on the Facebook page the following:

Dear C’ville Market. You are doing such an incredible job with your postings. I look forward almost every day to see if you have a sale, a recipe, info on your staff and insight into what’s happening around town. Just want to say Thank You! Your effort keeps me shopping there.

Facebook comment

 

That’s just the kind of reaction we were hoping for! If you’d like to see what The C’ville Market is doing online, you can follow their blog, http://cvillemarket.com/blog/ be a fan on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cvillemarket  or watch what they do on Twitter https://twitter.com/cvillemarket

 

Mar 24
Love0

Six Things Every Business Owner Should Know about their Website

By Communications, Social Media

We’re way past the late nineties, when business owners were just beginning to realize they needed a website for their business, and yet, some know as much about how their website is doing as they did when they first launched their online information. That’s bad, and irresponsible. A hands-off approach to this critical calling card for your business is dangerous. At a minimum, every business leader should know the following about their company’s website:

  1. What is the typical traffic to the website? Do you get 10,000 visitors or 50? Is the traffic steady; are there predictable peaks and valleys?
  2. If you own multiple domains, do they all redirect to a single, main domain URL where you track your statistics?
  3. How high is your bounce rate? This statistic tells you whether visitors to your site are finding what they seek. If they don’t they “bounce” right off, moving on to another resource. (In general, lower is better. Bounce rates over 60% may indicate a problem with your content or the site display.)
  4. Does your website publish an RSS feed and is there an easy way for visitors to subscribe to updates?
  5. What is your website built in? (Many people have no idea. If the answer is “Dreamweaver” it’s time for a new website.)
  6. What is the most popular content on your website? A quick look at Google Analytics (you DO have Google Analytics for your website, don’t you?) can tell you the most visited pages/most compelling information your visitors want to know.

It’s easy to learn all of this, and someone in your organization or the vendor who helps manage your website should quickly and easily be able to catch you up to speed on all six items.

Feb 13
Love0

Bar Raised on Snow Day Announcements: Bring it

By Communications, Social Media

We’re snowed in and working from home offices today and we’ve been noticing a TREND. Schools (and other organizations) are so tired of cancellations and closings they’re starting to get really creative with their announcements. Here’s a collection of our favorites for your snow day enjoyment:

 

 

 

And then there’s this local favorite from a previous season when we WANTED more snow days.

 

 

Jan 22
Love0

The Top Three Reasons We Read Posts with Numbers in Them

By Communications, Social Media

A colleague of mine complains about them: “If I have to read ONE MORE POST about FIVE WAYS to this or SIX THINGS that, I’m going to throw up.” Funny thing is, he’s reading them and, like most of us, is attracted to the headlines that draw us in with lists and numbers.

Why are we drawn to this content?

Maria Konnikova of the New York Times says our brains prefer to process information this way. We like lists because they’re digestible and reassuring. Our brains can make quick sense of the information and in our content-flooded world, we can read, absorb, and move right on to the next piece.

That’s convenient and necessary because we’re expected to absorb much more content using the same daylight hours as our ancestors.

Slate and Michael Agger says that we read online in a lazy way: we crave:

  • white space
  • bulleted lists
  • bold text (see what I did there?)

Back to another New York Times piece by Maria Konnikova telling us what makes things “go viral”: it’s a lot of crap, to be candid. It’s emotion-grabbing, Internet-typical headlines of which we saw a version of in supermarket checkout lanes for years, with a compelling tag that people just can’t resist clicking …

Headlines with OMG or WOW or LOL or “Nothing Could Prepare me for …” or “You Have to See the Rest…” or “Will Amaze You.” Every journalism teacher must be just cringing constantly. ViralNova, now the 7th most popular website, ever  (WOW!) is a constant generator of this garbage and you know what? WE’RE ALL FALLING INTO THE TRAP.

So yes, if you want your content to go viral, it  must be sensational. It must have that WOW factor and it must be in a list format with an attention-grabbing headline that goes for emotions.

It’s annoyingly simple, but that’s the secret.

 

Jan 16
Love0

Meet the New LinkedIn Contacts Tool

By Communications, Social Media

LinkedIn has just added a nifty contacts tool. It allows the user to include information about the contact including how  you met, (context is always good) any notes, and reminders for linkedin newfollow up. (I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the more faulty my memory is with these details. It’s helpful to have some kind of reference.) Since so many of us are in the role of reluctant sales people, this is the kinds of nudge that can really be helpful in relationship development. People who are really working the sales and development angle use these sorts of tools all the time. This integrates the lead generation and follow up work right into your business social network.

It might look like just another task to manage in your online profile, but the long term benefits of strategically using these tools cannot be ignored. Take a look at some of the best profiles in your network and I bet if you ask those individuals about what they get out of using LinkedIn, you’ll be swayed.