Search Engine Optimization

Lucky Link http://t.co/Z3jszKKLvt
— Donna Shoulders (@DonnaShoulders) October 1, 2013

True search engine optimization requires the ongoing analysis and tweaking of many on-site and off-site variables, which need to be consistently and effectively acted upon, with a clear strategy and proven methodology to realize the goal of good placement in search engine results pages.

A website is ranked on each search engine according to its relevancy against other websites using the ranking formula specific to that search engine. Each search engine has its own closely guarded secret formula that it uses to generate results and therefore it is common to see similar, yet different results for the same term across a variety search engines.

A well optimized website will rank high across a number of search engines at the same time for the same target key phrase as it is the most relevant for that search term on that specific search engine using its ranking formula.

The ranking formula that a search engine uses to determine its most relevant results is a blend of more than 100 variables. Some of the variables used range from the on-page content of the website, such as the meta tags, key phrase density and key phrase weight of the page, to off-page external factors such as quality inbound links, website competition, page rank and many more.

Effective search engine optimization involves analysis of your own website, the websites of your competition, as well as your target market and keyword research, to ultimately make your website more relevant than that of your competition.

A very basic summary of the optimization process is based on the following steps:

Identification of the competition websites Link identification, analysis and tracking of your own and competition websites Research and analysis of the most effective keywords to use for your website Website content written specifically to enhance the relevancy and effectiveness of the researched keywords.

Effective programming of the web pages strategically incorporating keywords in the html elements of the page
Building of organic links on and to your website using your chosen keywords as the anchor text.

Tweaking of keyword frequency, keyword weight and keyword density on your web pages Search engine and website directory submission and verification of inclusion.

Social bookmarking and promotion of your website on popular social networks and web 2.0 websites Search engine placement checks for chosen keywords on Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Analysis of website traffic statistics, traffic movement on the website and conversion to customer stats.

Internet Marketing

Jahanara Site http://t.co/GLrgXiyCfo
— Donna Shoulders (@DonnaShoulders) October 1, 2013

Internet marketing of your website, or ‘website marketing’ is the ongoing implementation of many different marketing strategies, techniques and ideas at the same time, often working hand in hand, bridging the gap between networks, media, customer demographics and technical boundaries.

We like to think of Internet marketing as the bigger picture of a continually evolving marketing strategy puzzle. Each aspect of online marketing is only one piece in the puzzle that can never be completed, due to ongoing developments on the internet and its ability to evolve.

Website Marketing techniques can involve some of the following methods:

Search Engine Optimization:The implementation of on-page and off-page methodologies and strategies to optimize your web pages for specific keywords and key phrases relevant to your market, to get your website indexed as well as boost its performance on search engines.

Pay Per Click Advertising: This is an advertising method where you only pay for the advert once a user clicks your advert. Typically you bid against competitors, for keywords relevant to your target market, in order to display your advert on Search Engines and content networks.

Email Marketing: The development of newsletters and advertising / promotions emails, as well as member databases to send emails and newsletters to on a regular basis.

Link Building: The setup, management and implementation of a reciprocal link exchange pages for your website, as well as one-way inbound link building to your website.

Social Networking: The introduction of your brand and services to online communities and networks in order to share information and develop the awareness of your brand amongst interested and like minded people. This allows you to connect with potential clients in a unique and personal manner.

Website analytics:The tracking and analysis of the visitors to your website, and the information we can get from them, such as how they came to find your website, which pages they accessed, how long they browsed, if they ‘converted’, or made contact, and where in the world they accessed the website from.
Using a variety of website technologies available to us, we can effectively create brand awareness for your company, and develop an effective marketing strategy that will give you a good return on investment.

How we can assist your business?

We are specialists within the field, constantly researching latest social media trends and providing clients with solutions that best suit their organisation – ensuring that your business’s global presence compliments and strengthens your brand. What we do?

1. Set-up of Social Media tools

- we ensure that all social media tools are set-up correctly, failure to do so will have a negative impact on your organisations brand and customer relationships.

2. Customise social media tools to suit you and your business Design

- we design full HTML landing pages which can contain graphics, text, videos, links, flash and the list continues. A well designed landing page creates a good impression, keeping visitors interested for longer and increasing your chances of converting them into clients.

- we design profile pictures which effectively compliments your brand and occasion.

4. 101 Social Media tutorials

- we provide all clients with a 101 Social Media tutorial, ensuring clients understand the power of social media and how to operate these tools effectively.

5. Social media news

- we provide all our Facebook followers with the latest social media news, because the worlds gone social and our goal is to keep YOU in the CONVERSATION.

Why does my business need Social Media?

We all know the world is going social and the business world needs to join the conversation. Consumers no longer rely on traditional media, but are looking to the World Wide Web to show them what they need. A recent study has shown that individuals are more likely to rely on and trust in peer reviews for a product or service, as opposed to advertisements. Therefore by giving people the opportunity to comment on your business through social media, it not only spreads good word to consumers, but also highlights possible areas of change for you as a company.

Social media has many benefits for your business as it allows you to increase brand awareness and exposure, make new contacts, build new and strengthen existing relationships through effectively interacting with your chosen target market, you can build on or add to an existing web site, it allows you to promote new and existing products or services, you can easily answer questions and erase doubts, and is a great way to monitor your businesses reputation.

Social Media is fun, there is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate and being part of the change is the first step to success!

What is Social Media?

wow parvez site http://t.co/khMEcXjzv8
— Donna Shoulders (@DonnaShoulders) October 1, 2013

What is Social Media?

Social media is an interactive form of online media, allowing everyday individuals, like you and me, to participate in the creation and development of the content of the media. So we are not just receptive to the media, like in traditional media methods, but are allowed to be a part of it! It not only allows us to communicate effectively with one another over the internet but also allows us to share our thoughts, videos, pictures, likes and dislikes with the rest of the world – and to find out their opinions on it in real time. It allows us to network, talk, share and participate with various business contacts, friends, and communities by the click of a button.

There are a variety of Social media, including YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook...to name a few. It is clear why Social media are the words on everyone’s lips!

B2B marketer

As a B2B marketer, do you hope to feel more love from the sales team?

We’re constantly hearing advice telling us that “sales and marketing need to be better aligned”. Like many things: easy to say, hard to do. Sure, it makes sense, but how do you actually make it happen using existing tools and resources (especially when you’re a department of one)?
Here’s what you do:

1) Ask, beg, or demand to be invited the next sales pipeline meeting.

Better yet, just show up! Make it your business to be there. The sales manager shouldn’t object. After all, marketing’s ultimate goal is revenue growth. The point is that you, as a marketer, need to take the time to know what is happening in the world of sales.

Specifically:
Who is in the sales pipeline?
Which opportunities are the big ones?
Who’s gone quiet?
Who’s presenting the most challenges?
The best way to learn this is to be there. There’s just no substitute.

2) Check your CRM system (assuming you have one, of course)

Look at data around the prospects, what products or services they’re interested in, notes from the sales rep, etc. It’s not a replacement for being physically present at the sales pipeline meeting, but it’s a great supplement. If the CRM system is being utilized properly by the sales team (realizing that can be a big “if”), then you should be able to get some easy to digest data about your top prospects.

3) Take action and arm your sales team

This is the fun part and you don’t need any new expensive tools to do this. Basically, you need web analytics and your brain to do a little deductive reasoning. If you do not have web analytics, then stop reading and go sign up for a free Google Analytics account. Assuming you have analytics, log in and have at it.

Using Google Analytics as an illustration, below are a few examples of things you can do that your sales team may find incredibly valuable.

a. Click on the “Network” Tab on the Google Analytics menu.
b. If you have a good volume of traffic, you’ll see a long list of ISP’s or service providers. Most (but certainly not all) companies larger than 50 employees have their own network name (as opposed to having someone like Road Runner or Comcast as their ISP). This is far from being a perfect metric, but it gives you something to go on.

c. Roll up your sleeves and get granular.
Find out if that prospect is engaging with you or not. You can gain some clues about what that prospect is looking at, what are they researching, etc. In the search field (see below), type in some variations of the prospect company name in your sales pipeline. For example, let’s say UPS is in the sales pipeline. You would start typing in either “UPS” or in this case “United”:

Click on the name of the prospect and you can see more drill down detail (screenshot below):

Simply by drilling down a few levels you can tell when people from that company visited your site (red square) and what that mix of visitors look like (green box). The percentage of “new visits” can be very relevant here because a high percentage may be a strong indication that multiple people within that company are doing research on your site.

d. Find out WHAT that prospect is looking at:
First, just go to content (left hand side) and click on “All Pages”:

Next, just scroll back up to the top and take the first step to creating an advanced segment by clicking on the link:

After that, click on create a new custom segment

Next, click on the dropdown menu until you find “Service Provider” (It’s the same thing as “network” – confusing, I know). Start typing in the name of the prospect (in this case, “United Parcel”. Then click on “Preview Segment”

You can save the segment if you wish, but you can quickly end up with a boatload of advanced segments. I usually just do the preview.

Now you do a screengrab and tell exactly:
- Which content is being viewed
- What is the level of interest?
- How often those people are coming to the site
RELATED CLASS: Learn how to build the ultimate Google Analytics dashboard.

4) Analyze and report

This is the part where you get to use your brain to provide some insights for the sales team. For example, recall some of the things you heard from sales in the pipeline meeting.

Is the prospect in a due diligence phase?
Are they doing some product specific comparisons? If so, which products?

Are they reading and downloading case studies or other materials?

Apply some deductive reasoning along with some common sense and you’ll be able to give the sales team some insights that can help them advance the deal.

Be careful though, the method I just showed you doesn’t scale very easily. You have to be prepared to spend some time drilling into data so you’ll want to just pick a handful of top prospects (for example, maybe one that went radio silent or one that sales doesn’t have a good feeling about).

Google Offer Extensions in AdWords

How to Use the New Google Offer Extensions in AdWords

Google Offer Extensions, AdWords latest new advertising extensions, is now being rolled out to all AdWords advertisers and can be found under the “extensions” tab. The new feature merges discount deals with search ads—exciting! Offer Extensions enables AdWords advertisers to post a rebate, coupon, or discount to their regular Google search ads. Here’s a peek at what they look like:

Clicking the offer will take users to a landing page, detailing the logistics of the offer and how to use it. From there, users can print out the offer or can save it for later by saving it to the My Offers section of Google Offers.

There are plenty incentives for this new ad extension – it lets advertisers easily enter the ever-popular deal space without contending with Groupon and Living Social-esk sites.

Offer Extensions also mean more search ad real estate, broadcasting discounts that are likely to bring in better click-through-rates, although the cost-per-click will be the same as it would be for a regular ad.
Setting Up Offer Extensions

AdWords Offer Extensions can be created at the campaign level or ad group level, and are fairly simple to set up. You’ll need to start first with an “enhanced campaign.” Once the campaign is created, click Ad Extensions à  Offer Extensions, and then “Create New Extension”.

From there you fill in the details concerning the redemption dates, the offer headline, redemption details, etc. Make sure to follow best practices to get the most out of your Offer Extension.

The offers won’t show up in every SERP – only when an ad already appears in one of the top three ad positions, and only if Google think the offer is relevant to a searcher’s query.

What Does Offer Extensions Really Mean?

Offer Extensions cuts advertisers a pretty sweet deal for a number of reasons:

Advertisers can post “deals” without going through deal sites and using the familiar AdWords landscape.
Extra Google Search ad space that has the potential to stand out and be more clickable than regular text ads.
Online activity can now affect offline activity – a simple Google ad offer can drive business to a physical brick and mortar store.

Is This the End of Groupon?

Could AdWords ad extensions spell out the end for Groupon? Sites like Groupon and Living Social post business deals on their site, relying on their name to bring in potential customers. However, Google Offer Extensions does one better, matching an advertisers’ offer with relevant users who are ready to make a purchase, increasing the likelihood of a conversion.
Groupon is known as being a difficult group to work with – they are known for taking a big cut of deal profits, and often deal sites bring in one-time users who are just looking for a good bargain. Google Offer Extensions only shows discount offers to users who already are interested in what you are selling, therefore bypassing the frugal rebate wranglers who are just looking for a deal.

Advertisers should keep their eyes out for this new ad extension – it could mean big changes for the existing deal space, and offers a lot to AdWords advertisers.

Online Advertising and Marketing

The Internet connects marketers to customers across the country and around the world. If you're thinking about advertising online, remember the rules and guidelines that protect consumers also help businesses by maintaining the credibility of the Internet as an advertising medium. (Questions about kids' privacy online?  Read about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.)

ONLINE ADVERTISING AND MARKETING LEGAL RESOURCES:
YOUR LINK TO THE LAW

Case Highlights (91)Compliance Documents (20)Laws, Rules, and Guides (12)Reports and Workshops (54)

FEATURED
The FTC’s Revised Endorsement Guides: What People are Asking
Answers to questions people are asking about the FTC’s revised Endorsement Guides, including information about disclosing material connections between advertisers and endorsers.

Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency

FTC staff report recommending ways that key players in the mobile marketplace, including mobile platforms, developers, advertising networks, analytics companies, and trade associations, can better inform consumers about their data practices.

A Common Sense Look At CAN-SPAM
The CAN-SPAM Act covers virtually all email with the primary purpose of advertising or promoting a commercial product or service – even if it’s not sent in bulk. Have you modified your email to follow the seven simple rules of the CAN-SPAM Act?
Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the

Advertising on the Internet? The rules that apply to other forms of advertising apply to online marketing, too. These standards protect businesses and consumers – and help maintain the credibility of the Internet as an advertising medium.

Business Guide to the FTC's Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise

Do you sell products by mail, by phone, or online? This publication discusses what the FTC's Mail Order Rule covers, offers how-to compliance advice, answers common questions, explains where to go for more information – and includes a copy of the Rule.

CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business

Do you use email in your business? The CAN-SPAM Act establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.

Declaring War on Scareware
Malicious “scareware” pop-ups can cost businesses and consumers time, money, and frustration. Are crooks using your site to serve up scareware scams? The answer may be as close as your inbox, online forum, or call center logs.

Dot Com Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising
Whether advertising in print, on radio or TV, or on the Internet, it’s important to disclose the details of the deal up front. This publication offers practical tips on how to make effective disclosures online.

Electronic Commerce: Selling Internationally A Guide for Businesses
By selling your goods online, you can potentially reach customers in every country of the world. But this can pose challenges if you’ve never shipped overseas. These guidelines answer questions about taxes, duties, customs laws, and more.

M-Bracing M-Commerce
Once associated only with voice telephone service, wireless devices have become launching pads for innovative products and services. Like e-commerce, the advent of “m-commerce” presents opportunities – and consumer protection challenges.

Marketing Your Mobile App: Get It Right from the Start
Attention app developers! Basic truth-in-advertising and privacy principles apply to your product. It’s important to give the straight story about what your app can do and be transparent about your privacy practices. This start-from-scratch publication from the FTC reminds you to consider your choices from the user's perspective.

On the Download?
Spyware gives fraudsters the “in” they need to serve up incessant pop-ups, snoop around sensitive files, and capture personal information. Are you doing what you can to protect your system from spyware?

Securing Your Server: Shut the Door on Spam
Do the settings on your servers open your system to misuse? An international group of government agencies says a few quick, easy, and no- or low-cost steps can protect your computer systems.

Selling on the Internet: Prompt Delivery Rules
If you’re selling goods or services online, it pays to know the ground rules for making promises about shipments, notifying consumers about unexpected delays, and refunding consumers' money.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered
More consumers than ever are bypassing the malls and doing their shopping via the Internet. But whether the store is on Main Street or online, savvy sellers know that the same high standards for prompt delivery apply.
Someone to Watch Over Me?

Sometimes it’s nice to be the center of attention – but not when a company is tracking shoppers’ every move online without their informed consent. Here’s what you can learn from the FTC’s settlement with Sears over software that tracked consumers online.

Strings Attached? Disclosing the Details of the Deal
Online shoppers are bound to see them: Banner ads, pop-ups, or email congratulating them on “winning” a laptop, gaming system or something else of value. Companies that promise prizes when there are deceptive strings attached can find themselves tied up in legal trouble.

Truth in App-vertising: Is Your Company App to Date on the Law?
App developers and marketers: Take note! Established consumer protection laws — like the FTC Act, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule, and general data security and privacy principles — apply across the board.

Remove Me Responses and Responsibilities: Email Marketers Must Honor “Unsubscribe” Claims
Some marketers send email as a quick and cheap way to promote their goods and services. Be aware that the claims that you make in any advertisement for your products or services, including those sent by email, must be truthful.

Marketing on Facebook

Dada site for click here http://t.co/jNoXvgskju
— Donna Shoulders (@DonnaShoulders) October 1, 2013

4 Ways to Improve Performance Marketing on Facebook

In the quickly advancing world of performance marketing, Facebook has now become an essential part of the overall marketing plan. In a recent panel, direct response experts met at Facebook headquarters to discuss best practices on how performance marketing on Facebook drives conversions and lowers cost per acquisition (CPA). The panel shared easily implementable strategies to convert high value prospects on Facebook. Learn how to improve your performance of marketing campaigns on Facebook by utilizing these four levers:
1. Placement

Traditionally, Facebook advertisers have used domain ads on the Right-Hand Side (RHS) of the page for placement. However, with the variety of new advertising placements available now, multiple ad placements drive better conversions to meet performance goals. Ads placed in the News Feed alone are eight times more engaging than ads on the RHS and the only way to reach mobile users. Be sure to publish engaging content with good images and use many variations of creatives to get the best results.
2. Ad Format

So which ads work best in the News Feed? Susan Buckner, Product Marketing at Facebook, encourages the following News Feed placements to drive conversions:
Photo Page Post Ad – This placement is the largest and designed specifically for the News Feed. When images are attention grabbing and important to your message, this placement works best. By using shortened URLs in the text of the ad, marketers see more traffic offsite.
Link Page Post Ad – With more real estate dedicated to going offsite, this placement is best to use when imagery is less important.
Sponsored Stories – Built around user engagement, Sponsored Stories are messages coming from friends about their activity with a Page, app or event that an advertiser highlights for better visibility. The goal of paid promotion of organic user activity is to leverage the effectiveness of social context to get more users to take the same action that a friend has.
Offers – When users claim offers, the promotion is shared on their wall, so virality can be ignited with this placement. It’s a great way to increase distribution and customer base.
Mobile App Install Ad – To drive users to app installs and downloads, this ad type works best. It can be effective across verticals and allows for creative optimization.
3. Targeting

Facebook connects you to the right people more efficiently. In fact, the platform is 90% more accurate in finding the right people, compared to 50% on other channels. This difference of better targeting equals 44% in cost savings, whether you are prospecting or remarketing. Depending on your objective, these targeting tools can help you to drive business.
Native Targeting – Use common attributes, such as interests or relationship status, to find Facebook users. This tool works best for prospecting.
Custom Audience – Whether you are prospecting or remarketing, use information you know about customers offline, such as their email address or phone number, and reach them on Facebook.
Facebook Exchange – Highly effective for remarketing, you can find users who have indicated interest in your brand on other websites and find them on Facebook.
4. Optimization

Standard cost per click (CPC) and cost per impression (CPM) bidding works well for basic campaigns or micro-targeting; however, Facebook recommends using its proprietary Optimized CPM (oCPM) bidding option to reach the users most likely to take a specified action. Research shows that testing more than 50 creative combinations per campaign and investing in the ones with the best performance maximizes results. Creative combinations include mixing lifestyle with product images, customizing images to target audiences, or promoting prices, special offers, and discounts in ad text. Focus on quality creative in News Feed.
“Social discovery is driving product recommendations and clicks offsite. And [Facebook] is emerging as a key way for people to discover what to buy, so advertisers need to have a voice in it.”- Lindsay, Facebook Business Marketing
Utilize these four drivers of performance marketing success on Facebook to create rich experiences that generate engagement. Prepare your performance marketing plan by identifying key performance indicators, setting up click tags and view tags, and ensuring a process for delivering enough creative combinations. Once you are ready to execute the campaign, conduct low-cost tests and repeat. Facebook’s community of Preferred Marketing Developers has exclusive access to Facebook’s API and can help you test and optimize your campaigns.

How to Setup a Facebook Business Page

Facebook is a great marketing tool for small businesses, however too many times I see clients who have setup a personal page versus a business page. Business pages can help you promote your business by letting  potential customers simply click a “like” button and start following the information you post on your page. It also allows you to build ads and take advantage of other business tools that Facebook supplies. If you have it setup as a personal page customers will have to send you a “friend request” which you do not want. Follow Facebook guidelines and set up a business page that will help maximize your business exposure online.

To help you along the way, view this video that covers basics of how to setup a Facebook page for your business.

This post has been modified since publishing date. After you have watched the tutorial, please read additional comments below this

After posting this I realized I didn’t show how to access your business page after you have created it. Here is how you navigate to your business page:

Login to your personal facebook account
In the top right corner you will see a Home button with an arrow next to it.
Click on the arrow and it will show you a drop down of the page(s) you manage

Select the page you want to manage
Notice that in the top bar your profile has changed from personal to your business profile

PERSONAL PROILFE

BUSINESS PROFILE

Use the drop down whenever you want to change between the two profiles.

And then just one last thing…

You may notice that your business page is also listed in the left sidebar of your personal page. This is another way to quickly access your business page. Personally I prefer using the drop down method but you can use whichever way works best for you.

Please feel free to use the comment section if you have any questions, I do moderate comments and will respond.

5 Mistakes Your are Making on Facebook

5 Mistakes Your are Making on Facebook… And How to Avoid Them!

Facebook is a great way for small businesses to market their business. Here are 5 common Facebook marketing mistakes to avoid:

1. Brand your page
When setting up the page you have the option to brand your cover graphic. Rather than just uploading a random photo, hire a graphic artist to create a branded image for you. There are so many creative ways to use that space, especially in combination with your profile graphic. Follow Facebook guidelines of not promoting anything directly (don’t put a coupon or special offer there) but use it to tell the bigger story about your business.

2. Use the tabs
Those little boxes under your cover photo? Those are called tabs. There are a plethora of apps that you can use in those spaces. Several email programs like Constant Contact and Aweber have apps that make it easy to integrate  it on your page. Search for the software you use on facebook and it will guide you through the setup steps. In less than 5 minutes you can start accepting newsletter signups from your facebook page! Go the extra mile have your graphic artist customize them for maximum impact.

See how Subscribe, Shop and Blog tabs are all branded for this page?

3. Interact… or die alone
So you’ve posted lots of stuff to your page but where is everyone? They’re out there – but they’re not going to find your page without some interaction. Using your business page follow other business that have the same audience you would like. For instance, if you produce organic chocolate, follow natural health magazines and organic resource websites. Comment and interact on those pages and their audience will naturally discover your page when they see your posts. You’re not going to get new friends if you always stay at home, right? (Tip: you can comment on this blog post right now and use your Facebook URL as a link to your business!).


4. Share the love!
Wow, you have 1,000 friends? You must be pretty popular.  Whether you have 100 or 1,000 make sure to SHARE your own content. When you write an interesting post or a pat on the back on your business page, make sure you share that post on your personal page. Don’t do it every day (or you’ll quickly go from 1,000 to 0 friends) but share the most interesting stuff. It’s called networking. Just do it already.

5. Edit links before sharing
Speaking of sharing, did you know that you can edit the links that you post on facebook? Whenever you post a link in a status update it auto fills in the page title and description of that page or article. Click on that information and voila! you can change to anything you want. If you’re linking to industry news – add your own comments or take on it. Make it reader friendly and offer a new point of view. Just hover over the area and it will turn yellow, meaning it is editable.

Facebook gives you an opportunity to reach out to your customers in a casual and conversational way, don’t make the mistake of sitting back and waiting for things to happen. Do you have any tips on how to use Facebook for business? Share them in the comment section below!

New Facebook Cover Photo Rules

Facebook just recently their policy for cover photos and since January 15th the new guidelines state that your images must have no more than 20% text (including your logo text). Here’s an excerpt from their official
guidelines:

At first this had me totally bummed out because I finally had a cover photo in place that I really liked and got a lot of positive feedback on. (See below)

So then I just felt like being cheeky and using this:

When got over stomping my feet and I decided to be more constructive and figure out how to roll with it. In order to get creative with a 20% text cover graphic it would be nice to know how do you actually measure that? So let’s do the math… (I know you want to!).

Full cover graphic size is 851 pixels high x 315 wide= 26,8065 square pixels

And 20% of 26,8065 is 53,316 pixels which means that as long as the block that holds my text is less than 53,316 square pixels it will be fine. So let’s take a look at this block of text on my old graphic:

The above text block is 383 pixels wide x 148 pixels high which makes it 56,684 square pixels – just a little bit over what Facebook allows! So hey, this is totally doable and won’t actually mess up my graphics too much. If I remove the bottom line of text and make a tweak to the text in the bubble I will be good to go. Phew! I almost freaked out over nothing

Here’s my new & improved graphic:

So how did your cover photo fare under the new guidelines? Could you keep it or did you redesign? Or are you go
ing to pretend you didn’t know and hope they don’t catch you?  Let me know in the comment section below!

Lead Social Media Strategist

The lead social media strategist will  manage and execute social media governance for our multiple websites and online channels.

You are an experienced professional who drives business results through applied experience in social listening platforms, in building communities and in engaging online audiences.

With a full understanding of social networks, you can create social programs that target and maximize the reach of brands or specific communications campaigns.
You excel at working with other communicators to incorporate social strategies as part of larger integrated programs that include traditional media relations, public relations, websites and other digital activations, advertising and mobile technologies.
Already an expert at conceiving and executing targeted social strategies plus measuring the results and tracking them for further segmentation.

Responsibilities

- Visualize, develop and execute social programs as part of larger integrated marketing strategies
- Develop social media strategies that support the agency’s commitment to creating message-driven communications across a variety of platforms and channels

- Serve as one of the social media and social business leaders

- Advance the agency’s strategic point of view relative to the continuing evolution of social media technologies and techniques and their impact on consumer behaviours, the creation of brand value

- Direct social media strategy, counsel, tactics and measurement for new business opportunities

- Analyze social media monitoring tools to identify trends, establish future key messages, gather insights and provide value to clients

- Supervise, mentor and train a team of social communicators

- Manage project deliverables, timelines and budgets

- Engage in ideation, brainstorming and new methods of social media executions

- Seek out thought leadership opportunities for presenting the agency’s social experiences and point of view

Requirements and Qualifications:

An experienced professional engaged in social networks, digital media, online forums and blogging

- A minimum of 8 years of communications background in integrated marketing, public relations, advertising or digital communications

- Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing or Communications

- Experience across social media platforms such as microblogging (Twitter) and mobile image location-based services (Instagram) along with content sharing sites including Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and resources such as Quora or other online forums

- Knowledge of how to integrate communications strategies across several channels, specifically earned, shared and owned media

- Skills in creating social initiatives that meet brand objectives along with increasing web traffic, boosting sales, producing a return on investment and/or demonstrating measurable consumer awareness

- Familiarity with leading social listening platforms and able to analyze, measure and report on engagement with social programs

- Experience in educating clients and internal teams on social trends, tools and programs

- Exceptional writing and presentation skills

- Proven leadership of teams

FEATURED, TEC. & SOCIAL MEDIA

Online Social Networking at Work Can Improve Morale and Reduce Employee Turnover

By allowing employees to participate in a work-sponsored internal social networking site, a company can improve morale and reduce turnover, according to a Baylor University case study published in the European Journal of Information Systems.

The study, which looked at a financial institution’s efforts to acclimate new employees into the organization, also found that participation led to a greater sense of well-being and organizational commitment and better employee engagement.

“For millennials, mixing their work life and their social life via an online social networking created positive emotions for the employees who use the system,” said Hope Koch, Ph.D., Baylor University associate professor of information systems in the Hankamer School of Business and study co-author. “These emotions led to more social networking and ultimately helped the employees build personal resources like social capital and organizational learning.”

SNSs can have a positive impact on IT employees and their workplace, especially when the new employees are relocating to unfamiliar areas and need to build a network, assume highly technical jobs and become integrated into a large organization where it may be difficult to know where to go for help, according to Koch.

The study centered on a financial institution’s efforts to reduce IT employee turnover by starting a social and work-related online networking site. Under the supervision of executives, the IT new hires developed and managed the site’s content. Since most new hires had moved hundreds of miles to start their new jobs with the institution, they initially used the social pages as an introduction to the community. After a year or so with the organization, the more senior new hires began using the system to acclimate and mentor incoming new hires.

All study respondents worked in the institution’s IT department and included new hires, middle managers and executives. With less than three years of experience, most new hires and interns were men between 21 and 27 years old. The middle managers and executives were baby boomers or members of generation X.

The internal social networking site helped the new hires build social capital in several ways, according to Koch.

“It gave them access to people who could provide useful information and new perspectives and allowed them to meet more senior new hires and executives. These relationships set the new hires at ease during work meetings, helped them understand where to go for help and increased their commitment to the financial institution’s mission,” she said.

Ironically, middle managers, even though they wanted freedom from mentoring new hires, developed a negative attitude toward online social networking when they realized that the new hires had managed to accrue social capital and social experiences with senior executives that they had not had access to in their many years of work.

The SNS system also helped the new hires maintain relationships with one another, thus facilitating a network of acquaintances that can do small favors and help build emotionally close friendships. Finally, by allowing the new hires to access information on the SNS, meet other new hires and develop and maintain relationships with their peer group, the financial institution was able to shift some of the burden of acclimating the new hires away from middle managers and human resources.

Despite the good outcome of this institution’s experience, the study data suggest that organizations should move cautiously when implementing SNSs, Koch said. “While the new hires enjoyed using the system, the middle managers experienced frustration, isolation and envy, and the senior executives were somewhat circumspect.

“Before beginning an internal social networking initiative, organizations should consider analyzing how the system may impact both its users and non-users, paying particular attention to potential isolation of non-users and the negative stigma associated with SNS in the workplace,” Koch said.

Co-authors of the study were Dorothy Leidner, Ph.D., Ferguson Professor of Information Systems at Baylor; and Ester Gonzalez from Washington State University.

Leverage Social Media in SEO Strategy

In the world of online marketing, there are two main things that every website owner is desperately trying to do. The first is to increase their ranking on search engines through SEO. The second is to create a social media presence and get customers and potential customers talking about them.

However in actual fact, these two things should be combined together instead of exclusively as in reality, social media can help to increase search engine presence. In this article we define exactly what SEO and social media marketing are and then look at how they can work together to produce a combined strategy.

What is SEO?
For those that don’t know what SEO is, the term stands for search engine optimisation. This is a practice whereby you alter the way your website looks, works and reads in order to be indexed and ranked by the search engines. On a regular basis, the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo send out pieces of software known as search spiders which look at tags and text within websites to determine exactly what a website is about.

The search engines then use this information to provide searchers with relevant search results. Search engine optimisation is the process by which you add content to a website in order to help increase its search visibility. Buzz words you will regularly hear within the industry and by website owners are keywords and tags.

What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is, in a nut shell, gaining traffic or brand presence by utilising the social networks on the internet. The most commonly used social media websites are Facebook, Twitter and Google+ others include Pinterest and LinkedIn. These can be used to provide customers and potential customers with news and special offers or to obtain visitor interactions through competitions and other methods.

How Can Social Media Leverage SEO?
The most important question then is how can a social media marketing plan help your general SEO strategy? The answer is simple – by generating inbound links. One of the Holy Grail elements of SEO is to gain in-bound links for your website. This is where a third party website provides visitors with a link to your website. Search engines deem this type of activity as favourable as in-bound links are seen as a form of endorsing a website in most cases. By adding a link to another website, on your webpage basically says ‘you might find this website interesting too’.

As social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are large players in the online arena, search engines love the links generated by them, especially as links can be shared with friends and go viral in some instances. By getting your website address out into the social media stratosphere you are basically advertising to your customer base, but without having to spend money on advertising.

Social media activities are also a great way to gain new, fresh web content for your website - another element that search engines love, especially if it includes all your keywords.

So in order to try and get that all-important top position on search engine rankings, a combined social media and SEO strategy is paramount.

How Social Media Really Works

How Social Media Really Works

One of the most common questions small business marketers are seeking to answer is, “How can I really benefit from social media?” Social media has certainly changed and improved how small to mid-size businesses can carve out space and connect in an extremely crowded marketplace. When companies participate on the social web in a meaningful way, it helps create a personal connection between customers and the brand.

One of the greatest benefits specifically for small businesses is that access to potential customers has increased tremendously. Rather than strictly focusing on paid advertising, word-of-mouth referrals, and in-store promotions (or a wacky mascot standing outside) businesses can now directly find customers  that may be interested in their products based on profiles, active discussions, keywords or expressed interests. This is especially key in the early stages of a business life-cycle when cash is at a premium.

If you think of the analogy of a party where you don’t know anyone, social media is the equivalent of a one page bio stapled to everyone’s coat. Instead of being stuck talking with the reclusive butterfly hunter who only leaves the house  in search of the rare Palos Verdes Blue, (yes I did have to look that up) you can quickly find the person that likes to shop, travel, and enjoy great conversation. Can you imagine all the time and awkwardness saved if you could have done this your whole life?

How is successful social media marketing done and which small businesses out there are doing a good job? How is it they avoid the pitfalls of social media? There are a lot of great examples out there and I’ve outlined just a few success stories available online below.


AJ Bombers is a burger joint in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that ramped up in a very tough economy in large part by a high level of creativity around the social media space. They have invested the time to build a personality across a number of platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and YouTube. However, they haven’t fallen in love with the tools for their own sake. The business understands it needs to drive people to the actual location and have done so with social media. The quote from owner Joe Sorge in the Forrester post highlights his smart approach,   “Customers are becoming the business,” he says.


Baby Sitters Directory is an Australian company that helps parents find the right care for their child. It’s a huge market and one that also requires a tremendous amount of faith in the service as child care is a very personal decision for each family. Creator Ann Nolan recognized the overall business need but also identified the importance of online engagement via social media, particularly with women, after reading a study highlighting the high use in that demographic. Through its use of Facebook, Twitter, and blogging the company has created a base of useful shared content for parents as they work through a significant choice.


Enhance Me is a specialized portrait company that creates custom photos placing kids in magical settings and has done very well in using social media to spread the word of their unique creations. Victoria Dixon has embraced Facebook, Twitter, and a blog (though not as heavily as the other channels) to promote the business and build relationships with bloggers and customers with measurable results like getting the company endorsed by customers on verygoodservice.com.  Dixon notes that her three top tips to consider when jumping into social media include: focus on your goals, platform selection, and time commitments.

There are many small businesses out there doing great social media work to stand out from the millions of options that consumers have. The connection in these cases is be the foresight to identify and commit to using social media marketing in a creative manner with specific goals in mind. One of the great benefits of social media is that small businesses can be unique in executing a successful plan once they establish goals and metrics. Are you aware of other small businesses using social media to succeed? What’s their secret for success?