Time to post – What Bit.ly says
We’ve written before about the best time to post on social media for the biggest engagement but URL shortener experts Bit.ly recently revealed their own findings which are also well worth studying. The report is based on Eastern Standard Time, so skews any UK data but the premise of what time in day works best, looks a familiar pattern however, that certainly those just starting out would do well to follow. It seems the lunchtime, post lunchtime slot is the best time to catch the Twitter traffic with the highest click count occurring between 1 and 3pm Monday through to Thursday). So not the full week. Friday it appears is a bit of a lacuna. In fact the weekend starts early as according to bit.ly if you are looking to use Twitter as a way to drive traffic to your content you are wasting your time posting after 3pm Friday until Monday morning. Facebook is similar but with a bigger window of 1pm to 4pm in the afternoon Monday to Thursday. If you want peak action then Wednesday 3pm for a Facebook post is the ultimate for traffic click through – who’d have thought it? It’s pretty scientific from Bit.ly – did you know your post has a half-life – but not so it is difficult to understand. The most interesting revelation from the report is the impact of Tumblr on the world of social networking. Many are looking at it as an option to perhaps bridge the differences between Twitter and Facebook, but as a business tool it is certainly still in its infancy, yet it does appear to interact much differently from it’s two bigger siblings. According to bit.ly. Tumblr traffic hits its peaks between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. There are similar traffic spikes on Sunday when other click through rates are tiny. Amazingly, against almost every result shown by Twitter and Facebook, Friday evening appears to be the optimal time to post on Tumblr, perhaps reflecting the younger demographic and types of posts (ie social events) make good posts on Tumblr. Of course, as we have said before, each and every sector and each and every business is unique. What you actually want to be doing is tweeting and posting when your own followers are most likely to be watching, or better still when your would-be followers are most likely to be watching as you also want to be increasing your follow too. When have you found works best for your business?
Women lead the way in engagement
The battle of sexes continues in the virtual world and it’s the fairer sex that leads the way according to the latest report from Nielsen. STATE OF THE MEDIA SPRING 2012 – ADVERTISING & AUDIENCES PART 2: BY DEMOGRAPHIC released today is a US-centric study on who is engaging and where and it throws up some interesting stats, suggesting a big shift in the online audience in recent years. The report shows that women are now significantly more likely to engage with social media than men. Women are also 8% more likely than the average online adult to build or update a personal blog and 6% more likely to have created at least one social networking profile If advertisers needed more proof that their target engagers are female not male the report also suggests a lady is 12% more likely than the average adult to purchase a product featured on TV. A pretty clear definition and pattern that advertisers will no doubt no longer ignore. So don’t be surprised to see more fluffier, pinkier or simply more feminine websites and networks springing up in months to come as the strive for social media returns enters a new chapter.
Six reasons you should be using Google+ for your Business
We all know the power of Google and while it has dipped toes into the social media sphere before and failed, this time, with Google + most of the experts are taking notice and suggesting they’ve got it right. But why? 1. It’s indexed by Google This clearly means that anything you put there, any mention of your business, any discussions you are involved in are definitely throwing your name out there. The more mentions of your name, the more appearances on Google search and hopefully the more business will come your way. 2. It’s busy People signed up in their thousands last year to Google + and while that is slowing down, it is not something those already signed up are ignoring. Latest research suggests that 60% of Google + users are logging in every day and that 80% of them are engaging with their circles every week. 3. It’s big The total number of Google + members is said to have passed the 90 million mark, so that’s a pretty wide potential audience. Not as large as other more established networks of course, but remember thise signing up to Google + have probably done so as they are more committed to engaging and want to take more of a part in the network. Those go-getters are perfect for your business. 4. It’s more customisable Maybe not in look, but in function, which is perfect for you when you are trying to run a business too. Gooogle’s search background is clearly evident in what you can do with Google +. Rank other people’s posts and shares and personalise how you order people within circles (effectively groups) you have created. You can define how, what, where and when you see and engage with what is going on on Google +. 5. Creating a business page is easy OK, it’s not branding friendly, but people are still searching for text, so that is perfect. Creating a page is literally a few clicks with the minimum of fuss and you then have a hub to work from on the network and increase your brand or at least ‘name’ visibility. 6. Your competitors may not be there… yet Stealing a march on the opposition is always good and when the tool is as potentially powerful as Google + that could be massive. More and more businesses are wising up, so you may have to be quick, but becoming an expert on Google + may just be the perfect way of staying ahead of your competition and at least showing to potential customers you are not stuck in the dark ages. If you are serious about using social media as part of your business – and if you are serious about your business you should be – then Google + is where it is about to all happen. If you learn nothing else and appear on only one social media network, Google + is most likely where you need to be.
Under the bonnet of Twitter & Facebook
Quality of fans & followers versus quantity
The phrase quality over quantity is nothing new – even in business – but the first thing to point out is that even if you do follow this old adage you will have to preach hard to almost everyone you meet that that is the right approach. It’s human nature that we want answers, quantifiable results, etc. The modern marketing world is dominated by ROI (return on investment) stats but social media works best in ways that are more difficult to quantify. There are methods that claim to help evaluate improvements in brand awareness, customer opinion and loyalty but even those are difficult to relate back directly as a result of social media. So many people turn to the number of followers and fans as a symbol of how well they are doing in social media terms. As we pointed out back at the start of this guide – B –Buying fans and followers – there are plenty of places offering you the chance to boost your follower and fan numbers if you are prepared to part with some cash, but that’s like holding a party and inviting loads of people you don’t know and who don’t know you. Sure some will come, curiosity for many others just looking to see what’s in it for them, others because they have nothing better to do. In which case they are of very little value to you as the party host and you are highly unlikely to ever see or hear from any of them again. The same is true of this un-natural fan or follower. Quality of fan and follower should be your focus and that means someone who appreciates what you are doing, is likely to be inspired to spend some money with your business and hopefully may even want to spread the word about how good you are. One fan telling their own set of 500 fans how great you are is likely to be so much more productive in the long run than you just buying in 500 fans. Better quality fans can be advocates for your business by spreading the word, but also can be your ear to the ground. The chances are they are already your customer. Their opinion could be an indication of how other customers are feeling too, so if they make suggestions or start grumbling…pay attention. Use social media to get to know your customers not just to gain statistics you can show off without meaning. An example of why quality of followers over quantity works, is the celebrity twittersphere. Almost every pop-star, football player even politician has a Twitter account with 10,000 or more followers, yet very few actually interact with those fans who have chosen to follow them. In fact, often they are the worst Tweeters and people to follow. If they tweet at all, it is usually inane references to their unreal lives. The fact that most celebrities with large numbers of followers only themselves follow a handful of others on Twitter, also shows they don’t care for the interaction, it is more self-promotion and while it has worked for some Twitter is more about relationships than just one-way PR. The better quality your follower the easier you will find it to interact with them – there will be more shared ground and knowledge and desire to interact. Your aim should be to develop relationships, interact with your followers and become an influencer over their habits. That will help drive sales back to you and that will also help improve your status as a social media guru.
Photography and art sharing
Sharing and hosting images on the internet is by no means a new concept, in fact even in the early days of the internet it was possible to view images on web pages. But for a long time the only real way to host an image was to have that image directly on your website which meant manually creating your website and uploading the image. People would then visit your website and see your image. The whole process was possible but not easy for anyone as back then the internet was a much more unforgiving place for novice users. Now things are much different, it is easy for anyone to easily share their images over the internet thanks to social media or photo sharing sites. Sites like deviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug, Zooomr and even Facebook allow users to easily upload and share images. But how easy is it really to upload your images and share them with the world? The real answer is very easy, most smart phones allow a one click upload of images onto your favourite social media site. What that actually means is you can take a photograph, press one button then within 30 seconds have your photo online. One main advantage of these sites is that the images are hosted on their servers which means you do not need your own web space. Some people use this to their advantage and use these free services to host the images they used in their blogs and even in their eBay auctions. Instead of needing to do the whole process yourself these photo sharing services meet you half way and take care of the difficult bit allowing you to just share the images and not needing to worry about the technical details behind it. Most photo sharing sites offer two different types of accounts; the first is free and allows users to upload a limited number of photos. The second type is a premium service that allows an unlimited amount of uploads. The images can be made private to a select group or made public so the whole world can see. If a photo is publicly available anyone can see it without needing to sign up for the sharing service. This gives restricted access which is very good for sharing but can pose possible issues as well. Online theft and fraud has become major issues in the photo sharing market as when certain images are made public they can be misused. When using such sites it is important to be warned of the dangers of posting personal pictures to public sites. But really you should just use your common sense, remember if you are posting a picture publicly it can be viewed by anyone so if you don’t want everyone to see if just don’t post it. Sharing photos through social media networks has become increasingly popular. In August 2011 it was reported that Flickr was hosting more than 6 billion images and by the end of September 2011 Facebook was hosting more than 100 billion photos. The internet is growing all the time and it is making sharing media much easier than it has ever been but as it is so easy we need to use our common sense and only post what we feel happy for the world to see. What do you think? Are photo sharing sites a good thing or do we need to be cautious?
LinkedIn – are you?
LinkedIn is one of the most popular social networks but it is often overlooked as it is seen as a recruitment tool or somewhere to show off your CV. But LinkedIn is so much more than that, it can be a very powerful B2B communication tool and can be one of the most powerful ways to promote your brand or business. But how do you promote your brand using LinkedIn? Here are a few ways to boast your presence and utilise the full potential of LinkedIn for your brand… Search engines Your LinkedIn profile is indexed by search engines; this makes all the details of your profile searchable. Be sure to fill out all your profile information, your website and contact details, the services you provide and include a company logo. The more information you provide the better as it will widen the search terms used by the search engines and enable you to be found more easily. LinkedIn groups It is important to find and join groups that are not only related to your industry but groups that are also of interest to your target market. Groups can be a great way of meeting people and getting your name out there. Think about joining the kind of groups where you could find potential clients discussing their problems. Questions and Answers It is always beneficial to participate in question and answer sessions. Use your knowledge and expertise to get involved and answer questions posted. This will raise your profile and show you are not only there to help but you also know what you are talking about. This gives your brand a more human quality and makes you more approachable. Recommendations One of the best methods of building your brand with LinkedIn is by getting and giving recommendations. Getting endorsements from your peers and leaders in the industry can add instant credibility to your brand as can recommendations from your customers. Once your brand’s profile has been boasted you can also move on to giving your own recommendations which in turn will elevate your own status and broaden your reach. Keep updated There is nothing worse than leaving old information on your profile, it makes you look unprofessional and makes it seem like you hardly ever use LinkedIn. Always keep your profile up-to-date, make sure all information is current and remove any links or content that is no-longer relevant. It is important to maintain an active presence. Employee profiles Many people use LinkedIn to find a new job and you do not want to give the impression that your employees are looking to move on. Your employees’ profiles should not say “I’m looking for a new job” but instead should say “I love my job and i’m good at it”. Your employees profiles should be written to address the needs of your clients and should show that they are there to help. No hard selling It may come as no surprise that people are more receptive when they are treated like human beings instead of being pushed into buying your products. Sometimes you will get a sale but most of the time you will just scare them away. Don’t go for the hard sell instead get involved in discussions and offer your help and opinions. Make sure your brand has a reputation for getting involved and you can sell your products but let that come secondary. If you follow all these steps you will be one step closer to boasting your brands status and reputation using LinkedIn. The thing to remember is that social media networking takes time and effort; it is an ongoing process and the more you put in the more you get out. How do you promote your website using LinkedIn?
Klout is about… Time to measure your efforts
In this time of social media madness wouldn’t it be great to have some way of measuring your influence across the different social media networks? Well that is exactly what Klout was created for. Klout analyses your social media activity on Facebook or Twitter and assigns a number between 1 and 100 to indicate the strength of your social influence. Klout uses over 35 variables to measure True Reach, Amplification Probability and Network Score. But what does this really mean? True Reach True Reach is the size of your active audience and is based on the number of your followers and friends who react to your messages. Amplification Probability Amplification is the probability that one of your messages will cause an action such as retweets, likes, @messages Network Score Network score shows how influential your audience is and it directly correlates to clicks, comments and retweets. The Final Klout Score After taking all factors into account the final Klout score represents the impact of your social media activities and how successfully you are engaging your audience. Tools such as Klout are being used more and more to measure social activities and are seen as a good indicator to show your success within the social media platform. So much so that many companies are starting to request a minimum Klout score when hiring an agency.But how accurate is Klout and is it really a good indication to your true social media activities? Well this is where many experts are divided. Even more so since Klout decided to revise some of its scores near the end of 2011 to massive criticism by many who saw their score drop. It is true that Klout does give an accurate representation of your social media activites and allows a comparison with other companies to see how you stack up. So why do many people believe Klout to be flawed in its approach? The main issue that people have with Klout and other social media measuring tools is the actual way it evaluates your social activities. It is true that the variables used can give a good indication of your activities but Klout can also effectively be tricked by users using forms of automation and other methods to satisfy the Klout variables – Klout claims its latest changes make that less likely now however. This effectively removes the social element and really misses the point of a social network. If you are hiring an agency based on their Klout score you would hope that it indicated they knew what they were doing. You would hope they were able to interact within a social environment build relationships and be socially active. But this is sadly not the case, the Klout score shows they are active within the social networks but does not show enough detail of the actual interactions. At this moment in time Klout is a great indicator of social influence and should be used as a guide for measuring your social activities but only as a guide. It is dangerous for businesses to rely on externally created numbers and Klout is not yet refined enough to be able to offer any real leverage. That being said Klout is the best tool out there to measure your social media activities and actually have something to show your boss for all that time you spend on Facebook. It may have its flaws but it will only get better with time. The people behind Klout are slowly improving the way it evaluates your activities and the accuracy will get much much better very soon. Do you think Klout shows and accurate representation of your social influence?