February 06, 2013

How to Use Valentine's Day for Social Media Marketing

February 06, 2013/ Andrew Macarthy

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and while many people view the ocassion as an over-hyped, over-commercialised cash-in for big brands (probably true), that doesn't mean they don't go along with it! And for social media and content marketing, the provides a great opportunity to give your profiles an overhaul and pump out some powerful related content to help grow brand loyalty and increase sales. Here are just a few examples of how to use Valentine's Day for social media marketing:

1. Update Your Facebook Cover Image

Giving your Faceboook cover a Valentine's makeover is a simple and powerful way of promoting the event to your fans, particularly if the product you offer - as in the case of Hotel Chocolat above - is heavily linked to the day. As many people will click on your new cover image for a closer look, don't forget to include a description, call to action, and a link to where you want them to go, e.g. your Valentine's online shop.

2. Update Your Twitter Header Image and Background

Walmart has amassed over 300,000 followers on Twitter, and it knows - with its love heart-themed Twitter background and header image, that it can communicate a powerful message about its Valentine's offerings to them. There's no hard sell with the images, but take a closer look what their Bio has been changed to: "Save Money, Live Better. Let us help with your Valentine’s Day needs. Tweet @Walmart for inspiring gifts ideas for your sweetheart this Valentine’s season!" Not only will this call to action be seen by Twitter users, but it also appears underneath Walmart's Twitter page description on Google search.

3. Share Images, Offers, and Promotions

Of course, Valentine's Day can also be used as a way to directly market to your customers via status updates across social media. In my case, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips is hardly the most romantic of gifts, so I've gone for a very playful approach. With a bit of creativity, you can capitalise on the impact of Valentine's Day whatever your business type. For example, a company that sells printer ink could launch a Valentine's Day offer for X% amount off Product X because they love their customers so much, or a pet store could remind people not to forget about the four-legged friends in their life that deserve a little Valentine's Day treat too.

Conclusion

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to hopping on the Valentine's Day bandwagon to help customers to love your brand more, or tell them how much their love and support means to you. How will you be using Valentine's Day in your social media marketing? Let me know in the comments below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Macarthy is author of 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, the #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller:

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January 20, 2013

Bigger Facebook Link Images For Increased Engagement

January 20, 2013/ Andrew Macarthy

Facebook is beginning to introduce a new look for shared links on the social network, which typically have not received very high levels of engagement from users of the site. Marketers obviously don't like this, often preferring to upload an image to dominate a news feed post and place a link in a status along with it.

In a move to improve this situation, shared links now display with a larger 154 x 154 pixels image, and several more lines of 'teaser' copy from the destination URL. Check out a comparison of the new and old in the video above.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Macarthy is author of 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, the #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller:

Buy 500 Social Media Marketing Tips
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007L50HE6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007L50HE6

Follow Me:
http://www.fa cebook.com/500socialmediatips/
https://pinterest.com/500socialmedia/
http://www.twitter.com/500socialmedia/

http://www.youtube.com/500socialmediatips

January 15, 2013

What Facebook Graph Search Means For Marketers and Small Business NOW

January 15, 2013/ Andrew Macarthy

Today, Facebook announced Facebook Graph Search. It arrived following a week or so of fervent chatter about a 'big announcement' from the social network giant, which also rumoured a news feed overhaul and a smartphone device - neither of which materialised.

Facebook Graph search allows users to search for people, things, and places their friends and friends of friends are interested in, as a way of making new connections and experiencing new things. The new search bar relies heavily on “Likes” and other connections to determine what to show as the most relevant search results for each user. It also offer a number of search filters — the ability to search based on the vast user data that Facebook has in its system. As the company puts it:

"Facebook Graph Search and web search are very different. Web search is designed to take a set of keywords (for example: “hip hop”) and provide the best possible results that match those keywords. With Graph Search you combine phrases (for example: “my friends in New York who like Jay-Z”) to get that set of people, places, photos or other content that’s been shared on Facebook. We believe they have very different uses."

Search results will be personalized, although Facebook says that more generic queries should produce fairly common results for most people. Importantly, search results won’t reveal anything that was previously kept private; you’ll only be able to search for content that’s been shared with you.

Initially, Facebook Graph Search will only include people, photos, places and interests. I imagine Facebook Pages will eventually be added to that list, but that doesn't mean a void of relevance for businesses and marketers right now.

Local search and recommendations (likes and check-ins from friends at bars, restaurants, retail stores, etc.) barges into the territory of services like Foursquare and Yelp, bolstering Facebook's approach following the recent introduction of the Nearby tab on its mobile app. And integration with Bing means traditional search results will also be available, keeping users locked onto Facebook for longer, away from big rivals like Google.

If your Facebook Page still isn't set up to appear in Facebook Places, it is now more imperative than ever to do so than ever.

Facebook Graph Search is currently limited to a few hundred thousand people today, although you can register your interest here. There is no current timetable for a full roll out.

Social Media Tips, Social Media Marketing Tutorials | Andrew Macarthy

1. Update Your Facebook Cover Image

2. Update Your Twitter Header Image and Background

3. Share Images, Offers, and Promotions

Conclusion

Andrew Macarthy - Social Media Marketing