Social media marketing is tough.
You have to spend a lot of time online, looking at cool things. Then you need to make a lot of online friends that can help you look at more cool things. And then you have to figure out how to make everyone else interested in what you’re looking at. Oh, and did I mention you have to make money too?
It might sound fun, and you’ll see that look on most new social media marketers’ faces when they start fresh on Monday morning. If they’re still around on Friday they’re dragging themselves out of the office, utterly defeated.
Yes, social media marketing is tough.
The good news is that each week new social media marketing articles go up on websites all over the world. This means you can learn the newest things.
But what if the newest things aren’t as good as some of the old things? After all, lots of people are figuring out the wonders of vinyl records for the first time…could there be something in social media marketing’s past that’s worth something to us?
Yes, and that’s why we must go back to a far and distant time, one that went by the name…2014.
Behold these bygone gems of social media marketing!
You have to spend a lot of time online, looking at cool things. Then you need to make a lot of online friends that can help you look at more cool things. And then you have to figure out how to make everyone else interested in what you’re looking at. Oh, and did I mention you have to make money too?
It might sound fun, and you’ll see that look on most new social media marketers’ faces when they start fresh on Monday morning. If they’re still around on Friday they’re dragging themselves out of the office, utterly defeated.
Yes, social media marketing is tough.
The good news is that each week new social media marketing articles go up on websites all over the world. This means you can learn the newest things.
But what if the newest things aren’t as good as some of the old things? After all, lots of people are figuring out the wonders of vinyl records for the first time…could there be something in social media marketing’s past that’s worth something to us?
Yes, and that’s why we must go back to a far and distant time, one that went by the name…2014.
Behold these bygone gems of social media marketing!
#1 Twitter Followers
On August 27, Peter Bray had an interesting post on Moz called Are Hashtags Dead? Do Tweets with Images Get More Followers? Twitter Growth Factors (and Some Excel Tips).
With a name like that you’d expect a pretty good study, and you get one. Bray’s “data set included roughly 800,000 ‘days’ for over 4,000 users, and requiring analysis of millions of tweets.”
On August 27, Peter Bray had an interesting post on Moz called Are Hashtags Dead? Do Tweets with Images Get More Followers? Twitter Growth Factors (and Some Excel Tips).
With a name like that you’d expect a pretty good study, and you get one. Bray’s “data set included roughly 800,000 ‘days’ for over 4,000 users, and requiring analysis of millions of tweets.”
Graphs charting Twitter followers
If that sounds interesting, and graphs that look like that thing there intrigue you, then this post is right up your alley. Me? I dropped out of a Greek language course in college after two weeks, and seeing this post reminds me why.
Still, there are some good takeaways, like the following Bray put together:
It’s a pretty interesting article, and Bray even analyzes Rand Fishkin’s Twitter account, which could be informative or creepy depending on your own proclivities.
#2 Twitter Marketing
One very helpful post for new and experienced Twitter users appeared on More Follow on November 4. It’s called 20 of the Best Twitter Marketing Articles and all of the articles are from 2014, so you’re getting relevant information.
I’d check this article out for three reasons.
You can have the best article in the world, but if it doesn’t have that social credibility, your chances of getting shared go way down. In that regard, it’s almost a Catch-22…you can’t get social shares until you have them, but you can’t have them until you get them.
Still, there are some good takeaways, like the following Bray put together:
- Tweets with images or hashtags get 2% more followers;
- Retweets can get you 4% more followers;
- Engaging with other users equals 6% more followers;
- Extra URL tweets can lose you followers;
- Weekends get you 23% fewer new followers;
- Content trumps all.
It’s a pretty interesting article, and Bray even analyzes Rand Fishkin’s Twitter account, which could be informative or creepy depending on your own proclivities.
#2 Twitter Marketing
One very helpful post for new and experienced Twitter users appeared on More Follow on November 4. It’s called 20 of the Best Twitter Marketing Articles and all of the articles are from 2014, so you’re getting relevant information.
I’d check this article out for three reasons.
- First, you’re getting quality information about Twitter and links to even more information;
- Then, you’re getting an idea of a great content curation post that you can do in 2015;
- Finally, you’re getting a look at what a super helpful article looks like when it’s wallowing in social obscurity. This thing has been shared little, and I can’t help but think the lack of social counters on their share icons is to blame.
You can have the best article in the world, but if it doesn’t have that social credibility, your chances of getting shared go way down. In that regard, it’s almost a Catch-22…you can’t get social shares until you have them, but you can’t have them until you get them.
Businesses and websites get around this problem each and everyday, and you need to find a way to do the same. And if you’re one of those businesses that’s benefiting from this now, I’ve got news for you – don’t get cushy at the top of that social sharing ladder, because there are many climbing up behind you and they have your tools and ones you don’t even know about, and they’ve got blood in their eye.
Yes, you can pick up a lot from this piece that appeared on More Follow, and I encourage you to do so.
#3 Social Referrals
On July 21, Danny Wong had a report on Shareaholic called In Q2, Facebook Drove 23.39% of Overall Visits to Sites [REPORT]. Now, this report is very similar to the Shareaholic report that came out on June 27, and honestly, there isn’t much new. As before, Facebook continues to cream all the competition when it comes to social referrals, with only Pinterest giving token resistance:
Yes, you can pick up a lot from this piece that appeared on More Follow, and I encourage you to do so.
#3 Social Referrals
On July 21, Danny Wong had a report on Shareaholic called In Q2, Facebook Drove 23.39% of Overall Visits to Sites [REPORT]. Now, this report is very similar to the Shareaholic report that came out on June 27, and honestly, there isn’t much new. As before, Facebook continues to cream all the competition when it comes to social referrals, with only Pinterest giving token resistance:
Which social networks give the most referrals?
Wong notes how much Facebook is in control by saying, “over the last year, its ‘share of traffic’ has skyrocketed, up 150.49% (14.05 percentage points) from 9.34% in June 2013.”
Why is Facebook doing so well? “Simply put,” Wong says, “Facebook is winning the referrals war because users can’t seem to get enough of content shared by close friends and relatable acquaintances.”
Wong goes on to say that YouTube isn’t really working for a lot of businesses, primarily because they don’t have the high-end equipment needed for quality videos. He also says that, despite it’s loyal set of users, Google+ just arrived too late in the game and can’t compete.
One takeaway for Twitter is that social referrals seem to have fallen flat, and this may be due to all posts looking the same…boring one-to-two lines of text posts. That’s why optimizing them with images and colorful characters is a good strategy for 2015.
Other social sites like Reddit and StumbleUpon are also analyzed, making this one of the best social analysis posts of 2014, in my opinion.
#4 Google+ and Local SEO
An article that appeared on Blue Fountain Media on May 1 was called 9 Ways to Use Google Plus to Help Your SEO Efforts. Written by Brendon Rowe, the article laid out one of Google+’s main problems, and that’s the fact that it has fewer users than other networks.
You hear this a lot, and you hear that the engagement trumps this. I dunno, but what I do know is that people need strategies to deal with what many know is a big problem – Google+ lags way behind the other social networks.
So try these fixes, as Rowe suggests:
Author Rank is no more, and Matt Cutts has said that social ranking doesn’t affect SEO. Still, there are some good points here, and as many of us know, what’s wrong today might be right tomorrow…and vice versa.
Why is Facebook doing so well? “Simply put,” Wong says, “Facebook is winning the referrals war because users can’t seem to get enough of content shared by close friends and relatable acquaintances.”
Wong goes on to say that YouTube isn’t really working for a lot of businesses, primarily because they don’t have the high-end equipment needed for quality videos. He also says that, despite it’s loyal set of users, Google+ just arrived too late in the game and can’t compete.
One takeaway for Twitter is that social referrals seem to have fallen flat, and this may be due to all posts looking the same…boring one-to-two lines of text posts. That’s why optimizing them with images and colorful characters is a good strategy for 2015.
Other social sites like Reddit and StumbleUpon are also analyzed, making this one of the best social analysis posts of 2014, in my opinion.
#4 Google+ and Local SEO
An article that appeared on Blue Fountain Media on May 1 was called 9 Ways to Use Google Plus to Help Your SEO Efforts. Written by Brendon Rowe, the article laid out one of Google+’s main problems, and that’s the fact that it has fewer users than other networks.
You hear this a lot, and you hear that the engagement trumps this. I dunno, but what I do know is that people need strategies to deal with what many know is a big problem – Google+ lags way behind the other social networks.
So try these fixes, as Rowe suggests:
- Personalized Search;
- Google+ Local;
- Indexing;
- Rank Your Social Media Posts;
- Get Your Web Content Viral;
- Google+ Hangouts;
- Keeping Up with Best Practices;
- Rich Snippet;
- Author Rank.
Author Rank is no more, and Matt Cutts has said that social ranking doesn’t affect SEO. Still, there are some good points here, and as many of us know, what’s wrong today might be right tomorrow…and vice versa.
Google+ Local is one to take a moment on, and this is something all businesses should do, especially those relying on mobile and local search. The more you can have your business integrated with Google, the better – no other search engine will come close to the amount of traffic they provide.
“When someone types in the name of a service that is viewed to be geographically important to the user,” Rowe says, “Google will implement knowledge graph listings below search advertisements in the results page.”
“When someone types in the name of a service that is viewed to be geographically important to the user,” Rowe says, “Google will implement knowledge graph listings below search advertisements in the results page.”
Making local SEO work for you
Gosh, something like this could be just as beneficial as paying for advertising, and that’s why it’s such an interesting thing for you to look at. After all, don’t you want your company coming up when in your town or city searches for your industry’s products and services?
Of course you do! And remember, customer reviews can come up here as well, which can be another boost to your business. While Google reviews don’t get a lot of play and aren’t deemed as real sexy by bloggers, I have a feeling that’ll change in 2015.
This is a good article to look at for ideas, and you’ll find nine more besides this one profiled here.
#5 Boosting Shares
Jordan Kasteler had an article on Marketing Land on April 29 called 8 Brain Triggers Guaranteed To Boost Your Social Media Marketing. So what are these wonderful brain triggers?
Wow, hard to tell what any of those mean by skimming, huh? I’d add one more to this list – have headlines that make sense.
Alas, not every site can do that. Marketing Land is just a bastard child of Search Engine Land, and both sites often have amazingly thin content. Still, this article has some use. For instance, how about our brains?
“Because our brains process information spatially, when we come upon a list we appreciate the break in our visual field,” Kasteler says. “We know that sorting out data will come more easily, and that hits an emotional sweet spot.”
So, lists are good, just have them make sense so users don’t click away in that 1.7 seconds that you typically have to gain their attention.
Of course you do! And remember, customer reviews can come up here as well, which can be another boost to your business. While Google reviews don’t get a lot of play and aren’t deemed as real sexy by bloggers, I have a feeling that’ll change in 2015.
This is a good article to look at for ideas, and you’ll find nine more besides this one profiled here.
#5 Boosting Shares
Jordan Kasteler had an article on Marketing Land on April 29 called 8 Brain Triggers Guaranteed To Boost Your Social Media Marketing. So what are these wonderful brain triggers?
- Brain Gain;
- Inspire Curiosity;
- Tell Me Why;
- Good News Travels Faster;
- Something New;
- Intuitive Lists;
- Tell Tales;
- Action Words.
Wow, hard to tell what any of those mean by skimming, huh? I’d add one more to this list – have headlines that make sense.
Alas, not every site can do that. Marketing Land is just a bastard child of Search Engine Land, and both sites often have amazingly thin content. Still, this article has some use. For instance, how about our brains?
“Because our brains process information spatially, when we come upon a list we appreciate the break in our visual field,” Kasteler says. “We know that sorting out data will come more easily, and that hits an emotional sweet spot.”
So, lists are good, just have them make sense so users don’t click away in that 1.7 seconds that you typically have to gain their attention.
RSS Feed