Why Bloggers Need Facebook Instant Articles

27Jul

Facebook is starting to resemble an all-inclusive resort- they do not like guests leaving their walls. Native content is becoming more preferred lately, and Facebook is providing new ways of keeping content inside Facebook.

We originally saw this with videos. Video streams now continuously play videos that were uploaded to Facebook, allowing users to enjoy a steady flow of content. Yet this takes attention away from YouTube links and could bring engagement down. Now, Facebook has made a new tool called Instant Articles that are specially crafted for your writing. Check out how Facebook’s next invention will help bloggers:

According to Facebook itself, readers of Instant Articles are 70% less likely to close the article before finishing. There are 20% more Instant Articles read on average as opposed to a link to a blog. Additionally, they are 10x faster to upload than being taken out of Facebook to open a new website. This is because you have actually uploaded it to Facebook itself, and there is nothing else to load!
These special types of articles are also interactive. You can add videos and pictures and they can perform in unique ways. Essentially, you are making a new version of the article that is optimized for a mobile device, which will deliver some added benefits.
Facebook also states that Instant Articles are more likely to be shared than traditional posts.

As you can see, there are some perks to creating an Instant Article version of your blog. It is still your content, but it will now live on Facebook and your readers will appreciate it when reading on the go.

What are your thoughts on Instant Articles? Comment below!

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Your Website: Your Social Media’s Biggest Fan

By Christopher Tompkins

26Jul

Advertising, Business, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized, Website Design, YouTube

Online marketing is a broad term that encompasses both social media and a company’s website. Because of this, these two need to work symbiotically. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the other platforms need help from your website, and vice versa.

There is a bit of quid pro quo in online marketing. Some social media content should send the reader back to the website so they can read informative web pages, fill out forms, etc. On the other side, a website needs to be designed with those social media icons proudly being promoted in a prominent corner. There are so many websites out there that tuck away the links to its company’s social media page and even if you wanted to find their accounts, you wouldn’t be able to! It is very important to have those buttons right where viewers can see them.

Your website will generally stay the same. It tends to be a steadfast, unwavering piece of marketing as opposed to social media which is constantly updated with news, sales, articles, etc. You can see why these elements are very important to a successful online presence.

When promoting separate pages on social media, do not always link back to your home page. Share the wealth of attention to other pages that can provide the customer further insights into what makes your company tick. One of these important pages is your blog.

A blog can be one of the most important parts of your website. It is one of the sections that is typically updated, albeit not as quickly as your social media. By promoting your blog on your social media pages, you will bring attention to your website, which is a valuable resource to your company. What’s that? You don’t have a blog? You need to start one up ASAP!

A business’ website and social media pages are both integral elements of online activity and as such, a good marketer knows how to take advantage of both.
How do you promote your website on social media? How do you promote your social media on your website? Share below!

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5 Great Tips For Making Effective Email Blasts

By Christopher Tompkins

25Jul

Copywriting, Email Marketing

In today’s age, we all get a ton of emails every single day. If left unchecked, most people’s inboxes will get loaded down with hundreds of junk letters in just a few weeks. So, with all of these emails pouring into our accounts, how can a marketer expect any emails to hit home? Email can be more effective than you may think. However, it needs to be done right or your receivers will be hitting that “junk” button before they get to read your entire message. Here are the top 5 simple ways to make sure your email marketing works just right:

Know your software. To have truly successful email blasts, you will need some help. There are plenty of software options for you to choose from, but we recommend looking into Constant Contact, MailChimp, or Vertical Response. If you have experience using other scheduling programs like Hootsuite, you should have no problem figuring these programs out. If you are completely new to this type of marketing tool, take some time to really get to know your new software. Have patience, because these will soon become indispensable resources.

Be consistent. While those on your mailing list may not be expecting an email from you, the goal of email marketing is to regularly remind your customer base of your services and new updates happening in your business. The aforementioned software will help you remain on time with publishing, but you will also want to stick to a regimented writing schedule yourself.

Integrate social media. When compiling your email, do not forget to supply hyperlinks that will direct readers to your Facebook, Twitter, and other social media accounts. This will maximize coverage and take advantage of the email’s potential.

Be brief. As we have said, no one is expecting your email blasts, so you do not want to slow their day down with an extremely drawn out message. Keep it short and effective.

Create an eye-catching subject line. As much as you compete for readers’ attention on social media, email blasts require the same amount of effort. You need a snappy subject line to make people feel like they need to read that email! You can make it relevant and reference something happening in the world such as a holiday, election, sports event, etc. If it is more sales-oriented, you could let the customer feel special and say it is a “special invitation for loyal customers” or an “exclusive offer”– just don’t come off like spam! Most importantly, keep to the truth!

Email marketing allows direct access to your customers in a unique way. Think of it as a “follow up” on steroids. It is an effective tool that will serve as a continuous reminder to your customers just how awesome your company is.

What tools do you utilize for email marketing? Share below!

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Why Your Business May Be Oversharing On Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

24Jul

Social Media

Geico has a new radio commercial talking about people “oversharing” on social media. They depict a woman that posts on Facebook every 10 minutes with photos, comments, and tags all her friends constantly. As social media marketers, we cringe at the commercial because we know the real implications oversharing can have.

Social media is becoming an established element in our society and as such, there are some unspoken rules. Here are the top 4 ways your followers may be yelling “TMI!” when checking out your updates:

1. Too many posts- Even if your updates strike the right balance of push and pull messages, flooding the social media channels with a massive amount of content is not recommended. This will surely annoy your followers. For Facebook and Instagram, it is recommended to post varying content twice a day. Twitter should be 3-4 tweets or original content (but don’t forget to utilize retweets and other tools on a daily basis)
2. Personal opinions- Don’t forget, you are representing your business when managing their social media page. It is not a good idea to push your personal beliefs on your company’s account. Do not talk about controversial, religious, or political subjects. It’s a good way to alienate or infuriate your customers.
3. Irrelevant sharing- If you manage social media for a law firm, you wouldn’t post a bunch of DIY carpentry videos, would you? Make sure the items you share are professional and somehow connect to your industry.
4. Inside References-We have all seen those social media posts that mean absolutely nothing to anyone except the people tagged in it. Do not send out those types of posts. Make sure everything is relatable to the general public. Even if you are mentioning an employee in an update, make sure people understand what you are talking about.

Quality over quantity is the name of the game in social media marketing. Be sure to take time and consider every post you share. After all, people from every walk of life will read it!

How do you feel about oversharing? Comment below!

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Why You Need A Dedicated Social Media Manager

By Christopher Tompkins

23Jul

Social Media

Millions of businesses are now reaping the benefits of social media. Yet just how serious are they taking this venture? We have seen many companies assigning social media duties as an afterthought to their marketing team or part-time intern. After these employees work on traditional marketing all day long they hardly have the energy to invest into their company’s Facebook, Twitter, etc. We can’t tell you just how wrong this approach is! A successful social media marketing campaign requires attention every single day. Some of the worse types of accounts are those that are either stagnant or sparsely contributed to and that’s what this answer to social media generates.

Now that social media marketing has become a necessity for business, many managers feel obligated to create accounts. However not many fully understand the work that goes into its success.

Depending on exactly what sites your business has accounts on, a social media marketer needs to perform unique duties. Maintenance of Facebook pages is time consuming as there are many intricate steps to take and areas of the site to follow. Twitter marketers must retweet and quote retweet to make sure there is a constant stream of engaging content on the company’s news feed throughout the day. They also must fix the balance of followers and non-followers to the benefit of the page. If LinkedIn is involved, networking with an account’s fifty groups is needed during the workweek.

Amongst all this, analysis of data is critical. Statistics are available either through native analytics or third-party applications so social media managers can see what posts generated engagement and which didn’t. As the internet landscape is quite fickle, it’s our job to study trends and stay on top of what is happening today and not yesterday. The moment is vital in social media marketing, and we appreciate how missing an important event can spin a whole campaign out of control.

Some businesses still may not want to waste an employee’s time with social media. Others may not have a team member that is privy to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other websites’ intricacies. That’s where outsourcing to professionals like The Go! Agency can be very beneficial to your company. Your online accounts will receive comprehensive work, writing, and support which is priceless when creating an effective online presence. It’s more than understandable for all the work a social media campaign requires to be a bit over a business owner’s head. After all, you are a professional in your field, not online marketing.

If you have any questions about how outsourcing can help your company, please contact us!

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What Can Twitter Engage Do For Your Social Media?

By Christopher Tompkins

21Jul

Social Media, Twitter

Twitter really wants you to succeed. They had previously announced updates to the website’s infrastructure that will give more leeway for a tweet’s character count as well as allowing more options when retweeting. Now, they are offering us a brand new tool exclusive to American iOS devices. Engage, a companion app, will deliver helpful analytics to a marketer’s fingertips.

This new software allows Twitter users to study their tweets in real time through comprehensive data. Engage covers a wide range of area pertaining to the social media giant’s functionality and reachability. This will help marketers succeed and understand new insights.

Engage also notifies you of trends and important conversations happening on the internet as they happen. Now, you will never miss a trending hashtag or news story that could attract a slew of followers to your page. This brings a whole new meaning to “in the moment”!

Have you ever wondered who your content attracts? Engage allows you to study the demographics and activities of those who read your tweets. Are these the people you want to reach out to? If so, great job! If not, it may be time to tweak your writing and when you are ready to try again, Engage will be by your side.

Like Hootsuite and other third party analytic programs, Engage provides insights into your account’s performance. You can even compare post-by-post to see if your pictures, videos, GIFs, or text-based tweets do the best.

Why would Twitter create Engage? After all, it’s a free service and there is no profit to be made. They made it because those who run this social media platform appreciate that businesses all over the world use their website to market. Twitter has become a necessity in the business world, despite not having nearly the amount of tools Facebook offers. Now, Engage ushers in a new level of intuitive tools by Twitter itself, as opposed to third party applications. Twitter is proudly proclaiming that they want to help your business succeed.
What do you think of Twitter Engage? Comment below!

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How Social Media Can Rock Your Company’s Events

By Christopher Tompkins

20Jul

Social Media

Who says social media is confined to the digital world? While we do not have a physical leather-bound book called Facebook, or tiny blue birds sending out messages out to our favorite people, the digital world often visits reality through several avenues.

One of the biggest ways businesses can use social media is to cover a live event. We see this during big unveilings like Apple’s press releases. Soon enough, we will see the social media platforms exploding when iPhone 7 is announced. However, it doesn’t have to be as monumental as Apple’s releases. It can simply be a get-together or your team attending a local charity event. Here are the best ways to cover an event through your social media channels.

Live Video- With the advent of Facebook Live, Periscope, and Snapchat, people all around the world can attend your event with just the tap of a button. By providing a live broadcast of your event, customers from all over will be able to join in the fun, or could benefit from the knowledge your event is providing.
Tweeting- Twitter is perfect for live events. Reporters use Twitter to unveil news stories as they happen, minute by minute. It offers an alternative method of covering live events as opposed to live video, since you can read the tweets at your own pace.
Checking In- Facebook’s popular feature that allows people to check into a location is great to advertise your event. Be sure to remind all attendees to check in on their individual Facebook accounts so the word can spread quickly.
Event Pages- You can also use Facebook and Google+ as a way to invite your friends, family, and colleagues to your event. They can let you know if they plan on attending and, through notifications, will be reminded that a fun time is on the horizon.
Ongoing Promotion- A post saying what a good time you had will be a great closer to the event. Posting pictures, tagging your fellow attendees, and an invitation to the next event are all great ways to keep people invested, even months after the actual event.

As you can see, social media is made to promote your real life party, meeting, or conference. It seems that the internet and the “brick and mortar” world aren’t so separate after all!

How do you use social media to promote your event? Comment below!

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Your Social Media Toolbox: Software Your Social Media Needs

By Christopher Tompkins

19Jul

Social Media

Social media marketers need technology to succeed. No surprise, right? While a majority of the work day is spent on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the other platforms, we cannot be truly effective without a little help from third-party tools.

There are new products popping up on the internet and App Store all the time. Some are terrible, some make our lives much easier. The world of social media is face-paced and demanding, so having some tools to help is much appreciated. Here are some of the newest helpers social media professionals are integrating into their workflow:

Crowdfire- Twitter can be effective, but very competitive. Marketers need to keep a sharp eye on their followers. Crowdfire will do just that. This website will help you find new followers based on other leaders of the industry. You will also be able to weed through your followers and get rid of inactive accounts.

One Tab- Researching content is a major part of social media. Whether you are finding new content to share or you are checking your facts, you will find your browser window bursting with tabs. One Tab will combine them for easy access, allowing some space to breathe.

PicPlayPost- Looking for a new way to bring life to your Instagram page? Check out PicPlayPost. It’s an app that allows you to add pictures and video to unique collage template.

RiteTag- Hashtags make the world go round in social media. You got to use them! But how can you find the best tags that pertain to a specific subject? RiteTag is the answer. With a helpful browser extension, you will be able to find trending hashtags in a snap!

There are many new social media sidekicks out there and many more on the way. The above four have proven to be very helpful for businesses. Content curation, sharing, and organization can get a whole lot of easier. You just need the right tools!

What do you think of these programs? Comment below!

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The 5 Types Of Posts Your Social Media Needs!

By Christopher Tompkins

18Jul

Copywriting, Social Media

There’s nothing more terrifying to a writer than a blank document. That flashing cursor staring back at you… it gives you shivers! The same goes for social media marketers as well. At times, inspiration just won’t come, and you have to get those posts out there! The business is counting on you, after all. There are plenty of ways to brainstorm, but sometimes it can do wonders to go back to basics. We do not mean you have to start a brand new Facebook or Twitter account, but rather examining the fundamentals of social media marketing. One of the most important questions someone in this industry has to ask is “What kind of posts should I write?”

While there are millions upon millions of posts out there, most of them can fall into 5 overarching categories. As you progress through the world of social media, you may find yourself doing the very important task of laying out an outline of posts that you want to write. It is crucial to add variety to your social media content and as such, you will want to learn the following “areas” social media can cover:

Articles- If you spend more than five minutes on any of the social sites, you will run into one of these popular posts. “Articles” is a broad term, of course. Whether the content covers a news piece, a recipe, tips to accomplish a certain task, or a piece of history, articles are without a doubt the most common types of content out there on the internet.

Promotional- As a marketer for a company, you may find yourself being tempted to use promotional posts more often than others. While sales-oriented content can be effective, you do not want to oversaturate your followers with promotions. It is common to see a company crash and burn online because all they want to do is sell as opposed to connecting to the community. That being said, sales posts do have a place in your overall content mix. If shared in moderation and written with subtleness, sales posts could work.

Events- Whether it is Christmas Day or your company’s annual picnic, posting about an event or utilizing your preferred platform’s invitation tools can attract a lot of attention to your page.

Entertainment- While we primarily use social media for business purposes, many people head over to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others for entertainment. Join in the fun! Just because you have a business page doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t post fun and interesting posts every now and again. Providing some interesting and enjoyable content is a part of the job!

Native- Above all else, native–or original content– is pure gold. Whether they are photos, videos, graphics, text, or events, they are valuable. Of course, visuals are more eye-catching than text-only posts so be sure to create your own graphics, logos, flyers, and more whenever possible.

Depending on the week you are writing for, content should be ordered in a unique and inventive way. No two articles, promos, or events should be right next to each other on your content timeline. These posts are the bread and butter of your campaign so you will need to spend time on them.

Which of these posts do you find the most effective? Share below!

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How To Be A Google+ Genius

By Christopher Tompkins

17Jul

Google+, Social Media

In 2011, Google replaced its first attempt at a social media network, Google Buzz, with Google+. However, during its run the website seems to be underappreciated by the general populace. Of the top social media networks in the US, Google+ is one that is often overlooked. This is a shame since it really does have some interesting approaches to the social side of the internet and very effective tools for perfecting your marketing. In November 2015, it underwent a facelift in an attempt to attract new life to the platform and new users may be wondering just how to use the website.

One of the most powerful features of Google+ is its ability to improve one’s SEO. Since Google is the king of search engines, this may seem obvious for the uninformed but when you take into consideration that Facebook posts do not appear in Google’s search results, this automatically puts Google+ in a more preferable light, doesn’t it? On top of SEO, it indexes every piece of content you share through your Google account and comes up in search. This alone proves Google+’s worth.

Now, if you have a Google+ account, there is a very good chance you have Facebook and Twitter as well. This means you have already written content refined for social media that isn’t coming up on a Google search. By simply reposting your content onto your Google+ account, you will be doing your social media marketing a favor. However, there is more to this social media platform than search engine optimization.

While Twitter has their Lists, Google+ has Circles. Circles essentially perform the same function as Lists, however, you can use them to filter the content on your news feed as well. You can choose to only see posts from a specific Circle, which can help social media marketers refine content searches.

Google+ also gives you the room for writing long form articles, and helps spread your original content quickly. However, we would not recommend using a Google+ page solely for blogging purposes, but rather publish a snippet and then link to your actual blog.

As you can see, Google+ has a place in the social media marketing world, despite Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram’s growing domination. By having a Google+ page you will show that you are serious about social media and its effectivity, as well as spreading your word through the web. To truly develop a powerful page, you will need some background in social media marketing. We have seen professionals really benefit from its features and we have the know- how to help you succeed in this new frontier.

What do you think of Google+? Comment below!

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