8 Steps to Sending Effective Mass Messages Through Social Media

8 Steps to Sending Effective Mass Message Through Social Media

5Aug

There is nothing worse than receiving a mass message that has nothing to do with our needs from a person that we have never even heard of, right? I remember 4 years ago this rarely happened on Facebook and LinkedIn, but today I can log-in and be hit with 10-15 per day!

If you have taken the time to read these messages, some are very effective. They hit all of the right points to keep you engaged, while others COMPLETELY miss the mark and turn you off. Sometimes they can even anger you to the point where you remove the sender as a contact.

When done effectively with planning, these mass messages can truly benefit your social media marketing efforts.

Now a point of clarification. I am speaking about the messages which go into your inbox, not status updates that can be viewed in the newsfeed.

In this blog, I am focusing on Facebook and LinkedIn, as these two popular sites have this functionality. Here are some useful step-by-step guidelines for you to follow when creating your mass message using Facebook and LinkedIn in order to create buzz and engage your audience:

Step 1: What is My Message? First, you need to think of the reason why you are reaching out to your audience. Is it to offer them a discount, let them know about a new service or to share a new blog post with them? When writing this, you want to convey the message in a conversational way – seeming as if it was written directly for with the recipient. Remember, this is social media, not mass message central.

Step 2: Who is the Target Market for the Message? Second, you need to think about who you want to reach with the message (as the message should be completely tailored to this market). For example, sending a medical-based email to a recreational golf professional could result in removal, blocking, or spam flagging. Make sure you are aiming for the correct market.

Step 3: What is the Goal? If the goal of this is to get people to visit your website, blog, or even call in – make sure that you clearly present this information in the message. Sounds obvious, but it’s easily overlooked.

Step 4: Keep it Concise! There is nothing worse than opening a message on LinkedIn or Facebook that is miles long. Remember that on these sites communications are short and to the point. Make sure you can convey everything you want to in a very specific and concise manner.

Step 5: Choose a Greeting. Personally, after the subject line, the greeting line is the next point where I decide if I want to read on. Starting off with “Hello Friends” or “My Dear Friend” or “Treasured Business Associate” is not in your best interest. Why? Because this is not how people communicate with one another on LinkedIn….or in real life! You want to start off with something engaging that makes the reader feel as if you are writing directly to them!

Step 6: Choose a Subject Line. This is extremely important, as you want to write something compelling enough to get your audience to open the message. My biggest piece of advice is to lay off the Caps Lock key. There is nothing worse than looking at a subject line that is screaming at you. For that matter, leave out the excessive use of all capitals in the body of your message as well. This can be off-putting.

Step 7: Proof Read! In this extremely critical world, few things are worse than sending a message out to thousands of people and misspelling an element of your message. Even worse though? Get ready to be educated by the “Grammar and Spelling Police” as they give you lessons on how to spell words and form sentences. Proofreading protects you from this and gives your message that professional sparkle.

Step 8: Choose Your Platform. Personally, I believe that LinkedIn was made for communications like this. It is a networking platform and this can be viewed as an extension of networking. Facebook, on the other hand, is more specific. I would only do a mass message on Facebook if I have a target group created where they are familiar with me and my business. Why? Facebook users can be quite vigilant when it comes to hitting the “Spam” button on messages that they do not want to deal with. LinkedIn, on the other hand, allows you flexibility and makes it easy to send messages like this. The only drawback is that you can only send them in batches of 50. My top tip for LinkedIn is to make sure before you send the message to un-check the box next to “Allow recipients to see each other’s names and email addresses”. You will find this below the message box. This helps your message look more personal and direct.

Overall, these messages should be used within an overriding social media marketing strategy. Don’t send them in high frequency as they can be very annoying. Keep your messages written with your target market in mind and only reach out when absolutely necessary. Oh yeah, and drop the “Hello Friend”.

7 Innovative Tools That Social Media Marketers Love

By Christopher Tompkins

24Jan

Content Creation, Copywriting, SEO, Snapchat, Social Media

When you are trying to market your brand on social media and raise awareness, there are good times and bad. Sometimes, it seems like no one is out there, despite there being literally billions of people on these sites. The truth is, the audience is right there. You just need to have the right tools to amplify your voice.

As a professional in the social media marketing world, we spend a lot of time on official social media sites. We can’t type in the letter F without our browsers compulsively prompting us to go to Facebook or T for Twitter. However, to truly be effective and engaging, you need more than just the basics. Here are the top social media marketing life-saving websites and apps that will ramp up your marketing game.

1. Hashtagify – Let’s face facts. A hashtag is only good if it’s popular. This is where Hashtagify comes in to save the day. Type in a hashtag to see how many people are talking about it or if it’s dead. As you’ll quickly learn, a hashtag is a very time-sensitive tool, and I’m not just talking about calender-centric ones like #ManicMonday or #MerryChristmas. They focus on trends and hot cultural topics and should be used accordingly.

2. BuzzSumo –While Hashtagify helps you see what hashtags are popular, you will still need a tool to help you find the best content. You should note that BuzzSumo Pro is not cheap, but the free version will help you discover the best shareable and popular content on the web.

3. BundlePost –Bundle Post’s tagline is “Stop managing your posts. Spend more time engaging.” This tool can help you with the quantity side of social media marketing. Sharing and curating others content is essential, albeit time-consuming. Bundle Post can automate a personalized bundle of content for your social media accounts. It even works alongside Hootsuite.

4. Hootsuite –Speaking of Hootsuite, it’s rare to find a marketer who isn’t in love with this tool. You can find content, schedule your posts, and study analytics inside one lovely tool.

5. StayFocused –Here’s a secret. Our brains do not automatically block all distracting content. We work on the sites many go on to play, so we must ignore a whole lot of enticing content while we’re trying to execute marketing strategies. StayFocused will help you stay on task by limiting the amount of time you spend on distracting websites. This is great so you can keep moving and complete your task. A Google Chome extension is available for free.

6. Grammarly –Ah, the typo- destroyer of worlds. Luckily, Grammarly has the power to fight back. This handy tool will help your copy become sharper, more engaging, and correct. Remember your English teacher in high school? It’s like her, only nicer.

7. OneTab –Social media marketers need to research and do A LOT of web browsing. On average, most managers visit 200 web pages a day. That sounds like a nightmare for those who only like one or two tabs open at a time. Well, OneTab is here to help. It’s a fantastic tool that will combine all our pre-existing tabs into one, shareable web page that adds a bit of convenience to a chaotic day.

HELLO?! Is anybody out there? Trust me, there are tons of people out there. The above tools will help your brand’s online visibility to skyrocket and your following to increase exponentially. Try a few today and get back to us and tell us what you think!

What Is LinkedIn SlideShare?

By Christopher Tompkins

12Dec

LinkedIn, Social Media

LinkedIn is all about marketing with your fellow professionals. It’s essentially the world’s biggest conference if you will. It’s one of the few social media platforms that didn’t branch out into areas that it was never intended for. LinkedIn is for serious networking, and that’s that. That being said, every now and again they come up with new and innovative ways to share your wealth of knowledge. That’s where SlideShare comes in.

SlideShare is a stand alone site, albeit one that works entirely through your LinkedIn profile. Here, users upload infographics, documents, and most importantly, slideshow presentations named slideshares with other professionals. There are tons of slideshares available for viewing on a multitude of subjects. Think of PowerPoint presentations on steroids. These are all shareable through LinkedIn. In fact, you’ve probably seen material from SlideShare if you’ve spent any time on the traditional LinkedIn site.

Similar to a blog’s purpose, a slideshare presentation allows businesses to express their thoughts and knowledge via original or shared content. After spending a few moments on SlideShare, you will realize that this new medium of information delivery has a lot of potential because it strikes a poignant balance between text and visuals. It’s also a tad bit more digestible than infographics, but those can also be acquired through this site.

Who says the days of the slideshow are behind us? It just needed a facelift, that’s all. LinkedIn was the platform for the job, as we’re able to now consume a dense amount of information in an innovate fashion. Marketers should consider SlideShare a great tool in their social media utility belt.

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6 Steps To LinkedIn Success

By Christopher Tompkins

8Dec

LinkedIn, Social Media

When the average internet surfer thinks about social media, they tend to think of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Yet LinkedIn continues to stand firm as one of the leading platforms for professionals to reach out and connect with their peers in a unique way.

A little over 200 million users are on LinkedIn, many of them have found valuable connections they wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. Linkedin’s success all boils down to how you use it. Check out the following steps that will help you market on one of the largest and most important platforms available.

Notes – Learn a lesson from the world of blogging. Posting original articles will help you establish online credibility as an idea generator in your industry. It’s a great way to attract attention and you can reuse these articles on Facebook, Google+, and promote via Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Groups – After you’ve written a note, you can’t just let it sit on your LinkedIn profile and become stagnant. You need to share it! One of the most effective ways of accomplishing this is through LinkedIn Groups. There are so many groups on LinkedIn that you will be able to quickly find many communities in which you can discuss, connect, and share your written content.

Endorsements – LinkedIn is all about looking as professional as possible. Endorsements help you accomplish this by utilizing your fellow peers. When you create your LinkedIn profile, you choose which skills you have. Other users have the opportunity to “endorse” this skill, which is further affirmation saying “Yes, they really are good at this! I’ve seen it!”

Genuine Invitations To Connect – One annoying aspect of LinkedIn is that there are a lot of recruiters and promoters online. You can spot one quickly when you see a generic invitation to connect. When you want to reach out to someone, write a personalized, polite, and real message.

Stay Away From Sales – LinkedIn isn’t the place to post sales, coupons, and promotional content. You’re already selling your image on this platform, do not try and sell to your fellow colleagues in the same industry.

Staying Updated And Current – When you’re creating your posts, come up with relevant, creative, non-controversial, and compelling content. You want to make sure you come off knowledgeable about today’s situations and business landscape.

LinkedIn has the power to become one of your greatest allies in your marketing efforts. Do not let this opportunity up! Start connecting with fellow professionals today.

Does LinkedIn have you stumped? Contact us today to jump on board!

Why Social Media Marketing’s Adaptability Makes It Last

By Christopher Tompkins

19Oct

Advertising, Business, Copywriting, Email Marketing, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Local Marketing, Marketing, Periscope, Politics, Reddit, Snapchat, Social Media, Social networking, Twitter, Uncategorized, YouTube

Every now and again someone will say “social media is a fad” and we have to smile. Sure, the statement is understandable, albeit unfounded. Yes, there is a certain sense of “fad” like quality to the internet as a whole because it hasn’t been around as long as the newspaper. But social media marketing has something that the newspaper, radio, television, and all the other mediums lack: adaptability.

Adaptability is why businesses need to pay attention to social media. It’s also how they should be marketing. Thankfully, social media isn’t exclusive to one site. We don’t log onto socialmedia.com to post our latest updates. This is a VERY good thing. Instead of a monopolized website, we have independent platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, Reddit, and more.

While the ever-popular Facebook has been around for over 10 years and is still unyielding, social media marketers know better than to think it’s eternal. That’s why we learn how to perform online marketing as a whole, learn to be versatile, and use the current internet climate as an advantage.

Take Instagram and Snapchat for example. For a while, these two were not taken very seriously. Now, there are millions of users enjoying these platforms. They have become real powerhouses and significant game-changers. With them came the importance of video. Now, marketers understand that trends are leaning towards a high-volume of imagery, both still and moving.

It’s this level of perception that makes social media marketing able to handle the shifting winds of consumer ideas.

At The Go! Agency, we’re able to study and adapt to the trends, movements, and significant changes. Let us help your business have the same adaptability!

The Top Mistakes That Kill LinkedIn Accounts

By Christopher Tompkins

1Oct

LinkedIn, Social Media

Social media marketing isn’t simple. Wait, let me rephrase that. GOOD social media marketing isn’t simple. It’s easy to click “Sign Up” and send a tidal wave of garbage out to the cyber masses. But to be truly effective, you need to think and realize where exactly you’re posting. The phrase “When in Rome do as the Romans do” applies in a big way online. LinkedIn is perhaps the platform with the most etiquette to abide by. Are you acting appropriately on the social media site for professionals? If you’re doing one of the following, you definitely aren’t.

1. Thinking LinkedIn is Facebook. Sure, we all love memes, cat videos, and long-winded rants about personal opinions. But LinkedIn isn’t the place for that. Keep all the “personal-type content” on Facebook and Instagram.

2. Inappropriate or absent profile picture. Do yourself a favor and remember this mantra – “Selfies are not for LinkedIn!” I can’t tell you how many people use blurry, revealing, or simply unprofessional profile photos. You don’t need to hire a photographer to make a decent headshot. A little bit of effort will go a long way. And, with EVERY social media account, personal or professional, stay away from pics of you drinking, or in any situation, you wouldn’t want a superior to see.

3. More spamming than social. Sure, you can – and should – network on LinkedIn. But this isn’t a place for heavy promotions. Craft your writing to be organic and personable. Don’t use the default connection requests or congratulatory messages. Show you care!

4. Picking a fight. Speak the truth, but if you have a gripe with someone, perhaps not the whole truth. Negative comments are the bane of social media marketers’ existence, but in reality, it makes the writer look like a bit of a bully.

5. Hashtags. Now, hashtags are a BIG gray area for LinkedIn. At the time of this article’s posting, the long-banished hashtags have begun their return to the platform. However, they are only in the app. Soon enough, the Microsoft-owned social media platform will most definitely welcome hashtag functionality back to the desktop version. Then, go hashtag crazy. Until then, be wary of this tool.

LinkedIn is the world’s largest internet networking event. It’s not another Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, and it shouldn’t be treated like that. LinkedIn has become a huge opportunity for marketers and business owners to connect to right people. Be sure to do it right!

Ready to market yourself online? Contact us today, and we can work together to rock LinkedIn!

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Why Social Media Marketers Need To Go Native

By Christopher Tompkins

7Sep

Social Media

Sometimes, social media platforms’ algorithms present wonderful opportunities for marketers. Other times, they create challenges. The need for native content is a bit of both. Facebook, among other platforms, realized that they are better off when users stay inside their walls. They want people to stay on Facebook as long and often as possible. That’s why native content has become so important and given priority. How can marketers jump on board? Here are the three main ways to take advantage of native content benefits:

Auto-Play. One of the most significant ways for a company to reap the rewards of native content is video. If you upload original videos to Facebook itself as opposed to linking it from YouTube, your content will be featured in their auto-play stream. When mobile Facebook users watch one video, it starts a constant stream instantly playing videos that are on their feed. If your video has been uploaded to Facebook, it’s a part of your followers’ streams, raising your chances of views and engagement. That’s the whole point of the game!

Instant Articles. Recently, Facebook unrolled Instant Articles in their armory of mobile-exclusive benefits. This service also caters to the native content system because writers will publish a whole article on Facebook instead of sharing it through links. Blogs, rants, articles, and long forms appear quicker and, thanks to Facebook’s equations, more prominently on news feeds. Because the article will actually live on the social media giant as opposed to a blog or website, there are several benefits.

Images. When creating an update, you should always upload an image that you have created. Additionally, if you are sharing a web page, you may want to consider “killing the preview” and uploading relevant imagery to Facebook itself.

Now, obviously, sometimes this is impossible. You can’t copy someone else’s news article and share it via Instant Articles, nor can you upload parts of your website and showcase them. Native content can, and should, only go so far. For this reason, a company’s social media schedule should have a hearty mix of native and curated content. Keep in mind that while creating original work and uploading it onto your social media site of choice will take longer than simply sharing a link, these updates will give your accounts hefty spikes in views and engagement opportunities. Additionally, boosting native content with advertising will skyrocket that post to new heights.

How do you use native content? Share below!

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Major LinkedIn Update: The Return Of The Hashtag

By Christopher Tompkins

6Sep

LinkedIn, Social Media

There’s always one constant in social media – that nothing is constant. Back in 2013, LinkedIn tried, and quickly disposed of, hashtags. The professionals that use the social media platform just weren’t into it. Well, three years later, the handy social media marketing tool has returned to one of the most popular platforms around. However, there’s a bit of a catch.

LinkedIn is in the middle of a revamp. These updates may or may not be due to their new owners, Microsoft, but we can all enjoy the rewards. If the massive merger is the reason, kudos. Along with new search capabilities, hashtags have returned in a new way that made everyone look twice. They only become searchable, clickable content on mobile. The tags will be visible in the content via desktop browsers, albeit unclickable and well, pretty much pointless.

To me, this means two things. First of all, LinkedIn is aware of mobile’s increasing power. A majority of social media users, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn,use an app. This is most likely the reason for the hashtag’s functionality to start with mobile devices first. Social media marketers should always keep mobile’s popularity in mind when creating content. Does something look a little funky when you’re viewing in on a smartphone? Then you may want to revise it.

Secondly, this proves there are more changes on the way for LinkedIn. It’s doubtful that the social media giant will let something this obvious go unfixed. Soon enough, those hashtags will appear as blue, clickable portals to more relatable content on any screen. We just have to give them a little more time.

What do you think of LinkedIn’s new and surprising update? Comment below!

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YouTube’s Iron Fist: What It Says About Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

4Sep

Social Media, YouTube

Ever since people realized that they could say whatever they want on the internet, there have been people trying to figure out rules, restrictions, and ultimately, censoring. Obviously, once “censor” starts to be thrown around, all content creators’ ears perk up. Many creative individuals, whether they are in a business role or not, have found a home on the wild wild web. Whenever a new law or chunk of fine print puts this freedom into question, people become restless. Right now, YouTube has started a new content-related quarrel.

The social media platform and video hosting site, YouTube, and its owner, Google, may have started something they weren’t entirely ready for. Since its founding in 2005, YouTube has not only attracted a massive gathering but also many vloggers or, video bloggers, now earn a living by creating channels of content. YouTube hit one of its stars, Philip DeFranco, right where it hurts, advertising. They warned that certain videos of his breached their rules, and would take away their monetization and advertising features. No ads mean no revenue for Youtubers. Why is all this happening? In YouTube’s fine print, they mention that all content must be “advertiser-friendly.” As you could imagine, this means no excessive vulgarity, nudity, drug use, etc. Understandable, right? But YouTube’s recent crackdown targeted videos that were hardly offensive at all.

DeFranco wasn’t the only popular filmmaker to receive one of these notices. However, YouTube reps clearly stated that this is not a new rule, but rather a crackdown on previously existing conditions. As you could imagine, tensions are a little high in the YouTube world. Beyond who’s wrong or right, there are a few things social media marketers can take away from this:

Advertising is (still) king. If ads were pointless, this conflict would never happen because there would be no professional YouTubers. In fact, YouTube itself would most likely be a sliver of its current size if there were no revenue pumping through the ad channels. Social media marketers – take note! If you ever wonder if your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even YouTube ads matter, think about this impending struggle between YouTube and YouTuber, which is bound to escalate if this censoring – or “stern enforcement of policies”, if you don’t like that term – continues.
Content creators underestimate platforms. As professionals that utilize the world’s most popular sites on a daily basis, social media professionals may view excessive rules and regulations as obstacles rather than guidelines. That being said, we need to realize that there are real rules with real reciprocations for a variety of reasons and we need to follow them. So, keep your content classy and professional, don’t spam or scam followers in any way, and try to avoid copyrighted material that you don’t own.
Platforms underestimate content creators. There was a time when YouTube was the only option. There were no other video-hosting websites, just as there were very few social media sites. Now, things are different. If DeFranco and other YouTube stars feel so inclined, they could pull out of YouTube and focus on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and many other sites. This would not go well for Google. I’m not saying that platforms should cater to every whim of the user, or vice versa, but platforms need to know they are actually replaceable by the next best thing.

It will be interesting to see just what happens in this swelling conflict. YouTube may have to loosen the leash. Vloggers may have to dial down the content (which is unlikely to happen). Either way, the internet, as always, is alive and well and full of changes, which professionals need to be ready to adapt to.

What do you think of this new conflict? Comment below!

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How Marketers Can Win At Social Media Imagery

By Christopher Tompkins

How-to-WIN-At-Social-Media-Visuals-200x300

1Sep

Graphic Design, Social Media

Social media marketers always say “Content is King.” But what content truly holds the crown? When all is said and done, visuals rule over all. Strong imagery can fire up a social media marketing campaign to new heights. But what if a company’s marketers aren’t photographers, graphic designers, or filmmakers? Even worse, what if the industry isn’t visually appealing? Have no fear! Here are solutions that can make any business’ social media profile look brilliant:

Slideshows – Video is blowing up on social media! We can thank innovations such as Snapchat, Instagram, and live streaming apps. Even if a business doesn’t have a film crew, it can still reap the rewards of video via animated slideshows. Transitions, music, and graphics could be incorporated to make a spectacular show.
Collages – Whether the photos are of happy employees, satisfied customers, or a product showcase, collages allow social media marketers to share several images in one hit. Many programs out there to help with this project, just a quick Google or App Store search will produce results.
Stock imagery – Pictures are worth a thousand words, but what if a business’ pictures are saying all the wrong things? Stock photos are familiar, but beneficial solutions to a lack of, or low-quality native visuals. Just a few pictures could assist companies in achieving a professional look in a flash.
Photo and graphic editors – A company needs powerful and unique imagery to stand out on the internet. There’s an expansive catalog of programs that can help marketers make eye-catching content, ranging from free to premium choices. Marketers can create beautiful logos, banners, flyers and more for their social media marketing.

In any form, marketing requires creativity for successful brand promotion. Social media gurus understand that their field of expertise is no exception. Companies have the opportunity to make even the blandest and mundane of companies look spectacular on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more!

What other ways do you incorporate imagery and visuals in your social media? Comment below!

Tag : linkedin marketing