The Ultimate Social Media Questionnaire

13Jan

Are you ready to market your brand on social media? Before you set up your first profile, you need to ask yourself some questions. Social media marketing is more than just spreading the word: it’s about connecting with your customers. You must carefully consider your approach We’ve gathered the top twenty questions you need to answer before your brand’s social media debut.

Part I. Your Brand
1. What is the tone of your brand?
2. What products or services are you trying to promote?
3. What products or services form the core of your brand?

Part II. Your Customers
4. Who are your ideal customers?
5. What problems do your ideal customers face?
6. How does your company help solve those problems?
7. Where are your customers geographically?

Part III. Your Social Media Presence
8. What are your ultimate goals for social media?
9. Which social media platforms work best for your company?
10. How can you incorporate compelling content into your brand’s message?
11. What are the most important keywords for your industry?
12. How does your online presence compare to that of your competitors?
13. How much time can you invest into social media?
14. How often should you post during the week? During the day?
15. Which scheduling software is right for you?

Part IV. Your Content
16. When is the best time to post your content?
17. What content do your customers find most appealing?
18. Who are your industry’s top social media and online influencers?
19. What types of original content can you create?
20. What visuals should you incorporate into your content?

Do you have all of the answers? If not, it’s time to get to work!

The Go! Agency team can help you answer these questions and get started with one of the most effective avenues of marketing available today! We are dedicated to spreading your message and have worked with clients from a wide variety of industries, customizing and optimizing hundreds of social media campaigns.

Schedule a free consultation today to learn how we can help your business level up!

The Top 5 Holiday Content Marketing Tips You Need To Know

By Christopher Tompkins

120919 The Top Holiday Content Marketing Tips You Need To Know

9Dec

Content Creation

Content marketers and designers love the holiday season. Unlike the lazy days of summer, there is more than enough inspiration to go around for email marketing, social media, blogging, and any other form of content marketing you can think of.

There’s just one catch – there are just so many great ideas out there, there’s not enough time to do them all. Fortunately, we have you covered and we’re exploring the best ideas right here.

Updated festive visuals
Add a Santa hat to your profile pic, a menorah to your cover image, flashing lights to your Snapchat Story. Above all, make sure your holiday-themed contenthas imagery.
Flash sale
Have you looked at the calendar lately? It’s a bit too late to do a “12 days of deals” type deal. However, it’s still fair game for quick “limited time” social-media-exclusive sales. These do surprisingly well, especially as many of us procrastinate. Make sure the sale is worth people opening up their wallets for them because a lot of “wish lists” are complete.
Season’s greetings
Email marketing is a fantastic avenue to send out holiday wishes to your loyal customer base. As always with E-blasts, it is important to send out content that isn’t 100% pushy promotions. A holiday greeting email will do just the trick to make your readers smile and make sure they’re thinking about you when the time to make a purchase comes around.
Pics from the team
Whether you post (not embarrassing) pictures from your Christmas party or your team reaching out to the community for a volunteer event, this idea adds a healthy dose of humanity to any marketing campaign. This type of content, above all else, should be promo-free.
Content your audience will share
Cut out some of the promo posts in your content calendar and make room for some wholesome holiday fun. Take the time to write and design content that your audience members will want to share with their friends and family. Festive videos, recipes, craft and party tips are just a few ideas that can generate engagement.

Maybe the holiday season snuck up on you this year, or you’ve been grasping at straws for what to publish. Either way, the above ideas will help you finish your holiday season content marketing on a high note so you can focus on the new year!

Editor’s Note: This blog has been updated and republished to reflect current information. The article was cleaned up, recommendations were reassessed, and references refreshed.

Target Acquired: Tips for Finding Your Audience

By Christopher Tompkins

5Sep

Advertising, Business, Facebook Advertising, Social Media

On your mark . . . . Get set . . . . WAIT!

I have seen so many marketing campaigns that feel like a pee-wee track meet: they are hastily organized, poorly attended, and all hell breaks loose at the sound of the starting pistol.

Too much money, time, and effort are wasted marketing the wrong message to the wrong audience. In fact, you’ve probably done it yourself.

“That’s impossible!” You say. “We hired the best copywriters to create persuasive content! Our design team made stunning visuals! And the videos were so expensive, they had to be good! But we didn’t see any return on our investment!”

You are frustrated and exhausted. “This was the absolutely perfect campaign!” You ask, “where did we go wrong?”

Well, I hate to tell you, but at the very beginning, my friend. When you planned that campaign, did you think about your target consumers or clients?

I am all about planning every single detail prior to the launch of every marketing initiative, but some aspects still get lost in the process. There is one point I don’t feel is emphasized enough when creating the strategy for a marketing initiative: identifying the actual target for all of these marketing efforts.

Everyone is sharing the latest ways to “work” (note the scare quotes) the Facebook algorithm to your advantage or quickly boost your Instagram views, usually with just a few steps (kind of like those “one weird trick to losing weight” ads). Awesome, right? Wrong. All of the tips, tricks, and tactics in the world are useless unless you fully understand who your target audience or customers are.

Right now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, that might be true for some business people, but I know who my customer is.”

Again, I hate to tell you this, but . . . you probably don’t.

I’m not trying to insult your knowledge of your own business, but when you are marketing on social media you need much more than the standard demographic outline. With any digital or online marketing, you need to dive deeper and understand more elements of your target audience.

Not to worry though, I have you covered. Here are some of the simple steps that we take our clients through when they are having trouble identifying their target audience. Let’s go!

1. Money, Money, Money, Money: Yep, everyone loves that green stuff. Turn your attention to your books. It is crucial for you to be able to identify a few key monetary aspects. Who–demographic-wise–is spending the most money? What product or service sells the most? What product/service delivers the highest margin? Once you know that, determine who is buying it. If you are a beauty brand that sells 1,000 hairbrushes for profit of $10 and sells 500 hair dryers for a profit of $400, then I would look into the demographic makeup of that hair dryer crowd–the brand should focus on the products that bring in more money with fewer sales. Use your sales successes and current client roster as your starting point.

2. Sex Matters: If you have a product or service that is specifically made for a woman, it does not mean that men could not be loyal consumers of your company. Don’t ignore any markets or demographics without the proper data to back up your decision! Major opportunities are lost this way.

3. Location x3: Where are your consumers? National, regional, state-wide, city-wide, or even more local? Why do I ask? Well, did you know that you can place advertising to specific audiences based on specific zip codes? Yes – you can be that specific.

So now you will have a very strong initial idea of some of the basic concrete aspects of your target audience. But you want to take this further. You’ll need to create two more items:

1. Baseline Audience Demographic Profile: This is where you take the information gathered from the initial three steps listed above and put it into an outline that can be used as a jumping-off point for further analysis and inspection. The profile would need the following information: age range, gender, location, average value of each new client/customer, net worth, household income, and any other pertinent data.

2. Buyer Profiles: Now this is where you can dive deeper and get more acquainted with your target audience. Buyer profiles allow you to create specific customer profiles that will reflect your audience in multiple ways. These take your existing data and delve deeper into various aspect such as interests, hobbies, media habits, and more. Buyer profiles will help you not only engage with your audience in a more human way, but also identify your audience faster.

While this might seem like a lot of work, the reward is well worth the effort. For one thing, digital marketing gives you more opportunities to target! For instance, did you know that on Facebook alone you can target based on restaurants that your audience visit, movies that they see, and political parties that they follow? And that is just scratching the surface.

So as you can see, it is more than having a product and/or service and simply choosing your audience. Proper audience identification is a process that may take a little time, but pays dividends when completed properly. Take your time and ensure that you have this piece completed before moving forward with any costly or time-consuming marketing activities or initiatives. Otherwise, you’ll be left in the dust.

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Your Ultimate Holiday Marketing Strategy Checklist

By Christopher Tompkins

3Sep

Advertising, Business, Facebook Advertising, Local Marketing, Marketing

As the summer draws to an end, the kids go back to school, adults pack away their summer wardrobes, and everyone begins to settle back into the hectic autumn schedules.

But something seems . . . wrong.

It’s barely September, but suddenly we see Halloween decorations everywhere. Thanksgiving-themed wreaths abound. Turkeys and Santas have begun rearing their ugly heads! It’s bad enough that holiday decorations are on display before the leaves change, but why are Christmas trees already 25% off???

Well folks, ’tis the season to commiserate about how annoying it is that the holidays are stretched out just a little bit longer–and start a little bit earlier–each year.

While Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday (yes, I get really into it), even I roll my eyes when I see Christmas wrapping paper in stores before I need to use my car’s heater.

But instead of seeing this trend as an annoyance, I have a much more productive angle for you. This “Christmas creep” is a wake-up call for your fall marketing campaign! If you have not yet created your marketing strategy and budget for the holiday season (roughly November through January), September is your last chance!

Why am I telling you this? Because in my ten years handling clients at The Go! Agency, I have seen first-hand how last-minute planning can sabotage a company’s holiday earnings. Too many brands waste time and lose money by procrastinating this time of year. The less time that you spend planning your holiday marketing strategy, the less success you will have against the better-thought-out campaigns of your competitors.

Based on my experience, I have identified specific aspects that you should start thinking about NOW in order to kick-start your holiday marketing strategy. Keep in mind that each business is unique (whether you sell products or provide a service), so this is just a springboard for your planning efforts for the season.

Without further ado, let’s jump in! The Go! Agency presents your Ultimate Holiday Marketing Strategy Checklist!

Goals: Of course, goals are the first thing that you need to establish when planning any marketing campaign. What are your goals for the holiday season? Do you want to increase leads and sales? Do you want to receive more brand recognition? More website traffic?
Objectives: Objectives, my friend, are measurable goals. Think of it this way: if your goal is at the top of a staircase, each step would be an objective. Here are a few good examples of objectives: ten new leads per month, ten new sales per month, 1,000 post impressions, or increasing web traffic by 25 percent.
Timing: Should your fall marketing focus on the major winter holidays, or the late autumn holidays? The Christmas holidays are huge for most brands, but you might see increased sales earlier, around Halloween or Thanksgiving!
Discounts/Promotions: Are you prepared to offer any special discounts or package promotions? You better decide now! Even so-called “flash sales” require a lot of planning and preparation. And if you want to have a Black Friday special, you can never start planning too early!
Labor: Do you have the right people in place to execute your holiday marketing campaign, or will you need to look beyond your current staff? For instance, you might have a great marketing manager, but you need an SEO specialist for one part of your holiday strategy. You had better move fast: the demand for talent around the holidays is fierce! Even freelancers can be booked months in advance.
Advertising: This is a key component, especially when it comes to social media marketing. Did you include this crucial piece in your budget for holiday promotions? Where are you going to advertise? How much can you spend on ads? Hey, speaking of which . . .
Budget: You need to account for outsourcing, advertising, and who knows what else! Do you have a budget in place for–or any money left from your annual budget to use on–your holiday promotions? (Pro tip: you should create a specific holiday budget into your annual budget when you pitch it each year and then earmark the funds for the fourth quarter.)
Schedule and Timeline: You need to map out the deadlines for every aspect of your marketing campaign, from creating content to determining release dates. It can be as rigid or as flexible as you need.
Measurements: What tools will you use to measure the effectiveness of this campaign? How will you quantify your goals? This will help you not only determine your success but also refine your future holiday strategy.
Competition: Not sure if you are on the right track? What’s the competition doing for the holidays? Take a look at the strategies of others in your industry (especially direct competitors). The findings may be surprising, but will always be helpful.

These ten items will help you focus on the holiday season so that your marketing campaign does not get left out in the (ahem) cold.

Remember: they sell Christmas trees in August because people will buy them–it’s basic supply and demand. The next time you notice any pre-seasonal cheer, take it as a reminder that you need to get your holiday marketing game in full gear! Keep your eyes on the prize, double down on strategy, carefully consider your budget, and don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. It’s time to get to work!

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Why Am I Not Getting Leads from My Facebook Page?

By Christopher Tompkins

28Aug

Advertising, Facebook, Facebook Advertising, Social Media

…or How to Succeed in Facebook by Really Trying

As the CEO and Head Strategist of a social media-centric online marketing agency for the past ten years, hundreds of new clients looking to turn their Facebook fortunes around have asked me this question. And they all have a similar story . . . .

You are a business owner, marketer, or sales person who is managing the Facebook Page for your business. You have heard about the wonders and riches that Facebook is bringing others in your industry, and have read countless articles about how to make it work for your company. The articles all seem to repeat the same formula:

Focus on content.
Tell your story.
Be consistent with your messaging strategy.
Use visuals.
Pray to the Facebook gods for results.

You have tried all of these elements . . . why oh why are you not getting any results?

First, let’s take a look at that term “results.” Do you know what type of results that you could expect from a Facebook marketing campaign? Have you set goals? Have you set measurable objectives?

No?

This is the first reason why you are not getting leads from Facebook. No success metrics are in place.

For all marketing initiatives, one of the key elements that you must consider is what measurable outcomes you expect and are working towards. While many people still hang onto the fact that they cannot secure a true ROI of Facebook marketing, it’s hard to find ROI when you haven’t defined the terms!

So the number one item missing from your Facebook Page marketing strategy is your objective. You need at least two (yes, count them–TWO) objectives that you would like to achieve. These could be awareness (reach, impressions), audience growth, or even engagement. Putting a number to these will help you see the power of your page and where you need to focus going forward.

Secondly, how much are you spending on Facebook Advertising? Nothing? Then you are pretty much done here. Given how the Facebook algorithm is built, if you don’t have a decent budget for advertising, then your content will probably never reach your target consumers. If it doesn’t reach your target consumers, you can’t get them to engage with you, learn about your services or products, and move through to your website to purchase or get more information.

What I want you to understand is that Facebook success is not free initially. You have to pay to be seen. Then if you build the right market, put out the right content, and get the right level of engagement, you will be on your way to sustained success. With an ongoing advertising budget in place, you will be able to continually add more new people to this funnel and perpetuate success.

But what is success? That takes me back to the first point: create and name measurable objectives. Based on those objectives, create a Facebook advertising campaign (or four). Reap the results and repeat.

Are you still wondering what you are missing about Facebook Marketing? You are not tracking your goals realistically and your Facebook Advertising campaign is either weak, nonexistent, or is thirsting for more from your budget.

Think what you would make on a typical client (what you would net). Try creating an ad with that demographic in mind that is aimed at fulfilling one of your objectives. Run it and see how it does. Then refine and repeat. Testing is not a bad thing and will help you get closer to your goal. Just remember to have one to begin with.

Not a Popularity Contest: Social Media Metrics that Matter

By Christopher Tompkins

25Jul

Social Media

Too many novice social media marketers focus on the wrong metrics when measuring the success of their social media campaigns. They regress to 10th grade students at a new school: desperate to be liked, seeking out the quickest way to popularity. Like those high school sophomores, they don’t consider what they really need or want and instead pursue goals that won’t actually benefit them in the long term. Don’t mistake popularity for validation when it comes to your brand’s goals–in fact, don’t mistake likes for popularity. Determine your goals and then apply strategies that will help you get to those goals. We’ll explain a few of the key metrics today.

1. Engagement

Likes are nice, but on their own will not give you a good indication of audience engagement. You should focus on active participation. For example, comments and replies are proof that your audience is invested in your content. The number of shares will help you determine what content is perceived as valuable or interesting by your audience. Review your content to see what content received the most comments and shares. Do they have anything in common, like subject matter or posting time? What are the commonalities among your less-popular, less-shared posts?

2. Awareness

You don’t want to waste time, effort, and resources on a campaign designed to increase likes when reach is more relevant to your goals. Impressions are number of times that someone sees content (tweet, update, post, ad, etc.). Reach is the number of unique individuals who see the content. If Ward sees an ad for Daughters of the Dragon Sriracha Marinade three times, that ad has three impressions and a reach of one. For some brands and under some circumstances, impressions might be paramount; for other brands and circumstances, reach matters more. Brands that want to broaden their audiences and find new consumers should focus on reach, while brands that want to strengthen their message to their existing audiences should focus on impressions.

3. Conversions

How many users were so impacted by your content or message that they took action? That is conversion in a nutshell. To determine this, you’ll need to have already determined your goals. Note that this should be more than “complete a purchase.” Do you want users to share your content? Do you want users to go to your website? Enter a contest? Fill out a survey? Measuring conversions can be as simple as tracking click rates. Take Joy’s law firm as an example. She ultimately wants prospective clients to come in for a free consultation at Meachum & Gao, but she understands that achieving this will take many steps. Therefore, her immediate conversion goal is for people to click through links from the firm’s social media profiles to the firm’s webpage. By tracking the click rate, she can see what content is most compelling to prospective clients. Armed with this information, she will be able to create enticing content that will motivate prospective clients to contact her office.

Remember that your goals will probably change over time, so it’s important to periodically reevaluate your strategies. Above all, don’t get too comfortable! Savvy social media marketers know that you must continually adapt and evolve to keep up with current trends as well as the needs of your consumers.

What metrics have you found to be most valuable for your marketing strategy? Share with us in the comments!

Are you lost when it comes to social media? We can show you the path to digital marketing success! Contact us today for your free consultation!

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Is Your Social Media Marketing Company a Good Fit?

By Christopher Tompkins

23Jul

Social Media

No one should settle for “meh” when it comes to social media marketing companies. Some of those companies just can’t hack it–and make the rest of us look bad in the process. How will you be able to tell that your prospective social media marketing agency is worth the investment? Here are some hallmarks of a good social media marketing firm.

1. The staff members fill specific roles.

The smaller the firm, the more hats each employee wears. However, great social media marketing companies will have team members with specific jobs (account managers, content writers, graphic designers, etc.). That’s because those companies want these tasks to be completed by people who know what they’re doing. Sure, sometimes an account manager might throw together some graphics as a place holder, or the team will split the duties of a coworker who’s on leave, but generally all roles are clearly defined.

2. The firm is focused on your long-term success.

You want a firm that looks at the big picture. These firms won’t waste resources on campaigns or tactics that will not have lasting effects. The managers strategize with you on a monthly basis, but with an eye on their annual strategy for your brand. This technique can be slow to take-off, but then will yield steady results. Such social media management companies are proving that they are invested in their clients.

3. Your account reps are accessible and responsive.

(Please note the tacit “within reason.” Few reps will be on-call 24/7/365, unless otherwise stated and even then only in case of an actual emergency.) If you have a question, you can easily reach them for an answer. If you have a problem, they will address it immediately. You should be able to get into contact with the correct person when necessary. On a slightly related note, good firms have low turnover. This is great because it means you will probably keep the same account manager or creative team throughout your relationship with the firm. This also indicates that the firm has good management and reliable employees.

4. They listen to and address your concerns.

A good social media marketing agency will work with you. True, you might disagree with their advice, but they won’t force you to follow it. They will be knowledgeable about your situation and will have researched the challenges facing your industry. They have a vested interest in your success, so they will try to persuade you on the best marketing strategies. Bad social media marketers take the maxim, “the customer is always right,” to an extreme–agreeing with every idea from the client, no matter how wasteful, silly, or damaging.

5. Good social media marketing firms have successful track records.

These agencies proudly display portfolios of previous campaigns and testimonials from satisfied clients. They have nothing to hide. Reputation matters: your agent should be able to provide references upon request.

What do you look for when hiring a social media marketing agency? Tell us in the comments!

How does your current social media marketing firm measure up? The Go! Agency has the digital marketing skills you need to thrive in the modern marketplace! Contact us today for a free consultation!

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The Best Instagram Tools You’re Not Using

By Christopher Tompkins

19Jul

Instagram, Social Media

Instagram has cemented itself as the premier social media platform of 2018. Less confrontational than Twitter, less esoteric than Tumblr, and more careful with your information than Facebook, Instagram is attracting users in droves. It is no longer just a collection of latte art, food porn, and bathroom-mirror-selfies: Instagram has risen to the top of the pack for social media marketing opportunities.

Unfortunately, some brands aren’t taking advantage of all Instagram has to offer. Are you getting the most out of your Instagram account? Today we’ll discuss the features that you should be using (but probably aren’t).

Feed

• Following hashtags: Just like on Twitter or Tumblr, you can follow hashtags on Instagram. This will allow you to keep track of trends, influencers, and even your own brand’s hashtags!

• Muting users: Muting allows you to hide people from your feed without actually unfollowing them. This feature is a boon to anyone who is tired of seeing post after post of a friend’s baby (scientific fact: All newborns look like Yoda, no matter what filter you use), but can be equally beneficial to marketers who want to grow their brands! You can follow back without being bombarded with unwanted content.

Stories

• Archiving: Instagram Stories are fun yet fleeting–like the bloom of the Arizona’s Queen of the Night cactus, or a Twitter feud. You post a topical, silly, or fascinating video, and it disappears forever after twenty-four hours. Not anymore! Now you can choose to archive Stories, preserving them forever in your profile. Just go to your Insights to find them all. Note: only account owners will be able to see archived Stories.

• Highlighting: Basically, these are curated collections of your archived Stories. Archiving Stories just keeps them in the back end of the app. If you want users to be able to see these Stories again or if you want to organize them into channels, you can create a Highlight channel. Each Highlight contains Stories grouped by theme. Technically, you can decide to group your highlights by any way you see fit (“Stories Featuring a Mike,” “Stories Featuring Mike’s Right Thumb,” e.g.), but theme is your safest bet.

Posts

• Descriptions: It is almost ludicrous how many Instagram users waste the opportunity for content marketing. Including hashtags and mentions in descriptions will help users–i.e., potential customers–find you.

• Filtering Comments: Trolls happen, so do bots, spammers, and lonely Russian singles who would love to chat with you. All of these miscreants will create new accounts as fast as you can block them. Thankfully, you can filter comments on Instagram! Filter according to keywords, phrases, or hashtags. This filter works on the “set it and forget it” principle: these comments are removed automatically.

• Hashtagging: Sometimes 30 tags just won’t cut it. What’s an enterprising user to do? You can repost content using all-new hashtags! Just delete the comment with the old hashtags and post a comment with fresh hashtags.

Overall

• Instagram Tutorials: Instagram wants to help you have the best possible experience on its platform. Topics range from improving your profile to building a community. Find these in the Business Settings on the app.

• Utilizing hashtags to build communities: Social media is all about connection, and Instagram is no different. Communities center around common hashtags. These hashtags range from hobbies (#NaNoWriMo, #inktober), to interests (#caturday, #yogaeverydamnday), to social causes (#PuberMe, #bodypositive).

When clients ask us what they’re doing wrong, we often respond that the problem is what they’re not doing. A tool can’t benefit you if you don’t use it to its full potential. Instagram has many more innovative and attractive features at your disposal — all you have to do is use them!

Do you want to get the most out of your social media marketing strategy? That’s why we’re here! We can help you streamline your social media channels, create a cohesive message, and attract your ideal customer. Contact us today for your free consultation!

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SEO for Amateurs: What, How, and Why

By Christopher Tompkins

16Jul

SEO

If your brand has a website, you have probably heard of SEO. This concept is frequently mentioned, but rarely discussed in lay terms. What is it? How does it work? Why should you care? We’re here to break it down and help you understand how to make it work for you.

The What

Search Engine Optimization (a.k.a., SEO) is the process of optimizing the content of your website for search engines (shocking, we know). People rarely look past the first few pages of search engine (let’s be honest, of Google) results, so the closer your website is to the top of that first page , the better. SEO is considered “organic,” in that you are not paying a search engine for your rank.

The How

Ask yourself how much you really want to know about SEO, because there is a lot of information to unpack here. At first glance, SEO might appear to be an ice berg: small on the surface, gargantuan beneath the waves. In reality, SEO is more like an ant hill: it looks simple enough above ground, but that unassuming mound of dirt hides an extensive and intricate network of tunnels guarded by hordes of zealous soldiers.

What we’re trying to say is this: SEO is surprisingly complicated. Here is a very brief, very broad overview of SEO mechanics.

Search engines (almost all of them, anyway) index sites using crawlers, computer programs that continually browse the internet. As crawlers travel the world wide web, they index and catalog all of the information they find. The search engine’s algorithm then sorts the findings according to two criteria: relevance and popularity. Relevance is influenced by myriad factors, including external links, meta data, and citations. Popularity is a factor because the algorithm–much like middle school students–assumes that popularity is a good indicator of value. (Generally, that holds true.)

You optimize your search engine rankings by incorporating keywords and key phrases into your website and content. How do you know which words are key? Well, what are the most common search terms used by your customers? What do people type into the search bar when they’re looking for your industry, product, or service? Some of this seems like it would be common sense (for example, a gluten-free bakery would use keywords and phrases like “gluten-free,” “gluten-free ingredients,” “celiac,” et cetera), but there are other aspects that you might miss (e.g., there is often an overlap between gluten sensitivity and other dietary restrictions). Most people use keyword research tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner or Keyword Explorer from Moz. SEO is more than stuffing your website with keywords and calling it a day. You must carefully integrate keywords into your content.

By the way, remember the ant metaphor? Much like the angry soldier ants who fiercely protect their queen and kin, Google doesn’t play. If there are indications that you’re gaming the system (keyword stuffing, manipulating back links, or any other black hat nonsense), you will be penalized. The algorithm won’t literally attack you, but you’ll lose rank. There is no appeals process, either: the only way to regain your standing is to reform your SEO practices.

The Why

There is no logical reason to abstain from SEO. A well-designed website is using at least a few keywords anyway–the process of SEO just ensures that the best keywords are being used. A brand has no excuse to avoid this powerful tool.

Need help with your SEO? Yeah, you do. Contact us today for a free consultation!

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Social Media Marketing Podcasts We Adore [Infographic]

By Christopher Tompkins

11Jul

Business, Content Creation, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media

Some days you just don’t have the time to browse blogs, but you still want to learn more about marketing trends and topics. Listening to podcasts is an efficient way to get the information you crave. You can brush up on your marketing skills while you’re running, driving, or relaxing at home. While Success to Go! will always be our favorite podcast, here are a few others we love. Since a major bonus to podcasts is the efficiency, we listed each by average episode length!

OVER ONE HOUR: Social Media Marketing with Michael Stelzner

It’s perfect for . . .
Almost anyone interested in social media marketing.

Because . . .
Social Media Examiner is a mainstay among marketing experts. The site provides valuable information that is suitable for just about every level of expertise.

Bonus:
The site’s mascot is adorable. The site itself offers tons of resources for beginning marketers.

UP TO ONE HOUR: Social Pros Podcast

It’s perfect for . . .
Marketers in the trenches. The tagline, “Shining a spotlight on real people doing real work in social media,” encapsulates the feel of this podcast: very grounded, very genuine.

Because . . .
Social Pros Podcast is great for anyone who wants to get insider advice, case studies, and current social media statistics.

Bonus:
They also have a podcast devoted to content marketing.

ABOUT 45 MINUTES: Social Media Social Hour

It’s perfect for . . .
Marketers who want actionable tips and advice. Host Tyler Anderson focuses on concrete and practical advice for his listeners.

Because . . .
Social Media Social Hour delivers actionable tips in an engaging, friendly manner. Each podcast episode is also a blog post on the website of Casual Fridays, Anderson’s social media marketing firm.

Bonus:
“Make your parents proud” is listed as one of Casual Fridays’ core values. Such sincerity and positivity is refreshing in the often-cynical world of marketing.

20 TO 30 MINUTES: Chalene Johnson’s Build Your Tribe

It’s perfect for . . .
Marketers who want to be inspired.

Because . . .
Co-hosts Chalene and Brock Johnson are a mother and son team with a passion for entrepreneurship and marketing.

Bonus:
Come for the marketing, stay for the personal growth! Seriously, Chalene’s goal in life is to help you get your life in order. Chalene is nothing if not well-rounded (she holds the Guinness World Record for starring in the most fitness videos), and often includes recipes along with wellness tips and workout advice in her social media feeds.

10 TO 20 MINUTES: Copyblogger FM

It’s perfect for . . .
Marketers who have things to do.

Because . . .
This is a quick and informative look at several aspects of the marketing world. Host Sonia Simone interviews experts in areas ranging from copywriting to analytics. This podcast is low on filler, but high on valuable information.

Bonus:
Good podcasts come in brief packages! This podcasts gives listeners hyper-efficient takes on a wide variety of marketing topics.