Are You Ready for a New Twitter Profile? Ready or Not, Here it Comes!

16Apr

Lately all of the social media juggernauts have been undergoing some major changes in order to make them more intuitive, attractive and powerful when it comes to engaging your target audience. Facebook has rolled out some important changes to Pages, LinkedIn has rolled out Showcase Pages and now Twitter is rolling out an entirely new Twitter Profile layout.

For those of you who have been avoiding Twitter, this just might be a the perfect time for you to get started. Why? This new design is the most straight-forward of all of the previous incarnations and will help you get started quickly with great new features.

Just so you know, this change is going to be rolled out first for the web version of Twitter, which is what we will focus on in this article (not the mobile version).

Now here are the top 6 new features and changes to your Twitter Profile you need to be aware of:

1. New Header Image. In order to bring your Twitter account to life, Twitter has now introduced a massive new image-driven layout to show its dedication to the visual. These layouts will be slowly rolling out to all Twitter users, and those who create a new account can receive one right now. For best results the image should be 1500 x 500 pixels. Make sure that this image is cohesive with your brand and other social media images. My top tip is to choose some of the branding from your online point of sale (website) and recreate it here. Using online photo/image editors you can do this yourself, but of course a graphic designer can be an absolute asset.

2. Larger Profile Pic. Now you will be able to showcase your brand logo with a larger more vibrant image on your Twitter profile. The new size for the Profile Pic is 400 x 400 pixels.

3. Profile Layout Change. You will now notice that there is a 3 column view where on the left hand side all of your most important information is instantly visible. Your name, bio, location and website will be prominently featured on the left hand side (much like the recent changes that Facebook made to their Pages). Also in the left column you will find all of your photos and videos. Another upgrade is that underneath the new header image are tabs (which will also be used on Facebook Pages) that break down your profile into the following choices: Tweets, Photos/Videos, Following, Followers, Favorites, More (which include lists). This design has streamlined all of the noise on Twitter so that navigation and engagement can be more straightforward.

4. Pinning Tweets. Much like Facebook, you will be able to “Pin” Tweets to the top of your Twitter feed so when people visit your profile they will be met with what you deem to be the most important information for them to engage with first. This is a great self promotional tool to get your message across to the masses.

5. Larger Popular Tweets. If one of your tweets is getting a lot of attention, it will appear bold and larger than your others so that it pops out in your feed. This is a great tool to track successful tweets and monitor them, as well as showcasing your most popular content to your target audience.

6. Filter Tweets. This is a great new tool that will help visitors to your Twitter profile filter your tweets based on their own personal criteria. So for example if someone comes to your profile and filters your tweets using “promotion”, only your tweets with the word “promotion” will show up. This is a great way for people to engage with the content they want and for you to search for information that your business may need (ie: competitive analysis).

I’m sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the changes that Twitter is going to be making – but I like the direction that they are moving in. There has even been talk of removing hashtags (#s) and @ replies in order to make the platform more intuitive!

If you are having problems making sense of Twitter and not sure how to get the traction that your brand deserves on Twitter, let us know.

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Is Your Facebook Page Ready for These Changes? What You Need to Know About the New Timeline Layout

By Christopher Tompkins

15Apr

Facebook, Social Media, Uncategorized

Just when you thought you had finally made sense of the new layout changes Facebook has introduced over the past months, they go and introduce even more! The difference this time is that the focus of the changes is not your personal profile – it is your Facebook Page: where you market your business to the Facebook masses.

Rest assured, these changes are not immediate game changers and will not create too much work in the short-term. Facebook, like many social media sites (including Twitter and LinkedIn), want to put the focus back on the newsfeed and increasing engagement with relevant content. In order to do this, they have streamlined the layout of Pages to help support this initiative.

Whether you are familiar with Facebook marketing or are a newbie, I’ve compiled a list of the changes (as of now) that will be rolled out to all Facebook Page owners in the coming weeks. I’ve also added short descriptions of the benefits of these features for marketing your business on Facebook.

The features below will be visible to administrators of your business’s Facebook Page – so when you take a look around the new layout you can follow along using the right interface. So make sure that you are viewing your page from an administrator account to check out all of these new features.

Now, let’s share those new features!

1. Main Navigation Bar. In order to streamline the look of pages, as well as move the newsfeed items closer to the top of the page, gone are the old TABS (which used to appear as a row of small rectangular boxes underneath your cover image). In their place will be a main navigation bar – very similar to that which you would see on a website, or on Twitter. The new buttons will be Timeline / About / Photos / Videos / More (which will include existing TABS). While the loss of TABS will annoy some, having your content pushed right to the top and more highly visible should increase engagement.

2. Reorganized Timeline Layout. As you will see, some items have been shifted around to make way for the new streamlined look. Now instead of having your posts appear on two columns running down the page, they will all appear in one column which will run down the right-hand side of the page. The left hand-side will now be devoted to one column all about your business. Included in this column will be your map, operating hours, website URL, phone number, photos, videos and more. This enables you to present your information in an easy to read format that is intuitive to navigate.

3. Administration Tools – Easier Access. Whereas you used to have to scroll to the top to view ‘likes’, advertising campaigns, messages and notifications – these will now appear on a floating menu that will always be visible, no matter where you are on the page. Also, the top management bar will get a facelift and be easier to use with larger buttons with more useful choices. Again, this simple change will save time when managing your page.

4. Pages to Watch. Of all of the features, I think this one is going to be the most important for those of you out there who are serious about Facebook marketing, especially when it comes to measurement and analysis. Rather than having to go through the sticky Insights (which I’m not 100% sold on), this new “Pages to Watch” feature will enable you to add Facebook Pages that you want to keep an eye on (AKA your competitors’ pages) to one section where you will be able to measure their growth against your own. This will enable you to measure their new ‘likes’, posts, engagement and more in real time. This is a wonderful way to keep up with your competitive analysis and see how you stack-up against your competitors on a daily basis.

Overall, Facebook is trying to bring focus back to the timeline posts – which is a wonderful thing. On the other hand, they are also trying to push more companies towards dipping into their advertising model. My thought on this? Before jumping into advertising on Facebook, make sure that you have a compelling content and outreach strategy that you have tried out and measured for a few months. In order to see how effective you are on Facebook, you need to identify what results you want, how you want to get them, and how you will measure success. Without these items, you can be shooting in the dark. If after all of this you still need a bit of a boost while you are marketing on Facebook, then look into ads – or just call The Go! Agency toll free at 866-926-2636.

Facebook is a crucial element of your online marketing strategy – so don’t take its importance lightly.

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LinkedIn Showcase Pages: A Major Change to Your LinkedIn Company Page

By Christopher Tompkins

Screenshot-of-Office-Showcase-Page-of-Microsoft-Company-Page-11-18-2013-10-11-01-PM1-640x327

14Apr

LinkedIn, Social Media, Uncategorized

If you have been keeping up with the content I share here on our blog, as well as on my radio show “The Social Marketing Academy”, you will know that I am a huge proponent of the power of using LinkedIn to promote and brand your business online. The sheer number of possibilities available to your business on LinkedIn is seemingly endless.

Aside from your professional LinkedIn profile (which is where you go when you log into your LinkedIn account) you also have the opportunity of creating a LinkedIn Company Page. I’m sure that many of you reading this already have LinkedIn Company Pages and have packed them with the information your target market would find engaging.

But did you know that LinkedIn has recently made a major change to that Company Page?

If you are reading this now, your LinkedIn company page no longer has a “Products” or “Services” page – as well as a featured products and services splash page. This page appeared on the top tab next to your logo and when you clicked on it, you were able to see the list of products and services as well as an optional splash page to further engage your audience.

While this leaves a huge void in your Company Page – trust LinkedIn to already have the solution ready for you to use. In order to help companies focus more on sharing information regarding specific services that are offered by their companies, LinkedIn has created “Showcase Pages” which allow you to create a custom page for each individual product or service that your business offers.

These pages can be very useful in increasing visibility to key service/product offerings that you want to focus on, so let’s get you started in creating your first Showcase Page today!

Here is a quick step-by-step guide to getting your LinkedIn Showcase Page up and running in just a matter of minutes:

From all of your products/services, choose your most popular one to focus your first Showcase Page around.
Go to your LinkedIn Company Page and then click the “Edit” tab on the right-hand side. On the drop-down menu, choose “Create a Showcase Page”.
On the box that pops up, add your Showcase Page Name – which would be the name of the product or service that you have chose to feature. Then choose the page administrators (you will be shown as a default administrator) and click “Create Page”.
This will now take you to the main “Overview” section of your Showcase Page. This is where you have to get your branding right. It all starts off with your Full Width Image. This will be similar to your Facebook Cover Image and should be inline with the branding you use on your website or online point of sale. Make sure that this is 974 x 330 pixels or larger with a maximum file size of 2MB. It can be in PNG, JPEG or GIF formats. Click “Add Image” and then choose it from your files, upload and click “Save”.
Now you will see a gray box where there are 3 items you need to complete. First, choose the language you want to optimize your Showcase Page Name and Description for.
Next make sure that your Showcase Page Name is correct, and then move onto the Showcase Page Description section. Here you need to briefly describe your product or service and let your target audience know what to expect from this page. The catch? You only have 200 characters to do it with – so you have to get right to the point! Note: I think this is the most challenging step of creating the Showcase Page.
Designated Admins: here you can add or change the administrators that you chose when you first created the Showcase Page.
Logos. Now you have to choose your logos for the page (which is very similar to when you create your Company Page in the first place). If your product or service has its own unique logo, then add it here. If not, use your company logo in these spaces. Make sure that your standard logo is 100 x 60 pixels and your square logo is 50 x 50 pixels. These will be used in your Showcase Page’s network updates, so make sure it is on-point!
Featured Groups. Do you have a custom LinkedIn group directly associated with the topic of your Showcase Page? If so, add it to the Featured Groups section by typing in the name and choosing it from the list provided.
Next scroll up to the top, and on the right-hand column you will see a spot that asks you for your Showcase Page Website URL. Copy and paste in the URL from the page in your website that is directly associated with the product or service you are featuring on your Showcase Page.
Now choose your Main Showcase Page Industry from the drop down list.
If you want to associate your Showcase Page with your company, click “Enable”. If not, leave the box unchecked.
Click Publish!

Now you have created your first Showcase Page!

But what now?

Now you will be able to share updates to this Showcase Page that are SPECIFIC to the product or service. Say for example, that your company is an assisted living facility and you have created a Showcase Page around your “Memory Care” service. So, when you go to post updates to your page, these posts will be related to your memory care service, memory care topics and other related items that would interest those members of your target market who you want to engage with your page.

Essentially Showcase Pages are Company Pages on steroids as you can provide a full page of useful information related to a specific product or service. Make sure that you are able to post on a consistent basis and make sure that you promote them to your extended networks online and off.