by Maggie Langley | Jun 8, 2011 | Twitter
This post was published June 8, 2011.
“Bain: 80% of Twitter engagement is link clicking.”
This heading caught my attention in my Twitter stream, and yes, I clicked on the link. The Twitter link took me to a CNN Money article by JP Mangalindan with some interesting user engagement data from Adam Bain, Twitter President of Global Revenue.
Mangalindan writes,“When it comes to Twitter advertising, Bain says 80% of Twitter engagement consists of people clicking on a Tweet, while the remaining 20% is a Retweet or a Tweet… in doing so [retweeting], they’ve transformed it from advertising to content endorsement.”
Mangalindan continues, citing some compelling examples of how many of the top Tweets “of all time”are advertisements.
Wow. The top tweets of all time are advertisements.
Let that sink in.
Grumpy Social Media ‘experts’
I have always been a little annoyed when Social Media ‘experts’ warn people not to ‘sell’ on Twitter. I’ve read many blogs where Social Media ‘experts’ have lectured readers from their gilded cages chirping about the evils of using Social Media to sell.
If you run a business and are passionate about what you do, why shouldn’t you share your passion? Why wouldn’t it be ok for you to share a link to your website to tell a larger audience about what you do? Silly grumpy experts.
Spam Scarlet Letter
I’ve heard people criticizing fellow tweeps who send repeat messages and links. “Business person, you stand accused of Spamming. Verdict – Guilty. Mark them with the Spam Scarlet Letter.”
To me this is similar to people who willingly exchange business cards but later complain when someone has the audacity to contact them to tell them about the product or service they feigned interest in at a networking event.
Don’t get me wrong; these people are entitled to feel annoyed or irritated by whatever they want whenever they want. The trouble is that they often rock the confidence of people who desperately need to proactively connect with people to spread the word about their businesses.
A new Twitter user who reads a blog telling them that sharing links to your website is spam may avoid the Spam Scarlet Letter, but be marked by the most tragic fate of all, getting no return on investment from their Social Media efforts.
As an owner of a White Label Social Media Agency, I know that sharing links on Twitter increases website traffic. Pay per click advertising like Google Adwords has gained a place in the marketing arsenal of many businesses. I hope that these latest figures go some way in helping people add the Twitter cluster bomb to their arsenal. (No need to throw out those email marketing hand grenades or direct mail fire bombs. You will still need them.)
Twitter can drive traffic to your site. With pay per click, you have one shot. The person clicks, and they either engage, or you may never hear from them again.
Why not try a Twitter cluster bomb? If you send a tweet containing a link, one of your followers may retweet it, resulting in people you don’t even know clicking on the link and following you on Twitter. Your new followers might read your next tweet and click on the link and repeat this process until they trust you enough to buy.
The statistics show that people will engage with links that are advertising products and services. Woo-hoo! Time to add the Twitter cluster bomb to your marketing arsenal.
I encourage you to read JP Mangalindan’s article, “Bain:80% of Twitter engagement is link clicking.”
by Maggie Langley | Mar 21, 2012 | Social Media VA, Twitter
If you’re like most small business owners, you were seduced by the business community to use Twitter. You gave it a try, because you wanted more leads for your business. You noticed some successes such as watching your Twitter followers grow, and maybe you’ve noticed that it’s increasing traffic to your website, but you haven’t had any direct business leads from Twitter. Let’s look at how you can get targeted leads on Twitter that convert.
Don’t be seduced by your follower count
I believe in the power of random connections, but you have to cultivate a large network that you actively engage with to benefit. A lot of the people who are evangelical about how wonderful Social Media is for business know all the latest tools, trends and have planned processes in place. You probably don’t have time to learn all of that, so let’s move your Twitter strategy away from getting large numbers of followers to a more useful Social Media Marketing goal.
Step 1 – Decide a specific group of people you want to target
Failing to define a target market is to blame for most Social Media Marketing efforts not working. This is absolutely the most crucial step to get right. (If you don’t have a target market for your business, use Twitter or a Linkedin group to ask your ideal market for their opinion on your product / service. Ideally, you’ll need to do more research than that, but it’s a simple place to start.)
Example of a Target ‘Niche’ Market – Chartered Accountants in Manchester or women who read Vogue magazine.
Step 2 – Test the best way to search for your target market
Some target markets are easier to identify on Twitter than others. Using Chartered Accountants in Manchester as an example, there are approximately 15 Twitter profiles that come up in a search. You will want to start by connecting with those 15. You could adjust your niche market to include Chartered Accountants in another nearby area or look to target Accountants in Manchester to get more results to work with. Finding women who read Vogue is simple. Visit the Vogue twitter account and click on their Followers link.
Step 3 – Add targeted followers to a list
Create a list. Follow each person in your search and add them to your list. Do not add more than 100 followers in one day.
Step 4 – Monitor and start building relationships with your targeted list
Spend a little time each day monitoring your targeted Twitter list. Look for opportunities to communicate with them. Be both reactive and proactive with your communications. Respond to their questions, show sympathy for their gripes, respond to their comments. You can also ask them questions about their business or target market, ask them to participate in a Twitter poll or send them a link to a relevant survey, ask their opinion.
Step 5 – Get them into your sales process
I know that not all businesses have a formal sales process. If you don’t have a sales process in place, decide a way to more directly tell your Twitter leads about your products/ services. You could look up their phone number on their website and call them for an informal chat. You can send them a personal email. You could even send them a personal letter with a company brochure in the post. Asking what type of leads they are looking for helps reassure leads that you are looking to build relationships, not just bombard them with sales messages. Even if they don’t use your services, they now have a better understanding of your products / services and may refer business to you.
by Maggie Langley | Nov 6, 2011 | LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter
Please note this is an old article, but I like to share it. It’s fun to see the founders of Twitter & LinkedIn together.
Have you ever heard people complaining about people linking their Twitter feed to automatically update their LinkedIn status?
The first time I read this gripe, it was posted by someone who’s pretty good at marketing. Because this person used Social Media to market her business well and with consistency, I decided I better take notice of her complaint and investigate further.
I found the video below some time ago and made up my own mind. Social Media is a communication tool. We’re all going to have different likes and dislikes about how we like to communicate. You’ll never please everyone. Don’t sweat it. Just trust your instincts. Be genuine. Be yourself.
Watch this video to find out why LinkedIn Co-Founder founders Reid Hoffman and Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone think LinkedIn and Twitter go together like chocolate and peanut butter.
If the founders of Twitter and LinkedIn think the two go together like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, that’s good enough for me.
by Maggie Langley | Aug 20, 2013 | Twitter
This blog will show you how you can handle sharing a series of blogs on Twitter.
What you need to know about sharing a blog series on Twitter
Dickens had it easy. People would anxiously await the next instalment of his writing. In the impatient age of Social Media, people will remember you if your content is self-contained and easily digestible. Not many people will read your tweets in sequential order. Forget sharing a series on social media, even if they liked what you wrote the first time, they’ll never remember to read the rest of the series in order unless they explore them all on your blog after getting hooked in by one of the blog posts.
Where to focus your attention
The focus becomes improving the ease of access of the series of blog posts on your website instead of how you share the series on Twitter. If you have a series of tweets, your objective is to get them to click the link. Looking at your content, each blog post is about one topic that stands alone apart from the intro and ending where you link it to previous posts. If somebody found the blog post interesting enough, they might be curious enough to read some of the others in the series. It doesn’t matter what number of the series they entered the site on. If the content is interesting enough, reading more on your blog will be the desired outcome. Remember now more than ever with mobile devices, people skim read blog posts. They aren’t necessarily hanging on your every word. They might not even notice in paragraph 2 you referenced a concept in blog post 3 in the series. Even if they did, that only fuels their curiosity to read more and stay on your website longer. Woo-hoo. If they like the series enough, they may also sign up to receive your newsletter. Double Woo-hoo.
On Twitter, the series can’t exist. You’re a bit like a salesman who books the appointment not telling the customer that they need 2 hours to demo the product. The ‘customer’ (reader) either buys your message (wants to read the whole series) or they don’t. But you have to get the ‘ sales appointment’ (click through to the blog) to even be in with a chance.
Make your blog series easy to explore
Once you’ve hooked them with the tweet, the important thing is to make it visually simple for them to explore the entire blog series. The easiest way to do that is by using the Listly plugin from WordPress. You don’t need WordPress to embed a Listly list in your website. You can simply create the list on Listly and embed the code on your website. (The plugin is just a bit more slick for those of you find it easy to use WordPress plugins.)
The best part is that by using Listly, you make it simple for others to link and credit your website. I wrote this blog post, because one of my customers had a series of blog posts she wanted to share on Twitter. She didn’t think it made sense to share individual blog posts in a series on Twitter. I wanted a way to make it more clear that if they landed on blog post number 5 in the series they would easily understand there was more to read. I started searching for a solution. Because of Listly lists, I am easily able to credit the original author who gave me the solution I needed both for myself and my client. You can see the solution I discovered by doing a google search below.
The next time you publish a series of blog posts. Use Listly. You never know who you might inspire.
by Maggie Langley | Dec 10, 2012 | Twitter
One of my customers asked me whether a twitter feed on a home page help SEO and Google ranking.
My gut instinct was that it wouldn’t help with SEO, but someone told my customer to do this. I’m not an SEO expert, so I didn’t give an opinion until I had time to do some research.
Listen folks. I heard it from the horses mouth. Having a Twitter feed on your home page does not help your SEO.
Watch this video where Google give their explanation of why a live Twitter feed does not help your Google rankings.
He makes an interesting suggestion to instead hand pick your favourite tweets of the week. I love this idea, as it gives your readers a reason to come back to visit your website. You’re curating good content for them. Hopefully, content they’ll love. Content you’ve hand picked to match your target market’s interests.
Another idea that I’ve seen on websites is displaying tweeted testimonials.
Remember you can also embed any tweet in a blog or anywhere on your website.
Click Expand
Click Details
Click Embed this Tweet
Copy and paste the HTML code into your blog and display your favourite tweets. Here’s two of mine.
This one’s from Best Selling Business and Non-Fiction Author Shaa Wasmund
The next one is from the VP Global Creative at @CocaCola (My Grandmother used to drive from Iowa to Arkansas to fill up her trunk . . .or boot with a specific sized bottle of Coke. So, I was pleased to get such a nice tweet from Jonathan.)
How do you share tweets via your website?
by Maggie Langley | Sep 19, 2012 | Twitter
Noticed the new Twitter header?
Wondering how you can get the new Twitter Header for your profile?
In this video, I show you how you can easily add a new Twitter Header to your Twitter profile.
Twitter Header Tips
Before you start designing a new Twitter Header, there’s a few things you should think about.
What size can my Twitter Header be?
Minimum dimensions of 1252×626
Maximum file size of 5MB
What kind of image should I use as my Twitter Header?
I’m no design guru, but common sense tells you that your Twitter Header needs to not distract too much from your Twitter bio. Your Twitter bio is your chance to tell people what you do, and you really want that bio to make people curious enough about you or your business that they want to explore your website..
It may be tempting to cram your Header full of marketing messages, like your logo, strapline or an additional marketing message, but you really don’t want to distract from your Twitter bio.
Have your say about the new Twitter Header
What do you think about the new Twitter Header? Do you like it? Do you like how it displays on your mobile devices?
Post your Twitter profiles in the comments below to show off your new Twitter Header or Tweet me at @OfficeHounds
I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.
