Twitter for Business: 24 More Do’s and Don’ts

In previous posts, we have covered the basics of Twitter that make it different from other social media. And we offered reasons why businesses ought to strongly consider making Twitter part of their overall social media effort. Now we take a deeper dive into some tactics to help you leverage the platform for your small- or medium-sized business. Staying with last year’s “Twitter Do’s and Don’ts” format, we proclaim some best practices and puncture some not-so-good ones.

For selections from our previous Twitter coverage, go here for our previous Twitter Do’s and Don’ts Column, and here for our Twitter for Business primer.

 Actually spend time on the platform. There’s no substitute for spending time on Twitter. That might seem too obvious to mention, but we see Twitter postings by individuals who seem to have virtually no acquaintance with the network itself, or its ways. We also see accounts in which the feed is entirely content that is auto-shared from the business’s Facebook account, or its Instagram account, or some other social medium. It’s plain to see that no human being had anything to do, directly, with that company’s Twitter account, to the point that you might wonder why the company even bothers. It doesn’t take much acquaintance with Twitter to realize that the medium is a community, and that a conversation is going on. As we say in one of our other blog posts (the second of the two links shared above), Twitter is essentially a chat room.

Expect organic growth (of followers). One piece of advice I received has proven to be invaluable. It is, “organic growth is almost always a lie.” The illusion is that you create an account on Twitter and you begin putting out appealing messages and people are attracted to you and the following just keeps building. But the reality is that you must get in there and “growth hack.” The illusion does occasionally become the reality for celebrities and entities with established reputations. For the rest of us, it is work to get a following. But it is worth it. Use a “follow first” tactic. Follow accounts who would make good followers for you. Give them time to follow you back, but if, say, months go by and they haven’t followed you, then unfollow them. Rinse and repeat.

Have a website. Most business people reading this blog right now already have a company website. But just in case you don’t, it’s worth saying it here: you really ought to have a website if you are going to invest time on Twitter. You’re trying to build your brand, right? As you build up all this good will and branding and buzz on Twitter, where does your prospective customer go to cement a relationship, or to initiate the purchasing process? It can’t all be done on Twitter. Your website should be the hub of all your marketing efforts. Social media like Twitter should be a marketing outreach effort that funnels people to your site. Customers need more than just a place (Twitter) where they can be messaged and cultivated. They need a domain where they can do business with you. So get your website up and get your Twitter account linked to your site, and vice versa, to maximize your efforts.

Create automated direct messages. Yes, we know that most of the advice you see out there recommends that you auto-DM all your new followers. But forget that. Those who are reading this who are very active on Twitter already know what I’m about to say: that an automated DM—dispatched to you from an account you followed yesterday—is the equivalent of social media junk mail. Yes, we know you want us to visit your website. We all know you have a great download you want to offer us. Thanks.

Reciprocity graphic
Follow back. Each time you gain a new follower, follow back! If you don’t, you’ll likely lose that follower, eventually. Unless, say, you’re a celebrity. But if you’re not, follow back, and retain your following.

Follow the Giants. If it’s a huge Twitter account and it’s a firehose tweeter and it doesn’t really follow others (rarely follows others), don’t follow them, list them (put them on a Twitter list that you can look at only as needed). This keeps your feeds cleaner.

Retweet your own posts. This is different from repetitive scheduling. Repetitive scheduling is most efficiently done in a site such as Buffer or Hootsuite. A self-retweet (a retweet of one of your own posts, not of someone else’s) gets additional mileage out of a post. Simply scroll down through your past feed, looking for good past efforts with messages that are still valid, and hit the “retweet” icon.

Expect engagement while you’re still on the lower end of the scale, when it comes to followers. You’ll need to have a thousand followers before you get significant “follower” engagement. But remember that engagement isn’t everything. Even when you’re seeing no engagement at all (on your content), you can still be doing good for yourself.

Think of Twitter as a backlink wonderland.  Search engines like Google monitor positive social signals even if the general consensus is that social media links are considered “nofollow.” Even if the possibility that the social links don’t count toward your ranking, the number of likes, retweets and shares will impact rankings. Search algorithms routinely crawl social media analyzing these signals. Don’t forget that the job of search engines is to deliver helpful content.

Neglect to be reciprocal. Don’t try to be a one-way street with your communications. You’re wanting shares, right? You’d like for your followers to engage with your content, and to retweet it, and spread the good news about your business, right? So ask yourself, are you not willing to retweet anything of theirs in your own feed? And if so, then how realistic is that? Sure, the giants of Twitter get away with it. The mega-corporations get away with it. But for those who lack that kind of cachet, there’s no substitute for joining the community and being reciprocal. Twitter is a community. You’ll be appreciated for your reciprocity.

Spend some money on Twitter. It gets you noticed. A little lettuce makes the world go ’round. Just ask Facebook.

Talk to one person and tie up the masses. It’s okay on occasion to issue an @reply to one follower—a reply that posts in your feed. Sometimes it can be a way of showing your own personality. But if much of that sort of thing needs to be done, do it via direct messaging.

Resist the urge to automate. Too much automation is just absentee-ism. Go back to point 1. Spend time on Twitter.

Growth hacking graphicOverlook Twitter’s “advanced search” function when you’re practicing your “follow first” growth hacking. Access it from your home page by typing a word into the search bar. When you hit “return” (or “enter”), you’ll get a fresh screen and on the upper left side you’ll see the words “Search filters,” with the option to “show” those. Click “show.” You’ll get a menu for more search parameters, but skip those and click the words “Advanced search.” Try that, and filter it, as you bring up fresh results, to reveal profiles, not tweets. You can really narrow down the kinds of follower prospects you view, and this will help you attract just exactly the kinds of followers you want.

Create graphics. Find more on that angle by visiting this post.

Have dupe tweets, or highly similar tweets, displayed in your feed consecutively.

Conduct Twitter polls to stimulate some interaction and conversation. And to generate some data that you can analyze and convert into useful content.

Spend a lot—not at first. Don’t spend on promoted tweets and don’t pour time (and money) into analytics and tools until you’ve put the apparatus in place to capitalize on those expenditures and get your money back out of them. Do some serious content creation first, paired with some serious growth hacking. And create a bevy of backlinks. Once you get some traction in the Twittersphere, then it might be time to start spending. We see too many people spending on Twitter when they have fewer than 100 followers and very little content in their feed. Whoever is advising them is doing them a disservice. The same indictment goes, in a different sphere, for digital agencies that sell a $500-a-month (or more) SEO package to clients who have only five pages on their website, and no blog. How on Earth can someone justify that degree of monthly expense when there’s so little content to benefit from it? While we’re at it—the same goes for agencies that charge for “blogging” and then put a mere paragraph on a page for a client and call that a blog post. Do customers really know what is going on? (Rant over! But remember, all of this internet biz is interconnected.) Make sure you know what you are getting for your money, and with Twitter, that means having an audience of followers to receive your tweets.

Create a Recommendables list. (That is, create a list and name it “Recommendables.” Then add such accounts to it as seem most fitting.) Later, when you’re ready, tweet about the accounts you want to recommend. You’ll make yourself a hero to the accounts you recommend, and in the recommendation process you’ll be providing a service to all of your following. If you maintain this list as a private list, then your recommendations, when you share them, will be fresh news to your viewers.

Retweetables graphic Create a Retweetables list and make it private. Recommendables are accounts I list that I want to later recommend to others. But retweetables are accounts that are consistently worth hearing from, and, accordingly, worth retweeting. With some regularity. Not every account out there is highly retweetable. Do you have some prospects out there—companies that you’d love to do business with? Are they on Twitter? Follow them and list them, too, in your Retweetables list. Any list, when opened, displays a feed. Pop open that feed every week and just see what’s being said in it. Hit the retweet buttons on the tweets that seem best for your purposes. Now you’ve put yourself into the Notifications tab for those accounts that you retweeted. They’ve been “flagged,” essentially, and when they open their notifications they’ll see you’ve done something good for them. Over time this can only help your marketing efforts.

SEO graphicNeglect the fact that being on Twitter helps your website’s SEO, provided that you are creating backlinks from Twitter to your website. According to Socialmediatoday.com, “Google looks for backlinks and page content, and individual social posts and profiles are considered the same as any other webpage that Google can index. That means that if you have a lot of people visiting your social profiles and content, they can individually rank in search. In fact, for a lot of entities, you’ll find a Twitter profile, in particular, will show up high in search results (this has been helped by the fact that Twitter and Google have an agreement to index tweets).” The site went on to note that “That Google/Twitter deal can also help your tweets rank, individually, and a study of more than 900,000 tweets published earlier this year showed that tweets with more Likes do have a better chance of ranking higher in Google results.” Read the whole report here.

Retweet others for the purpose of dividing up and spacing out your original tweets in your own feed, especially if you are worried about not having enough variety in your messaging. This helps, too, if you have concerns about some repeated tweets falling too close together in your own feed. Most people aren’t looking at your feed and critiquing it. It’s natural to think that they are. Generally, users are just looking at their own feeds. Just the same, you won’t want your tweetstream to have an unappealing and unvaried look.

Put all your links at the end of all your tweets. Statistics show that you’ll get maximum engagement when you put links one-fourth of the way into the tweet.

Follow @TwitterBusiness. Better yet, list them instead of merely following them. And the same with @JemullyMedia to get tips not just about Twitter, but about the main social media platforms and digital marketing in general.

What Twitter best practices do you swear by? We’d love to know!

Twitter Tips and Tricks for Businesses

Here at jemully.com, we get a lot of mileage out of Twitter, both on our own Twitter account and on our clients’ accounts as well. That activity spawns a lot of ideas for blogposts like this one. You’ll find below some miscellaneous tips and tricks for getting more out of your company’s Twitter account.

Before we venture into some tactics, let me dispel a myth. It’s not necessary to have a huge following on Twitter to enjoy some success there. Any Twitter newcomer is bombarded with reminders that some Twitter accounts reach gigantic followings. The very big accounts are very visible on Twitter. In 2017, Katy Perry set a Twitter milestone by becoming the first person to reach 100 million followers on the site.

But the biggest Twitter accounts operate in a sphere that the rest of us can safely ignore. We need to follow certain practices that those mega-accounts never need follow.

One of those practices is called “growth hacking.” It’s the activity of building one’s following. Companies that are not household names are likely to find that their follower count does not increase very quickly unless one “primes the pump,” so to speak. At least in the early going. And you might find that it is a useful tactic that you might never want to relinquish entirely.

Hack Your Way

The better known an individual or organization is, the less it needs to growth hack on Twitter. I’ve noticed that many Twitter experts, those dispensing advice, have been mum on the subject of growth hacking, the practice of building one’s following. They do not often suggest a follow-first practice (the most common form of growth hacking). Maybe they feel it’s beneath them to reach out to potential connections. But it works. And it even gets employed by some Twitter accounts that are prominent-but-not-celebrity-status.

During the week I was writing this blogpost, I was followed on Twitter by Kim Garst (@kimgarst, one of the top experts on Twitter practices). It wasn’t the first time, either. I’ve not followed Kim Garst back, but that’s because she has posted more than 300,000 times, and I don’t follow back people who pour that much into my feed. But my point is this: if someone as prominent as Kim Garst (who has more than 600,000 followers), practices a follow-first strategy, then people like me probably ought to do so too. And I do.

Link, Link, Link

And while we’re on the subject of Kim Garst, I’ll note that when I looked at her feed just now, the majority of posts are messages that take a follower to her website, via a backlink. That is largely the strategy on Twitter.com. It’s to get people from the site to a website. Or to a Facebook page. In other words, to some platform where business (or your conversion of choice) can be transacted more easily, or where email addresses can be captured, or where (at least) online traffic and online domain authority can be built. So links are vitally important in Twitter content.

Savvy marketers look at Twitter as a place for making connections with people. That’s because people are much more approachable in this chatty platform. And connections here are easily made. In his book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vaynerchuk says, “Twitter is a marketer’s dream come true because it allows you to initiate a relationship with your customer.” Then, for many marketers, it becomes a process of expanding the relationship with the contact, getting him or her connected on other levels as well.

But as we said already, huge followings are not strictly necessary on Twitter. They are nice to have, but we can still do well for ourselves with small follower counts. One reason why that is true is because of Twitter’s search function. If we are using the keywords that people want to track, they will find us via search. That can mean a search of just any terms or a search of hashtagged terms. On the @JemullyMedia account, a great deal (maybe half) of the engagement we get is with Twitter accounts who are not (yet) followers of ours. They find our content and like it or retweet it—or simply follow us after having encountered it.

Make the “Notifications” Tab Your Secret Weapon

When we say this, it’s important for you to understand that we’re not talking about your own Notifications tab on your own Twitter account. We’re talking about the Notifications tabs on your contacts’ accounts. It’s those tabs that you want to make your secret weapon. Get on your prospective clients’ radar by listing them (putting them on a Twitter list) and retweeting them occasionally, or at least occasionally liking one of their posts. Any time you engage with them, you’ll show up in their notifications tab—and seeing you there, they’ll think of you favorably.

If you don’t like filling up your tweetstream with retweets of others’ posts, then just hit “like.” But remember that retweets are really where it’s at for any serious Twitter user. A retweet is social sharing. That’s where the most good is being done—for you, when you are retweeted; and for your connections, when you retweet them. Social sharing leverages social media in a far more powerful way than mere “liking” or “favoriting” does.

Tool Time

Lastly, know your tools, and employ them when appropriate. Here are four to get you started.

Use IFTTT. This acronym (it stands for “If This, Then That”) is the name of a tool that allows you to connect your favorite apps together so you can get the most out of them. For instance, you can connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts, so when you like something on Facebook, you automatically share it as a Twitter tweet. You can also connect Google Drive and Twitter, so you can automatically save all your new followers in a spreadsheet. IFTTT describes itself as a “free way to get all your apps and devices talking to each other. Not everything on the internet plays nice, so we’re on a mission to build a more connected world.” Find it at ifttt.com.

Sync your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. When you sync your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, not only are you able to track your connections from LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter, but also you can share content across both social networks at the same time. Your status updates in LinkedIn can display as tweets on Twitter. And your tweets (all of them, if you desire) can post automatically on LinkedIn, or you can click the option to be selective, in which case only those tweets that contain the #in hashtag will display on LinkedIn. For more information, go here.

Hashtagify.com is a site that helps you find what hashtags are relevant in your field of interest. Employing the right hashtags can be a big step toward putting you in the right conversations. Twitter’s slogan is “It’s What’s Happening,” and that descriptor is particularly apt. Twitter is very much about real-time occurrences and conversations. Tapping into those exchanges is a great way to leverage the platform.

Create lead generation cards. Twitter’s Lead Generation Cards allow you to attach a form into your tweets and integrate it with your email marketing provider, which means people can sign up to your email list without even having to leave Twitter. This is an effective technique to start generating more leads.

There. These suggestions could keep you busy for a while. And if you need more, come to our blog at jemully.com/blog and search the term “Twitter.” You’ll find plenty more there to get your synapses firing! Happy tweeting!

 

LinkedIn Do’s and Don’ts

LinkedIn is a service that individuals use to find jobs and also seek out employers, but did you know there are many services LinkedIn offers that you might be using wrong? By reading our LinkedIn Do’s and Don’ts, you are bound to find a few ways to improve your profile!

DO

Choose a great profile photo.

First impressions are essential. By creating a good first impression, you will establish the baseline for all thoughts and opinions a potential employer will make of you. Did you know how long it takes to make up for and eventually reverse a bad first impression? By having a clear, professional photo, your chances of making a good first impression automatically increase.

“A photo can go a long way to convey passion, energy, charisma, empathy, and other soft skills that are hard to write about.” The Muse

Keep your page up-to-date.

There are many different functions on LinkedIn that allow you to keep followers updated on your professional career. One of the most important sections to keep updated is your profile section, which is located at the top of your profile. Keeping your profile section up-to-date is important because it is the first section viewers see when they open your page and can give potential employers a quick synopsis of who you are. In this section, you can include where you currently work (with your position title), your education, and a short summary about yourself. Another vital section on your page to keep updated is your ‘experience’ section. Showcasing past jobs and responsibilities you’ve had is important as, for some readers, this section can be viewed essentially as a resume.

Take advantage of the Summary section.

The Summary section is crucial because it allows you to tell viewers about yourself in your own words. Show off your personality, touch on your professional experiences and skills, and tailor it all exactly the way you want it to be presented. According to Career Horizons, “your summary should be around 3–5 short paragraphs long, preferably with a bulleted section in the middle.” Don’t miss an opportunity to showcase your writing skills and personality for potential viewers.

Include multimedia

When given the chance to show off your expertise through work you have produced, do it! Having multimedia on your page will likely help you stand out when compared to competition. Including any multimedia work you have done on your page gives employers an accessible showcase of your skills. You can include multimedia In your ‘Summary’ and ‘Experience’ sections on your profile.

DON’T

Don’t add people you don’t know.

Although it is important to have many connections on LinkedIn, it is not professional to add people that you do not know. Did you know that if enough people deny your invitation, LinkedIn can shut down your account? White it is important to have at least 50 connections, it is essential you know who you are connecting with.

Don’t forget to add your contact information.

Although it seems like a common thing to remember, many people look over the ‘Contact Info’ portion of their LinkedIn profile without realizing it. You can find this section under your profile settings. If you do not list any contact information, it makes it difficult for a company to reach out to you.

Don’t forget to be social.

LinkedIn is meant for many things, but one of its most important functions is to be social with others—this is social media after all. Sharing recent news and staying active on LinkedIn shows others that you are comfortable on LinkedIn and know how to use it effectively. It is easy to make a profile and then leave it dormant, but it is important to use LinkedIn fully, especially when you are in job search mode.

We hope these do’s and don’ts help you to improve your presence on LinkedIn and the overall impact of your profile. Whether you are seeking employment, or simply looking to get the absolute most of social media, these best practices will get you moving in the right direction.

Do you know of any other LinkedIn practices that weren’t included here? We’d love to know them!

Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing

Influencer:

The individual whose effect on the purchase decision is in some way significant or authoritative (Cambridge English Dictionary)

How influencing works:

Influencers on social media, as vessels for advertising and marketing, have become a phenomenon that many brands have turned to. Influencer marketing benefits the brand by  exposing it to a large number of people in their target audience. This exposure is secured through compensation paid to the influencer. Successful influencer marketing often requires a great deal of coordination and planning between parties. A brand must identify and establish a relationship with an individual who matches their target audience. Depending on the arrangement, the influencer might also receive free products. The influencer must then post about the brand in a creative way for the purpose of engaging their followers. Influencers are effective because their followers look up to them are more likely to receptive to the products they recommend.

Types of influencers:

Mega-influencers:

Mega-influencers are individuals who have more than one million followers on their platform. These influencers are mainly celebrities, such as musicians, actors, athletes, etc. Mainstream brands often reach out to celebrities for advertising purposes, as bigger celebrities often have the greater ability to influence their fans and followings. Mega-influencers are able to reach a broad audience, which is why brands spend the extra money for their endorsements. Some of the most expensive celebrity influencers include Beyonce, Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian and Selena Gomez. Although celebrities are not the ideal influencer for every brand, research can help brands identify when a celebrity will work best for for them.

Khloe Kardashian

Khloe Kardashian’s primary social media platform is Instagram, where she has more than 76 million followers. Khloe has been an influencer for brands such as Amazon and Calvin Klein. It is rumored that Khloe makes around $250,000 per post.

Jonathan Morrison

Jonathan is an influencer in the tech and business world. Jonathan’s main platform is his Youtube channel where he has over 2 million followers. In many of his Youtube videos, he is giving paid reviews for gadgets and also giving away free products to viewers.

Carly Waddell

Carly first gained media attention by being a contestant on The Bachelor in 2015. Since then, she has reappeared on the show and gained many followers. Today, she is a social media influencer for health products, baby products, and everyday usage products.

Macro-influencers:

Macro-influencers are individuals who have between 10,000 and one million followers. These influencers mainly post about everyday lifestyle or business matters. Pet influencers, beauty influencers, food influencers, and travel influencers are just a few of the kinds of individuals who are considered to be macro-influencers.

Lindsay Arnold 

Lindsay Arnold is a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars. Lindsay’s following includes a large number of younger females and she has partnerships with many food, health and travel companies.

Tuna 

In 2011, Tuna’s owners created an Instagram account for their dog, who became famous online. Tuna has over 80 thousand followers and has been featured by Cosmopolitan, The New York Times and many other sites. Tuna’s posts feature the partnerships with many pet-friendly hotels around the world.

Micro-influencers:

Micro-influencers are individuals who have fewer than 500,000 followers. These influencers are individuals who partake in an everyday work-life, who relate with their followers through real-life authenticity. These influencers can create a relationships and develop trust with their followers.

The Planet D  

Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil are a husband-and-wife travel influencing team. They have traveled to over 100 countries and have partnerships with American Express Canada, Intrepid Travel, and Expedia. Their main source of blogging is on their personal website and Facebook account.

Tina Jui

Tina Jui is a breakfast food blogger via Instagram, and her website known as The Work Top. Tina has over 50,000 followers and is an influencer for all things cooking. She makes sponsored posts for food brands, specific cookware items, and also does sponsored giveaways.

Why influencer marketing works:

Influencers create a personal level of trust between themselves and their followers through relating to them and having similar interests. Followers value an influencer’s opinion because they are ‘fans’ of the influencer, and often feel a personal connection to them or aspire to their lifestyle. Big brands have taken notice that having an influencer mention their brand can be one of the best ways to inspire consumer trust.  Some followers even rely on influencers to learn about new brands and products, which can make influencer marketing a cost-effective method of getting the word out under the right circumstances.

Instagram Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s and Don’ts of Instagram for Business

In the current era of marketing, businesses have begun to rely fully on online exposure. Being on Instagram since 2010, I have witnessed firsthand the changing trends in profiles and lifestyles, as opportunities to be creative have taken over and allowed room for more compelling ideas and posts. Instagram has allowed individuals and businesses to take their presence to the next level through the many creative aspects that are offered. When managing your business’s Instagram, there are certain things to consider in order to exceed in the realm of online presence. Consider this list of “do’s and don’ts” to be our Instagram best practices guide.

DO

Have a Plan

When creating an Instagram page and wanting to take your online businesses presence to the next level, creating a social media marketing strategy is essential. The plan that is created will be the foundation for all future posts to come. When coming up with a plan, it is important to identify who your target audience is, and research what would attract them to your businesses Instagram. Once you have created your social media marketing strategy, stick to it!

Create an Aesthetic

I find myself attracted to businesses on Instagram that maintain an appealing grid pattern. To achieve an engaging Instagram account, consistency is key. Once you create an aesthetic, don’t let one post ruin it. Keep up the aesthetic by planning posts ahead of time and by using high quality images. Followers and potential customers pay attention to consistency and are attracted to a brand that can upkeep and manage it.

IMG_3578
IMG_3510-1

Use Instagram Stories

Stories has been one of Instagrams most impactful changes to date. Businesses that take advantage can really thrive on this platform. Through Instagram stories, businesses have many opportunities to take their brand to the next level. By implementing Instagram stories in your social media plan and posting relevant content, you can establish a connection and build trust between your brand and your followers.

Audience Engagement

It is important to make your brand personable, rather than an automated account that’s just going through the motions. There are many ways for a brand to engaged with its social audience. Replying back to comments is one of the most effective methods that customers appreciate. You can also create audience engagement by posting giveaways or also asking for customer feedback. My favorite way to connect to a brand is through Instagram story polls. Asking for opinion and giving customers the chance to help you out by providing input helps create a feeling of involvement and trust.

Use Instagram Ads

There is nothing wrong with spending a little extra money to boost a post. I cannot tell you how many times I have been sidetracked by an Instagram ad (that was successfully targeted to me) and ended up making a purchase. Instagram ads can help you reach your brand goals, whether that means increasing sales or just boosting brand awareness. Instagram allows you to hone in on your target audience and plan out how much you want to spend. By putting in the extra effort and money, exposure and sales will have great opportunities to grow.

DON’T

Over-post

DO NOT OVER-POST. Do not be that annoying brand that posts 10 times in one hour. By over-posting, your followers will feel spammed and over-loaded with content. Set a schedule, and stick to it. Consistency is key.

Let Your Branding Stray

Being inconsistent with your brand message can lead to miscommunication and confusion for your followers. One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make on Instagram is posting irrelevant content just so they can post. To avoid this happening, plan posts out in advance so you aren’t scrambling to come up with filler content.

Lie or Mislead

Posting content that is partially true will mislead followers into thinking the post is 100% true. Misleading followers into incorrect information will weaken the trust they have in you, as a business and as a brand.

Delete Negative Comments or Reviews

Never, never, never (did I say never?) delete negative comments that are posted by customers. It will come back to haunt you. React to negative comments by taking the feedback into consideration and use the opportunity to respond back in a positive manner.

Forget About Analytics

Keeping track of your Instagram analytics allows you to track your progress and gives you the insights you need to make necessary changes. To forget about analytics is to forgo these opportunities. By viewing analytics, you can track followers and engagement that your brand has attracted. Taking advantage of the many analytical tools at your disposal will give your social campaigns the ability to stay nimble and continue growing.

Do you have any other Instagram rules you swear by? We’d love to hear them!

The Do’s And Don’ts Of SEO

dos dont's seo best practices

Search engines are constantly evolving, which means optimizing for them is always in a state of flux. This article amounts to a best practices guide to SEO for 2018. Read on for our SEO Do’s and Don’ts, and be on your way to glorious SERP performance.

DO

Test Your Search Performance On Multiple Devices

Searchers use many different devices to find our websites, and different browsers on different devices can yield different results. Each business will have it’s own distribution of referrals, but it’s always a good idea to check your search performance for your top keywords on multiple devices to make sure devoted users of specific devices aren’t missing out on your content.

Optimize For Your Target Market

“Know your target market,” an oldie, but a goodie. Tailor your content and pick your keywords with your ideal target market in mind. Each demographic has characteristics that we need to be aware of as marketers. If you’re going after the college crowd, make sure your content and keywords are relevant to what’s on the typical student’s radar. Beyond the subject matter, do your homework so you can tap into the phraseology, language, and style of content that your target audience favors.

Strive For Content With Quality Editorial And Quality Structure

Quality content can mean a few different things. First, it definitely helps if your content is well-written, and capably edited. Finding an engaging tone can be even more important, still. Structure is another highly visible aspect of your content that can make or break you. For example, if your target market likes list-icles or infographics, then giving them the type of content they want can be just as important as how well it’s written. Put equal thought into all of the elements that make for quality content.

Craft A Frequently Asked Questions Page (FAQ)

If you have a business, then people probably ask you questions about it from time to time. Any question about your industry that you are sick of being asked in real life is probably the right kind of thing to provide on your FAQ page. These kinds of insights, basic as they might seem to the business owner, are the kinds of things that can build credibility and a sense of engagement in your web visitors. If you’re looking to take your FAQ game to the next level, try weaving your most important keywords into your questions and answers. Even if nobody’s actually asking these questions, FAQs can be the perfect devices for presenting your company’s unique qualities.

Optimize For SERP Feature Friendiness

Rich Snippets, Knowledge Panels, Featured Snippets, Answer Boxes; the list of features that a given SERP may incorporate is long. Optimizing various pieces of content throughout your site for an appropriate SERP feature can give you a boost to be displayed more prominently. Here is a quick guide that can get you started.

Link Your Social Efforts To Your Website

At Jemully, we treat a client’s website as the primary hub of their digital presence. Social media is also extremely important, but it should serve the purpose of promoting your website, which is the best platform for fully leveraging your brand. Another way to think about a website is like a city, which makes various social sites the outlying smaller towns and suburbs. The city will always have the most roads leading in and out. The smaller towns will have some, but these roads ultimately lead to the city. The “roads in and out” concept, or links, is an indicator of the size and influence of a site. Ensuring that your website is your greatest presence, and directing searchers to it from other platforms will increase the profile and visibility of your site over time.

Know Your SEO Tools

There are a lot of great free SEO tools out there. They can help you up your game whether you are a neophyte or a seasoned pro. I’ve been writing about SEO for a few years now, and hadn’t even heard of these, but they’re worth checking out for those needing a boost.

Hone Your PR Game

This one takes some expertise, but is well worth doing if you can manage it. Searchers do not always want branded content, but companies (or experts, preferably) can insert themselves into a farther reaching context through public relations initiatives. Is there a trend sweeping your industry? Is there regional, national, or even global issue that pertains to your expertise? Finding a way to put your company in a larger context, and even juxtaposing your comments with those of other recognizable experts, is a neat way to puff up your brand in a way that is not strictly self-serving. This tip is more of an advanced content marketing strategy than an SEO hack, but if done well, it can put you in front of more eyes.

DON’T

Neglect Your Metadata

Headings. Alt tags. Custom URLs. Snippets. All the little things we pay attention to when entering content into our CMS that generally go unseen by the end-readers. Unseen by them, maybe, but most definitely seen by Google (or your search engine of choice). Mind your metadata.

Forget About Voice Search

As searchers continue to use voice commands on their phones, and as smart speakers find their way into a greater number of households, voice search is becoming less of a novelty, and more of the way things are done. Anecdotal evidence suggests that younger audiences, ones who have grown up with voice-tech, are using more naturalistic and conversational search terms. Keep this trend in mind, and as always, know your target market when optimizing.

Test queries and keywords using as many different technologies as you have access to. Keeping an eye on the differing results from device to device will lend additional perspective. And remember:

  • Google Home uses Google data
  • Siri uses Bing data
  • Alexa uses Bing and Amazon data

Only Target The Keywords You Aspire To

Sure, every company wants to be at the top of their search-engine results page (SERP), but that’s not always realistic. The more competitive your field, the harder it is to conquer the search results. If you are struggling, it’s OK! Start smaller by making sure you at least own the SERPs for keywords that are specifically relevant to your individual company. Make sure you dominate searches for your company name, and maybe even searches for your industry plus your city. Start small, carve out your niche, and with strong content marketing, you can make a dent in the broader SERPS in time.

Create A Keyword-Optimized Page And Call It A Day

While each page on your site should be optimized for its own unique keyword, one page is not generally going to be enough for Google to create a strong association between your site and that word. It sounds like a catch-22, but think about it like this: you must convince Google that your site is relevant to a particular keyword. A single content-rich page devoted to a key word is a nice start, but if you only mention that keyword on that one page, then that’s not going to be enough to convince Google. Think of a keyword-devoted page as that keyword’s house. That keyword is still going to want to hang out with other keywords. Each keyword has its own “house,” but that doesn’t mean they can’t visit another keyword’s house. Intermingling a keyword throughout your site will help demonstrate that the keyword in question is of integral value to the site, and vice versa. Make sure all of your best keywords have their own house, but let them visit their friends too.

Forget That Different SERPs Have Different Quirks

Some highly contested SERPs feature paid ads, others don’t. Some have a fancy knowledge panel on the right hand side. Some have space reserved for e-shopping listings. There are many variations, and recognizing the features that pop up on your desired SERPs can lend insight into the type of content that can improve your standing, and maybe even reveal some opportunities.

Let Your Page Load Time Creep Too High

“Three seconds or bust!” is a guideline offered by many SEO websites as a maximum page load time. If you page takes longer than three seconds to load, it might seriously hinder your SERP performance. Whether it is a major ranking factor for Google searches or not, think of it as a facet of UX (user experience). Slower sites are going to provide a less satisfying experience to searchers, which is something that Google ultimately does respond to. There are plenty of free tools (here is one from Google), so try a few of them out to be sure that you’re pages aren’t loading too slowly.

Scoff At Mobile-Friendliness

We’ve written several pieces about the importance of optimizing for mobile. You may read them here. Pertaining specifically to search, SERPs had, in the past, been organized and delivered based on the device used by the searcher. Mobile users would see results that were optimized for mobile, while desktop users would potentially see a less-filtered SERP. For more than a year, Google has switched to mobile-first indexing for ALL devices. Sites not optimized for mobile are still indexed, but if there is a mobile version of a site, then that is the one indexed. It’s just another indication of how search engine queries are handled. Mobile is important. It should be considered in all website matters.

Thanks to a number of great sources of SEO news and content including: Chief Content Officer, Search Engine Land.

The Delicate Balance of Agency/Client Relationships

A wise person once said, “An agency is only as good as its clients,” or… something like that. Either way, one thing on which we can all agree is that an agency can’t function without clients. Hard work goes into gaining clients because they are the livelihood of agency life. And, although an agency doesn’t exist without clients, the two need to share a healthy relationship in order for both parties to thrive. In the wild, this is called symbiosis; I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine.

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This relationship is a delicate balance that requires attention and nurturing in order to maximize the output for the two sides. Below are some of our top tips to maintain said balance:

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1. Set mutual goals

While both you (the agency) and your clients likely have in-house goals for your work together, setting mutual goals is just as important. This is typically done at the beginning of the relationship, as well as on a project-to-project basis. This helps to set expectations so that neither of you is displeased or unclear in your working relationship. Remember, you’re on the same team!

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2. Take every opportunity to build credibility

Whether you have worked together for a week or a year, every encounter, every project is an opportunity for gained or lost credibility. It is vital to be aware of this and use it to your advantage—even something as small as a typo in an email can be detrimental. Sometimes the relationship with a client and how to behave is best compared to that of a dating relationship: be honest, put your best foot forward, be dependable and trustworthy, take initiative, and don’t be afraid to lead the way.

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3. Transparency is key

Branching off of point number two, transparency is a most crucial element of building credibility. Should you be transparent? Absolutely. Should you do so with negligence of tact and professionalism? Never! There is grace to be had in transparency—and no, we don’t mean sugar coating. What we do mean, is to always communicate the bad news with some silver lining; be it a plan B, good news that accompanies the bad, or something that proves your worth. Trust your client to be able to tolerate any potential bad news as long as the situation is delivered respectfully, in a timely manner, and with the initiative of outlining the net steps to take.

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4. Be respectful of time

To many business professionals, there is nothing worse than wasting time. Be there, be on time, all the time. It’s as simple as that. And, when you have their attention, stay on topic and be efficient with what you have to say. Don’t talk in circles, just be quick and to the point. Conversations happen much more quickly in person or over the phone anyways, and this gives you even more time to produce the excellent work your client has hired you for.

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5. Under-promise and over-deliver

Although the Golden Rule is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, the business world version of this is “under-promise and over-deliver”. Living by this rule will keep you on track for success, happy clients, and much more. Doing the opposite, well, we won’t go there. But if you take a moment and think about it from a client’s point of view, would you rather have high expectations and be completely disappointed by the result, or have realistic expectations and be completely blown away and thrilled with the result. We choose the latter. What do you think?

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These five tips don’t cover every minute detail comprised within beautiful and complex client/agency relationships, but they cover the broadest and most imperative parts. And if you ever have trouble determining how to handle a situation, just go back to putting yourself in their shoes and think about how you would want things to be handled. If that doesn’t help, come back to this article or reach out to your team. Your agency team is what makes the magic happen, so we encourage you to treat them in the high regard we illustrate here.

In your work, what advice have you found helpful for navigating agency/client relations?

Web Design Trends For 2018 and Beyond!

Website design trends are a little like fashion design trend in that there are fresh new styles that surface each year. The popularity of color schemes come and go, as do fonts, and other visual elements. They have seasons of fashionableness. For example, I know a few of you remember the early days when twirling globes, hit counters, and splash pages dominated our online view.

However, website development does not change with the season. Instead, it more often changes with technological innovation. As technology advances (think mobile devices, touch screens, and 4G), web development systematically follows with creative implementation. Often, this movement to mainstream is initiated by avant-garde designers and programmers who advantage of the new capabilities.

These adaptations to technology proliferate through the web-building community. For instance, the innovations morph from trend-setting anomalies to staple features we expect. In fact, many become essential ingredients to good website production. For example, consider the little stacked navigation icon on mobile devices affectionately known as the “hamburger.” The hamburger navigation is beginning to make its way to the desktop view. Some don’t care of it. Others feel it opens up white space and enhances the real estate of the page.

How does this evolution take place? Developers construct techniques that make implementation of the elements easier. At first, features that offer extended functionality may be only available from highly skilled custom developers. And then, those features gain popularity. Developers craft ways to efficiently incorporate them into sites so that they can be used by a broader base.

Most noteworthy, over the past several years, Jemully has put together a list of trends in web design and development for the coming year. This year, we will look at the previous four years of progress. And, in conclusion, see what remains on-target for 2018.

Fresh Looks Carry Into 2018

  • Geometry
  • Bright colors
  • Graphic illustrations

 

  • Photography – Use as many authentic images images as possible in place of stock photos.
  • Animation – Make your website move with purpose, such as highlighting what’s important, telling your brand’s story, or drawing attention to a key feature of your site. This includes:
    • Video background
    • Scroll Triggered Animations
    • SVG format – Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs) – SVGs are vector images, not pixels, which gives them many advantages. They are incredibly scalable (while maintaining their quality), meaning they won’t affect page speed when animated because they don’t’ require any HTTP requests. SVGs are essential to providing quality multimedia experiences for users in 2018 [examples?]
  • Increased use of whitespace – Read this post from Team Tree House about how using whitespace effectively can impact your site. 
  • Bolder Typography – Read this post from Hongkiat about how bold fonts make for bold websites.
  • Sticky menus – “Sticky menus” stick, fixed right beneath your browser search bar, so readers do not have to scroll all the way to the top of a long webpage.
  • Hidden/Hamburger navigation – This style hides the navigation  behind a button, which allows site visitor to focus on the call to action with fewer distractions.
  • Custom icons & graphics give your site a unique visual style that may make it a more appealing destination for readers.

Recent Website Trends

Finally, let’s take a look back at our past few years of trend reporting and predictions. How did we fare? By our count, most of these trends remain best practices today, though a few a subject to taste (looking at you, “retro fonts”).

Click the headings for each year below to read the full article.

2017 Trends

  • Wix / Squarespace / WordPress
  • Responsiveness
  • Non-stock imagery
  • Video – backgrounds, dividers, short explainers
  • Storytelling

2016 Trends

  • Retro fonts
  • Storytelling
  • Mobile responsive
  • Divide between Custom and DIY
  • Card layout
  • Flat Design (long-scrolling homepages)

2015 Trends

  • Storytelling
  • Shortcode
  • Animation
  • Flat Design
  • Minimalism
  • Responsive sites replacing mobile sites

For more ways to dominate in 2018, don’t forget these other recent posts:

6 Marketing Lessons From Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte (Updated)

The Top 15 Trends That Drove Marketing In 2018

Maximizing Your Team

Top 5 Marketing Trends That Will Continue In 2018

 

The 7 Deadly Sins of Online Marketing

7 deadly sins of online marketing
Sin is defined in the original biblical language as “missing the mark.”  It is we when do not live in a way that embodies the goodness for which we were made. A “deadly” sin could be further defined as being so far off the mark that our behavior becomes damaging to the point of being destructive. When we apply the term “deadly sins” to the topic of marketing, it means we are “missing the mark” and even partaking in some practices and behaviors that turn out to be destructive to our objectives and goals. Could you be committing any of the 7 deadly sins of online marketing?Continue reading

3 Tips For Integrating PR With Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Marketing activity in the digital space has increased exponentially in the past five to seven years. We live the results of it every day. Instead of picking up the morning paper, we flock to our smartphones, tablets, and laptops. On top of that, it’s nearly impossible to go online without becoming the unwitting target of countless marketing tactics. We see this in social media, banner and pop-up ads on the websites we visit, and even in our email inboxes.

Traditionally, marketers and brands alike recognize the importance of including PR efforts in all aspects of a marketing plan. We often see that not all brands have adapted this planning into their digital executions, and this is a big mistake. When dispersing brand messaging, consistency is key. Not only that, but digital platforms provide new and unique opportunities for relationship building.

As a typical rule of thumb: All marketing elements of a brand should work together in symbiosis. Here are a few quick tips on how to make all the pieces work together:

1. Execute all aspects of your marketing to work as a whole, not in silos.

Everything from your website, to your press releases, to your social media posts, e-blasts and commercials need to use the same branding, tone of voice, messaging style, keywords, etc. It is okay to share more sharply focused things only in specific channels, but make sure to share the big-picture things across the board. This will benefit your efforts not only from an ROI standpoint, but it also aids in establishing credibility and overall brand voice. Toward the end of a campaign or other measurement period, you will have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t on each platform.

2. Treat your digital messages as a public appearance.

Public relations managers spend hours upon hours preparing their clients on what to say when they are in the spotlight. Similar preparation and continuity must be executed in the digital space—especially in social media and e-marketing. Plan for how to react to potential crises, opportunities and questions. This is part of the relationship and credibility-building process.

3. Take special care to monitor what is being said about your brand.

It is important to periodically monitor your overall brand sentiment, especially in the aspect of providing and improving upon customer service. As an agency, this can also help you stay ahead of the game in the event of larger problems or opportunities with competitors. This is likely one of the easiest initial changes to make; we recommend signing up for a service such as Google Alerts, Mention, or Talkwalker.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different strategies. What works best for one brand does not work best for all—but remember, consistency across the channels is key. Also, keep in mind that significant changes in your KPIs don’t happen overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and going viral isn’t always a good thing. Keep up a good, steady effort, and over time you will see your brand become the beautiful butterfly it was meant to be.

View these three tips as starting points from which to grow your efforts, and stay tuned for more tips on digital PR efforts right here on The Jemully Post!