social network

Engaging Social Posts that Don’t Suck

Social Posts onto Facebook and Twitter are important for companies… they serve many purposes, but first and foremost of those purposes should be ENGAGEMENT.

What the heck is engagement?  This picture should tell the story.. or click it or the presentation below to learn more.   Engagement, as you can see, leads to success… which is what Business is supposed to be about.

So, how do you write engaging posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and so forth, without them sucking?
Well I’ve put together a little training presentation on just that.

Enjoy!  Comments welcome!

New LOWER Pricing for Karmaback!

Great News for you Social Network Marketing Gurus….

You have a new tool at your disposal… Karmaback!

Karamback is now Free to try for 30-days… and is “all-inclusive!”, including fully custom apps!
It’s just $49.99/month after that!

Yep, that includes ALL our tools:

  • PostOnTime.com which lets you schedule social posts to Twitter and Facebook, and “photo upload posts” to Facebook… for ANY time you want, with fast and deep analytics!  Yep, includes your own branded app!
  • Sweepmaker.com which lets you build a FULLY custom Sweepstakes to run in your Facebook or Twitter, Including your own custom app.
  • Fanpage Tab Builder, which lets you build full HTML Fanpage tabs, with just a few clicks!
  • Referral Contest Builder.
  • Track-able Links
  • Viral Coupons (Social Coupons with any twist you prefer: like-gated, claim-gated, share-gated, etc.).
  • AND MORE!
  • ALL INCLUDED, free to try, 30-days, and just $49.99/month after that.

Social Brand Evangelism

In Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter, there are a subset of people that are extremely vocal in their support of a brand, product, or company.  For some reason, this group of people (call them Social Brand Evangelists), find some pleasure in touting their love of a product (iPhones, iPads, graphics cards, TVs, XBOX, t-shirts, or whatever).  Here is the dirty secret…  I think most of these Social Brand Evangelists are “on the payroll” or “in it for something else”.  The loudest proponents and evangelists are employees and especially marketing employees… they constantly blab about themselves, share links about their companies, and the like.  The second set are doing it for 1 reason: to try to win something…  a contest or a sweepstakes system (such as Karmaback’s own system) prompted them to share to enter to win (this is not a bad thing).

But magic hour happens, in my mind, in the truly informal.  The Social Brand Evangelist who does NOT squawk off constantly about a brand, but who makes a subtle recommendation to a friend JUST at the right time!

How can you make your customers so delighted, that when no-one is looking (not contest, no sweepstakes, no employees)… they make the recommendation to a friend because they think it’s the right recommendation?

If you can do that… you’ve won.

Giving back. Karma->back: Karmaback now turns points into charity donations!

In Eastern Philosophy, Karma is that earned thing which leads to something you deserve (good or bad).  Karma comes full circle when it is shared… it gets amplified back upon itself.  It is this “circle of Karma” which my company Karmaback, Inc. now offers to both businesses and end users.  We have just announced our “Donate points to charity” program.  This program allows users to donate their points to charity, which Karmaback turns into cash donations to that charity.  The circle starts with businesses who use Karmaback services.  Users interact with those companies, and EARN points (Karma).  Then those points can be spent on “stuff“, including Charity, completing a circle of Karma!

To learn more about Karmaback Points for Charity and how to turn your online activity into cash donations or to become a participating charity, please visit karmaback.com/charity.

Non-profits participating in the Karmaback Points for Charity program include:

  • The Bob Woodruff Foundation: The vision of the Bob Woodruff Foundation is to provide resources and support to injured service members, veterans and their families — building a movement to empower communities nationwide to take action to successfully reintegrate our nation’s injured heroes-especially those who have sustained the Hidden Injuries of War-back into their communities so they may thrive physically, psychologically, socially and economically.
  • Learn To Be Foundation: Learn To Be was organized on the principle of using the World Wide Web as a medium for people of all ages to grasp their educational potential. The Foundation fosters free online tutoring services that are driven by a community of users dedicated to teaching and mentoring those in need.
  • Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society: The mission of the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society is to improve the lives of equines by educating and helping owners, assisting law enforcement agencies, rehabilitating abused and neglected equines, and placing them into safe, permanent homes.
Got a business?  Check out our Social Platform to learn how you can get MORE FANS/FOLLOWERS, MORE VIRAL SHARING, and MORE SALES for your business… by giving Karmaback points, running Karmaback Sweepstakes, and Karmaback Coupons and Feedback.

Research: Fans are worth over $130.00 EACH.. and they want to BUY your stuff!

We’ve dug up some research on how much having a Facebook Fan/Twitter Follower is worth: it is well over $3.60/yr, more like $130.00!  In addition, what do fans want?  The #1 thing is “Receive discounts and promotions”!  Now, what better argument to use Karmaback “Social Sweepstakes” to get fans, and then give them special offers with Karmaback “Social Coupons”?  It works folks!

According to Mediapost.com:

“A new study by ExactTarget and CoTweet finds that … the number one driver for consumers to “like” a brand on Facebook… [are it’s] discounts and promotions. [40%+]”
“In addition, getting free samples or coupons, and updates on upcoming sales, tie into the discount/promotion motivation. “

Motivation to “Like” Company or Brand on Facebook
Facebook Motivations % of Respondents
Receive discounts and promotions
40%
Show support for the company
37
Get a “freebie”
36
Stay informed about company
34
Get updates about products
33
Get updates on upcoming sales
30
Fun and entertainment
29
Access to exclusive content
25
Recommended
22
Learn about company
21
Source: ExactTarget, August 2010

    “Additionally, …  the average value a Facebook fan provides a brand is $136.38, but it can swing to $270.77 in the best case.”

    Thanks to Precision Marketect (Barry) for sharing the research!

    Don’t take pictures without people in them.

    Ever been on a trip with someone camera happy?  Snap.  Snap. Snap.  What are they taking pictures of?  That hill, that mountain, that building, that car, that whatever?  Why?  Will they ever look at those again?  Will you?  Now, contrast that with anytime a friend showed you a picture of … you.  Heck, even a picture of them.  Were you interested?  If it was you, I can almost guarantee you wanted to see it, and maybe even wanted a copy.  So, that leads to the following axiom: People prefer photographs (pictures) with people they know in them.  What can this mean for business?

    In business, if you include the customer in the picture, they are about 5x more likely to want to see it.

    The picture might be “the sales pitch”.

    The picture might be “the social network”.

    The picture might just be “a game”.

    But whatever it is, be sure to include the people in it.

    My friend David Walker says this a different way… he says wait and be patient for the “experiential quality” to reach its peak.  I’d add that that peak, usually comes with other people involved.

    At Karmaback, we are working on more and more ways to include the people “in it”… and to make sure people are rewarded for staying around!  The experiential quality should be high.. and there should be “people in it”.