Twitter

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!

A Marketing Basic: Speak & Write Plainly!

Speak Plainly.  Seems obvious, but us marketers often get into the habit of “word-smithing” till the text on the page is unrecognizable by normal humans (and worse, by our target customers).  Writing regular Facebook or Twitter updates for your company SHOULD be part of a solid Marketing campaign (try our own tool to help: http://postontime.com… but keep the writing simple.  Here are a few examples to avoid, and better alternatives.

  • Don’t say user:   “Users can now log in via our web interface”
    • Say instead: customer or you.  “You can now log in via our web interface”
  • Don’t say best, most, or other false-ly colorful exaggerations: “This is the Best interface ever.”
    • Say instead: we think you will like. “We think you will like our interface upgrades.”
  • Don’t use acronyms:  “Anyone who wants higher marketing ROI should click here”
    • Instead, use simple terms: “Anyone who wants to get higher profits for their investments in marketing should click here.”
Remember, short is sweet, but complex, obtuse, or marketing-speak is sour.

PostOnTime lets you post to Facebook and Twitter while you are away.

If you are “into” social network marketing like I am, then you already know that posting to your Facebook and Twitter page on a consistent (and constant) basis is vital to keeping your Fans and Followers active and growing.  A daily or twice daily post is not at all too much.  However, knowing and doing are 2 different things.  My company, Karmaback, has just launched PostOnTime  to make the doing part of posting to Facebook and Twitter on a regular basis MUCH easier.  You can now schedule posts for any time of the day, even when you are away from your computer.  You can even post on weekends, evenings, and when you are travelling or on vacation!  It is free for 30-days, and as low as $4.99/mo after that, so give it a try!  It’s awesome!

http://karmaback.com/tw_postontime/

Why do Social Marketing?

Social Marketing is more than just a buzzword.  If you are not doing “basic” Social Marketing, you are missing out in a revolution of internet marketing; and failing to market where your customers live.

This video explains (statistically) why the hype about Social Marketing is important… I’ll summarize it: BECAUSE ALMOST EVERYONE IS THERE!  e.g. almost your entire market is spending more and more of their time on social networks!!!

Got it?  Here are 3 levels of Social Marketing you should be considering:

  1. Just be there!  Make a Facebook Fanpage and a Twitter account.  Link Facebook to Twitter, so when you post to Facebook, it posts to Twitter automatically.  And write 1 post per week about something new at your company.
  2. Grow your page by getting more fans, likes, and followers.  Simply run some sweepstakes (using Karmaback of course), or ads, to encourage your fans/followers to join!
  3. Reward your Fans/Followers for following you.. and encourage them to talk to you on Social networks.  You can reward them by doing give-aways (using Karmaback of course), and by offering them special discounts/offers.
Now stop procrastinating and make a Facebook Fanpage or Twitter Account.  It’s super easy!

Getting more Twitter Followers does NOT magically lead to sales

So, you have a lot of new Twitter Followers eh?  You may have gotten them by running a Karmaback Social Sweepstakes, or maybe you just been collecting them a while?  Well, here’s a news-flash, just having twitter followers is NOT enough to get you sales.  You have to do something else, 2 things actually, and one of them has to be “extraordinary”.

First, and foremost, you have to offer a product or service that is TRULY valuable to the target market.  It won’t have value for everyone.. but to those that it was built for, it has to be THE most valuable solution they can think of.  Your product/service has to be “extraordinary” to the target market.

Example: You make Caramel Ice Cream, with Caramel Swirls, and Caramel Candy inside, with Caramel topping.   You make the “Quadruple Caramel Ice-cream”.  *** THIS is PERFECT for me (Harlan) the target customer and people who: 1.) wants ice-cream, 2.) loves caramel, and 3.) can order the ice-cream (either lives nearby or can get it delivered).

Example 2:  You fix Small Business Tax Problems, by training small business owners the “simple steps to managing your books and filing taxes” and provide backup tax help hourly at just $40 per hour.  *** THIS is the PERFECT solution for me, and People who: 1.) have a small business, 2.) have tax headaches and fears, 3.) want to do as much as we can ourselves to save money, but 4.) need to have backup ready instantly, and 5.) can order/use the service (either via Web or in the same city).

NOTICE: These examples are VERY specific products, and NOT built for everyone in the whole world.  (some fools actually don’t like Caramel!)

Now, you’ve got an EXCEPTIONAL PRODUCT… you’ve got to make an EXCEPTIONAL DEAL to the PEOPLE THAT NEED IT, and then, and only then, will you get sales from Twitter.

EXAMPLE;   @QuadrupleCaramelIceCream  live in Austin?  Try a Quad Caramel Ice-cream from #QCIC for just $2 with this code: bit.ly/34f6

or

EXAMPLE: @SMBTaxHelp get a $250+ training and tax consultation for just $40 with this code: bit.ly/554d

….

Are you getting it?
To me, (who wants/needs both of those things already)… I’m DEFINITELY going to get the icecream.. and I am GOING to check out SMBTaxHelp and see if it really is $250+ in value.

…
Engineering Formula:
(ExceptionalTargetedProduct + SpecialOffer) * TwitterFollowersThatNeedYourStuff = Win Sales with Twitter

Let Karmaback help you win: http://karmaback.com/platform

*photo from: http://slurplog.blogspot.com/2005/10/food-fanny-ice-cream-vietnam-hcmc.html

Why Social Marketing Works, and Sometimes Doesn’t…

Did you ever wonder how Papa Johns Pizza got to 1.5MM Fans on Facebook?  Do you wonder if they make money on Facebook?  Why does Ford run TV commercials pushing people to their Fanpage?  Are companies making money with Twitter?  The short answer is: Social Marketing pays… usually.

Papa Johns:
  They are incredibly consistent on their Facebook and Twitter Pages.  1 Contest or Sweepstakes a week.  At least 1 coupon per week… and all involving their fans.  As a consumer, it PAYS to follow Papa Johns (discounts/contests/more).  This eMarketer.com study shows that 65% of daily followers want Deals and Sales! Papa Johns is capitalizing with REGULAR deals and sales… and it is working.

Ford:
  Are 440,000 people following Ford on Facebook to get a deal?  Probably not, a cursory glance shows that most engagements on Ford’s Facebook page are questions or comments for Ford.  Would Ford’s fans enter a contest to win a Car… probably yes.  But Ford doesn’t run such contests very often. If they did, they’d have a lot more fans…. but would they sell more cars?  Maybe.  But the direct line of sales success from couponing is not there for Ford like it is for Papa Johns.  So, is Ford making money on social?  Nobody knows… probably not even Ford!

I think companies need to wise up and realize that a small consumer purchase on Facebook (like Pizza) works only because it is measurable by coupons.   Cars, B2B, and other big purchases need to figure out a way to see if Social is worthwhile very fast!