Pinterest your way to more clicks, email subscribers & sales
Businesses use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to connect with their audiences and promote services, but over the years Pinterest has grown to become a powerful search platform to further target audiences before they make a purchase.
According to Pew Research Center, only 29% of U.S. adults use Pinterest but learning how to maximize and best use this platform can be key to an increase in clicks, email subscribers and sales.
Pinterest is commonly used to browse around for something to use in the future, narrow down ideas or find something specific. Today, businesses are taking advantage of what pinners are using Pinterest to better promote their services.
Be prepared
Before you dive into using Pinterest, it’s important to have a marketing plan in place to ensure this is the best direction to go. The plan should focus on how the business is going to use Pinterest to increase traffic, email subscribers and clicks. Take into consideration what topics to focus on and turn them into boards, featuring related pins.
Pinterest uses boards to gather pins and businesses can use this to showcase their products and help consumers find exactly what they are looking for.
Do your research to maximize reach
When you have an idea of what topics you want to feature, think about your target market and research what keywords for search perform best. Step into the shoes of the audience and determine what terms they use when searching for your product.
For example, if your business is all about social media, your pins should feature social media tips, email marketing, tips to improve branding and more. Keywords should also relate to social media, marketing, strategy and more.
Pinterest is for more than ideas
Wpromote, a full-service digital marketing agency in California, uses Pinterest to create campaigns to expand their reach. According to Pinterest, this agency wanted to expand their clients’ reach with a lower cost per action. People use Pinterest to not only scroll through content but to plan purchases.
“We’ve found that people on Pinterest are more actively trying to plan or make a purchase than on other platforms. Being able to reach them when they’re in that mindset is a primary driver for the strong performance we’re seeing.” – Ashley Talley, Wpromote Account Director
With the use of Promoted Pins, their campaigns included 40% lower costs per action and 26% lower costs per thousand than other paid channels. They were able to reach new customers via Pinterest at a much lower cost than other paid channels.
Use eye-catching imagery
Along with using keywords and taking advantage of Promoted Pins, design plays a part in getting more people interested in your Pinterest.
Taking the time to design beautiful and striking graphics, focusing on the layout and creating useful pin descriptions are a few design ways to help increase traffic to your website. Using design tools like Canva, Crello and Adobe Photoshop can help to create impactful images.
As Pinterest expert Peg Fitzpatrick said, you want to maximize your efforts and create content that inspires, teaches and visually appearing to gain the attention of the audience.
Eye-catching images within your pins can make or break your business. The better the image used, the more clicks, traffic to website and email subscribers you can potentially have. Preparing a style guide with brand colors, fonts and logos can help plan out your Pinterest layout easily.
As with all social platforms, it’s important to understand how to use Pinterest too meet your audience’s needs and have a plan before jumping in with both feet.
How to master live video
Are you interested in hopping on the video bandwagon? 87% of online marketers use video content, so if you’re not doing video, you’re doing something wrong. But don’t worry! MILO is here to help you make a splash with Live Video tips and tricks!
Did you know that one-third of online activity is spent watching video?
Livestream and New York Magazine reached out to 1,000 adults with a survey to learn how consumers think about and use live video. Live video is more appealing to brand audiences: 80% would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, and 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts.
So if you really want to increase your audience, live video is the way to go. Today, MILO is going to teach you how to excel at live video by creating closer customer connections and how to get over the fear of going live.
As platforms evolve, you must evolve with them. You can now go live on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Because this is such a new feature, many people may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with going live. In order to prevent poor performance and get over your nerves, you need proper planning.
Here’s a checklist of 10 tips when going live to make sure everything runs smoothly:
- Tell your followers ahead of time when you plan to go live.
- Figure out what your purpose is.
- Make sure you have a strong wifi connection.
- Background check.
- Switch off interruptions.
- Voice warm-ups.
- Remind viewers they can subscribe to Live notifications.
- The best length for a love video is 15 minutes.
- Say names from the comment section to engage your audience.
- Keep showing up!
Even when you are prepared, going live can still be nerve-wracking if you are not used to it.
Whether you are in front of the camera or behind it, practicing with going live will help you become more comfortable and confident in this process.
Online marketing expert, Amy Porterfield, says that “there’s nothing more powerful than showing up live.” If you’re in front of the camera, Amy says you have to make it more about your audience and less about you. This way you will come across as someone that connects instantly.
Four secrets Amy has that she uses to thrive on camera are:
- She eased into live by testing it in a private Facebook group
- She’s rarely alone when doing Live video. Having someone from her team on the other end to let her know everything is working, eases her fears and makes her more comfortable on camera.
- Use Instagram Stories as practice videos. They are great ways to become more comfortable showing your face and talking on camera without the live element. Try to do an IG story at least once a week.
- Keep your equipment simple. Having to handle too many things all at once can make you more nervous about whether something will go wrong. A simple set up that you know how to use will help you remain relaxed while you’re live.
Going live in its simplest form requires a smartphone or tablet, and a good wifi connection. Confident Live Marketing coach, Ian Anderson Gray recommends using speedtest.net to check your internet speed before going live. The recommended minimum speed is 10 Mbps.
Live video can make you feel more connected with your audience. So don’t be afraid to try live video for your business today.
How to become an Instagram pro
Are you looking to beef up your Insta game but just don’t know where to start? Well, we’re here to help you become an Instagram Pro.
Instagram is a great platform for your brand to utilize because there is minimal production required and it encourages engagement with your audience.
Today you are going to learn how to be consistent in your branding, some different tools you can use to step up your processes, and how to generate content for a whole month in as little as a day.
Sue B. Zimmerman says, “It’s the REAL, RAW, AUTHENTICITY, that connects you to others.” Zimmerman is an expert on Instagram stories. She emphasizes that Instagram is not your sales platform. What you need to do is focus on building and nurturing relationships. You can do this through your Instagram story. Zimmerman says your story needs to be “edu-tainment.”
There are 300 million active daily users on Instagram stories. Focusing on this tool for Instagram can be a great way to connect with your audience. But how do you get your stories to stand out from all of the others? Try using interactive elements to connect with your audience such as polls, geotags and hashtag stickers.
- Polls drive engagement and provide market research feedback to business profiles.
- Geotags help people who aren’t following your profile discover you and help you get noticed by influencers.
- Using hashtag stickers will show your content in search results.
- Follow hashtags that are relevant to your brand, which allows you to connect with similar brands and business owners.
Highlights are another great way to showcase your best stories. Zimmerman says, “The best real estate on Instagram is the highlights.” Donna Moritz says Stories give you the ability to rebrand your storytelling. She suggests using www.easil.com for premade Story templates to give your brand and profile a more professional look.
Jasmine Star is big on saving time and getting the most out of your content. Your brand is the only thing that sets you apart from all the other businesses on Instagram competing for those likes and comments. Instagram has 800+ million active users. So, in order to make a splash in this big pool, you need to ask yourself, “Are you ‘on’ Instagram, or are you ‘using’ Instagram?”
If you are really utilizing Instagram you should be posting constantly, having one-to-one connections, and have a plan/strategy. Sometimes it can be really hard to find something to post every day, but Star has some tips on how to create a month’s worth of content in a day.
- Determine how many posts you’ll create for the month.
- List the types of photos you want to share.
- Sort into categories, about 9-12, that relate to what you’re selling (literal.emotional) and what you’re trying to attract.
Star suggests:
- Books you’re reading (Self-development)
- Food you’re eating (Lifestyle)
- Your spouse or significant other (Family and connections)
- These categories don’t necessarily have to relate to your brand, but they give your brand an extra layer of meaning.
Take the categories and select a specific number of photos until you have covered the entire month.
For example: If you choose 10 categories for your brand, you just need to plan 3 photos for each category and you’ll be set for the month. This is a way to “publish with purpose,” and Ben Blakesley helps us understand how to stay on brand in order to be consistent and receive meaningful likes. Like Star, Blakesley says that it’s easy to be consistent when you have a plan in place. To be consistent, you need to give yourself guidelines because then the elements of your visual identity will display a clear brand. He suggests choosing three elements to be your bread and butter that you incorporate in each picture to display consistency and produce a recognizable brand.
Some examples he gives to consider are:
- Tonality/warmth – blue tends to receive more engagement.
- Saturation – social loves more saturated images.
- Composition – rule of thirds, and colors that are consistent with your brand.
People want to see stories from humans. You can’t connect with your followers if you’re just a faceless brand without a purpose. Having a direction, a plan and clear branding will set you apart from the crowd.
So just a few reminders:
- Visual identity matters
- Create your guidelines
- Be consistent
Using Twitter can increase your customer base!
Did you know there are over 330 million active daily users on Twitter? If you’re looking to increase your customer base, interact with your audience more and improve your sales, Twitter is a great platform to use.
At this year’s Social Media Marketing World, top media experts discussed everything Twitter including tools to use, algorithm, analytics and how to turn conversations into customers.
Below are some key takeaways to connect with more of your customer base and increase sales.
The Value of a Tweet
Small businesses have started turning to Twitter to target their audience and increase their customer base. With that, it’s important to take into consideration the value of a tweet and how it can benefit your business.
International Social Media Trainer Nicky Kriel stressed the value of a tweet is NOT the number of impressions, reach, engagement or if the post goes viral. The value is: The tweet drives traffic to your website, makes the right customers aware of the business, builds business relationships and generates revenue for your business.
To increase the value of your tweet, take a look at Twitter Analytics. This gives you the chance to dive deep into the data of the account and learn what works best. Here you can be aware of who your audience is, their locations and their interests.
Produce great content with Twitter’s timeline algorithm
Creative Content Marketers duo Andrew and Pete shared their strategy for working with the Twitter algorithm with the acronym TUCEPM!
The Twitter algorithm ensures the most important tweets appear at the top of users’ timelines. Per Twitter, tweets that followers are more likely to care about will show up first based on accounts and tweets with which they interact.
Keeping the algorithm in mind, there are ways to achieve organic reach. Check out a few below:
- Timeliness: Newer posts get shown more often than older ones, so it’s important to post in real-time and relevant times to your audience. Take advantage of relevant trending topics and post a few minutes before or after the hour as opposed to at the top of the hour.
- User interests: Use Twitter analytics to find out what your audience cares about the most.
- Credibility signals: Twitter’s algorithm favors accounts that are credible, meaning the profile is complete with a name, bio, location, website, profile picture and header image. Tweets shouldn’t have broken links, swearing, nudity, high bounce rates or aren’t mobile responsive.
- Engagement: The more engaging a tweet is, the greater its relevance score, which means it will show up across more timelines as a top tweet. Twitter takes into account the amount of time spent reading a tweet, sharing via direct messaging or if someone clicked the profile as a result of the tweet.
- Tweets that have high engagement often include one of the following: “RT if,” “Retweet if,” “RT and follow to enter,” a Twitter poll, asks questions, mention/tag someone or uses GIFs.
- Past engagement: People see more tweets from accounts they have engaged with in the past so increase engagement now to benefit in the future.
- Media: Users are shown more of the media type they prefer based on what they have engaged with in the past. Along with your standard tweets, add in a variety of videos, images, GIFs and polls to keep followers engaged
As Andrew and Pete said using this acronym can help your account get the organic reach it deserves even with the new algorithm.
Improve your Twitter account with these tools
Throughout their workshops, four Twitter experts shared various tools that can help step up your Twitter game, work well with the Twitter algorithm and improve your content marketing. Below is a list of tools you can use can help grow your Twitter account.
Twitter Analytics
Measure and boost your impact by analyzing your followers’ interests, locations and demographics. Twitter analytics provide a 28 day summary or a summary by month to see what is working best for your account.
ManageFlitter
This tool allows you to manage multiple accounts, grow your business by finding relevant people to connect with and schedule tweets at optimal times.
Zest
A Google Chrome Extension that provides you with smart marketing content that is hand curated. This extension is similar to Sprout Social’s “Find Content” feature.
Union Metrics
Union Metrics provides social media analytics for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.
Social Jukebox
Allows users to automated and schedule content on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Tweriod
Tweriod provides you with the best times to tweet by analyze your tweets and your followers’ tweets.
ClickToTweet
This tool encourages people to Tweet something by giving them a link. People who use this tool can promote, share and track content on Twitter.
Ramp up your Facebook Ad knowledge and see results today
So you want to use Facebook to give your business a boost? You’re not alone!
According to Sprout Social, there are currently over 60 million businesses on Facebook. Those 60 million businesses are all competing for the attention of 2 billion monthly active users, over a billion of whom are active daily. Are you feeling like the odds are stacked against you? Don’t. With the right Facebook Ad knowledge, you too can enjoy a share of those billions of users!
Make your Facebook Ads Profitable Every Time
We know, churning out profitable ads time and time again seems far-fetched, but if you ask Nicholas Kusmich, who sees some of the highest ROI on ads in the industry, it’s 100% possible.
Kusmich draws attention to the shift marketing has made. Gone are the days of mass marketing being king – it’s all about micro-marketing now and through Facebook, you’re able to pinpoint and target only those who need to be seeing your message.
Kusmich has come up with a predictable profit process, which begins with the ad, then the lead magnet, the thank you offer and retargeting. He also encourages keeping these three principles in mind
1. Content – how does your message stand out from the competition?
2. Distribution – what good is having a great message if no one or the wrong people see and hear it?
3. Conversion – what good is great content and distribution if nobody turns into clients?
Per Kusmich, you can’t just jump into the marketplace and ask people to buy your product and expect them to do it. No, you must give before asking. You have to earn the right to ask anything of your fans by providing value to them first.
Keep in mind, every step of your marketing process should be valuable in and of itself. The name of the game is value, and your content and ads must have it! Keep to SAGE (short, actionable, goal-oriented, easy) principles, and you’ll begin to see a return on those ads.
Small Business Tips
As Andrea Vahl, co-author of “Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies” points out, organic reach may be decreasing, but users are increasing and Facebook is still the cheapest form of advertising out there. When done right, Facebook Ads will be quite a boon for your small business. Emphasis on the ‘done right’ part!
According to Vahl, you want to take the customer journey into consideration:
1. Use Facebook to build an audience
2. Target your ideal customer
3. Enhance the relationship with good content
4. Retarget to convert.
Ultimately, Vahl stresses that your goal is to move them off Facebook as soon as possible, whether that is on to an email list or your website. Since Facebook ad costs are rising, you have to get smarter and have a system in place for testing those ads.
Why Ads don’t work and how to fix them
Per Jon Loomer, an advanced Facebook marketing strategist, the ultimate reason why your Facebook ads are not working is because the wrong people are being targeted. So how do you fix this? It’s simple – adjust how you’re targeting the audience.
Loomer suggests breaking your audience into different groups, those who engage with your content generally (aka not based off of specific posts, videos or events) and those who engage with specific content.
Making Facebook Ads Work For You
Azriel Ratz, CEO of Ratz Pack Media, shared some valuable knowledge on how to do just this at Social Media World 2018, and it involves four simple steps to optimize your Facebook Ads.
1. Set business goals
2. Find your best potential audience
3. Engage with the most effective ads
4. Optimize your ad performance
Are you only running 1 to 3 ads in every ad set? That is probably not your best-laid plan. As Ratz pointed out, the chances of making anything really good when only doing 1 to 3 is very rare. You should be mixing things up, testing copy, testing images, testing everything possible with the ads. He also points out that to optimize your ads you need to be monitoring cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), time on site and the conversion rate. Our digital experts at MILO are skilled at all things testing, in fact, they live for it! If you’re unsure of how to correctly test the effectiveness of those ads, we’re here to help!
If all ad sets have high CPM, you’re targeting the right audience, but with the wrong messaging. On the flip side, some high CPM and some low CPM may mean you have the right messaging, but wrong audience. Do you see high CPC? Try switching out the copy for more compelling language. The time on site numbers can be impacted by low-quality placements, a disconnect between your ads and the landing page, or a landing page optimization issue. Finally, if you’re conversion rate is low consider this: They just might not be interested in the offer or your form needs fixing.
You don’t have to dive into the world of Facebook Ad Manager alone, MILO’s team of digital experts are here to come up with a strategy that is just right for your business. Contact us today!
MILO and me – A year in review
Hey friends!
It’s my MILO-versary! I have been working at this company for a year now and today I’d like to take a look back at how far I’ve come since my first day here.
A lot has changed in my life, but MILO has always been a constant that I can rely on.
When I started at MILO, we were a group of seven working on the first floor of Junction440. Today we are a team of 11 in our own (super cool) office on the third floor of TechTown. Not only have I grown this past year, but MILO has grown as well. We all are learning by trial and error. The mistakes have made us stronger and we came out better people through some pretty tough situations. Along the way, we lost friends and coworkers, dealt with crises, and became more productive than ever.
MILO was my big shot to prove I could start my career in the digital marketing world. I found my calling and the amazing people at MILO were there to guide me along the way. This industry is so exciting to me because it’s always changing.
There’s an opportunity to be continuously learning.
Over the past year, I’ve gained many new skills such as working on day-to-day tasks, to interacting with the client, to engaging with our audiences. I learned how to be a successful Social Media Manager. From knowing basically nothing about professional social media management, I now understand the time and dedication it takes to build a brand online. So when I tell people I manage social media all day, they assume they could just as easily do my job. However, I learned from the best. You have to understand the client’s needs while also showing the consumer we are there to support them.
Now if you know me, you know I love to brag about MILO because we do so many cool and exciting things, it’s hard not to! These bragging rights include the TEDxDetroit event I attended as part of the official social media coverage for the evening. After this night, I knew MILO was going to open doors for me.
I felt as though everything was falling into place.
I also like to brag about the people at MILO. They are incredible. This group welcomed me with open arms, and as soon as they asked what Hogwarts house I was in, I knew I was home.
I’ve made many mistakes and fallen down many times, but these people helped me right back up.
MILO CEO, Billy Strawter Jr. is the best boss I’ve ever had. He has always been so understanding yet also knows when to push me to think outside the box. He understands his people and relates to them, while also leading them toward success. Billy puts us first, his company second, and himself third. I have learned many life lessons from him on how to be strong while also staying dedicated to what you love. Thank you for your continuous support through my journey here. Although, I wouldn’t be the worker I am today without the constant guidance from Head Digital Strategist, Dmitri. He has also pushed me to be creative and has helped me focus on my strengths.
He saw a potential in me and I cannot thank him enough for that.
He has taught me that failing is a part of learning. I have so much respect for him and the work he does.
I’d also like to give a shoutout to:
Alexus – My seat buddy, I’m so glad you’re here and that we can enjoy each other’s introvert company together. I know we’re kindred spirits. P.S. thanks for plugging in my computer every day.
Cassie – You are incredible, funny, and so talented. I’m honored to be able to work with you and take in all your witty remarks. Don’t ever be afraid to let your personality shine, because it’s dazzling.
Sara – Thank you for always being there to geek out about Harry Potter with me. Also, you’re an amazing designer and I can’t wait to see what you create next. You’re going to do big things.
Saralyn – I applaud you for being the only non-introvert at MILO, that must be rough but you bring out the best in us quiet people.
Jessie – You always take on so much but you handle it all so well. You make your job look easy, which I know it isn’t. Keep on killing the game.
Felicia – What would we do without you? I don’t know how you do it but you have helped MILO run so smoothly I can’t imagine us without you. You are so sweet and down to earth, I’m glad you’re here with us. You always have your positive pants on.
Colleen – I know you’ve only been here for a little while, but I can tell you have got the MILO mood that we’re looking for. I look forward to getting to know you better!
Finally, I just want to say that I am so thankful for MILO. I love it here. The people, the city, the opportunities…it’s more than I could have ever asked for.
I feel like the luckiest person alive because I have a group of people that not only support me but also give me the ability to perfect my skills.
I still have a lot to learn, but MILO will be there to encourage me. Thank you for following me on my journey. Much love from MILO and me.
-Ashley
Reach & Impressions: What does it all mean?
If you’re a social media manager, you understand how important it is for your content to be seen and engaged with.
One of your main goals for social media management is to increase the account’s audience and brand awareness. With that in mind, it’s important to know the difference between reach and impressions. Both terms have similar meanings, but provide different results on social media.
Reach vs. Impressions
Reach is the total number of people who can see your content and Impressions are the number of times your content is displayed, no matter if it was engaged with or not. For example, if a post was shown to the same person three different times, it would be 1 reach and 3 impressions.
Clients wish that all of their followers would see and interact with every piece of content posted but it doesn’t happen. For instance, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has 7,200 followers, but the organic content doesn’t result in 7,200 likes, comments, and shares. Without a post being promoted (like the post below), the organic content only receives a small percentage of interactions.
Why Reach & Impressions Matters (+ which is more important)
Both reach and impressions are important because they help increase brand awareness and grow the audience.
Depending on an account’s goal, you might want to focus on just one or the other. If the main goal is to get content out to a specific number or people, then focus on reach. Shift the focus to impressions if your main goal is to increase brand awareness and you want your content shown a specific number of times.
However, Sprout Social reports reach may be less than impressions since one person can see multiple impressions. But knowing who your target audience is and what kind of content they like to see can help to increase both.
Something more important than reach and impressions is engagement. Engagement is the number of interactions people have with your content, whether it’s likes, comments, shares or retweets. According to AdWeek, it’s considered to be the most important metric for social media campaigns. If people are liking and interacting with your content, they may be likely to share it with their friends. If you’re receiving high-quality engagement on your content, reach and impressions will continue to grow.
If you think about it, engagement is the final step in this three-part process. Reach and impressions work together to drive engagement to your content. It all starts with content and what the audience likes to see.
Still don’t understand the difference between reach, impressions and how beneficial it all is? MILO’s team of experts are here to help increase your brand’s awareness! Contact us.
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