Instagram, the insanely popular photo-sharing app, just might be the next hot business marketing tool. This free app allows smartphone users the ability to take photos, add filters to alter or enhance them and share it with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Foursquare or via email. Users keep track of their friends’ photos and discover new pictures by following other users, just as on many other social networking sites. As Instagram’s popularity increases at exponential rates, could your business’ popularity also grow? Let’s take a closer look at what you can do to build your business’ Instagram account.
Research It Before venturing too far into this growing community, do your research. Lots of brands are already using Instagram, so take advantage of that fact and see what others are putting out there. You can use websites such as Webstagram or Statigram to peruse photos or just use the app itself ( Explore > Search users and hashtags). While searching, be sure to pay attention to which hashtags are most popular for your brand. This will be crucial when you begin writing your own photo captions. It’s also important to take inventory of what sort of content is already being posted about your brand. This will give you an early idea about how to connect with your community. Instagram is a unique social platform, and it’s definitely not one that’s been created for self-promotion or blatant advertising. Use your research to learn how other brands are actively promoting their brand without, well, actively promoting their brand.
Use It First, it’s important that you actually create an Instagram account. Even if you already have one, sign up for a second that’s solely for your brand. And don’t forget to create accounts with Webstagram or Statigram, which will make tracking likes, comments, followers and photos much easier. Then start using Instagram as your default camera. Whenever you take photos for your brand, do it through your Instagram app. Be sure you’ve linked all of your other social accounts ( Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr and Flickr) to your brand Instagram account so sharing is as simple as it’s supposed to be. Once you’re comfortable using your Instagram account for photo taking, start exploring the available filters. The filters often make photos more dramatic and interesting, thus, increasing the likelihood of user engagement. Instagram currently offers 17 different filter enhancements – translating to 17 different ways to spice up your brand photos to make them stand out.
Promote It Once you’ve gotten used to the wonders of Instagram, start dabbling in the promotional side of the app (for some easy tips, check out our post Tell Your Story With Instagram). Taking great photos and choosing the right hashtag for your brand is a good start. But the next step is just as important: Learn how to cross-promote your Instagram content with your other social media outlets. Sharing photos is an important part of content sharing, and Instagram makes sharing your pictures on Facebook, Twitter, etc. really easy. But don’t stop there – be intentional about promoting your Instagram account in the same way you promote your other channels. Tweet at your followers to follow you on Instagram and remind your Facebook fans about your Instagram profile. Though you can’t effectively link to your mobile application Instagram account, you can invite users to follow your account on Webstagram or Statigram (Webstagram even offers a free brand Follow button that you can customize). Running social promotions through your Instagram account is another great promotional tool. Try asking your followers to use a specific hashtag to have their photos reviewed and judged by your business (don’t forget to include official terms and conditions, just like any other contest).
For more information on Instagram promotions, check out Statigram’s Contest Toolkit . Just like with any social following, growing your exposure on Instagram will take time. But the benefits of this growing community will be worth the trouble. So get out there and start snapping photos – Instagram is a great opportunity to continue to visually build your brand. Photo Credit
Archives for November 2012
Email Marketing: The Importance of Subject Lines
So, you’ve finally decided that email marketing is an effective marketing tactic? (If you’re wondering why, check out Email Marketing: What’s the Point). Great! You’ve even composed your first customer email message? Even better! You’re just about ready to send it off when you realize you’ve left the subject line blank. Good catch – we all know a “no subject” email won’t help market any business. But before you just slap in any generic line and click “send,” consider the importance of this single line. This is your chance to attract your customer. This is your opportunity to pull them in. It’s make it or break it – entice your customer to open your email, or say hello to the trash bin. To avoid every marketer’s fear of the email “delete” button, we’ve complied a few tips to make your email subject lines truly glow in customers’ inboxes. Be Enticing Easier said than done, right? Think about what makes you want to open an email. Subject lines that are compelling, interesting, or offer a call to action are the ones that we all want to read. Try instilling a sense of urgency into your line – make customers feel the need to read your email right now. Focus on the benefits that your customer will gain by opening this particular email. Attract readers by telling them what they’re going to get out of your message. If the subject is exciting enough to get its own email, you should be able to create one enticing line promoting it. …But Be Honest Make sure your subject line matches the content of your email. Don’t get so caught up in making it interesting and exciting that it becomes irrelevant to the actual content of the email. Level with your customers about what they will gain from your message. If you can’t develop one enticing line that truthfully expresses your email’s purpose, maybe you shouldn’t be sending out that email in the first place. Focus Your Intention Why do you want customers to open this email? What are they going to get out of it? Be clear about the reason for sending the email. Customers should be prepared for your message’s content by reading its subject line. Be specific and single-minded about your goal. Know exactly your purpose for sending the message and make sure it’s reflected in the subject line. Get Technical Avoid spam words such as free, help, percent off, and reminder. These words often get automatically sent to customers’ spam folders, making it highly unlikely that your subject line, let alone your email, will ever reach customer eyes. Make it Short and Sweet Don’t turn your subject line into a short story. The goal is to encourage readers to click on your email because of its subject line, so don’t try to begin your email’s content in the subject line itself. Make your enticing, purposeful point, and get out. Your business could have meticulously researched email marketing, followed all the steps of writing an effective marketing email, and applied all the tips for email marketing success. But none of that matters if your recipients don’t ever open your message. Writing a quality subject line is a crucial step in order to triumph in email marketing. You get one line, one chance – don’t blow it. For some examples of great subject lines and even more helpful tips, check out MailChimp’s subject lines best practices. Photo Credit
How to Run a Facebook Contest That Won’t Get Shut Down
Though contests and giveaways on Facebook can be fun, they’re a lot more complicated than you may think. The specific rules and regulations of Facebook must be carefully followed or you run the risk of losing your company page all together! Facebook has specific Page Terms pertaining to contests and giveaways to help page owners understand the rules (check out Section E here). At SocialNicole, we’ve had plenty of practice following these rules with our clients! Therefore we understand that they can be difficult to dissect and hard to understand at first. To help you out, we’ve broken down the key restrictions so you can learn how to protect your page and run your contest the right way. You need to use a third-party app to administer your contest Though you don’t need written permission from Facebook or an account representative at Facebook in order to run your contest, you still must administer all Facebook contests through a third-party app on the Facebook platform. This is a big one. If you intend to run a promotion or contest on Facebook, you have to run it on a Canvas Page or a Page App. You cannot run the promotion on your timeline or profile page. If you decide to ignore this restriction, you run the risk being shut down by Facebook. Wildfire, Votigo and NorthSocial are all viable app options to run your contest through. You can’t validate an entry through ‘liking’ or tagging You’re allowed to restrict your promotion only to entrants who have already ‘liked’ your page as long as you’ve used a third-party app to administer your contest. However, you cannot accept ‘liking’ or tagging as a form of entrance into the contest. The act of ‘liking’ your page is not an acceptable form of entry, as it excludes those who already ‘like’ your page. Put simply, you’re not allowed to use Facebook features and functionality (for example, the ‘like’ button) as a way to let entrants vote. Clearly and visibly set out your contest terms Contests and promotions on Facebook must have clear terms and conditions that are visible directly on the Canvas Page. Facebook requires that you include a complete release of Facebook by each who enters, acknowledgment that the contest is not affiliated with or sponsored by Facebook, as well as a disclosure statement that the entrant is providing information to someone besides Facebook. Make sure you check with the laws and regulations your state may have associated to contests and sweepstakes as well. Don’t select a fan at random Because you’re not allowed to use Facebook to “collect entires,” you’re not allowed to choose a fan winner at random. You must select a winner from the people who have entered your contest through a third party application as outlined above. Don’t make this simple mistake! Informing your winner If you’ve made it to the point of selecting a contest winner while successfully following all the restrictions, congratulations! But remember, you’re not allowed to notify your winner through Facebook. Shoot them an email, give them a call, even tweet at them – just don’t contact your winner through Facebook. Although setting up a contest is not simple, it can be a worthwhile endeavor. If you are interested in running a contest on Facebook, SocialNicole offers professional advice. Our expert team is eager to help you with every detail: brainstorming contest ideas, creating artwork, even finding a 3rd party application! So what are you waiting for? Contact our team here and let’s get started today! Do you have experience or advice about running a Facebook contest? Leave your thoughts below! Photo Credit
Email Marketing: What’s the Point?
There are millions of ways to market. It seems that blogs, articles and experts are constantly telling us their thoughts and opinions on the best and newest way to attract customers. But which tried-and-true marketing tool has stood the test of time? If you guessed email marketing, you’d be right. Email marketing seems to epitomize what we all want in a marketing plan: simplicity, cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Simplicity Email marketing offers an easy way to connect with customers, and the tools available to companies make these emails easy to distribute. Websites such asMailChimp and iContact help to organize contacts, construct messages and send outgoing emails. These Web-based email marketing tools are made easily available to businesses, even offering list segmentation, targeting capabilities and tracking. Email marketing is also proactive and immediate. There’s no waiting around for customers – you are reaching out to them. Emails head directly to your customers with just the click of a button. It’s often the fastest and easiest way to get consumers to engage with your brand – a customer reads your company’s email on their smartphone, clicks on your enticing link and is instantly brought to your company page- quickly and easily connecting with your business and your message. Cost-effectiveness Marketing is an expensive, yet necessary, for a successful business. Customers can be frugal, and finding effective ways to market to them is often costly. The good news? Email marketing is a cost-effective way to connect with customers. Email messages require almost no materials, production or postage expense. Additionally, many self-service sites remove the need to pay someone to creatively design your message by offering ready-made templates and structures. Email marketing facilitator MailChimp allows you to sign up for free, and iContact offers free trials. For small or medium-sized businesses, where your reach is inherently smaller, email marketing offers an effective marketing channel for little to no cost. Reaching the masses Email marketing is a simple way to reach a large audience. While not all clients have a Facebook page or Twitter handle, the vast majority of customers have at least one email address. Even better, most of these consumers are in virtually constant contact through their email. With so many different Internet-friendly devices such as smartphones and tablets, users are able to access their email accounts from anywhere, at any time of the day. Though email allows you to include the masses, it also uniquely allows you to segment your master list, targeting specific customers with specific messages. Email marketing offers the chance to target your audiences, ensuring that certain customers receive certain emails at certain times or in certain locations. Though one of the keys to effective marketing is combining different marketing tactics to create a complete overall marketing strategy, make sure email marketing doesn’t fall through the cracks. Using this simple marketing tactic will save your company time and money, while easily reaching a mass of consumers by simply clicking “send.” Photo Credit