5 Tips for Enhancing Your Brand’s Digital Presence – A TPN My5 Featuring Jen Videtta

May 7, 2013 by Jennifer Videtta

The evolution of digital media has vastly changed how marketers reach their audiences, and having a strong digital presence is essential for companies trying to attract new customers to grow their business.

Check out my five tips for enhancing your brand’s digital presence:

1. Be Active 24/7/365: In order to ensure that your brand’s digital presence is reaching your targeted audience, you need to make sure that you have an online presence consistently throughout the day. It may be helpful to use tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck for scheduling early-morning or late-night posts. Some people may only be checking their social accounts and newsfeed early in the morning or in the late evening. Don’t be afraid to share the same content more than once through your social networks – it will significantly increase the reach of your message. Guy Kawasaki and The Huffington Post are two examples of people who share the same message multiple times to ensure they are maximizing their reach.

2. Be Consistent: Consistency is another key factor in enhancing the digital presence of your brand. Companies who use different logos for different social accounts will run into issues with consumers who are confused by the different imagery. In addition to having consistent logos, having the same usernames across different channels is also helpful for your customers who are trying to find you on certain social networks. Some bad practices we’ve seen in creating usernames includes using characters that don’t belong. Creating a username such as *ThePulse* on any network will be hurtful as people will not include the asterisks in their searches, making your brand less visible.

3. Implement a Workflow: To properly implement your digital marketing strategy, creating a workflow is critical. Having a workflow and being able to show the process behind your social activity will help during the on-boarding process for new employees joining your digital marketing team as you grow, as well as encourage buy-in from upper management.

4. Engage With Your Fans: Instead of writing posts that are targeted at your fans and followers, try talking to them instead. Engaging in a higher level of conversation with individual customers is a valuable advantage that marketers now have due to the rise of social media. People love to hear back from their favorite brand, and knowing that there is a real human being behind your accounts humanizes your company.

5. Pay Attention to Analytics: The key to analytics for digital marketers is that you will gain an understand of what your audience wants, needs and expects from your social channels. The higher the level of engagement on each post, the number of responses and, ultimately, the amount of traffic you’ve driven to your site and turned social followers into leads will be the results that you want to show off.

Filed Under: Content Marketing 360, My5, The Pulse on Marketing Tagged With: Brand Strategy, Content Mareting, Digital Media, digital presence, social media

Spotlight on IMS: Tips on Content Generation and Engagement from Michael De Monte, Founder and CEO of ScribbleLive

May 3, 2013 by Jennifer Videtta

Michael De Monte, Founder and CEO of ScribbleLive, shares his advice on Content Generation and Engagement – and why advertising has never been the way it should be.

1. Create Authentic Content

Creating authentic content will get you much further than producing a large amount of aimless sales-pitch sounding content. Instead of pushing your brand at events and talking to potential customers and clients, tell your story. Telling your story effectively and providing quality content in the context of that story is far more effective than producing content that no one will be interested in hearing.

2. Create Rich Content

Rich content is a key factor in boosting engagement among consumers. To enhance text posts, use videos, photos, slideshows and polls to keep your audience coming back for more.

3. Promote Through Social Media

When you’ve produced a great piece, you need to use social media to share that content with your fans and followers. Once you share the content with them, you can provide them with a call to action, drive them back to your site and monetize them.

4. Extend Your Reach

Not everyone can be on your site at the same time, so how can you engage your consumers in the content you’re producing? Traditionally, publishing a press release was the most efficient means of sharing your messages. Now, we have platforms and channels that allow us to create rich content and distribute in real-time.

5. Measurement

All of the content you’re creating needs to be measured. Some metrics to look at include the quality of the content, the level of engagement, the number of comments and questions being asked? All this create content and authenticity needs to be measured. Making these assessments will help your content marketing efforts going forward and will lead to a better ROI at the end of the day.

The Pulse Network is very excited about our upcoming Inbound Marketing Summit is taking place in San Francisco on July 30-31. You can register today for only $25 – click here to reserve your spot for this low price.

Check out our Spotlight on IMS New York series, featuring some of the brightest minds from the IMS Community, as we roll them out over the next few weeks leading up to the next show.

Want to continue this conversation? Feel free to Tweet to us and follow @IMS_Conference, @ThePulse, or join in this conversations with the rest of the IMS Community using #IMS13.

Filed Under: IMS New York 2013 Tagged With: Authentic Content, IMS13, Rich Content, ScribbleLive, social media

Tips for Risk Mitigation in Regulated Industries – Shwen Gwee’s Spotlight on IMS

April 12, 2013 by Jennifer Videtta

In this Spotlight on IMS, Shwen Gwee sits down to discuss the implications of digital media in a highly regulated industry.

What happens when your company is in a highly regulated industry?

Know Your Company’s Risk Tolerance

In order to understand your company’s risk tolerance, one must first be aware of the organization’s approach to social media and digital marketing for the company and/or its products.

Conservative Approach:

Companies that take a conservative approach to social media and more risk averse should utilize platforms and channels that allow social media managers to utilize these channels as a tool for social listening and market research. Use these options to take a passive approach to a social media strategy and learn about your targeted market’s wants and needs. Shwen uses the examples of producing podcasts and YouTube videos (with commenting disabled) as possibilities for companies look for a one-directional social media strategy.

Moderate Approach:

Businesses who take a moderate approach to social and digital marketing have a variety of options for their social media strategies. For these companies, using channels that allow for users to add comments and content are acceptable, but the comments must be moderated. Social media managers for these companies need to maintain a level of control where they can steer conversations while lessening the risk factor.

Active Approach:

Many large brands use their social media channels actively and use them as a means of carrying on a two-way conversation with their customers. These companies are those that are willing and ready to execute more complex social media campaigns, engage with their customers during these campaigns and encourage user participation.

Work with Legal and Regulatory Teams

By working with your company’s legal and regulatory teams, social media managers can set expectations for the timelines surrounding content publishing. Does every Tweet need to be reviewed by upper management? Does every Facebook post need to be approved before it is shared?

In the past, traditional media – newspapers and magazines, for example – had a timeframe for when written content could be approved before publication. This timeframe is much longer than what social media allows for. In social media, content is created on a much more frequent basis, so creating an efficient means for creating, approving and sharing is critical. A company’s legal and regulatory teams can assist with defining what content needs approval and what can be published by social media managers as well as the appropriate channels for response.

Set Explicit Expectations

Be transparent about your social media guidelines with your audience. By setting terms and rules and informing users that inappropriate comments or conversations will be moderated, users will be able to have a better understanding of what to expect from an organization’s specific social media channels. This will help social media managers drive and manage the engagement and conversations.

The Pulse Network is very excited about the Inbound Marketing Summit which took place last week in New York City. Our upcoming Inbound Marketing Summit is taking place in San Francisco, July 30-31. You can register today for only $25 – click here to reserve your spot for this low price.

Check out the rest of our Spotlight on IMS New York series, featuring some of the brightest minds from the IMS Community, as we roll them out over the next few weeks leading up to the show.

Want to continue this conversation? Feel free to Tweet to us @IMS_Conference, @ThePulse, or join in this conversations with Shwen Gwee and the rest of the IMS Community using #IMS13.

*Please note: Since the time of filming this IMS Spotlight, Shwen Gwee has moved on to become Chief Digital Officer at Chandler Chicco Companies.

Filed Under: Content Marketing 360, IMS New York 2013, The Pulse on Marketing Tagged With: digital marketing, inbound marketing summit, Mitigation, Risk, social media, strategy

Tyler Pyburn Featured My5: Tips on Online Video

March 21, 2013 by Jennifer Videtta

Online video is increasingly becoming one of the most popular forms of content consumption for consumers. Television shows are downloaded and streamed online, large companies feature introductory videos and product demonstration videos on their websites, and amusing videos go viral with millions of YouTube hits.

According to the Social Times, 182 million viewers watched 456.6 million content videos in 2012, and the numbers are only expected to grow through 2013. Many companies, however, continue to struggle with their online videos. While the content creation, production and outpost seems daunting and costly, marketers recognize the need to create video content to stay in line with competitors. One looming question facing marketers and digital media producers remains: how can they prove a return on their investment for their video production?

Tyler Pyburn of The Pulse Network has been working with online video – from everything from production to output – at TPN and has witnessed first-hand the dynamic shifts in the digital media industry. While Internet trends come and go, online video is something that consumers not only search for, but prefer. Having a strong online video presence lends significant credibility to your company.

Watch Tyler’s Top 5 Tips on Online Video:

Online video does not need to be a costly marketing project for your company. By following Tyler’s advice, videos can be a significant source of lead generation with proper implementation. Be patient, however. Building content on a YouTube channel and other video platforms will take time, as will growing your audience.

Key Takeaways:

1. Use Multiple Formats

One, long video can be chopped into several smaller videos, clips and teasers that can be shared across multiple digital platforms. Knowing who your audience is on these specific platforms is important to ensure that you are accurately targeting your users, so be aware of the type of content going on each platform.

2. Annotate Your Videos

Video annotations are essential – especially on YouTube. Annotations provide an innovative means of adding interactive and engaging content to your video, including a space to provide links to YouTube playlists, relevant articles, and drive traffic to your website.

3. Calls to Action

The Call to Action is one of the most important tools marketers can use to increase lead generation as well as increase traffic to your site. Many videos only include a Call to Action at the end of their video – but, as Tyler points out, when was the last time you watched a video all the way through to the end? Place multiple Calls to Action throughout your video and increase your audiences’ responses.

4. Subscribers

While the number of views each video or your channel generates is important, pay attention to the number of subscribers your channel has. Specifically on YouTube, your videos are directly found by your subscribers. Tapping into this audience is like an organic email marketing campaign every time your subscribers log in. The more subscribers you have, the more views you receive. And the more views you have, the more effective your online video channel is as a means of lead generation.

5. Syndication

Video syndication is a powerful tactic for marketers. By increasing the number of places where your video is published – through relationships with trade publications, other blogs and even through Twitter, your audience’s perception of your company and your credibility is enhanced. Earned syndication may be difficult and might take a long time to achieve, but once you get there, it will certainly pay off.

Feel free to Tweet to Tyler, @ThePulse and join the conversation with Tyler and other digital marketers using #My5.

Filed Under: Content Marketing 360, The Pulse on Marketing Tagged With: Online Video, social media, Video Production, Video Syndication, youtube

Spotlight on IMS New York 2013: Jennifer Wong of HasOffers and 5 Things to Stop Doing in Your Inbound Marketing Efforts

March 20, 2013 by Jennifer Videtta

Jennifer Wong of HasOffers takes a different approach in this Spotlight on IMS as she shares five things that marketers should stop doing in order to make the best use of their time and see better results.

Key Takeaways:

1. STOP talking about attracting demand.

Focus on attracting demand with the content you publish socially, the content on your website and your SEO efforts. Creating relevant content and being more likeable will help attract customers to your business.

2. STOP creating content for the sake of creating content.

Understanding buying personas, your target audience, and the relative buying cycle can help you create authentic, exciting content for your audience. Polls, surveys and video are all fun ways to engage your audience.

3. STOP treating SEO, content and social separately.

These three pillars of inbound marketing are great complements to one another, and implementing an integrated strategy will help you leverage each of these tactics and see the best results.

4. STOP obsessing over Fans and Followers.

Rather than focusing on the number people in your social media audience, shift your attention to who your audience is. Doing so will help you find the best ways to engage with them, and ultimately convert them into customers.

5. STOP making decisions based on the wrong metrics.

Marketers have access to tons of key metrics and data to create reports for making decisions on what is and what is not working for your organization. Utilize this data to make better decisions and achieve greater results.

The Pulse Network is very excited about the Inbound Marketing Summit. We hope to see you there. Still need to register? It only takes a minute to reserve your spot today.

Check out the rest of our Spotlight on IMS New York series, featuring some of the brightest minds from the IMS Community, as we roll them out over the next few weeks leading up to the show.

Want to continue this conversation? Feel free to Tweet to us @IMS_Conference, @ThePulse, or join in this conversations with Jennifer Wong and the rest of the IMS Community using #IMS13.

Filed Under: Content Marketing 360, IMS New York 2013, The Pulse on Marketing Tagged With: content marketing, marketing, Metrics, seo, social media

The Future of Corporate Websites – IMS SF 2012

June 22, 2012 by Allen Bonde

How are social networks influencing the evolution of corporate websites? In the future, business websites will be less about promoting canned content and become more about integrating “users” and “consumers” personal networks into the sales cycle. As consumers demand more interactive relationships with brands, how should your corporate website respond?

To take it a step further, is it possible that corporate website could vanish entirely in the not too distant future? It may sound like an impossible prospect, but as more social networks pop up and infiltrate our lives and our customers lives at all stages, the need and usefulness of the corporate website shrinks. Already, brands are placing more and more of an emphasis on social strategy to connect on a personal level with their customers.

At IMS San Francisco 2012, we were lucky enough to bring together a powerhouse CMS panel that included Scott Liewehr of Digital Clarity Group, Dave Dabbah of EPHOX, Mark Ryan of Extractable, Michael Fern of Intigi, Inc., and Rowan Harper of Modal to discuss the future of corporate websites, and why we shouldn’t mourn the death of the corporate website just yet.

Make sure to check out all the video content from IMS SF 2012, and find out more about IMS Boston 2012, coming in October.

Filed Under: Digital Leaders Tagged With: content creation, content marketing, content marketing strategy, Dave Dabbah, Mark Ryan, Michael Fern, Rowan Harper, social media

Media Use and Marketing Strategies-Growth of Social Networking Sites

May 8, 2012 by Allen Bonde

When we talk about the second screen, we can not forget that a good amount of it can come from social media. Consumers like to have conversations about what they are watching and a great tool that tracks internet trends is comScore. In terms of overall audience, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the big 3. However, in terms of engagment with channels, two out of the top three may surprise you. Facebook is still dominant throughout most channels, but Tumblr and Pintrest are a close second and third. Users are not necessarily going to Twitter.com but are accessing it through other channels and devices.

The most recent social network that has taken the world by storm is Pinterest. It is a rich, fun, and attractive place to hang out. Similar to the Pulse Network, they follow the motto that if you want to create engagement, you need good content. Having good content creates community.

In the video below, I discuss further the growth of social networking sites.

Watch the rest of my series on media use and marketing strategies. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde@thepulsenetwork.com.

Filed Under: Content Marketing 360, The Pulse on Marketing Tagged With: Allen Bonde, content creation, content marketing strategy, facebook, social media, social media marketing, Tyler Pyburn

B2B Social Media Myths Busted: Is Email Dead?

December 1, 2011 by Stephen Saber

Email is Dead… Long Live Email!

Despite the warnings of some, e-mail is not going away; it’s transforming. No longer do email exchanges resemble an arms race to create the glitziest documents with all the bells and whistles. Instead, emails have become more about creating quick and simple messages that emphasize key points.

However, design is not the only thing that is changing with email. There are many more different ways that we can consume email, whether it be via computer or phone. Past that, there are different operating systems on those devices that handle emails differently. Emails have even become an important part of the social CRM landscape and social media marketing in general. To finish up this series on busting social media myths and using social media for business, I explain how to understand the transformation email has gone through.

Didn’t catch the other parts of the series? Check them out right here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four.

Think I missed something on the post? What some more advice on using the busted myths in business? Let me know by commenting on this post, or by reaching out to me on e-mail: ssaber@thepulsenetwork.com

This is Part Five of a Five Part Series with Tyler Pyburn, Host at The Pulse Network, and Stephen Saber, Chief Executive Officer at The Pulse Network, in which they aim to make plain some of the biggest business to business social media myths.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Business-to-business, Chief executive officer, email marketing, Social CRM, social media, Stephen Saber, the pulse network, Tyler Pyburn

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