Why Your Business Needs A Blog

 A Blog is hugely important to your business & most business owners often neglect the importance of a Blog.

 The main priority is that you have control of your #Blog. IT is yours. Unlike a Facebook page or Twitter account (which you do have degree of control over, but please always bear in mind, it's not yours). Your Facebook page could be closed down or even worse look at what happened to Bebo.. ? Anyone remember it ? Everyone left Bebo in droves to join Facebook. 

 Your blog is YOURS. You have complete control, unless you don't pay your hosting provider of course! You can utilise your blog to inform your target market (and people who are interested in hearing about your products/services) about any company news i.e. Staff Recruitment/Situations Vacant, Offers, Corporate Days Out, Contracts Won etc.

 Google rewards organisations who publish their own content on their blog, as it gives Google these all important "Social Signals" we talk about in our Corrie D Marketing social media training sessions. Google can see the traffic flowing from your blog to your Facebook Page or e.g. Blog to your organisations Twitter account or any other social media networks to your blog etc. By using "Key Words" it also helps with your organic #SEO. 

 All of the websites we design & develop come with a FREE Blog as standard. Remember the 3 E's of #SocialMediaMarketing -

1  #Educate 
2  #Entertain 
3  #Engage

  We also have professional journalists on our team who can ghost write your copy content for your blog (if you don't have the time and would prefer us to do this for you). OR if perhaps you have a subject you feel is a little bit boring...? You'd be surprised how many businesses owners we speak to on a daily basis who think their business isn't sexy enough to warrant having a Blog they believe that no-one would be interested in reading their company news etc. In fact very recently we heard feedback which ranges from an example of  recent conversations :-  e.g. "We supply stationery to businesses but we think this subject is boring and no-one is interested eg when Biro release a new pen they don't write a blog about it! Plus we don't really know what to write." 

Sound like you? Our team of journalists can help!

Social Signals 

 If you have ever taken our social media training workshops or attended any of our courses you will already be aware of those all important "Social Signals" as Google rewards traffic flowing from your Blog to your Facebook page and your Twitter to your Blog etc. You will also know which social networks have THE BEST Social Signals on the web. If you would like to attend any of our training sessions we offer group training or we also offer a more intensive 121 personalised training sessions tailored and structured to suit your individual business. 

Remember the 3 E's of social media marketing - Educate, Entertain & Engage!

Social Media Training

CDM (Corrie D Marketing) offer a number of social media training workshops each lasting four hours (morning or afternoon sessions). OR two can be delivered within one day (eight hours). These can be tailored to suit your individual business needs (if required) and can be delivered within your premises to multiple employees. If venue hire is needed we have many venues we have delivered sessions in, which we can hire if requested. 

Workshops Overview

Introduction To Social Media Workshop
Advanced Social Media Workshop
Facebook Marketing Masterclass 1 (hand on classroom based)
Facebook Marketing Masterclass 2 (hands on classroom based)

We will be running a number of these in various venues in 2014 throughout Ayrshire and Glasgow. We also deliver these within your premises throughout the whole of Scotland. 

Facebook Groups 

We're always banging on about the importance of Facebook Ads however if you don't have a Facebook Groups we recommend you should create at least one of these. Target your family, friends, work colleagues etc. Within your "niche" who have a joint beliefs/values/interests.

Once you've created the group add your friends (it's important to remember that only people can create and post to groups). However you can post links to your business pages. You can post information, polls and chat to everyone at once. 

Facebook Ads

 FacebookAds is a highly targeted and cost effective advertising platform and is one of the best social networks for social signals on the web. People divulge to Facebook all sorts of information you can target with your Facebook Ad Campaigns i.e. When they got engaged. Expecting a baby, Age, Geographical Location, Books they've read, Films/Movies they've watched, Brands & Celebrities they like. What do you think this means for your business ... If you don't know call us and we can help create and manage your ad campaigns or we offer training. Everything we do is DIY (Do It Yourself) or DFY (Done For You) Fully Managed Service. 

 With over 1.15 billion users worldwide. 33 million of these are in the UK who check in monthly. 22 million who check in Daily. 70% of these people are visiting via Facebooks Mobile App. What do you think this means to your business if your website is not mobile responsive design? Meaning your copy content does not fit within the size of the browser or device eg Safari and IPhone or Ipad. Windows or Android or any other type of smartphone.

Smartphone Sales (Mobile Revolution)

• 2011-2012  was a record breaking year for the sale of #smartphones (basically a hand held computing device). 
• Accounted for 85% of all mobile phone sales.
• 96% of people research a "bricks and mortar" store during the research stage of the buying process.
• 62% will leave your website if they have to scroll horizontally or have to pinch the screen to view your website/copy content. 
• Ensure your website is user friendly. We can help!

WE can help! All of the websites we design & develop are fully mobile responsive design. Or if you are happy with your current website and you don't want to go the expense of a new one - We can convert your current website into a fully mobile optimised version. 

To find out how we can help your business grow, please contact Corrie-Dee Whaite on Tel 01294 559480 or Mob 07411 170758. Visit our website www.corriedmarketing.co.uk or email info@corriedmarketing.co.uk

How do "Social Signals" help with your organisations search engine rankings on Google for organic SEO purposes?

Social Signals will help with your organisations organic search engine rankings.

Social Signals are made up of your social media network, blog, links, user experience &  SEO. Each one of these is as important as the other.

Your website should have a blog, as Google rewards this if you are publishing your own content. A video player (Google loves websites with video) as visitors spend more time on your website engaging with video which in turn helps decrease your bounce rate. You could also create a customised and branded YouTube channel if you have video.

A CDM (Corrie D Marketing) website is designed and developed with our truly mobile responsive designs. Which means your website content fits perfectly within whichever screen size or device you are viewing with i.e. Computer, Laptop, IPad, IPhone, Android, Tablet or any type of smartphone. All our websites have social media integration, Interactive Page Flip E-Brochures, Video Player, Opt-In Forms (for list building purposes). The money is in the list. All which come as standard. Our SEO means that search engines are crawling all over your website. You can view our clients craftsman claddings website to view an example of this. 

You could also commission a "competitor benchmark" report to determine what key words your competitors are using to come to the top of search and what search queries people are searching for in real time, we can then use our findings to help with your website search engine rankings.

We can help you will all of this! If we can be of assistance please contact Corrie-Dee Whaite on Tel 01294 559480 or Mob 07411 170758 or visit our website www.corriedmarketing.co.uk or like us on Facebook for more information. 

FREE Social Media Training Workshops to businesses in East Ayrshire

We are pleased to announce we've won the contract to deliver our Social Media Training Workshops to East Ayrshire Council.

Induction - Wednesday 31st July 2013
Advanced - Thursday 1st August 2013

Time - 9am - 1pm (both days, same delegates on both).
Venue - Rothesay House, 1 Greenhholm Road, Cumnock. KA18 1LH.

Training is  FREE to businesses located within East Ayrshire.

Approximately 4-6 weeks later (depending on demand) we will concentrate on 2 further (1/2 day workshops). Purely concentrating on Facebook to the same delegates.

Call NOW - Please contact Carol Andrew (Business Development Advisor, East Ayrshire Council) on Tel 01563 503231 or Mob 07818 511529 as spaces are limited.

Please share this post - Help us get the message out there to business owners in East Ayrshire.  Cheers, Corrie & CDM Team :)

Why should you run a Facebook Competition..?

 

As we all know very well, everyone loves to win something, and running a Facebook Competition on your Facebook page is a fantastic way to gain more ‘likes’ for your page and ultimately new customers for your business !!!!

 

Here are our Top Tips to ensure your competition’s success.

1. Ensure the prize is industry relevant

You would be surprised how many businesses give away a free iPad/Iphone or Kindle. This is a great prize to win, everyone wants one and this might lead to huge take up rates, however this is not targeting your “target market”.

An Ipad  is a highy attractive prize and entrants friends & colleagues who are perhaps not local to your business may enter.  If you are a local restaurant for example, you could perhaps have contacts on your list that live thousands of miles away and are not likely to ever pay you a visit.

Give away a lunch or dinner for 2 as your prize. This might attract less people (i.e. only the entrants who are close enough to redeem the prize), but at least this is your target market. Also people who enter your competition will be more likely to visit your restaurant in future, especially if you send them a special offer via email and/or SMS Text once the competition has closed – assuming you have collected their information and got them to opt-in.

2. If you can, think up remarketing strategies you could use as a follow-up

 In our restaurant example, you could tag some photos of your winners when they redeem their prize & post to your Facebook page and inside your establishment for their friends & family to see, and also to generate more publicity. Remember to get your winner’s testimonial and use it.

3. Publicity – let people know about your contest, via multiple channels

You could run both an Online & Offline Press Release with a feature within the local press or you could link your website to your Facebook competition. Anything that assists directing your offline or online traffic to your competition will assist with this. Also don’t forget to  use your wider social network if you have one (highly recommended) i.e. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook Groups etc…

4.    Use Facebook ads

Direct traffic to your competition with Facebook ads – again ensuring correct targeting. You can also use a promoted post from as little as £10 or less (depending on the fan size of your page) to promote a post and ensure all your fans see it. This can be enough to kick-start your competition during the initial stages and by making your competition viral and requiring entrants to share with friends you can ensure maximum exposure.

5.    Give your competition an expiry date

Create a level of urgency and expectation, and ensure you pick a winner at the end of the competition. Tell them how and when the winner will be chosen and how they will be notified.

6. The Money is in the list

This is where a lot of companies make a big mistake in their Facebook contests by asking entrants to like and share on their page [not to mention it is actually breaking Facebook rules].

Ensure you collect entrants e-mail address & mobile number when they enter the competition. You will need this to contact the winner(s), as it is also against Facebook rules to notify the winner directly on your Facebook wall.

More importantly, with a list you can begin further marketing initiatives after your contest is over and continue the dialogue with your contestants - re-marketing to regular & prospective clients by e.g. SMS Text Marketing or Email Marketing campaigns.

7. Inform previous contestants about your latest contest

When you create your next competition, send an email mailshot to your previous contest list and also send an SMS text which offers high immediate open rates  of 97%  plus.

8. Run regular competitions

Running one-off Facebook competitions can make you go viral fast, however to keep your fans engaged & for lasting impact you should run regular competitions - perhaps one per month or every two months. This is a proven strategy for turning Facebook users into customers.

9. Adhere to Facebook rules

Facebook’s promotional guidelines. These include ensuring your Facebook competition is run via an app/tab on your Facebook page. Entrants to your competition must not be conditioned to have to “like” a Wall post, Comment or enter by uploading a photo to a Wall. Running regular competitions is a fab way to gain more ‘likes’ for your Facebook page. It also helps to re-market to your new fans via your Facebook page. The 3 E’s of Social Media Marketing “Educate, Entertain & Engage”. This helps to increase fan engagement, increase brand awareness, promote your business, generate leads, collect email addresses and mobile numbers but most importantly … gain YOU more customers!

We hope this information has been useful and if you think a Facebook competition might be right for your business but maybe aren't sure where to start, why not get in touch and we will help you to decide the best type of competition and give you some advice on what to do next.

Please contact Corrie-Dee Whaite on Tel 01294 559480 or Mob 07411 170758.

Which is better for Google juice and SEO Facebook V Twitter?

Last Thursdays Q & A Session on Facebook ended up creating quite a debate.

 

The question was this - "Which is better for Google juice and SEO Facebook V Twitter?"

 

It became such a hot topic we ran it over 2 weeks, but we thought we'd convert it into an Interactive Presentation/eBrochure for you and tab it into a Facebook App to allow it to be there forever as a point of reference for our fans as a Facebook post only has a shelf life of 2-3 hours and there was a lot of fantastic information.

 

Did you know...? YOU could also have a nifty tab presentation/Ebrochure the same as this, which can also include video & SEO links to landing pages on your website etc...

 

You can read the full Facebook V Twitter document by clicking the following link. Which Is Better for Google juice and SEO Facebook V Twitter

 

Who would like one of these Interactive Ebrochures to promote your business ? If you would like to book any of our services from SEO, Interactive Ebrochure or even a Multi-Tab App as per the Camden Group Facebook Multi-Tab App contact Corrie-Dee Whaite on 01294 559480 or Mob 07411 170758.

 

 

Is your Facebook Competition Legal?

Is your Facebook Competition Compliant?

 Did you know that any competition run through your Facebook wall or timeline is ILLEGAL and might get your page shut down for not being compliant - meaning you need to start from scratch again building a new fan base.

 

Facebook competition rules clearly state: "The only way you can create this type of functionality is by using a third party application.”

 e.g. A Facebook developer can create a separate Facebook app and add it to your page.

 

“Your application must be registered with Facebook and include a disclosure adjacent to any promotion entry field: 'This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administrated by, or associated with, Facebook.”

 

Does your Facebook competition comply..?

 

  If not, the only solution is to create a Facebook Competition Application which is registered with Facebook as detailed above, or get someone to do it for you.

 Here at CDM, we ensure that all our clients are in full compliance with Facebook guidelines, and our view is simple - rules are rules, and must be followed.

 We can build a custom Facebook competition app which ensures you keep within the rules and have maximum impact in your social marketing.

 Our competitions are “custom 3rd party apps”, registered as such with Facebook, and we ensure we have a link on each page to terms & conditions – something else which few companies seem to do, without these you could be breaking Advertising Standards.

 

 You might ask, why are all these other companies ignoring the rules and getting away with it, or my competitor does that so why shouldn’t I..?

 

 Facebook has shut down pages without any notice, so is it really worth the risk…?

 

 We researched this further with other Social Media & Ad Agencies and received the following replies;

 “We understand it is frustrating when we/you see other companies or individuals flaunt Facebook guidelines unchecked. There has been a huge increase in the "like and share this page to win a prize" and "when we reach 5,000 likes - everyone goes into a draw" style of promotion which is completely against Facebook promotion rules.”

“I can confirm though that we have been approached by 5 businesses recently who have run promotions contravening Facebook rules and have been shut down, page removed without recourse. They have come to us in a panic looking for help and are surprised when we tell them that there is nothing that we can do except write an appeal letter / email to Facebook to apologise and plead for their page back (This sometimes works but it's becoming more rare that Facebook even respond).”

“Without naming individual companies - I can confirm that a large retailer in Blanchardstown with 9k+ fans had their page pulled, a bicycle shop in Naas, and numerous restaurants & pubs in various County Dublin locations all got the following from Facebook and had their pages removed/shut down.”

"Facebook’s security systems determined that you were repeatedly using the same feature or engaging in the same behaviors in a short period of time. Because you continued this behavior after receiving multiple warnings, your account was disabled. Facebook cannot provide any specifics on the rate limits that are enforced.”

Despite emailing Facebook daily none of them have received a response.
We've spoken to a few business owners/managers in Ireland this year that have had their pages pulled for flaunting Facebook's competition guidelines.

 There didn't seem to be any recourse and the pages are still down after several months. One of the companies, well known but who shall remain nameless, had around 15,000 fans one day and the next, their page was gone. They were getting people to 'like' and 'share' their competition wall posts in obvious contravention of Facebook's guidelines. Fair enough.

 There are a few other examples including a well-known Dublin Radio Station which had their page pulled for repeatedly flaunting the guidelines.

 So, there you have it, real world examples of what can happen if you continue to ignore or flaunt the Facebook competition rules.

 

 

The bottom line is clear for all

 

 Don’t ignore it simply because your competitors all do, be the first to do it properly and be assured you will not incur the wrath of Facebook and wake up one day minus your hard earned fan base.

 

 

 

You need to do this, or we can do it for you!

 

 Call us today, to arrange a consultation and ensure your next Facebook competition is legal. Contact Corrie-Dee Whaite on Tel 01294 559480 or Mob 07411 170758.

 

Facebook Announces Changes To News Feed from Menlo Park, California HQ

Facebook announced news feed changes on Thursday 8th March 2013, here's a breakdown of some our favourite soundbites from what is happening at Facebook.

Zuckerberg said the Facebook news feed aimed to create a "personalised newspaper" for the site. 

Facebook reported in January that 1.06 billion people were using its service at least once a month.

It also revealed that its profit for the last three months of 2012 was 79% down on the same period the previous year despite a rise in sales because of increased spending on research and development.

The new design brings a more visual look to Facebook, reflecting the fact that photographs now account for 50% of all content on news feed, up from 25% since November 2011.

"The design of your news feed needs to reflect this evolving face of who you're sharing with," Zuckerberg said.

Experts said the overhaul is the most significant in years for Facebook, which has been under pressure to increase revenue growth while keeping users on side since Zuckerberg made the company public on 17 May last year.

Facebook only began showing ads in users' news feeds in 2012, but it quickly proved a vitally important part of the business.

"The news feed advertising is where Facebook is having the success, both on mobile and on the desktop," said Ian Maude, an internet analyst at Enders Analysis.

"The trick is going to be managing the volume of ads people see in the news feed and getting the balance right between maximising revenue but also keeping users happy." 

The Guardian says "Maude said the reception from users to the changes would depend on how many ads appear in their news feed.

"It's not surprising that Facebook is doing a refresh as ads are now an integral part of news feed whether users like it or not," he said.

"But I think Facebook are quite sensitive to overloading people with too many ads. The site has been overdue a shave and a haircut."

The changes will allow marketers to develop more striking ads that will sit alongside videos, photographs and other updates in users' news feeds. Marketers believe the news feed is the most affective way to reach potential customers, attracting a higher click-through rate than sponsored ads on the right-hand side of the site.

According to research firm eMarketer, Facebook earned more US mobile display revenue than any other publisher last year, with an 18.4% share of the entire market, thanks to ads in the news feed. The move helped overall ad revenues rise 36% year-on-year to $4.27bn in 2012, according to the company's most recent full-year results. Says The Guardian.

In addition to the standard news feed, users can select their own unique "alternative" news feed layouts. These include one which shows all updates posted by friends as the ones selected by Facebook's algorithms; One dedicated to organisations & people the user "follows"; A page featuring only posted photos; A music-themed feed containing updates from artists the user likes, concert announcements & details of songs their friends are listening to through Music Apps e.g. Spotify.

The "facebook" logo has been replaced with the iconic "f".  A change already seen by selected group of users given early access to the Graph Search facility.

The social network already knows that engagement with ads in its main news feed is greater than with those that appear on the right-hand side of its web browser. This column of adverts is absent from its mobile apps altogether.

Enlarging the news feed now allows a sponsored post to become by far the biggest element on the screen, taking up roughly a third of the page when viewed on a 13in (33cm) laptop display.

Another business-friendly change is that if a user "likes" an organisation a horizontal banner photo is added to posts reporting the news in addition to the brand's logo, making the update more eye-catching.

The refresh also introduces topic-specific alternatives to its news feed. Adverts will now take up more screen space, making them harder to ignore.

Chris Struhar told the BBC the ahead of the official announcement the "focus had been on stripping back the amount of information being shown on the news feed to make each post more "engaging".

Continue reading the main storyan integral part of news feed whether users like it or not," he said.

"But I think Facebook are quite sensitive to overloading people with too many ads. The site has been overdue a shave and a haircut."

The refresh also introduces topic-specific alternatives to its news feed. Adverts will now take up more screen space, making them harder to ignore.

Chris Struhar told the BBC the ahead of the official announcement the "focus had been on stripping back the amount of information being shown on the news feed to make each post more "engaging".

"We aren't changing where adverts show up or what ads you see. We're just trying to take all the content that you do see and make that bigger and more immersive and more engaging."

He added that further amendments might be made once users had had a chance to provide feedback.

I think the design, which is a lot less cluttered, actually cleans up the whole thing quite a lot," he told the BBC.

"It's really a case of making sure you have high quality advertising content. Facebook will have to make that work because they have to make money. I suspect in the weeks to come they will unveil additional flexibility for advertisers.Hopefully that will bring a lot of new opportunities." Reports the BBC Technology Reporter Leo Kelion.

The changes will allow marketers to develop more striking ads that will sit alongside videos, photographs and other updates in users' news feeds. Marketers believe the news feed is the most affective way to reach potential customers, attracting a higher click-through rate than sponsored ads on the right-hand side of the site.

According to research firm eMarketer, Facebook earned more US mobile display revenue than any other publisher last year, with an 18.4% share of the entire market, thanks to ads in the news feed. The move helped overall ad revenues rise 36% year-on-year to $4.27bn in 2012, according to the company's most recent full-year results. Says The Guardian.

Facebook said the revamp means the social network now looks the same on smartphones, tablet computers and on the web.

The new design gradually be rolled out and made available to everyone, however users can sign up to a waiting list for early access here

We think it will be interesting to see how the alternative news feeds will affect marketers and businesses. What happens when users adopt there own "alternative news feeds" once its been rolled out? We'll split test a number of pages using various  news feed themes and ad campaigns and report our findings on these.

If you would like to discuss this further please contact Corrie-Dee Whaite on Tel 01294 559480 or Mob 07411 170758.

Facebook Launches Beta Version of Graph Search

Exciting times ahead for marketers & page owners as Facebook launches the new Beta version of Graph Search.

Until now, the search bar you saw when you logged in to your Facebook page wasn't very powerful. You could only search for Timelines, your friends' pages, other peoples' public pages and business or product pages.
But now, after close to a year and a half of development, the new "Graph Search" will allow you to search and discover more about your friends and other information that's been put on the world's largest social site. Users will now be allowed to navigate the Internet through the data Facebook owns. For example, users will be able to search across different friends' Timelines without having to visit each individual profile to figure out if they like a specific place.

 

Find people who share your interests.

 

Want to start a book club or find a gym buddy? Connect with friends who like the same activities—and meet new people, too.

 

Now you can find more of what you're looking for through your friends, discover fun connections between people, places and things.

Graph Search is rolling out slowly. Users can sign up for the wait list here: Facebook Graph Search Beta Sign Up.

We've already signed up to the Beta version & using it now & we've got to say, we think it is fab! We only got it yesterday, we're still playing around with it, but didn't want to blog about it until we had tried & tested it! We've been mentioning this a lot recently on our Corrie D Marketing Facebook Page. Hence the blog article with further information on it (for anyone who's interested in more information on the topic).

Facebook wants each journey on the web to begin and end on its site. Its first significant move into search is designed to provide all the answers to users' questions: Which of my friends like Rihanna? How many of my friends speak German? Which TV shows are my colleagues watching?

Graph Search is designed for the the social web, where internet users spend more time on Facebook than they do searching the outside web.
How does it work? Users can search their friends, based on the information they have given Facebook permission to publish. For example, users will be able to quickly find "photos of my friends taken in Paris, France" or "Restaurants liked by friends in London".

Zuckerberg described Graph Search, in typical start-up fashion, as the "beta of version one". But he also described it as the "third pillar" of Facebook, after the news feed and timeline. He later said Graph Search could be a business in its own right – a remark that will prompt anxiety among Google executives.

Nate Elliot, a social-media analyst at Forrester Research, said the graph search announcement was part of Facebook's ambition to keep users coming back to its site.

"Facebook's worst nightmare is a static social graph," he said. "If users aren't adding very many new friends or connections, then their personal network becomes less and less active over time. Terrifyingly for Facebook, that threat is very real. We haven't seen significant growth in the average number of friends per user recently.

"Graph Search seems designed to encourage users to add more friends more quickly. If it means users' personal networks change more frequently, and become more active, then that keeps them coming back to the site – which is vital to Facebook's success. If Facebook and Bing can bring elements of Graph Search to Facebook's web search tool, then that's great. But it's not the point; the point is to keep Facebook users more active within the site."

Graph Search, which essentially helps to surface photographs or other data which before may have been buried. It does not make public any information that was not previously public, so users need not rush to change their privacy settings. But some users may be surprised to be presented with photos that they did not know they had been tagged in.

Getting graph search right first time is hugely important: search makes up the largest portion of digital advertising spending in the US, up from $15.1bn in 2011 to $17.58bn in 2012. And which company commands 74.5% of that $17.58bn ad spend? Google. 
 
Should dating sites be worried about Facebooks Graph Search?
 
Forbes magazine says "Facebooks Graph Search will find you the perfect date". Although Facebook was never set out to be a dating site, the new graph search makes it the most powerful way of locating singles within your area who e.g. "Like" Radiohead. 

Are you ready to sign up for the Beta version yet? You can sign up here. http://www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch We wish you "Good Luck" on those dates, let us know how you get on ;)?

Let us know what you think if you've also got Graph Search? What do you think this means to marketers? How will this affect businesses?