Facebook Vs Twitter Advertising: Where Should You Invest?

You go and create this amazing strategy for marketing on Facebook and Twitter.

You begin implementing it.

Your following is growing. The engagement is flowing in.

You open up Google Analytics to find that the web traffic from each channel is rocking and rolling. Hey look, some conversions too!

Money in the bank.

All is well in life as a social media manager.

BAM.

All of a sudden, you notice a drastic drop in impressions and engagement on Facebook.

The web traffic slows down.

You wonder what happened to all your social conversions.

You learn: Facebook made another one of its famous updates – another algorithm change that brought organic reach down to 1 to 2%. And with Twitter, well Twitter never showed every tweet to a page’s followers, so it’s no surprise to see your numbers gradually going down hill there.

Twitter impressions and engagement have never really been that high to begin with – if you got a few each week along with some clicks to your website, you were happy. With tweets only having a shelf life of about 60 minutes, what could you expect?

It’s quickly becoming a “pay to play” marketing world. You’re already spending time and money managing Facebook and Twitter and now you’re being told if you want your content to get seen, you need to spend even more money by adding social media advertising into your marketing mix.

When we first heard about this at Click Intelligence, we were disappointed. Our clients were already paying a retainer to have us manage their social media and now we would need to tell them they need to spend even more.

We were probably one of the slower digital marketing agencies to hop on the social media advertising bandwagon due to our skepticism and when we did, we treaded very carefully.

We’ve now been running Facebook and Twitter advertising campaigns for clients in various industries from the UK to the US and we’ve learned a few things along the way. Before you invest in advertising on either, consider the following.

Facebook Advertising – The Pros

1. Greater reach

Facebook Advertising allows users to reach millions of people. Here’s what came up when I ran a broad test to reach lawyers in the United States.

2. Targeted reach

One of the features of Facebook Advertising that turned us into fans was the targeted reach it offers.

We were able to narrow in on our clients’ ideal audience. Since its launch, Facebook Advertising has only become more advanced.

Today, we can narrow down everything from salary, purchase behavior, life events, and so much more.

Let’s say you sell luxury watches online and you ship to the United Kingdom and United States. The watch prices start at $1,000. Your typical average Joe can’t afford them. No problem.

Here’s what your targeting might look like.

Not only can you reach prospects through targeted reach, but you can also reach people who already follow your company page, in addition to their friends.

3. Can be inexpensive

We’ve ran campaigns for as little as $2.50 a day. Facebook gives users a great deal of flexibility in pricing. You don’t have to spend a fortune.

Facebook Advertising – The Cons

The only real con we have to point out is the fact that you do have to pay to play. While $2.50 a day might not seem like much, it can be a lot for small businesses.

Twitter Advertising – The Pros

Like with Facebook Advertising, the first two pros overlap. Twitter Advertising offers greater, targeted reach.

It’s not as advanced as Facebook Advertising in terms of targeting (and if it is, it doesn’t show it). Facebook Advertising knows and uses all … where you sleep, where you eat, what you eat, if you have kids … Facebook is stalking (most) of you – watch out.

Twitter Advertising – The Cons

1. Not so user-friendly

Facebook Advertising is easy to use. Setting up and running ads on Twitter in my opinion, is not as user-friendly due to the way the system is set up. With Facebook Advertising I can type in whatever I want. With Twitter Advertising, there are some extra steps that need to be taken in order to get the targeting on point and I can’t always find what I need.

2. Spam, spam, everywhere

Despite targeting my campaigns as well as Twitter Advertising will let me, I get more spam accounts following the accounts I advertise from because of the ads. If they are not spam, they are rarely prospects.

3. Holy credit card … Twitter Advertising is expensive!

Where I would pay $1 per click for a Facebook ad I would pay $5 on a Twitter ad. Twitter Advertising is much more expensive.

When all is said and done, Facebook Advertising gets my vote 9 times out of ten, but I encourage you to explore both starting off with a small budget. While we’ve had much better success with Facebook Advertising, we’ve been able to get some traction with Twitter advertising too, including follower growth and website traffic that has not all been irrelevant.

When to advertise on Facebook and Twitter

If your business is brand new to Facebook or Twitter, you might be tempted to quickly begin advertising. Many people I speak to think this is the route to take because their pages start out with zero followers and they could just run campaigns to get new followers – ‘buy followers‘. Bad idea.

Some businesses have success building their pages organically. Save yourself the money. Build a foundation first. Have you done everything you can including using Jeff’s tips for increasing fan engagement on Facebook? How about Jeff’s tips for driving a ton of free traffic with Twitter?

Create and share amazing content on your pages. Use hashtags. Engage other users. After you’ve established a foundation, use Facebook and Twitter advertising to supplement your efforts. Earn your followers, engagement, and web traffic before you essentially buy it.

If you’re a company that has been on each channel for a while and already has that foundation – go for it but tread carefully. Before running your first campaign, lay out:

• Why you want to advertise – what your goals are.
• How much time and money you can spend.
• What you’ll promote and when you’ll promote it.
• How you’ll measure your efforts.

Here’s to your success!

Guest Author: Simon Brisk

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How to Use Non-Obvious Thinking to Create Better Content

Why Visual Storytelling is the Best Way to Build Authentic Engagement

Humans are visual creatures.

Visual storytelling can do much more than just boost web traffic. It can be a huge factor in increasing the number of eyeballs on your brand in general. Incorporating this concept into marketing is a trend that is showing no signs of slowing down and social media has only added fuel to the fire.

Social Media Examiner’s 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report found that 85% of marketers make sure visual effects have a significant role in their efforts.

In a time when people are exposed to more brand messaging than we ever thought was possible, businesses and organizations need to do everything they can to make their content stand out. People these days need to be wowed. Storytelling is by far the most compelling way to accomplish this.

In this regard, there are some brands that have gone above and beyond in creating powerful stories that stick with people forever. The messaging has established an “it” factor that simply cannot be replicated. Here are some examples of how certain brands are encompassing this concept perfectly.

1. The Outbound Collective – Story-linked Instagram posts

While travel blogs are nearly a dime a dozen these days, the Outbound Collective discovered a truly unique way to share their stories with their fans. Their Instagram feed doesn’t only feature pictures aimed at stirring up wanderlust; each photo has a story and a link to a blog post that includes details and descriptions of each location and traveler.

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Each post dives deep into the story behind the individual traveler and opens up a platform for them to share their experiences. From tips for safe traveling to naming the top trails, to hiking in countries around the globe, the Outbound Collective has really found a great way to bring their content to life by sharing a story behind each picture.

2. Tasty Videos – DIY food preparation

It’s nearly impossible to go on Facebook these days without seeing at least one Tasty cooking video. The recipe clips are actually owned by Buzzfeed, and the page is on track to be one of the most popular accounts on Facebook, currently with over 90 million followers.

The truly addictive recipe videos make it seem possible for everyone to become a master chef by showing you exactly how it’s done. Since video content is shared 1200% more than pictures or text posts, these clips are mega-engagement drivers that people can’t seem to get enough of.

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This type of visual storytelling focuses on short-and-sweet clips that keep the viewer’s attention and provide something valuable. With each video averaging over 165,000 shares, Tasty is proof that giving your audience what they want will result in incredible engagement.

3. Charity Water – Journey episodes

While many non-profits know how to tug at the audience’s heartstrings, Charity Water uses visual storytelling to get everyone invested in the organization. Charity Water’s goal is to bring clean water to remote villages in third world countries, and they’ve completed nearly 25,000 projects so far.

On their YouTube channel, they use a series called “The Journey” to share beautiful (and realistic) stories of how their organization gets down and dirty to help those in need. The Journey shows how every donation goes straight to helping people in Ethiopia gain access to clean water.

One of the issues many charities face is being able to accurately convey exactly wherepeople’s money is going. By using a raw form of storytelling, told directly from the front lines, Charity Water is able to communicate their intentions in an incredibly meaningful way that leaves an impact on current and potential donors.

When looking for “in the news” topics like this, social media monitoring can be a phenomenal source of inspiration. Social listening tools like Brandwatch enable you to track trending keywords in your industry, brand names, and even your competition, so you can jump into conversations, newsjack, and strategically contribute to popular events and happenings across the world.

4. National Geographic – Explore everywhere

National Geographic is the undisputed king of Earthly exploration. They have long been sitting on the throne of visual storytelling for over 120 years!

National Geographic is a brand that understands that spectacular storytelling these days is a task that involves many factors. Most importantly, they know that in order to produce the best stories, they need to invest in the best storytellers. For this reason, National Geographic makes it a point to collaborate with the most qualified journalists, photographers, scientists, and explorers to convey their messaging in a powerful way.

In terms of the visuals themselves, one glance at their Instagram page is enough to tell you that they know what makes a compelling picture.

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Another huge contribution to their success is they know exactly where their viewers are consuming content, when they are doing it, and how they want to do it. In recent years, Snapchat has been an extremely beneficial channel in their marketing mix – with millions of subscribers engaging with their content.

Most importantly, through all of their breathtaking visual effects, National Geographic stands for one common purpose: “Keep the planet beautiful.”

Their visual storytelling efforts have worked with a number of ambassadors aiming to address a plethora of environmental issues. Over the summer, they promoted World Oceans Day to raise awareness tforthe cause.

Image Source

At the end of the day, no one does visual storytelling like National Geographic. Their methods should serve as a template for brands trying to make a name for themselves.

Over to you

The concept of visual storytelling is at an exciting time in its evolution. The rise of 360 videos, virtual reality, and more are clear signs that great things are coming.

Brands are going to need to think even more outside-the-box to present captivating stories. From a marketing standpoint, the future of visual content is looking very, very bright! Do you think so? Let’s discuss in the comments!

Guest Blogger: Mark Gadala-Maria is the owner of Lucid Digital, a Miami based web development, and marketing firm.  Mark has been writing about cutting edge web marketing and development strategies online for the last 5 years.

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Chatbots, AI, and Context: Top Takeaways From Intelligent Content Conference

“Technology is outpacing our ability to comprehend what we can do with it.”

These words from this year’s Intelligent Content Conference emcee Robert Rose, CMI’s chief strategy advisor, no doubt resonate if you’ve been in marketing for more than a week.

With so much happening so fast in the realm of tools and strategy, what’s a marketer to do?

Marketers learned firsthand at ICC from content professionals who are experimenting with the latest tools and strategies and have lived to tell their tales.

As always, I’m hard-pressed to squish the richness of this conference into a blog-sized summary, but I’ll take a shot by highlighting three main takeaways:

• Chatbots may be the straw that finally forces marketers to break the copy-paste habit.
• Artificial intelligence exists today that can automate and enhance many aspects of marketing
• Context – enabled by a content strategy that transcends departmental silos and funnels – makes the customer experience.

(Thanks go out to the CMI editorial team for the extra eyes, ears, and gray matter between the ears that made it possible to pull together this post.)

Chatbots may break our copy-paste habit

Since ICC emphasizes content technology and strategy for marketers, you won’t find it surprising that speakers and attendees did lots of chatting about chatbots.

What are chatbots?

Chatbots, as noted in this recent post, are “apps within apps” – tools that automate conversations between humans and computers. Chatbots, aka bots, enable scalable one-to-one, natural-language interactions (sometimes text, sometimes voice). Here’s one simple example of a bot from Taco Bell:

As Gavin Austin said in his talk, What the Bot!? How Salesforce Geared Up for Chatbots, “A chatbot is another content channel.”

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Conversational Content: How to Market Through Text Messaging and Chatbots

How to (and not to) prepare content for chatbots

Sharing this view of bots as one of many content channels, Cruce Saunders made the case that marketers developing chatbots should avoid the temptation to create a whole new batch of (largely duplicated) content.

Rather – as Cruce said in his talk Unifying Multichannel Publishing With a Master Content Model at Mayo Clinic and has been saying for some time – companies need to develop content models that enable existing content to be reused from a shared repository, not copied and pasted from one repository to another.

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Companies need to develop models that enable existing #content to be reused from a shared repository. @mrcruce
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It makes business sense to reuse answers to customer questions from a unified set of content modules delivered across channels: chatbots, product documentation, training, marketing materials, and so on. Content reuse reduces costs of development, review, and maintenance, and increases consistency and quality.

Noz Urbina reinforced this theme (in his talk Chatbots: How They Can Be Integrated into Your Existing Content Strategy) when he said that, ideally, you pair existing content with bot questions instead of wasting time writing fresh content for a bot. For this kind of single sourcing, he says, you need intelligent content.

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Pair existing #content with bot questions instead of wasting time writing fresh content for a bot. @nozurbina
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In other words, you need structured (topic-based) content that is chunked and tagged according to content types.

Content in context for chatbots and more

As content strategist Carrie Hane says, “Structure sets your content free … it enables the same bit of content to be delivered to your wrist (via a smartwatch), to your living room (via a chatbot like Alexa, Amazon Echo’s voice-driven assistant), or to anyplace else you choose to receive information via a nearly infinite number of channels and devices.”

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Structure sets your content free, says @CarrieHD. #intelcontent Read more >>
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When chatbot content is intelligent – that is, well-modeled and well-tagged – you can personalize its delivery. “Different industries or audiences can get served different chatbot responses … guided by the categories applied to the content chunks,” Noz says. For example, a chatbot might point one audience to a marketing case study and point another audience to a case study on user documentation.

That example from Noz was one of my favorites because it upholds ICC’s long-time vision of content professionals across an enterprise coming together to approach content as a shared asset, with all departments using it in a unified, strategic way.

Here’s the good news: Setting up content for success with a bot translates to success wherever that content is used. As Noz puts it: “What you must have for chatbots is extremely helpful everywhere else.”

Noz defines chatbot-ready content as high-value content that has been tagged according to a taxonomy and structured for intelligent (single sourced) use across channels.

Don’t take on Alexa – at first

By the way, you don’t have to create a chatbot at the level of Siri or Alexa. “Think about what’s unique to your organization and what you can do,” Gavin says. “If you try to build Siri or Alexa, you’re going to fail,” he adds, quoting Salesforce product designer George Hu.

Start small and simple, Gavin advises. Answer your customers’ most pressing and frequent questions. For example, at Salesforce, where Gavin works, the most-asked question from customers is “How do I reset my password?” One of the first things Salesforce did with its chatbot was to automate answering this question to cut the number of hours customer service reps spent answering it.

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Wanna build a bot? Think about what’s unique to your org and what you can do. @GavinAustinSays #intelcontent
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Val Swisher (in her talk Artificial Intelligence: Changing the Game for the Future of Content) similarly assured her audience that not all chatbots must be sophisticated like Siri or Alexa.

“A chatbot is a front end to something,” she said. It could be the front end to any number of types of information system. It could connect to a high-end cognitive system that learns as it goes (including artificial intelligence and natural-language processing). Or, it could connect to a simple branching script that provides a small set of answers to basic questions.

Takeaway: When it comes to chatbots and your company, start by automating answers to your most-asked questions. Treat each bot as simply another channel for the high-payoff content you have, evolving that content for efficient cross-channel use rather than creating unsustainable chatbot-specific repositories.

 

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How and Why (or Why Not) to Build a Chatbot

Artificial intelligence gets real for marketers

Pick a task, any task. Something you do every day on the job. Chances are it’s on Paul Roetzer’s ever-growing list of marketing-use cases – 51 and counting – for which some kind of artificial intelligence solution is in the works if not on the market.

AI for marketers is no longer a someday thing.

In Paul’s talk, How to Get Started with Artificial Intelligence in Content Marketing, I could practically hear lightbulbs go off in people’s heads as they reviewed his worksheets and realized many of their familiar marketing tasks map onto existing AI tools, however immature those tools may be.

We’ve covered many of the automatable marketing use cases Paul talked about. What’s particularly interesting is how fast this list is expanding.

For a glimpse at the growing list of AI-enabled use cases and some of the AI tools available for each, start here:

• Cognitive Content Marketing: The Path to a More (Artificially) Intelligent Future
• Scale Your B2B Content With Artificial Intelligence: Ideas and Tools Marketers Can Try
• Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Content: A Guide for Marketers

Takeaway: If you’ve been sitting on the AI sidelines thinking its marketing impact is years away, it’s time to think about a game plan for automating or improving repeated tasks.

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It’s time to think about a game plan for automating repeated tasks, says @marciarjohnston. #intelcontent
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Context makes the content experience

In kicking off the conference, Robert looked back on 10 years of ICC conferences, all of which he has spoken at. He noted one theme has persisted from year to year: Context matters at least as much as content.

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Context matters at least as much as content, says @Robert_Rose. #intelcontent
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This topic – the importance of context – points to ICC’s emphasis on content strategy. Robert urged marketers to consider that a perfect message makes no difference for the business if it’s delivered in the wrong context.

For example, he told the story of violinist Joshua Bell, who played exquisitely at a Washington, D.C., Metro stop during rush hour and was ignored by almost everyone.

Spectacular content plus wrong context equals spectacular ineffectiveness.

Context as strategy

To think strategically about content is to think about all aspects of the experience, including the context. For content professionals, context factors include a mix of the human and the technological, the analog and the digital, as Michele Linn has listed, quoting one-time ICC co-organizer Scott Abel. Context includes:

• The right person
• The right content
• At the right place
• At the right time
• In the right format
• In the right language
• On the right device

This goal sounds simple and obvious from the audience’s point of view. From the content pro’s point of view, though, it takes a lot to hit this context sweet spot.

Among other things, hitting the context sweet spot requires a unified content strategy, something that ICC founder Ann Rockley has been talking about for decades.

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Hitting the context sweet spot requires a unified content strategy, @arockley. #intelcontent
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A unified content strategy cuts across department silos. It accounts for front-end and back-end issues. It requires setting up a coherent system of metadata that enables machines to do the right thing with each chunk of content automatically.

In fact, the way content might need to adapt to a given instance of use is determined by more than a dozen context factors, such as these:

• Device (operating system, mobile, tablet, desktop, screen resolution)
• Locale (time, location, velocity, humidity, temperature)
• Person (age, gender, stage of life, language, relationships)

When companies fail to manage content intelligently to accommodate a variety of factors in their audiences’ context, all those pieces of content – those expensive business assets – may go underused and underappreciated, like heavenly music played to unheeding commuters.

Takeaway: Don’t be Joshua Bell, delivering fabulous content in a context in which people won’t get value from it. Think strategically about all aspects of the content experience, using technology behind the scenes to support your strategy.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How to Get the Right Content to the Right People at the Right Time: A Look at This American Life

Conclusion

Marketing is approaching a point where the old ways of creating, delivering, and managing content won’t work. In his ICC content experience workshop, Noz called this point “the channel experience singularity.”

Here’s how Noz defines this kind of singularity – as the point at which: “Channel proliferation accelerates beyond a brand’s ability to have channel-specific teams, strategies, and structures and must approach experience as an omnichannel continuum, supported by an ecosystem of touchpoints.”

We’re in the midst of a massive expansion of communication channels and formats. Smart speakers. Virtual and augmented reality experiences. Chatbots. Whatever comes next.

As channels proliferate, the only way businesses can keep up with the customer-driven need for omnichannel experiences is to do this challenging work. Knuckle down and create the content models. Figure out your taxonomies. Tag content strategically.

Doing the work to create truly intelligent content supports the channels we know about today. And it sets us up to meet whatever comes next.

In the end, your audiences – and, therefore our businesses – will thank you for it.

Want to gather with thousands of marketers in the ideal context? Register today to attend Content Marketing World Sept. 4-7 in Cleveland, Ohio. Use code BLOG100 to save $100.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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Improve Your Digital Marketing with Typeform

You can’t deny that were in the era of hyper-personalization. Big companies are collecting so much data about our every action that it can seem impossible to compete with them.

As an eCommerce business owner myself, I was feeling pretty frustrated with the whole situation. I wanted to connect with my customers on their terms rather than spy on them and collect their information without their permission.

Typeform was the perfect solution to that problem. Their templates are really easy to install, customize, and they allow you to collect valuable insights from your customers in a way that is honest and upfront. Look, tracking cookies are a part of the industry, but Typeform provides small and medium business owners with a more organic form of collecting data.

Data is Essential in Marketing

Data is an essential part of marketing. Customer feedback is one of the only ways you can make meaningful changes that your customers will love. I was able to collect that necessary feedback using Typeform.

Whether you want to use simple single question forms, or longer surveys, Typeform lets you choose. Here are a few other features that I really liked:?

-An easy to use interface that is designed to be engaging
-The ability to showcase my questions using videos and GIFs
-MailChimp and Google Sheets integration to help you analyze and make sense of the data
-Easily added on to any WordPress website
-Track your results using a detailed analytics dashboard
-Preview your changes to make sure each Typeform looks the way you want it

Since using Typeform, I’ve learned valuable things about my most loyal customers, helping me build a better experience for them and to provide them with products that they really want. I was never able to collect this type of data before when I used traditional tracking methods like Google Analytics, tracking cookies, and data scrapers on social media.

If you ask me, I’ll take the more personalized approach any day of the week. I’m able to collect valuable data without violating my customer’s trust. This has allowed me to build a better brand without feeling like I’m spying on the people who support me and choose my brand over my competitors.

They also offer a quiz maker tool that you can use to test the knowledge of your audience on a specific topic.

The price itself isn’t that outrageous. A free version that allows you to track 100 responses per month and up to 10 fields per form is offered. The Pro version costs $30 per month, includes unlimited responses and fields, and is good for one user. The Pro+ version costs $59 a month, can accommodate one or more users, includes unlimited responses and fields, and you can even remove the Typeform branding, a must-have if you want to maintain your brand and professionalism.

As for security, Typeform claims to host their data on secure Amazon Web Services servers that include 128-bit SSL encryption, data backups, and other security protocols.

If you are looking for a better way to gather insights on your business and overall shopping experience, Typeform is a reliable choice that businesses of all sizes can benefit from.

Original post: Improve Your Digital Marketing with Typeform

This post is courtesy of: https://www.dailyblogtips.com

25 Power Words to Drive More Engagement With Your Social Campaigns

Some 2.1 billion people have social media accounts, and as many as half of those people are checking out social content more than once a day. With that kind of social activity it begs the question…

“Why isn’t my engagement higher?”

Poor engagement is a problem marketers have been wrestling with long before we started reaching out to audiences on social media. The way we try to engage people now on social media, sales and content marketing isn’t much different from the way common people attempted to capture the attention of a passersby in open air markets.

It was a mix of visual stimulation and the use of compelling, stimulating, attention-grabbing words and phrases.

The right words can make a difference

Words strike us for various reasons, and they play on our most primitive instincts and hard-wired responses seated around emotion. To that end, words that are the most direct, simple and arresting can have the most profound impact.

Though it’s common sense as well, this idea was proven through extensive study of the human mind by Renvoise and Morin in their book Neuromarketing. What they found is that we, as civilized people, try to engage one another by talking to our “new brains”, or the more sophisticated part of our minds.

But it’s our “old brains”, where our most primitive instincts live, that make the bulk of our decisions. We can trigger that old brain response by using the right “power words”.

In 1963 David Ogilvy, a mastermind in the early days of consumer advertising, published a list of what he believed were the most persuasive words in advertising. These individual words, when utilized within copy, headlines and calls to action, were most likely to capture the reader and score business.

• Suddenly
• Now
• Announcing
• Introducing
• Improvement
• Amazing
• Sensational
• Remarkable
• Revolutionary
• Startling
• Miracle
• Magic
• Offer
• Quick
• Easy
• Wanted
• Challenge
• Compare
• Bargain
• Hurry

Many marketers still rely on those power words when creating copy for advertisements. But power words don’t need to be limited to direct response copy…

25 Power Words for Boosting Social Media Engagement

Think about what an advertisement is: at its core, it’s a grouping of copy – perhaps with images – meant to engage a specific audience to illicit a response.

That’s exactly what you’re trying to do with every social post you make… but without the hard sell. Boosting engagement within your social posts can still benefit from the right words and more persuasive copy, but it takes a more nuanced approach that doesn’t make it feel like you’re trying to force a purchase.

When writing a call to action, one of the most important words to remember is “relevance”. The words you use should be as relevant to the content as they are to the medium in which you post.

Anytime I produce or schedule a post with an aim to maximize engagement, I pay close attention to the context in which power words will be used as well as the audience that I’m addressing.

For Facebook, the words that often grab attention and garner the most engagement are:

• Post
• Comment
• Take
• Submit
• Would
• When
• Where
• Tell us
• Should
• Discount
• Only
• Because
• Now

For Twitter users, the power words you can use to boost engagement are:

• ReTweet
• Check out
• Blog
• Post
• How to
• Top
• Social
• Follow
• You
• Help
• Great
• Share

These were compiled not only from an infographic created by Neil Patel and Quick Sprout, but also from research done by others.

You can see how some of the most effective words vary greatly from platform to platform. That’s why it’s important to understand how to craft content not only specific to your audience but also around the context of the post and the social channel you’re using.

Sourcing the most influential words for your social audience

According to Oxford Dictionaries, there are at least a quarter of a million distinct words in the English language including words that are actively used, obsolete words and derivative words. If we count tenses and the variations in the meaning and inflection, that number would likely close in on a million – perhaps more.

To that end, it’s safe to assume that there are more than 25 powerful, persuasive words you could use to turn the head of your audience.

Gregory Ciotti wrote a piece for Copyblogger in which he researched the top 5 words in English. That list included the words:

• You
• Because
• Free
• Instantly
• New

The research behind the effectiveness of these words can’t be ignored. When used together they have the ability to put the emphasis on the individual and are critical for great communication. Words like “because” are incredibly persuasive because they create a casual relationship.

When you leverage words like “new” and “free” it plays on the concept of loss aversion. Even if you’re not selling something and merely posting about an idea, concept or a new blog post, you’re still targeting the drive in people who want something new, and want it for little or nothing.

The most influential words for your audience may not necessarily be the full list of 25 that I shared above. In truth, the words you use to boost social engagement may come from several examples of power words… or it could be none of the ones I’ve shared.

Because it’s not just about the individual words; it’s about the people you’re targeting.

It starts with your audience

Remember that power words by themselves are meaningless. The way you use them, or the context in which they are used, will play on the mind of your audience in order to achieve a desired result. I’ll use an incident from the life of French Poet Jacques Prevert, as shared by AWAI.

Jacques Prevert saw a beggar with a sign that said “Blind man without a pension”. Prevert asked him how it was going to which the better replied “Oh, very badly. People pass by and drop nothing in my hat, the swine.”

Prevert took the sign from him and altered it. A few days later, he approached the beggar and again asked him how things were going.

The beggar said, “Fantastic! My hat fills up three times a day.”

Prevert had changed the beggar’s sign to read: “Spring is coming, but I won’t see it.”

Prevert had used the right words to trigger the imagination of others, playing on their deeper emotions to inspire action.

We can see a similar example in a speech from Winston Churchill, dissected in a post from Jon Morrow.

While being assaulted by German forces, Churchill needed to find a way to inspire his countrymen. Morrow underlined the power words that Churchill used when addressing the people.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of allterror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

According to Morrow, “Each underlined word makes the audience feel something. In this case, Churchill intermixes words that cause fear, such as “struggle,” “tyranny,” and “terror,” with words that cause hope, such as “strength,” “God,” and “victory.” The last, in particular, is repeated over and over, practically drilling the emotion into the minds of the audience.”

This is the approach you need to take with your audience on social media.

You’re not necessarily trying to inspire morale in the midst of war, but you are trying to inspire them to interact and take action. Start with the research of others, building on what we’ve established to be the most influential power words that spur an audience to action.

Once you’ve identified the words that work best in context, consider your audience. What will resonate most with them based on their psychographics and demographics – information that’s readily available in your social insights.

Experiment with different language as you post. Mix in words that make people feel safe with those that imply scarcity, exclusivity, and cause-and-effect. Mingle those with words that encourage community engagement – specifically, the 25 that I’ve shared above. With that approach, you’ll immediately begin to see lifts in your engagement, comments, shares and post reactions.

Have you experimented with power words in your social media marketing? What words do you think bring the most engagement from your audience?

Share your thoughts and tips with me in the comments below.

Guest Author: Andrew Raso is the co-founder and director of Online Marketing Gurus, a fast-growing, award-winning search company working with brands including HelloMolly, Baku Swimwear, and Forcast. Follow him on Twitter at @andrewraso1 or on LinkedIn.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, CopyBlogger, Quicksprout, Oxford Dictionaries

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A Comprehensive Guide On How To Use Twitter Analytics For Digital Marketers

Twitter Analytics is undoubtedly one of the most useful native tools developed by Twitter to gain all sorts of information regarding your account. If used wisely, it can help you come up with engaging campaigns in no time.

Marketers can take the assistance of the Analytics tool to know the preferences of their audience, engagement rate of their content, metrics about their organic and paid content, and so much more in one place.

Even if you have never tried Twitter Analytics, don’t worry. In this post, I will help you become familiar with the basics of Twitter Analytics and gradually cover its more advanced features.

Firstly, you should know how to access the Analytics page. You can go to this link and log in with your Twitter credentials to access the Analytics tool. Also, you can click on your profile picture (top right corner) and click on the “Analytics” option to access the tool.

After launching its dedicated page, you will be able to access different sections and gain all the crucial information related to your Twitter account. Once the analytics page is launched, learn more about its numerous applications by following these suggestions.

1. Track the growth of your followers, profile visits, and impressions

On the home tab of the Twitter Analytics page, the first thing that you will notice is the display of some vital statistics related to your account. This will provide results related to the change in your follower count, profile views, mentions, Twitter impressions, and more.

It can help you know whether your current marketing strategy is producing the desired results or not.

2. Analyze your monthly performance on Twitter

The home page of the Analytics section also provides crucial details in a monthly view. This includes your top tweet, top media post, top mention, and so on. Also, you can find out about your top followers from here.

Here’s why this is interesting:

• Know more about the kind of content that did well in the past.
• Learn which media posts did well in the last few months.
• Consider this as indirect feedback from your audience.
• Iterate or repeat the same pattern to get more traction in the future.

3. Learn about the total impressions of your organic content

The “Tweets” section of the Analytics page can be used to attain comprehensive information regarding the overall performance of your tweets. After launching the page, you can view a histogram regarding the overall impressions of your content with respect to the selected time duration.

Simply hover on the graph to know the organic reach of your content and the number of tweets posted on the day. This information can be used to devise things like:

• What the best days are to post your content
• The kind of hashtags that produce positive results
• Top tweets, the content structure, the impact of including media files, and more

If you want, you can just click on the calendar icon right above the histogram and attain the same kind of information with respect to the provided time duration.

4. Analyze tweets based on different parameters

Just below the histogram, you can get extensive detail about your top tweets. It can be used by marketers to calculate the total reach of their tweets individually. This info can help you learn what kind of content has worked well in the past. You can also learn from your mistakes and avoid posting similar tweets that gained limited traction from your audience.

• Under the “Tweets” section, view all the tweets posted in the selected duration and get information regarding their impressions, engagement, and engagement rate.
• If you want to know these details regarding your top content, then click on the “Top Tweets” section.
• The “Tweets and Replies” section will list all the tweets and replies that you have posted.
• If you have run ads, then you can click on the “Promoted” tab to know these essential details regarding your paid content.

Note: Impressions are the cumulative number of times a tweet is seen. Engagement is the number of times a tweet is liked, replied, clicked, etc. Engagement rate is the percentage of engagements over total impressions.

5. Get to know more details about various Twitter metrics

On the same page, you can view plenty of other details. The section on the right will provide different metrics represented in visually appealing ways. This can be used to know if your calls-to-action (CTAs) are working or whether your present marketing strategy is producing the desired results or not.

• Engagement rate can help you devise if your content is getting appreciated by your audience or not.
• The “Link Clicks” section will let you know about the working of your present CTAs.
• The Retweets, Likes, and Replies section will further help you analyze crucial results related to your content.

6. Calculate the ROI of your promoted tweets

You might already be familiar with the ad section of Twitter. It provides a fast and effective way to run promoted campaigns and get your tweets featured instantly. Nevertheless, there are times when marketers find it hard to calculate the ROI of their promoted content.

On the “Tweets” page, you can simply click on the “Promoted” section. This will provide the same stats (impressions, engagement, and engagement rate) related to your promoted tweets. Additionally, the histogram will also be highlighted in different colors. You can simply hover on the chart and compare the reach between your organic and promoted content.

7. Learn more about the interests of your audience

For any marketer, the “Audience” section of the Analytics page holds utmost importance. It doesn’t matter what kind of brand you are managing, you can’t use Twitter as a social media tool without understanding your audience. This is exactly where the Audience section of the Analytics page can help you. Unlike other popular social media platforms, Twitter allows its users to learn more about its audience without using any third-party solution.

After clicking on the “Audience” section, you can view various tabs about the demographics, lifestyle, consumer behavior, and mobile footprint of your audience. From the “Overview” section, you can have a quick glance regarding the interests of your audience. I find the “Lifestyle” section one of the most important parts of Twitter Analytics.

It can help you perform Twitter monitoring and determine the major sectors and industries your audience is interested in. This can be used to come up with a new marketing campaign that will align with the interests of your audience. Also, you can know about the genre of shows your audience likes or the political parties they support. This information can play a vital role while running a viral campaign.

8. Dive deeper into the breakdown of your followers

Since the audience section provides such vital information, you should certainly make the most of it. For instance, you could visit the “Demographics” section to get in-depth detail about the breakdown of your audience. This will help you know parameters like age, gender, country, languages, and more related to your followers. You can even know about their marital status, household income, home ownership, etc.

This can be used as a powerful tool while running a specific campaign for your brand. Additionally, you can learn whether your strategy is working or not. For instance, if your brand is oriented towards men and you are getting more women as your audience, then you need to bring a prominent change in your marketing strategy.

Furthermore, you can go to the “Consumer Behavior” section of the page to know what kind of brands and products your audience would like to buy. If you are running mobile ads, then the “Mobile Footprint” section of the page can be used to gain productive results as well.

9. Run a campaign regarding an upcoming event

If you are using Twitter Analytics, then you will never miss out on any upcoming event. Simply visit the “Events” section on the Analytics page and get to know about all the major upcoming events. You can click on the “Create New Campaign” button to work on a new campaign. If you want to get more information about the target audience of the event, then click on the “View Details” button.

You can also get to know about the recurring trends from here and filter events on the basis of location, event type, dates, and more. In this way, you can handpick the events that will appeal more to your audience.

10. Perform conversion tracking via Twitter

Conversion tracking is the latest addition to Twitter Analytics that can be accessed from the “More” section. This can be used to measure your ROI on Twitter and know how many leads you were able to generate from Twitter marketing. After passing the terms and conditions, Twitter will generate a website tag. You can simply install the tag on your website and measure the conversion of your audience into prospective leads.

Bonus: Export your data to perform other operations

Besides providing all these remarkable features, the Analytics data can also be exported into a CSV file. Just go to the Tweets section, select the time duration of your choice, and click on the “Export” button. This will save the analytics file on your local system. Later, you can open it in Excel and perform all kinds of operations or use it to prepare a Twitter marketing report in less time.

Even though Twitter Analytics provides an in-depth view of your account and its audience, sometimes users wish to know more information related to their targeted hashtags and keywords. In this case, you can use various third-party twitter analytics tools. For instance, you can use an application like Socialert to analyze your twitter hashtags on a real-time basis. It can help you analyze keywords and gain extensive results related to your hashtags.

Wrap up

Now that you know these remarkable tips and tricks related to Twitter Analytics, you can certainly level-up your digital marketing strategy. If you still have a question regarding hashtag marketing or Twitter Analytics, feel free to drop a comment below.

Guest Blogger: Along with social media marketing Pankaj Narang is determined to shape his ideas into perfect products. CoFounder of Socialert, he believes in coming up with engaging tools to redefine the face of social media marketing. You can check his blog here.

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Thinking of Creating Original Research? 8 Things to Consider

If you’re thinking about conducting original research to use the data for your content marketing, there are important questions to ask before you get started.

I’m talking about collecting data to produce various types of content (e.g., blog posts, e-books, webinars, videos) for content marketing purposes. It’s helpful (versus promotional) content. It’s research-informed content that can help position your brand as a thought leader and draw attention to your solutions.

Like any other tactic, original research must fit into your overall content marketing strategy and within your organizational constraints including budget, staff, and expertise. Even though many types of research and survey software are readily available, not just anyone can “do research” successfully.

Conducting high-quality research requires an understanding of:

• Research methodologies (including selection of the best methodology based on your objectives)
• Sampling procedures
• Questionnaire design
• Project management
• Data analysis
• Reporting

You also must factor in the costs and talent necessary to develop content based on the research findings and a distribution strategy (as you know, what’s the use of developing content if no one sees it).

That said, let’s get started.

1. What is your objective?

Begin with your audience in mind. Conducting research, analyzing the findings, producing a report and other content, and distributing the findings for content marketing purposes requires an investment. Your primary goal should be to provide valuable insights for your audience. Your audience will sense if the research was conducted for self-serving purposes, and that could turn people off.

Be clear about what you want to study – and why.

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Top goal for original research for #contentmarketing is providing audience w/ valuable insights. @LisaBeets
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For example, the CMI research team is surveying a segment of our audience with unique educational needs around content marketing to identify their biggest pain points. We intend to use the findings in a report as well as in an e-book accompanied by prescriptive guidance to address their challenges.

2. Is the data already available?

Once you’re clear on the objective, it’s time to move into the exploratory stage of research. You’ll look for any secondary research – information already published on the subject matter.

This phase can be expensive if you don’t limit the time you will spend because, depending on your topic and objective, many potential resources exist. A basic internet search could lead you to industry association data, libraries, government reports, etc. Also look at internal information (marketing stats, sales data, etc.).

If you discover good existing research, you may determine you can use and properly cite it to develop content for content marketing purposes instead of spending a lot of money to conduct new research.

On the other hand, your discoveries may identify gaps in available research that you might fill.

If you proceed with an original research project, your objective(s) determines the methodology. Qualitative research (e.g., personal interviews, focus groups) or perhaps a quantitative study (e.g., surveys) – or a combination of the two – may be the best method based on your objective.

3. Do you have the resources?

To generate credible results, you can’t wing it. It takes time, expertise, and budget to execute a high-quality, original research project that produces findings for content marketing.

Don’t fulfill this prediction of Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research & Consulting, who shared this insight: “Unfortunately, there will be even more bad researchers, as tight budgets and timelines mean more and more non-researchers ‘do research,’ not fully understanding sampling, methodologies, and other basics of insights.”

Staff researchers in large corporate environments generally are well versed on the time, expertise, and budget requirements for various types of research. Because they often (if not always) are working at capacity, it can be tempting for other departments in the company to try to undertake research. If that’s you – or your company doesn’t have researchers – proceed with caution.

Important initial considerations include:

• Who will manage the project? Do you have a qualified person on staff with time available or will you need to outsource it?
• Who will design the qualitative survey instruments (e.g., moderator guide, screening questionnaire, question/discussion guide), recruit the participants, and conduct the interviews?
• Who will design the quantitative questionnaire, program and host the survey, and collect the data?
• What survey tools will be needed in house?
• Who will write and design the report? Do you have experienced resources in house, or will you need to contract with freelancers?
• Who will develop the strategy for creating content pieces around the insights and distribute the findings?
• How much is all of this going to cost?
• What are your ROI goals? Are they financial, metrics-based, or something different? Put them in writing. For example, do you want to attract x number of new visitors to your website to view your research findings, with a goal of having x% convert to email subscribers? Or do you want to generate x number of qualified leads from the research-focused content with a goal of having x% convert to sales?

The point is if you don’t have the expertise on staff to answer these questions, you must invest the time (and money) to learn or find someone who can help.

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If you don’t have #research expertise on staff, invest in finding an expert, says @LisaBeets.
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HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Building Your Content Marketing Team? 14 Skills for New, Growing, and Mature Programs

4. Do you have a quality list?

How will you reach the people who can provide the type of insights you’re looking for? Various options exist to acquire lists of possible respondents. These include your subscriber list, partnership with another company, rental of a third-party list, “list on demand” in survey software, and paid access to a panel of prescreened participants.

There are also numerous ways to distribute a survey. At CMI, we predominantly send surveys by email invitation to a known audience of interest (e.g., B2B marketers who use content marketing). Other options include embedding a survey link on your website, including a link in blog posts and newsletters, running banner ads that link to your survey, or distributing a link on your social media channels.

Your choices will be based on your objectives.

Rather than getting into all the pros and cons of list options and survey distribution methods, I stress the importance of a) understanding sampling and methodology, and b) having the expertise on staff to address these issues. If you don’t, seek outside assistance.

5. What will you do with the data?

After the data has been collected, edited, cleaned, and coded, you move into the analysis and writing phase.

The methodology used will impact the analysis phase. In-depth analysis of qualitative data is different than that of quantitative data — ensure that the analyzer’s skill set is appropriate. Do you have this talent on staff? If not, who will analyze the findings for you?

It’s beneficial to have several people see the data; someone might observe something that another person missed. This analysis also may reveal findings that require further research.

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Have several people review research data; one person might observe something another missed, says @LisaBeets.
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A word of caution: Your report’s text and visual presentation – as well as the way the written methodology is crafted – affect how your study is perceived in the market. Ensure that your writer and designer (in-house or external) have sufficient understanding of research to communicate it effectively – forgoing conclusions the data doesn’t support and visualizing it in a way that’s easily understood.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

• How to Transform Complex Data Into Understandable and Shareable Visuals
• 6 Mistakes Ruining Your Charts and Infographics

6. What type of content will you create?

Before you develop the research, your goals for the project should be determined. Those goals then inform your choice of content formats.

At CMI, we often publish one main report around a research study and spin it off into other tactics. The report is housed on our website and the spin-off pieces include links to the research report. Some of the spin-off pieces focus on one aspect of the report. For example, we create the annual Content Marketing Playbook with the results from our annual research. The playbook details the tactics identified by survey respondents and includes examples of why, when, where, and how companies use them.

Types of content to consider developing around original research findings include:

• Blog posts
• E-books/white papers
• Webinars
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Interactive graphics/data visualizations
• Interactive assessments
• In-person events
• Twitter chats
• E-learning courses
• Training classes

When considering which types of content to develop, evaluate the resources necessary to create, distribute, and manage that content.

TIP: All content based on research undertaken for content marketing purposes should be helpful in some way to the audience. Reported data should benefit the audience, not be promotional in nature.

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Reported data should benefit the audience, not be promotional in nature, says @LisaBeets. Read more >>
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HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How Content Influences the Purchasing Process: Tips for Content Marketers [Research]

7. Will you gate the research?

Based on your goals for the project – and prior to releasing the content (e.g., primary report, e-book) – decide whether you want to require recipients to provide contact or other information to receive it.

Since our first research report launched in 2010, CMI has never gated the annual B2B and B2C content marketing reports. Our goal for the research is to attract and build an audience by providing helpful information to content marketers – not to collect leads. That decision has helped us build relationships with site visitors, many of whom become subscribers of our e-newsletter.

If you need to collect leads – and you’re confident that asking for the person’s contact information won’t turn them off (especially in a first-time “meeting”) or your findings are so valuable and so novel that people will be happy to give you their contact information to receive it, then go for it. If you’re not sure, try some A/B testing and/or gate the research for a limited time to see how it performs.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Setting Content Free: How Health Catalyst Gets Results With Ungated Content

8. Are you prepared for the attention?

Be sure you are ready for the questions your findings will bring. Be prepared to:

• Explain your methodology and interpretation of the results.
• Field public relations inquiries. Contact your media relations person as you’re planning your study to identify how he or she can help advance the reach of the findings. Check out these tips from my colleague Amanda Subler: A Step-by-Step Guide to Get More Eyes on Your Research.
• Respond to questions and comments on social media.
• Be open to new ideas and questions offered by people who read your research. Feedback can be useful when you plan your next research project.
• Keep your sales team in the loop. Determine what your team will do with interested prospects who learn about your products/services as a result of the content you create around the research. How will your team move these people to the next step in their relationship with your company?

TIP: Stay abreast of similar research conducted by your competitors. Review their methodology and results so you can intelligently discuss the overall research in your industry with your audience and team.

Conclusion

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for original research and content marketing. Take your unique situation into account and think through the various scenarios even if you have the budget and resources to move forward. If you don’t have the expertise of an internal research staff to lean on, consider engaging a consultant or a research firm and start with a small project to see how it goes.

Have you conducted original research for content marketing purposes? How did it go? What did you learn? Let us know in the comments.

Editor’s note: This article is based in part on a presentation CMI Research Consultant Nancy Reese and I developed and presented at Content Marketing World 2017. The presentation was called How to Create Original Research and Use the Findings for Content Marketing Purposes.

See all of CMI’s original research reports from its central hub.

Find solutions to your content marketing pain points at Content Marketing World Sept. 4-7 in Cleveland, Ohio. Register today and use code BLOG100 to save $100. 

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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How to Get Tons of Glowing Customer Reviews (And Why You Should)

It’s in the stars… How many do you have?

Would that last customer give you a 5-star rating? Or no stars at all? And why should you care?

What people are saying about your business matters. Here are three reasons why your customer reviews and star power rating matters:

1. People pay attention to 5-star customer reviews. They make buying decisions based on what others are saying.
2. They pay even more attention to bad customer reviews. And they make decisions NOT to buy based on bad reviews.
3. When people Google your business, those ratings show up.

Here’s the nugget: You can control the quality and quantity of customer reviews you get. How? That’s the secret in the stars that we’re about to reveal.

Fast facts: What the statistics say about customer reviews

Reviews impact your local rankings on search engines such as Google and Bing. Review quantity, velocity, and diversity can increase your search engine visibility by as much as 13%. As a business owner, you don’t even need to have an “upgraded” Google listing in order to have your stars show up.

How do you get those stars? It’s all about words. People who sort through and analyze numbers for a living can spot those positive and negative words faster than your customers can spit them out. It only takes two or three words to tell which direction a review is headed:

• “Thirty-minute wait”
• “Love this place”
• “Rude waiters”
• “Out of everything”
• “We’ll be back”

And the stars are assigned accordingly.

More customer reviews on a Google listing

Both positive and negative reviews are helpful to your customers. They want to know where to go, and also where not to go. Your job is to make sure you show up in the “where to go” list. Unfortunately, both positive and negative reviews are not based on what’s true about your business, but rather on the experience the review writer has with you. When you are going after reviews and reviewers, be sure you ask the right people and ask them the right questions.

If you get a negative review, don’t despair. We’ll tell you how to handle that in a moment. But don’t let your business miss out on getting more positive reviews just because you’re scared of bad ones. You’re likely to get way more positive reviews than negative ones if you follow our process, and trust that negative reviews aren’t the end of the world.

What do consumers want to know?

Specifically, they want you to deliver on your brand promise. If you say your pizza will make a true Italian’s mouth water, then it better be delivered hot and flavorful. If your bed and breakfast touts its luxurious linens and stunning views, then I’d better be able to curl up in that scrumptious bed and see the ocean from every window.

These things are obvious. But sometimes it’s the less obvious things that can trip you up. If one of your wait staff is having a lover’s quarrel, it’s the customer who will suffer. If someone’s reservation got mishandled, not even an apology will keep your stars intact. These interactions are called “touch points.” Look carefully at every instance where you and your people “touch” a customer. Make sure every touch is enough to make a kitten purr.

How to get tons of 5-star customer reviews

Once you have taken care of your brand promise and touch points, it’s time to start collecting those reviews. The fastest and easiest ways to get five-star reviews is to:

1. Target your lowest hanging fruit. This can be the clients you may know with personal relationships. If they’re willing to give you glowing reviews, get them! They’ll be fantastic.

2. Constantly follow up with clients. Cherrypick your favorite clients and those you know had great experiences working with you. Start with those who had recent experiences and work your way back.

The best way to do this is to contact them by phone. Most people say of course, but may take a reminder or two, so send an email or a text with convenient links after three days if they haven’t written and posted a review yet.

3. Get any new customers thinking about positive reviews right off the bat. Include links to your positive reviews on your business cards to get them excited; then, if you deliver a fantastic customer experience, you can ask and they’ll remember – in some cases, they’ll even take the initiative and write you a great review on their own. (Don’t forget to thank them in a public comment if they write you one!)

And don’t be afraid to ask in person. If you are physically present with your customer, ask them for a review on the spot. You may be surprised at how willing people are to write something nice when you ask them to.

4. Train your staff to ask. Make sure everyone on your entire team from top to bottom has a script on how and when they ask for reviews. Sometimes the key is to ask immediately after a transaction, sometimes the key is to wait a few days – as a business owner, you’ll know best. But no matter what point the customers get the ask, the most important thing is to provide links so they can easily click and review.

5. Automate reviews through review software. There are plenty of software providers out there that can connect to your website or social media profiles. These can make it easy for your customers to write reviews with direct links you can send them. Some will even allow you to filter out the bad reviews, which many businesses love…

More positive reviews means more customers

It always translates back to revenue, so make sure you prioritize getting the most glowing reviews possible!

Facebook reviews

Niche industry review sites

Profiles with star ratings

 

 

 

How to deal with a negative customer review if you get one

Polite & professional response

You will occasionally have unhappy customers. There’s a Grumpy Gus in every crowd, the guy who can find a cloud for every silver lining. And Grumpy Gus is vocal. He can’t wait to tell his story.

Regardless of whether or not Gus has a legitimate complaint, acknowledge his comments, apologize, and fix it. And do so in the most public way possible. Depending on the level of his upset, he may post in multiple locations, so be sure to check them all and respond to all.

Offer concessions as appropriate – free shipping, credit for returning merchandise (no questions asked), discounts on future purchases. Regardless of how Gus responds, prospective customers who are checking out your reviews will know that you have a customer service mentality. And that is all they need to know.

Your next steps

Before you do anything else, do these four things right now:

1. Write down your brand promise, if it’s not already in writing.
2. List your touch points with the customer.
3. Write down three ways you can begin to collect reviews.
4. Develop a short review format that can be used both in person and digitally.

Now, start asking.

And don’t just look at the stars. Get your own.

Guest Blogger: Rahul Alim works for Custom Creatives, a digital marketing firm in Los Angeles. Custom Creatives has been helping small businesses grow their business with high-impact digital marketing strategies, design and execution since 2004. 

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