Does Pinterest have your interest?

Pinterest...

What is Pinterest anyway? It's one of the newest social media platforms to take off in the business marketing industry. It's a photo sharing site that allows users to upload, save, share, create and manage images. Pinboards are the themes that organize the pictures on ones profile. Re-pinning is when you take someone else's image and pin it to one of your own boards. Like Facebook, there is the option to "like" someones pin. A person's main page will be reflective on what they have posted, re-pinned, liked or shared. For example on my Pinterest account it shows a lot of fashion products, food items and, things that the people I follow have pinned or liked.

Businesses can create pages to target their main audience online directly. A great example are the clothing companies that have Pinterest. Aritzia has links to their main page along with where you can purchase products online! Once seeing something you like on their Pinterest account theres no need to browse their website but click right on the link to purchase it.

Looking at a 2012 article about Pinterest vs. Facebook , it shows how Pinterest surpasses Facebook in regards to shopping and inspiration. "69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found an item they’ve purchased or wanted to purchase as compared to only 40% of online consumers who visit Facebook." Pinterest was significantly greater then Facebook when asked where consumers get inspiration on what to buy.

Has Pinterest gained your interest yet?

If so, here is a great idea to increase awareness and interaction with online consumers: as Cynthia Sanchez suggests, create a Pinterest contest to engage consumers in a fun way! Not only is this an interesting concept but it can benefit your social media marketing in multiple ways. Creating a contest can bring more traffic to your website, blog, or other social media channels. If your contest relates to another source it can drive traffic to both parties. Not only will it drive traffic but others will be able to see the interaction your consumers are having. Pinterest is a place where people show their love for a product and by asking your consumers for feedback or to participate will give them the opportunity to show what they love about you! Of course in a contest there is always a winner, gaining access to the people who participate is going to give you information to contact the winner (like an email address etc).

Pin to Win Sweepstakes Example Taken From Cynthia Sanchez "Oh So Pinteresting" Blog

Pinterest has specific rules about contests that are not to be ignored. Not to worry, using other social media sites to access your Pinterest contest can help you to get around those rules. For example: Pin it to win it!.

Check out episode 33 from Cynthia Sanchez on more about Contests on Pinterest.

Organizing Google Ads

There is a way to organize your ads on Google. You can group them using different methods or themes including: keywords, negative keywords, ads, bids, placement, type, product etc. Each ad campaign will consist of one or more ad words. It is recommended that there is a separate ad group for each theme, for example by product, by selling points, or description of the business. Within an ad group will be ads and keywords that relate together through a theme. If you are having difficulty with creating ad groups Google has a help centre for organizing campaigns.

Example Of Ad Groups

Having ad groups helps to increase the relevance of the ads for the users. It ensures the consumer is directed to the right page for what they are searching for.

Google Grant Case Study

In the Google Grant case study it shows the usage of ad groups and how they relate to the keywords used. Within stage two of the campaign they expanded the keyword list along and therefore created more ad groups. Stage three is where they added social media focused ad groups and keywords. This stage is where they found they were expanding. Although this is in relation to the Google Grant case study its important to see how they used ad groups to help improve their click rate.

Do's and Don'ts

This link above has the 10 do's and don'ts of Google Ad Words. Its here that stresses the importance of being specific with your ad groups. If you sell ruby earrings, diamond earrings and pearl earrings then make sure there are ad groups for each. This way whoever is searching for a specific type of earring can be directly straight to the appropriate landing page.

Go to this link below to see how to test your Google Ad Groups!
http://www.trada.com/blog/what-are-google-ad-groups/

Social Media Journal Entry One

        What does 2014 bring for Social Media Marketing?

The addition of online marketing has changed the way companies spend their marketing budget. Digital marketing has increased in importance and is therefore gaining more budget. Not only is there Facebook or Twitter to advertise on but Google, Websites, Blogs, YouTube, Tumblr and more. The social media world is forever evolving. Can companies keep up? What does the upcoming new year, 2014, bring for social media marketing?

According to Forbes, there are 7 things we all should prepare and look out for. They are as follows:
1. Content Marketing will increase
2. Social Media will need to be more diverse
3. Emphasis on images
4. Simplistic is the way to go
5. Must be Mobile
6. Higher use of Ad Retargeting
7. Social and SEO intertwine more

Social Media has become this complicated thing that can be simplified to those 7 things to look for. If your content is relative to your consumer, if it is constantly updated to maintain interest, if there are pictures to grab attention, if it is accessible in the right formats for your target, then your social media marketing will show you results. Companies should already be doing all these things. Think of social as an on going campaign. It needs to be accessible, creative, captivating and constantly updated to ensure repeat browsers.

The predictions that Forbes had all make sense when you look at the results of social media this year. There has been an increase in content marketing. Content marketing has become more important. This is a way for a company to really relate and understand its consumers. Trust and rapport can be built using content marketing. It gives the opportunity to address issues and answer questions while showing that they are worthwhile and honest. Having proper, engaging content can lead to browsers becoming buyers or activists for your company.

Spreading your content on multiple platforms increases awareness and gives diversity to your content approach. Not everyone uses the same channels. The more mediums your content shows up on the more the consumer sees it and responds too. A negative side to this is that if businesses try to be on all platforms they can, the content can loos its creativity and effectiveness. I suggest you pick the top three that your target use most and have the best content for those channels.

Images are a great eye catchers. The first thing I notice on a new website or blog is the picture related with it. Having image based content is an interesting, alternative way to grab the consumers attention. Images can be quick and easy which is going to gain attention faster.

People are being exposed to more media, ads and content then before. Having simple marketing can be just as effective as in-depth marketing. As Forbes article looks at, take a look at a top company like Apple. The marketing strategy is very simple.

Majority of people have either a phone, tablet, computer or multiple of each. Making sure that advertisements and content is mobile friendly will be very important coming into 2014. People are constantly on their phones. Those who do not adapt will loose out on the opportunity to reach consumers that their competitors may be able too.

Retargeting lets your consumers see your content once they have already seen it. It narrows down the people who may not want to access it. The more they see it, the more they will remember!

Social signals help consumers to see that a company is trustworthy. Sharing content, liking pages, and so on will be able to increase the organic ranking. Google will notice that more people are visiting one site over others. Having SEO and social intertwine is going to help target customers more efficiently.

Although these things are in effect right now, some are in the trial process and as time goes on and results increase they will be modified in the hopes to be perfect. Those were some tips to look out for if your not already heavy into social media marketing!

Paid Ads vs. Organic: Optimizing Search

When in need of search the number one go-to search engine is Google. Looking at Google as a search engine, advertisers have the opportunity to pay for ads or to utilize keyword search, popularity, links, and overall content to gain traffic. 94% of people click on organic ads while 6% click on paid. Although 6% is mainly buyers, this brings up a well talked about subject: should you pay for ads on Google?

Being high on the search results page guarantees a high click rate. Consumers are looking for a reliable source and results that relate to their search. This happens using spider search results that determine a pages popularity along with keyword search results. These help to best rank a page on the result page. 56% of people searching on Google lick on the first listing. Is it worth to pay for an ad on Google? According to Search Engine Watch adding a paid ad to an organic ad can optimize search results.

Click rates multiplied by nearly 4 when combined together as Bill Hunt talks about in his blog post “Google finally supports paid and organic co-optimization” on searchenginewatch.com. “Now some of you will say that once you have the organic listing, you don’t need the paid listing.” he says, there is a 64% improvement rate in the paid ads when partnered with organic.

If you can increase the click rate by increasing your organic rank on Google why not use both resources to ensure you are reaching your target efficiently.