Friday, September 1, 2017

#SproutChat Recap: Social Media for Social Good

Many nonprofits are strapped for resources, so they don’t often have the extra cash to invest in larger campaign budgets. As a way to combat this, many nonprofits turn to social media to find their audience and raise awareness for their causes. Social media is a great way to show how organizations work toward their mission.

This week at #SproutChat, we were joined by Sprout All Star, Veronica Brown of the Chicago Public Library Foundation to talk about the importance of social media for nonprofits and how to integrate it into your overall communication strategy.

Social Is an Integral Part of Any Marketing Plan

Whether your nonprofit is just starting out or has been around for decades, it’s important to make sure that social has a place in your communication strategy.

Social media is a great way to reach a wider and more diverse audience. It’s particularly helpful to organization’s with smaller marketing budgets. This is an accessible way to display the good work a mission-based organization does.

Play the Long Game on Social

Some nonprofits use social as a way to expand their fundraising efforts, but be aware that you likely won’t see the dollars rolling in immediately.

For nonprofits, it’s a slow build and social is just one part of the fundraising journey. To boost your efforts, take the time to build up your social presence and create relationships with your online community before asking for donations.

Tracking Metrics Can Tell a Story

It’s common to utilize social to drive traffic to your sites or showcase campaigns, but it’s important to ensure you’re tracking metrics for all social efforts. Use UTM tracking to watch traffic back to your website, or track engagement if awareness is a larger objective for you.

These metrics tell a story about your nonprofit’s online presence and help inform planning for social strategy moving forward.

Meet Your Audience Where They Live

With so many social platforms available, it’s easy to think that your nonprofit should be active on every single one. But it’s more beneficial to your organization and cause to really think about your social audience and who they are. Don’t be afraid to be choosy about where you spend your time and effort.

Content Calendars Are Key

Regardless of whether or not you’re a for-profit business or a nonprofit, any good social account plans in advance. Make sure you have clear content buckets and that you’re filling in gaps where there is a lack of content. Consistency is key when it comes to success on social media.

Tune in to #SproutChat next Wednesday, September 6, to talk about planning content and the importance of a content calendar. Until then, be sure to join our Facebook community to connect and mingle with other folks in the industry.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Social Media for Social Good originally appeared on Sprout Social.



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8 Dangerous Assumptions to Make about Successful Bloggers

I am super excited to release my new blogging eBook. I wrote this bad boy after seeing many talented but mislead bloggers struggle like a fish flopping around on the concrete. Flashback; I recall seeing sardines flipping and struggling and gasping for air on the sidewalk in Istanbul, Turkey. Tough to watch. But in the same regard, it is just as tough to watch struggling bloggers being bound by invisible handcuffs. Which is why I wrote: 8 Dangerous Assumptions to Make about Successful Bloggers (eBook) This read can help you let go excuses you make based on untrue assumptions, so

The post 8 Dangerous Assumptions to Make about Successful Bloggers appeared first on Blogging Tips.



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How to Incorporate Social Proof on Every Page of Your Website

Every online marketer knows that the Internet is an insanely skeptical place.

It’s with good reason.

Let’s be honest.

Our space is littered with faux gurus and hyped up promises.

You’ve seen them:

“Make $500 000 with your first online course launch.”

“Give me 15 minutes, and I’ll give you a profit generating machine!”

Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit, but you get the drift. Your prospects don’t know you well, and they don’t trust you yet.

Social proof can change that.

Think about the last time you bought a product without looking at the reviews first or without a recommendation from someone you know.

Never happened, right?

That should give you an idea of how integral social proof is to easing the minds of your customers.

There is one question I get asked a lot.

People want to know where on their websites they should display proof elements.

The answer?

Everywhere.

Social proof should be splattered across your website.

The key is to have the right kind of proof on the right pages.

In this post, I’ll describe different types of social proof you can use and where on your website you can display them for maximum effect.

Sound good? Let’s start.

What is social proof?

Do you know what the herd mentality is?

It describes the way people are influenced by their peers to behave in a certain manner.

That’s the basis of social proof.

You see a bunch of people doing the same thing. You assume it’s the right thing to do. You do it too.

Now, it’s way more comforting to believe we are all independent thinkers and we take actions on our own volition.

Not true.

Of course, the pack mentality doesn’t apply to every area of life.

In business, however, you can bet it’s always at play.

And that’s good news.

It means you have the methods to ease your prospects’ anxieties and push them to make that final purchase decision.

Best of all, social proof makes your customers feel confident about their decisions.

Here’s the thing though.

Not all proof elements are created equal.

Some are more persuasive and impactful than others. Even the placement of that proof can have an impact.

I’ll give you the most compelling types and ways you can incorporate them so you have proof elements on every single page.

1. Case studies

This is by far one of the most powerful types of social proof.

Why?

It tells a complete story (if done well).

And as you know, a success story is the best kind of story in this case.

With case studies, you get a holistic view of your customer’s journey. You get to learn:

  • what their life was like before they invested in you
  • what prompted the purchase decision
  • the obstacles they had on their way to a better outcome
  • how you helped them overcome these obstacles
  • the exact moment they experienced transformation
  • what life looks like in the aftermath of this transformation.

Does your case study need all these elements?

Yes.

It’s way more effective than simply having a customer say

I had a great experience working with Jane, and I highly recommend her.

There is a place for that kind of proof, and I’ll talk about that later.

Where should you display case studies?

They’re so powerful they can stand on their own. I always recommend having a separate page to feature your success stories.

Like this:

How to Add Social Proof to Your Website 12 Examples 2

Here’s another example:

Stories Your Hot Copy

Ramit Sethi executes this kind of social proof perfectly in his GrowthLab:

Success Stories GrowthLab

While you can have these on a separate page, you should also include product- or service-specific case studies on your sales pages.

You can do it in a number of ways:

  • strategically embed video case studies into your sales page;
  • use case studies as a response to questions on your FAQ page;
  • condense the success story into a testimonial and have a “read more” link so prospects can access the full case study from your sales page.

These are just a few ideas.

2. Customer testimonials

These are much easier to put together than case studies.

Simply ask people with whom you’ve worked (and have had success) to write you a testimonial.

Like this:

Brand Story Breakthrough StorySuasion Formula

Unlike with case studies, I don’t recommend you hoard all your testimonials on one page.

Why?

A testimonial doesn’t tell a whole story.

That means it won’t have much impact standing on its own. It needs to be backed by something else.

Here are some ideas for placement:

  • next to a contact form
  • next to a call-to-action button
  • on an order form
  • on a sales page, right after you’ve given the benefits of your product/service
  • on a newsletter opt-in form. This is excellent for those who don’t have a large number of subscribers to use as social proof.
  • on your About page.

I recently stumbled upon a site that places testimonials in a sidebar. This way, they appear on every website page.

It’s genius!

Daily Email Marketing Tips By Ben Settle

3. Strength in numbers

You’ve likely seen this one used a lot.

It works.

The most common use of this type of social proof is to have social sharing buttons on your blog posts.

7 Hacks to Dominate Social Media in 10 Minutes a Day

It tells people this is a quality blog post that should be read.

It has the same effect as comments.

Check out this post by Brian Dean:

The Backlinko SEO Blog by Brian Dean

It has 871 comments! Now, that’s social proof.

Here’s the thing though.

Be aware of negative social proof.

If you have zero comments and zero social shares on a post, you may want to keep it to yourself.

Most social sharing tools allow you to shut off displaying the share count if it doesn’t clear a certain threshold.

Some other ways you can show strength in numbers:

  • number of users
  • number of downloads for software, tools, or resources
  • number of subscribers

Displaying subscriber count is powerful proof.

Considering how important list-building is in business, if you have the right numbers, make use of them.

Internet Marketing Strategy Social Triggers 34. Endorsements from influencers

Influencers are people with massive authority in your niche.

Everyone knows them, likes them, and trusts their opinions.

Imagine getting an endorsement from one of the big players in your space. It can make your business.

How do you land such an endorsement?

  1. Zone in on an influencer.
  2. Get on their radar by engaging with their content.
  3. Make contact via email.
  4. Do something spectacular for them.
  5. Ask for an endorsement.

I know, it’s easier said than done. But that’s the general path you need to take.

Don’t want to take this route?

You can also pay to play.

In other words, you can hire influencers to endorse your brand or products.

If you have the funds, it can be quite profitable.

It’s reported that for every $1 businesses spend on influencer marketing, they get $6.50 back. Those in the top 13% get $20 back.

Influencer Marketing Study

Now, that’s what I call rock solid ROI.

After you’ve got your endorsements, you can display them on your website.

The Home page and About page are prime real estate for this kind of proof:

SEO Training and Link Building Strategies Backlinko

It tells website visitors you’re a big deal, and you’re worth listening to.

That’s what you want, right?

If someone prominent has praised you, show it off.

5. Media mentions

Have you ever seen logos of different publications splattered across some websites?

I’m sure you have. It’s commonly used.

Here’s an example:

Videofruit Grow your email list and get more customers

It doesn’t have to be a formal media establishment like NBC News. It can be a popular website in your niche.

If you’ve ever been featured there (guest post, interview, etc.), you can place the logo on your website as a form of proof.

This is almost always displayed on the Home page.

Here’s a pro tip for landing media mentions.

Go to a site called HARO.

It’s a platform that connects reporters with sources. If you have expertise in an area, you can easily become a source.

On the website, click on “I’m a source.”

Help A Reporter

Here’s how it works.

Sources Help A Reporter

And that’s it!

You have a means of connecting with reporters and getting those much-coveted media mentions.

6. Trust seals and certifications

Trust icons help customers feel safe about working with you.

Certifications have the same effect.

Sure, we no longer live in a world where credentials matter as much as results.

But many people still rely on these signals so they can feel reassured in their decisions.

Certifications that demonstrate your expertise can give potential clients a push in the right direction.

This works best for service pages.

Just look at the number of badges Kristi Hines has on her freelance website:

Kristi Hines Freelance Writer Ghostwriter and Copywriter

I bet if someone is looking into her services, it may be enough to get them over the edge.

Now, let’s talk about trust seals.

These are especially crucial for order forms.

Here are some examples of trust seals:

  • SSL certificates
  • privacy badges or statements
  • money back guarantee
  • credit card logos

These are the most common ones.

No order form or sales page should come without at least a few trust icons.

This is where money is exchanged. Your customers need to know their information is safe.

Sometimes all it takes is to have credit card iconography, like this:

BBH Payment Plan 6 Months Melyssa Griffin

ConversionXL tested a few popular trust seals to see how they fared with customers.

PayPal was the most trusted, and Visa-Mastercard was the most familiar brand.

Which Site Seals Create The Most Trust Original Research

7. Expert opinions

I get asked this question all the time:

“How can I display social proof on my website if I’m new to business and have no clients?”

That’s an excellent question.

I recognize many people may not have access to all these proof elements.

Endorsements, case studies, and testimonials are not always easy to acquire.

The simple solution?

Expert opinions.

Here’s how this works.

Let’s say you’re starting a blog on consumer psychology.

You haven’t worked in this space before, and you have no credentials.

While you work towards getting the necessary proof elements, you can feature quotes from experts in the consumer psychology field.

It tells people your topic is valid and there’s a track record of success in the industry.

It doesn’t have to be a personal testimony, and this expert doesn’t have to be connected to you.

As long as you credit them as the source of your quote, you’re good to go.

8. Popular posts and products

This is another way to have proof elements on your website when you don’t have many choices.

I assure you, it works.

You can display popular posts in your sidebar as I do:

Quick Sprout Blog by Neil Patel

You can also place them in your footer, like Blogging Wizard does:

Blogging Wizard Discover Actionable Blogging Tips You Can Use 2

Again, be mindful of negative social proof.

If your numbers are low, turn off the count feature in your popular post widget.

If you run an ecommerce store, you can display popular products, a.k.a. best sellers.

It has the same effect:

Amazon com best selelrs

9. Reviews and ratings

This one is a no-brainer.

I bet you’ve never purchased a product on Amazon or any other online store without reading multiple reviews.

If it doesn’t have at least a four-star rating, you’d be even more skeptical and cautious.

The perfect placement for reviews and ratings?

On product pages.

This is more applicable to ecommerce stores.

Some people find it useful to incentivize customers to provide reviews. They give a freebie or credit toward another purchase.

While that’s a solid strategy, I prefer a more organic way of generating positive reviews.

I’m a big fan of customer advocacy.

This is where you deliver such a spectacular customer experience that your customers are compelled to sing you praises.

They’ll recommend you to their friends, use their social media assets to promote your business, and be your most loyal customers.

The best part?

They do it for free (no incentives or payment required).

Mobilize customer advocates, and you’ll have an organic system for generating the kind of reviews that will inspire others.

10. Client or customer list

A creative way to display social proof is to feature a client list.

It helps if your clients are recognizable names in your industry. This is even more impactful than a verbal endorsement from an influencer.

Here’s an example from Sleeknote:

Sleeknote Create Customize Lead Forms

Service-based businesses can do this as well:

Homepage Direct Response Copywriter Jeremy Reeves

Smart, right?

Conclusion

The premise of social proof is simple.

When you call on other people to tell your prospects how awesome you are, the message hits home more powerfully.

And when you do decide to toot your own horn, at least you’ve got the testimony of dozens of people to back you up.

Social proof isn’t something that’s just useful. It is critical.

Your customers want to see these proof elements because they want to feel confident investing in you.

You have no shortage of options.

I’ve given you ten of the most impactful ones and the best placements for them on your website.

Both service- and product-based businesses can use these elements. So can new and veteran entrepreneurs alike.

Put these proof elements to work. Engagement on your content will go through the roof, and conversion rates will improve.

What kind of social proof works best for you?



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The Weekly Measure: Angular SEO Issues, Instagram Stories & Fonts

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The Weekly Measure: Angular SEO Issues, Instagram Stories & Fonts

Each week, Vertical Measures presents the Weekly Measure, a collection of the week's latest updates in the content marketing, paid search, social media, search engine optimization and link building fields. Also provided is a handy schedule of internet marketing industry conferences taking place around the world.

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Web Security Protects Business & SEO

We live in an era of robust web-development services. The availability of user friendly content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress enables business owners to create a solid online presence with little or no tech experience. This widespread access to web technology is excellent for business and the competitive spirit. Unfortunately, it also spreads [...]

The post Web Security Protects Business & SEO appeared first on Search Engine People Blog.



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The 10 Pillars of Successful Branding

Ask a new business owner to tell you about their brand strategy and most will stop at their logo, which means they have none. Small business owners consistently overlook the importance of branding and do so at their peril. This problem even persists across large organizations where the understanding and use of a strong brand can get diluted, distorted or miscommunicated. Understanding the role branding plays in your business, the strategies behind it, and the pillars of successful branding will vastly increase your chance of success.

In this blog, you’ll find the 10 pillars of successful branding that marketers can use to establish or re-evaluate their brand.

1. Purpose

Your brand purpose is the meaningful reason behind why your brand exists. To extract your purpose, you need to look at who you serve. Your business solves a problem for someone. Whether that problem is hunger, thirst, a flat tire, the need to get from A to B, or a lack of experience in a particular field, you provide a solution to a problem your ideal customer needs or wants, to solve.

Once your solution fills that void, there is a sense of satisfaction from your audience that evokes an emotion. Even an accountant filing tax returns provides satisfaction. They relieve their clients from the stress of tax responsibility for a year. Identifying the emotion that your client will feel on the back of your solution unlocks the meaningful purpose. Tapping into the impact that may have on their lives (even if just for a fleeting moment) and your brand purpose becomes not about how much profit your business can turn but how many people it can impact.

Take, for example, TOM’s, a primarily online shoe company. They have an online store, you pay with your card, and your new shoes are delivered to your door. Simple. What makes TOM’s different from other shoe companies is their brand purpose. The meaningful reason behind why they exist is to improve lives. For every pair of shoes you buy, TOM’s will help a person in need. Not only does that make the customer feel good about handing over their money, but also every individual working for TOM’s will feel they make a difference in the work they do.

2. Vision

Your vision is where you plan your business to be in the future. Thinking about where you want your company to be is a vital part of brand creation. It is about projecting your brand into the future and painting a picture of your future brand. We tend to do more for others that we do for ourselves. When you go back to the brand purpose and realize that your brand is about impacting other people’s lives, you can be a little more ambitious about the future.

Where do you want to be in 10 years and what does that future brand look like? How large is your expansion plan? Will you be expanding your product offerings? What does success look like for your company? These are all vital questions to ask yourself when building your brand. Your vision should be big enough to inspire but not too big for people (within the brand) to buy into it.

Microsoft’s vision was to put “A computer on every desktop in every home”. This vision was big enough to inspire a movement without being too big for the leadership team to buy into it.

3. Mission

Your mission is a statement of intent that encompasses both your company’s purpose and vision. It is a commitment to impact the lives of the people you serve and deliver on what you promise while you are on the path to your future brand. It shifts the paradigm of the vision and mission from what you want to achieve to what you want to give. In living your purpose, your mission becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Brands on a committed mission aligned with their purpose and vision set the tone for a strong working culture. Those who come to work every day and feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves have meaning in the work that they do, which instills happiness. Brands boasting happy people radiate this through their interactions and become known as much for their attitude as the solution they offer.

Starbucks mission statement optimises a commitment that is filtered through purpose with a dash of vision: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

4. Values

Brand values are the rules of engagement and the moral compass for the way you do business. If your mission sets in place your overarching commitment in achieving your vision for the future, then your values are the behavioral commitments in your day-to-day activities.

Like all elements of branding, they are internal first and foremost. It goes without saying that your values should be aligned with your purpose, vision, and mission, but communication is key. Communicating core values often internally ensures that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and that there is a collective underlying message in every interaction.

People that know us, know what our core values are not because we tell them but because of our actions and behaviors over time. The same is true with brands. It is common practice today to list your core values on a dedicated page of your website, but without the actions to go along with the words they are little more than marketing.

Zappos, an online retailer, demonstrates the possibilities of a brand that lives its core values in the way it behaves. From the way they deal with customers to how they hire talent, all decisions and actions are filtered through their values.

Here are the core values that Zappos lives by:

  • Deliver WOW Through Service
  • Embrace and Drive Change
  • Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
  • Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
  • Pursue Growth and Learning
  • Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
  • Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
  • Do More With Less
  • Be Passionate and Determined
  • Be Humble

How does this impact how their audience sees them? By delivering on these core values they inspire customers, and advocates for life—see for yourself.

5. Position

The position your brand takes in the market comes down to your audience, competition, and differentiators. When you know the finer detail of who your audience is, what they like or dislike, their behavior is of the utmost importance. When you understand what their problems are, then you can begin to understand the best way to appeal to them.

Your competition is likely already serving your intended audience so understanding their appeal, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, allows you to uncover opportunities. Differentiators are why your audience will remember you. What is it that makes you different from your competition? Why should your audience choose you? Even if on paper, your competition is towering over you in term of capabilities, you can always find something that sets you apart and makes you memorable.

When Avis was entering the car rental market dominated by Hertz, they positioned themselves creatively with their tagline, “We’re only no.2, but we try harder.” In doing so, they established themselves in the market and took market share from the competition.

brand pillar- avis

6. Personality

Brand personality should be a reflection of who your audience is and what appeals to them, along with the position you want to take in the market. Your audience wants to see themselves, or the best version of themselves, in your brand so when a brand portrays the personality of their audiences’ aspirations, they resonate on a powerful level.

Take Mercedes as an example. The luxury car company’s personality communicates confidence, sophistication, and exclusivity, which appeal to the aspirations of their audience. Likewise, Red Bull has aligned themselves with extreme sports and project an energetic, youthful, and adventurous personality which appeals their audience’s aspirations.

7. Tone of Voice & Language

Tone and language choices are an extension of your personality and should also reflect your audience. Both have always been important but in today’s content driven era, its importance has been magnified. As people, we might use a different tone of voice and language set with different people, for example, your grandma vs. your best friend. If you reversed your communication and spoke to you grandmother as you would your best friend, chances are, your tone wouldn’t resonate with her. If, as a brand, you want to appeal to 18-24-year-old male skateboarders, the formality, and energy of the language that you use will be different than if your audience is 35-50-year-old female foodies.

When it comes to resonance, we must always trace it back to the source of who we want to resonate with and ask, “What do they want”?

Try to nail down your language and tone of voice, not with rigid rules but with flexible guides. Mozilla uses this strategy and within their guides, you’ll find applicable examples such as; “It’s okay to be clever, but not just for its own sake (or because we’re too in love with our own words).”

Your brand still needs to be authentic so give your personnel the autonomy to be human while directing them with flexible guides.

8. Core Message

Now that you know your audience, position, and personality of your brand, you have the information needed to craft an effective core message the cornerstone of which is your differentiator. In the mind of your audience, you get to be one thing. That one thing is your differentiator and your core message needs to be built around that.

Your core message is underlying and should be incorporated into all forms of communication. You can craft a concise and memorable tagline from this but the core message itself can be up to two sentences.

It should be short enough for internal personnel to memorize, but long enough to be impactful. It can be expressed in many different forms but should always drive home what you want your audience to remember you for.

Geico’s core message is succinct and to the point. It includes who it’s for, what the differentiator is and the benefit to the audience. “15 minutes or less can save you 15% or more on car insurance.”

This double’s down as a tagline with how concise it is but it can be applied and adapted throughout all communication with the underlying message: “we save you time and money when it comes to your car insurance”.

9. Brand Identity System

Your brand identity system is a collection of visual elements that work together to form the look and feel of your brand. A logo on its own has very little impact as it is a single visual representation and cannot provide a look and feel for the brand on its own.

The role of the visual identity is to trigger brand recall and a visual identity with numerous distinct visual elements working as a team to create a look and feel has a much greater chance of making that visual connection and triggering that memory.

A brand identity system includes:

  • Primary Logo
  • Secondary Logo
  • Lockup Variations
  • Colour Palette
  • Typography
  • Image Style
  • Graphics Library
  • Brand Style Guide

Take a look at the brand identity system from Tom Kerridge. It boasts a logo, color palette, image style, packaging, typography, all working together to create a unique and memorable style.

Tom Kerridge10. Brand Expression

As the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”. In essence, your brand is your reputation and therefore any interaction with your audience, or brand expression is a building block of your brand.

Whether visually, audibly, or experientially, your brand needs consistency is its expression. Any instances of expression that are off-brand, whether a behavior that is not aligned with values, decisions that are not aligned with the vision or visual expressions that don’t follow brand guidelines, your brand is being damaged.

The key to brand expression is alignment. Every pillar mentioned above needs to be aligned with the one before it so there is a consistent message across every touch point.

The best example of consistency is the king of modern branding, Apple. Since Steve Jobs came back into the fold in 1997, Apple changed its trajectory. Everything was simplified. The purpose, vision, mission, values, personality, language, the tone of voice, core message, brand identity and expression. We all know who they are, we all know what they stand for and whether you are part of the cult following or not, you can’t help be in awe of their brand.

It’s safe to assume that most entrepreneurs start their business in the hope that it will be successful. There are very few who position themselves well enough to give that business the best chance for survival, establishment, and then success. Building a brand from the inside-out that has substance, meaning, values, personality, and visual appeal gives a business a starting point, a future brand, and a vehicle to get there.

I’d love to hear how you’re incorporating these 10 pillars into your own branding. Tell me about it in the comments!

 

The post The 10 Pillars of Successful Branding appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.



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