1.  Blink Test.  ALL VITAL INFORMATION SHOULD BE ABOVE THE FOLD.  If I can’t go to your landing page and know within 5 seconds what I am getting, the benefits, and how to get it WITHOUT scrolling down the page, there is a problem.   All information should be clearly visible, legible, and I should know within the time to blink my eye the what, why and how.  Fix this now.

2.  The Design.  All navigation menus (your home, about, contact, blog, etc. buttons) should be removed completely.  This defers from what you want the visitor to do.  You do not want them to escape, but to perform the action you wish them to do.  Any extra links and website elements should be removed (like your sidebar).  Again, all pertinent information above the fold, especially your Call to Action and Form.

3.  The Headline.  Your headline should be short and to the point.  Again, I should be able to blink and know exactly what you are trying to offer me.  It should not be confusing in any way to the end user.  Be sure to use your campaign keywords in your headline (*And throughout the rest of your landing page.  You can’t forget your SEO)..  Make it catchy so the end user wants to read more.

4.  The Offer.  Just like your headline, the end user needs to clearly know what you are offering them.  Restate your offer you mention in the headline and then bullet point the benefits so they can be read quickly.  Don’t waste people’s time.  Time is precious to your end user.  If it takes me a week to read your message and try to figure out what you are trying to get me to do and why I need to do it, I’m probably going to leave because it’s not worth the hassle.  Again, short and to the point – blink test – above the fold.  Almost no one reads website content.  They scan pages.  Using headings, contrasting colors, bold, and bulleted lists work best.

5.  The Form.  Your landing page has one goal and one goal only.  That is to get the person landing on your landing page to convert.  The most effective way to get them to do what you want them to do is to not distract them with other links or forms or navigation that can also take them away from your page.  Make sure all pertinent information is above the fold so they do not need to scroll down to read.  Make headlines and benefits short and to the point and bulleted in a list so they can be read quickly and are easily understood.  And, entice them to complete your form.  When it comes to your form, let the end user know they need to complete the form to obtain the offer and its benefits.  The form should not ask for any more information than you absolutely need.  This is called a non-friction landing form.  It reduces anxiety the end user has about giving you their personal information.  If you can get information you need later during a phone call or follow-up email, do it then.  The less form fields you have on your landing page, the better the conversion rate.  Never, ever use the word “Submit” on your form.  Use a call to action that explains the action taken, such as “Buy Now”  “Enter to Win”  “Request a Quote”, etc.  Your conversion rate will be much, much higher.  Create your button in a contrasting color to draw attention to it.  Always, always, always – Place the form above the fold.  Place it to the right or the left of your bulleted benefits list.

6.  The Photo.  Use one image on your landing page that is relevant to your offer.  Show a real picture of the real product, service, or item.  This will get better credibility and it will also make for cleaner, neater, nicer sharing on Facebook, Pinterest, and other social networks.  Visuals always help the end user get an idea of what they will receive and it reinforces their decision to complete your form.

7.  Extras.  If you need to add extras, please remember to not clutter the page.  An example of some extras you could add to reinforce your message are:  videos, testimonials, sponsors/partner logos, social media sharing buttons, privacy policy, rules.  Only use extras that enhance credibility, are relevant to your offer, and reinforce your message.  I would consider placing logos, policies, and rules in the sidebar or footer away from crowding your message and below the fold.  Remember, above the fold should be your enticing headline, restated offer, bulleted benefit list, and form.

What are some of your landing page best practices tips?

1. Your blog side bar should contain information that is value to your readers and will create interaction.
2. Point fans/friends in social media to your blog posts or contests.
3. Take advantage of the profile photo space you have available on all your social media profiles.
4. In Google+, you are free to make as many circles as you want.
5. Your webpage’s page titles should be different for each page.
6. Link your Google+ page with your AdWords campaign – Connecting your page to your campaigns allows your advertising and page to share +1′s. Any +1′s on your ads will increment the count on your page and vice versa.
7. On your webpage, be sure to place keywords at the end of your body text as well.
8. Post pictures of your products or team members in your social media albums.
9. Create a video. You don’t have to get fancy with a professional video camera. You can do this easily in Windows Movie Maker. Create some slides and add them into Movie Maker as the images. You can use your computer Sound Recorder tool to do the voice-overs. Whala!
10. Be sure to hand out your business card and always two.  One for them and one for a friend.
11. Focus on positive and fun content on Facebook. Sex sells.
12. Nurture your leads.
13. See about creating a 301 redirect between your two domains (http://domain.com and http://www.domain.com) so that one of your websites gets all the SEO credit.
14. Comments need to be enabled in order for you to interact with your blog readers and will also allow your readers to leave feedback on your blog.
15. Discuss topics and participate in discussions in social media.
16. Create custom Facebook tabs around your business, such as newsletter sign up and a storefront.
17. Create attention-grabbing headlines for your content by using headlines from popular newspapers and magazines, such as The Enquirer.
18. Create an eBook. You can take an interesting topic in your field and turn it into a short compelling eBook. You could even take your education series of blogs and put them together to form an eBook when the series is completed.
19. Use Facebook’s Friend Finder feature. Using this feature, you can upload a contact list from excel or import your address book from various different email programs.
20. Create a report. Include information and statistics that would be useful to your industry. Create the report targeted to your audience.
21. Place your keywords at the beginning of your page titles on your webpages.
22. Create a useful webinar that will help your customers be better shoppers, entrepreneurs, employees, or anything else you can teach them.
23. Highlight events you are attending or events you are hosting on your website, blog, and social profiles.
24. Start a new MeetUp group in your area.
25. Podcast. If you do have the capability, podcasting can be lots of fun. You can podcast around your office on company news and industry topics or even around your hometown, showcasing different attractions for tourism purposes.
26. Take the time to organize your site logically. Web visitors should be able to find what they need in a logical category order from your main menu.
27. Engage your audience with relevant and valuable information.
28. If you don’t have the ability to create a video, you can also create a slideshow. There are many free slideshow software companies and websites online that you can use.
29. In Google+, you can freely name your circles whatever you want. No one can see what circle you have added them to.
30. Quit trying to rank for every city in your community.
31. Make a photo gallery for your business. Develop a section for customers to upload their photos and contribute to the gallery.

 Now, put these internet marketing tips to use and go Get Spotted!

Watch the Video here:
 

How is Graph Search improved over Facebook’s old search format?

 
With the all new Facebook Graph Search you can search for people, places and things that match specific characteristics. “For example, you can search for friends of your friends in a new city you’ve moved to, look up photos by classmates from a specific time period, or see photos friends and others have shared with you from famous landmarks. When you pair up phrases like, Photos of and friends or coworkers and your current city, interests, or likes you can discover things friends have in common that you never realized before, find new activity partners, discover great music similar to bands you already listen to, make your own travel guide, and more.”

For instance, I would be able to retrieve information relating to my home town in Lake Geneva by search for the term “lake geneva” in the Facebook search bar. A series of results would drop down. I would then have to press on “See more results” at the bottom to be directed to a new page containing information on the term “lake geneva”.
 

 
The left side of the screen would then allow me to find people, pages, public posts, and more relating to “lake geneva”.
 

 
The new Facebook Graph search is available in a limited preview for desktop only and will be available on mobile later in 2013. However, on the Facebook Graph Search information page, you can perform a sample search, as well as join the waiting list for Graph Search. A sample search on the term “lake geneva” provides the following results:
 

Does Facebook Graph Search Use Keywords?

 
“Yes. Graph search supports keyword searches, just like before. When you start searching with keywords (ex. John San Francisco) you will see suggested people, Pages and apps that match your keywords.

If you see the name of what you’re looking for in the list, select it to go directly to that timeline, Page or app.

You may also select one of the suggested searches to see a full list of search options for that suggestion (ex. People named John who live in San Francisco, California).”

Currently, one can find Facebook Graph Search results for friends, photos, games, places, and music. Facebook states that over time, more content will be added to the search results, such as posts, comments or events.

What Factors Determine What People See in Facebook Graph Search Results?

 
1. Your connections to people
2. Your connections to places
3. Your connections to things
4. Privacy settings

Your friends, interests and other connections impact the order of your results.

How privacy affects Facebook Graph Search results according to Facebook, “People’s privacy choices also influence the specific results you’re able to see. For example, if you search for photos of Paris, you may see photos your friends took and shared with you first, because you’re more closely connected to those people and pictures. You may also see photos that people you’re not friends with have shared with Public, because you are part of the audience for those photos.”

We have also learned that the number of fans and page “likes” directly influence how a business gets spotted on Facebook Graph Search. Facebook pages with the most “likes” appear higher in Facebook Graph Search results. All the more reason to work on building on your Facebook community now more than ever, especially as Facebook Graph Search grows and becomes more refined.
 

Can You Search the Web from Facebook?

 
Facebook says, “Yes. You can use Graph Search to perform a web search by typing in web search: before your search keywords. You may also see suggested web searches pop up as you search normally. On Facebook’s web search powered by Bing, you may see friends’ faces next to results they’ve liked and shared publicly. The same experience is available to you on Bing.com. Additionally, people searches are personalized. When you search for people you know on Bing, you will be able to see public Facebook timelines of people close to you (ex. your Friends or Friends of Friends). This can happen when you go to Bing while logged in to Facebook or if you connect to Facebook while on Bing.”
 

For more information and answers to your questions on Facebook Graph Search, visit the Facebook Graph Search Help Section.

How Do I Ensure I Get Spotted in Facebook Graph Search?

 
First, good things to know about Facebook Graph Search:

1. Facebook Graph Search will be offering local search so be sure your location keywords are being used. Also, be sure your Facebook page profile is completed, including your location information.

2. Search results are based upon a person’s connection with a business page as well: likes, comments, shares, check-ins, etc.

3. Facebook Graph Search results will return “the top search suggestions, including people, Pages, apps, places, groups, and suggested searches” (per Search Engine Land, who also points out that pages and places are listed separately.)
 

Tips Directly from Facebook Regarding Getting Spotted in Facebook Graph Search Results

 
Facebook Graph Search allows a user to search for “restaurants in Lake Geneva my friends have been to”, “furniture stores by friends like”, and “hotels near Lake Geneva”. These type of searches let marketers know that check-ins are a factor determining how you get spotted in Facebook Graph Search. Likes are a factor determining how you get spotted in Facebook Graph Search. Location is a factor determining how you get spotted in Facebook Graph Search.

Below are the tips Facebook provides businesses to get spotted in Facebook Graph Search:

1. The name, category, vanity URL, and information you share in the “About” section all help people find your business and should be shared on Facebook.

2. If you have a location or a local place Page, update your address to make sure you can appear as a result when someone is searching for a specific location.

3. Focus on attracting the right fans to your Page and on giving your fans a reason to interact with your content on an ongoing basis.

 
So, what’s next for Facebook Graph Search? Is Facebook now encouraging users to actually make new friends, unlike the Facebook of the past which penalized you for “friending” anyone you did not know? How important of a role will ranking on the first page Bing be for getting spotted in Facebook Graph Search results? Do you think Facebook should refine Facebook Graph Search results using additional data besides the amount of “Likes” a business page has, especially since this number can easily be faked? Lots of questions.

What do you think about Facebook Graph Search and how do you think Facebook can make it better?

LoveIt is a visual sharing platform that launched earlier this summer.  Pinterest, the dominant platform for visual sharing and thus LoveIt’s main competitor, launched in 2010 and hosted the third-most visits of any social site in March 2012.

Trust eMedia has completed a review of LoveIt, focusing on whether businesses should change visual sharing platforms.  But in order to become an appealing option for businesses, LoveIt must first prove attractive to consumers.  Below, Trustemedia compares LoveIt and Pinterest and offers its conclusion about LoveIt’s ability to develop a wide user base given its current offerings.

Similarities

Pinterest and LoveIt are very similar in general layout and conception.  Both sites allow users to store, categorize, and share favorite images, and view images that other members have shared.  On Pinterest, users can categorize images by “Boards”; on LoveIt, members categorize by “Collections”.  Pinterest users “Pin” images they find on the internet to their boards, or “Repin” images Pinned by others; LoveIt users “Love” images to their collections, or “Relove” images Loved by others.  On both sites users have the option to “Like” images that have some appeal, but not enough to warrant placement on a Board (Collection).

As on most social networks, Pinterest and LoveIt users spend most of their time on profile pages and the homepage.  While the sites have provided different formats for profile pages (see images below), they contain essentially the same content (Boards/Collections, [Re]Pins/[Re]Loves, Likes, Activity, Followers/Following).

The Pinterest profile page sacrifices convenience for a more beautiful display. Users must navigate between tabs to view the various options (Boards, Pins, etc.), but this spotlighting reduces clutter and allows each image to be enlarged.

LoveIt attempts to display all of a person's activity on a single page. While this format allows users to navigate the page more quickly, objects are smaller and more tightly packed together.

The sites’ profile pages are similar, and their homepages mirror each other almost exactly.  Users can follow other members’ Boards (Collections), with the choice of following specific Boards (Collections) or all of them.  Both homepages allocate the left-hand column of the screen for updating activity on a user’s Boards (Collections) and Pins (Loves).  The rest of the page displays in reverse chronological order a user’s Pins/Repins (Loves/Reloves) and the Pins/Repins (Loves/Reloves) of the members a user is following.  Any Likes, Comments, Repins, and Reloves are listed beneath the corresponding image.

 
Differences:

While LoveIt has not distinguished itself in design or conception from Pinterest, the service has corrected several of its competitor’s flaws.  The most significant improvements have been made in three categories: privacy, efficiency, and discovery.

LoveIt has added a feature by which users can make certain Collections private.  This capability does not exist on Pinterest, where a users’ activity is automatically displayed on followers’ homepages.  Members might desire privacy to plan a surprise party for a mutual friend (on both sites, members can collaborate with other users, Pinning [Loving] images to the same Board [Collection]).  Businesses might want employees to use a visual sharing site to work on a project, but not want customers to see this content.  Employees who decide to use a visual sharing site to collect links and visuals for work might worry about annoying friends and acquaintances with material irrelevant to them.

Several issues that undermined ease of use on Pinterest have been corrected on LoveIt.  As previously explained, users can navigate Loveit profile pages more quickly than Pinterest profile pages. LoveIt has made a similar adjustment on the screen that appears when an image is selected on its site.  This screen, displaying the enlarged picture on its left side, provides other information relating to the image on its right side.  On Pinterest, while the equivalent screen contains the same information, the picture is centered with the information presented below.  This format forces users to scroll down to see the original source of the image and to access the button for following that board or user.  However, the Pinterest display reduces clutter, allowing the picture to take center stage.

LoveIt display of enlarged image, info. visible on right side.

Pinterest display of enlarged image. User must scroll down for more info.

Pinterest display of enlarged image, zoomed out to show info. at bottom.

The LoveIt button, a bookmarklet that allows users navigating cyberspace to Love images directly from the page on which they find the image, is more refined than the equivalent tool for Pinterest, the Pin It button.  The LoveIt button sifts through the images on a given webpage, grabbing only those tied to the article or blog that the webpage features, and displaying them for selection by the user.  However, the Pin It button selects images haphazardly and often presents users with shots of advertisements, unrelated images, and video clips in addition to the desired frames.  Pinterest’s clumsy collection system forces users to waste more time evaluating images than on LoveIt.

The above screen appeared after the Pin It button was pressed for a New York Times article. The button picked up six images not relating to the article. When the same process was carried out with the Love It button, only one extra image appeared.

LoveIt also has the ability to recommend images that users might like based on their history; no such feature can be found on Pinterest.  When a user clicks on an image, bringing up a screen displaying the enlarged image, LoveIt provides links and previews to other Collections with similar content.  On the home page, besides displaying (Re)Loves from users and members they follow, LoveIt also intersperses recommended images, identified by a yellow tint to their frames and a folded corner.

However, the changes on LoveIt represent only minor improvements to Pinterest’s service.  Most likely, few users are greatly hindered by the lack of privacy features on Pinterest.  LoveIt is slightly easier to navigate than Pinterest, but Pinterest is already easy to navigate.  The search function on Pinterest, which also exists on LoveIt, is a suitable substitute for the recommendation tool.

Analysis

LoveIt has neither significantly improved on Pinterest’s service nor differentiated itself greatly from Pinterest; therefore Trustemedia does not expect users to expend the time and effort necessary to migrate to LoveIt and create and nurture new profiles.

Furthermore, Pinterest’s head start gives the site several key advantages over LoveIt in future growth prospects.  People considering their first foray into the world of visual sharing will be more likely to opt for Pinterest; friends probably use Pinterest, not LoveIt, and the Pinterest brand name is recognized more widely.

Relevant for businesses, Pinterest’s success has encouraged the emergence of several Pinterest analytic sites like Pingraphy and Pinreach.  Such programs will not be created for LoveIt unless the user base expands significantly.

Overall, businesses should not migrate to LoveIt (at least given the current version of the site).

Questions and comments are welcome. Share with any and all if you enjoyed this post.

1.  Mashable reports how brands are making smart usage of SnapChat, real-time picture sharing for iOS and Android. Read the article here:  Is SnapChat the Next Frontier for Marketers?

2.  Seems all my Facebook friends are logging in with a mobile device, but exactly how many are using mobile for Facebook overall?  Read the eMarketer study “How Big is Facebook on Mobile?“.

3.  How popular is Facebook?   Facebook is No. 1 social network in 127 countries per a recent study.

4.  Facebook Adds Voice Messaging to Its Messenger App for iOS and Android.

How to send a voice message with the Facebook Messenger App:

“To send a voice message, tap the + button beside where you traditionally type a message in the Messenger app. Then select Record, holding the button down to speak. When you release the Record button, your voice message will be sent to your recipient.” (source: Mashable)

5.  New study shows 92% of mobile phone video viewers share videos.  Read the article, “Nearly All Mobile Video Viewers Are Mobile Video Sharers“.

6.  If you aren’t the video editing type and need assistance editing your videos, check out Magisto.  The app edits your video based on an artificial intelligence algorithm.

7.  Foursquare announces that businesses can now see more of their recent customers. Read Foursquare’s updated privacy policy here.

8.  Big news for businesses on Google+!  Google+ Pages can now interact with users who haven’t circled them.  According to TheNextWeb.com, Google told them:

“We’re always experimenting with new ways to make the social experience more organic. As such, Pages are now able to comment freely on posts of interest to them. We think this provides a better sharing experience for pages and profiles alike. For example, if someone praises their favorite bakery on Google+, that baker could now say thank you to that customer, right in the stream. Or if someone posts about a customer service issue, that business could reply directly, providing a better user experience.”

We are definitely excited about this one.  Facebook makes it so hard for businesses to reach out to customers (unless you have a huge pocketbook), so this update is icing on the cake for Google+ business users.

9.  Facebook introduces Poke for Mobile.

How to Poke a friend/friends and see your own Facebook Pokes via mobile:

“With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends to share what you’re up to in a lightweight way. You can poke an individual friend or several at once. Each message expires after a specific time you’ve set, either 1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds. When time runs out, the message disappears from the app.

To see a message from a friend, press and hold the message until it expires. If you ever see something you’re uncomfortable with, you can click the gear menu and report it.”

10.  Facebook Announces Way to Discover New Places with Nearby.

“Find New Places

From the app menu, open the tab to find local spots your friends have recommended, checked into, or liked. If you’re looking for a place to eat, choose a category like Restaurants to see what’s nearby. When you find a place that looks interesting, tap to see info like friends who’ve been there and business hours.

Share Places with Friends

In addition to discovering new places to visit, you can share what you think by rating or recommending places to your friends. Your own suggestions become more personalized the more you and your friends rate, recommend, and check into places.”

11.  Get An Inside Look at YouTube Multi-Channel Networks & How They Work as ReelSEO interviews Steve Raymond of Big Frame.

12.  Are a big, national brand on Twitter?  If so, you better sit up and take notice.  Research finds 71% (WOW!) of big brands are leaving customer tweets unanswered.

13.  Facebook is including Facebook business pages in local mobile search results with the Nearby App mentioned above.

14.  According to eMarketer, Facebook users who are active on other social networks are still sharing production information on Facebook more than Twitter or Pinterest.

Want to get your product information shared?  Here’s the reasons why social network users share product information:

15.  Need to know when to publish your mobile video?  Check out this article from ReelSEO, “Insights Into When to Publish and How to Advertise for Mobile Video [Report Analysis]”

16.  Here’s a run-down of several YouTube updates and news items from ReelSEO including, a new YouTube app for shooting mobile video, new functionality to customize social notifications, and changes to some of YouTube’s contests and programs like On-the-Rise and Next-Up.

17.  In what we are sure is going to make Facebook users unhappy, Facebook is planning to clutter their NewsFeed once again.  This time with Video Ads set to roll out in the first half of 2013.  How will it work?  How will it affect mobile users?  Who can you target?  Will they all auto-play?  Where will they be located?  Read this article from AdAge on the Facebook Video Ads coming soon to a NewsFeed near you.

18.  Tumblr launched a new iPhone App.  Get the Tumblr iPhone App here.

19.  Now that your Twitter archive to available to you, find out how you can use it to your advantage.  Hubspot wrote a great post on, “How to Use the New Twitter Archive to Analyze Your Marketing Tweets“.

20.  And lastly, Facebook is looking to change your Timeline, yet again.  Mashable reports that the changes are already rolling out to a small group of users and could be coming to the masses very soon.

Social media has been crazy the last few months with updates galore.  But we’re not surprised… the end of an old year, the beginning of a new year…  it’s always a good time for change.  Any important updates we missed in the month of January so far?  Let us know in the comments below.

What is important to note is that EverNote released EverNote for Business last month.  In a survey of its users, EverNote found that 66% were already using EverNote to track work data.  Astonishingly, only 15% of that data was being saved to EverNote by companies themselves.  Thus, EverNote for Business was released.

So what does EverNote bring to the table for a business?

Firstly, you can maintain a personal account and a business data.  This is perfect for those who want to keep their personal information just that, personal.  When it comes to business, the data you save and store on EverNote can be shared with specific coworkers or you can choose to share the information with the entire company.  EverNote users can also choose how documents, links, and files are share with clients outside of the company.  One good feature is that if an employee leaves the company and removes their EverNote profile, the information they shared still remains with the company.  You can individually invite employees via email, or enable auto-approval to allow them to sign up with their company email address.

According to EverNote for business, “Use Evernote to capture everything important to your business in a single place, including notes, research, presentations, documents, and more. You can even save entire webpages with the Evernote Web Clipper. Evernote works on smartphones, computers, tablets and via the Web, so everything your company captures can always be accessed in the office and on the go.

Explore and discover the collective knowledge of your entire organization. Whether users browse the Business Library, use Evernote’s powerful search, or discover relevant content with our Related Notes features, Evernote Business makes any workplace effortlessly productive.

Every Evernote Business user is automatically upgraded to Evernote Business Premium, which gives them access to all the features of Evernote, Evernote Premium, and Evernote Business.”

With the Business Library feature, users can share knowledge across the company, such as research and documents.

Collaborate and share with coworkers with Business Notebooks.

Browse research and information across your company.

Watch videos of how business’s are using EverNote.  Such as this one:

Read Case Studies on EverNote Business.  Such as this one:

Lastly, an online user guide is available for EverNote Business.

How much is EverNote Business going to cost my company?

Users will pay $10/month and get 2GB of storage per month for their personal account, plus 2GB for their Business Notebooks.  You have the option to pay as you go monthly by credit card, or pay for a whole year by credit card or invoice. You can also increase or decrease the number of users at any time by contacting the EverNote customer service team.

Watch the demo video of EverNote for Business below:

What do you think of the new EverNote Business?  Do you currently use EverNote for your personal information?  If you are using other team or corporate collaboration online software, would you consider giving EverNote Business a try?  Do you think it’s worth the $10 a month?  Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

See below for schedule:

Website Performance, Engagement, & Leads

Dates Available: Tuesday, January 8 OR Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Time: 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Where: Badger High School, Lake Geneva, Room 602

Download Registration form for Website Performance, Engagement, and Leads Course.

Previously presented this session at Milwaukee WordCamp. Here are some past Tweets about this session:

What is Content Marketing?

As you may or may not be well aware, content marketing is backed by the belief that educating a customer results in a brand’s recognition as a thought leader or industry expert.   According to studies by Hubspot, Junta 42, and King Fish Media, almost three-quarters of US companies with a social media strategy used content in their campaigns per eMarketer.

 
Why Should I Engage in Content Marketing?

The reasons are endless, well not really, but there are a lot of reasons.  Publishing content that is engaging, useful, fills a need, solves pain, and is fun establishes trust, creates credibility, builds reputation, and sets your brand apart as a thought leader in your industry.  It also does all of the above:  fills a need, solves pain, engages website visitors, etc.  There are also the more technical reasons, such as ranking for keywords, creating inbound links, and generating leads.

What Types of Content Can I Publish?

There are various types of content you can create a content marketing campaign around, such as:

• Online Magazines
• eNewsletters
• eBooks
• Microsites
• White Papers
• Reports
• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Videos
• eMails
• Virtual Events
• Blog Posts
• Articles
• Vlogs
• Guides
• Reports
• Apps
• Widgets

Get 50 Content Marketing Ideas.

The Most Important Step

The most important step in creating any content is to understand your audience and know your objective.  Once you know what type of content you will be marketing to a certain target audience, you can then focus on optimizing your content for search engines.  Including keywords in your blog posts, eBooks, videos, and other content is imperative to getting your content spotted.

Where to Promote Your Content

Now that you have your content created and optimized for search engines, you need to promote it.  There are various places to promote your content:

1. Your Website
2. Your Blog
3. Your Social Networks
4. Your eMails
5. Your eMail Signature
6. Your Direct Mail
7. Your Print Ads
8. Your Radio Ads
9. Your Television Ads
10. Your Blog Posts

What Are Content Marketing Basic Rules?

In addition to all of the above, a successful content marketing strategy requires a few fundamental guidelines:

1. Express that you’re the expert
2. Use your customer’s language
3. Create content around what you are good at
4. Always be helpful
5. Don’t keep the good stuff to yourself.  Share your expertise.
6. Create content for all your buying cycles, top, middle, and end of funnel.
7. Be innovative, fun, educational, interesting, valuable, visual
8. Always, always, always drive your content to landing page where a visitor can convert to a lead

What type of unique content did your business create that was a huge success?

“On December 11, 2012, you’ll be getting the new LinkedIn profile, which has a simplified design, provides deeper insights, and surfaces new ways to connect and build relationships. You’ll also be one of the first to preview a new way to showcase rich content on your profile — like presentations, videos, documents, and more.

Now there are more ways than ever to tell your professional story on LinkedIn, and we’re excited for you to try them out. As we roll out these changes, we’ll also be streamlining our app offerings, so the following LinkedIn apps will no longer be supported on the homepage or profile as of December 11:

• SlideShare Presentations
• WordPress
• LinkedIn Events

Please note, if you use SlideShare Presentations or Creative Portfolio Display your content will still be available on your LinkedIn profile. You can find out more about these changes on our Help Center.

We hope you like your new LinkedIn profile!

Thanks,

The LinkedIn Team”

The very first thing for me to note was that I was obviously getting a new profile design from LinkedIn.  The second thing was that some of my apps were no longer going to be available.  I actually found the email quite confusing because it stated these apps (SlideShare Presentations, WordPress, and LinkedIn Events) would no longer be supported on the homepage or profile.  However, later in the email, it states the content from SlideShare Presentations would still be available on my LinkedIn profile.  The Help Center wasn’t much help there.  However, I believe this is because all of my features are not working correctly… yet.  Time will tell.

Here is what LinkedIn has to say about the app changes:

“LinkedIn Applications are being replaced with a new feature that lets you add media links to images, presentations, videos, and documents on your profile. You may click below to see how to access content for some of those applications:

We cannot automatically move content from the remaining applications to your profile. You can re-add that content to your profile using our new rich media feature.“

It seems as though we are going to have to re-add content using a new LinkedIn feature.  I’m not too crazy about losing LinkedIn content:  SlideShare, WordPress, Events, all of which I was using.  I know LinkedIn cancelled their events feature, which I still think is a crying shame.  I used it a lot to search events in my area and promote my own events as well.  As a business-oriented social network, listing seminars, courses, conferences, webinars, etc. was a crucial aspect – in my opinion anyway.  My blog is on WordPress, which I am sure many of you also have your blog set up on WordPress as well.  It doesn’t seem it will be too difficult to re-add this.  My question is once I re-add it, will all my posts show up or just posts from this day forward?  I am eager to see and hoping not to be disappointed.

I clicked on the “new rich media feature” link and was taken to a page where LinkedIn states:

“If you have the newly redesigned profile, you may now add examples of your work with media links to a video, image, document or presentation.

The media links may be added to the Summary, Education and Experience sections:

1. Click Profile at the top of your homepage.
2. Click Edit in the top section of your profile.
3. Scroll down to the section where you want to add content and click the add media link (it looks like a square with a plus sign). Move your cursor over the link and you will see, “Add a link to a video, image, document, presentation…”.
4. Type or paste the link to your content into the Add a link field that appears. A picture of your content will then display with pre-filled Title and Description fields.Note: It may take several seconds for this to happen. You can edit the content in these fields if you wish.
5. Click Save.“

Later today, when my profile seemed to have finally updated, I did click the square with the plus sign as well as hovered over it, but to no avail.  I was not provided with a place to add a link to a video, image, document, presentation, etc.  There are large plus signs next to each section, but upon hovering over them, nothing happens.  When I click the plus signs, a section of the page opens up for me to add new information:  new job, new school, new award, etc., but no place to add any sort of media.  I’ll have to see if this changes by tomorrow.

Here’s a preview of the new LinkedIn profile layout:

The design is much cleaner.  Sections are segmented much neater.  My activity actually wasn’t showing on my new profile until I clicked it.  Once clicked, it opened up my latest update.  If you click “See More”, all updates will load on the profile page.

Here’s a view of the Experience section after clicking “Edit Profile” at the top of the LinkedIn page:

Here you see a blue pencil icon that allows you to edit the section.  You can easily move sections up and down as well as content with a section by clicking the black arrow and simply dragging the content you wish to rearrange.  Recommendations show up nicely with profile photos.  If you click on more recommendations, you are taken to the bottom of the profile page where the recommendation section is located.  Company logos are also located on the right side.

Here’s a preview of the newer Skills section recently added to LinkedIn and how it appears on the new profile design:

Sneak peek at the new Education section:

Additional Info and Awards Section:

The last sections are closed on the bottom and have to be clicked in order to see the content:

If you click on recommendations, your recommendations appear neatly organized.  As you can see from the photo below, you can easily rearrange your recommendations as well, placing your best ones on top.  You can also hover over the “Received” section on the right side and a drop down menu will appear.  Here, you can select to see recommendations from only certain companies/positions.  I think the new look of recommendations is great.

Another great new look is the groups section.  Instead of groups being listed all down your page, they are neatly tucked away in the Groups section and also appear more neatly organized as well.  This was a much needed improvement.  Group logos are also larger which should make group owners happy.  On another note, you can now also add a group you manage to your LinkedIn company page.  Back to the new profile:  At first glance, you see seven groups.  By clicking “See More”, the section populates to list all groups in the same appearance as seen below:

On the right hand side of your page, next to your main profile information, LinkedIn provides recommendations for you to add to your existing profile.  See screenshot:

Overall, the new LinkedIn profile design looks terrific.  I give it a big thumbs up!  It is visually appealing, more user friendly, and more easily managed.  With features more prominently visible now, besides having to figure content and apps out, we should all be giving our LinkedIn profiles an update.

Have you received the new LinkedIn profile yet?  How do you like it?   Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

1. Hubspot recently released some new data on their blog indicating that Facebook photos receive 53% more likes than the average post.

2.  CNET recently reported that a three-week Facebook ad campaign for the Galaxy S3 smartphone reached over 105 million unique users, and generated $129 million in sales, a 13-times return on a $10 million ad buy.  This report was to show how Facebook ads really work.  The only question now is, “Do you need $10 million dollars to actually make Facebook ads work?”.  Many small business owners do not and makes us wonder how relevant this case study really is to the majority of businesses.

3.  According to a new study, the more friends you have on Facebook, the more stressed out you may be.  ”A recent study by the University of Edinburgh Business School in Scotland suggests that the more types of friends a person has on Facebook may increase anxiety because the potential to offend someone is greater.”  Read more here:  CBS News: Facebook may cause stress, study says

4.  It was reported by Gigaom that Facebook is going to use the data it has about your likes and dislikes to start showing you ads outside of Facebook.  Now those ads you see on the social network will be seen wherever your virtually travel outside of Facebook’s walls. Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer told  Forbes magazine:  “Everything you do and say on Facebook can be used to serve you ads. Our policy says that we can advertise services to you off of Facebook based on data we have on Facebook.”  How do you feel about this?

5.  Facebook Now Integrates with Firefox.  You can now chat directly with your Facebook friends from within Firefox.  Facebook messenger chat shows up on the side of your browser window so you don’t have to keep switching between tabs in order to keep up with your Facebook friends.  The new Firefox feature also allows you see instant notifications when new comments are made on your posts and when you’re tagged in photos.  Download the latest version of Firefox to try it out.  Turn Messenger for Firefox on  here.

6.  AdAge published a great post from Matthew Wurst regarding the new Facebook Edgerank changes and how they are affecting a Facebook page’s reach.  It’s a great read to get you thinking about how to alter your Facebook marketing strategy to encourage more liking, commenting, and sharing.  Read the story here:   What’s Really Happening on Facebook (and What to Do About It)  Understanding the Social Net’s EdgeRank Algorithm

7.  Around mid-November, Facebook began rolling out a new tool which allows online retailers to track purchases by members of the social network who have viewed their ads.  Although you will not be able to see the people who purchased from you, you will be able to see the numbers.  The article on Reuters stated, “The conversion tool is specifically designed for so-called direct response marketers, such as online retailers and travel websites that advertise with the goal of drumming up immediate sales rather than for longer-term brand-building.”

8.  Facebook re-launched it’s Gifts service after previously shutting it down in 2010.  It’s yet another revenue stream for Facebook.  Businesses can also partner with Facebook to list their products and services as gifts.  Consumers will select and purchase Gifts on the social network with their credit card.

9.  Facebook rolled out a new feature making it much simpler for users to create events that recur.  If you previously hosted or attended an event you can easily replicate the event details from that event to create a new event.  This is great for people who host repeat events.  You cannot create a repeat event from a Facebook page you do not manage.  Also, if you create a repeat event from friend’s event that you attended, the guest list does not rollover.  These rules were put in place by Facebook to avoid spam.  To create a repeat event, simply select the option from a drop down menu on the event page.  You can change any details.

10.  December 10, 2012 was the last day Facebook users had to vote on changes to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Data Use Policy.   According to a Mashable post:

“Users can vote on whether or not they want the following updates to take place:

• Facebook will get rid of user voting on its governance changes; instead, the company will allow members to provide feedback by submitting questions to Erin Egan, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, as well as hosting webcasts to address comments and inquiries.
• Facebook will share user data with its affiliates, including Instagram, which the company acquired in April.
• Facebook will set “new filters” for managing incoming messages to users’ inboxes.
• Facebook will change how they “refer” to certain products.
• Facebook will clarify exactly who can see what on user timelines.

Voting started on Dec.3 at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET), and will last until Dec. 10 at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET). An “independent auditor” will examine vote tabulation to ensure “accurate results,” Facebook said in a release.”

Did you vote and how so?

11.  Facebook friendship pages got a new Timeline upgrade.  Friendship pages have been around since 2010.  They display information about you and any given friend in your network.  Recently, Facebook upgraded all friendship pages with Timeline.  Want to view a friendship page between yourself and one of your friends?  Just click on any friend in your Facebook friend list.  Next to the message button, click the gear icon.  Select “See Friendship” from the drop down menu and you will be taken to the friendship page.

12.  In case you missed it, Facebook rolled out a Jobs App.  According to Wired, “The Social Jobs app… is a result of Facebook’s year-old partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, DirectEmployers Association, and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. The app has job listings from other online job boards like BranchOut, DirectEmployers Association, Work4Labs, Jobvite and Monster.com. Right now, users can browse through more than 1.7 million openings. A ticker at the top of the app shows the exact number of available jobs.”  View the Facebook Jobs App here.

13.  Due to marketers expressing their concern over their Facebook page posts not reaching News Feeds, Facebook launched a Pages Only NewsFeed.  The Pages Only NewsFeed shows only content from pages a user has liked.  It will not affect how posts show in the regular News Feed, but was designed to help users see posts they may have missed from brands they follow in their regular News Feed.  Posts in the Pages Only NewsFeed will be subjected to Facebook’s algorithm.  If a user follows few brands, they will probably see all of your posts.  However, if a user follows many brands, they will only see popular posts.  It is also important to note that users cannot select between popular posts and recent posts in the Pages Only News Feed.  The Pages Only NewsFeed can be access on the left hand side of the screen under the Pages heading.  Users could also follow this link:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/feed

14.  Facebook has released a “share” button to its mobile site.

15.  Facebook released a new structure for global brands.  Should make it easier for brands who struggle with whether to set up one single Facebook page for several for each location.  Facebook stated on its blog, “With this new structure, Facebook users will be directed to the best version of a Page based on the country those users are in, enabling them to see localized cover photos, profile photos, Page apps, milestones, “about” information, and news feed stories from Pages—all while remaining part of the global brand community.”  Read more about Facebook global pages here.

16.  You can now share stuff from your Dropbox to your Facebook Groups.  This is great news for groups seeking a more easy way to collaborate on Facebook!  Read about the new Facebook feature on Dropbox’s blog here.

As you can see, Facebook has been extremely busy over the last few months with tons of new updates.  There are even more updates on the way as rumors spread about new Timeline format testing, classified ads returning, and more.

What’s your favorite new Facebook feature?