Case Studies & Resources for Dominating Social Media Marketing [MasterThread]

[Get Threaded]

Thank you so much for this thread. I have really enjoyed reading everything and gaining ideas.....I just posted on instagram with some hashtag inspiration from above

Update- I just looked and within 3 minutes I have 6 likes on image-all new likers!

Could I please ask a question about Facebook? I have grown my followers organically to nearly 2k but am getting increasingly frustrated that each post may only get seen by 100 people? Any ideas or solutions?

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Could I please ask a question about Facebook? I have grown my followers organically to nearly 2k but am getting increasingly frustrated that each post may only get seen by 100 people? Any ideas or solutions?

Facebook has deliberately restricted how many people now see your posts. The organic reach is now much smaller. They want you to pay to boost your posts. I'd suggest boosting your posts.

So you're only reaching 100 people organically. Does that mean nothing? Or is that still valuable? If you have fans that are highly targeted it should still be valuable. Read the following article as it contains some good info about all this.

http://www.jonloomer.com/2014/05/30/facebook-page-likes-matter/

 

[twdavis]

This is a goldmine thread as far as I'm concerned.

I really wish people would take hashtags more seriously and use the correct hashtags instead of hashtagging every word in their description sentence i.e. #I [HASHTAG]#Really[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#Like[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#Cake[/HASHTAG]




Since I've started searching on Instagram to see what the most popular hashtags are that are related to my photo content, and putting those tags on my photos, my numbers of likes and following have increased almost 200% compared to before I started doing it, and I don't even post anything exciting.

 

[Get Threaded]

Facebook has deliberately restricted how many people now see your posts. The organic reach is now much smaller. They want you to pay to boost your posts. I'd suggest boosting your posts.

So you're only reaching 100 people organically. Does that mean nothing? Or is that still valuable? If you have fans that are highly targeted it should still be valuable. Read the following article as it contains some good info about all this.

http://www.jonloomer.com/2014/05/30/facebook-page-likes-matter/

Thank you so much- that article was great! The consistent engagement I see on our page is from our customer base so looking at it how you explained and the article, I am happy with that as I am getting engagement (alot more than I see on alot of marketing pages that say they will teach you how to be better at social media actually ;-)

I have found our bigger engagement and posts seen are our photos of the artists or something we have done as a group or client images so I am focusing a few campaigns around that for the coming months too. We have a new location opening soon and the franchisee is going to test out some paid ads to get the word out for the launch special so I am looking forward to seeing the data we gain from that as well.

Thank you so much- keep posting the awesome info!

 

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[Get Threaded]

Thank you for my instagram like

This morning I saw this in my personal feed....do you know anything about -related- for business pages?

 

[AllenCrawley]

Thank you for my instagram like

This morning I saw this in my personal feed....do you know anything about -related- for business pages?

Sorry I do not. Isn't this what pops up when you click like on a business page?

 

[Get Threaded]

Sorry I do not. Isn't this what pops up when you click like on a business page?

It just started to appear in my feed even when I didn't click on them. When you click on them then another also appears. I am going to find out how to get your page like that- I am guessing its paid for.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

How To Build A Massive Following On Instagram

Gold. Rep for the post.

Also thought this was relevant to social media, creating goodwill campaigns.

 

[BeingChewsie]

Allen,
Thank you so much for putting all of this together. So much to pull out of this. Great job!
Sue

 

[AllenCrawley]

Gold. Rep for the post.

Also thought this was relevant to social media, creating goodwill campaigns.

Thank you! I love what they did here. A simple thank you campaign turned into a viral masterpiece.

Allen,
Thank you so much for putting all of this together. So much to pull out of this. Great job!
Sue

You're welcome and thank you! So nice to see you back!

 

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[AllenCrawley]

How to Increase Your Instagram Engagement by 182%
by NEIL PATEL on AUGUST 1, 2014

You may know Instagram as the place for sharing selfies, but it is one of the fastest growing social media platforms with over 200 million users. It gets 15 times more user engagement than Facebook and 40 times more engagement than Twitter.

So, how can you and your company leverage this fast-growing social site?

To help you answer that question, I’ve created an infographic that breaks down exactly what you need to do in order to get maximum engagement on Instagram.



Click here to view an enlarged version of this infographic.

Conclusion
The one thing I’ve learned about social sites, including Instagram, is that you are not going to see results right away. But if you keep at it, you’ll start seeing traction within six to twelve months.

If you are going to get on Instagram, make sure you link to your website within your profile bio. Sadly, you can’t add links in any other way, but the branding exposure is still worth it.


Source: http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/08/01/how-to-increase-instagram-engagement-by-182

If you are going to get on Instagram, make sure you link to your website within your profile bio. Sadly, you can’t add links in any other way, but the branding exposure is still worth it.

As a side note, yes, any url you include within your post is NOT clickable within the Instagram app BUT you can still add outbound links in your posts and other instagram apps like Flow will convert them to live links.


[HASHTAG]#instagram[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#infographic[/HASHTAG]

 

[AllenCrawley]

Essential Tools and Tips for Branded Content on Instagram
By Jennifer Beese on August 27, 2014

While only a small number of hand-picked partners have been selected to run sponsored photos on Instagram, the company’s methodical approach to advertising seems to be paying off. Not only is branded content resonating with consumers, but companies like Levi’s and Ben & Jerry’s have launched successful sponsored campaigns.

Instagram Ads are still in early stages of development in terms of scale, but the units are slowly becoming available to more advertisers. In June, Instagram announced plans to expand the ads into Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. However, in order for brands to be successful, they’ll need better insight into how people are engaging with and responding to their content.

Instagram Business Tools
Knowing how people feel about your photos and videos is an important part of evolving creatively. You don’t launch campaigns blindly; instead you study your existing content strategy to learn what’s working and what doesn’t. Only then can you feel confident that the content you’re publishing will help achieve your goals. This is particularly important when you’re paying for ads.

Over the coming weeks and months, Instagram will begin rolling out a new suite of business tools that will help brands better understand the performance of their paid and organic content on the network. These tools will provide value in three areas: Account Insights, Ad Insights, and Ad Staging.



In the first area, Account Insights, businesses will be able to see how they’re increasing brand awareness on Instagram through impressions, reach, and engagement. While this area includes organic posts, Ad Insights will focus the performance of individual paid campaigns through impressions, reach, and frequency.

With access to real-time campaign summaries and data, you’ll have a better understanding of how your target audience is responding to each of your posts. This information will have a significant impact on your future ad campaigns, which can be previewed, saved, and collaborated on through Ad Staging. Here your creative team can work together to create the best content possible for your target audience.

While You Wait
These tools will be made available to advertisers on Instagram over the coming weeks and months. If you don’t have immediate access, or weren’t invited to advertise on Instagram yet, there are still best practices you can follow to ensure your content is performing at its best.

For starters, keep blatant product placement to a minimum. It might seem counterintuitive, but recall that Instagram is about art and creative visuals. Plastering a big logo across the screen wouldn’t suit the native advertising style the network is aiming for. Your content, whether sponsored or organic, should blend seamlessly with the overall look and feel of photos on the network.

Herschel Supply, for instance, could easily use its Instagram account as a visual product catalog. Instead, the Canadian retailer uses the platform to tell the brand’s story through inspiring travel scenes and crowdsourced images of how its products are used in the wild.


“When we look for photos to feature on our Instagram account, we’re looking for photos that fit into our overall brand story of what it means to be ‘well traveled,’” explained Allison Butula, the company’s social media manager. “We’re looking for photos that tell that story in a single image.”

Once your message is defined and you know how Instagram photos will feed into it, put your content calendar in place. Don’t overwhelm followers with one product photo after another. Space out your branded content like you would on any other network. Moderate the number of posts you make per day to maintain a non-intrusive presence.


Source: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/essential-tools-tips-branded-content-instagram/

 

[AllenCrawley]

Yesterday I downloaded the new app by Instagram called Hyperlapse. Looks interesting and plan to put it to use this weekend.

http://blog.business.instagram.com/post/95830026611/introducing-hyperlapse-from-instagram-since

Since launching Instagram nearly four years ago, it has been a priority to bring the community simple yet powerful tools that let people capture their moments and express their creativity. Today, we’re excited to announce Hyperlapse from Instagram, a new app to capture high-quality time lapse videos even while in motion.

Traditionally, time lapse videos depend on holding your phone or camera still while you film. Hyperlapse from Instagram features built-in stabilization technology that lets people create moving, handheld time lapses that result in a cinematic look, quality and feel.

Since Hyperplapse is all about capturing objects, people, and places in motion, we’re really excited to see how businesses will use the app. Whether shooting products on an assembly line, actors behind the scenes, or a buzzing restaurant scene, we think businesses can use Hyperlapse to convey a side of their brands on Instagram that people won’t be able to see anywhere else.

Some tips to get you started:

• Even though Hyperlapse is new, it shouldn’t require you to change your content strategy. Think of the app as another tool to help your team create compelling videos on Instagram and to visually express what’s most unique about your brand.
• Consider capturing a man-made or natural process that’s core to your brand, normally hidden from public view, and becomes even more compelling when conveyed through video footage that’s sped up by several times.
• For inspiration, check out what others in the community are doing. Over the next several days, we’ll feature some amazing examples on the Instagram and Instagram for Business blogs.

We’re thrilled about the creative possibilities Hyperlapse unlocks for your brand. And we can’t wait to see what you’ll create.

To learn more about what stabilization looks like in Hyperlapse, check out this video.

To learn more about Hyperlapse from Instagram, check out help.instagram.com.

Hyperlapse from Instagram is available today in Apple’s App store. It is currently only available for iOS.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Which Social Media Platforms Are Best Suited for Your Business?
by NEIL PATEL on SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

With all the social media sites available today, which ones should you leverage? In an ideal world, you would use them all. As a small business, however, you don’t have enough time and money to do so.

With your limited resources, which social media platform would you pick?

If you think Facebook and YouTube are your best bets because they are most popular, think again. Just because a site is popular doesn’t mean it is a good fit for you business.

To help you decide which social media platform is best suited for your business, I’ve created an infographic that explains what social sites you should be leveraging based on real data.

Conclusion
If you had to guess which social site performs the best for Quick Sprout, which one would you choose?

If you chose Facebook or Twitter, you’re wrong. Quick Sprout’s audience is mainly people who own businesses, and my number one traffic source – as far as social media platforms are concerned – is actually LinkedIn. I generate my LinkedIn traffic through groups such as this one.


Source: http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/09/...rce=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email

 

[Thrive]

I feel like I know how to work Instagram for the business I am setting up given the results I've had with a personal account, but I was very unsure on how to do Pinterest. Its quite different from Instagram, but this article right here (and the other two related ones) are very insightful on what you can do to increase Pinterest followers in this simple way. Not possible to automate yet, but it only takes 40-60 min tops and is excellent for bootstrappers.

Back in September, I ran a guest post from Dannielle where she shared her strategies for growing her Pinterest followers.

Since that post ran, I’ve been using Dannielle’s strategies to grow my own Pinterest following and I’ve gone from around 1,500 followers to 10,000 followers in four months.

Since then, I’ve been consistent in my pinning, putting her strategies into use and experimenting with a few of my own.

So today I want to share some additional lessons that I’ve learned, plus answer some common questions that have come up since Dannielle’s post...


Source: http://designinganmba.com/2014/01/06/how-to-gain-pinterest-followers/

 

[AllenCrawley]

What You Can Learn From 4 Award-Winning Video Campaigns
By Elizabeth Harper on September 9, 2014

It’s no surprise that online video can generate attention — and viral views — for brands, but just how to make video work for your brand may not be so obvious. To help you figure out a winning video strategy, we’ve dug into some award-winning social video campaigns from 2014 to figure out just what’s working in social video. Whatever your budget or scale, there are useful lessons to learn from this year’s crop of winners.

Chipotle: The Scarecrow

Winner: Cannes Lion Grand Prix for PR and Cyber

Though this video is certainly television quality — it was produced for Chipotle by Oscar-winning Moonbot Studios featuring a soundtrack by Fiona Apple — it was made explicitly for YouTube. On the site, the video’s been viewed over 13 million times as well as garnering 71,000 likes and 16,000 comments. It has generated plenty of media and social buzz beyond YouTube, too.

The three-minute film focuses less on Chipotle’s brand — which isn’t mentioned until a logo pops up at the end of the video — and more on the big picture issue of organic, sustainable farming with which the brand associates itself. Shifting the focus off itself allows Chipotle to make a video that tells an emotional story, but that ties back into its brand because of the shared cause. It’s not the first time Chipotle has made a video like this work, either. In 2011, it released Back to the Start, a video about farming that’s very much in the same vein as The Scarecrow.

Whether you have an Oscar-winning budget or not, that’s the big takeaway from the success of this video: sometimes the best way to spread brand awareness isn’t to talk about your brand at all. The Scarecrow works precisely because it’s a big message piece that doesn’t push heavy brand messaging. But when the video is done, viewers associate its message about good, organic food with Chipotle.

When you’re looking for a good social message, look beyond your brand and to the values your brand represents. Tapping into those can make for content that resonates with your audience and is more likely to get socially shared than a more direct advertising approach.

Honda: Project Drive-In

Winner: Cannes Lion Gold for Branded Entertainment

Similar to The Scarecrow, Honda tapped into a cause that could be associated with its brand — but unlike The Scarecrow’s general message, Project Drive-In had a specific goal, a call to action, and even a deadline to motivate people to get involved with the campaign. The cause was the drive-in movie theater, an American institution that facing extinction as the deadline to convert to expensive digital projectors loomed.

The car connection here is obvious, and Honda built a unique social campaign around it. The company donated projectors to theaters in need based on votes at the Project Drive-In website — and they encouraged theaters and movie-lovers to spread the word and even donate to a crowd funding campaign to save even more theaters. And get involved they did; the campaign generated a total of 867 million cumulative impressions between social channels and press coverage as well as more than 408,000 social shares.

Honda managed to tap into community sentiment admirably, kick-starting a cause that built on itself, associating with the brand all the way. Perhaps the best part of this campaign is that it grew organically once Honda launched it, with theaters producing their own video and other social content to encourage individuals to vote for them on Project Drive-In. In this case, supporting a good cause also meant spreading Honda’s name around — and in a particularly positive light, as a company trying to help save an American institution.

Volvo Trucks: Live Tests

Winner: Cannes Lion Grand Prix in Cyber and Film

When producing advertising content for its trucks line, Volvo recognized a very important point: increasing sales meant not only targeting individuals who purchase trucks, but also building brand awareness amongst the influencers surrounding those individuals. The result of this line of thinking was a viral-ready series of videos that demonstrated product and safety features in impractical, real-world situations that made for great visuals and a few thrills, too.

The Live Test series featured six videos, the most popular of which — with over 74 million views — featured actor Jean Claude Van Damme performing the splits while balancing between two moving Volvo trucks. The rest of the series had similarly odd premises, showing a hamster steering a truck up a curving cliffside road and a tightrope walker walking a line strung between two moving trucks. These were all captured in high definition video, of course. The campaign generated 100 million views on YouTube as well as 8 million shares — and thousands of video spoofs and commentaries which brought in even more viewers.

This campaign is interesting specifically because it looks beyond its typical target audience — and by creating video content with broad appeal, Volvo has spread brand awareness significantly, to both truck-buyers and those who might influence their buying decisions.

Lowe’s: Fix in Six

https://vine.co/v/MrZrT9YOvnu

Winner: Cannes Lion Bronze in Cyber

Launched with a budget of $5,000, Lowes is certainly the lowest budget campaign on this list, and the techniques it uses could likely be duplicated for much less. With Fix in Six, Lowes used Vine’s 6-second videos to share quick home improvement tips and lifehacks through simple stop-motion videos created in-house using an iPhone.

Vine’s simplicity — made entirely in a mobile app with limited editing options — means creating Vines is a relatively straightforward process that requires little investment in equipment, though you’ll still need creativity and time to get your Vines just right.

While 6 seconds isn’t much, Lowes has proven that it’s just enough time to get across a wide range of simple household tips. On Vine, the company offers tips on stripping wallpaper, keeping squirrels out of your garden, cleaning your bathroom, organizing tools and other supplies, and plenty of other things too. It’s even started taking follower suggestions for future Vines, using creativity and home improvement enthusiasm of its fans to build even more original content.

Some of the videos are fairly simple — for example, showing how to remove a stripped screw using a rubber band — but some are more complex stop-motion pieces, like a Vine about cleaning water stains with lemons which shows lemons moving across the bathroom tile in a choreographed dance. Videos like these require more planning, but they also pay off with more attention and shares. Lowe’s Fix in Six campaign has generated over 15 million impressions for the brand as well as thousands of social mentions — not a bad investment.


Source: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/can-learn-award-winning-social-video-campaigns/

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Instagram Tools I Use Daily

I've been sharing my experience with building up a company branded IG account and running promotions on my progress thread and thought I'd share the tools I use to do so.

The following are the apps I use daily. I've upgraded to the paid versions on all of these.

• InstaFollow - I use to track those that unfollow me and also use to unfollow those that don't follow me back
• Instagress - I use to automate the liking and follow process of those in my market
• FilterStorm - This is my go-to editor when I want to have total control over the editing of my photos. Controls like levels, curves, gradients, masking, depth of field, etc.
• VSCOcam - I use this photo editor when I want to apply quick and easy edits and filters.
• Made with Studio - I use this when I'm inspired to design a great photo or to create promo ad. You can add text, shapes, design elements, etc. Really great app.

The following are apps I use on occasion. I've upgraded to the paid version on these as well.

• AfterPhoto - add text to a photo with masking capabilities. Check the site to see the cool things you can do with it.
• FontCandy+ - great app that allows me to add text to photo quick and easy.
• PicStitch - used when I want to create photo collages

The following are new apps I've downloaded that I've started playing around with.

• Steller
• Storehouse
• Split Pic
• Instablend
• Hyperlapse
• Flipagram

 

[smithsta]

Hey @AllenCrawley

Do you use a particular software or app for uploading images/videos to Instagram directly from your PC or do you do it all through your phone/tablet?

The one thing I dislike about Instagram with my business is the fact I can't upload images or videos directly to Instagram from the computer. I've been doing everything the hard way, by editing on PC, adding to Dropbox, saving to phone from Dropbox app and then uploading to Instagram.

Wondering how you get around this.

Also, how are you finding the social media marketing through Twitter? I find Facebook and Instagram are easy to build an audience with in comparison to Twitter.

 

[RHL]

The one thing I dislike about Instagram with my business is the fact I can't upload images or videos directly to Instagram from the computer.

This is a blessing and a curse. It's a pain in the a$$, but a pain in the a$$ is just another word for a barrier to entry. Plus, by taking the time to engineer the images on your computer, they're going to blow away the amateur-hour stuff that people compose quickly using their phones alone.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Hey @AllenCrawley

Do you use a particular software or app for uploading images/videos to Instagram directly from your PC or do you do it all through your phone/tablet?

The one thing I dislike about Instagram with my business is the fact I can't upload images or videos directly to Instagram from the computer. I've been doing everything the hard way, by editing on PC, adding to Dropbox, saving to phone from Dropbox app and then uploading to Instagram.

Wondering how you get around this.

Also, how are you finding the social media marketing through Twitter? I find Facebook and Instagram are easy to build an audience with in comparison to Twitter.

I do most of my photos on my ipad now using the apps I mentioned above. Filterstorm is like using photoshop with all the controls it gives you. In the occasions that I do create my images on my PC I just email them to myself then download them on to my ipad from there.

This is a blessing and a curse. It's a pain in the a$$, but a pain in the a$$ is just another word for a barrier to entry. Plus, by taking the time to engineer the images on your computer, they're going to blow away the amateur-hour stuff that people compose quickly using their phones alone.

Exactly. I hope they never release a way to upload from the PC.

 

[AllenCrawley]

3 Tips for Getting Your Pinterest Pins in Front of More People
By Jennifer Beese on November 19, 2014

Over the years, Pinterest has evolved from a simple product discovery and scrapbooking site into a powerful personalized search platform. Since launching Guided Search back in April, search volume per user has increased by 25 percent. Personalized search provides big opportunities for content, but it also challenges brands to Pin more strategically in order to reach target audiences.

The key to getting your Pinterest Pins in front of more people is understanding how people explore Pins to begin with. Therefore, let’s dive deeper into user behavior and explore other ways you can leverage Pinterest’s feature set to achieve your business goals.

Understand Pinners’ Mindsets
Researchers at Pinterest have begun to understand why and how people Pin. So far, these reasons can be summarized into four different mindsets. Understanding and developing a strategy around them can help you figure out which type of Pins to add in order to reach your goals.

1. “I’m Just Looking…”
This person is browsing Pinterest without a particular goal in mind. It’s an undefined need for someday in the future. They might be thinking that they’re interested in travel and healthy eating, or they could just be wondering what Pinterest has to show them today. Either way, they’re looking to be inspired and it could be your Pin that does just that.

2. “Maybe I Could…”
This Pinner might be exploring a new interest or considering a new project. The need is more defined, but the timeframe is still some vague point in the future. He or she might be thinking, “Maybe I could travel to Europe someday,” or “Maybe I could pull off patterned pants.”

3. “I’m Narrowing it Down…”
This person might not know exactly what they’re looking for, but they know they’ll need to figure it out soon. Here the need isn’t very defined, but the timeframe is much sooner than in the previous two mindsets.

The thought process here could be “I need to get my brother a gift but I have no idea what,” or “I need to replace my running shoes but don’t know what brand or style is best for me.”

4. “I Know What I Need!”
The Pinner here knows exactly what they’re looking for and they need it right away. They have both a defined need and short timeframe.

He or she may be thinking “I need a place to kayak during my Florida trip,” or “I need a squash recipe to cook tonight.”

As Pinterest has pointed out, these mindsets mirror the customer journey. “People start looking, get inspired, narrow down their options and then make a decision,” explained Larkin Brown, a researcher at Pinterest. Armed with that knowledge, businesses can add all kinds of Pins to help consumers every step of the way.

“What’s more, most people don’t come to Pinterest with explicit goals — it’s the Pin itself that triggers a certain mode. A Pinner might move between modes on a specific interest over time, and because of Pinterest’s grid layout, they bounce between different interests and modes in a single visit.” – Larkin Brown

Reaching Pinners Through Search
Search is an important way for Pinners to find content from your business. One of the best things you can do to improve this process is to sharpen your Pin descriptions. Think about what people who are looking at a certain Pin might have searched for, and mention the most compelling and distinct parts of the Pin in your description.

However, it’s important that you’re captivating Pinners and not just dropping in keywords. Carefully craft your Pin descriptions to make them aspirational as well as actionable. It’s also important to include thoughtful descriptions on the content people Pin from your website.

Promote Your Pins


Pinterest began working with a small group of advertisers back in May to test Promoted Pins. Since then, the company has tweaked the product to make it more relevant to Pinners and help advertisers understand how ads impact their business. As of October 2014, Pinterest has started testing the following:

• Better Reporting: To help advertisers better understand how Promoted Pins are performing, Pinterest will begin communicating how often your ads are shown or how many people bought a product after clicking on your ad.
• Relevant Targeting: Promoted Pins will be more relevant and displayed from brands that members have shown interest in. The company currently uses recently visited websites and information from its ad partners to display more relevant Promoted Pins and recommendations.

Know Who You’re Trying to Reach
Pinterest has traditionally been a female dominated platform; however, that trend seems to be shifting as the platform grows. According to the company’s head of engineering Michael Lopp, the service has doubled the number of male active users in the past year. In fact, men now make up one-third of all new Pinterest sign-ups, and the growth rate for men is higher than for women.

If you’re promoting a Pin, you’ll be asked to pick at least one keyword to reach people in search results. Keep in mind that people use Pinterest differently than other search engines, so it’s helpful to consider the phrases commonly used on the platform. From there, you’ll be asked to refine your audience based on gender, location (currently limited to the U.S.), language, and device. It’s worth noting that 75 percent of all of Pinterest’s traffic comes from mobile.

Even if you’re not promoting a Pin, you’ll want to keep a close eye on your Pinterest Analytics for more information about the people who interact with your Pins — both from your profile and your domain. Knowing where your audience is from, what language they speak, and what gender they identify with can help you target your content better as well as figure out new marketing opportunities.

Source: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/tips-pinterest-pins-visbility/

 

[pds]

I do most of my photos on my ipad now using the apps I mentioned above. Filterstorm is like using photoshop with all the controls it gives you. In the occasions that I do create my images on my PC I just email them to myself then download them on to my ipad from there.



Exactly. I hope they never release a way to upload from the PC.

Not sure if this has been answered yet, but I use Latergram (http://www.latergram.me/) to schedule posts from my computer. Great tool and you get 30 posts for free a month.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Burt’s Bee’s Catches Fans with Honey on Social
By Jennifer Beese

We devote a lot of time to researching success stories and educating readers about social media strategy. Along the way, we’ve discovered some remarkable campaigns and the creative brands behind them. And while there are dozens of one-hit wonders, there are some brands that get it right time and time again. One such brand is Burt’s Bees, a natural personal care company.

We’ve mentioned Burt’s Bees in the past, but today we’re taking a much closer look at the brand’s social media strategy, from its cross-platform campaigns to its exceptional use of hashtags and video. We’ll also identify some key insights behind the brand’s efforts that can be applied to your own campaigns for similar buzz.

[Lots of great embedded content that will not show in forum so visit link]

http://sproutsocial.com/insights/burts-bees-social-media-strategy-example/

 

[AllenCrawley]

PINTEREST SUCCESS STORY

Moorea Seal

With the help of Pinterest, Moorea Seal went from college grad to successful business owner in just a few short years. The jane-of-all-trades designer, who has almost a million followers, runs a booming online shop and a beloved boutique in Seattle.

In 2009, Moorea Seal was an illustration grad, facing a bleak, post-economic collapse career landscape. To make things work, she juggled blogging, graphic design, jewelry making, music and nannying all at the same time.

After joining Pinterest, Moorea amassed a huge following because of her thoughtful, eclectic boards. Her Pinterest notoriety led to collaborations with brands like Gap, Madewell and P&G. Outlets like The Huffington Post wrote features about her rising star.

“Pinterest gave me a huge boost, basically the boost that anyone with big dreams has ever hoped for,” she said.

A few years later, Seal and her business partner starting talking about opening an online store selling handmade products by U.S. designers with portions of the proceeds donated to charity.MooreaSeal.com, powered by Shopify, opened in July 2013.

“It wasn’t until Pinterest that I truly found my creative voice, my specific perspective, and my clearly defined style,” she said. “When I started to make specific boards—from clothing I love to design, holiday decor, even beautiful eyebrows—when I saw all of my Pins in a big group, I saw myself through those images.”


Showcase




Discovering in-store sales

Pinterest is still the biggest traffic driver to MooreaSeal.com and accounts for a large portion of its sales.

In May 2014, Moorea Seal opened a storefront in Seattle and about half of its in-store customers visit from around the world because of Pinterest and other social media sites.

“Pinterest is a huge source of traffic and sales for both our online store and store front,” Seal said. “I wouldn’t have opened our online store in the first place if it were not for Pinterest and the massive following that was constantly asking where they could purchase all of the beautiful products I was Pinning.”

Keeping Pins fresh

“The most important part of marketing on Pinterest is to add Pins that are natural, personal and lifestyle focused,” Seal said. “The most successful images are beautiful and memorable—not just because of the product but because of thoughtful styling and environments.” Moorea Seal stays on top of promoting new products on Pinterest with regular photo shoots, plus they also collect and promote images from their followers and customers.

With a growing following, Seal scored a 2-book deal with Sasquatch Books Publishing House. The 52 Lists Project, slated to be released Sept 2015, focuses on self love and list making. This book is based off of a blog series that gained rapid traction on Pinterest, earning some of her highest repins.

Her second book, focused on investing in your home and in yourself, is in the works and will be released in 2016. “Without Pinterest, I would have never had the opportunity to write a book at the age of 28, let alone 2 books!” Seal said. “It’s been a wild journey, and I wouldn’t be here without Pinterest.”

Source: https://business.pinterest.com/en/success-stories/moorea-seal

 

[Eskil]

Hmmm, maybe time to step it up on Pinterest. Thanks for sharing, Allen

 

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[AllenCrawley]

7 Steps in Creating a Winning Social Media Marketing Strategy
By Michael Patterson on March 4, 2015

Social media was often seen as the wild child of the marketing department—the place where interns started their careers and brands could say random things with little to no repercussions. But times have changed, and the industry has matured.

Yes, social media is still a wonderful place for brands to have a little fun, but it also has a real and measurable impact on a business’ bottom line. Thus, social media can no longer live in a silo; it must be work in tandem with the rest of your business strategy.

To ensure that your social media marketing campaigns contribute to your brand’s greater business objectives, we’ve put together a 7-step guide to coach you through the process. We’ve also incorporated a checklist you can use to make sure you’ve done it all right. Click here to jump right to it.

Step 1: Ensure Social Goals Solve Challenges
Goal setting is a staple of all marketing and business strategies. Social media is no exception. Of course, with a range of social capabilities, it can be difficult to determine exactly what your objectives should be. For guidance, look to the challenges before you.

• Has website traffic dipped?
• Is customer loyalty low?
• Do you need to do a better job of building a positive brand reputation?
• Do you just need to make people aware that your product exists?

A smart social media marketing campaign can answer each of these questions. Prove your team’s worth by tackling them head on. To get you started, we pulled together a few common business obstacles and social objectives that can help brands overcome them.

Challenge: Low Website Traffic
The world is online. A brand’s website, therefore, is one of its most important marketing tools. Low website traffic can mean fewer customers and lower profits.

To combat this challenge, your social team should focus its goals on creating links directly to the website (whether they’re from your own social posts or influencers’). Link to useful content, subpages and company images to position your website and your brand as a resource rather than just another cog in the corporate wheel. This traffic should increase leads and, in the long run, revenues.

Challenge: Decreasing Customer Retention
According to The Chartered Institute of Marketing, it costs 4 to 10 times more to acquire a customer than to retain one. To keep your customers around, use social as a tool to support, communicate and engage. A good social relationship with your customers should translate into a better perception and offline relationship with your brand. By developing a strong social bond, customers will be more likely to stick with your brand time and time again.

Challenge: Poor Customer Service
People turn to social to engage with businesses. Therefore, it is important for brand to be ready to help them on any channel they can contact you through. Arm your social media team with the materials, education and authority to respond to customer questions and issues. When you do so, you’ll be equipped to respond to your customers in a timely and accurate way, regardless of how they reach out to you.

Challenge: Weak Brand Awareness
Social allows you to reach a broad audience. But honing and perfecting that message takes brain power and time. To create authentic and lasting brand awareness, avoid a slew of promotional messages; instead, focus on creating meaningful content and a strong brand personality through your social channels. Determine relevant hashtags and industry influencers you can engage with, and tap into those resources to extend your brand’s overall awareness.

Step 2: Extend Efforts Throughout Your Organization
Social has long lived within the marketing department, but that doesn’t mean it can’t (and shouldn’t) have a hand in nearly every business function, from human resources to research and development. To create a fully integrated social media marketing campaign, you’ll need to involve and integrate multiple departments, especially if your goals have a direct impact on them. Work with that team to determine how you can best support their goals and what key performance indicators are important to them (we’ve outlined some ideas on both below).

Sales
Social selling is a term that has grown in popularity since the rise of social marketing. By searching for sales opportunities and then engaging in a helpful and authentic manner, social media can be a great way to prime the sales funnel and find new leads.

For example, someone started a LinkedIn chat, asking about social media tools. Sarah Nagel, Sprout’s own community manager, jumped in to provide insight and offer a recommendation.

Customer Service
Social media is quickly becoming one of the most important channels through which companies interact with their current customers. Social is an easy and very public way for customers to air their grievances with your brand. If you aren’t responding, it can hurt your reputation and customer relationship.

GrubHub is an example of a company that is really succeeding in social customer care.

@kayreimz We’re sorry to hear about the trouble! Can you DM us that order #? We’ll take a look.

— GrubHub (@GrubHub) February 25, 2015



By taking the time to engage with a dissatisfied customer, GrubHub was able to turn a negative experience into a favorited tweet!

Human Resources
While the HR team probably spends a good amount of its time on social media looking through the profiles of applicants, it can also use this as a way to increase overall application numbers. Showcase job postings on social media and encourage your employees to share them to their networks as well. Beyond just job postings, social is a useful tool in showcasing your company culture to the world. Highlight some behind-the-scenes images of what it is like to work for your company so you can improve the perception of your brand among candidates.

Research and Development
Your brand’s social audience represents a group that is highly engaged, invested and interested in your product or service. Why not leverage that to serve as an online focus group for your company? Asking for and listening to customer feedback on social media is a nimble and easy way to get instant feedback. Additionally, social media can help expose gaps in a product or service.

Marketing
The marketing department, specifically advertising and PR, traditionally has a strong role in the social media strategy. But there are always new ways to ensure people are aware of and excited about your brand through social. Whether you’re debuting a product, ad campaign or initiative, ensure that social has a strong hand in spreading the word.

Step 3: Focus on Networks That Add Value
Just because a network has billions of users doesn’t mean it will have a direct contribution to your brand’s objectives. Instead of trying to be everything to everybody, focus your efforts on networks that hold the key to your target audience and objectives.

Each network has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each social media marketer should carefully pick and choose which networks they want to take advantage of. Here are some of the most popular networks as well as what they’re best at.

Facebook
With an audience of 1.23 billion monthly active users, Facebook offers an opportunity to reach a broad range of customers and potential customers. In fact, the chart below breaks down Facebook’s demographic representation—your target audience is most likely represented in some way.

But how can Facebook contribute to your overall goals? Because Facebook’s Newsfeed is a very visible place for social posts, it’s one of the best places for you to distribute your content in order to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic and to distinguish yourself as a thought leader. This strategy is even more effective when you take advantage of Facebook’s targeting capabilities that allow you to tailor your messages to users with certain interests.

Twitter
Where Facebook has the volume of users, Twitter has the volume of messages. In fact, there are over 500 million Tweets sent every day. With all those social messages, there is a great chance that someone is either mentioning your company or starting a conversation that you would be interested in joining.

That’s why Twitter is best to use as a customer service and business development channel. Monitor the network for inbound messages from dissatisfied customers, and quickly turn them into happy interactions. At the same time, look for prospective customers.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn has a robust network of over 332 million users, most of whom frequent the site with a “working” mindset. The advantage with this is that LinkedIn is an amazing network for B2B social media marketers. Whereas sites like Twitter and Facebook catch users more or less on their personal time, LinkedIn gives you access to customers when they’re at their professional best. Use this to build relationships with future customers.

Google+
One of the great things about Google+ is that if you have a strong presence on the site and someone searches for your company through Google, a snippet of your profile will appear on the results page.

Another great feature of Google+ is the ability to hyper-target your potential customers by Communities. Communities are groups of people who get together to discuss specific topics, so if you can find one that your customers are likely to be in, you can post content there that might interest them.

Step 4: Create Engaging Content
Once you’ve involved the right stakeholders, department and networks, it’s time to start building engaging content for your social channels. This content—whether a video, tip sheet or simple tweet—should all ladder up into your business objectives. Below are just a few examples of good content for social and how to use that to support your goals.

Videos

• How-to videos can be a proactive approach to social customer care—answer your customers’ questions before they’re asked.
• Behind-the-scenes videos give your audience a sense of your company culture and brand personality.

Guides

• Position your organization as a thought leader and elevate your brand by developing engaging content that speaks to your customers.
• Guides should cater to your target audience, ensuring you’re actually adding value.

Infographics

• Internal or external data can be turned into a beautiful, insightful infographic.
• When done right, infographics can be some of the most socially shared pieces of content, so make them engaging and resourceful.

Get ahead of the game by planning your content in advance, using a social media editorial calendar. We’ve put together this 4-step guide for creating a social media editorial calendar that should help you get started. Sprout also has a full suite of social media publishing features that include the ability to schedule and queue posts.

Step 5: Identify Business Opportunities Through Social
With millions of messages being sent across social channels every day, there is no doubt conversation happening around your brand. Social media monitoring, therefore, should be an essential part of your social media marketing strategy. Below are some ways you can monitor social media to identify larger business opportunities for your brand.

Brand Mentions
People who are mentioning your brand on social are some of the highest quality leads you can drive. They’ve already proven they know your product/service and have an interest in reaching out to you. Engage with them, foster that relationship and potentially create a brand advocate. If the mention was less than positive, use the opportunity to showcase your stellar social customer care and prove that you are listening.

Industry Terms
Think of some of the words you use when discussing your brand, and make sure to look out for their use on social media. By monitoring these terms, you can identify relevant hashtags you should be using, conversations you should be having and influencers with whom you should be engaging.

Competitor Info
Keep a pulse on the competition. Social media can give you insights into your competitors’ marketing plans and help you identify gaps in your product or service.

Step 6: Engage Instead of Ignore
We can’t say it enough: Whether someone is commenting on a post you’ve made, writing on your wall or mentioning you on Twitter, it’s important to always stay engaged. Shockingly, our social study shows that 5 in 6 messages on social requiring response are not answered by brands. If customers are consistently ignored, they’ll eventually ditch your brand all together and look for an alternative.

Be sure to respond to customers who have left negative feedback about your brand as well. Too many companies have lost favor with their fans by trying to delete the messageand sweep it under the rug.

Here’s an example of how Jimmy John’s social team handled one such situation.

This was a situation where Jimmy John’s reached out to someone a bit frustrated with the store’s hours and turned it into a positive experience. Taylor even favorited the final tweet from Jimmy Johns!

Step 7: Track, Improve and Market Your Efforts
You won’t be able to really begin analyzing and improving your efforts until you’ve successfully got steps 1-6 operational. This final step is actually a step back, letting you figure out what’s working and what’s not.

Use a Tool to Track Success
Sprout Social was created with social media marketing in mind. Sprout offers a full suite of social media analytics, which help you pinpoint exactly which of your messages perform best. You also can use tools like Google Analytics, which integrates with Sprout, to see which of your posts are driving traffic, conversions and overall revenue.

Build on Success
Once you have a good understanding of which content is driving the most engagement, site visits and conversions, you can use that knowledge to increase on your success. Write content and social media posts that are similar to the ones that have worked in the past. This is an ongoing process that will help you hone your unique social voice.

Share Your Success
The last step is to let the company know about the successes you’re finding—especially those who have a stake in the strategy. This allows you to prove the worth of social media and showcase its broader implications across your entire enterprise.

Plus, it doesn’t hurt to show off how hard you’ve been working. Need help? Use the checklist below to make sure you’ve got all your ducks in a row.

Social Media Marketing Checklist
We wanted to give our readers a few resources that they could use moving forward. First, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our own platform which includes robust tools for social media marketing.

Second, we thought that this 7-step social media marketing checklist would be a great way to help all of our readers creating and auditing their own strategies. We encourage you to share it with colleagues or use the embed code to put it on your own site!






Source: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-marketing-strategy/

 

[AllenCrawley]

How @Marvel Perfected the Integrated Social Campaign
By Lucy Hitz

It’s no secret that Marvel Entertainment — the Disney-owned entertainment company known for its Marvel Comics subsidiary — is masterful at integrated social marketing, but their efforts around the upcoming The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie (release date: May 1) shows particular, multi-channel ingenuity.

Marvel has driven over 71 million views of the teaser trailer alone — an impressive lift even by super hero standards.

So how does a brand harness all its individually strong social properties to bolster one mega release? Which lessons can your brand, big or small, learn from Marvel’s expertise at brand awareness? Read on to find out.

Set It Up
Marvel’s popular Agents of SHIELD TV show has been setting viewers up for the upcoming Avengers movie, providing back story and using the [HASHTAG]#ItsAllConnected[/HASHTAG] hashtag on Twitter to show the link between both properties.

Before you see Marvel's @Avengers: Age of Ultron – experience the adventures of[HASHTAG]#AgentsofSHIELD[/HASHTAG]! [HASHTAG]#ItsAllConnected[/HASHTAG] https://t.co/Am0MdNjpxa

— Agents of SHIELD (@AgentsofSHIELD) April 19, 2015​

Knowing that its audiences for the show and the movie are a perfect overlap, Marvel builds excitement for Agents of SHIELD and the Avengers movie simultaneously. Everybody wins.

Live Access to Related Events on Social
@Marvel‘s most engaging Tweet between April 13-20 was this one:

TONIGHT: watch the @Avengers [HASHTAG]#AgeOfUltron[/HASHTAG] LA premiere red carpet livestream:http://t.co/XmxU4wAzeh [HASHTAG]#AvengersPremiere[/HASHTAG] pic.twitter.com/3F4dAJU1yv

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) April 13, 2015​

This kind of content builds awareness by giving followers immediate, live access to a major movie-related event (especially relevant in the age of Periscope and Meerkat), and reminds the public that Avenger: Age of Ultron is hitting theaters soon.

Exclusive Content
Another major piece of engaging content for Marvel between April 13-20 was included in this Tweet.

The Avengers test their might with Thor's hammer in a clip from @Avengers[HASHTAG]#AgeofUltron[/HASHTAG], hitting theaters May 1! https://t.co/mVwj2rEfqD

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) April 15, 2015​

Providing followers with exclusive supplementary content is a great way to keep social followers paying attention and, more importantly, engaged with your brand in the days leading up to your big release.

Pro tip: Always couple your content with a reminder of the exact date (and time, if that’s relevant) that your product becomes available.

Mini-Releases
Marvel’s been experiencing a lot of engagement success by partnering with other companies and publicizing product releases in the weeks leading up to the worldwide movie premiere.

Unveiled: @ComicaveStudios @AAHGUAE wowed the crowd w/ its Hulkbuster collectible at last night's [HASHTAG]#AvengersPremiere[/HASHTAG]! pic.twitter.com/TgRHtaaFhA

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) April 14, 2015


​

By creating social content around these limited-release collectibles, Marvel continues to generate buzz and awareness for Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Get All Your Brands Involved
The @Avengers, @Iron_Man, @CaptainAmerica, @ThorMovies, and @Hulk Twitter handles have all gotten aboard the Avengers promotion train.

While the @Avengers handle has the most followers and engagement (1,374,382 followers and 182,497 in total engagement between April 13-20), @Iron_Man, @CaptainAmerica, @ThorMovies, and @Hulk are all doing their part, too, mostly by retweeting @Avengers content:

​

By involving all their relevant superhero brands on Twitter, Marvel is able to spread awareness of its movie release to more people than it otherwise would be able to.

What Your Brand Can Learn

1. Make the connection. If you have a brand with an audience that you suspect might intersect with the audience of the brand you’re trying to spread awareness for, run an analysis of both brands’ social audiences. If your suspicions are correct, use one social brand to bolster the other.

2. Experiment with live content. A lot of brands are doing this with Periscope and Meerkat. Don’t be afraid to get your feet wet at the lead-up event to your big product release.

3. Ain’t no party like an exclusive content party. Giving your social followers an exclusive and/or behind-the-scenes view into a world their interested in is an invaluable way of keeping your brand top-of-mind with your desired audience.

4. Make a mini-release. On your way to the big release, fill your social feeds with well-timed mini-releases of products or even blog post links that support your major release.

5. Amplify reach with secondary handles. And even consider creating relevant, product-based handles just for this release.
​

How does your brand run an integrated social marketing campaign? What lessons have you learned along the way? Let us know in the comments below.

And if you want to know about what makes a good hashtag campaign tick, click through below for our gold-standard guide to all things hashtag-related.



Source: http://simplymeasured.com/blog/2015/04/22/how-marvel-perfected-the-integrated-social-campaign/

 

[AllenCrawley]

How Pinterest Drives Online Commerce [Infographic]

Source: http://www.shopify.com/blog/27044164-how-pinterest-drives-online-commerce-infographic

Right now? I’m supposed to be writing this blog post, but I’m choosing distraction in my usual mind-clearing sanctuary: nestled deep in my Pinterest Boards. While my intentions are innocent enough, the data speaks for itself: I am likely already shopping.

Let’s talk commerce. Pinterest is a place to save all of the goods you talked yourself out of buying the first time (only to buy them later when the self-restraint wears off). That’s bad news for me, but pretty terrific news for merchants.

We partnered with Pinterest to gather data about use of the platform, as it relates to commerce. We analyzed Shopify store traffic and sales. We made this really cool infographic.

The results are in: if you sell online, you should be on Pinterest. Let’s dive deeper.

Purchasing Through Discovery

As a busy entrepreneur, social media is only a small fraction of the work you juggle every day. It’s important to spend your resources wisely. You’re connecting with your customers on Facebook with one hand, packaging goods with the other, all while hands-free Facetiming your accountant. You’re already wearing all of the hats. But, make room on the hat rack – Pinterest reins supreme in the kingdom of social commerce.

The numbers don’t lie: Pinterest can be a really powerful driver of traffic and big-ticket sales. The average order value of sales coming from Pinterest is $50 – higher than any other major social platform. Cha-ching.

87% of Pinterest users say they have purchased something they discovered while Pinning.

I admit to being one such Pinner, wooed by potted succulents, wine bottles cradled in leather bike straps fastened to brightly hued fixies, urban frenchies in tartan outerwear. The act of Pinning rarely stops at categorizing and hoarding. Possible side effects include euphoria-induced credit card use.

Why? Pinterest is window shopping and cart abandonment with a catch: walking or clicking away isn’t a cure. Coveted finds sit safely inside beautifully curated Boards for future, well, coveting. Rich Pins also lurk inside inboxes, coaxing us back with notifications about our finds.

Two million people save these super-powered Rich Pins every single day. They have extra info – like stock availability and price – baked right in, making them even easier to shop.

Three words: add to cart.

The Pinterest Audience

Mobile is catching fire, drawing the internetting masses out from behind desks. Clicking, buying, and Pinning are more often happening on the go. In a Shopify analysis, we found that mobile orders from Pinterest has increased by 140% since 2013. Mobile now accounts for a whopping 80% of all orders from Pinterest.

“Who run the world? Girls,” says the hand-lettered print I just Pinned to a board called “Cheeky”. Well, we’re running Pinterest, at least. But that’s changing, as male users are on the rise. In fact, the number of guys using the platform doubled between 2013 and 2014. Dude, Where’s my Vintage Muscle Car Board?

Gender isn’t the only demographic experiencing a data upset. Pinterest is seeing more global users in a community that is generally dominated by the US. Orders generated from Pinterest increased by 130% in non-US countries from 2013 to 2014.

73 million users log into Pinterest each month. The population of the Republic of Pinterest outnumbers that of the United Kingdom! Now that we know that the platform’s users are not entirely women residing in the US, those are 73 million reasons that your business should be using Pinterest to reach your customers.

How to Grow your Business on Pinterest

Invest a little sweat in Pinterest up front, and your Pins will continue doing the work for you. The average Pin is repinned 11 times, and 50% of a Pin’s clicks and views happen more than 3 months after inception. That’s why Rich Pins are incredibly important: the critical details about your product travel with it, and stay updated.

We’ve spelled out some pretty compelling reasons to add Pinterest to your marketing mix. But how do you get started? Newbs should follow these first steps:

• Mean Business: Be sure you have a Pinterest business account to get access to our Rich Pin integration and Pinterest analytics
• Get the Pin It Button: Most Shopify themes already include Pinterest integration, meaning your product pages will have the Pin It button by default
• Be Descriptive: Craft thoughtful, accurate, and detailed descriptions to your page, Boards, Pins and product pages

Now let’s get Pinning! We recently shared our top tips for making the most of your Pins, from how to create Pinnable images to building your community with group boards. We’ve also made this useful info available as a video.

Still stumped? Get inspired by the other 160,000 merchants selling on Shopify – follow us on Pinterest and contribute to our community board.

You can check out all of our findings in the infographic below. Please click on the image to view it full-size.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Why Social Media ROI is Like Playing the Piano

Source: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/social-media-roi-how-to-calculate-roi-1234958648.html

The ROI of Social Media
If you're in the business of social media marketing, I'm willing to bet you get asked about social media ROI about every ten minutes. I know I do. The thing is, figuring out how to calculate ROI is pretty straightforward with all of the metrics and attribution data available (and it's about to get even better with "holy grail" products like Facebook Atlas), but for some reason, I'm still dealing with skittish CMOs who cling to their multi-million-dollar TV spots because "they just work".

So here we are in 2015, and the questions about social media ROI are still coming. Clearly, I need to explain it differently. This isn't so much about how to calculate ROI, but instead, I want to explore the underlying concept of "return on investment" (or return of investment, if you're weird). Let's start with a piano:

What's the ROI of a piano?

For me? About $26.50, but that is mainly people paying to get me to STOP

For Elton John? About $400 million dollars.

What's the ROI of a Basketball?

For me: A negative amount equal to the cost for repairing my torn meniscus. I have literally lost money playing basketball.

For Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, the ROI is about $220 Million.

What's the ROI of playing video games?

See where I'm going here? I used to bet on games of Madden in college, so maybe I made about $50?

Then there are guys like Lee Jae Dong, a professional gamer from Korea who has made about half a million bones in prize money alone. That doesn't even count endorsement, or his team salary… Keep in mind that he's 25.

What's the ROI of a YouTube channel?

Ok, I actually did pretty well here since my views can convert to booksales/new clients, but let's talk about the real winners on YouTube like Jenna Marbles who, with 1.7 billion views, has earned something like $3 million with her channel.

And while we're talking about YouTube…

What's the ROI of playing with Disney Toys?

For me? I dunno, maybe I could eBay them for a few bucks…

But for the person behind the DisneyCollector YouTube Channel, playing with toys has grossed over $5 Million in YouTube ad revenue ALONE. Five million bucks. For reviewing Disney toys.

What's the ROI of a Camera?

For me? Literally nothing. Like absolutely positively zero dollars.

Annie Leibovitz, on the other hand, is rumored to have a $100,000+ day rate, and has used cameras to amass a $20 Million fortune.

What's the ROI of spray paint?

For me? A $350 fine…

Meanwhile, a Banksy canvas is worth something like $32,000.

What's the ROI of cat photos?

For me? Probably some lols in response to my next email.

For Ben Huh, they created a multi-million dollar Cheezburger empire.

Ok so let's get back to my original point and and talk about social media ROI. Through these examples, I hope you now realize that ROI isn't about the tool, it's about investing the time and effort to use it correctly. The "I", the investment, isn't monetary, it's not about throwing money at something. It's about investing the time, the effort, the blood, sweat, and hustle into becoming the best. It's about execution. If you want to make money doing something, you need to be really good at that something in order to see the returns you're looking for.

So when it comes to social, you need to learn the platforms. You need the combination of creative, copy, and strategy. You need to be able to understand the insights, iterate and execute against them. Only when you've reached that point, my friends, can we start to have a real conversation about social media ROI.

 

[wade1mil]

Instagram turned on it's advertising API this week...

http://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-switches-on-ads-api-2015-8