Lowell Brown, Author at Going Social

Top (Free) Social Media Analytical Tools

Posted on Aug 8, 2014 by Lowell Brown

Effective social marketing begins with setting goals for your business. How you measure these goals is absolutely fundamental to the success of your social media marketing strategy. There are many social media analytical tools available on the web, however, most come at a monthly fee. If you’re looking for budget friendly analytical tools, we’ve already done your homework for you. Check out our favourite (and free) analytical tools to monitor your social media marketing efforts.

FACEBOOK INSIGHTS

Cost: $0.00

Facebook provides a very comprehensive built-in reporting platform for your company page. You can see analytics for your page, posts, and people who like your page. Some key metrics include page likes growth, post reach, and page engagement. You can even compare the performance of your page between time periods (usually by a month-to-month basis). You’re also able to see what types of posts are most valuable and when you’re fans are online. This information is vital so you can better optimize your content calendar and post schedule.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/help/336893449723054/.

SIMPLY MEASURED

Cost: $0.00 – Free Sample Report or $500 + per month (depending on package)

Simply Measured offers a variety of free reports for multiple social platforms including: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The reports are free on one condition: you follow or “like” Simply Measured on Facebook or Twitter. The reports give you a taste of their paid measurement packages but they are nonetheless quite useful if you’re a smaller company with a strict social media marketing budget.

http://simplymeasured.com/free-social-media-tools

SOCIAL BRO

Cost: $0.00 or $13.95 (and up) per month

Analyze your Twitter page with the free Social Bro plan. With this plan you can analyze up to 2 Twitter accounts and you have an allowance of 5000 social contacts, which include your followers and the number of people you follow. View important community insights, manage your followers, and discover the best time to tweet so your posts get maximum reach.

http://www.socialbro.com

PINTEREST ANAYLTICS

Cost: $0.00

Find out how many people are visiting your Pinterest page, seeing your pins, and engaging with your content all in one convenient place – Pinterest! There’s only one catch – in order to get access to your analytics you must first verify your website. For step by step instructions on how to verify your Pinterest page, go to http://business.pinterest.com/en/verify-your-website.

Recently, Pinterest has released a new and improved analytical feature, based on feedback from a number of pinners looking for more detailed analytics. You can now discover your most engagement boards and pins and which ones are driving the most impressions, clicks, and repins.

To learn more, visit https://analytics.pinterest.com/

While this list of free analytics tools is very limited in terms of social stats, if you’re not looking to pay a monthly fee for analytics, these are your go-to tools.

What free social analytical tools have you tried and tested?

How (And Why) to Create Your Own LinkedIn Group

Posted on Jul 25, 2014 by Lowell Brown

Let’s start by addressing the question: “What is a LinkedIn group?”

LinkedIn groups provide a place for like-minded professionals to share discussions, make business contacts, and establish themselves as industry leaders.

Actively participating in groups discussions on LinkedIn is a great way to expand your reach and build brand credibility. You can easily get started by searching for and finding groups in your area of expertise.

You can search for groups in one of two ways:

In the search box at the top of any page, select Groups from the dropdown list on the left. Then type in your keywords or group name to search. You can choose to refine your search results using the checkboxes on the left.

Move your cursor over Interests at the top of your homepage and select Groups. Scroll down the page and select the Find a group link on the right side of the page. Type in your interests.

Some groups on LinkedIn are free to join while others may require the group manager to review your request to join.

You can join up to 50 groups – tip: focus on groups with a larger membership to extend your reach even further.

Actively participating in LinkedIn Groups is a powerful lead generator for your business. So why not create your own LinkedIn Group? I’ve outlined 3 reasons why you should create your own group on LinkedIn.

1. Drives Traffic:

When you create a LinkedIn Group, you have the option to feature your website URL in the group profile. This will be one of the first things a people will see when they join your group. You can also add a group welcome message that includes a link to your site.

2. Builds Your Network:

Create your own LinkedIn Group and you’ll likely receive new invites to connect on a daily basis. People can use your group as a reason to connect with you on a personal basis because sharing similar interests is a good reason to connect.

3. Generates Leads:

As mentioned above, LinkedIn Groups are a place for professionals who share and connect around a common interest or goal. People in the same industry or with similar interest join your group to find answers. Take advantage of this opportunity by helping members achieve their own goals. During the process, you’ll be able to establish yourself as an industry leader.

So how do you get started with creating your own LinkedIn Group?

To create a group:

1. Move your cursor over Interests at the top of your homepage and select Groups.

2. Click the Create a group button on the right.

3. Fill in the requested information. A red asterisk means it’s required.

4. Click the Create.. button to create your group as an open group or a members-only group.

You’ll want to invite others with similar interests to join your group by clicking “Send Invitations” under the group “Manage” tab.

Are you a LinkedIn Group Owner or Manager? Feel free to share your LinkedIn Group page in the comments below.

5 Tips to Stand Out on Facebook

Posted on Jul 18, 2014 by Lowell Brown

Are you frustrated with your Facebook reach?

Is your post engagement lacking?

Are you spending countless hours on Facebook with no results?

With more than 23 million small business pages on Facebook (and growing), it’s getting increasingly difficult to score quality Facebook Likes. That’s why we’ve provided you with 5 key tips to separate yourself from the crowd and stand out from the competition.

1. Claim customized URL: a short, simple URL is much easier for people to find your business page than a long, numerical string.

2. Choose a unique profile picture: if you’re a small business choose a unique profile picture that showcases what you do. For example, you can use this space to display your top-selling product, or to add a personal touch to your page, upload a staff photo. In most cases, businesses will also use their company logo as their profile picture. Ask yourself “would people recognize our company logo?” This works well for medium-large businesses that are already well established.

3. Create an eye-catching cover photo: Your cover photo is the heart of your business page. This is the first thing a person will see when they land on your page – so make it interesting. Your cover photo is the perfect spot to advertise current promotions, giveaways, and contests. When you’re not running special promotions, giveaways, or contests, use this space to advertise your products/services with a clear call-to-action such as “call now”, “visit our website”, “visit us in store today”. You can also include the words “click here”, where people will be prompted to click on your cover photo for more information. When people click on your cover photo it will enlarge to photo viewer mode. You can then add more information about your cover photo by including text in the description space.

4. Post engaging content: spend some time researching your audience’s interests. If they already “liked” your Facebook page, we know for sure they’re already interested in your business – but what are their other areas of interest? It’s okay to post content, on occasion, that doesn’t directly correlate with your business. Your goal here is to attract engagement on your page and if doing that requires you to step outside of your comfort zone, so be it.

5. Know when your audience is online: use Facebook Insights to find out when your fans are online. Obviously, you want to schedule your posts when the majority of your fans are online so you’ll get both a larger reach and more interaction. Schedule your posts just before or after the hour to reach people during the work week, specifically office workers who will most likely be in meetings on the hour. With this tip, you’re likely to catch these people right before or after a meeting.

Are you already using these tips to leverage your Facebook marketing strategy? If you have any more tips that you’d like to add, leave them in the comments below!

It’s All About The Visuals

Posted on Jul 3, 2014 by Lowell Brown

You’ve likely noticed some striking changes over the past couple years with how all the social platforms look – both on mobile and desktop. There has been a trend that’s slowly developed over the past year to make desktop interface design very similar to a mobile experience. So what does this mean?

Overall navigating around is simpler, for any user. Screens aren’t cluttered as much with navigation links, ads and tiny text. The biggest change is bigger and brighter pictures. Almost all of the social platforms give users and brands much more visual space on their profile pages.

But that’s not the only change – visuals have been given more screen real estate. The biggest change falls in the newsfeed. Sure, platforms like Instagram and Pinterest have always been heavy with visuals but their success and popularity, as well as ease of use are what have caused the other platforms to take notice.

Twitter now shows visuals directly in the feed. You no longer have to click image links to see pictures.

Google+ has continued to focus on giving people a clean user experience and the visuals are continually getting larger. If you share visuals on Google+ you’ve more than likely noticed they are much larger.

Facebook has also become heavily graphic supportive. It’s even been documented that Facebook gives posts with images a better “reach score” than other posts per their post algorithm. Brands have also been pushed heavily to use images with Facebook’s Ads to promote their pages, boost engagement and post reach.

Images make the experience for users more enjoyable. Bright, creative visuals whether text or a photo captured attention – and in social it’s all about eyeballs. The more people see your posts, engage with you and take some sort of action, the better.

So what’s the take-away? Use more visuals with your posts, as much as possible.

If you’re looking for ways to create and find visuals, check out our other blog post: http://www.goingsocial.ca/easy-to-use-tools-for-designing-social-media-visuals/

2014 Social Media Marketing Tips

Posted on Jun 19, 2014 by Lowell Brown

Do you want to boost your social media marketing strategy to increase web traffic and generate more leads for your business?

Do you want to stay ahead of your social competition?

Supercharge your social media marketing strategy with these tips from the pros:

1. Schedule posts just before or after the hour

When you’re scheduling your posts, schedule them just before or after the hour as you’re more likely to hit more people. You’re more likely to catch people checking social media just before or after a work meeting.

2. Don’t ignore paid advertising

Organic posts simply do not have a large enough reach. You must invest in paid advertising as well to reach more people beyond your current fan base.

3. Create lists on Twitter

Twitter lists are handy in more ways than one. We recommend creating lists for clients, leads, and competitors.

You’ll want to create a list of your clients who are on Twitter so that you can see what they’re tweeting about. Knowing what they’re interested in (besides your brand) will help with your content marketing strategy.

An easy way to build your lead list is to search for people who need your services. Go to Twitter search and type in keywords related to your business. If you can answer a person’s question, for example, you may have scored a business lead.

See what your competitors are up to on social by referring to your competitor list. Sometimes your biggest competitors may inspire you.

4. Acknowledge engagement

Keep an eye on who is sharing your content. Type your company name in Twitter search to see who is interested in your content. Try to reply back to all users who mention you. Follow those users who mention you, or at the very least favourite their tweet.

5. Drive engagement

According to a report by Buddy Media, Facebook posts with questions generate 92 percent higher comment rates than posts without questions. Ask a question at the end of your post to drive a higher comment rate, but ensure your post is short and simple. Include a call to action with your post, such as “check it out”, or “comment below” to drive engagement.

How have these social media marketing strategies worked for your business?

Do you have any effective social media marketing tips you’d like to share?

Easy To Use Tools for Designing Social Media Visuals

Posted on Jun 11, 2014 by Lowell Brown

You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create stunning images for your social media channels. It’s now easier than ever to design your very own images (for free!) on the web. We’ve put together a list of our favourite resources to create professional-grade graphics for your social media pages.

1. PicMonkey

The basic (free) version of PicMonkey is all you need to create one-of-a-kind graphics. You can upload an image and edit directly on the web or you can design a graphic from scratch. You can crop and re-size your image and add text in almost any font style. Frame your image with a border and add a special effect to make it really pop.

There is also a paid version which offers even more cool features.

www.picmonkey.com

2. Share As Image

This program is useful if you are frequently sharing quotes. When you install the bookmarklet, it’s conveniently located in your browser’s toolbar for easy access. When you find a quote online that you’d like to share, simply highlight the text and click the Share As Image button in your toolbar. Another window will open where you’ll have the option to choose font style and background. You can either upload your own background image or design your own. There are limited background features with the free version, however with the ability to upload your own background image, the design possibilities are endless.

https://shareasimage.com/

3. Canva

Designing a new Facebook cover photo is a piece of cake with Canva, a free online design platform for just about anything – including posters, presentations, social media, and blog pages. For social media use, you can upload and edit your own images or create an entirely new image using their layout designs for free backgrounds. And did I mention the designs are already sized appropriately?

Canva does not yet support Internet Explorer – you’ll have to login with your Facebook account using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

www.canva.com

What free online-image creation tools are you using? What other tools would you recommend for creating social media visuals?

How to Shorten URL’s for Google Plus Pages

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Lowell Brown

As a Google+ user, you can now create a custom URL that links directly to your Google+ page. A URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator and is a specific number spring used to define a resource location on the Internet. A custom URL is a shorter and much easier to remember web address. With a shorter URL, you can easily share your Google+ page and avoid the difficult-to-remember long numerical string.

An example of a typical Google+ URL: Lowell Brown, CEO of Going Social https://plus.google.com/113380608144434661819/posts

Now, if we took this Google+ profile and claimed a custom URL, we might end up with something like: https://plus.google.com/+GoingSocial

Before claiming your custom URL for your Google+ page, you must ensure that your business page is either a verified local business or has a linked website. As a side note, when you link to your webpage, you can use Google+ Direct Connect to increase your search visibility in Google. To demonstrate, users can type into Google search the “+” symbol before a brand name and be linked directly to that brand’s Google+ page.

As soon as you meet the eligibility requirements you can get started creating your custom URL with these four easy steps:

Step 1: Sign into your Google+ profile and click on “Profile” in the main menu.

Step 2: 2.Click the About tab, and under Links > Google+ URL, click Get URL.

Step 3: Google+ will assign you a custom URL which you cannot change. You can however add letters or numbers as you wish.

Step 4: When you are happy with your new URL, you must agree to the Terms of Service and click “Change URL”. If prompted for mobile verification, follow the instructions and you’ll be given a code to verify. Note that once you “Confirm Your Choice” you will be unable to request a new URL.

Remember that you cannot change the URL itself, but you can edit the punctuation and diacritics of the custom URL. To edit the URL:

Go to the “Links” section of your Google+ page
Make your desired edits in the editing box

Simple enough isn’t it? Let us know if you’ve created a custom URL for your Google+ page and feel free to share it in the comments!

Using The @Mention Function on Twitter

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Lowell Brown

Twitter speaks its own language, one that can be baffling to new users. However, I would argue that Twitter is one of the most powerful marketing tools in the social media sphere. With that being said, if you’re on Twitter or considering joining for that matter, it’s absolutely crucial that you understand the basics of Twitter.

One commonly used function on Twitter that is poorly used is the @mention function. Learning what this function is used for, when to use it, and how to use it is important to get the most out of your Twitter marketing efforts.

What is the @mention function used for?

The @mention function is used to ‘tag’ users in your status updates, typically at the beginning of a tweet.

Mentioning a user on Twitter is an effective way to grab a user’s attention, quickly.

When to use the @mention function?

Generally, you’ll want to ‘mention’ someone in a tweet if you’re referencing their content and/or replying to their message.

How do you @mention a user?

If you’re referencing a user in your tweet for example, you’ll want to use their Twitter handle somewhere within your tweet, typically placed at the beginning your tweet. If you want to reply to a user’s message, you can also press the ‘reply’ button that appears under the tweet.

It’s important to note that you do not have to ‘follow’ a user (or that user does not have to ‘follow’ you) to mention them on Twitter. Each time you mention a user on Twitter it will show up in their ‘@mentions tab’ on their profile page, so they’ll be able to see that you’re tweeting about them.

For example, I found a great quote by Jay Baer, a NY Times bestselling author, marketing consultant, and keynote speaker. When I share this quote with my followers, I will want to include Jay Baer’s Twitter handle (@jaybaer) to maximize my reach. A tweet that begins with a @mention is seen by you, the person you mentioned, and users who follow both of you.

For example, @jaybaer “Social media creates kinship between companies and customers, and kinship equals purchase intent.”

To find a user’s Twitter handle, simply type in Twitter search the user’s first and last name (or the company name) and the handle will show below their page name within their profile.

What if I want to reach out to a user privately?

If you’d like to tweet someone a message and do not want others to see it, you can send a direct message to that person. This message will only show up in their message page and the only people that will see it are you and that person. It will not be shared on your profile or show up within their newsfeed.

It should be noted that you can only direct message your followers. I cannot send a direct message to Jay Baer, for example because he does not follow me on Twitter.

To send a direct message to a user, go to the ‘Messages’ tab at the top of your Twitter page, create a ‘New Message’ and type in the handle of the person you’re privately messaging.

How do you share tweets with ALL of your followers?

Now the @mention function will only show your tweet to mutual followers – meaning the users who follow both you and the recipient you are mentioning.

If you want ALL of your followers to see your tweet that includes this function, simply add a period in front of the @ symbol.

For example, .@jaybaer “Social media creates kinship between companies and customers, and kinship equals purchase intent.”

It’s important to remember that you shouldn’t abuse this function as it can begin to annoy some people.

Were you aware of this @ function trick? Have you used it before?

5 Tips to Grow Engagement on Facebook

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Lowell Brown

Having a Facebook page for your business is an absolute necessity for social media marketing success. With over 1 billion active Facebook users to date, you’ll be able to effectively reach your target audience with the click of a button.

Facebook allows you to effectively send out your brand message to your target audience through their advanced targeting options. Once you have reached your target audience, you will need to build a solid fan base for your brand. Attracting Facebook fans relies heavily on engagement. The general rule of thumb for engagement levels are as follows:

Engagement rate > 6.5% for pages with less than 10K fans.

Engagement rate > 4.5% for pages with more than 100K fans.

Now that you know how frequently you should be engaging with your audience, you must ask yourself: how do I engage with my fans? We’ve provided you with a few starter tips below:

1. Ask questions – Every Facebook user wants to be heard, so give them that opportunity. Make sure you ask open-ended questions and give them the opportunity to tell others their opinion on various topics. Not only will this give you a higher rate of engagement, it will also give you more insight about your products. When you learn about your audience’s likes and dislikes, you can begin to cater your content to their interests.

2. Use sharp and bright images – If there is anything that catches the eye of a Facebook user, it is the quality of images being used. Uploading creative and attractive images for each post will likely increase user engagement. You must also tap into your creative side when creating a Facebook cover photo for your page. As users visit your profile, the cover photo will be one of the first things a user will notice. You can use your cover photo to showcase products/services or upcoming promotions, for example.

3. Post quality content – You should be catering your content to your target audience’s interests. Take your time planning out quality content to post and ensure that each post is “share” worthy. You should be replying to comments and questions in a timely and polite manner. Don’ t forget to thank users for positive feedback.

4. Contests – Facebook now allows users to directly run contests on their pages. Depending on your social media goals, the type of contest you run can range from sweepstakes, instant-win contests, photography or video contests, “Like” to win contests, and voting contests. Hosting a contest is bound to attract new fans and in turn increase your level of engagement.

5. Insights – Use the Facebook “Insights” tool to view your page statistics. This tool will inform you on the number of “Likes” you have received, the average amount of time people spend on your page, and the time of day the majority of your fans are online, for example. It is important to measure your promotional efforts as adjustments to your content (such as type of content and when your content is being posted may be needed to grow fan engagement.

Increasing your engagement levels on Facebook will certainly not happen overnight. However, if you commit to the tips outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to improving your engagement levels.

The Instagram Cheat Sheet for Image Sizing & Dimensions

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Lowell Brown

Instagram, one of the most popular photo and video sharing platforms today is yet another social media site that is regularly changing their image dimensions. Optimizing your Instagram page with eye-catching visual content is essential to achieving maximum brand exposure and building your fan base.

Let us help you create a stellar Instagram page by following our Instagram sizing & dimension guide below:

*Note: our infographic is mobile-based and does not take web into account.

Profile:

Your profile picture will display as 110 x 110 pixels in the mobile app. However, the profile picture will appear slightly larger on web so it is suggested you upload an image that is 180 x 180 pixels to maintain a high quality image in both settings.

Located adjacent to your profile picture are your username, page name, and biography.

Your username should be your brand name, consistent across all other social platforms. If your brand name is taken, then consider adding a tagline to your username such as “Going Social –Effective Social Media Marketing.” Your username will become your URL address so make sure that it’s short and easy to remember.

Note: You have a maximum of 30 characters for your username.

Tip: Try to coordinate your Instagram username with your Twitter handle.

Your page name will display below your username. If your username is already your brand name I suggest putting your tagline here: “Effective Social Media Marketing.”

You have 150 characters to describe who you are and what you do. This is your chance to create a great first impression so take your time with writing a memorable biography.

Your cover photo is a collage of your uploaded Instagram photos. This is a live photo stream of your shared photos, randomly selected by Instagram. It includes one large thumbnail measuring 410 x 410 pixels and six small thumbnails measuring 205 x 205 pixels.

The images and videos you upload to Instagram are displayed on your profile page as 161 x 161 pixels. When you click on these thumbnails (viewed with Lightbox photo-viewing app), the image will expand to 612 x 612 pixels. The maximum resolution you can upload on Instagram is 2,048 x 2,048 pixels, although it varies by device. For example, if a photo is taken with the Instagram Camera, it can reach up to the maximum resolution (2,048 x 2,048 pixels) on most Apple devices. However, if a photo is taken with a regular phone camera, they will be uploaded at a lower resolution of 612 x 612 pixels.

Photo Feed:

The dimensions of your profile picture will be scaled down to 40 x 40 pixels within your photo feed.

Your shared images will display at 512 x 512 pixels on your photo feed.

Again, the maximum file upload size is 2,048 x 2,048 pixels (varies by device used.)

When viewed in Lightbox, the maximum size is 612 x 612 pixels.

If you’re uploading a video to Instagram, it can be 3-15 seconds long. Instagram allows a clip size of 640 x 640 pixels.

All of your photos and videos you share will appear on your profile and within your feed. If you set your visibility to private, only your current approved followers will be able to see your content.

Now that your Instagram page is optimized to look its best, it’s time to start engaging with users and attract new followers. You can spend as little at 20 – 30 minutes a day on Instagram – liking, sharing, commenting, and uploading your own content (don’t forget to include hashtags!) and you’ll will begin to see results.