Socially Stephanie: How to Market Your Mobile App

Dear Socially Stephanie:
I'm currently working on an app. While the launch is still some time away, what should I be doing to prepare? I want to get as much excitement around the app as possible before the launch and then go hard once it launches to make sure I get a lot of downloads from the get-go. Do you have a strategy I could follow? I'm planning to introduce it on Google Play and iTunes.

App-tastic in Apple Valley

Dear App-tastic:

Congratulations! You are very smart to think about these things beforehand. It is always easier to build buzz and excitement before a launch. In fact, the most successful apps are those that get the most downloads in the first weeks. If you wait too long, it could be too late. Don't worry, I have a strategy for you and I think you're going to like it.

But before I get into the nitty-gritty, I want you to take that phone out of your pocket and put it into your hands. Stare at it. Love it. Make it your best friend and really think about how you use it and how others use it. Why, you ask? Because apps are downloaded via mobile phones, nowhere else. That's where I want you to focus your marketing attention.

With that said, and considering that you're an app creator, I assume you already have a responsive website. That means when people come to your site from their phone or tablet, they see your mobile friendly website, not the website you view from your desktop. (If you don't, get one, fast.)

I'm going to break this strategy up into pre-launch and launch to make sure you have a timetable, because you need to stay on track. Ready? Let's dive in.

During the prelaunch phase, you need to concentrate your efforts on gathering leads and generating buzz. I want you to capture those leads right on your website. And I want you to capture both email and phone number. I'll explain later.

So how do you go about getting leads? It's all about the content. Awesome content plus the influence of social media equals increased pre-qualified traffic. Increased pre-qualified traffic brings you leads. It's a simple formula really, and it's something I call social blogging.
Make sense? The more targeted the blogs and your social content become, the more qualified your traffic will be. Now for the lead part. Once you lure app downloadees to your site with the blog and social bait, it's time to reel them in and get them to sign up. You can use a pop-up or an opt-in box at the end of your blog posts to encourage those emails and phone numbers. By the way, you also want to have an opt-in box on your homepage so no matter what page someone lands on, the option to sign up is right there in front of them.

Now that you have the social blogging down, let's talk about which social sites you are going to use and how you're going to use them. The first site that is a must is Instagram. Instagram is an app that's used on phones. The audiences match. Plus, with this strategy you can get a ton of signups and interest before you launch. Then when you do launch, you can change the link in your bio to the app store for easy downloads. You will also want to use Google Plus and start building a network there. You are launching on G+, so it makes sense to get in front of the Google fanatics. Plus, with 1,000 followers on G+ you have access to advertising. That could be a huge win. If the audience is right, you'll also want to be active on Facebook and Twitter. Both are highly mobile and highly populated.

In addition to all the awesome visual and mobile friendly social content you create, you should also think about setting up and sharing a mobile short code to capture people while they are on their phones. Something like "Text 'AppTime' to 555-1111" will do the trick. You'll want as many phone numbers as you can get before launch.

After six months of heavy content and lead generation, you'll be ready for launch. The first thing you'll want to do is email and text everyone who signed up in the pre-launch phase and let them know that the app is live. Since those who receive the text will be able to head on over to the app store from their phone, they will have a higher download rate. A simple click and they are there. See why I wanted you to gather phone numbers? Genius!

Once you get your list downloading, it's time to think like a publicist and get those third-party endorsements. There are tons of sites that review apps, and you should reach out to all of them. If you can get your app in the hands of some influential tech bloggers, you can see top download status in no time.

Lastly, if you need that extra push, you can engage in some mobile and social advertising. I think Facebook is great for advertising apps because you can get super targeted. In fact, Facebook even allows you to create an app download campaign and target different devices.

Well, there you have it, a mobile app strategy fit for a winner! Go out and get 'em.

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Building a Brand? The Secret to Great Facebook Graphics

As we all know, images when shared on social media hold so much power and when done right, it can really help your business grow its online exposure. More than 60% of social media is made up of pictures and this is because people are seeing how powerful a great graphic can be. When it comes to Facebook graphics, here are a few secrets to help you get the best performance out of your images.

1. Brand Assets

By brand assets I mean logo’s or product photos. It is important that you have various images of your products and a logo for your business as people won’t trust your company if you don’t have assets to back up your content. Doing an image stock check will allow you to see what images you have available to use when planning your visual strategy.

2. Voice and Visual Style

When it comes to your online voice and visual style, you really need to know who your target market to define what your customer wants from you visually. Is your brand mature, conservative or humorous? You need to know your visual style so that the images you are posting have the best possible chance of being shared via social.

3. Use Grids or Frames

When it comes to the images you are posting, you need to think about whether you are going to use a grid layout or a frame. Photo’s should be contained in one of the other so that your design has a more professional appearance and design order.

4. Filters

Filters are not just for #selfies. Well known brands on social media use filters to improve an images quality and to give a unique effect. Make sure that if you are going to use filters, that you chose one appropriate for your audience and not one that is just flashy and irrelevant to the image.

5. Be Creative

I say this time and time again because it is so important to be creative when it comes to social media and images. There is nothing worse than boring pictures because they won’t connect with your audience. Display your products in a unique way to give you a creative edge.

I am a huge advocate of photo editing tools and have always used PicMonkey until now. I have come across an even better, completely free of charge image editing tool that really is amazing. If you want to give your images that extra boost online, check out Canva


Keywords: Best Practices, Facebook, Social Media Marketing, Branding, Engagement, Influence, Loyalty, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Networks, brand building, facebook graphics

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Ethan McCarty is Moving to Bloomberg as Global Head of Internal Communications

It was a great pleasure last year to interview Ethan McCarty, who, along with Susan Emerick, did so much for listening (the IBM Design Labs) and employee advocacy in IBM Global Marketing. McCarty is moving to Bloomberg, where without doubt he will make his mark.

 

Here's the letter he wrote yesterday morning to his friends; I'm publishing it with his permission:

After thirteen challenging, rewarding, meaningful years, today is my last day at IBM. I am going to Bloomberg as the Global Head of Internal Communications.

I have worked on amazing projects and programs at IBM -- building IBM Research's digital communications system, launching Autonomic Computing (!), developing and facilitating the Jams, producing the Annual Report, introducing Smarter Planet, personalizing, socializing and democratizing our Intranet, growing our Alumni network, celebrating our Centennial, creating our digital strategy and our Social Media strategy and, last but certainly not least, launching the M&C Labs.

When I told a mentor that I was leaving, he said something that really stuck with me: you are starting to ask questions of yourself now that IBM cannot answer.  I think the biggest one is, of course, can I do great things outside of IBM?

At Bloomberg I will be at the crossroads of financial services, media, technology and even politics -- the very things that make New York City such an exciting place to live.  The company has a very strong and unique culture (and concomitant zaniness too, no doubt) and it is going through an exciting moment -- its founder's return, a massive expansion of the employee population, expansion of the core terminals business into adjacent industries -- that will make a compelling challenge for me as I build their Internal Communications capability. I aim to apply much of what I have learned from IBM to Bloomberg's CEO's quest for a more cohesive identity and narrative for Bloomberg employees.

So I am excited to test my mettle outside of IBM -- and nervous too: IBM is like my home town and leaving is scary.  Yet I feel very good about the work I've done with all of you and the network of relationships I have through IBM.  Looking back at my time at IBM, the massively overwhelming feeling is that it has been time very, very meaningfully and well spent.  And I have you, my fellow IBMers, to thank for this.

I am hopeful for IBM and all my IBM friends -- the company is on the precipice of a set of changes that will be super interesting, challenging and mind-expanding. You can feel the engines revving up for a course-change. And I will be rooting for you to make it in grand style (and not just as a shareholder).

Because I will always be an IBMer; I feel as though I have a tattoo on my heart in blue ink -- it's the eight bar logo, of course.

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SEO for Dummies: Learn SEO in 10 Simple Steps

If you are anything like most people, SEO can seem like the unwanted elephant in the room. You know your business needs to deal with it, but you don’t want to be the one responsible for this task. When most people think SEO, they assume difficult, complex, and time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be any of those things. In fact, you can learn SEO in 10 simple steps. All you need to do is lean in, listen, and apply the information you are given. While no two businesses operate the same, SEO is flexible enough to accommodate any need, desire, or shortcoming. Remove the elephant in the room and take your business to the next level!

Step 1: Setup
During the initial setup stage, you should prepare yourself for success. Just as a house needs a solid foundation before the framing goes up, so does your SEO strategy. The foundation in this case consists of tools like Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and Google Webmaster Tools.

• Google Analytics will play a major role in tracking and analyzing how visitors interact with your site. Because it is free of charge and relatively intuitive, it is a necessity for every SEO campaign. In addition to creating an account and adding it to your website, you will want to read up on the features it offers.

• Google AdWords is particularly useful as it pertains to SEO for its keyword research capabilities. This incredibly valuable tool allows you to find out what users are searching for so you can cater to their needs, wants, and desires.

• Google Webmaster Tools allows you to gain the most out of your SEO efforts by letting you view your site through the eyes of Google. This toolset gives you keen insight into how pages are performing, which links are pointing to it, keywords that are working, and aspects that need to be fixed. You will find it useful to read through Google Webmaster Guidelines.

Step 2: Site Audit
If you have an existing site, you will want to perform a site audit when starting your SEO. With each passing month, Google is becoming more stringent with its penalties, and rules are becoming increasingly cut and dried. The best way to ensure your site is in compliance is to perform a detailed site audit.
One helpful site audit tool is the Moz Site Audit Checklist. As a reliable source, this detailed checklist is great for examining everything from content and accessibility to site architecture and internal linking. Another good option is WooRank. This helpful website audit tool automatically checks and analyzes many items on the Moz checklist. While a site audit may take significant time and energy, it is completely necessary to SEO. Penalties for preexisting violations can be harsh and eventually undo much of the hard work you put into your site.
Step 3: WWW or Without
Surprisingly enough, a very important part of SEO depends on those three “w’s” you see in front of your site’s web address. If you aren’t careful, you could make a costly mistake regarding these letters. People often think this determines whether someone can arrive at your website by typing www.domain.com or domain.com, which is not quite the case. At its core, this is about how the search engines view your website and how links pointing to your site are treated. You can choose to go with the ‘www’ or without it, but it is important to choose just one. If you choose both, the search engines will view your website as two separate sites, which can badly damage your rankings and link quality.
Step 4: Keyword Research

Some experts go as far as to say keyword research is the most important part of SEO. It’s hard to argue with that statement, as there are plenty of statistics to back it up. If you are serious about SEO, you need to invest heavily in keyword research. For your site to stand out against the more than 100 billion Google search queries per month, you must appropriately optimize. That starts with keyword research. Everything else falls into place after you gain an understanding of what your audience is searching for. Here is a sampling of useful tools you can use to get started:

• Google AdWords Keyword Planner
• Google Suggest
• Ubersuggest
• Google Trends
• Google Webmaster Tools

Step 5: Navigation
Navigation, as it relates to SEO, is important on two ends. First, it is imperative for visitors to be able to navigate smoothly and quickly through your site’s pages. Second, search engines need to find clear connections between individual links and pages.
To accomplish both of these goals simultaneously, you need to build a universal navigation. Do this by identifying why visitors come to your site, what your top exit pages are, and what search terms are used on site. Next, you should divide your products and key pages into categories with useful names. Finally, put those categories in the universal navigation and keep things simple. If you use drop down menus, they need to be in HTML in order for the search engines to read them. If your product pages have more than 20 items on a page, consider adding a filter for visitors to narrow their search.
Step 6: On-Page Content

While there is significant behind the scenes work that goes into SEO, you still need quality content for visitors to read and view. Google’s newest algorithm is putting a major emphasis on useful, high-quality writing instead of heavy keyword usage. Avoid keyword stuffing and instead use calculated, well-placed keywords. It is best to target one keyword phrase per page. As for the structure, each page should have a distinct arrangement and headings.
Step 7: Meta Tags
In order to understand the value of meta tags, you must think about things through the eyes of search engine users. When you search for something, how do you determine which result to click? You most likely analyze the first few results and read a few words from the title and accompanying description. As a site, you only have a limited string of characters to persuade a user to click on your result over millions of others available. That descriptive sentence is known as a meta tag.
Your site will see a noticeable improvement if you are able to properly attack meta tags. Each meta description should be around 160 characters and should include natural keyword phrases. It is also crucial that you include some sort of call to action. This can be difficult to accomplish in only a few words and requires careful planning and thinking. If you’ve done your keyword research and organized site content in an effective manner, it should all fall into place.
Step 8: Coding

Coding can be a difficult part of SEO for those unfamiliar with the topic. While you will probably need to find someone well-educated in coding to perform detailed actions, there is one area you should understand: robots.txt.
In simple terms, robots.txt is a text file that you put on your site to tell search engines which pages they are allowed to visit. While this code is not mandatory, it is very helpful in cases where you have pages you wish for search robots to avoid. Think of it like a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. Thieves can still get in if they like, but most folks will leave you alone. It is important to make sure your robots.txt file is in the main directory of your site and is structured appropriately.
Step 9: Sitemap
You can have a beautiful, properly structured site, but unless people can view it, your hard work doesn’t mean anything. To get the maximum amount of traffic and visibility, your site must be indexed by search engines and directories, like DMOZ. Otherwise, the big guys, like Google, Yahoo! and Bing, are unlikely to find the most relevant page on your site to display (if your site is found at all).
Many techniques and tools promise to get your site indexed by search engines. However, the least time consuming and most reliable way to lead search engines and visitors through your site’s content is by creating a sitemap. With an HTML sitemap, visitors can quickly navigate the contents of your site and head to the most relevant area. Similarly, an XML sitemap is read by search engines to ensure the most relevant page of your site is displayed.
Step 10: Off-Page

In addition to the work you put into your site, you’ll need to spend some effort working off of your page. Focus on link building through content marketing, blog writing, guest blogging, infographics, site directories, and other tools that allow you to leave online footprints leading back to your site. Off-page efforts also include social media marketing. When properly used, sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram can be helpful tools in acquiring site traffic. Whatever you do, avoid black hat SEO techniques when it comes to off-page efforts.
Bonus! Build Trust
In addition to these 10 simple rules, you should understand the importance of building trust online by using Google+ Author Verification and WOT. These tools enable your site to build a healthy reputation and trust relationship with search engines and visitors. Registering your domain name for a minimum of 5 years also instills trust and indicates that you plan to be around for the long term.
SEO: You Can Do It!

Whether you have tried SEO in the past and failed or have never given it a shot, don’t be intimidated by the noise. There are thousands of help articles discussing the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of SEO, but you don’t need to learn everything at once. Follow these 10 simple steps and you will be well on your way to optimizing your site in a healthy way.
If you have any questions please post them in the comment area below and I will answer them as promptly as I can for you. Thank you—class dissmissed!

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Top 5 Ingredients For A Successful Instagram Campaign!

Despite having the highest engagement among all social media platforms, few companies have truly tried to tap into Instagram's potential to create campaigns to engage with their audiences.

There are a few possible reasons that attributed to this: The disabling of URL on Instagram user’s post heavily crippled its ability to drive direct traffic from Instagram. There isn’t an advertising option that’s similar to Facebook for brands to promote a campaign or product offering. Lastly, there is no default way for a user to re-share post, which leaves brands with only hashtags to reach their audiences.
But all these little problems can be easily overcome with some simple tips and tricks that we can learn from other brands.
Let’s start with the most important one.

#1 Understanding Your Instagram Audience

People visit different social networks for different reasons, and you need to know what type of post your audiences love the most on Instagram.
Starbucks love curating users’ photos on Instagram and re-posting them on their account. These little actions let their customers know how much they care about their creativities and opinions.
Especially in the past one year, fans were showing their creativity and love for Starbucks by drawing beautiful artwork on their cup and posting them. And in order to reward these fans, Starbucks constantly goes through these fans' account in search of the best artworks and re-posting them on their own.
Once the fans realized that Starbucks appreciates what they are doing, more of them participated and more designs started popping up every day.
All these traffics and excitement from fans then finally led to the White Cup Contest.
Here is an excerpt from Starbucks Newsroom on the contest.
“Waterman said he’s inspired by the creativity he sees throughout the Starbucks social community with cup art that’s been posted on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. People are already experimenting with different mediums, and he suggests they should “turn up the volume” on their creativity with this contest.” -
This is my favourite cup!

Most of the artworks are really amazing; see them for yourself over here. Starbucks White Cup Contest
That’s to say, don’t simply hold a photo contest on Facebook and ask your Instagram audiences to participate. Understand what your audiences love about your Instagram account and create a unique campaign for them.
Now it's time to move on to the minor details on how to make an Instagram campaign successful.

#2 Get A Short And Easy-To-Remember URL

Directing traffic from Instagram has always been a problem for marketers as URL are turned into 'unclickable' link text in user's posts. By and large, this will usually result in a dip in conversation rates due to the additional steps that users have to go through.

Well if you can’t beat the game… try making it easier.

To overcome this restriction, use easy-to-remember url and this can be seen from the Starbucks White Cup Contest.


“mystarbucksidea.com" - Although this isn't an URL that Starbucks creates specifically for the campaign, it is still very relevant.
I mean how easy to remember is that? It has the word “Starbucks” that every one is familiar with. And the word “my” and “idea” that relates to the contest theme of creating our own design for the white cup.
This helps to lower the pain of going through that additional step of opening a browser to type the URL, as users can easily remember it.

#3 Using Hashtag To Spread the Word About Your Campaign

Instagram is a social discovery platform where users love searching for others who are similar to them.
Which is why, it is particularly important that you create a unique hashtag for your campaign. By doing so, it not only helps to spread awareness for your campaign when users talk about it but also to provide social proof when users search that hashtag on Instagram.
Here is an excellent example by Bloesem Living.


See how the hashtag #WINBLOESEMCLASS describes both the contest as well as a mention of their brand.
Another way to spread the word using hashtag is to make use of more generic ones such as #contest #giveaway or something more geo-specific such as #contestsg or #giveawaysg.

#4 Using Re-gram to spread the word about your campaign

If you are unfamiliar with the word re-gram, it simply means to re-post what a user have posted on Instagram. Unfortunately, Instagram has yet to make this function a part of the default app.
So users generally turn to apps from either Android or iOS to do the job for them. Or this can also be done via screenshot, editing and posting.
Now, there are several important factors to take note of when creating an image that's perfect for re-posting

1. Understand that Instagram is a very visual platform at its core, so create photos that are visual appealing and one that users will want to share.
2. Keep your contest simple.
   Don’t ask your audience to tag 10 of their friends, use 5 hashtags, or even to type a long string of text all at the same time.
   To re-post your photos is already a chore in itself; don’t make it any more troublesome.
3. Let your users know what you want them to do within the photo itself. This way, when they see the re-posted photos from their friends, they will know how to participate with a single glance.

Here is a great example from Arnhem Clothing.

By using one of their product photo shoot for the background, they are doing a brief introduction of themselves to consumers who might not know about them yet.
They also clearly display the prize within the photo to catch the attention of users. Followed by 3 simple instructions on how to win.
How did they fare in the end? The photo was reposted 5402 times with the hashtag #Arnhem1000. I say that’s a lot of brand awareness generated!

#5 Use Your Instagram Profile To Your Advantage!

What are the 2 things that users can click on in an Instagram post?
Hashtags and Profile Handle of course!
Take a look at this user’s repost of Bloesem Living’s contest.

What do you think her friends will click on after clicking on the hashtags and realized it doesn’t contain any information? Yes. The profile!
Which is why it’s absolutely necessary to update your Instagram profile according to the campaign that you are holding. Here are 2 things you can take advantage of in your profile.

1. You can update your URL with the landing page URL so users can click on them easily.
2. Create a short description of the campaign using the profile description provided to users.
   “Click on this URL for more information on how to win $1000 vouchers from us!”

This way users who didn’t see your original campaign photos and are too lazy to search for it can simply click on the URL to learn more.
That is it. These are the ingredients I have gathered to help you create a successful Instagram campaigns. Social media has always been about experimenting and being creative.
So go ahead, be creative and experiment!
Let me know in the comments if you think there are other ingredients that will help spice up this dish!

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Are Your Social Media Landing Pages Ready for Prime Time?

For businesses these days, maintaining a Twitter and Facebook account is as important as having a telephone number. In many cases, more so. Customer engagement on social media is at an all-time high and shows no signs of slowing down. Consumers have come to expect their customer experience to extend to their favorite social channels and if you’re not there to meet them, your competitors will be happy to step up to the plate.

Excellent content is vital to a strong social presence so don’t overlook Twitter and Facebook landing pages in the rush to post your next viral update. If your social media accounts are your customers’ hospitable gathering spot, those landing pages are your welcome mat. Here are some great ways to polish them up:

• Know your image sizes. Both Facebook and Twitter have specific guidelines for each image area on your account’s homepage so be sure to review them and adjust your pictures accordingly. Don’t try to squeeze something down to fit a tiny box or enlarge a picture beyond recognition so it’s just “good enough.” Use a free image editor to get just the right look and size. We like Skitch for Mac and Picasa for Windows, or you can check out PicMonkey for an online option.

• Clear the clutter. It’s tempting to include as much information as you can about everything your company has to offer, but this is definitely a case where less is more. Include only the images and static content that supports your company’s mission statement and goals. Save lower priority messages for other parts of your marketing campaigns.

• Be cool. Or warm. You want your content to shine, not get lost in a busy background or a jumble of color. Pick a color scheme that doesn’t overwhelm customers but that’s also in keeping with your overall message. Warmer colors are perfect for the down-home look that’s ideal for a dog groomer, while a security firm may want to go with cooler colors that play up the seriousness of its services.

• Include a call to action. More than likely your visitors came to your landing page looking for product or contact information. Of course you’ll include those important things on your page, but don’t forget to tell customers what to do with the info once they have it. A clear call to action belongs on every landing page, every time. In fact, it’s often a good idea to use that as a starting point when creating your page and then build everything else around it.

Social media bio and homepages can be tricky to get right, but it’s very important that your welcome mat gets people through your front door so they stick around to become lifelong customers. Don’t feel you need to tackle the project yourself and don’t be afraid to call in a professional to help you put your best foot forward.

Image courtesy: zoutedrop

Photo Credit: Social Media Landing Pages/shutterstock

Keywords: Best Practices, Facebook, Social Media Marketing, Content, Google+, Branding, Strategy, Advertising, Twitter, Customer Service, Engagement, Influence, Loyalty, Marketing, Public Relations, Reputation Management, Sales, Social Media, Social Networks, Landing Pages, social media customer service

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