Sponsoring company updates within LinkedIn

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Sponsoring company updates within LinkedIn is a paid for service. The idea is to raise the visibility of your content within LinkedIn. Sponsored Updates enable you to deliver your content into the homepage feed ('timeline') of members, even if they are not Following your company. This process enables you to bring interesting content (i.e. blog posts, articles, slideshows, whitepapers and videos) to a wider audience. You can target Sponsored Updates to chosen segments of LinkedIn's premium audience, based on profile data across millions of members. Sponsored Updates can be seen on any device. They are marked as 'Sponsored'. They show up in the member’s homepage feed, along with the posts and status updates from their network / the companies that they follow. Members will have the option to Follow the sponsoring company as well as Like, Comment and Share posts with members of their own network. You can track the effectiveness of your posts via analytics, within LinkedIn. Begin by writing a...
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PR Tips for Small Businesses

By Fortune Public Relations5 Comments
Chances are you expected me to start this piece by telling you how to get into the press. But Public Relations is so much more than Press Relations (editorial coverage), which is how many people think of it.  Public relations run through everything you do, helping you communicate with and influence different audiences.  This includes colleagues and staff, business associates, investors, suppliers, prospects and customers.  How your brand engages with people and behaves, especially in difficult times, makes a lasting impression and has a bearing on business fortunes. Brand Identity For good public relations, it is essential that everyone in your business knows and understands the brand values (what your organisation is about and believes).  Be clear and transparent about your product or service and ensure that your business lives and breathes the values.  If one of your values is ‘service excellence’, you cannot expect to maintain a positive public profile (ie reputation) if you don’t honour your promise. As well as being a...
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7 quick Twitter tips

By Nigel Temple1 Comment
Here are seven quick Twitter tips (updated 22nd April 2014) 1. Tweet at least six times every day (including ReTweets) 2. If your Tweets are 100 characters or less - they are more likely to be read 3. Include http:// ...within URLs (web page addresses) to create a 'live hyperlink' 4. Link back to interesting content within your website 5. Click 'Notifications' at the top of the screen - to see who is mentioning you 6. When you open up your website browser, ensure that Twitter opens up first 7. Twitter is a 'social' network. Respond to people. Engage with them. Be yourself. Connect with us for more twitter tips: @marketingcmpass and @nigeltemple If you are a business owner and if you would like more twitter tips and ideas on how to get more customers, you are welcome to join The Marketing Compass - as we are here to help. Join us! Compass membership is FREE! * Create a profile & promote yourself * Hyperlink back to your website * Connect with other...
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What is Pinterest and how can it help my marketing?

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Pinterest is an image sharing social network. It enables registered users to create pinboards of images and videos. The pinboards can be used to plan an event, gather ideas, organise your thoughts or show what you do. Pinterest has been gaining popularity and is now used by independent professionals, small businesses and famous brands to reach and influence customers. You can browse pinboards created by other people, in order to find ideas and inspiration from people with shared interests. In order to join, you will need to request an invite. (It can take a little while for this to come through). Pinterest is proving popular within the retail, arts and crafts, restaurant, food, travel and style & fashion sectors. Whilst it is true that Pinterest has more of an appeal for B2C (Business to Consumer) marketers, innovative B2B (Business to Business) marketers are using it as well. Here are some ways in which you could use Pinterest * Upload images of your product(s) or...
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Your social media strategy

By Nigel Temple3 Comments
It is important to have a social media strategy. Otherwise, the whole thing becomes random, unpredictable and pointless. Begin with objectives Decide what your social media objectives are. To raise brand awareness? To generate more traffic to your website? To build your email marketing opt-in list? To get sales enquiries? To generate sales? Choose your platforms Then choose the social media platforms you are going to use regularly. For example: Twitter www.twitter.com/marketingcmpass Because it is quick to use and can generate virtual conversations with customers (which can turn into telephone or face to face conversations). Several of my clients have told me recently that 'Twitter is good for B2B (Business to Business) marketing." You will get more Twitter followers if you follow more people, on a regular basis. Post at least 6 Tweets and day and respond to questions and mentions quickly. Keep a close watch on @Connect ...which you will see towards the top of the Twitter screen. Scroll down for some more Twitter tips.. Facebook http://www.facebook.com/The-Marketing-Compass Particularly...
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How to use social media to engage with customers

By Nigel Temple1 Comment
Social media is, to a large extent, a global conversation. If you only use it to broadcast your marketing message, you are not using it correctly. After all, it is not an advertising medium, is it? Have you noticed what happens to people who continually shout about their products / services within the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? What do you think of people who do this? Within a normal conversation, you would listen, ask questions and respond to people, wouldn't you? I suggest that you do exactly the same within the social media communities you belong to. Be quick to react I know that you are busy. However, it only takes a moment to check @Connect within Twiiter, to see who is talking about you, asking you a question, etc. There are also numerous tools available to help you to manage multiple social media converations, inluding http://hootsuite.com (the "Social media dashboard") and http://marketmesuite.com ("Your social inbox"). Be useful Or, to put it another way,...
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How to get more likes on Facebook and more followers on Twitter

By Ben TempleNo Comments
We often get asked by our members how to get more likes on facebook & how to grow their social media following and how to use their pages effectively to grow their business online and get more sales enquiries. Here are a few simple principles to kick start your campaigns... 1) Ask your friends! Invite contacts on social networks and in person. 2) Include a 'like' / 'follow' link in your email signature, on your website and on your printed marketing material. 3) Offer an incentive. You could send new 'likes' a gift, this could be a guide that shares some of your professional knowledge...this often leads to solid sales leads! 4) Leave comments on relevant company's Facebook / Twitter pages with your incentive. It's amazing how many companies don't engage with their fans, it's an opportunity glaring you in the face! Once you start to get more fans and followers, make sure you engage with them. Post regular updates that are inspiring, connective, educative and...
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PeerIndex – a quick introduction

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
PeerIndex uses algorithms to map the social web. Authority on the web is built when you participate in meaningful exchanges of information, via platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The type of information you share reveals a great deal about you, your knowledge and your connections - which PeerIndex seeks to measure. PeerIndex factors in your speed of response on the social web, the quantity of your interactions and how you share information. Your recommendations can be used to measure your knowledge (or authority) within a given subject area. Relationships are complex things and PeerIndex claims to have a way of measuring these, online. Your authority rises when you are Retweeted, Facebook Shared, +1'ed or commented on by someone who is an authority on that subject. As always - you are welcome to ask questions about PeerIndex. Visit: www.PeerIndex.com See also: www.klout.com Read a brief introduction to Klout here. Join us COMPASS membership is FREE! * Create a profile & promote yourself * Hyperlink back to your...
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The social media party

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Social media is like a huge, sprawling party which is happening within a mansion. Conversations are going on around the pool, in the lounge, in the kitchen, in the hall and throughout the rest of the building. Guests are forever arriving and leaving. Flashbulbs pop as celebrities make an appearance. Gossip and tittle tattle buzz throughout the place. Some of the guests are people watchers. They don't talk much, if at all. Others are actively networking. They make new contacts, discreetly exchange business cards and move on to the next conversation. A small group causes successive sensations with startling revelations which attract a throng of guests. So, what type of guest are you, within the social media party? Are you a Wallflower - happy to watch and listen? Are you a Networker - out to make as many contacts as possible? Or are you a News Maker? Whether you use Twitter, LinkedIn, Ecademy, Facebook or any other social media platform, you should be...
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