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Aug 27, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

Kraft Foods’ Julie Fleischer Shares Content Secrets

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On August 27, 2012 With No Comments

Content marketing specialists often make the mistake of only posting about themselves and their brand. This generally leads to an output of boring content that no one wants to read. Great content creators understand that readers crave interesting content, and that using techniques like topic bridging to write about interesting topics related to your business […]

Content marketing specialists often make the mistake of only posting about themselves and their brand. This generally leads to an output of boring content that no one wants to read.

Great content creators understand that readers crave interesting content, and that using techniques like topic bridging to write about interesting topics related to your business can grow an engaged following and help you build your brand in the process.

To be a content marketing success, your content can’t only be about your company, it must be compelling.

Aug 25, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

The State of Marketing in 2012

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On August 25, 2012 With No Comments

2012 marketing trends reveal that consumers are rapidly becoming device-agnostic, which means that you must be everywhere your customers go, from their home computer to their mobile phone. There are also other issues that should affect how your company appears online. First of all, it’s time everyone realized that social media is here to stay. […]

2012 marketing trends reveal that consumers are rapidly becoming device-agnostic, which means that you must be everywhere your customers go, from their home computer to their mobile phone. There are also other issues that should affect how your company appears online.

First of all, it’s time everyone realized that social media is here to stay. Adults use it, too. It is the number one Internet activity for just about everyone. All companies benefit from strong social media marketing.

Content marketing creates brand value. It allows your service to stand out from competitors in an engaging way. Make sure the content is viable and relevant.

Keep open communication with your customers. Emails counts. They like to feel valued and connected one on one. Targeted communication in addition to social media builds business and loyalty.

Real time means that you need to get real serious about crisis management. Keeping on top of trends and tracking how prospects connect can help prevent a marketing crisis, but if one occurs a crisis management team can prevent an even bigger disaster.

Aug 24, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

Unique Ways to Get Your Website Noticed

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On August 24, 2012 With No Comments

To survive on the internet, businesses need attention. Your work will not speak for itself; people want you to earn their attention in creative ways. After all, if you don’t, someone else will. There are four ways to gain visitors to your website on a consistent basis, visitors who will also spread the word about […]

To survive on the internet, businesses need attention. Your work will not speak for itself; people want you to earn their attention in creative ways. After all, if you don’t, someone else will.

There are four ways to gain visitors to your website on a consistent basis, visitors who will also spread the word about your website and business if you maintain the four tips.

-Write a great blog and update it often.

-Give away select work for free.

-Borrow an audience.

-Circulate your content.

Aug 23, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

Providing Content Readers Want

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On August 23, 2012 With No Comments

There are numerous ways to make sure your readers get the kind of content they want. The following tips will allow you to post quality content instead of filler. Post insider info. Make sure the content matches the title. Offer multiple solutions. Provide an opinion on marketing trends. Appeal to Many with varied content. Issue […]

There are numerous ways to make sure your readers get the kind of content they want. The following tips will allow you to post quality content instead of filler.

Post insider info.
Make sure the content matches the title.
Offer multiple solutions.
Provide an opinion on marketing trends.
Appeal to Many with varied content.
Issue a call to action.
Use bait and switch content.

Furthermore, readers want their questions answered, but they also want to think. Therefore, posing questions that challenge their marketing perceptions can make them work in a new way that obtains new success.

This will make your content seem more valuable than other online sources that they read. Paying close attention to the most read posts on your site over a six month period also helps create popular content.

Aug 23, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

Gaining More Readers

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On August 23, 2012 With No Comments

Now that you have the content up, how do you get people to read it? Without readers, business dies. It is more than just an ego boost. If you are Tweeting and emailing and Facebooking, but still receiving no reads or shares, that means business needs a boost. More than likely, it’s not that you […]

Now that you have the content up, how do you get people to read it?

Without readers, business dies. It is more than just an ego boost. If you are Tweeting and emailing and Facebooking, but still receiving no reads or shares, that means business needs a boost.

More than likely, it’s not that you need to take a writing class. Writing less and text style may be the solution. There are eight tips to help you gain a strong readership.

Aug 01, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

7 Tips for Creating a Social Media Plan for Your Business

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On August 1, 2012 With No Comments

You probably already know by now that your business need a social media plan, but were you aware there are many pitfalls you must avoid to create a successful plan? Here is a good article that explains why businesses fail with social media. it also gives some tips to create a successful social media plan […]

You probably already know by now that your business need a social media plan, but were you aware there are many pitfalls you must avoid to create a successful plan?

Here is a good article that explains why businesses fail with social media. it also gives some tips to create a successful social media plan of your own.

The most important thing to keep in mind as you compose your plan is that you must map out your roadmap clearly. You also need to fully commit to your plan, and use relevant and high quality content and design. Running promotions is also a good way to bring add new followers and grow your community.

Jul 30, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

Facebook Is Trying Out Sponsored Results

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On July 30, 2012 With No Comments

According to Search Engine Journal, Facebook has been testing a new form of advertising similar to those ads found on both Google and Youtube, namely sponsored results. Like Adwords, these new ads will be offered on a CPC basis. But unlike Google’s Adwords, bids for Facebook ads will not be based on “keywords” or search […]

According to Search Engine Journal, Facebook has been testing a new form of advertising similar to those ads found on both Google and Youtube, namely sponsored results.

Like Adwords, these new ads will be offered on a CPC basis. But unlike Google’s Adwords, bids for Facebook ads will not be based on “keywords” or search phrases. Instead, bids for these new ads will based on specific pages, apps, and places.

Jul 21, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

Lastest Round of Google Link Warnings A False Alarm?

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On July 21, 2012 With No Comments

So if you have been paying attention much to SEO over the past few months, then you know it has been a wild and bumpy ride, especially for anyone who is participating in less than optimal link building strategies. Many website owners have been receiving rather ominous messages from Google via their Webmaster Tools interface […]

So if you have been paying attention much to SEO over the past few months, then you know it has been a wild and bumpy ride, especially for anyone who is participating in less than optimal link building strategies.

Many website owners have been receiving rather ominous messages from Google via their Webmaster Tools interface warning of “unnatural” links pointing to their sites.

While these messages have caused untold anxiety for website owners, Google has continued on its crusade to devalue links it deems unnatural and even to penalize sites who have built large volumes of low-quality links.

But, as Danny Sullivan points out, today Google sent out a fresh batch of these “unnatural link” notices, then effectively told people to ignore the notices.

You can read Danny’s entire article here, which goes into much more detail on the matter. But suffice it to say that, if you have been building spammy links to your site (or been hiring SEO companies to do it for you), now is the time to stop dong so and start concentrating on improving the quality of your site so that people will want to link to it naturally.

Old school SEO is dying a quick death.Google is zeroing in on any and all link building techniques. The only safe route to take from here on out is to improve your site, build a following in your niche, and direct your followers to high quality content that will interest and engage them.

Apr 09, 2012 Sticky Post Posted in Nitro Blog With No Comments

Has Your Business Transitioned to Facebook Timeline?

Sticky Post By Nitro Interactive On April 9, 2012 With No Comments

The new Facebook timeline is here. Whether you like it or not, your Facebook personal page, and more importantly your business page now is on timeline. That means that if you haven’t made changes, your page probably looks terrible right now! Before you start groaning about the additional work (or expense) that the new Facebook […]

The new Facebook timeline is here. Whether you like it or not, your Facebook personal page, and more importantly your business page now is on timeline. That means that if you haven’t made changes, your page probably looks terrible right now!

Before you start groaning about the additional work (or expense) that the new Facebook architecture demands of you, rest assured that these changes are awesome for your business. We’ve always complained about the user experience on the old Facebook business pages, so we’re not cryin’ now that they’ve gone bye-bye.

The first thing you’ll notice when you go to your page now is that your profile picture is still there, but it is now a square. If you had a tall banner before, you’ll need to design and upload a new profile pic. If you haven’t uploaded a banner image, start brainstorming! This new header image area is possibly the most exciting development visually on the page. Now, you get 851 x 315 pixels of prime real estate to promote and brand your business. Still mourning the old Facebook? I didn’t think so.

Four Things You Can’t Do With Your New Facebook Banner

1. Absolutely no contact information. That means you can’t put telephone numbers, street addresses, or website URL’s in your banner image.

2. No prices or special offers or discounts. I guess this is their way of preventing business pages from looking like a flea market.

3. No call to action. If you aren’t sure what that means, it is basically this: you cannot have text that encourages the user to ‘do’ anything. So, no “text yummy to 57745 to get a free yoghurt” or “call now to get a free yellow widget”.

4. No references or arrows pointing to the like button. I know, I know, we are all going to miss those gorgeous “Click LIKE to Get Instant Access!” graphics. Don’t panic though, there is still a home for your forced likes. Keep reading.

Bemoaning the Loss of Your Custom Facebook Mini-Site?

If you were like us and customized your Facebook welcome page with an iframe mini-site, you will notice that it is no longer the right size. Your old mini-site can still be found when you click the welcome tab, but now you get 810px to play with vs the old 520px. Don’t see the welcome tab? Just to the right of the fourth tab you’ll see a little downward arrow icon you can click to expand and view all your tabs.

If you built a fan gate page to force likes, you’ll quickly notice that it doesn’t work anymore. The ability to encourage likes is not entirely eliminated though, as I will explain in a minute. Take a moment to mourn the loss of your old iframe mini-site (that never felt quite right jammed into the middle column) and get ready to embrace the new and improved tabs and pages!

Customizing Your Facebook Tabs and Pages

Kudos to Facebook for ditching the hideous old school left column menu and replacing it with tabs! The tabs are fully customizable, and yes, each one can be a call to action if you so choose. Each tab is actually an “app”, which when clicked will open a new full width (810px) page.

The possibilities for building custom pages are limited only by your imagination. You can install an app to display your twitter feed, embed custom HTML or WordPress, or use the Facebook search field (type in ‘iframe’) to find out-of-the-box iframe apps. On these pages you can reference the ‘Like’ button and encourage your visitors to click it to enter contests or reveal hidden content. So, go get clever with a QR code and send your customers to a custom tab page and keep incentivizing those all important ‘Likes’.

One thing hasn’t changed: Facebook is just as confusing as ever for non-developers. Unless you are really savvy or love a hair pulling 72 hour challenge, the more advanced customizations are still just as non-intuitive. For that reason, installing page tab apps or customizing HTML/Wordpress for 810px is beyond the scope of this article, but please contact us if you need help.

If you’d like to see a creative use of the new layout check out: http://www.facebook.com/livestrong

Wondering how to control the images for your tabs? Remember that the first tab for photos cannot be moved. It will always display your most recently uploaded photo. All of your other tab images can be changed by going into your admin panel (top right) and click manage » edit page » apps » edit settings » change image.

Customizing Your Facebook User Name URL

If you haven’t done it already – do it now! Claim your username and get your custom URL (like the one I just gave you for LiveStrong above). No one is going to remember the cumbersome default page name, and you won’t want an ugly URL on your promotional materials. Claiming your new username will produce a URL that should look like this: http://www.facebook.com/YourBusinessName

Go here to get started: http://www.facebook.com/help/pages/usernames

A Few Tips for Managing Your Timeline

When you roll over a timeline box, you’ll notice two icons in the the top right corner. Use the star to ‘Highlight’ a post or make it full width. Doing this calls extra attention to any premium featured content that you want to promote. Use the pencil to change the date of a post, hide or remove it, mark it as spam, or add a location.

Your ‘Likes’ now show up on the top right of your timeline. Up to 5 ‘Likes’ are displayed at a time and will rotate position when the page is refreshed. Likes serve as social proof and can be very powerful in attracting new prospects and leads for your business.

How Often Should You Update Your Facebook Business Page?

The hundred dollar question! I completely understand that as a business owner you are busy, and maintaining a Facebook page is an added burden to your workload. I also get it that you didn’t go into business so you could become a social media marketing guru. Solution? 2-5 updates per week is totally acceptable for most businesses. Present your Facebook subscribers with news updates from your field, links to your recent blog posts, and make sure you interact with other businesses by liking their content.

Nothing is worse than a stagnant or entirely neglected Facebook page. Doing the bare minimum – 1 update per month – will at least let your users know that you are still in business, even if you aren’t the most exciting Facebook power user. What is expected of you will depend on your specific market. For example, a dentist doesn’t need to be posting 3 times per day, and no one wants to read about restorations all day long anyway. On the other hand, a high end consignment shop can post their best new inventory as it arrives.

So, Why Should Business Owners Care About Facebook Anyway?

Put it this way, as of Feb 2012, the number of Facebook users worldwide had surpassed 850 million. Embracing Facebook isn’t just about servicing customers and lead generation, it’s about staying relevant. It’s a fact that social media is the future and it presents a marketing opportunity all businesses should get excited about.

Do you need help promoting your business on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and other popular social media websites? We can help you grow your followers and build a powerful base of motivated people you can access to market your products and services. Visit our page on social media marketing.

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