Social Media Best Practices: What Bloggers Should Know.

Brianna Purvis Account Director - Shoutlet

Linkedin.com/in/briannapurvis

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CONTENTS

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

8 Things Every Blogger Should Know About Working With Brands

Q+A

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4

5

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START WITH WHO YOU KNOW •  Reaching out to your existing community

LEVERAGE YOUR EXISTING ASSETS •  Add Social Plug-ins •  Install the Facebook Comments plug-in

ENGAGE WITH OTHER GROUPS •  Partner with other organizations or groups to create co-promotions and encourage viral sharing

DEVELOP YOUR POSTING PLAN •  Find your voice and foster a two-way dialogue

SHARE EXCLUSIVE CONTENT •  Host chat sessions •  Post “on-the-ground” pictures •  Targeted publishing

USE FACEBOOK TO

•  Build your blogs and sponsors audiences

•  Share unique content & offers

•  Foster relationships

•  Say “Thank You”

• Celebrate your milestones

• Tell a brand story… take advantage of your cover photo, milestones, apps, and timeline.

• Get feedback or ideas from your community

• Drive traffic to your blog or website

• Drive traffic to your sponsors blog or website

• Share links to breaking news, articles/media

• Create Facebook Events to highlight your events

• Run Facebook contests and promotions�

SHARING LINKS •  Facebook will prioritize showing links in the link-format and show fewer links shared in captions or status updates.�

IMPACT •  Brands who are frequently posting links with click-bait headlines that many people don’t spend time reading after they click through may see their distribution decrease in the next few months.

WHY? •  Facebook is making these changes to ensure that click-bait content does not drown out the things that people really want to see. •  Facebook studies have shown that link posts receive twice as many clicks compared to links embedded in photo captions.

Paid social isn’t a CHOICE �it’s a NECESSITY

most online advertising reaches only 38% of its intended audience…

FACEBOOK’S AVERAGE IS 89%

– Nielsen OCR, August 2013

OPTIMAL TIMES •  1-4 pm; however, this can depend on the brand

FREQUENCY •  Depends on the brand, but aim for a minimum of 3-4 posts per week on average

– Hubspot.com, April 2014

http://www.jonloomero.com/

- Flightpath

WHY PEOPLE follow brands

– Twitter Complete Study, 2012

CREATE TWEETS THAT RESONATE Combine exciting, useful content with an engaging, unique tone to emotionally connect with your audience. Include links, pictures, and videos.

TIMING – MAKE IT REAL-TIME Keep your Tweets prompt and timely – a crucial element for Twitter success

SHORT + SWEET 140 characters max, Tweets shorter than 100 characters get a 17% higher engagement rate

TWEET OFTEN 3-5x daily – try tweeting a couple of times a day to see how your audience reacts, then adjust as needed.

ENGAGE Simply @reply – Engage other users in conversations using @replies and mentions. Consistently respond to compliments and feedback

A PERIOD IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PUBLIC MENTION AND A REPLY ON TWITTER When you use a Twitter username as The first word in your tweet, you must add a period before the username for all Your followers to see your tweet.

SHARE PHOTOS The optimal aspect ratio for twitter images is 2:1 for your followers to see a full preview. For example: 1024 x 512 pixels.

STAY TRENDY • Participate in Twitter trends: whether organically or through Promoted Tweets • Take advantage of real-time marketing and customer service.

BE A THOUGHT LEADER Demonstrate wider leadership and know-how. Reference articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates to your focus.

BE A CHAMPION Retweet and reply publicity to great tweets posted by your followers and your stakeholders

GIVE INSIDER TIPS Give excellent tips with no bland generalities, just direct and well-founded insider info. This could be the best places to find a product or another use for a product.

CONTENT •  Create content that is interesting and unique •  Use plenty of visuals to more deeply engage readers •  Use #hashtags strategically, not carelessly

•  Custom hashtags can and should be used for campaigns, promotions, and contests •  Stick to two hashtags per tweet

•  Keep tweets short and to the point; short tweets are more likely to receive engagement •  Use twitter to run a contest or promotion

MEASURE YOUR IMPACT Gauge your progress and success: learn what to measure and how to measure it.

SET GOALS + MEET THEM Set goals as the first step to develop more effective ways to engage your audience and grow your business.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK Get proactive. Ask your customer if they are following you on Twitter and what they think about your Tweets. Find out if there’s anything you can do differently that would make the experience better or more valuable for them.

DEFINE METRICS Do some thinking about how you’ll measure your success. Here are some metrics to consider:

FOLLOWER GROWTH How many new followers you get every day, week or month.

FOLLOWER QUALITY + ENGAGEMENT How many user interact with your account.

REACH How many user favorite or retweet your Tweets

TRAFFIC How many users go to your site.

CONVERSION How many users sign up for your service or buy your product

OPTIMAL TIMES •  Mondays-Thursdays from 1-3 pm

FREQUENCY •  Depends on the brand, resources, etc.

•  A good goal would be to aim for 30-35 posts per week

– Hubspot.com, April 2014

40 MILLION monthly active users

70 million+ total users

80% of Pinterest users are female

23% of Pinterest users use it at least once a day

DRIVES MORE TRAFFIC than any other social media site

has 50% higher conversion rates than it’s rivals

Pinterest users SPEND MORE MONEY than other social site users

up to 47% of online consumers have bought based on Pinterest recommendations

CREATE “PINNABLE” CONTENT�•  Make sure your content from your website/blog is pinnable. By simply using high-quality images with the pin-it button, you make it easy for users to spread the word about your business! •  Add Pinterest follow and pin-it buttons your website, blog, and other owned properties

HAVE KILLER PHOTOGRAPHY •  Show readers “the experience” of what your blog and your sponsor offers — make it irresistible by using killer photography

CREATE + ORGANIZE BOARDS EFFECTIVELY •  Give your boards creative… but clear names so people can tell what’s on them – just keep it to 20 characters or less so it doesn’t get cut off.

•  Don’t forget the description to help you show up in searches.

•  Be sure to include a disclosure if the pin is sponsored!

•  Choose a compelling cover Pin (often an image that gets re-pinned often works well)

•  Each board should consist of at least 10 photos so that it’s substantial enough for a user to follow.

•  Don’t limit yourself to a generic collections of photos. Think of the different niche target markets you serve and tailor boards to showcase them.

•  Tell a highly visually story that drives real website traffic

HAVE A VISUALLY STRIKING PROFILE •  Create a business account and verify your website. This lets pinners know that it’s the real you, and it’ll also give you access to Pinterest analytics.

• Use your blog logo or a photo of you as profile photo on Pinterest (200x200 pixels). Use a high-quality image!

•  Minimize the amount of text on an image. If you need text, make sure it’s easy to read.

•  Write a brief profile description to introduce your brand and what inspires you.

•  Tall images get repinned more and they take up more viewing space on a newsfeed.

•  Get your followers hooked by using bright, colorful photos in your boards!

OPTIMAL TIMES

•  Saturday mornings

•  Weekdays from 2-4pm

•  Weeknights from 8pm-1am

FREQUENCY

There’s no real structure around

how often you can and should post

to Pinterest. The sky’s the limit in

terms of posting frequency… just

don’t inundate your followers with

pins.

– Hubspot.com, April 2014

http://designerrobrusso.com/

200 MILLION monthly active users

20 billion+ photos have been shared on Instagram to date

50 million users signed up for Instagram in the last six months

60 million average photos posted per day

1.6 billion likes daily

ENGAGEMENT on Instagram is 15 TIMES that of Facebook

Instagram receives 1,000 comments and 8,500 likes per second

Instagram is the FASTEST GROWING social network & of the top 10 mobile apps

Instagram ads have helped retailers increase ad recall by 32% and brand message lift by 10%

PROFILE PHOTO Simple is best! We recommend using your blog’s logo or a picture of yourself.

TEXT •  Keep captions short and fresh. •  Incorporate a few hashtags (max of 3 so they don't detract from the simplicity of the post). •  Ask questions to engage people.

COMMENTING + LIKING Use hashtags, location and Photos of You to find others' images. Engage with them by liking and commenting on their images.

TAGGING •  Include the location of your photo or video •  Use the Add People feature to tag accounts in your image to help you reach a broader audience.

IMAGE TOOLS Edit your images with filters and other tools available in the Instagram app. These effects give images that unmistakable "Instagram" look that people respond to.

IMAGES Post photos and videos of beautiful and unexpected moments that also feel authentic and immediate. Whether your subject is a person or an object, capture it in a context that represents your blog’s point of view or your sponsors’ identity.

EXPERIMENT •  All businesses have different audiences + goals •  Content & frequency •  Listen to feedback and respond accordingly

LEVERAGE YOUR INSTAGRAM WEB PROFILE •  Instagram.com/[your user name] •  Follow users, comment and like photos, and edit your profile easily from the web

CONNECT YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT •  Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook Page, Twitter Profile, and Foursquare •  Helps reach and exposure across all audiences •  Makes sharing across platforms easy •  Note: consider posting to twitter directly so that the image automatically shows in the feed (instead of an instagram link)

SHARE OFFERS + DISCOUNT • Word of mouth marketing is a powerful thing. When your followers get exclusive discounts, they tell their friends.

HOST CONTESTS & GIVEAWAYS • Generate buzz by hosting a promotion on

Instagram! Keep it simple, fun and brand related. • Use a unique hashtag; try to use one that includes your blog name and sponsor name.

CONSIDER USING INSTAGRAM DIRECT Instagram Direct allows you to send photos and videos to your followers privately. You have the option to send an individual or group message (up to 15 followers). This is a great way to reach your most engaged fans in a personal way.

OPTIMAL TIMES •  Instagram videos are best posted during off-hours (9pm-8am) or on weekends

•  Instagram photos see successful interaction rates at any given time throughout the day

•  No one day of the week is significantly more effective than any other

•  Experiment with your audience to determine when you receive the most interactions

FREQUENCY You want to stay present in your followers’ news feeds without clogging them. Try to post at least once a week, but don’t overdo it

– Hubspot.com, April 2014

- Flightpath

-  Goingsocial.ca -  socialinfluenceacademy.com

THINGS EVERY BLOGGER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WORKING WITH BRANDS 8

A GREAT MEDIA KIT SPEAKS VOLUMES It can either open doors or slam them in your face

It’s about YOUR brand and it’s IMPORTANT •  Considering hiring a professional designer or

enlist graphic design students at a local college!

•  Make sure your contact info is easy to find and is available on your website

•  Include your location - lots of partnerships are location based

•  Clearly define your audience and your topics; some brands look for niche and key audiences not just amount of followers.

•  Be AUTHENTIC and TRUE to your brand

•  Include Stats for your blog and social channels. •  Visitors Per Month •  Page Views Per Month •  Average Page view (over 90 day period) •  Reader Demographic (Quantcast) •  Subscribers (RSS + Mailing List) •  Facebook Followers •  Average Facebook Engagement (likes, shares, comments) •  Twitter Followers •  Average Twitter Engagement (favorites, retweets, @mentions) •  Pinterest Followers •  Average Pinterest Engagement (likes, re-pins, comments) •  Instagram Followers •  Average Instagram Engagement (likes, comments)

•  Keep it updated on a monthly basis > brands want to see your blog grow!

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STATS ARE NOT EVERYTHING… It’s about delivering VALUE to brands that want to reach YOUR audience

A common misconception is that you can’t work with brands if you have a relatively small following or are a fairly new blogger brands are looking for unique content – NOT TRUE! •  The narrower your target niche, the less impressive your

statistics (followers) have to be to make a splash for a brand!

•  When including stats in your media kit – •  Focus on your strengths. If you don’t have a large

following, but have high engagement (likes, shares, comments, etc.), make sure to call it out.

•  Don’t forget about your social channels; views on blogs aren’t accelerating at the pace they used to, but you can see explosive results on other social platforms…

•  Brands that you’ve worked with should be included in your stats.

•  Pro-Tip: Include brand logos if possible… it’s easier to instantly recognize.

•  Design-Tip: Don’t let brand logos overshadow what your blog is about; consider using 1C instead of full color logos.

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KNOW WHAT BRANDS WANT *hint* it’s your job to make them successful

Brands want to be able to track: •  Attribution = new sales + conversions + leads

•  Referral Traffic to their Website + Time Spent on Site = Brand Awareness + Engagement

•  Collect Email Addresses = Leads

•  Link Clicks = Engagement + Brand Awareness

•  Growth of Audience on Social Networks = Engagement”

•  i.e. Follower/fan growth, likes, shares, comments, favorites, @mentions, retweets, repins, etc.

To ensure campaign success, keep the above items in mind and ask: •  For track-able links so that brands can see your impact

•  To incorporate your social channels to create a fully integrated campaign

•  Negotiate advertising dollars for Facebook to ensure that your fan base is seeing the content

•  Suggest a promotion to collect email address to win the product or to receive a coupon (great way to collect data and also track conversions/attribution)

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CREATE A WIN-WIN SITUATION If you lose your readers trust… you lose everything.

Your blog’s success depends on if your partners are a good match with your readers.

•  The most successful brand partnerships are long-term relationships… don’t be afraid to ask for more.

•  Think broadly… ask for multiple posts, incorporate multiple channels and not one-off promotions (it’s hard to gauge success).

•  Only accept sponsorships from brands whose products you use and would share with your friends.

•  * if you’re not familiar with product/brand but think it would be a good match – go ahead and take a chance… but don’t be shy about telling the brand that you really need to see and use the products to tell a compelling story.

•  Ask for the brand to cross-promote on their social channels.

•  Just because a big brand approaches you doesn’t mean it’s a great fit… it’s ok to say no.

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THINK ABOUT THE BIGGER PICTURE set yourself apart from just another blogger…

Offer marketing expertise & ideas for engagement

•  Ask brands about the overall campaigns and what their goals and objectives are working with you… and make sure that the campaign that you’re running addresses them.

•  Thinking about offering package deals... there are many ways to incorporate a brand into your blog – always start off talking about a fully integrated campaign.

•  Sponsored posts •  Reviews •  Special Events •  Sweepstakes/Giveaways •  Social Media Promotions •  Casual Brand Mentions

•  Don’t be afraid to give some ideas to the brand… you know your readers and what content works well.

•  The more your campaigns are worth in ROI, the more you’ll be able to charge in the future!

•  Develop a rate card for the various partnerships you offer. *hint* aim high > this is where you’ll start your negotiations! Associate a dollar amount even if you’re willing to accept product in exchange (gives brands a frame of reference on what you’re worth)

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MAKE SURE IT’S MUTUALLY BENEFITIAL Brand work is hard and you need to be

compensated. Time is money.

The moral of the story here is that the right brand partner will allow you to work closer with them, be more creative and overall bring more value. •  Before you agree to anything think about the work that is

involved for the partnership to be successful.

•  It’s always nice to get free product in exchange but know upfront that it might not be worth what the brand gets in exposure.

•  This is ok… just weigh the benefits. Think about “Is this going to give me more exposure, open up other new opportunities etc.?” knowing that you might get burned out. (think about that media kit)

•  At the end of the day… negotiate and don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. The worse they can say is no.

•  Taking on big name projects that aren’t a good fit for your readers just because of the brand name doesn’t help anyone.

•  Look for opportunities that are an ideal fit for your blog and your readers – regardless of the name recognition that the company already has. It can be fabulous to work with a smaller brand!

•  Negotiate and don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.

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ENGAGEMENT MATTERS Brands are looking for one thing from bloggers… and it’s unique content that engages readers.

It can be showing products on real people, styling product their way, or a review. It’s all about brand awareness and engagement in a more real and appealing way.

•  Engagement can be measured in many ways – from comments on your blog, shares on Facebook, retweets on Twitter, clicks on links to re-pins on Pinterest.

•  Engagement is the STRONGEST metric on your blog - PLAY IT UP!

•  Be sure include engagement metrics in your media kit

•  Smart brands GET the VALUE of high engagement

•  Make it more valuable for the brand an offer:

•  Partner email signup

•  Special event RSVPs

•  Giveaways/Sweepstakes

•  Coupon Codes

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FTC DISCLOSURE… SAY GOODBYE TO THE FINE PRINT. If you’re are receiving something in return – whether it’s product or monetary compensation, you’ll need a disclosure. 8

Prominence •  Make sure your disclosure is big enough to easily read

Placement •  Geography matters… make sure it’s easy to find.

Presentation •  Start off with 100% transparency + announce your affiliation with the brand •  Is the disclosure clearly worded in a way that consumers can easily understand? Don’t bury the disclosure in a dense block of text!

Proximity •  Is it close to the claim it modifies? •  An asterisk will NOT solve the problem

“Clear and Conspicuous” is a not a font size •  If your fans notice it, read it and understand it… then it’s clear

Hashtag + Social Disclosures •  Make sure you have #ad or # sponsored in the tweet, description, etc. and a full disclosure on the content

The key is that your reader needs to know if you received something in return BEFORE reading your review or clicks away from your post to the product/brand.

more information can be found on www.ftc.gov

QUESTIONS?