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- How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Endorsements
- How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Endorsements
- 8 Facebook Apps to Enhance Your Facebook Page
- 10 golden rules of twitter
- How to Network with Influential People Using Twitter
- Tweet Adder 4 The Best Twitter Marketing Tool To Get Twitter Followers Fast
- 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic
- 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic
- 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic
| How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Endorsements Posted: 27 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST By Brenda Bernstein
Do you want to know how to fix that? It's frustrating to be endorsed for skills that aren't relevant to you or your networking goals. But hope is not lost! In this article I'll show you three ways you can guide people into endorsing you for relevant skills. Why Manage LinkedIn Endorsements?LinkedIn endorsements are meant to provide credibility and networking opportunities. Has LinkedIn ever notified you that someone has endorsed you for skills and expertise that have absolutely nothing to do with your actual skills? Or worse, you don't know the endorser at all, so how can he or she endorse any skills you have? Sometimes people are endorsing you so you'll see the notification and they'll be on your radar. Other times, people are endorsing you because they're friends or colleagues and they think they're helping you. Either way, if people are endorsing you for the wrong skills, then your real skills are being overlooked. Luckily, you can help people endorse you for the skills that really matter to you. Below I'll show you how. #1: Set Your Skills and EndorsementsIf you want to control which skills are most prominent on your LinkedIn profile, set up the Skills & Endorsements section of your LinkedIn profile. This lets you subtly encourage others to use those skills when they endorse you. If you don't have the Skills section on your profile, go to Edit Profile and look to the right. You'll see a list of sections recommended for you. Click on the Skills option to add it to your profile.  It's important to have the Skills section activated on your LinkedIn profile. You can add up to 50 skills to your profile, so go ahead and set those skills yourself. Don't be shy. Tell the world what you want to be endorsed for. Don't let a bunch of strangers decide how you present your areas of expertise! As you begin typing your desired skill, you'll see a list of related skills you can choose from (but you don't have to). The list is likely compiled based on how others have searched for people with a particular skill.  Decide what skills you want to be endorsed for. When you first add skills to your profile, they're listed in the order you entered them. As soon as people start endorsing you, though, the skills you are most endorsed for will rise to the top of the list. Your 10 most endorsed skills will show up automatically; the other skills are listed under them.  You can decide what skills others can endorse you for, but they determine the top 10. When someone endorses you, you get an email notification with the option to Add to Profile.  LinkedIn tells you when someone has endorsed you. When you click Add to Profile, you'll end up on your LinkedIn profile and see a list of all of the potential skills you can add to your list. Here's where you exert your control: If people endorse you for the wrong skills, you don't have to accept the endorsements! Just click the Skip button.  You don't have to accept skill endorsements that don't fit with your profile. At least once a month, visit your LinkedIn profile and do a quick cleanup. In Edit Profile view, scroll down to your Skills & Endorsements section and click Edit. Remove any skills you don't want to be endorsed for. You can remove a skill by clicking the "X" next to its name, or you can add new skills as necessary.  Edit your skills list about once a month. #2: Manage EndorsementsIf you find you're still getting too many endorsements for the wrong skills, it's time to demote those skills. In Edit Profile view, scroll down to your Skills & Expertise section, click Edit, then click Manage Endorsements. You'll see a list of your skills and all the contacts who have endorsed you for each.  Manage your endorsements to ensure your best skills are front and center. Click the skill you want to manage to see who has endorsed you. Now you have the option to show or hide either all of your endorsements or individual endorsements. If you uncheck any boxes in the Show/hide list, the number of endorsements counted for that skill will go down by the number of boxes you uncheck. So let's say in the example above, I wanted to move Blogging out of the top 10. This skill currently has 167 endorsements. I could uncheck 100 boxes and that skill would be left with only 67 endorsements, allowing another skill I care about (with more than 67 endorsements) to rise into the top 10. #3: Spread the Networking LoveNetworking is the primary goal of LinkedIn, so don't be afraid to meet new people, rally your community or give back to others. Everyone is looking for relevant (not random) endorsements. To help build your top 10 skills, write to your lists and ask them to endorse you for a specific skill or two. Be clear about what you're asking for so you don't end up with additional "helpful endorsements" for skills you're trying to de-emphasize. Don't forget the importance of reciprocation! When others endorse you, be sure to endorse them as well, but ask them what skills they're most interested in promoting! A Few Parting Tips Endorsements are not a substitute for recommendations. Recommendations are universally more respected than endorsements. They represent social proof from people you know and have actually worked with. However, the right endorsements can increase your credibility. Help your friends and colleagues choose the most relevant endorsements for you by using your Skills section and telling them what you'd like them to endorse. What do you think? Have you optimized your skills and endorsements? Do you have additional ideas of how to handle endorsements? Please share in the comments. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. The post How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Endorsements appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
| How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Endorsements Posted: 27 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST By Brenda Bernstein
Do you want to know how to fix that? It's frustrating to be endorsed for skills that aren't relevant to you or your networking goals. But hope is not lost! In this article I'll show you three ways you can guide people into endorsing you for relevant skills. Why Manage LinkedIn Endorsements?LinkedIn endorsements are meant to provide credibility and networking opportunities. Has LinkedIn ever notified you that someone has endorsed you for skills and expertise that have absolutely nothing to do with your actual skills? Or worse, you don't know the endorser at all, so how can he or she endorse any skills you have? Sometimes people are endorsing you so you'll see the notification and they'll be on your radar. Other times, people are endorsing you because they're friends or colleagues and they think they're helping you. Either way, if people are endorsing you for the wrong skills, then your real skills are being overlooked. Luckily, you can help people endorse you for the skills that really matter to you. Below I'll show you how. #1: Set Your Skills and EndorsementsIf you want to control which skills are most prominent on your LinkedIn profile, set up the Skills & Endorsements section of your LinkedIn profile. This lets you subtly encourage others to use those skills when they endorse you. If you don't have the Skills section on your profile, go to Edit Profile and look to the right. You'll see a list of sections recommended for you. Click on the Skills option to add it to your profile. It's important to have the Skills section activated on your LinkedIn profile. You can add up to 50 skills to your profile, so go ahead and set those skills yourself. Don't be shy. Tell the world what you want to be endorsed for. Don't let a bunch of strangers decide how you present your areas of expertise! As you begin typing your desired skill, you'll see a list of related skills you can choose from (but you don't have to). The list is likely compiled based on how others have searched for people with a particular skill. Decide what skills you want to be endorsed for. When you first add skills to your profile, they're listed in the order you entered them. As soon as people start endorsing you, though, the skills you are most endorsed for will rise to the top of the list. Your 10 most endorsed skills will show up automatically; the other skills are listed under them. You can decide what skills others can endorse you for, but they determine the top 10. When someone endorses you, you get an email notification with the option to Add to Profile. LinkedIn tells you when someone has endorsed you. When you click Add to Profile, you'll end up on your LinkedIn profile and see a list of all of the potential skills you can add to your list. Here's where you exert your control: If people endorse you for the wrong skills, you don't have to accept the endorsements! Just click the Skip button. You don't have to accept skill endorsements that don't fit with your profile. At least once a month, visit your LinkedIn profile and do a quick cleanup. In Edit Profile view, scroll down to your Skills & Endorsements section and click Edit. Remove any skills you don't want to be endorsed for. You can remove a skill by clicking the "X" next to its name, or you can add new skills as necessary. Edit your skills list about once a month. #2: Manage EndorsementsIf you find you're still getting too many endorsements for the wrong skills, it's time to demote those skills. In Edit Profile view, scroll down to your Skills & Expertise section, click Edit, then click Manage Endorsements. You'll see a list of your skills and all the contacts who have endorsed you for each. Manage your endorsements to ensure your best skills are front and center. Click the skill you want to manage to see who has endorsed you. Now you have the option to show or hide either all of your endorsements or individual endorsements. If you uncheck any boxes in the Show/hide list, the number of endorsements counted for that skill will go down by the number of boxes you uncheck. So let's say in the example above, I wanted to move Blogging out of the top 10. This skill currently has 167 endorsements. I could uncheck 100 boxes and that skill would be left with only 67 endorsements, allowing another skill I care about (with more than 67 endorsements) to rise into the top 10. #3: Spread the Networking LoveNetworking is the primary goal of LinkedIn, so don't be afraid to meet new people, rally your community or give back to others. Everyone is looking for relevant (not random) endorsements. To help build your top 10 skills, write to your lists and ask them to endorse you for a specific skill or two. Be clear about what you're asking for so you don't end up with additional "helpful endorsements" for skills you're trying to de-emphasize. Don't forget the importance of reciprocation! When others endorse you, be sure to endorse them as well, but ask them what skills they're most interested in promoting! A Few Parting Tips Endorsements are not a substitute for recommendations. Recommendations are universally more respected than endorsements. They represent social proof from people you know and have actually worked with. However, the right endorsements can increase your credibility. Help your friends and colleagues choose the most relevant endorsements for you by using your Skills section and telling them what you'd like them to endorse. What do you think? Have you optimized your skills and endorsements? Do you have additional ideas of how to handle endorsements? Please share in the comments. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. The post How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Endorsements appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
| 8 Facebook Apps to Enhance Your Facebook Page Posted: 27 Feb 2014 02:15 AM PST By Andrea Vahl
Would you like to add storefront, generate leads or promote something special on a Facebook tab within your page? In this article I'll reveal Facebook applications that can help you easily add functionality to your Facebook page. How Do Facebook Apps Work?Before we get started, let's review how Facebook apps (also known as custom tabs on Facebook) pages work. Custom tabs are installed manually on your Facebook page and show up underneath the cover photo. If you're visiting a page that has more than four tabs, you can click the down arrow on the right side of the tab cover photos to reveal them all.  Custom tabs appear under your cover photo. There are four standard Facebook apps that come with every page—Photos, Events, Videos and Likes—and any other apps you add are created by a third-party developer (not Facebook). Many of the apps are designed on the app website after you sign up, and then installed later onto your Facebook page when you're ready. Things You Should KnowThere are a few important details about Facebook apps that will help with your design. The app width is 810 pixels. If you're going to create graphics that go all the way across the tab, you'll need to keep the graphic to that width to prevent scroll bars on your tab. The graphic can be as long as you want it to be, but keep in mind that it should be shorter than around 500 pixels to appear "above the fold" on most computer screens. You'll probably also want to design a custom tab cover photo to draw attention to the tab. The dimensions of the tab cover photo are 111 pixels wide by 74 pixels tall. Also note that some tabs will not appear on mobile devices. Some are "mobile-ready"; meaning they have a separate URL that they direct people on mobile devices to so they can see the content on that custom tab. If you've been out there searching in the blogosphere, you may have come across Welcome Pages, where the content of your Facebook page could be "hidden" until the user clicks the Like button. That function no longer exists, but you can still hide the content of a Tab until someone clicks the Like button. Hiding part of the content of your custom Tab is called "like-gating" or "fan-gating", meaning that someone has to like your page (be your fan) before they can see the good content. This can work especially well for contests or sweepstakes on Facebook. By doing this, you can ensure that the person is a Fan before getting access to the contest entry form. There are a lot of other apps available that provide a variety of features, like easily bringing in your Pinterest boards, running a contest or adding your blog posts. These apps are more like a blank canvas, where you can do anything you can do on a website by either using custom templates to get you started or custom-designing something from scratch. Without further ado, let's dive into the top 8 apps (in alphabetical order) with some notes about each one. #1: HeyoHeyo is a drag-and-drop application that's very easy to set up. You can insert a background photo or create a solid fill background and drop in videos, links, text or whatever else you can dream up for your custom tab. Plans start at $25/month with a free trial.  Social Media Examiner uses Heyo to promote its podcast. #2: North SocialNorth Social is a little more expensive at $1.99/day, but you get all of the apps they offer at that price. You can use North Social as your one-stop-shop for all of your Facebook tab needs (including coupons and contests).  Get all of the apps for one price so you can have a variety of customization. #3: PagemodoPagemodo is a very affordable app that starts at $6.25/month for three tabs on each page. The Pro version ($13.25/month) doesn't include the Pagemodo branding and you can have an unlimited number of tabs on three different pages. Pagemodo has a lot of templates to choose from, or you can do something more custom.  Pagemodo has a lot of different pre-built templates if you don’t want to build your tab from scratch. #4: ShortStackShortStack is a very versatile Facebook app that is built on "layers." You can layer widgets on top of each other or use some of their pre-built templates and themes to create something that looks great. The nice thing about ShortStack is that it's free for pages with fewer than 2000 fans—very nice as you ease into Facebook marketing.  Use some of the pre-built templates and themes to create a tab that looks professional. #5: Static HTML – ThunderpennyStatic HTML – Thunderpenny is a free app with a few useful features. You can choose to pull a website right into the Facebook app. But be aware that most websites are larger than the 810-pixel maximum size, so you'll have scroll bars showing. You can also just upload a single image. This is a handy feature if you have designed a flyer or something else you want to showcase.  Code something in HTML, upload an image or import a website easily with Static HTML. #6: TabFoundryTabFoundry is a very handy drag-and-drop free app. You can add background graphics or colors, add multimedia and use HTML if you prefer. If you want to unlock some of the features in the Premium plan, it's just $9/month.  Use the editor to drag and drop the images you want into your custom tab. #7: TabSiteTabSite is another multifaceted tab app where you can run contests, deals, bring in other social feeds and create a custom tab. There's a free option for two tabs on one page (restrictions apply) or plans starting at an affordable $10/month.  TabSite specializes in contests and sweepstakes, but it also does more. #8: WooboxWoobox is a flexible Facebook app that has some free options for things like HTML Fangate, which is nice. The paid plans for contests and other features start at $1/month (yes that is correct—it's for pages with 100 fans or fewer). One nice function that's available is the possibility to redirect right from an app. That way, you avoid having those scroll bars if your website is too wide.  Woobox has some free options for its HTML tab and other functions. Conclusion That brings us to the end of the 8 apps I would recommend. There are many others out there that may also be a good fit for your business. Just make sure you understand the pricing and the capabilities before signing up. Many apps have a free trial, which can help you make a more informed decision. Ultimately, you should be using these Facebook apps to enhance the online experience of your customers or prospects. Always keep them in mind when you're spending time (and maybe money) creating a custom app. What type of information would benefit them? What do you think? Have you created a custom app for your Facebook page? Share your thoughts about why you picked that particular app in the comments below. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends:
The post 8 Facebook Apps to Enhance Your Facebook Page appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2014 07:19 PM PST
If you ever wanted to know what the traits of highly successful Twitter users you've come to the right place. The 10 Golden Rules of Twitter will help make you a Twitter success by modeling the masters. Brian Solis, Chris Brogan and myself engage with the following Twitter tactics on a daily basis, and you will find most if not all of them exhibited by any successful social media guru. Apply these strategies to your own Twitter presence and your following will start to really grow. You get out of Twitter what you put in to it so invest time into networking and engaging on a daily basis and the good karma that you build will compound and come back to you in time! 1. Reciprocity is KeyFollow and be followed, Retweet and be retweeted, follow and be followed. You have got to give in order to get, and the more time you are willing to invest in others the more likely they are to give you the time of day. Reciprocity is a powerful thing, and the main reason for the 255,000 followers I have currently, and the 400,000+ followers I have been able to build for the various accounts I have managed. Once your network grows to several thousand followers don't let it get to your head, I try to respond to everyone who is not an ass that sends me an @mention, and I even respond to some of the asses. Haha, but seriously this is key if you want to build a big brand and a strong network. Look at any Twitter giant and you will see that they have thousands and thousands of tweets and many are conversational. You've got to talk to people to really connect with them, it's just that simple. 2. Schedule Your Golden Tweets |
| How to Network with Influential People Using Twitter Posted: 26 Feb 2014 12:57 PM PST By Jason Kosarek
Are you looking for ways to build relationships that matter on Twitter? In this article, you'll discover how to build a strong Twitter community with influencers, which will benefit your business. Building Connections With TwitterUsing Twitter to help your company grow isn't about the number of followers you have. It's about building a community of followers who are passionate about your industry and who eventually become passionate about your brand. The quickest and easiest way to develop a relevant Twitter community that grows your company is to find connectors and build relationships with them. Connectors are called many things: thought leaders, industry experts, etc. They are the people who already have a thriving community and your customer's ear.  You can benefit from forming relationships with connectors on Twitter. Image source: iStockPhoto. By building relationships with influencers, you increase the chances of gaining your customer's ear and building your own strong community. #1: Find the Influencers in Your Current NetworkThe best place to find connectors is in your current community; find influencers who are already following you. By using Followerwonk, you can see your current Twitter followers ranked by a Followerwonk statistic known as social authority. Followerwonk's social authority is based on the retweet rate of users' last few hundred tweets, the recentness of those tweets and a retweet-based model trained on user profile data. This number is by no means perfect, but retweets are so strongly correlated with a healthy community that they're a great way to identify relationships that you should pursue. Even if the person has a great social authority rank, they're not worth reaching out to unless they're involved in your industry. It's not just about having a community—it's about building the right community.  Find influencers in your network by selecting the higher numbers in the right column. #2: Know Your Competitors' ConnectionsOne of the great things about Twitter is transparency. From @google to @smexaminer, you can see everything everyone is saying. This makes competitive research super-accessible. Your competitors have networks that likely include influencers who are directly related to your industry. To find these people, follow the same process you followed above, but use each competitor's Twitter handle instead of your own. Another tool that can help you find your competitors' useful friends is Open Site Explorer. Type in your competitor's URL and go to the Just-Discovered tab to see the recent inbound links your competitors have gotten.  Here are the recent links to Social Media Examiner. Use the Just-Discovered tab on Open Site Explorer to find the recent inbound links for your competitor's website. These are people who find your competitor's content valuable enough to link to. It's worth your time to build a relationship with them so they'll link to your content next time. #3: Search for Influencers in Your NicheThere are several tools you can use to do this, but Followerwonk allows you to drill down to a niche in your search. You can use social authority as your guide here, but it's more important to zero in on the person's focus. People who are directly involved in what your company values will be a better fit for your community. For example, a digital strategy company that partners with HubSpot would do better to target an inbound marketing B2B HubSpot user instead of a general marketing user.  The more focused your search, the better your results. To start off, build a list of 15-20 people from these categories who would be great to nurture relationships with—people who aren't only influential, but also align with your company's value and vision. Five of these people should feel a little bit out of your reach and seem larger-than-life in your industry. #4: Follow and Interact With People on TwitterTo build your community, you need to focus on the conversations you have. Quick tip: If you reply directly to a person, it will only show up in their feed and the feeds of people who follow you both. If you include your response in a retweet rather than a reply, it'll show up for all of the people who follow both of you. Don't be afraid to reach out to people you may not have the courage to connect with in real life. In my experience, people are surprisingly responsive on Twitter. Make sure when you do reach out, you bring value. Offer help, your opinion and a kind word. Don't ask for anything, including a follow-back. You're trying to build a relationship and you do this by being a giver. #5: Set Up Alerts to Track Where Your Influencers Are Mentioned or Post OnlineThis can be done with Google Alerts, Fresh Web Explorer or a number of other tools. Use the alerts to find where your industry influencers share their thoughts on the web outside of Twitter.  Get an email every time your influencer is mentioned on the web. When you find a good article they've written or a place they're mentioned, share it on Twitter to shine the light on them. Again the key is to help them, not you. #6: Add Value Outside of TwitterNow that you know every time the influencers you follow are mentioned across the web, the number of ways you can promote them, point people toward their relevant resources and maintain relationships with them are wide open to you. Share events they're speaking at, books they write and causes they support. Comment on their blogs and help them in all ways possible.  Use Twitter to say thank you. Each of these actions will help increase the likelihood that your influencers are receptive to your Twitter advances. Conclusion The goal of these tactics isn't to trick or con anyone into following or helping you. The goal is to build genuine relationships. Apply these tactics to your own strategy. As you identify influencers and add value on Twitter, you'll build a community that shows exponential results. What do you think? Have you found any great ways to jump-start an effective Twitter community? Please leave your questions and comments in the box below. Images from iStockPhoto.This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. The post How to Network with Influential People Using Twitter appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
| Tweet Adder 4 The Best Twitter Marketing Tool To Get Twitter Followers Fast Posted: 26 Feb 2014 06:24 AM PST Tweetadder: https://bitly.com/13dXJ48 Hi, I know a thing about you, a simple thing, you are tired to do so many work for so poors results. You want, you need, you are DREAMING about a way to automate and optimiz this work, gain more targeted followers, and so, suscribers, likers, readers and buyers. Tweet Adder is a Professional Marketing software tool to get more twitter followers on autopilot. Automatic twitter friend follower tools like hummingbird, TwitProQuo, tweepme, tweep me, twitter traffic machine, twollow, TweetPenguin and twitaddict dont have these features. If you'r looking for a Twitter Auto Follow Bot, or how to Get Twitter Followers Fast, brute force social media, Twitter Promoter then check out tweet adder . With Tweetadder YOU CAN autofollow followers of another targeted user: http://bit.ly/1asiTOo Good luck Tweetadder: https://bitly.com/13dXJ48 This video helped you, share it The post Tweet Adder 4 The Best Twitter Marketing Tool To Get Twitter Followers Fast appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
| 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST By Donna Moritz
Do you want more engagement and traffic from your efforts? If you're not regularly sharing images that resonate with your audience, you're missing out on a ton of engagement. In this article you'll discover the essential elements of shareable images that increase engagement and drive traffic to your website. Why Use Images to Drive Social Engagement?People are drawn to visual content and take action based on its subtle cues faster than any other medium–faster than text, audio or video. The power of pictures isn't restricted to image-centric platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. Visuals are attracting attention and driving engagement across all social networks. Even LinkedIn and Twitter are getting in on the action and showcasing images. All of the major social networks are highlighting visual content. Brands that can leverage the power of original, optimized images are getting noticed. If you're worried you need a graphic designer or special skills, don't be. In this article I'll introduce you to the tools you need and the five essential elements of shareable, traffic-driving images that you can include in your marketing plan today. #1: Give Your Audience What They NeedIf you want to encourage engagement and shares, your images have to appeal directly to your target audience. Create images and infographics that either solve a problem or inspire your community to take action. Images that give short, instantly actionable advice are highly shareable. Quick tips, how-to's, quotes and fun facts are all very popular. Social media expert Kim Garst matches audience expectations with useful tips by regularly posting images with social media advice and tagging them with #biztip. Her community shares these problem-solving tips like wildfire, which results in an exceptionally high organic engagement rate on Facebook.  Creating an image with a useful tip makes for an instantly shareable piece of content. How-to images have also proven to be a powerful way to encourage sharing and engagement on blogs or social platforms, especially Pinterest. Australian stylist and blogger Nikki Parkinson from Styling You uses this type of image well. She often posts a clever mix of photos and text overlays to demonstrate a process. She created this highly pinnable image to show how to do makeup in 2 minutes.  How-to images are highly shareable on Pinterest. What makes this image so attractive are the original photos, text overlays, numbering and step-by-step instructions. Embedding this type of image in her blog posts makes those articles immediately eye-catching and pinnable. If you decide to create a how-to image, you can garner even more engagement (and blog traffic) if you upload it to Instagram, and share it across all social media platforms. Don't forget quotes! On any social platform, quotes are one of the most shareable types of image. If you decide to go this route, focus on being inspiring or helpful to get the most engagement. Your first instinct may be to share quotes on Facebook (and that's not a bad idea), but have you considered Instagram? Mastin Kipp, founder of The Daily Love, posts a mix of behind-the-scenes images and inspirational quotes on Instagram with great success.  Simple, branded quotes create an emotional connection with your audience and are highly shareable. Finally, funny photos are always a winner on social media, but what about fun facts? Combining a fun fact with a beautiful image is a great way to create shareable content and engage your audience. Tourism Australia pairs highly engaging images with little-known facts about Australia and shares them on its Google+ profile. Fans love it and respond by sharing the information with their friends!  Tourism Australia has tailored its image strategy to its Google+ audience with informative, beautiful images! #2: Be Consistent and QuickFacebook reach has gotten a lot of attention lately and sharing images continues to boost organic reach and engagement. Do you want to skyrocket shares for your images? Then be timely! There are two ways to leverage the power of timeliness to make your images more shareable: consistency and fast action. A consistent approach to sharing images should be a part of every brand's social media marketing tactics. To get started, simply post an image at the same time every day. For example, each day food blogger Bianca Slade of Wholefood Simply posts amazing images on her Facebook page. She shares her wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free creations and asks a simple question: "Have you tried it?" The result has sent foodie fans around the world into a frenzy, excitedly sharing Bianca's creations. They'll even bypass the news feed and go straight to her Facebook page to check out the recipe she posts at the end of the day (that includes me, guilty as charged!).  Tease your fans back to your Facebook page or website with captivating images on Facebook. But Bianca doesn't stop there. She leverages her engagement and includes her fans in the decision-making process for the recipe of the day.  Ask your fans to give their two cents by using an image. For one of the best examples of timeliness, look no further than Oreo. You've probably seen the famous tweet that Oreo sent out during the 2013 Super Bowl. The marketing team acted swiftly during a power outage, posting a well-timed tweet before the power came back on. It was perhaps one of the most quick-witted acts of marketing on social media to date.  Oreo scored a touchdown with their famous quick-witted Tweet. Of course, Oreo has a team of people at the ready to jump on these kinds of opportunities. But that doesn't mean small businesses can't do it too. Keep an eye out for new updates to products or services in your niche. Those updates are important news for your customers! In the example below, Facebook expert Amy Porterfield acted quickly to share news about a new Facebook feature by posting a simple screenshot from a blog post at Duct Tape Marketing.  Screenshots provide instantly shareable images—a great way to quickly announce breaking news. By using a shareable screenshot with a link to the original article, Amy added value to her community, brought engagement to her page and drove traffic to Duct Tape Marketing's blog. Of course, you don't have to wait for breaking news to make a splash. With a little planning, you can be ready for popular upcoming events and release images at the start of a celebration to get early traction. Keep in mind that events recognized by others in your industry will attract more shares. For example, on International Midwives' Day, my business created a simple yet compelling image using PicMonkey to celebrate the day. We posted it early in the morning on the Know Your Midwife Facebook page. The result? Over 1,400 shares by the end of the day! The image swept through pregnancy, birth and parenting pages across Australia, then the US and the UK.  Creating a timely image that appeals directly to your audience results in big engagement. One of the keys to creating a shareable image is subtle or no branding. There is a fine line between a timely post and shameless self-promotion. In the image above, we decided not to include any branding at all. That made the image more universal, which encouraged other pages to share it as if it were their own. #3: Create Original ArtIn a world where we're bombarded with information, anything new stands out from the crowd and catches our attention—on any platform, at any time. Take advantage of that and be part of the 20% of people who create original content for the other 80% to share. When you create original images, they're yours to keep. You can use them in any way you want, whenever you want. You never have to wonder about breaching copyright, reading the fine print on a stock photo or making the big mistake of using an image from Google Images. (A quick reminder: Don't use images you find on Google; it's not a stock library.) You don't need to hire a graphic designer to create original images. You can do it yourself with the advice and tools listed below. Tips for Creating Original, Shareable Images I'm not creative enough! I don't have time! I have no idea where to start! Yes you are, yes you do and no problem. There are a number of easy-to-use tools that give you instant creativity and design skills, as well as allow you to share images quickly. If you're at your desk, you can use image-editing tools like Canva or PicMonkey. Both offer gorgeous (and handy) templates. Use them to create 5-10 images with a similar theme. Not at your desk? Use your phone! Apps like Instagram, InstaQuote, Overgram (free) or Over (paid) make your on-the-fly pictures into works of art you can share immediately. There are hundreds of apps and tools available for you to use, and the list above is by no means exhaustive. But remember, you don't have to try everything all at once. Avoid being overwhelmed by starting with just a few tools. As you become skilled with one tool, add another tool or app to your design kit. When you find something you love, stick with it for a while until something else strikes your fancy. Two More Tips for Creating Original Images
#4: Optimize Size, Branding and SourceWhen creating images, optimization is key. Think in terms of size, branding and source information so your image not only suits the platform(s) you post it to, but has the best chance of being noticed and shared—and sending traffic back to your website. The best size for your image will depend on how you want to use it and where you're posting it. When you want to use an image on Facebook and Twitter, 1200 x 627 pixels works best. Keep that in mind when setting the featured image for a blog post. If you're posting primarily to Instagram, square-ratio images work best and can work well on Facebook too. When you're aiming for Pinterest, use an image with a portrait orientation as those are shared most often. They also look good in Facebook's news feed and in Google+. To see how important image size can be, take a look at my test below. I uploaded a 1200 x 627 pixel image and used it as my blog post's featured image.  Your blog post's featured image will show up when readers share your post on social networks. When I shared the link on Facebook, it pulled the featured image into the news feed as a linked post without using any additional Open Graph coding or plugins.  Use the right dimensions for your blog post featured images so they play nicely with social networks. When I used Buffer to share the blog post link to Twitter, the image still looked fabulous and stood out in the Twitter feed.  Images uploaded to Twitter stand out in the news feed. Experiment with image sizes so you can optimize your content for each platform. In many cases, one image size may suit more than one platform. Find out what works for you, your preferred platforms and where your audience is hanging out. Here's an important tip: As you're creating your original shareable images, don't forget to brand them with a simple watermark. Once created, you can save the watermark and add it to future images as well. Your URL or logo make ideal watermarks. Make the watermark bold enough to remind people that you created and own the image (and where to find more information), but subtle enough that you don't appear too self-promotional. In the example below, you can see how Y Travel Blog did a great job of creating a beautiful, pinnable image with subtle branding. Their logo in the bottom right corner isn't intrusive.  A subtle watermark can help identify an image while protecting its source. #5: Use an Obvious Call to ActionIn any news feed on any social platform, you're always competing against friends, family, funny photos, small businesses and big brands for the attention of your ideal audience. Your engaging image may catch their attention, but then what? If you don't know what you want fans to do when they see your image, they won't either. Your goal is to garner likes, comments or better yet, clicks and sharing (the golden tickets of social marketing). To get those, you need an obvious call to action. Ask yourself two things: Can the image stand alone? Is there a clear call to action? As humans, we're drawn to images and we naturally migrate to those in social news feeds. If we can't immediately discern the meaning of the image, we may look to the description or post to find context, or we may move to the next interesting thing. To give your fans and followers immediate context and encourage them to take action, add some text to your images. In the example below, which image are you more likely to click on?  Titles add context and encourage users to click through for more content. The bottom picture gives viewers clear context and can stand alone. Your fans know what they'll find when they click through. When you're sharing images, there are two places to put a call to action: on the image itself or in the description (this is usually a clickable link). This is universal, whether you're using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or Pinterest. Mari Smith added a call to action to her Facebook cover photo asking fans to click to sign up for an upcoming webinar. An effective way to convert fans to attendees!  A Click Here button or call to action on an image can be hard to resist! When fans click on the image, they can find out more about Mari's webinar by clicking the hyperlink included in the image description.  Include a second call to action in your description to tell your fans what you want them to do. If you want to try the same thing on Instagram, take a cue from Tabsite co-founder Mike Gingerich. He posts a snapshot of his latest blog post to Instagram. It's a simple photo of his computer screen coupled with a call to action in the description that leads followers back to his blog.  A simple reminder to visit your blog for more content can be a great call to action on Instagram. Instagram is a bit different from the other social networks. You can include a URL in your description, but it's not clickable. However, you're allowed one clickable link on your Instagram profile, so be sure to make this a link to your website. On Pinterest, the Beauty Department excels at providing images that have a clear call to action to visit its blog for more information.  Want the full story? Click through to the blog! Some Parting Thoughts Shareable images are the key to creating engaging social media content. There isn't a single network that doesn't rely on compelling images to garner interaction. An easy way to integrate more visual content into your social marketing plan is to use images that speak to your audience. Try posting an image at the same time every day, and be sure to include a strong call to action. Take advantage of the many tools available and create a template that reinforces your brand and makes it quick and easy to make new images in batches. With a little work and planning, you'll be seeing higher engagement and more website traffic in no time. What do you think? What kinds of images do you share with your fans? Which social networks have been most responsive? Share your experience or examples in the comments below. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. The post 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
| 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST By Donna Moritz
Do you want more engagement and traffic from your efforts? If you're not regularly sharing images that resonate with your audience, you're missing out on a ton of engagement. In this article you'll discover the essential elements of shareable images that increase engagement and drive traffic to your website. Why Use Images to Drive Social Engagement?People are drawn to visual content and take action based on its subtle cues faster than any other medium–faster than text, audio or video. The power of pictures isn't restricted to image-centric platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. Visuals are attracting attention and driving engagement across all social networks. Even LinkedIn and Twitter are getting in on the action and showcasing images. All of the major social networks are highlighting visual content. Brands that can leverage the power of original, optimized images are getting noticed. If you're worried you need a graphic designer or special skills, don't be. In this article I'll introduce you to the tools you need and the five essential elements of shareable, traffic-driving images that you can include in your marketing plan today. #1: Give Your Audience What They NeedIf you want to encourage engagement and shares, your images have to appeal directly to your target audience. Create images and infographics that either solve a problem or inspire your community to take action. Images that give short, instantly actionable advice are highly shareable. Quick tips, how-to's, quotes and fun facts are all very popular. Social media expert Kim Garst matches audience expectations with useful tips by regularly posting images with social media advice and tagging them with #biztip. Her community shares these problem-solving tips like wildfire, which results in an exceptionally high organic engagement rate on Facebook. Creating an image with a useful tip makes for an instantly shareable piece of content. How-to images have also proven to be a powerful way to encourage sharing and engagement on blogs or social platforms, especially Pinterest. Australian stylist and blogger Nikki Parkinson from Styling You uses this type of image well. She often posts a clever mix of photos and text overlays to demonstrate a process. She created this highly pinnable image to show how to do makeup in 2 minutes. How-to images are highly shareable on Pinterest. What makes this image so attractive are the original photos, text overlays, numbering and step-by-step instructions. Embedding this type of image in her blog posts makes those articles immediately eye-catching and pinnable. If you decide to create a how-to image, you can garner even more engagement (and blog traffic) if you upload it to Instagram, and share it across all social media platforms. Don't forget quotes! On any social platform, quotes are one of the most shareable types of image. If you decide to go this route, focus on being inspiring or helpful to get the most engagement. Your first instinct may be to share quotes on Facebook (and that's not a bad idea), but have you considered Instagram? Mastin Kipp, founder of The Daily Love, posts a mix of behind-the-scenes images and inspirational quotes on Instagram with great success. Simple, branded quotes create an emotional connection with your audience and are highly shareable. Finally, funny photos are always a winner on social media, but what about fun facts? Combining a fun fact with a beautiful image is a great way to create shareable content and engage your audience. Tourism Australia pairs highly engaging images with little-known facts about Australia and shares them on its Google+ profile. Fans love it and respond by sharing the information with their friends! Tourism Australia has tailored its image strategy to its Google+ audience with informative, beautiful images! #2: Be Consistent and QuickFacebook reach has gotten a lot of attention lately and sharing images continues to boost organic reach and engagement. Do you want to skyrocket shares for your images? Then be timely! There are two ways to leverage the power of timeliness to make your images more shareable: consistency and fast action. A consistent approach to sharing images should be a part of every brand's social media marketing tactics. To get started, simply post an image at the same time every day. For example, each day food blogger Bianca Slade of Wholefood Simply posts amazing images on her Facebook page. She shares her wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free creations and asks a simple question: "Have you tried it?" The result has sent foodie fans around the world into a frenzy, excitedly sharing Bianca's creations. They'll even bypass the news feed and go straight to her Facebook page to check out the recipe she posts at the end of the day (that includes me, guilty as charged!). Tease your fans back to your Facebook page or website with captivating images on Facebook. But Bianca doesn't stop there. She leverages her engagement and includes her fans in the decision-making process for the recipe of the day. Ask your fans to give their two cents by using an image. For one of the best examples of timeliness, look no further than Oreo. You've probably seen the famous tweet that Oreo sent out during the 2013 Super Bowl. The marketing team acted swiftly during a power outage, posting a well-timed tweet before the power came back on. It was perhaps one of the most quick-witted acts of marketing on social media to date. Oreo scored a touchdown with their famous quick-witted Tweet. Of course, Oreo has a team of people at the ready to jump on these kinds of opportunities. But that doesn't mean small businesses can't do it too. Keep an eye out for new updates to products or services in your niche. Those updates are important news for your customers! In the example below, Facebook expert Amy Porterfield acted quickly to share news about a new Facebook feature by posting a simple screenshot from a blog post at Duct Tape Marketing. Screenshots provide instantly shareable images—a great way to quickly announce breaking news. By using a shareable screenshot with a link to the original article, Amy added value to her community, brought engagement to her page and drove traffic to Duct Tape Marketing's blog. Of course, you don't have to wait for breaking news to make a splash. With a little planning, you can be ready for popular upcoming events and release images at the start of a celebration to get early traction. Keep in mind that events recognized by others in your industry will attract more shares. For example, on International Midwives' Day, my business created a simple yet compelling image using PicMonkey to celebrate the day. We posted it early in the morning on the Know Your Midwife Facebook page. The result? Over 1,400 shares by the end of the day! The image swept through pregnancy, birth and parenting pages across Australia, then the US and the UK. Creating a timely image that appeals directly to your audience results in big engagement. One of the keys to creating a shareable image is subtle or no branding. There is a fine line between a timely post and shameless self-promotion. In the image above, we decided not to include any branding at all. That made the image more universal, which encouraged other pages to share it as if it were their own. #3: Create Original ArtIn a world where we're bombarded with information, anything new stands out from the crowd and catches our attention—on any platform, at any time. Take advantage of that and be part of the 20% of people who create original content for the other 80% to share. When you create original images, they're yours to keep. You can use them in any way you want, whenever you want. You never have to wonder about breaching copyright, reading the fine print on a stock photo or making the big mistake of using an image from Google Images. (A quick reminder: Don't use images you find on Google; it's not a stock library.) You don't need to hire a graphic designer to create original images. You can do it yourself with the advice and tools listed below. Tips for Creating Original, Shareable Images I'm not creative enough! I don't have time! I have no idea where to start! Yes you are, yes you do and no problem. There are a number of easy-to-use tools that give you instant creativity and design skills, as well as allow you to share images quickly. If you're at your desk, you can use image-editing tools like Canva or PicMonkey. Both offer gorgeous (and handy) templates. Use them to create 5-10 images with a similar theme. Not at your desk? Use your phone! Apps like Instagram, InstaQuote, Overgram (free) or Over (paid) make your on-the-fly pictures into works of art you can share immediately. There are hundreds of apps and tools available for you to use, and the list above is by no means exhaustive. But remember, you don't have to try everything all at once. Avoid being overwhelmed by starting with just a few tools. As you become skilled with one tool, add another tool or app to your design kit. When you find something you love, stick with it for a while until something else strikes your fancy. Two More Tips for Creating Original Images
#4: Optimize Size, Branding and SourceWhen creating images, optimization is key. Think in terms of size, branding and source information so your image not only suits the platform(s) you post it to, but has the best chance of being noticed and shared—and sending traffic back to your website. The best size for your image will depend on how you want to use it and where you're posting it. When you want to use an image on Facebook and Twitter, 1200 x 627 pixels works best. Keep that in mind when setting the featured image for a blog post. If you're posting primarily to Instagram, square-ratio images work best and can work well on Facebook too. When you're aiming for Pinterest, use an image with a portrait orientation as those are shared most often. They also look good in Facebook's news feed and in Google+. To see how important image size can be, take a look at my test below. I uploaded a 1200 x 627 pixel image and used it as my blog post's featured image. Your blog post's featured image will show up when readers share your post on social networks. When I shared the link on Facebook, it pulled the featured image into the news feed as a linked post without using any additional Open Graph coding or plugins. Use the right dimensions for your blog post featured images so they play nicely with social networks. When I used Buffer to share the blog post link to Twitter, the image still looked fabulous and stood out in the Twitter feed. Images uploaded to Twitter stand out in the news feed. Experiment with image sizes so you can optimize your content for each platform. In many cases, one image size may suit more than one platform. Find out what works for you, your preferred platforms and where your audience is hanging out. Here's an important tip: As you're creating your original shareable images, don't forget to brand them with a simple watermark. Once created, you can save the watermark and add it to future images as well. Your URL or logo make ideal watermarks. Make the watermark bold enough to remind people that you created and own the image (and where to find more information), but subtle enough that you don't appear too self-promotional. In the example below, you can see how Y Travel Blog did a great job of creating a beautiful, pinnable image with subtle branding. Their logo in the bottom right corner isn't intrusive. A subtle watermark can help identify an image while protecting its source. #5: Use an Obvious Call to ActionIn any news feed on any social platform, you're always competing against friends, family, funny photos, small businesses and big brands for the attention of your ideal audience. Your engaging image may catch their attention, but then what? If you don't know what you want fans to do when they see your image, they won't either. Your goal is to garner likes, comments or better yet, clicks and sharing (the golden tickets of social marketing). To get those, you need an obvious call to action. Ask yourself two things: Can the image stand alone? Is there a clear call to action? As humans, we're drawn to images and we naturally migrate to those in social news feeds. If we can't immediately discern the meaning of the image, we may look to the description or post to find context, or we may move to the next interesting thing. To give your fans and followers immediate context and encourage them to take action, add some text to your images. In the example below, which image are you more likely to click on? Titles add context and encourage users to click through for more content. The bottom picture gives viewers clear context and can stand alone. Your fans know what they'll find when they click through. When you're sharing images, there are two places to put a call to action: on the image itself or in the description (this is usually a clickable link). This is universal, whether you're using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or Pinterest. Mari Smith added a call to action to her Facebook cover photo asking fans to click to sign up for an upcoming webinar. An effective way to convert fans to attendees! A Click Here button or call to action on an image can be hard to resist! When fans click on the image, they can find out more about Mari's webinar by clicking the hyperlink included in the image description. Include a second call to action in your description to tell your fans what you want them to do. If you want to try the same thing on Instagram, take a cue from Tabsite co-founder Mike Gingerich. He posts a snapshot of his latest blog post to Instagram. It's a simple photo of his computer screen coupled with a call to action in the description that leads followers back to his blog. A simple reminder to visit your blog for more content can be a great call to action on Instagram. Instagram is a bit different from the other social networks. You can include a URL in your description, but it's not clickable. However, you're allowed one clickable link on your Instagram profile, so be sure to make this a link to your website. On Pinterest, the Beauty Department excels at providing images that have a clear call to action to visit its blog for more information. Want the full story? Click through to the blog! Some Parting Thoughts Shareable images are the key to creating engaging social media content. There isn't a single network that doesn't rely on compelling images to garner interaction. An easy way to integrate more visual content into your social marketing plan is to use images that speak to your audience. Try posting an image at the same time every day, and be sure to include a strong call to action. Take advantage of the many tools available and create a template that reinforces your brand and makes it quick and easy to make new images in batches. With a little work and planning, you'll be seeing higher engagement and more website traffic in no time. What do you think? What kinds of images do you share with your fans? Which social networks have been most responsive? Share your experience or examples in the comments below. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. The post 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
| 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic Posted: 26 Feb 2014 03:00 AM PST By Donna Moritz
Do you want more engagement and traffic from your efforts? If you're not regularly sharing images that resonate with your audience, you're missing out on a ton of engagement. In this article you'll discover the essential elements of shareable images that increase engagement and drive traffic to your website. Why Use Images to Drive Social Engagement?People are drawn to visual content and take action based on its subtle cues faster than any other medium–faster than text, audio or video. The power of pictures isn't restricted to image-centric platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. Visuals are attracting attention and driving engagement across all social networks. Even LinkedIn and Twitter are getting in on the action and showcasing images. All of the major social networks are highlighting visual content. Brands that can leverage the power of original, optimized images are getting noticed. If you're worried you need a graphic designer or special skills, don't be. In this article I'll introduce you to the tools you need and the five essential elements of shareable, traffic-driving images that you can include in your marketing plan today. #1: Give Your Audience What They NeedIf you want to encourage engagement and shares, your images have to appeal directly to your target audience. Create images and infographics that either solve a problem or inspire your community to take action. Images that give short, instantly actionable advice are highly shareable. Quick tips, how-to's, quotes and fun facts are all very popular. Social media expert Kim Garst matches audience expectations with useful tips by regularly posting images with social media advice and tagging them with #biztip. Her community shares these problem-solving tips like wildfire, which results in an exceptionally high organic engagement rate on Facebook. Creating an image with a useful tip makes for an instantly shareable piece of content. How-to images have also proven to be a powerful way to encourage sharing and engagement on blogs or social platforms, especially Pinterest. Australian stylist and blogger Nikki Parkinson from Styling You uses this type of image well. She often posts a clever mix of photos and text overlays to demonstrate a process. She created this highly pinnable image to show how to do makeup in 2 minutes. How-to images are highly shareable on Pinterest. What makes this image so attractive are the original photos, text overlays, numbering and step-by-step instructions. Embedding this type of image in her blog posts makes those articles immediately eye-catching and pinnable. If you decide to create a how-to image, you can garner even more engagement (and blog traffic) if you upload it to Instagram, and share it across all social media platforms. Don't forget quotes! On any social platform, quotes are one of the most shareable types of image. If you decide to go this route, focus on being inspiring or helpful to get the most engagement. Your first instinct may be to share quotes on Facebook (and that's not a bad idea), but have you considered Instagram? Mastin Kipp, founder of The Daily Love, posts a mix of behind-the-scenes images and inspirational quotes on Instagram with great success. Simple, branded quotes create an emotional connection with your audience and are highly shareable. Finally, funny photos are always a winner on social media, but what about fun facts? Combining a fun fact with a beautiful image is a great way to create shareable content and engage your audience. Tourism Australia pairs highly engaging images with little-known facts about Australia and shares them on its Google+ profile. Fans love it and respond by sharing the information with their friends! Tourism Australia has tailored its image strategy to its Google+ audience with informative, beautiful images! #2: Be Consistent and QuickFacebook reach has gotten a lot of attention lately and sharing images continues to boost organic reach and engagement. Do you want to skyrocket shares for your images? Then be timely! There are two ways to leverage the power of timeliness to make your images more shareable: consistency and fast action. A consistent approach to sharing images should be a part of every brand's social media marketing tactics. To get started, simply post an image at the same time every day. For example, each day food blogger Bianca Slade of Wholefood Simply posts amazing images on her Facebook page. She shares her wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free creations and asks a simple question: "Have you tried it?" The result has sent foodie fans around the world into a frenzy, excitedly sharing Bianca's creations. They'll even bypass the news feed and go straight to her Facebook page to check out the recipe she posts at the end of the day (that includes me, guilty as charged!). Tease your fans back to your Facebook page or website with captivating images on Facebook. But Bianca doesn't stop there. She leverages her engagement and includes her fans in the decision-making process for the recipe of the day. Ask your fans to give their two cents by using an image. For one of the best examples of timeliness, look no further than Oreo. You've probably seen the famous tweet that Oreo sent out during the 2013 Super Bowl. The marketing team acted swiftly during a power outage, posting a well-timed tweet before the power came back on. It was perhaps one of the most quick-witted acts of marketing on social media to date. Oreo scored a touchdown with their famous quick-witted Tweet. Of course, Oreo has a team of people at the ready to jump on these kinds of opportunities. But that doesn't mean small businesses can't do it too. Keep an eye out for new updates to products or services in your niche. Those updates are important news for your customers! In the example below, Facebook expert Amy Porterfield acted quickly to share news about a new Facebook feature by posting a simple screenshot from a blog post at Duct Tape Marketing. Screenshots provide instantly shareable images—a great way to quickly announce breaking news. By using a shareable screenshot with a link to the original article, Amy added value to her community, brought engagement to her page and drove traffic to Duct Tape Marketing's blog. Of course, you don't have to wait for breaking news to make a splash. With a little planning, you can be ready for popular upcoming events and release images at the start of a celebration to get early traction. Keep in mind that events recognized by others in your industry will attract more shares. For example, on International Midwives' Day, my business created a simple yet compelling image using PicMonkey to celebrate the day. We posted it early in the morning on the Know Your Midwife Facebook page. The result? Over 1,400 shares by the end of the day! The image swept through pregnancy, birth and parenting pages across Australia, then the US and the UK. Creating a timely image that appeals directly to your audience results in big engagement. One of the keys to creating a shareable image is subtle or no branding. There is a fine line between a timely post and shameless self-promotion. In the image above, we decided not to include any branding at all. That made the image more universal, which encouraged other pages to share it as if it were their own. #3: Create Original ArtIn a world where we're bombarded with information, anything new stands out from the crowd and catches our attention—on any platform, at any time. Take advantage of that and be part of the 20% of people who create original content for the other 80% to share. When you create original images, they're yours to keep. You can use them in any way you want, whenever you want. You never have to wonder about breaching copyright, reading the fine print on a stock photo or making the big mistake of using an image from Google Images. (A quick reminder: Don't use images you find on Google; it's not a stock library.) You don't need to hire a graphic designer to create original images. You can do it yourself with the advice and tools listed below. Tips for Creating Original, Shareable Images I'm not creative enough! I don't have time! I have no idea where to start! Yes you are, yes you do and no problem. There are a number of easy-to-use tools that give you instant creativity and design skills, as well as allow you to share images quickly. If you're at your desk, you can use image-editing tools like Canva or PicMonkey. Both offer gorgeous (and handy) templates. Use them to create 5-10 images with a similar theme. Not at your desk? Use your phone! Apps like Instagram, InstaQuote, Overgram (free) or Over (paid) make your on-the-fly pictures into works of art you can share immediately. There are hundreds of apps and tools available for you to use, and the list above is by no means exhaustive. But remember, you don't have to try everything all at once. Avoid being overwhelmed by starting with just a few tools. As you become skilled with one tool, add another tool or app to your design kit. When you find something you love, stick with it for a while until something else strikes your fancy. Two More Tips for Creating Original Images
#4: Optimize Size, Branding and SourceWhen creating images, optimization is key. Think in terms of size, branding and source information so your image not only suits the platform(s) you post it to, but has the best chance of being noticed and shared—and sending traffic back to your website. The best size for your image will depend on how you want to use it and where you're posting it. When you want to use an image on Facebook and Twitter, 1200 x 627 pixels works best. Keep that in mind when setting the featured image for a blog post. If you're posting primarily to Instagram, square-ratio images work best and can work well on Facebook too. When you're aiming for Pinterest, use an image with a portrait orientation as those are shared most often. They also look good in Facebook's news feed and in Google+. To see how important image size can be, take a look at my test below. I uploaded a 1200 x 627 pixel image and used it as my blog post's featured image. Your blog post's featured image will show up when readers share your post on social networks. When I shared the link on Facebook, it pulled the featured image into the news feed as a linked post without using any additional Open Graph coding or plugins. Use the right dimensions for your blog post featured images so they play nicely with social networks. When I used Buffer to share the blog post link to Twitter, the image still looked fabulous and stood out in the Twitter feed. Images uploaded to Twitter stand out in the news feed. Experiment with image sizes so you can optimize your content for each platform. In many cases, one image size may suit more than one platform. Find out what works for you, your preferred platforms and where your audience is hanging out. Here's an important tip: As you're creating your original shareable images, don't forget to brand them with a simple watermark. Once created, you can save the watermark and add it to future images as well. Your URL or logo make ideal watermarks. Make the watermark bold enough to remind people that you created and own the image (and where to find more information), but subtle enough that you don't appear too self-promotional. In the example below, you can see how Y Travel Blog did a great job of creating a beautiful, pinnable image with subtle branding. Their logo in the bottom right corner isn't intrusive. A subtle watermark can help identify an image while protecting its source. #5: Use an Obvious Call to ActionIn any news feed on any social platform, you're always competing against friends, family, funny photos, small businesses and big brands for the attention of your ideal audience. Your engaging image may catch their attention, but then what? If you don't know what you want fans to do when they see your image, they won't either. Your goal is to garner likes, comments or better yet, clicks and sharing (the golden tickets of social marketing). To get those, you need an obvious call to action. Ask yourself two things: Can the image stand alone? Is there a clear call to action? As humans, we're drawn to images and we naturally migrate to those in social news feeds. If we can't immediately discern the meaning of the image, we may look to the description or post to find context, or we may move to the next interesting thing. To give your fans and followers immediate context and encourage them to take action, add some text to your images. In the example below, which image are you more likely to click on? Titles add context and encourage users to click through for more content. The bottom picture gives viewers clear context and can stand alone. Your fans know what they'll find when they click through. When you're sharing images, there are two places to put a call to action: on the image itself or in the description (this is usually a clickable link). This is universal, whether you're using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or Pinterest. Mari Smith added a call to action to her Facebook cover photo asking fans to click to sign up for an upcoming webinar. An effective way to convert fans to attendees! A Click Here button or call to action on an image can be hard to resist! When fans click on the image, they can find out more about Mari's webinar by clicking the hyperlink included in the image description. Include a second call to action in your description to tell your fans what you want them to do. If you want to try the same thing on Instagram, take a cue from Tabsite co-founder Mike Gingerich. He posts a snapshot of his latest blog post to Instagram. It's a simple photo of his computer screen coupled with a call to action in the description that leads followers back to his blog. A simple reminder to visit your blog for more content can be a great call to action on Instagram. Instagram is a bit different from the other social networks. You can include a URL in your description, but it's not clickable. However, you're allowed one clickable link on your Instagram profile, so be sure to make this a link to your website. On Pinterest, the Beauty Department excels at providing images that have a clear call to action to visit its blog for more information. Want the full story? Click through to the blog! Some Parting Thoughts Shareable images are the key to creating engaging social media content. There isn't a single network that doesn't rely on compelling images to garner interaction. An easy way to integrate more visual content into your social marketing plan is to use images that speak to your audience. Try posting an image at the same time every day, and be sure to include a strong call to action. Take advantage of the many tools available and create a template that reinforces your brand and makes it quick and easy to make new images in batches. With a little work and planning, you'll be seeing higher engagement and more website traffic in no time. What do you think? What kinds of images do you share with your fans? Which social networks have been most responsive? Share your experience or examples in the comments below. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. The post 5 Ways to Make Shareable Images That Drive Traffic appeared first on Make Money Online With Twitter Marketing. |
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