Young & Shand is a Digital Marketing Agency based in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded by Ben Young & Duncan Shand we create and deliver remarkable marketing campaigns. With a word of mouth focus, we digitally leverage your marketing strategy to deliver customer engagement and business growth. Everything starts with a story so read ours.
This week Google begins testing infinite scroll web results for its search. Google+ has it’s mainstream viability questioned by social media metrics company, SocMetrics. We look at how a snack brand increased it’s Facebook likes from 1,800 to 29,000 in a short period. Mashable provides a ‘how to’ on managing multiple social media accounts.
Google Testing Infinite Scroll Web Results
Screenshots have emerged showing Google may be looking at introducing infinite web results. Google Images currently has this feature where you click and it adds more content to the current page, without the need to refresh. This will be interesting for SEM, to see if new(Page 2) Ads are generated alongside the new content, or if page 1 ads will be displayed for the entire search.
Case Study: Snack Brand Doubles Facebook ‘Likes’ Through Social Coupon
Through a simple coupon based social media campaign, this snack brand increased, their likes from 1,800 to 29,000. The campaign comprised of two separate campaigns, the first was a coupon that, exclusively, gave Facebook fans $1 off the product. This increased the brands likes from 6,800 to 13,700 in two weeks. The second campaign was a ‘two for one’ coupon, with this campaign they didn’t publicise it. They simply swapped the coupons. The coupon spread virally and increased the page fans to 29,000 in just 36 hours and had an in store redemption rate of 95%. You can read more details about it here.
4 Social Media Lessons From the Emma’s Pizza Fail
This story shows how social media can hurt a brand. The boss of Emma’s Pizza decided to vent their frustration, on twitter, about a customer who refused to pay for the extra toppings they ordered on their pizza. Belittling them and calling them a ‘dumbass’, in a public tweet. A conversation ensued in which the brand replied negatively to customers tweets, telling them to mind their own business saying ‘I’m wondering who asked you how to run my business anyway, why chime in when you don’t know?’. If you want to vent your frustrations, keep it to yourself!
Using Data to Drive SEO Results
This article from Search Engine Watch, divides the SEO data analytics process into three stages; Performance reporting, Opportunity identification and Prioritisation. Performance reporting involves identifying if indicators are mapping to goal expectations and being able to identify and correct any issues relating to dropping places in search, whether that’s due to competition or an algorithm update. Opportunity identification means keeping an out for new keywords, on page data, performance, internal and external linking opportunities. Finally prioritisation involves identifying which opportunities provide the most gain with the available resources. This may mean sacrificing smaller tasks if the end goal is to be met.
How to: Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts
This is an article focusing on the tricky task of managing numerous social media accounts. The first point stressed is ‘Without a dedicated project manager delegating to other employees, many details can get “lost in the sauce.”‘ Allocating a project manager from the start avoids confusion and provides accountability. Use social management tools such as Hootsuite to make your life easier managing multiple accounts. These allow you to monitor the social space for mentions of your keyword and brand, and react accordingly. Organisation is also key, having a single depository for all your clients usernames and passwords can save a lot of time and hassle, systems such as Google Docs, Dropbox, Basecamp or other cloud based service, can allow for easy collaboration amongst staff, no matter where they are.
SocMetrics Questions Google+’s Mainstream Reach
SocMetrics, a company that analyses trends based on social media mentions, has questioned the mainstream reach of Facebook rival Google+. Stating that some influential groups aren’t as interested in the social network as their more technology orientated counterparts. It would be easy to rubbish the data, due to the fact Google has not run any marketing targeted towards the mainstream and the fact Google+ is still invite only, and I will. It’s easy to say that there is no mainstream interest in a product that is a) Not released b) Invite only c) Not marketed. It seems inevitable that Google will run some sort of campaign once Google+ is ready for public consumption, but with new features being regularly added, we still have a little wait.
On A Lighter Note…
This ad’s brief was quite literally…brief: “I work at a crappy backpacker hostel. My boss told me to make an ad with no money. This is what happened”. So he made the video, uploaded it to YouTube and then shared it on Reddit, where it became the most popular post of the day. With 150,000 views in 3 days, this tongue-in-cheek attempt at a fancy hotel ad went better than expected!
This week Google continues to launch new features, with games for it’s social networking site, Google+. The platform is being rolled out at the moment to a number of users. In the wake of the riots in the U.K. a police force are beginning to ‘name & shame’ those convicted with crimes using their social networking sites. Lastly the tale of Evernote, a three year old start-up software company with 11 million users, employed the use of social media to sell and spread the word of it’s product, leading to incredible growth.
Google Plus Adds Games
Google is beginning to roll out its new gaming platform to their social networking site. Hoping to entice more users from Facebook, the new games include the popular Angry Birds, Bejeweled Blitz and Zynga Poker. A old criticism of Facebook was the news feed being spammed by Farmville and Mafia Wars notifications, Google will not have this issue saying: “If you’re not interested in games, it’s easy to ignore them. Your stream will remain focused on conversations with the people you care about.”
Android User Growth to Increase by 42%
Statistics from eMarketer show the substantial growth the Android operating system is having in the mobile market, with a 42% increase in users suspected. This increase will allow them to obtain a 24% share in the US smartphone market. Compared to Apple’s 30% market share, the gap between the two isn’t as wide as one might think. The open source operating system has allowed handset manufacturers to customise the product and innovate in ways Apple can’t.
6 Ways To Improve Your Search Engine Rankings
This article from QuickSprout.com gives some good insight into intermediate and advanced techniques for search engine optimisation. For example, gaining links too quickly can see a short term improvement but doesn’t pay off in the long run, highlighting the need for a consistent long term linking strategy. Another point they make, is to utilise the social tools on hand. Create powerful and useful social media pages and implement the sharing feature they possess on your content (Your product, Blog, Website etc.).
Greater Manchester Police Begin Name & Shame Campaign
Greater Manchester Police have a strong social media presence with a flickr, Facebook (with 6,600 likes) and twitter account with nearly 94,000 followers. They are leveraging this in a social media name and shame campaign. As offenders are processed through the courts, their name, address and date of birth are posted to Twitter and Facebook. A number of people addressed privacy concerns to Twitter, but were promptly responded to, saying that the information is already in the public realm once an offender has passed through the courts.
Evernote’s Success With Social Media
Evernote CEO, Phil Libin, talked with Mashable about how they placed the ‘life’ of their company in the hands of the social media world, and won. Phil says they didn’t have a social media ‘strategy’, but a social media hunch. They used social media to get their existing customers to share and show their friends what Evernote is and how to use it. His advice for other CEO’s? “I guess my main observation is that social media users can smell inauthenticity in much less than 140 characters. Enjoy yourself, have fun with the conversation, be yourself. You can’t fake it.” Well it worked on us, everyone in our office uses it – even Duncan!
Man Shares His Starbucks Gift Card With The World
A strange, but inspiring case of social sharing has been publicised across the web. A man has shared his Starbucks card to the world, initially investing $80 onto it, the card has been used to purchase free coffee’s for whoever wants one. The card has transferred $3,664.24 in the two days the card’s been available. Approximately half of the people who used the card have invested money back onto it, allowing the next person to buy a coffee.
On A Lighter Note
This video from Funny Or Die shows actor Paul Rudd, pitching some of his very best marketing ideas, direct from some toilet paper, to director Harvey Weinstein. This seems to be a valuable resource for those looking to inject fresh ideas in their marketing plans.
This week we take a look at outdated marketing methods and how they’re evolving with help from the digital world, we get some tips for creating and managing a successful Facebook campaign, we learn the importance of replying quickly to inquiries and Twitter is proving that it has real benefits for advertisers in the digital space.
5 Reasons Businesses Must Change Their Marketing Tactics
In this article from HubSpot, they identify 5 key reasons why businesses must learn to change their sales and marketing tactics. Traditional marketing methods are in their sights. Television, newspapers, telephone, direct and Internet based mailing lists are their targets. They explain that these methods are now out of date and not nearly as effective as they once were, in the digital age people seek convenience, which traditional media cannot compete with.
14 Tips For a Successful Facebook Campaign
Presented here are 14 useful tips that you can use to improve your Facebook page/campaign. These tips focus on boosting your consumer interaction, gaining fans and driving traffic to your website. They’re all fairly simple, but not obvious, ways to help your campaign. The tips are from Provoque in the UK, and you can read them here.
Responding To Leads Within An Hour Generates 7 Times The Conversations
This article from HubSpot highlights a statistic that has come from a recent Harvard Business Review study. They found that businesses that responded to leads within an hour generated 7 times the conversations. Interestingly, businesses that waited an hour to respond to queries were still 60 times more likely to qualify a lead, than those that waited 24 hours.The results surprised those involved in the study, who said they were shocked at how quickly leads could go cold.
80% Of Advertisers Renew Their Campaigns With Twitter
According to these new statistics from eMarketer, companies utilising Twitter ads are pleased with their results, evidenced by the 80% of which renew their campaigns with the social media giant. The report goes on to suggest there is an opportunity for Twitter to create a more seamless interaction between businesses and their customers. The opportunities to use Twitter could become quite innovative, we’ll be sure watch closely…
Youtube Viewing With Friends Using Google+ Hangouts
Google+ is strengthening it’s Hangouts video chat feature, it will now allow you to easily search for, add and watch a live YouTube stream into Hangouts with up to ten people. If you weren’t already aware, the ability to watch YouTube videos in hangouts has been there since the start. Google’s constant stream of new features has brought new life to social media, with Facebook all of a sudden releasing a raft of new features to try hold on to their members, while Google tries to entice them away.
Whats Your Social Media Strategy?
This study from the Harvard Business Review analysed the practices of 1,100 businesses across four continents and conducted interviews with 70 executives leading their social media strategy. The study revealed 4 distinct social marketing strategies, which were based on a companies tolerance to social media outcomes and the results they desire. The four strategies are: the ‘predictive practitioner’, the ‘creative experimenter’, the ‘social media champion’ and the ‘social media transformer’. You can read more about them here, to find out where you think your company belongs.
On A Lighter Note
This weeks video comes from the popular TV show, Mad Men, an american drama based in the 60′s that follows the activity of an advertising agency based in New York. This excerpt from Mad Men is a pitch for Kodaks new slide projector, delivered with passion and emotion.
This week in digital marketing Google releases it’s latest major algorithm update, we discover YouTube’s varying advertising options, Facebook brand profile pictures to increase in size
Sean Lewis
