YOUR Social Media Brand Engagement Data Science?

Too many organizations maintain a Facebook page, at times without much thought about strategy..

Small business and non-profit social media managers typically squeeze in posts around many other job duties. Still, I think much can be learned from those developing the art and science of social business goals, objectives and tactics.

Related Article: Measuring YOUR Video Ad Campaign's Performance?

Brian Massey, founder and managing partner at Conversion Sciences, focuses on business website performance data analysis. “The Conversion Scientist” (complete with his lab coat seen in my recent interview and during an eMetrics Summit presentation last summer) explores the marketing funnel – from lead generation through the optimization of the conversion process.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Listening Power?

“Quality leads,” he says, allow marketers to “use a combination of user testing and A/B testing to prioritize and refine those ideas.” Improvement is defined as those tweaks that increase business revenue. It involves a constant process of innovation to respond to market changes driven by social media and other forces.

As I have noted in earlier blog posts, mobile smartphones are a location-based sensor constantly measuring contextual consumer behavior. From inexpensive content testing panels to big data pools, entrepreneurs are developing new tools to help marketers.

We’re talking about someone who understands how to evaluate data, how to collect data, how to make decisions based on the data they’re collecting, and integrate that into their design process.

Facebook target advertising offers social marketers access to millions of potential customers based upon demographic and psychographic filters. For businesses, that translates into qualified prospects. For non-profit and local government organizations, targeting is an efficient way to reach interested citizens, raise issue awareness, and spark new community engagement.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Brand Screenplay?

Success on Facebook, though, requires advertising experiments and effective “landing experiences” on websites, Massey says. Instead of “spray and pray” blasts, “marketers have to embrace this experimentation culture.”

You may not be ready to wear a lab coat, but Massey makes a good point about Facebook targeting as, “interrupt advertising, as opposed to search, which is intent-driven based on the keywords that are entered.” A strategic campaign integrates words, site design and images, brand management and data. In short, we need to embrace granular, contextual data.

The beauty of testing is that it allows a creative team to respond to data by developing bolder campaigns, Massey says. “We can take those risks because we’re doing it with user testing and small experiments.”

A recent ObservePoint 2017 Analytics Summit made this clear. James McCormick, Forrester Research principal analyst, emphasized that strategic metrics should be coordinated through standards and best practices. Optimization of key performance indicators (KPIs), are grounded in digital intelligence platforms. Understanding “digital touch-points,” he has written, should lead to “optimizing and perfecting experiences delivered and decisions made by brands during moments of engagement.”

Related Article: Putting The "Social" Into YOUR Social Media?

Meanwhile, Massey focuses on site personalized visitor touch-points that locate someone at a place within the marketing funnel. It makes a difference, if a person seeks information, brand engagement, or price discounts. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the use of chat-bots work better for some functions than others. Massey asks, “What is the experience once they click?”

"These devices can be used to manipulate rather than persuade. We want to persuade, not manipulate. So, the more people we have that take on experience experimentation culture, the more diversity we have. I think it will ensure that we have a higher ethical bar of people who are using this data."

Massey says the data trend should not “scare you away from getting excited about the creative part of the job.” Social media marketers will need AI training to do the job five years from now, he adds.

Consider an email subject line. Data scientists can help marketers improve results. “I’ve got to sit down and use it on a daily basis to answer questions.”

Related Article: Getting Personal On Social Media?

For now, email and Facebook continue to be the primary way to reach people. “Instagram is probably the next frontier,” Massey says. Likewise, Pinterest can be effective. Increasingly, Facebook and YouTube video also are in the mix.

To some extent, the traditional marketing approach distinguishes use of social media from effective Instagram and Snapchat brand influencer campaigns. These sites, along with Twitter, started behind Facebook in offering targeted marketing data. Massey also is keeping an eye on Amazon and its integration of products and user data. “Every campaign is an experiment,” he says. “If we can embrace that experimentation culture, we have the tools, we have the data. We just have to sit down and ask questions that we can answer with data.”

Guest Authored By Dr. Jeremy Harris Lipschulz. Jeremy is a professor in the UNO Social Media Lab, School of Communication, University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is author of Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics, second edition (2018, 2015). Dr. Lipschultz has published books and scholarly articles on media, law, new communication technologies, social media and education. He has been a frequent media source for outlets, such as WGN, NPR, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Omaha World-Herald, KFAB, and others. Follow Professor Jeremy on X.

Related Article: Social Media Secrets To Going Viral?

For now, Instagram, email and Facebook continue to be the primary way to reach people. “Instagram is probably the next frontier.

Likewise, Pinterest can be effective. Increasingly, Facebook and YouTube video also are in the mix.."

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Scottsdale, AZ. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Building YOUR Brand With Social Media?

We are sorry to say that if you aren’t using social media in your marketing plan, you are behind the times..

And if you are using social media, we are sorry to say that you are probably doing it wrong.

Related Article: How To Build YOUR Brand With Social Media?

Although social media use is an extremely powerful tool in a marketing arsenal, it is not a cure-all and won’t be a viable source for direct bookings that you can measure. But it is vital to your brand and your online reputation.

For some reason, over the past several years social media has morphed from a fun, interactive tool to a trendy sales tool in the eyes of page owners and businesses—this is where the danger begins.

Related Article: How To Build YOUR Brand With Social Media?

First, let’s think back to the birthplace of modern social media, Facebook.

Facebook was spawned from an invention of Mark Zuckerberg called Facemash, which was originally designed to rate fellow college students on their physical attractiveness (Yes, really). 

Over the years, Facebook has become an extremely engaging platform, even with the ability to market to users. But let’s not forget why Facebook was made in the first place—so people could engage online with one another on a personal level.

If you aren’t engaging your audience, you’re doing it wrong.

Think about this for a moment. You probably have 150 to 700 “friends” on Facebook. (Don’t worry about the business side, I’m speaking merely about your personal friends.) You’re popular, right?!?

Related Article: Creating Engaging Social Media Content?

However, do you have friends who hardly ever post? Maybe someone you didn’t really know, but who hit that “accept” button anyway? It’s not that they aren’t posting anything. It’s that you don’t hit their like button or comment on their stuff—ever. Facebook realizes this (through its algorithm) and filters out their content from your wall because you are clearly not interested in it.

Now apply that to your business page. If you have fans who never click “like” or comment on your posts, Facebook is going to show less and less of your content to them. It’s the algorithm!

If you post only promotional stuff and do not understand the algorithm, you’re doing it wrong.

People engage in social media for several reasons, and one of those is to maintain relationships. When we approach our fans with the mind-set of a relationship rather than a sale or a booking, we see more engagement, better reviews, and overall happier fans, both now and long term.

Related Article: Social Media Secrets To Going Viral?

Here Is The ROI Issue

What kind of ROI can you expect from social media? That is a question that really should not exist. Yes, you can see the ROI in your social platforms; it does exist. However, asking this question means that you are expecting all your social touchpoints to result in bookings; it just doesn’t work that way. Social media bookings come from good branding, and good branding comes from patience and a well-organized plan.

If you are wondering where to start, ask yourself the following: “What sort of content do my fans like?”

You can publish various types of content and measure the results—count your likes and engagement. Facebook lays it all out for you in your admin panel. By promoting your brand in that fun, non-salesman way, you are giving your fans what they like. This leads to more engagement, which leads to much better brand recognition in the long run!

If you post more content about your company and products than destination-related info, you’re doing it wrong.

The Visual Experience

A popular saying is, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Actually, Fred R. Barnard said, “A picture is worth ten thousand words.” Either way, social media is a visual experience and visual content is forty times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content (HubSpot). When you think about it, every social platform centers on visual content.

This is your opportunity to publish the funniest, coolest visual content you can, whether that’s photos, videos, GIFs, memes, and so on. Start producing content that amuses your audience, but remember, there might be a difference between what you like and what your audience likes. Again, test and measure.

Related Article: 5 Top Brand Social Media Strategies?

If you don’t support your message with a nice visual, you’re doing it wrong.

Opinions Matter

One of the most overlooked aspects of social media is reviews. If there is one thing we know about the Internet, it’s that everyone has a loud virtual mouth. Reviews are a powerful tool and have the potential to help or hurt your brand image in a heartbeat!

So how do we use reviews? Actually, republishing reviews could have a great impact on your audience and makes for some fantastic content. This is what we call user-generated content and is considered by some to be the holy grail of the content world because, well, it’s real and from a trusted source—a reviewer.

There is no better way to build trust than to let your audience tell others how much they love you. A great strategy is to post reviews about a rental AND photos of that rental. You could even use this as a remarketing tactic with paid campaigns.

Speaking of Paid Campaigns

Yes, Facebook is a business. It enjoys collecting our money, too. But do the ads work in the vacation rental industry? Of course they do, but again, more for brand recognition than anything else. We won’t get into the differences in “like” campaigns and “audience” campaigns here, but your ads normally get many more impressions than they do clicks, which is why they’re great for promoting your brand.

Remarketing is probably the best tactic you can use on paid Facebook. It’s simple but effective. Remarketing ads on Facebook are ads that display on their Facebook feed after they have visited your website, attempting to hook them again. Again, think of engaging information here as well, such as reviews, or bringing them back to a page they may have missed.

Related Article: Promoting YOUR Social Media Content?

Does Social Media Help with SEO?

To make a long story short, yes. A strong social media presence with interactions from users does help with search engine optimization. Search engines use “social signals” in their algorithms—yet another reason to have a good audience following. Of course, it’s difficult and time-consuming to be present on ALL social media channels, so at least make sure you keep up with the competition. If you and a competitor are running from a bear, you don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than your competitor.

What Now?

So now you know that social media for the vacation rental industry, whether on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram, is about building a trusted brand, not making a sale. It’s about winning over an audience, not pushing them to book. We admit, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to planning and executing content through your social channels. Writing all those steps down would turn this article into a book.

And don’t get us wrong—there is a place on social media for promoting your rental units, but do it in the paid channel portions, not the regular wall posts.

Just remember, if you use social media as a tool to build your brand as a whole instead of booking units, you’re doing it right.

Related Article: Instafame - Social Media Influencer Training?

What You Should Be Doing For Social Media -- TheBare Minimum

*Post three to four times a week to your Facebook Page.

*Post something fun 80 percent of the time and post something promotional 20 percent of the time to increase engagement and reach.

*Respond to your reviews (good and bad) and private messages on Facebook within an hour (a badge on your page displays your response time).

Spend money either remarketing on Facebook or boosting posts.

Great Ideas For Facebook ReMarketing Ads

*Drive users to a page on your website that they may not have seen before, or one that is normally hidden, such as “New Rentals” or “Why we rock as a rental company.

*Use a special Facebook-only coupon code and tease it in the ad to get visitors back to a page that has the coupon (you could also ask them to enter their email address to get the coupon code). Track the code so you know how many bookings you get.

Guest Authored By David Thompson & Paul Hanak. David Thompson is Social Media Director for Intercoastal NE Designs, Paul Hanak is Digital Marketing Director for Intercoastal NE Designs. Follow David Paul on Twitter.

Related Article: Leveraging YOUR Social Media Reviews?

Although social media use is an extremely powerful tool in a marketing arsenal, it is not a cure-all and won’t be a viable source for direct bookings that you can measure.

But it is vital to your brand and your online reputation..

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  Post Crafted By Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Chatbot Marketing Strategies for YOUR Business?

Social media marketing is a way to level up your brand. 

Learn how to implement these 10 social media marketing strategies for success.

Whether you own a small business or manage a large corporation, no matter how big or small a company is, it cannot grow without social media and a digital marketing strategy.

Having a social media marketing plan is vital to stand out in a crowd competing for attention. Your strategy should be strong enough to boost your brand awareness above and beyond the competition.

Social media is so much more than memes and Instagram stories; it's about using each platform to post the kind of content that is authentic to your brand, tells the story of your campaigns, and connects to the lives of your consumer.

Using social networks to drive traffic toward your target demographic takes time and requires you to set goals and commit to social strategy. However, the 10 steps below can have you well on your way to increased brand awareness and a whole new social media presence.

Related Article: 5 Top Brand Social Media Strategies?

1. Start Using Chatbots

You may have already heard, but chatbots are in. This is no surprise, as they are the one social media management tool that can communicate and resolve customer problems without the potential need for human interruption.

In addition to the above, chatbots integrate with the social media platforms consumers now feel most comfortable interacting through. Platforms like ChattyPeople make integrating an AI-powered chatbot into your social media strategy easy.

These tools allow you to create a chatbot that: 

• Doesn't require any coding knowledge.
• Can answer customer questions.
• Can take orders directly from Facebook Messenger and comments.
• Integrates with all the major payment systems.
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2. Create a Personalized Experience for Your Customers

Chatbots are a great way to automate specific everyday tasks, and if implemented correctly, your chatbot can allow you to create more personalized experiences for your customers.

High-quality SEO content coupled with all the above can help you bring in the right customers at the right time. Good content marketing can help attract an organic audience; moreover, it can be free.

Related Article: Why Social Media Influencers Prefer Instagram?

Linking ads to your chatbot will:

•  Break the traditional views customers have of you only trying to sell to them.
•  Make your customer's experience more personal.
• Boost your sales.
• Create a loyal fan base.

3. Create an Efficient Content Marketing Strategy

Quality is crucial, and content is no exception. Content marketing has long been a prominent form of marketing and will likely be around for a while. Many brands are not linking quality content with the proper posting schedule and the correct frequency of posts.

High-quality SEO content coupled with all the above can help you bring in the right customers at the right time. Good content marketing can help attract an organic audience; moreover, it can be free.

Be sure to create a relevant hashtag strategy along with your optimized and thorough content.

Related Article: Lessons For YOUR Brand On Social Media?

4. Create a Community for Your Audience

Although social media followers and many other metrics are influential, they are not the "be-all and end-all" to social media success. Social media engagement rates are much more telling.

You need to show your audience that you are not just a robot. Integrate personality through humor and emotions into your posts so your audience can relate to your brand.

Social media is all about being social; if your customers see the same types of posts repeatedly, they may lose interest.

Make your communications interactive by:

•  Asking your audience questions.
• Gathering their opinions on some issues.
• Sharing newsworthy information rather than just information about your products or services.
• Liking and sharing some of their posts rather than just the other way around.
• Asking them to interact directly with your posts through "likes" and "shares".  
• Incorporating user-generated content.

Related Article: What Other Peoples Advertising Can Teach YOU?

5. Jazz Up Your Profiles With a Diverse Content Strategy

People respond to good imagery, fun TikTok videos, and some exciting podcasts once in a while. Jazz up your social media content by using this type of media regularly.

Your social media pages will likely look bland if all you post and share is text or infographics, so be sure to use other types of media to catch your audience's eye. Pumping out different types of content can add a level of personality to your brand.

6. Use Brand Advocates

Your best promotional tool is the people who love your brand. Instead of finding new customers, why not leverage your current ones? Make your customers your influencers. In addition to your existing customers, you could use your own employees.

To use your employees as brand advocates, you should:

• Create social media guidelines specific to your brand.
• Tell your advocates about social media best practices.
• Add a leader to each section of your social media advocacy plan.
• Track the correct data to pinpoint areas for improvement and those doing well.

Related Article: Kevin Hart Social Media Branding?

7. Create Profiles on the Relevant Channels

Today, people create social media accounts on every platform available to reach as many people as possible. Unfortunately, you might not reach your chosen target audience with that mindset.

As a result, it is critical that you look at your buyer personas when choosing your social media channels. For example, you won't necessarily need a LinkedIn profile if you are launching a gothic clothing brand; the same as you won't need to be on Pinterest to promote your surveillance services.

8. Establish a Social Media Budget

Social media platforms are one of, if not the most important, forms of marketing. Allocating the proper budget to your social media marketing campaigns is crucial to your success.

Not only this, leveraging that budget with the right strategy can be the most cost-effective way to reach your KPIs and chosen target audience.

Because social content is used on a much more personal level, you may also find that it is where you can make a much deeper connection with your customers.

Related Article: Social Media Tips For EVERY Platform?

9. Run Cross-Channel Campaigns

Run cross-channel campaigns across all your social media channels to further engage your customers. Remember that these campaigns are run by virtually every company today, so you may need to give yourself an edge to help you stand out from the crowd.

Add an emotional component to your social media campaigns so your audience can relate to your cause.

An Efficient cross-channel social media campaign will:

• Tell an engaging story.
• Link back to a specific landing page that can give your audience more information about your campaign.
• Have a unique and memorable name coupled with relevant hashtags.

10. Tell A Story By Going Live

Yes, your content tells your brand's story, but why not share with your audience what's happening with your company in real time?

Facebook and Instagram, among other platforms, have created live-streaming features that big brands are not yet using to their full potential. To compete with them, start using these live features before they catch on.

Live stories are a great way to:

• Show your audience you are more than just a money-making machine.
• Engage and inspire your customers.
• Create shareable and memorable content.

Related Article: How To Up YOUR Social Media Game?

Businesses worldwide are slowly becoming more preoccupied with gathering customers on their social media platforms rather than their websites.

By following the 10 strategies outlined above, you'll set yourself up to compete with well-established brands and create a social media plan that can withstand the test of time.

Guest Authored By Murray Newlands. Murray’s is an entrepreneur, business advisor and online-marketing professional. In 2013 Murray founded In 2013 Murray founded TheMail.com. He is the U.S. correspondent for  YourStory.com. Follow Murray on X.

When it comes to your business goals, social media marketing must play a role. 

Social platforms can optimize your pool of potential customers, increase brand awareness, and create opportunities for new partnerships with new products.

Keep in mind that tools available to you, like chatbots and automation of content calendars, can be a huge help in streamlining operations.

Remember: your customers are real people, not just social media metrics.

You must create and post content that can stand out to them during mindless scrolling — it means using content strategies to create campaigns they'll connect with and care about. This is what can set your company apart from the rest.

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Brand Alchemist at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Scottsdale, AZ. where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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