using social media to build your brand

Using Social Media To Build Your Brand

@JessMarati@Gadling@LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Be aware• Social media is a constantly changing landscape• Stay on top of industry blogs like Mashable and

TechCrunch for the latest news and trends, particularly around new platforms

• Be an early adopter - you don’t need to develop a strategy around new platforms right away but at least reserve your screen name

• One new trend to keep an eye on: short blast video sharing services like Vine and Tout

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Be visual• Social media is getting more visual• Images resonate better in a crowded space• Easy to engage with them – like or share

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Be yourself• Decide what your brand’s “voice” is, and flesh it

out• Make sure your voice is consistent across content

channels – can cut down on workload• But also, don’t be afraid to be human – use slang,

make jokes, be sarcastic• Don’t just promote, have a conversation

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

But be careful

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

On to the platforms.

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

On to the platforms.

• Impermanent medium• Crowded space: 500 million Tweets/day*• At the beginning, Tweet manually• Reassess, readjust, and do what works for you

CNET, Report: Twitter Meets Half Million Tweets Per Day, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57541566-93/report-twitter-hits-half-a-billion-tweets-a-day/

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Would you click on it?• Tweets that include links are retweeted 86% more

than tweets with no links*• Push out content that is inherently clickable and

RT-able• Stay focused on what’s relevant to your audience• Posts that do well: provocative, extreme, top 10

lists• Pay attention to trending hashtags and dig into

your archives for relevant content

Strategies for Effective Tweeting: A Statistical Review, http://marketingcloud.buddymedia.com/whitepaper-form_strategies-for-effective-tweeting

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

• Frequent changes – stay on top of news• September Edgerank change caused post reach to

plummet• Estimated that most Facebook page posts only

reach 3-7.5% of their fans**• Consider promoted posts

* Edgerank Checker: http://edgerankchecker.com/blog/2012/10/facebook-decreases-pages-reach/**Page Lever, http://pagelever.com/fan-pages-impressions-pageviews-benchmark-methodology

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Start conversations• Use calls to action to drive engagement:

questions, surveys, fill-in-the-blank prompts• Just ask:

–When fans are asked to like a post, there is a 3X higher like rate than when not asked to like.

–When fans are specifically asked to comment on a post, there is a 3.3X higher comment rate than when they are not asked to comment

–When fans are asked to share a post, the share rate is 7X higher than those posts not asking fans to share.*

Strategies for Effective Facebook Posts, http://www.buddymedia.com/newsroom/2012/09/salesforce-buddy-media-facebook-timeline-best-practices-wall-posts/

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Up-and-coming.

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

• fgfg

• 44% of Tumblr users are between 18 and 34*• Optimize your feed for visual or short-form content• We are heavy on photos and video, with a quote or

link thrown in along the way• Reblog to build community• Use tags

Quantcast, http://www.quantcast.com/tumblr.com

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

#TagSmartly

• Most popular travel-related tags on Tumblr:• Landscape• Architecture• Sailing

• Editors highlight curated tags on Tumblr’s “Explore” page, which could lead to exposure

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

• Huge driver of referral traffic: 4th largest in the world behind Google organic, Google direct, and Facebook*

• Make your own content super visual so that you can pin back to your site

TechCrunch, http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/06/report-pinterest-beats-yahoo-organic-traffic-making-it-4th-largest-traffic-driver-worldwide

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Pin relevantly• About 80% of Pinterest users are women*• Top two pin categories:

–Food & Drink–DIY & Crafts

• Pinteresters love: drool-worthy food and drink, home décor, wedding ideas, inspirational quotes

Buzz Referrals, http://static.buzzreferrals.com/Content/Images/R1/infographicFINAL.png

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

• Largest photo sharing app: 90 million active users, 40 million photos a day, 8,500 comments per second*

• About 40% of the world’s top brands are on there

Wall Street Journal, Now We Know How Many Active Users Instagram Really Has, http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/01/17/now-we-know-how-many-active-users-instagram-really-has/

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Lo-fi, lo-fi• fgfg

“Everyone look at my feet, get jealous that I’m at the beach. You prob’ly knew I was going there. You saw my plane’s wing in the air.”

“Everytime I take a photo of an old door, every sign out in front of an abandoned store, it’s such a thrill to add a filter, lo-fi, lo-fi.”

Reevaluate, refine, repeat• Metrics are key• Enterprise solutions: SimplyMeasured, Salesforce

Marketing Cloud• Budget solutions: Hootsuite Pro, Sprout Social

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Proceed cautiously.

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow

Thank youand see you out there.http://twitter.com/gadlinghttp://facebook.com/gadlinghttp://gadling.tumblr.comhttp://pinterest.com/gadlinghttp://instagram.com/gadlingtravel

@JessMarati @Gadling @LATimesEvents #TravelShow