Considering that there are 27 million pieces of content shared every day and 89% of Millennials are active on at least one social media platform, it’s not surprising that social media marketing actually became a pretty big business during over the last decade. In fact, it’s estimated that marketers spent about $8.3 billion in 2015 just for social media marketing.

Certainly, that number is significantly higher today.

But if you’re new to the world of internet marketing, or if your small business doesn’t have thousands of dollars to spend just on social media campaigns, how can you make social media marketing work to your advantage during 2023? Here are just a few tips to get you started:

Amp up the visuals

Internet users are naturally attracted to visual content more so than written content, and this became very apparent when Pinterest released its visual search tool which lets users search for information about an item simply by using a picture of that item. Your business can take advantage of this (free) social media site by creating a profile page with different boards that display pictures of your items.

SEO isn’t just for Google anymore

Search engine optimization typically refers to optimizing your website for searches on Google, but it’s becoming more common for people to search for businesses or products right inside the social media site. Optimizing your business for Facebook searches, for example, might mean that you fill out a business page and begin sharing links to your blog posts in order to get more followers.

Quality definitely trumps quantity

Back in the good ol’ days, “spammy” content was only blocked out by Google. Now that any internet user can easily block or unfollow another social media user, it’s very important to make sure you aren’t flooding newsfeeds with low-quality content. Putting more effort into a click-worthy article, even if it means producing fewer articles, is going to be a huge trend for content marketing during 2016.

Start using real-time marketing

Do you remember that tweet from Oreo during the 2013 Super Bowl blackout, “You can still dunk in the dark”? Of course you do — it was a legendary use of real-time marketing and it was about two years ahead of everyone else. Small businesses can use real-time marketing in simple ways, like sending out a tweet or a Facebook post, that relates to an issue which their target audience is already interested in.

Don’t forget about B2B

Social media media isn’t just about connecting with young consumers on Instagram; paid advertising spots on LinkedIn, for example, could be a great way to reach a niche B2B market on social media.

If you’re planning on using social media marketing, or if you’ve already begun, what tips would you add to this list? Be sure to share your insider knowledge with us!

The post 2023: The Year for Social Media Marketing appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

If you aren’t already using Twitter as an advertising vehicle, now may be time to take social media advertising on the platform seriously. After all, it is one of the world’s largest and most popular social networking platforms – ranking in the top 2o ahead of sites like Reddit and LinkedIn, according to research from Buffer.

Twitter has over 436 million users logging in every month, which means it has an undeniable potential for helping your brand reach both current and prospective consumers. But how can you use it to reach the customers who have never heard about your brand?

The answer is “Twitter ads.” Twitter offers advertisement options for various goals, and as there is no cap on a minimum budget, any business owner can access this feature to their advantage.

How To Promote A Tweet To Your Target Audience

How To Promote A Tweet: Getting Started

First, you need to create a Twitter account for your brand. Even if you do not want to promote yourself, you can still use it as a communication means to interact with your customers to reply to their concerns and comments.

Once you have an account, write your first tweet and explore different options and see if people are already talking about your business or brand. It is best to follow other companies and brands in your niche. This way, you will appear in relevant searches by potential customers. Once you are familiar enough with the platform, you head to the “start advertising” section of Twitter and start utilizing perks of paid advertisement.

Select Your Objective

Your first objective will be to select a goal for your business’ ad campaign. If you have already tried Facebook advertising, you should not have any problems understanding Twitter advertising.

You can choose different objectives such as get more followers, send people to your brand’s website, get more followers to retweet about you, etc. You can choose from many options, depending on the outcome you wish to reach from your Twitter ad campaign.

You can choose to run one or multiple ad campaigns, depending on your budget and marketing goals.

How To Promote A Tweet To A Targeted Audience

Once you know your goal, you need to decide your target audience. You can choose from criteria, such as gender, age, location, language, and so on. Twitter allows you to be as specific as you want. You will have a variety of options, including interests, keywords, and tailored audience behavior to add to your targeting.

Set your Budget

The Twitter ads system is auction-based; therefore, you must specify the maximum budget you are willing to invest for each action through your Twitter campaign. For example, if you aim to gain followers, Twitter will charge you whenever you acquire a new follower and not for replies or retweets.

Create Your Tweets

Once you have decided on your goal, budget, and targeted audience, all you need to do is create your tweets. You can do so by composing tweets with links, texts, and images, or selecting from your existing tweets.

You can also choose to schedule your tweets. This allows you to set up your marketing campaign in advance, and your tweets for any special announcements will go live at a specific time.

Quick Promote

Apart from Twitter ad campaigns for your business, Twitter recently rolled out its quick promote feature that allows businesses to promote their best-performing tweets from their dashboard directly. Plus, they do not have to go through the entire ad campaign workflow.

All you need is to set a budget, and the Twitter will automatically target an audience with similar interest to your brand and your tweets will appear in their timelines. This feature helps small to medium-sized organizations that want to reach more consumers without investing too much effort and time into advanced options.

Now that you know how to promote a tweet, we want to let you know that the team at Direct Online Marketing is here to help if you are looking to grow the reach of your Twitter profile or your other social media accounts. Get in touch with our team of social media and digital marketing strategy experts for a no-risk consultation.

The post How to Promote a Tweet appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

It’s easy to create a social media presence. The hard part is building a social media presence with an eye on strategic management. That begins with a deep dive into the pool of numbers. Every brand should be aware of their demographics in all advertising pursuits. Social Media is not different, it is essential to target the right audience.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and LinkedIn all share common ground. They are all social media platforms. What they are not is the same audience. It’s easy to jump into the “what’s hot” game. Just because one platform is suddenly the talk of the web doesn’t mean that every brand should rush in.

The Demographics of Social Media

Clearly, each social media platform appeals to a different demographic. The latest demographics from the independent Pew Research in a survey conducted from January 25 through February 8, 2021, dives into the gender, race, age, income level, education, and living areas of U.S. social media users. This information is essential to decide on the relevant platforms for companies, Brands and organizations to concentrate on in their social media strategy.

A quick glance at the numbers tells everyone that YouTube is the reigning king among all age groups except those over sixty-five, who still cling to Facebook. A Brand that focuses on a millennial market will do well to have a strategic YouTube social media marketing plan in place. While a Brand reaching out to the baby boomers should reconsider even having a YouTube strategy right now.

With all that needs to be deciphered in creating a strategic social media marketing plan, the best decision any Brand can make is to hire a social media strategy team. Professional social media managers know the demos inside out, which are different by country, continent, and even region.

Why Choose One Over The Other

Whether your company, Brand, or organization is just beginning to use the power of social media or is looking at how to be more effective, there are key questions to ask. To decide a social media strategic management plan these questions need answers:

Who – who does the Brand want to reach?

What – what information, discounts, premieres of new products, and customer service engagement can be offered?

Where – which platform does the key demographic of the Brand favor

When – when are they engaging with a particular platform, there is prime time, off-peak and no time uses of every platform by age unless targeting an international audience.

Why – Social media serve different purposes, it can:

• Solidify a Brand
• Reinforce A Brand
• Introduce A Brand
• Keep the Brand in focus
• Offer direct e-commerce sales
• Supply information to potential clients, or customers

A strategic social media management plan is not something that can be managed in your spare time. Assigning the marketing department personnel, customer service reps, or other team associates may seem like a cost savings idea, but without a strategic plan results, it is a waste of resources.

If You Build it, They May Not Come

The intricacies of a solid, worthwhile, effective social media presence have moved beyond the realm of “anyone can do it”. Just because it’s built doesn’t mean anyone will come. It takes a professional team who can apply demographic and engagement analysis to create engaging content on the right platform to reach out and make it a worthwhile place for social media users to visit.

Contact us today for a free social media consultation.

The post Social Media and Strategic Management appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Simply put, social commerce is the use of social media to drive sales.

It can be accomplished in a number of ways, including creating product pages on social networks, running ads with social media links, or even just including carousels to products on your posts. No matter how it’s done, the goal is always the same:

To get people to buy what you’re selling directly through your social media channels.

So does social commerce matter in the B2B world? The answer is a resounding yes! In fact, social commerce is becoming increasingly important for B2B companies as buyers become more reliant on social media to influence their purchasing decisions. Similar to writing in-depth blog content for your audience to bookmark or starting a digital marketing course for startups in your target industries, social commerce is another way to reach your customers on their time instead of in a place that is most convenient for you.

Here are a few examples of how social commerce can be used in B2B.

B2B Social Commerce Example 1: Create Product Pages

If you sell products that can be purchased online, creating product pages on social networks like Facebook and Instagram can help increase sales. By making it easy for potential customers to find your products and learn more about them, you can encourage more people to buy what you’re selling.

Creating product pages on sites like Facebook are just one way you can keep the train moving and carry your sales momentum online forward. Check out a few more of our best eCommerce tips for 2022.

B2B Use Case IRL: BulkBookstore

BulkBookstore.com is – you guessed it – an online retailer of bulk book orders to organizations like Duke University, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Hyatt Hotels. They keep a focus on serving the business community by not accepting orders from resellers, retailers, or individuals (unless you’re a teacher).

Their Facebook Shop is the third link across the navigation of their Facebook page. Their Facebook Shop functions almost exactly the same as the product listings on their website, featuring a product title, pricing, and description. To purchase an item, all their 10,300+ followers need to do is click the “view on website” button to be taken right to the product page on their website.

This is a high engagement platform for them to seriously boost the visibility of each new product on their site.

B2B Social Commerce Example 2: Run Ads With “Sign Up” Or “Buy” Buttons

Ads are a great way to promote your products or services on social media, and including links to your website or online store can help increase sales.

B2B Use Case IRL: Grade.us

Grade.us is a SaaS platform for online review management that was started in 2013. Today, it’s part of the Traject platform of digital marketing tools.

This may seem like a pretty standard practice today, but normally on platforms like LinkedIn you will find companies pointing the links in their ads to “Learn More” landing pages for gated resources, or to sign up for an upcoming webinar.

This tactic goes against the grain of what we would normally recommend on LinkedIn, but we are always interested in testing out new approaches to increasing free trial starts and driving down cost per acquisition.

This approach appears to do both.

Running LinkedIn Ads already? Thinking this might be a great way to get a performance boost? Before you go to “sign up” or “buy” ads, check out these 3 ways to boost your LinkedIn campaign performance.

B2B Social Commerce Example 3: Facebook Product Carousels

If you’re not ready to create product pages on social networks just yet, you can still use posts on Facebook to drive sales by creating carousels with links to your products. This makes it easy for potential customers to purchase what you’re selling with a simple click away from their social media feed.

Before you press publish on your first carousel though, make sure you know the best time to post it to Facebook.

B2B Use Case IRL: Quill’s “Fun Friday Finds”

Quill has been providing reliable service to its customers since 1956. We assume they haven’t been online that entire time. Over the past two years, they have been voted America’s Best Customer Service provider in the Office Supply Category by Newsweek and Statista.

As you can see, there are a number of ways that social commerce can be used in B2B. And as social media becomes increasingly important in the purchasing decisions of buyers, it’s only going to become more important for companies to start using social commerce. This carousel links to 9 different pages on their website – 8 products, and one to their Free Shipping page.

Over the past month, their social media team has been publishing carousels like this weekly. Prior to that, they had been creating about 1 carousel per month over the course of three months.

We don’t have an inside source at Quill to verify this was successful, but based on their increased usage, we’re willing to bet it was successful for them.

Ready To Start Trying Social Commerce For Your B2B Brand?

What do you think? Is social commerce something you’re going to start using in your B2B marketing?

Hopefully these examples were enough to get the brainstorming underway for you and your team.

Are you considering social commerce as a strategy to improve (or start) your digital marketing efforts? Unsure about whether to handle the campaigns in house or by working with an agency? Determine which marketing solution is right for you by checking out our In-House vs. Agency Partner webinar before learning more about our social media advertising services.

The post What is Social Commerce? Does It Matter In B2B? appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

A Versatile Whole

So modularizing your content can mean taking a single piece and presenting it in many places in its entirety. It’s moveable, portable, and whole.

Strategically presenting subdivisions is another modular flavor. 

Repackageable Parts
Modular content can also refer to a lengthy, robust piece that you chop into many smaller, self-contained pieces—modules—that you then present in various venues.

The idea is to create content that works as a whole or in its parts. You want to structure your content such that internally coherent chunks can be separated from the whole and used on their own.  

Let’s say we have a ten-gallon bucket of ice cream and a house filled with hyperactive toddlers (or adult creatives, same difference). 

We need to use that bucket of ice cream to get all those toddlers into the living room for nap time, but they’re toddlers (or, again, adult creatives), and they’re very particular about how they consume frozen sugary treats. 

One modular approach to this problem would be to take bits of that ice cream to create ice cream bowls, ice cream cones, and blended cups of ice cream smoothies. 

Each repurposing of the core ice cream content will attract different audiences. By utilizing all of them, we can gather all the little rascals into the room and … (ice cream drumstickroll, please!) … mission accomplished. 

Of course, now they’re all hopped up on sugar, but that’s a different problem. 

Modular content can also work in the opposite way. Using the same example, we can put together a couple of treat trays from various little pieces of candy and snacks from around the house. So, you can build a variety of content from smaller, granular content. 

The important thing is that modular content can, with a little creative application, appeal to different audiences. 

Here’s How You Can Use It

Your ace content writer has just created a definitive 2,700-word blog that relates maverick marketing techniques to how Tom Cruise’s character in the 80s blockbuster hit movie Top Gun managed to pull off a negative-4G inverted dive in an F-14 Tomcat. 

It’s a brilliantly written blog. It hits all the SEO checkmarks. It’s long, it’s informative, it makes great use of keywords, headers, and subheaders. The problem is that it’s a blog in a sea of blogs on your site, and you want it to pull more weight for you. 

Well, no problem. Let’s see how we can make it work for you elsewhere.

“This is what I call a target-rich environment.”

Before you start creating your modular content, you’ll want to identify your target audiences. 

Your LinkedIn audience is definitely looking to your company as a thought leader in the world of marketing, so their attention is a must. 

Then there are the social media platforms. You think your Instagram account has a little bit of reach, and a support Tweet couldn’t hurt either. Both audiences will also probably be more excited about the Top Gun spin. 

You wonder if maybe you couldn’t go for a more visual audience as well. Could YouTube work for you somehow? Absolutely. Jet fighters and video content work like peanut butter and chocolate.  

Targets locked. Fire away.

For the LinkedIn content, pulling a particularly interesting passage from the blog and making a post out of it will draw interest from the professionals in the audience. The blurb should contain information that gives it value on its own, but also entice people to follow a link to the full blog. 

Now, in consideration of our audiences on the other platforms, we might want to jump ahead to YouTube content. 

If you think of the blog more as a script, suddenly you have the foundation for a video. Cut together stills from the movie along with free-use jet fighter footage, add a narrator over it, and now you have a video. Optimize the description for best results, and don’t be afraid to add in some explosions for extra punch. 

When you’ve got your video uploaded to YouTube, it’s time to talk about it on Twitter and Instagram. Link the video on both platforms along with a clever line like “Here’s why buzzing the tower can pay off in your marketing strategies.”

Remember, it’s important that all your modular content drive the audience back to your site. 

You Probably Already Know This, But…

The thing about modular content creation is that you’ve probably already been practicing it to some degree. Any marketing strategy worth its salt is going to involve reaching as many audiences as possible with content. 

The real strategy is in identifying those audiences you want to reach and then piecing out the modular content in an appropriate manner to reach those audiences. 

Content Creator’s Takeaway

Modular content helps you work smarter, not harder. Creating content that you can repackage (in whole or in parts) to best fit the destination marketing channel means more people will see your content, and it means you don’t have to start from scratch and design a piece for each platform. 

CMO’s Takeaway
Modular content helps maintain brand identity. Communicating a strong, consistent message is key to establishing and maintaining your brand. Modular content ensures that the tone and substance of your publications is unified.

At DOM, we’re experts in reaching audiences. If you’re looking for help with your modular content strategy, be sure to get in touch and find out what we can do for you. 

The post How Can I Use Modular Content in My Digital Marketing? appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

FACEBOOK

How to Create a Facebook Business Page

Consider this: 2.5 billion people log on to Facebook each month. Over 140 billion businesses have a Facebook business page. If you haven’t joined the competition, now is the time to better reach your audience.

Facebook Page vs. Facebook Profile: What is the Difference?

Don’t make the mistake of confusing your customers when they come across your Facebook page intended to be a business page when in reality is set up as a personal page. There are many differences between the two, including the ability to obtain page likes and run paid ads.

How to Set Up Facebook Ads Manager

Facebook Ads Manager makes creating engaging content for your audience much easier and streamlines the process into one place. First, you need to have a business page. See how to set up Ads Manager for your business.

How to Create a Facebook Shop for Your Business

If your brand sells products, you should consider making a Facebook Shop part of your sales and marketing strategy. This allows consumers to buy your products directly through Facebook, which has the potential to increase sales and provide added convenience for your customers.

How to Use Facebook Business Manager

Facebook Business Manager is a one-stop-shop for your business to access all Facebook marketing activities for your page. You can also assign other employees to access to manage the page, such as responding to messages and viewing ad performance.

How Does Facebook Business Manager Work?

Think of Facebook Business Manager as a centralized place to find all of your ads, posts, messages, and comments. You can also create and preview Instagram ads here, too. Make sure to take advantage of this feature to make life easier.

TWITTER

How to Use Twitter Hashtags Effectively for Business

Hashtags are a great tool for categorizing your brand’s content on Twitter. By incorporating the right hashtags, more users can find you when searching for the same topic. Learn how to use this effectively.

How to Promote a Tweet

You might be creating paid social advertisements on other platforms, but do you have a paid strategy for Twitter? With no cap on budget limitations, Twitter is an interesting place to promote the content you want your audience to see.

How to Use Twitter Effectively for Business

Twitter can be a lead generating powerhouse. Often seen as just another social media platform, your brand might be missing the mark on reach your audience on Twitter. Learn new tips on how to best strategize for this platform.

How to Change Your Twitter Account to a Business Account

In an effort to keep your already established followers, if your Twitter account is not already set up as a business account, there’s a way to do so. Follow this guide to find out how and start taking advantage of Twitter for Business.

LINKEDIN

How to Use Hashtags on LinkedIn for Business Growth

You might not think of LinkedIn when you think of hashtags, but the platform officially introduced them in 2018. This is a great way to help others find your content through the search feature.

How to Use LinkedIn for Personal Branding

In many ways, you are your brand. And if you’re in a leadership position, it’s important to make a name for yourself in association with your business. LinkedIn is a tool for positioning yourself as a thought leader and utilizing your personal network to promote your brand.

How to Find Clients on LinkedIn

LinkedIn features many useful tools for finding leads. For instance, you can search companies and individuals by industry, geography, and more.

INSTAGRAM

How to Create a Poll on Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are a great way to really engage with your followers. There are many fun and interactive features to choose from, including polls. Here’s how to run a poll to ask your customers a question, like their thoughts on a new potential product.

How to Get More Followers on Instagram for Your Business

Obtaining new followers is no easy feat, but there are ways to increase your success. The more followers you have, the more likely you are to see more sales and increase brand awareness.

How to Choose Hashtags for Instagram

With so many hashtags floating around Instagram, it’s important for your brand to be strategic in choosing which ones to use. Picking relevant hashtags can help up your Instagram game immensely.

How to Create Branded Instagram Stickers for Stories

Instagram has many fun features that are engaging for users. One of those features is “stickers” that can be placed on Instagram stories. Brands can create their own unique stickers that anyone can use.

TIKTOK

TikTok for Business: Is It Right for Yours?

The demographics of people who watch TikTok may surprise you. It’s not just teens who are on the platform. Find out if taking advantage of TikTok is a surprisingly smart move for your business.

How to Use TikTok for Business

TikTok isn’t just a place for lip-syncing and dance challenges. It can actually serve as a very educational platform. Learn how to create relevant content on behalf of your brand that resonates with your audience.

How to Come Up With Content Ideas for TikTok

We get it, TikTok is pretty new to everyone and entirely different from other social media platforms. If you don’t know where to begin, we’ve got your back on coming up with content ideas.

How to Create a Business Account on TikTok

There’s a difference between a personal account and a business account on TikTok. Before your brand joins the platform, make sure to read this guide to setting up the right type of account.

SNAPCHAT

How to Use Snapchat for Business Growth

There are many useful features for businesses to take advantage of on Snapchat. From paid advertisements to custom filters, it’s a great place to engage with potential customers and increase brand awareness.

How to Develop a Snapchat Branding Strategy

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to Snapchat. From partnering with influencers to learning all of the available features on the platform, learn how to best strategize for Snapchat.

PINTEREST

How to Make Pinterest Work for Your Business

Your brand doesn’t have to be crafty to be on Pinterest. There’s a place for more types of businesses than you may think. Learn how to effectively use Pinterest for your unique business and industry.

How to Use Pinterest to Sell Products

Pinterest is a great avenue for selling products to potential customers. Catch their eye with high-quality photography and link directly to your website. Learn how.

MAXIMIZE YOUR SUCCESS ON SOCIAL

How to Add Social Media Profiles to Google My Business

Combing the power of Google and your social media presence can make a huge difference in finding your brand online. Add your social media profiles to Google My Business for increased visibility. Learn how!

How to Create Social Media Images that Support Your Brand

The right messaging is important, but the visuals are just as vital for drawing in your audience and leaving a lasting impression. Make sure the images you’re using on social media are high quality and aligned with your marketing strategy.

How to Monitor Your Brand on Social Media

When you choose to have a presence on social media, you also add more responsibility to your plate. It’s important to designate someone to monitor each platform in order to respond to customers in a timely fashion and catch any errors posted to the page.

Our team of experts is here to lighten your workload when it comes to all things social. Reach out if you’re feeling overwhelmed or simply want a second opinion. We can come up with a strategy to help your brand get results, faster, or take care of the posting for you. We will also measure the results of your posts to ensure you’re putting out the right types of content to reach your target audience. Reach out!

Build Brand Awareness On Social Media

Utilizing social media is a great way to build brand awareness, and theses C-leveled e-books break down how and why you should do it. Take advantage of these free platforms to reach millions of customers and let us guide you through social media best practices.

Download The Ebook

The post Social Media Guide: How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Business appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

You are at risk of losing any of your historical performance data in 2023 if you don’t set up and properly configure Google Analytics 4. Learn how the two platforms compare to each other in this blog post – Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics.

If you have been using Google Analytics or any web analytics tool for any length of time, you’ve probably come to experience that your data isn’t always 100% reliable.

There are countless variables which can impact the quality of your data, and sometimes, it can be challenging to gauge what is skewing your data or why it isn’t there at all.

The reason why you want to diagnose and resolve any issues with your Google Analytics data is because there is no telling if it’s a temporary concern or if it’s causing a blind spot. Traffic data is vital to judging performance on any website, so it’s best to try and figure out what’s happening.

From time to time, our team makes some unusual discoveries. Recently, we uncovered an issue with LinkedIn referral traffic that is probably more widespread across the web than most folks realize.

If you have a suspicion that you’re missing referral traffic data from LinkedIn, there’s a good chance that you might be right.

What’s Happening – Huge Spikes in Direct Traffic

Imagine this — let’s say that you just launched a new website promoting your brand new B2B focused business blog. After only a few months, you’ve built a small but devoted audience and grown your social following.

Because your blog’s content is geared towards B2B businesses, your readers tend to spend a lot of time connecting with other professionals and consuming content on LinkedIn. After experimenting with LinkedIn’s publishing platform, you began to notice a highly positive response to your LinkedIn posts.

Despite a shift to content creation directly in LinkedIn and receiving lots of views, you begin to observe that LinkedIn isn’t getting you very much traffic.

After a while, traffic starts to pick up at a pretty consistent pace across all channels, except one in particular — direct traffic. You may get a nice ego boost at first, but the truth is that such a huge difference in traffic totals doesn’t quite add up.

As we found out for ourselves, this is happening to a ton of different websites, and we wanted to get to the bottom of it.

What We Were Noticing

The issue that we were running into was pretty consistent. Companies who are very active on social media were experiencing considerable increases in direct traffic according to Google Analytics.

At first, we thought it was just the latest round of referral spam — meaning it was just spammy bot traffic.

We then noticed a few other typical pieces of data:

• A bulk of the direct traffic was either to blog posts or home pages
• When we added “network domain” as a secondary dimension we were seeing unknow.unknown (first sign that this could be bot traffic)
• When we added service provider as a secondary dimension we were seeing Microsoft as the highest provider (the second sign that it may be bot traffic)

As our team sat down and began to dig in to the matter, we had realized that Google Analytics wasn’t reporting as much traffic from LinkedIn as we thought it would. Coupled with the fact that Microsoft owns LinkedIn, we started to wonder if there was some connection.

We analyzed every possible angle until eventually, we had an idea for a test. In real-time, we opened a LinkedIn post with links to a website we manage and Google Analytics side-by-side.

And at that moment, we had our proof. Nearly every link click was reported as a direct visit.

Why was this happening?

As it turns out, we also noticed that every link click being reported as a direct visit was pointing to an unsecured (non-HTTPS) URL. After that, it all started to make sense as we soon realized that this had something to do with encrypted URLs.

HTTPS Refresher

For those of you who don’t know or need a refresher on the subject, HTTPS is a particular web encryption which protects the privacy of websites and visitors so malicious third-parties can’t have access to potentially sensitive data. HTTPS is becoming widely adopted across the web and has been available to websites for many years, but this wasn’t always the case.

Many years ago, global Internet speeds were not what they are today, meaning that websites with an HTTPS encryption had extremely long load times. Along with the extra cost of obtaining an SSL certificate, the HTTP — minus the “secure” bit — was the standard for a very long time.

As user data privacy becomes a growing concern and Google has said it favors HTTPS over HTTP in search, and for Google Chrome users, more and more websites are making a move to HTTPS.

This is where LinkedIn comes in and how traffic data is getting misreported

Sharing Links on LinkedIn

As users share links on social media, it’s important to understand how HTTPS plays a role.

If someone posts a link from an HTTPS secure website like LinkedIn to a non-HTTPS site, all data from the session is removed to prevent a hacker from reading the data intended to be protected.

However, if a link from secure site links out to another HTTPS site, then the encryption is never broken. Since the encryption is never broken, the referral data of where the session came from is kept intact.

Most social media networks configure their server redirects in a way that always keeps referral data intact regardless of SSL encryption. But for some reason, this is not the case with LinkedIn. Throughout their platform, we noticed that links within profile bios, profile summaries (which open in a lightbox), or LinkedIn articles were showing up as direct visits if the link was non-HTTPS. Interestingly enough, we also noticed that URL shorteners such as Bit.ly don’t keep referral data intact either, isolated to just LinkedIn.

In most cases, websites will have a domain-wide redirect which guides users from non-secure versions of URLs to the HTTPS versions. The issue may persist for websites without an SSL encryption— but we have a few solutions.

How to Fix LinkedIn Referral Traffic Data

No one likes an incomplete picture, and there’s no reason why you should settle for insufficient data. Here a couple ways you can go about correcting this issue with LinkedIn referral traffic to give your data a bit more reliability.

For HTTPS Site Owners

For websites with an HTTPS configuration, your solution is simple — remember always to share the right versions of your links.

Going beyond LinkedIn, it’s a general SEO best practice to be consistent when posting your links anywhere on the web. If your URLs have an HTTPS configuration, make sure all external backlinks have the ‘s’ part of it. So if you’re sharing on LinkedIn, never forget to share links with HTTPS in the full URL.

This —>  https://example.com

Not —> http://example.com

For Non-Secure Site Owners

For websites without an SSL encryption, there are two options, but we highly recommend you take the first:

1)      Make the jump to HTTPS: It may be costly and feel time-consuming, but it will be worth it. Not only will you do your part to ensure visitors to your site don’t have their privacy compromised by fraudsters, but you are also sending an important signal to search engines for SEO purposes. HTTPS is becoming the standard and prolonging the inevitable will never help you in the long-run.

2)      Add UTM parameters: This is a bit more complicated than simply making the switch to HTTPS, but this is an option as well. UTM parameters will help your Google Analytics track visits from LinkedIn more accurately when sharing tagged links with ‘source=linkedin.’ Just remember to be consistent with title casing in your UTM tagging. Otherwise, this will change how the data is reported.

Conclusion

No matter how you use social media, you always want to have the most accurate, reliable set of data possible. To ensure its accuracy, it’s critical that you always ask questions and be proactive in finding explanations for unusual changes in Google Analytics or any other analytics tools.

In the case of LinkedIn referral traffic becoming distorted, the best thing you can do for both your website’s SEO and traffic data is to consider making a move to HTTPS. But before you take the dive, keep in mind that going secure isn’t a simple process and requires a bit of strategy before implementation.

If you’re interested in learning how you can drive better results with search engine marketing, schedule a digital marketing consultation. Or, to get more information on this topic, contact us today for a free consultation or learn more about our status as Google Partners before you reach out.

The post Why LinkedIn Is Messing Up Your Analytics Traffic Data (and How to Fix It) [Updated 2020] appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Instagram stickers have become an integral part of every story. They enhance the value of a story by adding attention-grabbing elements that potentially stops a user from skipping a story to the next one. 

What are the benefits of having branded stickers?

1) It can be a perfect tool for marketing

If your business creates its own set of stickers, it means that the marketing team can construct branded content on the go. They could directly accentuate a story with branded stickers in the app anytime.

2) Your audience can use it

The availability of branded stickers allows the audience to be ambassadors of the brand with minimal efforts from their end.

3) Allows tracking results

Giphy helps brands to keep track of impressions derived from each branded sticker. This helps in determining what content seems more attractive to the audience. In addition to this, it also tells the frequency of the views on the stickers.

4) It is free

While it is true that brands are required to pass a rigorous process off approval, but once passed, the Giphy accounts are free.

Are you wondering how to get your branded stickers on Instagram? Well, here is how:

Create a Giphy account

Through a corporate email ID, sign up for an account. Make sure to not to fill in the profile as yourself, but as a brand or business. Include the business’s website, social media handles, and an avatar. All of this is crucial to get a verified account.

Create at least five stickers

Now, this is the part you will enjoy as creating stickers is really fun! Giphy has put detailed guidelines to ensure that the stickers you create can get through the approval process successfully. 

Simply put, your stickers should contain transparent backgrounds coupled with animations and should neither exactly be rectangular nor circular. Moreover, you must create and upload at least five stickers to bag a verified account.

When you move on to uploading your stickers, make sure to include tags to each gif. This way, your audience will be able to find you easily on Instagram

Apply for a verified account

Once you have signed up and created your stickers, it is time to apply for a verified account. 

Wait

The Giphy team can take around 3 to 10 business days to review your application and approve it. So, be patient and wait!

Each sticker goes through the approval process. In case you happen to delete a sticker, it will restart the approval process. So, be mindful!

You are done!

Once approved, you can feel free to use and promote stickers through your social media account. We recommend that you keep adding more and more stickers to your account and track views utilizing the dashboard.

We can’t wait to see your branded stickers up on the app!

The post How to Create Branded Instagram Stickers for Stories appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Monitoring your brand on social media not only keeps it on the top of its message games before they get viral but also assists you in maintaining a positive and healthy brand image among consumers. 

Speaking of this, this is where social media monitoring tools come handy. They let you keep an eye on each message, trends, and insights, hashtag, account, and focus keywords relevant to your brand. They save up a lot of your time that you can allocate to other important aspects of your business.

In other words, monitoring your brand on social media is all about deducing important social media metrics such as brand awareness. Not only this, but you can also use the information to measure Return on Investment (ROI).

While it is possible to carry basic social monitoring manually—looking at each social network individually for brand mentions, keywords, hashtags, etc, it would end up taking your full day. And, let’s just not talk about the hassle one could face when it comes to collecting and filing the gathered info 

Fortunately, thanks to technological advancements, there are several social media monitoring tools available now to help you keep a check on your brand on social media. Below are some of our favorites:

Google Alerts

Google Alerts allows you to monitor the entire web for mentions of your company, competitors, or any other related topics. All it takes is signing into your Google account, visit the Google Alerts page, and type a keyword into the search bar.

Once done, you shall always get an email notification each time Google finds results close to the alert typed. Moreover, you can set customized alerts to suit your requirements, such as specific regions or languages.

TalkWalker

This tool has 50+ filters that help in monitoring conversations across 160 million data sources. Through this tool, it has become incredibly easy and smooths to analyze user engagement, brand reach, and comments.

Mentionlytics

This tool helps in looking for mentions of your brands by scanning the web and social sources, even if the post doesn’t tag you. Moreover, the tool also gives you an insight into emotion and sentimental information that comes with every mention. This way, you can easily detect an issue and address it timely. 

ReviewInc

ReviewInc lets you manage both positive and negative reviews faster to share on your social media pages. This way, your brand image is always maintained and intact.

Moreover, it allows you to view more than 250 most popular review sites from more than 70 countries. Isn’t it great?

Crowd Analyzer

If you or your target audience is in the Middle East, Crowd Analyzer can be one smart choice to monitor your brand. It is the first-ever Arabic-focused social media monitoring tool that is of immense help when it comes to analyzing Arabic content in terms of relevancy and jargon. It monitors not only social media networks but also blogs, forums, as well as news sites.

Have your pick and see as your brand transforms!

The post How to Monitor Your Brand on Social Media appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

If your business uses Facebook to thrive, this important tool can help you create ads and streamline your marketing efforts. It can also help when it comes to managing multiple assets, or even your Facebook page or Instagram account. Additionally, the Facebook business manager keeps them safe, secure, organized, and centralized. Through this, you can easily extend shared access to both your in-house and external teams.

If you have wanted to use Facebook Business Manager, but have been putting it off because you were clueless of how it works, you are at the right place.

This article provides a comprehensive guideline regarding how you can kickstart using Facebook Business Manager.

Let’s get started!

Step 1

The first stage is to create an account to kickstart the Facebook Business Manager. For this, you will need a personal Facebook profile in order to confirm your identity.

Simply go to business.Facebook.com and click on the Create Account tab located at the top right. Start entering your credentials, and you are good to go!

Step 2

Click on “Add Page” from the Business Manager dashboard. This will open a pop-up box. Tap on Add Page again.

Type in your Facebook business page’s name and click Add Page. If you have more than one Facebook page connected with your business, add them using the same steps.

Step 3

To set up a Facebook ads account, click on Add Ad Account from the Business Manager dashboard. Then, click on Create Account. 

Click Next after having entered your account details. You must indicate that you are setting up an ad account for your business in order for it to proceed. Then, tap on Create.

Step 4

Now, the next stage is to add people that are designated for managing your Facebook assets. 

Click Add People from Business Manager Dashboard. 

Enter the official business email ID of a team member in the pop-up box. 

The tool allows you to choose whether you want the team member to have limited or full access. Once done, click Next.

Click on Pages in the left menu to choose pages you want the said team member to manage. Customize the access-using toggle switched provided. When you finished, tap Invite.

Step 5

Now that you have your Facebook assets running, you can move on to connecting your Instagram account to your Facebook Business Manager handle.

Click on Business Settings located at the top right corner in the Business Manager dashboard. Tap Instagram Accounts in the left column and click Add. 

Enter your login information in the pop-up box and tap Log In 

Final thoughts

And this is it. You have got everything centralized! You are all set to enjoy the benefits of Facebook ads to the fullest. 

Once you have Facebook Business Manager running, you will be surprised how it will solve all your major concerns related to user permission in terms of access and gives your marketing efforts the much-needed boost.

In case something doesn’t fit well and you are looking for a bit of expert advice, please reach out to our team.

The post How Does Facebook Business Manager Work appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.