Brafton: Who won the Super Bowl: Beyonce or Twitter? Twitter!

Brafton News Content Marketing

Who won the Super Bowl: Beyonce or Twitter? Twitter! Feb 4th 2013, 15:30 Social media phenom Twitter blew out the competition in last night's Super Bowl, claiming the lion's share of National TV calls to action in broadcast commercials. MarketingLand's Matt McGee conducted a study to determine how often social media networks were incorporated into major marketing campaigns. He counted nationally sold commercials and ignored the clips aired by local affiliate stations and self-promotional ads shown by the NFL, CBS or Pepsi during the halftime show. According to McGee's count, 26 of 52 national TV commercials mentioned Twitter - approximately 50 percent of the spots aired on CBS. Facebook, the world's largest network, only garnered four mentions (8 percent) and Google+, which recently claimed the title as the second largest social hub in the world, didn't receive a single mention throughout the night. Heck, even YouTube and Instagram generated at least one mention, casting doubt on Google+'s relevance in the marketing world. In the 2012 Super Bowl, Twitter and Facebook both generated eight mentions out of 59 clips. This indicates that not only has social media marketing taken a greater role in lead generation via broadcast television, but that Twitter continues to prove itself as an invaluable B2C resource. The jump Twitter made from eight mentions to 26 equates to a growth of more than 300 percent year-over-year, while Facebook saw a 50 percent decline when compared to the previous year. Google+ was shut out for the second straight year. The impact Twitter had on Super Bowl Sunday marketing shows that brands believe the social network can generate premium leads. This comes despite a recent Wall Street Journal study suggesting that only 3 percent of small-to medium-sized businesses think Twitter deserves much attention in the professional world. However, McGee's data isn't the first insight showing the value of Twitter as a second-screen influencer. The Super Bowl is just another example of how Twitter has embedded itself into daily life, acting as the go-to, real-time news source and marketing channel for today's most connected people and brands. Media files: shutterstock_110260073.jpg (image/jpeg, 0.3 MB)

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Brafton: Tech Trend: Video for the win

Brafton News Content Marketing

Tech Trend: Video for the win Feb 4th 2013, 14:30 Tech companies must develop marketing strategies that appeal to prospects throughout the sales cycle. Without a thorough campaign, made up of various types of media, prospects may not be convinced that one tech item works better than the next. Video marketing, however, may help guide leads toward conversion much quicker than other channels. [sublimevideo poster="http://cdn.brafton.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Stef-Tech-video.png" src1="http://videocontent.brafton.com/b9cc69a148bd9f4d/video/html5/mp4/267.mp4" src2="(hd)http://videocontent.brafton.com/b9cc69a148bd9f4d/video/html5/mp4/267.mp4" src3="http://videocontent.brafton.com/b9cc69a148bd9f4d/video/html5/mp4/267.mp4" src4="http://videocontent.brafton.com/b9cc69a148bd9f4d/video/html5/ogg/267.ogg" src5="(hd)http://videocontent.brafton.com/b9cc69a148bd9f4d/video/html5/ogg/267.ogg" width="746" height="420"] IDG Research's "The Echo Effect Study" looked at the reasons why tech buyers turn to video - what they look to get out of the experiences, too. According to the report, tech buyers turn to video content for a variety of reasons. Sixty-one percent want to learn how to use new products or services, and 58 percent research items they may buy in the future. Fifty-seven percent want how-to content and 54 percent look for specific reviews. While the data shows tech buyers are influenced by many types of visual media, the data offers marketers insights into how to engage their audiences. In fact, 95 percent of tech buyers turn to videos hosted online - 78 percent even share content after viewing clips. So, how can brands leverage this data for their own monetary gains? Build video marketing strategies that help develop a diverse array of media. The more educational content available to new and existing customers, the longer they'll remain loyal to their favorite companies. Check out Brafton's white paper: Video marketing from Production and Purchases Tech companies that want to attract new customers need to produce visual content that speaks to them no matter their place in the sales cycle. A how-to guide will reach a different audience than a product review, and that's OK. Start looking at leads as individuals, not demographics, and through communicative video content, the right messages will reach the perfect audience every time. Media files: Stef-Tech-video.png (image/png, 0.3 MB)

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Brafton: Small businesses turn to LinkedIn, overlooking Twitter and Facebook

Brafton News Content Marketing

Small businesses turn to LinkedIn, overlooking Twitter and Facebook Feb 1st 2013, 19:15 LinkedIn is gaining ground, now home to 200 million monthly active users, and small businesses are taking advantage. According to a survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal and Vistage International, LinkedIn is believed to be the network with the most potential for driving ROI, especially for smaller businesses. Forty-one percent believe that LinkedIn is the top network, followed by 14 percent who choose Facebook and 3 percent who give the credit to Twitter. Ken Lopez, leader of a legal consulting firm, told the Wall Street Journal that LinkedIn brings dramatically different results when compared to what his company sees from Twitter. The Wall Street Journal spoke with Todd DeMann, who founded Freshology Inc. DeMann put together information about how his company engaged with social media, finding that Facebook was the sixth driver of traffic to his website. Pinterest ranked 59th, while Twitter came in at 117th. "On Twitter, you can't engage in a meaningful way," he told the news source. A social media marketing strategy that includes LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other relevant sites may be the best bet, as a multi-platform strategy will appeal to more users and reach a wider audience. For small businesses lacking time and resource, LinkedIn may be the way to go. Media files: shutterstock_113820757.jpg (image/jpeg, 0.8 MB)

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Brafton: How Grey Goose created cross-platform success with social media

Brafton News Content Marketing

How Grey Goose created cross-platform success with social media Feb 1st 2013, 17:00 With American consumers becoming comfortable with spending significant amounts of money online, luxury brands have found new opportunities in promotional channels like social media and video content creation. Brafton reported that 85 percent of luxury brands will increase their digital marketing budgets in 2013, with 72 percent indicating they will allocate resources toward social media marketing. How effective is social media content for luxury brands, though? Does well-written copy published to Facebook or visual media pinned to Pinterest drive referral traffic and sales? The story of Grey Goose The popular vodka brand decided to host its interactive Hotel Noir campaign on social media sites Pinterest and Instagram. According to metrics from Compete, Facebook and Pinterest drive the third and fourth highest volumes of incoming traffic to GreyGoose.com, and these internet users also spend longer periods of time on the website. The reason Grey Goose has been so successful through these social hubs is because the company understands its audience. Marketing toward consumers aged 18 to 34 requires organizations to embrace new media channels and create interactive web experiences. Grey Goose's Hotel Noir campaign takes full advantage of the proliferation of social media sites like Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram. In fact, the metrics show that Grey Goose's use of the three networks in tandem with its branded site can increase traffic, engagement and conversion rates all at once. How does the campaign work? The campaign asks social media users to submit photos within a unique motif - a black and white design with crimson accents - through Instagram. These pictures then get pinned to Pinterest and posted to Facebook, creating a cross-platform experience. Essentially, as Compete noted, participants are promoting themselves at the same time they're touting the joys of Grey Goose. This action helps participants feel part of the brand and gives them product ownership, but it also engages audiences and attracts the attention of consumers' personal networks, too. Social media marketing thrives when brands create unique narratives and ask consumers to either embrace the story or continue to tell it in their own words on their own networks. As social media content evolves to become more interactive, users will continue to connect with their favorite brands online, opening up the door for promotional ventures to seize opportunities and convert new and existing customers. Media files: shutterstock_126168365.jpg (image/jpeg, 0.3 MB)

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Brafton: Brands remain in the dark on how to leverage SEO content for their websites

Brafton News Content Marketing

Brands remain in the dark on how to leverage SEO content for their websites Feb 1st 2013, 17:56 The proliferation of content marketing compels marketers employed in various industries to consider and experiment with various types of media production. The goal: To create memorable web experiences that pull prospects in, not push them away via aggressive advertising tactics. People have had enough of the abuse, being subjected to various commercials in between their favorite shows and weeding through magazine ads to find the articles they care about most. Content marketing gives companies the chance to create their own compelling stories without third-party ads, and the practice works. According to a new report from BusinessBolts.com, which surveyed 265 marketers, content creation has become an active component to promotional strategies everywhere. In fact, approximately 74 percent of marketers say they use branded content to increase website traffic and build brand awareness. To drive traffic back to websites, content writers must optimize their media using SEO best practices, and take a narrow focus to their creative processes. The survey noted that marketers' biggest pressing question is how to leverage SEO content for greater site visibility and PageRank. When evaluating the content types shown to provide marketers with the greatest benefits, BusinessBolts.com found that 74 percent use articles to drive traffic. However, the survey also discovered that an increasing number of brands will adopt video marketing over the next 12 months. Approximately 38 percent of marketers are creating video content today, but 53 percent expect to engage in video production by the end of the year. Social media marketing also plays a vital role in content distribution. "SEO and social media are converging into content marketing optimization," Lisa Parmley, founder of BusinessBolts.com said. "Businesses create content their prospects are interested in. Naturally they want to maximize the results they get from each piece of content they create. The best method for doing that is by optimizing the content for search engines and spreading the word to their existing fan case on social media platforms." The Content Marketing Institute already noted that 91 percent of B2B and 86 percent of B2C brands use content marketing to engage audiences, but BusinessBolts.com's study highlights the fact that the practice remains paramount to web success in 2013. Media files: shutterstock_104881532.jpg (image/jpeg, 0.4 MB)

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Brafton: Google revamps AdWords for video to show marketing goals

Brafton News Content Marketing

Google revamps AdWords for video to show marketing goals Feb 1st 2013, 15:45 Google Analytics recently went through a transformation, organizing once disjointed tools into intuitive categories. The tech-makeover gave webmasters easier access to essential information and restructured how inbound marketers looked at lead generation, nurturing and conversion on the web. Last monght's Google Analytics redesign showed that online reporting interfaces must remain dynamic and able to evolve as new functions come to fruition. This trend carried into AdWords, where Google recently revamped the interface for better video reporting. The biggest search engine added three new measurement functions to the AdWords for video interface. The redesign made measurement goal-oriented and easier to compare cross-platform and cross-media outlets. New reach and frequency metrics like Average Impression Frequency and Average View Frequency have been added to the interface. These new measurement tools will show how many unique visitors have viewed an advertisement and the average number of times they've watched the clip. This will provide webmasters and marketers insight into how well their video content is doing on the web, making A/B testing a simpler practice online. To view the new metrics, navigate to Columns and then to Customize Columns. The new measurements should be categorized under the Performance section. How are the column sets organized? The new column sets are grouped by marketing objective. In the Views column, users can see whether viewers watch more videos aftering engage with a paid video ad through metrics like follow-on views and unique viewers. Under Audience Development, webmasters can see how their video content drove consumers to watch and engage with additional content, and the Brand Awareness column shows the impact videos have had on the 'net, highlighting viewer counts and average view frequencies. The last column - Traffic and Conversions - outlines website traffic, number of conversions, cost-per-conversion and conversion rate from ad viewers. AdWords for video also features a new geographic visualization interface. This shows campaign stats by location. Brands embarking on video marketing ventures must use Google AdWords in order to measure and refine their content creation strategies. These metrics and tools give users the ability to develop preliminary campaigns and see what works and what doesn't work before making adjustments. Media files: shutterstock_119692183.jpg (image/jpeg, 0.2 MB)

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Brafton: The ideal customer service experience – it’s online

Brafton News Content Marketing

The ideal customer service experience – it's online Feb 1st 2013, 14:33 In a digital age where consumers follow their favorites on social media sites, receive email messages from businesses and research products and services for purchases online, brands need to step up their games. Consumers expect that as information becomes more accessible through the growth of the web, support will follow suit. As the world becomes more connected, customer service online must be a priority. According to a new study conducted by LivePerson, consumers might click away from a website if a brand doesn't offer satisfactory customer service. The survey asked 6,000 consumers about their "ideal online experience," finding that resolving issues on a site was the most important - 82 percent reported that they want their questions answered via the web. LivePerson reported that 83 percent of consumers want some type of support online as they buy. A lack of customer service may send some away. SEO experts, digital marketers and content writers take note. Websites get abandoned if there isn't enough information about a product or service, which can easily be ameliorated with well-written landing pages. Fifty-six percent leave websites because they want more information, while others dislike surprise shipping costs, navigation difficulties and trouble finding answers to a pressing question. Landing pages are a good way of solving these problems - not only do they provide prospects with answers to questions and information about products and services, but they also help reveal a branded site in SERPs. Brafton has reported that brands see more inbound traffic because of a large amount of pages. Company sites that have 51 to 100 pages see 48 percent traffic than those with less. Additionally, sites with over 1,000 pages see significantly more clicks, according to research by HubSpot. If these pages are filled with SEO-friendly content, they're sure to be revealed when consumers search on Google or Bing. Media files: shutterstock_696516071.jpg (image/jpeg, 0.5 MB)

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