Listen
The Secret to Getting More from Social Media
As a couple a’ marketing writers who pride themselves on having their “finger on the pulse,” we are face-palming at the latest revelation. Hootsuite has a podcast?
Well, we just had to tune in. This month’s episode is an interview with Amber Naslund, a sales and marketing leader at Hootsuite. She also (alongside Jay Baer) co-authored the book, The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, and More Social.
In this short, 10-minute podcast, she shares advice on brand building, engagement, and how to avoid common pitfalls. We don’t know about you, but when a digital marketing expert shares their words of wisdom, we are all ears.
- (01:10) Why you shouldn’t set out to simply accumulate an audience.
- (02:40) One huge, detrimental thing marketers get hung up on… (Spoiler: they get too hung up on quick wins and shortcuts.)
- (04:15) How much time Amber spends engaging on social media and why it’s important to treat it more like a text and less like a thing to “check in on.”
- (04:50) Don’t just schedule time for it, respond in real time so you can build these connections and establish credibility.
- (05:00) Amber’s favorite brands on social and why one of them is just a little police department in Maine. Dang, now they know how to use Facebook…
- (06:40) The benefits of “surprise and delight.”
- (08:00) If you were given the reins to a brand’s full social strategy, where should you start? Amber says, bring it back a few notches. Most people try to do too much
- (09:05) With an overwhelm of content and people vying for attention, it’s important to not be sledgehammer…”Be a scalpel so you can be precise in the audience.”
- (09:35) Her predictions for the future of marketing and why she thinks A.I. will have a massive impact.
Hey, but don’t just take it from us—hear everything she’s gotta say in today’s Listen.
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Read
The Definitive Guide To SEO In 2018
SEO is super effing (our boss told us we can’t swear anymore) important for marketers at all levels in all industries. Today, we’re going to get you up to speed about how you should be doing SEO—right now—to prepare for 2018.
This Read outlines exactly what Brian Dean, an SEO Jedi, is doing to prepare for 2018. It’s also a crazy long guide so we’re just gonna get to it.
Here’s what you need to know about SEO in 2018:
- RankBrain & User Experience Signals. RankBrain is Google’s third most important ranking factor. It’s an AI algorithm that understands how users interact with your website. It looks at things like time on page and bounce rate. If you aren’t doing everything you can to increase those numbers, RankBrain will hurt you.
- Become a CTR Jedi. With featured snippets and more ads, organic results are getting pushed further down the SERPs. You need to do everything you can to capture the organic traffic that’s still available.
- Comprehensive, In-Depth Content Wins. You need very long, in-depth content to rank highly. Content that is close to 2,000 words ranks higher than any other length of content.
- Get Ready for Google’s Mobile-first Index. This is a big one. Google is going to be switching their ranking system to look at your mobile website first. If you’re still using a mobile “M.” version of your site, you need to switch to a responsive version. Like today.
- Go All-In With Video (Or Get Left Behind). Like all the social platforms, Google is pushing video in their results.
- Pay Attention to Voice Search. “Okay, Google. Where can I get ramen for lunch?” Searches like that are more and more common. Structure your content to reflect a question and answer format.
- Don’t Forget: Content and Links Are Key. At the end of the day, none of this matters if your content is bad and you don’t have backlinks. Get that part of your SEO into shape ASAP.
But wait, there’s more! Brian also included a quick tips chapter of things you can do right now to get more backlinks.
Watch
You Gotta Be Kitten Me!
How many “don’t text and drive” ads have you seen that use the traditional scare tactics to try and get people to stop texting while driving?
Today’s Watch takes a different approach by using…pink…kittens?
The ad, for the Department of Transport in England, is decidedly not a PSA. Instead, they show you what you’re missing when you glance down at your phone for just 2.3 seconds while traveling at 30mph. Turns out, you miss about 100 pink kittens, kids jump roping and a whole bunch of other Easter eggs.
What we like most about this ad isn’t the pink kittens. We like that it leaves the scare tactics of texting and driving to your imagination.
Hey, Look at This
The Oatmeal hit us with an especially relevant comic about organic reach on Facebook.
