Social Magazine Volume 1

CREATED BY THE HIBÜ ONLINE PRESENCE TEAM

the leading magazine for social media trends, social analytics and online marketing

Focus on how to be social, not on how to do social. - Jay Baer, Convince & Convert

Dominating Social Media: Taco Bell Style

Social media presence in 2014. This is the norm, not the exception, and with this some companies are building an empire with their following by implementing fun, engaging strategies that speak to their target demographic.

Ad Age’s Marketer of the Year in 2013 was none other than Taco Bell, thanks to a unique strategy driven by clever social media tactics and their wildly successful Doritos Locos Tacos. Yes, the same tacos you’ve seen on your Facebook and Twitter feeds have sold over 600 million units in a year and a half, making them a critical player in the company’s growth.

So how did they do it? To start with, Taco Bell has no reservations about openly targeting the 18-34 age group. Identifying their most active consumer base has helped them keep their content focused instead of generalizing to please every demographic. As a result, their feeds are loaded with mouth-watering images of burritos, nachos, churros and more, accompa-nied by short quips like “A dollar each. A dollar well spent.” or “Home away from home.”

They’ve also made a habit of frequently interacting with customers, celebrities and companies, frequently retweeting selfies, videos, and comments from their following of nearly 1mm on twitter and over 10mm on Facebook. Names and brands such as Chrissy Teigen, Dillon Francis, Urban Outfitters, Sony and others often pop up, often tied to giveaways and other promotional campaigns. Taco Bell even sends out occasional hand-written notes along with little presents to some of their celebrity followers. This is then shared on multiple media outlets, resulting in high engagement and interaction for the company.

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Written by Nick Alfonse

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. - Henry David Thoreau

Meme vs. Meaningful: Quality Content Wins on Facebook

Facebook certainly has come a long way! In fact, it drives more traffic than any other social platform, according to SimpleReach.

A survey conducted by Facebook engineers showed that people are looking for news they can use. The results showed that on average, users prefer links to high-quality articles to the latest meme. Whether it’s current events, favorite sports teams, or shared interests, people want to see more relevant news and what their friends have to say about it.

In order to show the right content to the right people at the right time, Facebook engineers have developed a new algorithm into News Feed. Thousands of people were surveyed to give an idea of what factors make a post high-quality. With the results of that survey, the algorithm was created and tested. Engineers saw a significant increase in interactions and fewer stories hidden overall.

Facebook is all about interaction, so they’re bumping stories with the most comments to the top of the News Feed. The news stories that you share could resurface with comments from your friends. The comments will be highlighted, creating conversations about all types of content.

Quality content needs a quality headline…

You may have noticed headlines in the “Upworthy” style all over the internet. The main reason for this is that people click on them! While browsing through Facebook, users tend to read – and share – these stories more often. Find out why in this article.

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Written by Melissa McDermott

InsertPhotoHere

Worth a Thousand Retweets

We all know that tweets containing images or videos are more likely to be retweeted – 25% more likely, in fact. Last October, Twitter implemented a new feature that, for the first time, allowed users to view photo and video previews right in their feed. Previously, users were required to click through a link to view images and videos. The new preview feature changed the tweeting game in two ways. First of all, the burden was no longer on the tweeter’s short description to sell a viewer on clicking that link, as the picture is right there to speak for itself. Secondly, including a picture in the feed itself makes the tweet 94% more likely to be retweeted.

Keep in mind that in order to benefit from the preview space, the image must be uploaded using Twitter’s built-in image service Pic.Twitter.com. Not surprisingly, photos posted using links from competitors Facebook, Instagram, or Tumblr will still appear as links only, and will be 42% less likely to be retweeted.

Still, the most important thing is to start with a unique and interesting photo. A study using eye-tracking technology has shown that people tend to ignore stock photos. It turns out that we’re remarkably skilled at distinguishing real people from stock image models. For example, viewers spent 10% more time looking at the 30-plus portraits of employees on a company’s team profile webpage, going so far as to scroll further down the page in search of more real people. At the same time, those viewers hardly glanced at the huge, generic-looking images used as filler near the tops of other pages.

Including a picture in the feed itself makes the tweet 94% more likely to be retweeted

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Written by Jon Stubbs

How Social Media Ads are Becoming More Engaging

and Personal Written by Mike Still

When scrolling through Instagram or your Twitter timeline, you probably won’t recognize them for what they are. On many social

media sites, now seamlessly intertwined with photos of your friend’s dog, are advertisements from major brands that are presented in a

non-intrusive, engaging format designed to cater to your unique interest.

Google+’s +Post ads, for example, are changing the way social media sites and brands work together to market products. +Post ads are traditional

Google+ posts that run on the Google Display Network, placing a company’s ad on any of its 2 million sites and reaching users who are interested in those

brands. The ads come straight from a company’s Google+ page, and allow users and brands to comment, share or even join a Google Hangout to discuss the product.

“These conversations create a valuable community around a brand where people can talk with each other and with the brand itself,” said Google product manager, Eran

Arkin, on his Google+ page.

In December, Twitter began using Tailored Audiences, targeting users with ads better suited to their preferences. This allows a brand to reach users who have viewed similar products or

services elsewhere on the internet. HubSpot, a developer and marketer of software-as-a-service products for inbound marketing, participated in beta testing of Promoted Tweets and saw an

increase in engagement rates of 45 percent compared to their historical averages.

Instagram ads began running in October, and appear much like traditional posts. “Our aim is to make any advertisements you see feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos many of you already

enjoy from your favorite brands,” Instagram stated on its site in a post introducing the ads. Instagram added that its goal is to make ads appear much like “engaging, high-quality ads [you see] when you flip through

your favorite magazine.” The social media giant initially worked with a handful of brands in launching the advertisements, including Ben & Jerry’s. The ice cream company’s first ad was liked 386,877 times – an increase

of 2,000 percent from its average post, according to Business2Community.com. Instagram also gives users the option to opt out of receiving particular ads if they’re not interested, so it can provide more relevant ads in the future.

The Social Medium is the Message – – – – – – – – – – –

The Social Medium is the Message – – – – – – – – – – –

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The ROI of Social

Often resigned to a complementary component of businesses’ marketing campaigns, social media is rapidly securing a reputation as a pillar of successful business that’s impossible to ignore for the majority of the country’s successful companies.

According to the 2013 State of Digital Marketing report Webmarketing 123, 54 percent of B2C (business-to-customer) companies surveyed reported that social media played a role in not only generating leads, but directly generating revenue. Even among B2B (business-to-business) companies, 54 percent reported generating leads through social and 39 percent said those leads turned into revenue generation.

These trends are apparently raising eyebrows, even among those who previously paid little attention to the role social media played on their bottom line. Around 20 percent of all companies surveyed said they were unsure of the role social played in their lead or revenue generation. But of these, 56 percent of B2B companies and 65 percent of B2C companies said they planned to increase investment in social media.

One reason some have been hesitant to lean too heavily on social media is because tradi-tional ROI (return on investment) measurement models are difficult to apply to social media. But according to Giuseppe Crosti, co-GM of SocialProvidence:

“ROI is not an applicable performance indicator; by measuring lead generation, the impact of social on sales can be realistically quantified. A successful social strategy is part of an integrated pathway from lead generation to sales. Only within this framework can the power of social be fully unleashed.”

Social media’s potential is undeniable. Whether traditionalists embrace it or not, noth-ing can compete with social media’s reach – more than 500 million tweets and 4.75 billion Facebook shares every day (Crosti).

Social media is growing up in the eyes of business executives

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Written by Matt Pappalardo

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#How to Avoid Hashtag HorrorsWritten by Elizabeth Coffey

With the rise of Twitter and the use of the hashtag, something hazardous that could potentially sink your entire social media campaign has come along for the ride; hashtag abuse. In the pursuit of promoting your business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of tagging every word in your post or tweet just to be found on social media sites. But instead of coming across as an author-ity in your field or industry, hashtag abuse makes you appear spammy; just another voice in a sea of voices shouting, “Buy me!” Here are some helpful hints on how to use hashtags appro-priately, especially now that Google has added hashtags to its search results:

Choose your hashtags wisely Don’t hashtag common words like “you” and “the.” Instead, choose words that are relevant to what you’re talking about so you can be found by people who are not familiar with your content (ie: #MLB, #MajorLeagueBaseball).

Use hashtags judiciouslyDon’t use hashtags in every update, and try to use no more than one per update. Otherwise, it looks like spam and won’t get you noticed (at least in a good way). Repeating the same hashtag in multiple posts also goes against best practices.

Test your hashtagsSearch your potential hashtags in Twitter or set your Facebook status to ‘Only Me’ to begin testing. You’re checking to see if they’re relevant, focused, and in use by the actual members of the online community.

For more information, please visit our blog.

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S C N

E O E

O R R Whether through a website, one of the countless

social media platforms available, or a combina-tion of the above, most business owners have invested in some type of online presence. They use this online presence to create status updates, tweets, posts, pins, photos, and videos in an attempt to engage current customers and attract potential ones.

Just as bountiful as the data constantly shooting across cyberspace are the ways of collecting it. Business owners monitor every user’s interaction

and scrutinize the numbers from every possible angle. They watch these statistics like hawks. But what do these numbers mean? How can they be used to encourage customer interaction and increase profits?

Mashable offers answers – 30 of them, to be precise. In Metrics That Matter, the news and social media mogul has designed a 30-day map of online marketing tips and strategies. There’s some-thing for even the savviest social media marketers to learn from this guide, which covers everything from quantifying revenue per user to insights on the wildly popular tactics recently employed by Geico, Kmart, and others. The cutting-edge collection comes complete with new goals marketers can commit to for 2014.

30 Ways in 30 Days: Mashable’s Guide to Marketing MetricsWritten by Britt Pierce

Content is king, but it takes more than a flock of pages floating out in cyberspace to impress the intricate algorithms of Google’s ranking system. Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, explains in a featured video that a large number of indexed pages doesn’t necessarily equate to a website ranking higher as a whole.

Google’s algorithms place a higher importance on interaction and overall engagement. A website with more third-party links pointing to it is more likely to invite deeper crawling. This results in

more pages being found, then indexed, and that is what gives the website potential to achieve a higher ranking in searches.

So how does a business achieve those coveted third-party links? While a collection of keywords was once considered ideal, the key to capturing the attention of today’s discerning online audience is content. Gone are the days when the Internet was simply a platform to lecture from. It’s evolved into a dialogue between client and customer. The more engaging and relevant a website is to its visitors, the more likely it will be shared through links and social media channels with a wider potential audience.

Mo’ Pages Mo’ Problems: Google’s Matt Cutts on Indexed Page CountWritten by Britt Pierce The more engaging and relevant a website is

to its visitors, the more likely it will be shared

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Money is so 20th century. The new currency is buzz.

�

- Internet Retailer

Businesses Let You Pay with the Value of Your Social Network

In 2010, the service “Pay with a Tweet,” launched, allowing artists, authors, businesses, etc., to digitally exchange their products for a tweet. Four years later, many major corporations are adopting a similar method by directly offering value through social media engagement.

Starbucks has launched “tweet a coffee,” which allows you to send a $5 gift card to any Twit-ter user. Simply link your Starbucks account to Twitter, tweet a personalized message, and make someone’s day.

Using advanced vending machine technology, Pepsi’s “Like Machine” gives passersby free sodas in exchange for a Like. It’s just another way to offer something tangible in return for a click.

You can even donate your tweets to charity. Last month, a vending machine in a Vancouver mall dispensed 3,000 stuffed pandas to those who tweeted “#HomeTweetHome,” with proceeds going to WWF Canada, a conservation group.

Engagement through contests and giveaways has always been a part of the social media land-scape, which makes the prospect of businesses bartering their products to gain recognition very promising going forward.

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Written by Frank Berrodin

You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day!Your Mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!

Oh, the places you’ll Pin!Pinterest introduces Place Pins

Pinterest is only the most up-and-coming image search engine around. The end of 2013 saw some huge changes for Pinterest, including the expansion of user experience with the introduc-tion of Place Pins. They are an interactive way to track all of the best eats on your epic vacation or your weekend search for the best thrift shops and breweries.

Users are already pinning 1.5 million places, and over 750 million destinations every day. Place Pins allow you to add a phone number, address, and details of interest through the app on your smartphone and features a beautifully designed interactive map. Pinterest has also partnered with major brands and networks to offer Place Pin boards that can help you plan your dinner or your next summer trip. APIs (application program interface) endpoints in the form of easily accessible “Pin It” buttons are showing up on more and more travel websites so you can simply click and pin.

Actually, you’ve probably noticed that you can’t order shoes online, or look up a recipe with-out the option to Pin your selected item. There’s a reason for it. When you do, API endpoints allow retailers and other social media platforms to track your interaction with their brand and their products through metrics like “top pins,” “most-clicked through pins,” etc. So when you pin something directly from a website, or you repin from a retailer’s pin board, you’re offering valuable information on popular trends in a variety of markets. In turn, they can provide you with a more satisfying experience or product because they know what you like.

Click here to keep up with the latest on Pinterest.

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Written by Jen Stercula

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Supplemental Links

Dominating Social Media: Taco Bell StyleWritten by Nick Alfonse

Advertising Age – http://adage.com/article/special-report-marketer-alist-2013/taco-bell-ad-age-s-marketer-year/243852/Policy Mic – http://www.policymic.com/articles/73129/5-ways-taco-bell-is-killing-it-with-social-mediatwitter photo, Taco Bell – https://twitter.com/TacoBell/status/413413975917748225/photo/1twitter photo, Taco Bell – https://twitter.com/TacoBell/status/416669945334755328/photo/1twitter account, Taco Bell – https://twitter.com/TacoBellFacebook account, Taco Bell – https://www.facebook.com/tacobellSocialbu tumblr – http://socialbu.tumblr.com/post/67680799068/excellent-reasons-why-taco-bell-is-killing-it-with

Businesses Let You Pay with the Value of Your Social Network Written by Frank Berrodin

Internet Retailer – http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/07/08/will-consumers-pay-tweetPay With a Tweet – http://www.paywithatweet.com/Starbucks – https://www.starbucks.com/tweet-a-coffeeMashable – http://mashable.com/2013/12/19/twitter-vending-machine/Mashable – http://mashable.com/2013/05/31/pepsi-like-machine/

Worth a Thousand RetweetsWritten by Jon Stubbs

Fastcolabs.com — http://www.fastcolabs.com/3023381/want-to-get-more-retweets-try-doing-this-and-this-and-this Buzzfork.com —http://blog.buzzfork.com/post/63371623759/twitter-pictures-retweet-study Nielsen Norman Group — http://www.nngroup.com/articles/photos-as-web-content/

Meme vs. Meaningful: Quality Content Wins on FacebookWritten by Melissa McDermott

Simplereach – http://simplereach.com/blog/facebook-continues-to-be-the-biggest-driver-of-social-trafficSocial Insights: Content Quality Matters – http://socialbu.tumblr.com/post/69485801431/content-quality-matters-facebooks-latest-news-feedFacebook: News Feed FYI – https://www.facebook.com/business/news/News-Feed-FYI-Showing-More-High-Quality-ContentFacebook: News Feed FYI – https://www.facebook.com/business/news/News-Feed-FYI-A-Window-Into-News-FeedUpworthy – http://www.upworthy.com/The Atlantic – http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/why-are-upworthy-headlines-suddenly-everywhere/282048/

Oh, the places you’ll Pin!— Pinterest introduces Place PinsWritten by Jen Stercula

Pinterest Business Blog – http://businessblog.pinterest.com/post/67622600683/introducing-place-pins-for-the-explorer-in-all-of-us Pinterest, Top Hotels in the World (Conde Nast Traveler Board) – http://www.pinterest.com/cntraveler/hotels-we-love/ Pinterest, East Coast Beach Crawl (Travel Channel Board) – http://www.pinterest.com/travelchannel/east-coast-beach-crawl/Pinterest, World’s Best Festivals (Fest 300 Board) – http://www.pinterest.com/fest300/the-worlds-best-festivals/Socialbu Tumblr – http://socialbu.tumblr.com/post/67058764317/new-pinterest-partner-apis-showcase-pins-directly-onPinterest Blog – http://blog.pinterest.com/

How Social Media Ads are Becoming More Engaging and PersonalWritten by Mike Still

Toyota, +Posts ads YouTube video — https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4yCUgx7H2zoGoogle+ page, Google’s Eran Arkin — https://plus.google.com/+EranArkin/postsOnline Media Daily — http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/214895/twitter-releases-tailored-audiences-ad-targeting.htmlInstagram blog — http://blog.instagram.com/post/63017560810/instagramasagrowingbusinessBusiness2Community — http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/online-advertising-25-stats-facts-break-0723951#!q0v7S

The More the Merrier? Think Again!Written by Britt Pierce

Matt Cutts: Good Content Trumps SEO – http://readwrite.com/2011/12/13/googles-matt-cutts-good-conten#awesm=~ovuPYLis6Mu5qI Does a Site Rank Better If It Has a Lot of Indexed Pages?, YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVOrml7fp2c

30 Ways in 30 Days: Mashable’s Guide to Online MarketingWritten by Britt Pierce

Metrics That Matter, Mashable – http://mashable.com/category/metrics-that-matter/

How to Avoid Hashtag Horrors Written by Elizabeth Coffey

Social Fresh – http://socialfresh.com/google-adds-hashtags-to-search/ Social Media Today – http://socialmediatoday.com/kenmueller/1613406/hashtags-proper-use Twitter Media – https://media.twitter.com/best-practice/how-to-use-hashtags Twitter Media – https://media.twitter.com/best-practice/using-hashtags

Social media is growing up in the eyes of business executivesWritten by Matt Pappalardo

Huffington Post – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/giuseppe-crosti/truth-and-lies-of-social-media-roi_b_4339813.html Marketing Land – http://marketingland.com/social-media-driving-revenue-for-one-third-of-b2c-companies-one-fifth-of-b2b-firms-report-64256

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