Friday 20 February 2015

8 Social Media Instruments I'm Using Daily To Generate Buzz & Revenue

Amazingly, it appears as though there's more social networking instruments than Jonas siblings, with the hole developing consistently.

I'm frequently asked what instruments I utilize. Along these lines, I took an individual stock and made this review of the 8 devices I utilize every day.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google + (joined)

1.       Buffer

I utilize Buffer for booking and offering my presents on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google + for the duration of the day, at the ideal times. It’s a super simple to utilize instrument, and incorporates definite examination so you realize what's working where, why and when. The best part is their program expansion that we should you "cradle" and impart any page, photograph, even a content passage. You'll additionally see that you can utilize Buffer to impart substance right on this site
Twitter

2.       Tweetdeck

I utilize Tweetdeck for genuine twitter sessions. I discover it to be particularly important and bother free for upgrading Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn all the while. I do this just every so often, in any case, as my companions/supporters on each one site don't have much cover.

3.       Tweetie

This to a great degree instinctive Mac-just application is my hour-to-hour decision for Twitter. It doesn't have the propelled usefulness of Tweetdeck, (for example, cross-presenting on Facebook), however it’s so natural to-utilize that it’s my most loved Twitter application. It takes up a ton less screen land that Tweetdeck, and I generally utilize Tweetie when leading my live, Twitter 20 meetings.

4.       Target Marketer

This force client Twitter application is the favored vehicle for Guy Kawasaki. I utilize Objective Marketer for the greater part of my ahead of time Tweets, and when I need to participate in some feature and/or time of day testing. Lifetime insights, cross-posting, numerous records, and so on. In case you're not kidding about Twitter, this is an extraordinary application. It's a decent decision for orgs, as well. (Exposure: Objective Marketer provided for me a free record)

Note: There are a huge number of Twitter applications (actually). On the off chance that you truly need to move around in the conceivable outcomes, invest sooner or later over at Laura Fitton's (@pistachio) One Forty, the application store for Twitter.

5.       Facebook

I don't utilize a ton of applications for Facebook, liking to play it really near to the vest there – for the time being. (I'm dealing with a Fan Page that will be propelling one month from now). In the meantime, in any case, I do all that much like Facebook Lite, which strips down a considerable measure of the gleaming preoccupations, and provides for you a strung News Feed, birthdays, and occasions – and that is about it. I think Facebook Lite makes Facebook engagement simpler – possibly you will as well?

6.       Disqus

This is the thing that I use to oversee remarks here at Convince & Convert. There are a few components of Disqus I dislike, particularly that it doesn't generally get along with other modules, however it does make remarking simpler and speedier for the majority of you who as of now have a Disqus account. I've seen my normal number of remarks increment since I moved to Disqus.

7.       ChatCatcher

This is a decent little instrument that discovers Tweets about your blog entries, and naturally includes them as remarks. This is one of the modules that doesn't match up well with Disqus, so it’s not functioning and in addition it used to, predisqus. Additionally, a few bloggers (counting Ari Herzog and Valeria Maltoni) don't support including tweets as remarks, since they are not genuine "remarks." But, in the event that you need to arrange and harvest the tweets about your posts, this is the module you need.


8.       Topsy

One section virality instrument, one section following system, one section social listening post, Topsy is turning into one of new top picks. I've moved from Tweetmeme to Topsy on my implanted tweeting, because of enhanced measurements, and Topsy's aggressive knowledge abilities are amazing. Discover a tweet your rival sent, and perceive how frequently it was retweeted, by whom, which among them are influencers, and so forth. It works like bit.ly, yet consolidates all URL shorteners into the information blend.



Thursday 29 January 2015

Social Media Marketing and Google Ads Case Study (SEM and Facebook Marketing)

Case Study on: Identiti Designer Name Plates
Client: Mumbai
Year: 2011-2012
Website: www.idenitit.in

This is a social media and paid advertising case study for my first client called Identiti Home Pvt Ltd. based in Mumbai, India.


Who is Identiti and what does it do?
Identiti designs, manufactures designer name plates to customers who are building or improving homes. In a short span of time Identiti has created niche market for itself which is fast catching the imagination of all the home makers. Since inception, Identiti has been enabling proud home owners with artistically designed hand crafted nameplates and interesting fusion of glass, wood, fiber, stone and metal. Identiti is focused towards making a difference in the way people design their home entrances.

What was the challenge?
Identiti owned one store in Mumbai and partnered with several other home decor brands across India to display their products and sell their products. Their products ranged from wooden name plates to glass name plates. Operating a physical store was obviously an expensive affair and so was it dealing with their partners. In 2011, small businesses were approaching the web halfheartedly to sell their products online. At the same time, Facebook started becoming a very popular networking site surpassing the then famous Orkut networking site. Like most SMB, Identiti had plans to go digital. The problem was obviously how and what to do?

Identiti wanted to incorporate Facebook as a part of their marketing and advertising plan but didn’t want 1M likes on their fan page. They wanted something more solid, something that will boost sales and bring in more revenue. At the same time, another major issue was driving traffic on their website. Since their website wasn’t modern, they faced a major challenge of getting into good books with search engines Google and Bing.

Being a SMB, Identiti did not have a budget to hire a full fledged digital marketing team, neither were they comfortable hiring an agency especially without a clear business strategy w.r.t the Internet.

The Solution
This is where I came into the picture. Spending a few days with the owner of Identiti, I quickly realized there was only 1 thing expected if money was invested online i.e. Sales. It had to be quick because time was running out and profits coming in from physical stores was deteriorating each day.
I made two suggestions, Google Adwords and Facebook.
In 2011, Google adwords was very new to SMB in Mumbai which meant there were host of opportunities to acquire new markets and yet at the same time was difficult to convince the owner for funds.

Problem 1: No SEO

The website was built by a third party web development company who had little or no experience in search engine optimization. There were 10 keywords that were being tracked by this agency, all of which were suggested by the owner of Identiti. These keywords were chosen based on assumptions and ideas that came to the owners mind on the basis of his experience and vocabulary.

Solution 1: Don’t guess, believe in scientific data and facts

I spent a couple of days using the google keyword tool to find the potential market available, keyword suggestions, competition etc and found vast opportunities that could be targeted. It was fairly easy to convince the owner with facts, supply and demand as he understood it. This is where introduction of google adwords happened.

Initially we spent a few hundred rupees, created 25-30 ads tested different images etc. Once we saw which ads were converting we quickly increased the budget for those ads and the results were incredible. From merely doing sales of Rs 15,000 each month online, Identiti was now selling stuff worth Rs 3,50,000 each month in less than half a year. We spent on average 20-30k and noticed sales improved at 50% every month. This was directly in proportion to the money we were spending on ads. We ran text ads and display ads. Another observation we made was that products that were on the expensive side, sold more online and these were acquired by a text or display ad. We used all kinds of image sizes provided by Google.

Solution 2: Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/myidentiti)

During my pow vow session with the owner I was explaining the way people were using Facebook. The trend has never changed since then, people use Facebook only to brag or vent their frustration or anger.  They could be bragging about their new smart phone, new dress, new hair style, holiday destination etc. This meant every time a person bought something new he/she would update their status. So, here was my big idea..make our customers brag about their new designer name plate.
Yes, whenever a customer booked a product on our site or in the store we made it a compulsion to collect their email address and Facebook name. We also invested in a small studio in the factory where the name plate was being manufactured. So here’s how things would turn out

Step 1: Customer orders online or offline, provides email address and Facebook name
Step 2: Once the custom name plate is ready for delivery, a HQ picture is taken and sent over to the corporate office
Step 3: This HQ picture is uploaded on Identiti business page, through the Identiti personal account we friend the customer, so that we can tag them
Step 4: Once the customer gets tagged, this picture is visible on their wall which means all their friends can see it when they visit the customers Facebook wall. Additionally, if the customer is not happy with the finished product it can be replaced before delivering which means we save delivery and pick up costs.

This provided a much needed impetus to Identiti and grew their business.



Recommended by Mr. Rattan Joneja (CEO & MD)
CEO at Marigold Ventures
Cilvan is a highly self motivated, intelligent and hard working. He launched the Web Business at Identiti and grew it by 200% in 6 months time.