We are number 70 in the top 500 #sociaelmedia agencies #marketing #digitalmarketing

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The Randy Orton craze which is sweeping social media is epic #randyorton #wwe #wrestling #trending #viral

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How to Design a Social Media Campaign to get results

How to set up a social media campaign…..here is a 5 step process of how to deliver?

#1: Assemble a Capable Team of Social Media Experts

Attend a team of Social media marketers who have the specific skills required to achieve your goals such as content generation, writing and editing, photo editing, a little tech know-how, graphic design  and being able to respond in real time.

#2: Plan Your Campaign

Use a plan to establish your campaign’s short-term objectives for each of the social channels you’re using, team assignments, general content ideas you can build on and how you’ll use features of specific platforms (e.g., lists on Twitter or hangouts on Google+).

#3: Choose the Most Effective Platforms

No matter what you hear from different sources, there is no one perfect social media platform to use. What works well for one business may not work well for another.

To choose your primary and secondary networks, think about where your target audience is more likely to spend time online and look at industry benchmarks. Take the time to discover where your target audience hangs out online. When you have the right mix of platforms, your campaign has a better chance at success.

#4: Establish an Editorial Calendar

The main element of social media is content therefore ensure that you have a calendar of engaging content  to achieve streamlines resources, drive internal teamwork and stay focused on the needs of your audience.

#5: Be True to Your Company Voice

When your audience reads and listens to the content you produce, they’re not only hearing your message, they’re hearing the voice of your company—your tone, language and delivery. Each time they hear your brand voice, it’s a good bet they’re subconsciously sizing you up. They’re deciding whether you’re a company they can rely on, and more importantly, do business with.

The State of Social Media Marketing

Having trouble keeping up with all of the recent changes to social media?

There have been some big and important changes recently in social media that will be covered in this post.

We’ve kept our eye on news that is tough to ignore on all the major blog sites so you can stay focused on what matters most to you: your social media accounts.

Pinterest Introduces Messages

Pinterest is officially getting even more social with its latest addition: private messaging. Despite the Instagram vibe, I think most users (especially businesses and marketers) will appreciate this update. It seems a bit strange that it took this long to happen but hey, I’m not complaining.

Read more on the official Pinterest blog

LinkedIn Rolls Out “Follow” Button To Millions

Although it’s rather cumbersome to access it currently, LinkedIn has debuted a “Follow” button to millions of user profiles, a feature previously only available to the elite LinkedIn Influencers. This means you can follow posts of somebody that isn’t in your network to allow you to interact with their posts.

To access it, go to somebody’s profile that you aren’t connected with. Hover over the downward arrow beside “Send NAME an InMail” and select “View Recent Activity”. 

You’ll see a list of their most recent posts and activity on LinkedIn, along with a yellow “Follow” button at the top right of their profile. Pretty cool, huh?

Read more on ReadWrite

Facebook Bans Like-Gating On Pages

Jim Belosic, CEO of ShortStack says:

My thoughts are: THIS IS GREAT! We’ve been moving away from like-gating for months now for two reasons:

1. The value of a Like is minor compared to other data that a business should be trying to collect (emails, feedback, opinions, other data). I think that a lot of business owners have been too focused on getting a lot of likes, at the expense of encouraging actions with higher ROI.
2. Like-gating on mobile is terrible and basically broken. Mobile consumption is through the roof, yet when you send a mobile user to a Like-gated app on Facebook, the UX is atrocious. Many times the user would be asked to login to Facebook again, or the redirect back to the app would never happen and the user would be stuck on a blank page.

This policy change is a sign that even Facebook knows that a “like” isn’t worth as much as page admins think it is. Most savvy marketers have shifted away from like-gating already, but this change will force the rest to update their methods and see better results from their efforts.

Facebook Gives Marketers More Data on Multi-Device Access

If you serve a mobile ad to somebody on Facebook but they don’t convert until they get back to their desktop, how do you track that conversion? Before now, there was no way to do this.

Facebook has given marketers a powerful feature for tracking cross-device conversions in Facebook’s Ad Reports tools. If you’re selling products online and using Facebook ads in your strategy, this tool is something you’ll want to check out.

Read more on Internet Retailer

Twitter Introduces Promoted Video

Since Twitter is now a publicly traded company, it should come as no surprise that they are ramping up features that will increase revenue and their latest edition is promoted video. If used right, this is an exciting new opportunity for advertisers but likely also an annoyance for users that are exposed to the less-than-clever examples that are bound to quickly reveal themselves.

Read more on Twitter’s official blog

Facebook Cracks Down on Click Bait With New Rule

If you’re just as annoyed as I am by the shameless click baited headlines that come from sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy, you’ll be pleased to learn about this new change. Facebook is tweaking their algorithm to downplay articles in the News Feed that are begging for your clicks without providing much information as to what you should expect.

The interesting part is how they are going to determine this. They will be tracking:

• The ratio of people clicking on content versus people discussing it with friends and sharing it (low engagement = potential click bait)
• Time spent away from Facebook before returning (low time spent = potential click bait)

Facebook Cracks Down on Links In Photo Captions

As part of the click bait algorithm adjustment, Facebook is downplaying rankings for photo posts that have links in the captions. Here’s the official word from Facebook:

“We’ve found that people often prefer to click on links that are displayed in the link format (which appears when you paste a link while drafting a post), rather than links that are buried in photo captions. The link format shows some additional information associated with the link, such as the beginning of the article, which makes it easier for someone to decide if they want to click through. This format also makes it easier for someone to click through on mobile devices, which have a smaller screen.

With this update, we will prioritize showing links in the link-format, and show fewer links shared in captions or status updates.”

Read more on VentureBeat

Twitter Proposes An Updated “Filtered” Feed

This change has stirred one heck of a controversy after Twitter announced that they would be implementing an algorithm-driven feed in 2015. Twitter’s CFO Anthony Noto publicly stated that arranging tweets based on time “isn’t the most relevant experience for users.”

It’s comments like these that are fueling the fires of those concerned that Twitter will inevitably turn into Facebook. Can we trust Twitter to determine which tweets we should and shouldn’t see in our feeds?

I highly recommend checking out a few different articles on this because there are sharply divided opinions:

• Forbes: Killing Twitter & Why The Algorithmic Timeline Spells The End
• Digiday: What a Twitter Algorithm Change Could Mean For Brands
• Slate: Twitter Will Never Be Like Facebook (& That’s A Good Thing)

LinkedIn Publisher Change Hides Social Sharing Stats

This is easily the silliest of all social media changes on this list: LinkedIn Publishing has removed the social sharing stats on posts. This is a vital element of social proof and speaks volumes to the quality of the content the reader is about to read, before they have to read it. They changed the design of how posts appear when reading them in LinkedIn Publisher but for some reason they mysteriously removed the counters that showed how many people have shared that post. Don’t ask me why they did it, it makes no sense to me and not a change I’m happy with.

Read more on Linked Insights

Have You Noticed Any Social Media Changes?

We’re doing our best to keep an eye out for any major social media changes but sometimes a few can slip past the radar. Have you noticed any changes that we might have missed in the last month? Which social media changes would you applaud or protest? Let us know in the comments below.

How do I use social media to market my business?

If you are struggling to work out how you can use social media to increase brand awareness, grow sales, develop online traffic, build relationships with stakeholders and ultimately boost profits then this course can help!!! 

Our bespoke Social Media training course teaches you everything you need to know about social media for business: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-media-for-business-training-tickets-12482681035

What you will learn.......

• Best practice for promoting your offers and increasing sale
• How to easily use tools for success such as Facebook Apps, Facebook Ads etc
• Using Social Media as a research tool to shape your business plans
• Integrating social media into your overall marketing activity
• Generating content easily and developing great content plans
• How to develop, execute and measure a campaign
• Introduce evaluation methods to measure and monitor effectiveness
• Developing a plan for managing and growing a social media presence
• Strategies on how to make the most from social media
• Steps to being successful on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin
• Building effective and optimised profiles on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook
• Applying techniques to build a voice, “listen” and engage various audiences
• Selecting and using the appropriate social media tools to support objectives
• Utilise online tools to manage multiple social media accounts and schedule content
• Developing and extending your social media community of followers and fans
• Creating sales leads through social media
• Tips for building visibility of your social networking profiles

 

Who is the social media course for?

• Company owner/manager
• Business leaders
• Marketing personnel
• Entrepreneurs
• Sales and PR professionals

You don't need any prior knowledge of social media but an idea of why you or your company wants to use social media would be useful as the training focuses on how you might best achieve these goals/targets useful as the training focuses on how you might best achieve these goals/targets.

Click here now for more information and to book a place: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-media-for-business-training-tickets-12482681035

NEW AGENCY OFFERS FREE SOCIAL MEDIA PROGRAMME TO BOOST LOCAL BUSINESSES

NEW AGENCY OFFERS FREE SOCIAL MEDIA PROGRAMME TO BOOST LOCAL BUSINESSES 

A new Cheshire based Marketing Agency has announced a free programme to offer support to local companies to give them the knowledge of how to boost their business through using social media. The bespoke training course set up by Hoopla Marketing is being made available to eight businesses in the Cheshire area for free to give them the ability to leverage their companies presence on social media to increase brand awareness, grow sales, develop online traffic, build relationships with stakeholders and ultimately boost profits.

Danny Cleaton, Account Director at Hoopla Marketing said: “The advent of social media has provided businesses with another set of marketing tools which can be used to build brand awareness, create engagement and generate sales.

“However in order to use social media effectively it is important to understand which social media tools will support your marketing objectives, how to use them, when to use them and most importantly how to evaluate the success of them.”

Hoopla Marketing which is a new integrated marketing agency are looking to help small and large companies increase sales and brand awareness through various tactics such as Branding, Marketing, PR, Campaign Development, Design, Digital, Training and Event Management and feel this is a major step in doing so.

Paul Strong, Strategic Account Director at Hoopla Marketing added “As a Cheshire based company, its better for our business in the long term if local companies are successful.”

“Knowing how to use social media to generate more business is an important skill to have now in this digital age and we feel by offering this service we can help local businesses thrive.”

“The training course is perfect for marketing personnel, entrepreneurs, sales and PR professionals who want to learn how to integrate Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn into their marketing communications plans and the best thing is that you don't need any prior knowledge.”

To apply for one of the eight free places on the course in May then visit http://www.hoopla-marketing.com/#!social-media-training/c1nb3 and fill out your details. Companies that have been successful in getting a place on the course will be notified on June 13^th.

Ends

Notes to Editors

For more information about Hoopla Marketing contact Danny Cleaton or Paul Strong on 07940419190 or email info@hoopla-marketing.com.

About Hoopla Marketing

Hoopla Marketing is a new Cheshire based integrated marketing agency that combines creativity and strategy with commercial common sense to help small and large companies increase sales and brand awareness. We are a close team that provide a breadth and depth of expertise in strategic, creative and technical disciplines across Branding, Marketing, PR, Campaign Development, Design, Digital, Training and Event Management.

Working on briefs of every nature and scale, Hoopla Marketing’s approach is based on innovative thinking, intelligent strategy and engaging creativity that gives their clients marketing campaigns clear vision.  Through their friendly and talented team, they are a marketing partner to a wide range of companies, providing support, training, solutions and inspiration.
 

Channels

Website: www.hoopla-marketing.com

Twitter: @hoopla_uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hooplamarkekting

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/hooplamarketing

Here are seven SEO truths you can’t afford to ignore.

1. Offline & online marketing are co-dependent

The world is becoming flat. Boundaries between various digital marketing disciplines — such as SEO, paid search, content marketing and social media marketing — are disappearing. Even offline and online marketing are no longer so disconnected.

What people say about you offline can influence your visibility online — and what people learn about you online impacts offline sales. Your offline and online presence need to be unified to create a consistent brand experience for your customers, so ensure that these marketing teams are working hand in hand for maximum impact.

2. You don’t own your search rankings 

Having your site ranked on Google is not your right or due. It’s a privilege. Google owes you nothing. Don’t expect special treatment, regardless of how important or successful your business is.

Some clients consulting me only want to focus on getting new traffic. They believe their current search rankings will remain forever. That’s wrong. Placements can shift in an instant, without any warning. You’re constantly playing defense.

Search engines are important in the buying cycle. Losing your search engine rank could make a dent in your finances. Sticking your head in the sand and ignoring this reality can prove a costly mistake for your business.

3. Even small, careless changes can damage your SEO

Sometimes a business will lose its dominant search presence because of a minor change made to their website: a tweak to the navigation bar, a change to a page header or title tag, a new block of text added to the home page, a link included in a site-wide sidebar, etc.

Modifications like these are often suggested by a non-specialist, and the impact can be serious. You could lose your search rankings — then sales and growth stall, too.

4. Be careful when changing to a new CMS

Moving your website to a new CMS (a better one) is good, right? Not necessarily! Without a proper migration strategy in place to ensure that SEO is preserved, switching to a new CMS can basically kill your traffic and sales.

While switching to a newer CMS can often provide many benefits in terms of productivity and functionality, many things can go wrong from an SEO perspective:

• Site architecture may be damaged
• URL structure and page hierarchy can be altered
• On-page optimization may suffer
• Duplicate content issues might arise

Many CMS solutions advertise themselves as being “search-engine-friendly” or “SEO-ready,” but that doesn’t mean that SEO is included out of the box — nor does it mean that your current SEO equity will be preserved upon making the switch.

In most cases, “search-engine-friendly” or “SEO-friendly” just mean that your CMS has built-in capabilities that allow your team to implement crucial on-site SEO elements without the aid of a developer. This might include the ability to adjust title tags, add meta elements, define page URLs, create XML sitemaps, etc.

In other words, a search-engine-friendly CMS gives you the tools, but you’ll still need an experienced SEO to make proper use of them.

Trusting your CMS vendor or programmer to get this right is dangerous. You wouldn’t let a plumber fix your electrical wiring just because he’s working on the same wall, would you?

Programmers, designers and SEO consultants are three distinct specialists. Getting them to work together while planning your site re-design can help you avoid the situation European airline Ryanair recently faced, dropping out of Google’s search results after a website overhaul.

5. Mobile SEO is not just “Responsive Design”

Many website owners and marketing managers think they are the same thing. Yes, getting your website to display nicely on a tablet or smartphone is important. But mobile SEO involves much more, including optimization for:

• Higher ranking on geo-targeted local search
• Easy user navigation on a mobile device
• Timely access to relevant information
• Customizing user experience based on location
• Quick and easy share-ability
  

  6. SEO isn’t an act — It’s the whole play

Many clients start off thinking about SEO as a snapshot instead of a slideshow. SEO needs constant focus and ongoing work. Everything you do is inter-connected. One change will create ripples elsewhere.

SEO isn’t just a one-time implementation of website changes. It’s a strategic initiative with many moving parts. Fixing things locally isn’t enough. Google looks at things like social signals, authority back links and user trust to rank websites. These can’t be easily manipulated or fixed through shortcuts.

7. Change is the only constant

Everything about online marketing and business keeps evolving continuously. New technology emerges, and it influences the way people research and buy. Every business leader in 2014 and beyond must understand these changes. Being unaware of (or ignoring) them places your business at risk.

For more information on SEO techniques visit www.hoopla-marketing.com