10 Amazing Brand Twitter Profile Pages

What you see is what you get. Can it be that we’re all so shallow as to subscribe to this statement? The science seems to back it: new research has found that first impressions remain incredibly hard to dislodge.

On the other hand, according to Vivian Zayas, a psychologist at Cornell University, “the present research shows that such judgments about the cover are good proxies for judgments about the book – even after reading it”. It seems that there is a good reason why we’re so quick to judge – it’s usually spot-on!

This is a crucial factor for marketers, especially those in the business of social media where a tweet can appear in front of a reader for less than a second before getting swept away by the torrent of other competing messages.

If you want onlookers to stop and consider your Twitter profile page, much less have a good impression about your brand, you’re going to have to work on the real estate you have been given i.e. your Twitter brand page.

Ready to make some great first impressions? Here are 10 of the best brand Twitter profile pages in the twitter-verse right now.

1. Adidas

A creative use of the profile header and background – both joining into a single, delightful portrait of Adidas’ latest product. Many brands use their Twitter profile real estate for teasers and promotions, as you will see in the other profiles as well.

2. Audi

 

Simple and elegant, the color theme matches the car on display well. The sleek design works towards accentuating the branding of Audi as a high-end racing car model, too.

3. Life

 

Featuring a slew of their spectacular covers from past years, LIFE reminds everyone why they’re one of the best magazines around.

4. McDonald’s

McDonald’s always makes good use of their Twitter profile real estate to display their latest marketing campaigns and promotions. The header also blends well into the background.

5. Rolling Stone

Sometimes less is more, and Rolling Stone has approach their Twitter profile real estate with that in mind. A simple way to emblazon their brand name right across their profile page. The transparent effect of the header picture works well in blending with the background.

6. Virgin

Virgin’s most spectacular business is in space travel right now – and they make sure to remind you of it whenever you pop by their Twitter profile.

7. Unicef

Unicef is all about the children, and their Twitter profile does well in reminding you about them.

8. Subway

Like McDonald’s, Subway also makes use of their Twitter real estate to inform their followers about their latest promotions – such as the Flatizza here. The bold and bright colors are also attractive, though some might consider it a bit too flashy.

9. The Home Depot

Another brilliant example of blending the header with the background, the Home Depot makes use of their real estate well by displaying products that define their brand.

10. Southwest Airlines

Last but not least, Southwest Airlines uses a different tact by drawing attention to the plane in their header rather than the deliberately simple and clear-cut background. At the same time, the background also features their brand name (just in case you forget).

Source: http://blog.canva.com/10-amazing-brand-twitter-profile-pages/

4 Social Media Trends Already Shaping 2014

As companies discover there’s more to social media marketing than merely maintaining a presence on Facebook and Twitter, it’s often a little daunting to think about how to expand efforts to take advantage of all the opportunities that a multi-spoked social strategy can offer.

A new infographic caught my eye initially because it led with what I believe are some of the most important tenets of social business. It’s titled Social Media Trends Shaping 2014, and lists seven trends. But after reading it, I noticed a couple of them dovetailed nicely into each other, so I took the liberty of narrowing the list down to four and adding my own commentary.

1. Social Listening

22% of marketers used social listening strategies in 2013, and 24% plan to listen on social media in 2014. But only 31% of marketers think that their current listening strategy is fully effective. The growth in this area continues to be sluggish, I believe, because of the amount of time that it takes to develop, implement, and keep a solid social listening strategy going. It isn’t something companies should take lightly, and it seems like a huge investment in hours to get that up and running.

By listening online, brands can be agile, and take advantage of marketing opportunities that arise in real-time. The best way to put together a social listening strategy is to sign up with a social listening software that not only has wide listening ability across the web, but a service offering that will help you strategize, knowing your specific business goals and objectives.It isn’t enough to have the tools at your disposal if you don’t have a clear-cut idea of how your listening relates to your overall business strategy.

2. Data-based Marketing

Number six and number three in the social infographic below both have to do with leveraging data to build better customer relationships. According to the infographic, data from social sites, campaigns, and other customer interactions is being used to engage audiences. It’s true, but looking at the numbers for social listening, there’s a lot of room for improvement.

The benefit isn’t just for the business, though. There’s two sides of this coin. Think of yourself as a consumer. Have you ever been excited to see something interesting right there in your news feed — or on the sidebar of a blog? (There’s the social advertising aspect: number two in the infographic.) When companies measure and react to their social data, users will receive content that is better targeted to their wants and needs. Businesses will be more effective if they use social and web-based data to figure out the what kind of content the user wants, where they want it, and when they understand the best times for delivery.

3. Integrating Social Media Company-Wide

The social media department isn’t the only place where social media should be used. In fact, your company shouldn’t have a social media department at all. The product development people should be monitoring the web and measuring social results for insight, the customer service team should be responding to customer concerns through social accounts, the HR people should be utilizing social tools to recruit and qualify top talent, and all of your marketing campaigns should have integrated social media components that will help amplify their reach and increase engagement.

Again, make sure you partner with a company that’s not only ready to fill your software needs, but also help you map out strategies for this. Here’s four case studies into company-wide social integration that may help get you started.

4. Visual-based Marketing

With this trend, I’m not talking solely about the rise of Pinterest and Instagram as effective marketing tools. Both Twitter and Facebook have redesigned the look and feel of their timelines recently to accommodate larger images. In fact, 77% of brand posts shared on Facebook are photos.

The right image can tell a story faster and more effectively than the biggest block of text, and that also goes for short video content. Adding a video to landing page can increase conversions by nearly 90%.

I guess I got on a roll there. After getting a little more in-depth into these concepts above, I feel like the infographic is now a bit extraneous, but here it is. If you have scrolled to the bottom of this blog because of the large block of text above (and I know you did, because #4), I urge to to start at the top and read through this real quick-like.

I know your time is limited, but it shouldn’t take too long — and jumping on these concepts now could make a big difference.

Images: bsdconsulting.com, @channingtatum

Source: http://www.spiral16.com/blog/2014/04/4-social-media-trends-already-shaping-2014-infographic/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Spiral16+%28Spiral16%29

10 Facebook Rules Every Business Needs to Know Before Posting

On Facebook there isn’t one “perfect post” or ideal time of day to post. Instead, you can develop a strategy that gets different types of content to different types of people, at different times. The key factor to remember when creating Facebook content is that you need to be vigilant—constantly looking to diversify what and when you post.

1. Keep things positive
Being positive promotes engagement and encourages sharing. Equally as important, being negative may cost you fans. People are quick to unlike a business if posts are negative or controversial.

2. Make your posts informative by giving “tips” and including links
The most appealing updates are ones that offer something. Don’t disclose everything — this increases the likelihood that fans will click.  Post an interesting fact. If you are an expert in the field, share tips. If you’re sharing a blog post or an online article, create a status update that features the piece’s most interesting fact or statement to stir reader curiosity and encourage click-throughs. Instead of copying and pasting a long URL into your status update, use a link-shortener like Bit.ly to make your post brief and more likely to be shared.

3. Always Include images and your logo
Posts with images get the highest amount of engagement on Facebook, so be sure to include one when you can. The perfect size is 800×600. Increase your brand awareness by including your logo on the images that you post. Creating content is “king.” The more original content you can create, the better.

4. Keep your posts mobile-friendly
Use simple imagery that can easily be seen on mobile devices — anywhere from 50-70% of your fans read your posts on their phones.  This means that when you are creating content, mobile users should be your first thought as opposed to being an afterthought.

5. Thank and reward your fans
Your fans want to feel as if they are part of a community. This turns casual fans into brand advocates. Make your fans feel as if they are benefiting from being your fan. Offer Facebook exclusive deals and thank them. This helps your business grow through word of mouth and proves popular as a post topic.

6. Always respond to posts
Posts aren’t the only activities that grab attention — comments and responses are equally as important. Engage with people and build relationships through conversation.  This includes being available to respond and addressing negative feedback. Never delete a negative post. Instead, address it and own it. Admitting fault makes you look more credible. 

7. All of your posts need to be engaging
Ask questions to get engagement. Multiple choice questions, fill in the blank, and describe this picture in three words are all simple techniques that increase engagement. You cannot simply share stories or information. Engage the audience with your posts. The more people are engaged with your content, the more people that will see your content. If you are posting consistently with your company logo (see #3), the more people will develop a connection between your company and your message.

 8. You should be posting 5-10 times a week
A common mistake many companies make is posting too much or too little. You want to make sure that fans see your brand. Your “superfans” will see all of what you post, whereas casual fans will see less. Posting 5-10 times a week helps assure that if fans missed a message on Monday, they will see a different message on Tuesday.

9. Get feedback from your fans
All too many companies fail to get feedback from their fans.  Your Facebook fans can be your own personal focus group and they are often interested in sharing their opinions. Additionally, they like to think that their opinion could help shape future business decisions.

10. Develop a consistent tone
It is important that you aren’t harming your brand by posting information that does not match your brand identity. Just because you find something amusing, doesn’t mean that your fans will.

Bonus:
11. Tell users what to expect
If you’re posting a video or linking to a lengthy blog article, set your followers’ expectations by telling them exactly how long it is so they know what to expect.

Day of the week:
Moods change by the day of the week:
Mondays: Morale is low but optimistic.
Tuesdays: People are at their lowest. The week feels as if it has still only started. People are also most susceptible to advertisements.
Wednesday: The week is starting to look up.  People are more motivated.
Thursday: There is a light at the end of the tunnel. People are in good moods and like to be reminded of it.
Friday: People are checked-out and looking to get out. They are easily distracted.
Saturday: People are out enjoying their weekends.
Sunday: People are optimistic and motivated about the next week.

In essence, mood matters. This means that you should post different content on different days of the week.

Time of day:
Post when the audience is listening not just when your business is open. This will ensure more user engagement. However, do not always post at the same time of day. Fans that are on in the morning are going to be different than the fans that are on in the evening.

Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/matthew-kobach/2367336/facebook-cheat-sheet-10-facebook-rules-every-business-needs-know-posting-infographic