When joining Pinterest as an individual, you are given the option to follow all of your current Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Unfortunately, businesses do not have the luxury to follow all of their fans, so it takes some more work to gain a large follower base on Pinterest.

Here are 3 things your brand should be doing right now to gain Pinterest followers:

1. Link to Other Platforms

The easiest way to quickly gain followers is to post links to Pinterest on your website, blog, and Facebook pages. Since Pinterest is still gaining in popularity, adding a Pinterest button will let your readers know that you are an early adopter of the new social media trend. Linking Pinterest to existing networks is a great way to gain followers, but it is important to remember not to flood your followers pages with a million pins.

Posting a pin to Facebook and Twitter once or twice a day (at most) is a great way to let them know you are on Pinterest. However, if your Facebook page and Twitter profile begins to look like an extension of your Pinterest page, it might be time to step away from Pinterest. When pinning an image to Pinterest, you are given an option to post on Facebook and Twitter, only choose this option for those amazing pins that everyone needs to see. Like these!

2. Utilize Searchable Captions

A great way to increase the strength of a pin is to add a searchable caption when re-pinning. This becomes a missed opportunity when an account does not change the caption to reflect their company’s relevant keywords to make it searchable to their target market. By using keywords often used by your target market, it is more likely that your Facebook fans and Twitter followers will come across your pins using the internal search feature. Not only can you add searchable keywords into captions on Pinterest, but you can also utilize the hashtag function in the same way that it is used on Twitter. Including hashtags into captions make your pins searchable for a wider audience, who may be unfamiliar with your brand.

3. Link to the Correct Page

One of the most frustrating things that I’ve encountered on Pinterest is when links do not follow back to the original source. There is absolutely nothing worse than looking for a recipe and not being able to find it because of a poorly placed pin or an inactive link. When pinning content (especially if it is from your own website) make sure that the pin links back to the page where someone can get more information. By pinning from your website, you are hoping to drive traffic to that specific page. Making sure that the pins go back to the correct page on your website will make it easier when others re-pin your content as well.

Looking for Pinterest tips? See my prior blog: How To Create A Unique Brand Image on Pinterest

Happy pinning!

Is your brand missing opportunities to capture followers on #pinterest? ow.ly/9c4qc#socialmedia

— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) February 21, 2012

Katie joined our fun-loving Social Media team in 2011 as a specialist and she’s been adding to the fun since her first day. A natural Community Manager, Katie has been rocking our clients’ worlds with her intuitive approach to social communication and general expertise.

Katie loves sunshine and beaches (although we’re all pretty sure that she’s secretly jealous when the rest of us are experiencing a blizzard). She has been known to dig up some pretty sweet treasures during her geocaching expeditions.

On Above the Fold & Socially Acceptable, Katie blogs about up and coming trends and tools in the social media space but we wouldn’t be surprised if she expanded her content interests as the months roll on.

But if your brand is truly a global one, how are you making sure that you are effectively communicating to your global audience?  Making assumptions that most people outside the US and Canada speak English, or that translation services are good enough, may not be the best route.  Sure, optimizing your site in English and then translating your content effectively is better than nothing.  In fact, if your brand has certain resource constraints, this may be all you’re really able to handle.  However, let’s look a little further, and think about some options for your brand if you do have the resources.

1. What are the primary search engines within your non-English speaking target market(s)?  Like the US and Canada, Google is still the top search engine for many other countries.  If so, then that makes the process much easier.
2. Does your target market have several distinct dialects?  If so, can you pinpoint a geographical area from which most of your consumers are based and nail down that specific dialect?

Let’s look at Brazil and Russia as examples, answer the questions above for each, and recommend a strategy for multi-lingual SEO:

SEO Strategy for Brazil

• Portuguese is the official language of Brazil
• The southern region, where the two major cities Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo are located, speak a different Portuguese dialect than other parts of the country.  This southern region is where a large number of our client’s customers (and potential customers) reside.
• Google is the search engine of choice for Brazilians.

If you, or your Search Agency, don’t have the language expertise, we would suggest finding an agency partner who has direct experience performing Portuguese language keyword research and content optimization.  You know your client, and know the overall strategy, so being the strategic lead is still recommended.

SEO Strategy for Russia 

• Russian is the official language.
• Yandex is the search engine of choice for Russians.
• Optimizing for Yandex is a bit different than optimizing for Google.

As with Brazil, we would also suggest finding an agency partner with direct experience performing Russian language keyword research and content optimization.  However, since Yandex is the search engine of choice in Russia, that agency partner should also come with experience optimizing for Yandex.  Once again, you should still command the strategic lead for the client with support from the partner agency.

At Intrapromote, we have experience partnering with other agencies (when we need to) to tackle SEO strategy for a multi-lingual and foreign search engine campaigns.  Let us know how we can help with your global SEO strategy.

Caleb “Handsome” Dann is one of our SEO Strategists and wow, can he strategize. With his ever trusty sidekick, Violet the terrier, he routinely makes plans to take over the world (one moustache at a time).

Caleb knows only one speed when it comes to his SEO proficiencies: warp speed. And we’re happy to be along for the ride. He’s also one of our Star Wars geeks who thoroughly enjoys trivia contests. And good beers. And fashionable facial hair.

Follow Caleb on Twitter:

Follow @CalebDann

Working from home brings on a whole new set of challenges as you become directly responsible for your own workspace, productivity and rules of operation. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your virtual work experience:

• Have a dedicated workspace. While it may be more convenient to work at the kitchen table because it’s closer to the fridge and you like to snack, setting up a specific area of your house/apartment/condo as your office will help your mind associate that area with work and allow you to focus throughout the day. Also, having an area that you can walk away from at the end of the day or during moments of frustration is helpful. We need separation from our workspace in order to get that oh-so-important work-life balance.
• Get up well before your scheduled start time, shower and get dressed. This doesn’t mean you need to put on the business suit you used to wear to the office, but come on, lose the robe and get out of those pajamas! If you were going to a physical office, chances are slim that you would roll out of bed and go straight to work.
• Set a schedule. It’s great when your company allows flexibility in your work hours; however, a schedule allows you to say at 5:00 “Okay, I’m done.” Depending on your job, you may need to put in some extra hours, but at least having a dedicated start and stop time can provide consistency. Plus, your brain deserves a break.
• Make everyone living in your house aware of your schedule and ask that they respect it. Too often spouses, partners, roommates or family members think that working from home is a free pass and feel it’s okay to schedule visits from the plumber, cable guy or interior decorator, or ask you to run errands or handle chores throughout the day. While the occasional visit from a maintenance person might be unavoidable, you should encourage your life-mates to treat your home office the same way they would treat an office downtown. Your spouse would never ask you to vacuum at the downtown office, ergo, no vacuuming during the workday at the home office.
• Take a lunch break away from your desk. It can be tempting to eat at your desk or skip lunch altogether but giving your brain (and your eyes) a break can do wonders for your day.
• At the end of the day, tidy up your area and close the door. Again, the physical separation from the work space will help your brain stop thinking about work and allow you to focus on family, friends and other non-work items. This means muting your speakers too so you don’t hear your email beckoning “Ding! Come read me!!!”
• Remember to move! Even though you don’t need to walk that report over to Phyllis’s desk or pop into the boss’s office, you do need to give your muscles some movement. Take time to stretch throughout the day. I’m not suggesting that you bust out the yoga mat during conference calls, but taking a few short breaks to roll your shoulders, stretch your arms and move your legs can do wonders for your posture and let’s face it, it keeps your body happy.
• Virtual doesn’t need to mean isolation. Don’t forget about your co-workers: say hi via Instant Message or email, schedule a virtual lunch together, ask how the kids’ soccer games were, etc. If you happen to have a co-worker who lives not too far from you, get together for lunch or even schedule a day where you work together.

Tips heard around the virtual water cooler:

“If possible, have a door to your office. Sometimes you just need to be able to close the door.”

“Keep personal paperwork completely separate from work items.”

“Find human contact when you need it.”

“Learn what is urgent and non-urgent. Just because the dog barfs all over the living room, doesn’t mean you should drop everything to clean it up w/in seconds and miss a client deliverable deadline. Besides, the client won’t buy the Sorry My Dog Barfed excuse anyway.”

“Don’t take the whole box to your desk. Just dump a few on a plate.”

“Keeping on the lookout for the best collaboration tools and ensuring you ‘reach out’ to your colleagues; often just to talk, is very important for ensuring that work relationships are solid.”

“Wear shoes.”

“Pay attention to specific types of tasks (e.g., reading, rote & tedious, strategic thinking, writing reports, etc) and the time(s) of day that your brain seems to really be good at them. I believe that aligning your tasks with specific times of day can make you more efficient and make your work better.”

“Keep your home office looking nice just like you would in a regular office. Take a few minutes at the end of each day to straighten your desk and office. Trust me, it will make the next morning so much easier to deal with.”

“Consider getting an actual water cooler and drink plenty of water throughout your day. Let’s face it, nature calls and this will eventually get you up and moving!”

Much to my dismay, receiving the initial confirmation that, “Yes!” they did indeed like me, was the easy part.  What followed the confirmation was terrifying for the 10 year old me; I actually had to ask them questions, get to know them, listen intently, understand their wants and needs, all the while giving them my undivided attention.

GASP! Even the hazy memory that I just pulled up from that period of my life is giving me the chills.

The Elementary School Approach to Social Media

Apparently this is a common plague within our society, so it’s no surprise that some of us may become used to the distanced “please confirm that I’m good” tactic and apply it to their marketing dollars.  I get the opportunity to be exposed to many companies’ interactions and activity on Facebook, and a common thread is what I will now deem The Elementary School Approach.

The Elementary School Approach revolves around assuming that “Likes” on Facebook mean that your customer base is growing and converting without any meaningful engagement or relationship building.  As we discussed earlier in the week on the Intrapromote blog Facebook Ads Vs. Google Adwords – Part Four, the trick is not getting them in the door, the trick lies in what takes place afterwards.

“Likes” Aren’t Customers…Yet

Allow me to draw out the metaphor: Just because I got an enthusiastic “Yes!” back from my elementary school pursuit did not mean that we had a meaningful relationship to build upon.  To that end: a “Like” from someone just getting acquainted with your brand doesn’t always equal a happy, paying customer.  New customer relationships start with a “Like” and take time (and work) to mature and flourish.

So how do we take that initial attraction to your brand (the “Like”) and turn it into a relationship?  Well—let’s refer back to the aforementioned list in this blog post:

“…I actually had to ask them questions, get to know them, listen intently, understand their wants and needs, all the while giving them my undivided attention…”

Ask questions!  Get to know and understand your fans!  Pay close attention to their responses and other interactions!  This is what makes social media marketing tick, the meat and potatoes.  For the first time in history you are able to glean all the necessary information from your constituents anytime you want, and deliver exactly what they need directly to their “doorstep”.

Treat your new fans like you would a first date—make them comfortable, ask them about themselves, and at least *act* like you’re giving them your undivided attention.  These small steps will go far in the long run to create customers out of fans, and ultimately real brand advocates out of customers.

All things considered, Return On Investment (ROI) implies that you’ve made an investment.

We’d love to talk with you about how we help companies nurture budding relationships and grow them into happy customer families over social networks.

Dylan Price doesn’t like long walks on the beach (the sand irritates his feet), candlelight dinners (total fire hazard), or sunrises (those happen way too early in the morning). What does he like? Social media. And lots of it.

Dylan is one of our Social Media Strategists and clients constantly tell us how awesome he is. And of course, we agree. A proud husband and father, Dylan can take a client’s social media dream and turn it into a reality. With a particular fondness for analytical data and action-based reporting, Dylan has been known to turn a head or two with his innovative ideas.

A lover of Sci-Fi literature, Dylan is our go-to guy when it comes to book recommendations and movie reviews. He sometimes has a hard time living in the shadow of his own awesomeness, but if anyone can do it, he can.

Follow Dylan on Twitter:

Follow @dylanbprice

The last installment of this Google Adwords vs Facebook Ads series covered the eloquent moment when your user clicks through on your ad; or how to turn views into conversions on both platforms.  This article aims to define what those clicks actually mean in both Google Adwords and Facebook Ads.  Is one type of click more valuable than the other?

"I just can't look through another binder of numbers-- show me some Facebook Ads!"

Adwords:

With Adwords the goal is simple, getting the search to perform the desired action:  usually either a sign up or a purchase.  The main way to differentiate one click from another is by what Adgroup the clicks flows through.  In theory at least each Adgroup is setup to attract a specific target.  The problem quickly narrows down to trying to define which keywords and ads provide the lowest bounce rate, or the lowest rate at which people leave your site after clicking on your ad.

The key to this is analytics.  It is the most accurate, fast, and reliable way to track your progress and make assessments.  Google Analytics has some wonderful free tools for this and should be used if you do not have an analytics provider.  Without analytics trying to determine success based on Cost Per Click or Click Through Rate alone will not give you your best chance at success.

Facebook Ads:

There are so many ways to interpret clicks within Facebook Advertising scenarios, mostly because the ad’s intention is dynamic enough to be able to be used for any goals that you have laid down for them.  The following scenarios represent a good cross-section of how brands typically utilize Facebook Ads:

The Website Conversion

This is the simplest interpretation of a Facebook Ads click, and easily measureable.  This particular campaign focuses solely on getting your targeted audience to click through to your website and purchase your product and services.

Although simple, this form of Facebook Advertising is one of the more volatile methods and can create a large budget covering many clicks-to-bounces.  Check the bounce rate in Google Analytics for your landing page from this ad on an extremely frequent schedule to stay ahead of the budget for these campaigns.

Speaking of landing pages, just like with Google Adwords, this will be the most efficient way to segment your site traffic and delineate traffic from your ad campaign.  URL trackers are well and good, but you want to ensure your users are seeing the exact content that you are advertising to manage the bounce rate.

When determining the overall value of these click-throughs, you have to take the bounce rate into consideration.  If your bounce rate is above 25% of all traffic, you’re throwing your money away for a Facebook click.

The Facebook Page “Like”

This form of Facebook Advertising, when you are simply asking users to “Like” your Facebook Page, is complicated when evaluating each click’s worth.  Obviously your brand is one that has resonated with the clicking user, but does the relationship end there?  Does your Page’s updates stand dormant as an ignored entity within that user’s Facebook stream?

Or does that Fan go on to become not only a purchaser of your product and service, but also advocates for your brand on every negative Facebook Wall Post and conversation?  Does that fan encourage their Facebook friends to “Like” your page and buy your product?  Do they end up Retweeting your brand on Twitter to 15,000 followers of their own?

These are the inherent truths when attempting to valuate a “Like” on a Facebook Page, and we here at Intrapromote would argue that the responsibility lies within the brand’s activity, atmosphere, and engagement on the Page to take that initial “Like” to a conversion.

The good news is the results are self-evident within Facebook, and everything is tracked from start to finish.  Without the extra step for the user (the “Like” is applied automatically without the user ever leaving the page they’re on) the CTR is remarkably higher for these campaigns over other campaigns.

So when we attempt to discern the value of these “Likes” via Facebook Ads, we must take into account our current level of engagement on Facebook.  Do a good number of fans regularly contribute to the Facebook page?  Does your brand regularly contribute to the Facebook Page?  If you engagement percentage remains above 15%, then these Ads will go very far for the price.

The Facebook Promotion

So you’re giving away your gizmo to one lucky Facebook fan, but you want to leverage the giveaway to create more Facebook fans in the meanwhile?  Well, Facebook Ads is the best solution for these goals.  In this, your clicks can be valuated dollar-to-dollar (metaphorically speaking).

Your goals are concise, and the platform is concise. “Enter to win a foosball table by being the 100,000^th “Like” on our Facebook Page!” will garner those clicks and those conversions.

The wrench in the gears here is the follow-up.  Many brands will take a look at the data that they collect during a promotion like that and say, “My oh my, look how many folks “Like” us!  Good job, marketing team!”.  Where the real work should only just be beginning.  This is social media marketing 101: what do you do once they’re in the door?

Much like the previously mentioned Facebook Page “Like” campaign, the burden of conversion then falls directly onto the shoulders of the brand.  Facebook has filled your coffers with potential consumers, and now you must put them to work engaging and falling in love with your product or service.

The metric to pay attention to here, again, is your engagement percentage.  Keep it above 15%, and you will continue to grow your social media channels for conversion.

The Product Release

This is my favorite ad campaign to produce and manage.  The amount of marketing data alone that comes from product release ads is astounding.  The entire gamut of Facebook Advertising options are open to you for this one, videos, questions, images, “Likes”, giveaways…everything!

If implemented appropriately, this campaign will blow the socks off of any other marketing initiative that is currently being approved by your Senior VP of Marketing.  Without gaining the market input from your ads, you are still left with the most valuable metric you possibly can receive for a product launch from Facebook Advertising: impressions.

Every dollar spent within this campaign will be well worth it since you will be enabled to show your product to exactly who needs to see your product, exactly when they need to see it.  Absolutely employ the impressions-based pricing model for advertising this one, as that is your ultimate goal, is it not?  You will receive more impressions for less money spent when bidding low on impressions, and Facebook won’t decide to turn you off for low click-throughs because they aren’t losing any money there either!

The only caveat I would submit for this is when you are tying in a giveaway promotion or attempting to draw attention to a best-selling product via your new product (bait and switch tactics).  You will want to follow the previous suggestions for campaigns in these scenarios to valuate your clicks.

Have you quantified your clicks from Facebook Ads lately?  How about your conversions from Google Adwords?  Post your findings in the comments below!  Our next installment will dig into the logistics of the two platforms when it comes to actual exposure.  Stay tuned!

Dylan Price doesn’t like long walks on the beach (the sand irritates his feet), candlelight dinners (total fire hazard), or sunrises (those happen way too early in the morning). What does he like? Social media. And lots of it.

Dylan is one of our Social Media Strategists and clients constantly tell us how awesome he is. And of course, we agree. A proud husband and father, Dylan can take a client’s social media dream and turn it into a reality. With a particular fondness for analytical data and action-based reporting, Dylan has been known to turn a head or two with his innovative ideas.

A lover of Sci-Fi literature, Dylan is our go-to guy when it comes to book recommendations and movie reviews. He sometimes has a hard time living in the shadow of his own awesomeness, but if anyone can do it, he can.

Follow Dylan on Twitter:

Follow @dylanbprice