Tips to improve social proof on TripAdvisor including how to handle negative reviews and 6 best practice tips
One of our clients is a group of eight hotels, so for them, like all hospitality businesses, TripAdvisor can be both friend and foe. Recently I was asked to look at each hotel’s presence on TripAdvisor and to suggest some tips for best practice. I was surprised by the lack of online commentary so here are my thoughts.
Setting the scene for TripAdvisor - how it dominates the travel industry.
How to handle negative reviews on Tripadvisor?
Clients we speak to are often worried about entering the world of social media, afraid it will open the door to negative reviews. Our response is consistent; a presence on social media doesn’t create negative reviews, nor does an absence prevent them. What it does do is allow your…
What does research show are the emotions that content must create to encouraging sharing?
Marketing has forever been about making people aware of one’s brand, as a precursor to making them actually desire it. Since the very concept of branding and proactive selling (marketing) began back in the late 19th century, the goal has always been the same, even if the methods have changed beyond all recognition; connect with people whom you feel are likely to relate to whatever product or service it is you are offering, and make them want it.
With this in mind, marketing has been, is and always will be about relating to your audience and whether this is done online, offline, through mainstream or non-mainstream avenues, is largely irrelevant; whatever succeeds in triggering a collective positive emotion in one’s target audience, is always going to be the correct approach. Remove all the jargon and fancy marketing terminology,…
A 10 step online PR process to prepare and initiate the perfect Digital PR campaign
The C word, you know the one I’m talking about. It’s the word that can put you in the good books with Google and holds the key to adding value to your clients website. We’ve all heard time and time again that this is the key to gaining success in the world of digital marketing. That’s true, but don’t for a minute think that this creation of content is the end of the road. Contrary to Kevin Costner and his 'Field of Dreams' movie quote, if you build it, they may or may not come.
So! What do we have to do to get our beautiful creations out there? Whether they are artistic infographics or feature length articles, you can guarantee that somebody, somewhere wants them to…
How to avoid those typical PR blunders
PR, like many parts of digital marketing, can be a numbers game. You try different pitches to different publications and hope that something works. Along the way, you make mistakes and you learn from them.
Below, we’ve spelled-out five of the most standard mistakes of PR outreach so you can avoid making them.
Mistake #1: Thinking news will come to you
It can be exhausting, but in order to get coverage, you need to seek it out. And today, there are more tools available than ever for low-budget, reduced-effort PR outreach campaigns.
'Info' and 'tip' lines are freely available online and more effective than you probably think, too and social platforms like Twitter or LinkedIn or software-as-service like MuckRack provide an opportunity to get in touch directly with people you might otherwise never have had access…
3 Strategic learnings for real time marketing
Value: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Forrester real-time analytics report - free download
Commissioned by MediaMath, the latest research piece by Forrester is well worth the time it will take you to scan to understand this emerging modern marketing technique. I think most marketers understand the concept of real-time marketing but may struggle to see how that works across the WHOLE customer journey (most people associate real-time with Social media channels, mistake number one! More on that later). It is certainly something I am still learning about especially the practical side of it and excited by the prospect of working with more clients on helping them on the journey.
Looking at the data shared in the report suggests the value that brands can get from real-time marketing.
So, the value is in…
5 reasons why your content marketing campaign may fail and ideas to make content more 'viral'
We know from our research into Managing Content Marketing that one of the main challenges for marketers at the moment is selecting relevant content which will become viral and shared.
Creating sharable, viral content is a challenge, so we thought this infographic is useful since it reminds us of the basics that we sometimes forget, as we focus on finding and curating content. There are 5 practical steps on improving reach from this infographic shared on Business2Community.
1. Highlight emotional appeal. Positive engaging content will need to 'trigger emotions' to make people laugh, be inspired or amazed. Use this in your headlines and copy sharing the content asset.
2. Create shareable content. Shareable content makes the sharer look good - it needs to be useful or entertaining.
3. Timing. Share at the right time when your audiences are most likely to…
Including the 5 reasons your content ISN'T Going Viral...
Since its inception, the Internet has opened new doors for growing a business by sharing viral content. Today business owners are naturally still keen that they "go viral" to increase their awareness. Content marketing offers opportunities to do this through the range of content marketing formats we have available to us.
What is viral marketing?
Viral internet marketing is not to be confused with ordinary online marketing. Neither is any viral content considered marketing. It isn't enough for something to spread rapidly. As it spreads, it should help get your company noticed.
Marketing guru, Seth Godin, emphasizes that true viral marketing “must market your business in a tangible and useful way.” Now that you know the difference, the next step is to find out how marketing becomes viral.
Why does content become viral?
If we're honest, there is no…
23 techniques to build into your influencer outreach
'Influencer outreach' is often the missing part of the content marketing jigsaw, which is neglected in favour of gaining organic reach for your content. This infographic gives some ideas to shape your approach. There's no data in sight, instead it just gives ideas from well-known influencers on how you can improve your influencer outreach.
Key Influencers define the process as 'developing relationships with influential people' that can lead to their assisting you in creating visibility for your product or service.'
Listen to what some of the key influencers from the world of marketing like Jeff Bullas, Ann Handley, Joe Pullizi and Jay Baer recommend including:
Events are opportunities to build relationships.
Be open minded about who you define an Influencer to be.
Research and understand your Influencers, who are they now and what are their future goals.
Showcase your own knowledge and expertise…
What is influencer marketing and how to use it?
Buying decisions, particularly high-value or complex ones, are not made in isolation.You need to know who your buyers are talking to, and get those people on side. You need to know who’s on their team, and get them on yours. That is how I define influencer marketing. In this post I'll show how you can use it in practice by mapping third parties to the buying decision to plan your influencer marketing.
Why is influencer marketing important?
The source of a message is often as important as the message itself... The opinions of others are sought during a buying decision for two main reasons:
people may wish to shortcut the process by asking someone they think knows the subject well,
and secondly, they may look for reassurance that their decision is sound.
This is why you’ll hear marketers talk about including ‘influencers’ as part of your wider audience.…
A process and tools to find influencers in international social media
The rise of social media was supposed to democratise the way we share information and in a way it has. Anyone can post information or express their opinion, but in reality some individuals and groups have more influence than others. Identifying and interacting with these key influencers or Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) can really boost your search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts, content marketing or social media campaigns.
Define your topics and research keywords
You will of course want to narrow your efforts to those influencers writing, blogging or otherwise involved in your own sector or area. You'll also want to focus relatively tightly on specific keywords as too broad an approach will be more likely to throw up a whole ocean of irrelevant leads you'll have to wade through in order to get to the good stuff.
When looking to engage with influencers…
