Social Media Strategies « SHMUEL HOFFMAN'S BLOG

Category: Social Media Strategies

5 Ways for Businesses & Nonprofits to Use Pinterest

February 22, 2012

I joined Pinterest probably over a year ago to collect my favorite images from home decor and art blogs. I pinned a few images and then didn’t touch it for a while. But I noticed that I get new followers every day, and that they’re repinning things (read: they’re very active), so I decided to check it out again.

The truth is, Pinterest has grown 4,000% in the past 6 months. This is insane. It’s questionable how many people will stay active on it, but definitely there are people worth staying in touch with who are active on Pinterest.

It’s obvious that Pinterest is perfect for people who sell art, jewelry, clothing, home decor stuff, or foodie content, but what about the rest of us? The question is, is this a site that’s worth it for businesses and nonprofits? Hubspot reports that some businesses are seeing higher referral traffic from Pinterest than they are from Google+ and Youtube. Here are ____ steps to take in order to use Pinterest to promote your cause, whether you get your money from donors, businesses or consumers.

1. Get some visuals!

What’s visual about what you do?

-If you sell information, get a graphic designer to put some stats into an infographic.

-Every organization has people working on, participating in and/or buying something. Get a photo of it and pin it.

-Anything downloadable on your site? Pick out a good graphic from it and pin it. In the description write that the full download is available on your site, and post the link. (See #4 for more on this…)

-Take a screenshot of a video of yours and link to to the full video in the description.

2. Follow people you know:

-your friends

-your customers

-your Facebook fans

-your Twitter followers

-your LinkedIn contacts

We can assume that many people adopt a follow-back policy, so this can be a good way to build a following. BUT! Keep in mind that on Pinterest you can either follow a user, or a specific board by a user. Keep track of which photos and boards get the most repins and followers – this of course will give you a clue as to what kinds of content to feature in future pins.

3. Start a group board.

Invite people to join your group with an appropriate theme and let them post their photos. One of our clients is an Israeli touring company. They can follow clients, invite them to join their “My trip to Israel” group, and ask them to post photos from their trip.

Talib Kweli

4. Encourage traffic by linking to your site in your pin.

As Talib Kweli says in his Manifesto, “keep the subject matter relevant.” Another client of ours is a fashion company in New York. If they pin a picture of one of their dresses, they can link to that product page on their site in the pin. The key here is to lead the seeking mind along a logical path. The more someone has engaged in your content, the more they are invested in you, and the deeper the emotional impression you have made on them. People buy and give according to their emotions.

Of course, you’ll need a nice call to action to get people to click on the link. See my article on How to Write Blog Post Titles That Get Clicked for tips on that.

5. Promote your account on other channels.

This may sound familiar: let people know about it! Once my awesome assistant gets back from Paris, you should see a Follow me on Pinterest button on this blog. In the meantime, here I am:

http://pinterest.com/margelit/

Got any Pinterest tips? Share your knowledge in the comments below.

Tags: How to use pinterest, pin it, Pinterest, Pinterest for business, pinterest nonprofit

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INFOGRAPHIC: Mashable Illustrates The Crazy Notion of Printing Out an Entire Facebook Timeline.

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 5 Comments

January 31, 2012

Trees be afraid.

Mashable.com posted a new infographic: If You Printed Facebook.

Check it out:

Might as well cut down the forest now.

You’re probably better off downloading your Facebook information for safekeeping. Here’s how you can download your info, your wall, photos and videos, your friends list, notes, events, messages and comments. Pretty cool.

More helpful stuff:

How to Add Your Youtube Channel to Your Facebook Page

Facebook Churban: Why We Don’t Have Internet Connection at Home Anymore

How to Send a Direct Message to Your Facebook Fans

Tags: download Facebook, Facebook, Facebook infographic, Facebook Timeline, If you printed facebook, infographic, mashable, Mashable infographic, mashable.com, social media, social media marketing, timeline

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Cisco Confirms: Video Is the New SEO

Filed under: Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 4 Comments

January 30, 2012

David Hsieh

According to David Hsieh, Cisco VP of marketing and entertainment, online video will account for more than 90% of all internet traffic in as little as 3 years. Cisco estimates that internet video already takes up more than 51% of all web usage. “You’re seeing the use of video purvey everything we do,” he says.

Dan Zarrella

It’s true – you can read about it in the Vancouver Sun. Youtube has now hit 4 billion views, which represents a 25% increase in the past 8 months. Google owns Youtube, and they are the #1 and #2 search engines in the world, respectively. So if you want to be found, you need to be on Youtube. And you need to stand out above the din.

Dan Zarrella, social media scientist, found that videos are linked to and embedded much more than photos.

Julie Perry

Julie Perry, social media guru, says that video killed the SEM star (SEM meaning search engine marketing).

So what’s the status of your online videos? Now that anyone can make a video, you’ve got to make yours stand out. Subscribe to Shmuel’s Youtube channel to stay on top of the latest, greatest videos that he makes. You can also stay on top of what he’s up to by signing up to receive our email newsletters.

More helpful stuff:

How to Get Your Videos Found on Youtube in 4 Easy Steps

How to Link Your Youtube Channel to Your Facebook Page

5 Business Lessons from GoPro’s Nick Woodman

Tags: Cisco, Hsieh, SEO, social, video, video marketing, video SEO, youtube

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How to Link Your Youtube Channel to Your Facebook Page

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 8 Comments

January 23, 2012

In response to a question on the Digital Eve list, I’m writing this blog post. The question was:

Do you know if I can put a video in facebook (not just a link)?

And of course many people responded with information on how to post a video on Facebook.

I absolutely love Facebook, but I don’t love Flash (must be because I’m a “Mac girl” – read how being a Mac girl found me a husband here, in The #1 Thing I’ve Learned from the Life and Death of Steve Jobs, RIP). If you want to play a video on Facebook it plays it in Flash.

What I much prefer (but admittedly don’t use as much as I should) is the Youtube application for Facebook. Why? Because if people view videos via your Youtube tab on Facebook, Youtube counts the views. If you just upload a video file to Facebook, your views aren’t counted on Youtube. See How to Get Your Videos Found on Youtube in 4 Easy Steps for an explanation of why your Youtube views will get you farther than anything else.

So. Now that you know, here’s what the Youtube tab on our Facebook page looks like:

And here’s where you go to install the app and get it set up. It’s super-easy, so don’t think it’s a techie thing.

Please link to your Youtube tab on Facebook in the comments below – I’m a Youtube junkie and that’s why I’m here at Starbucks chugging away, because Youtube videos keep me up at night. :-)

Tags: Facebook, Facebook app, Facebook video, video, videos, youtube, Youtube Facebook, Youtube tab, Youtube video

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Home Office: 9 Smart Ways to Be More Productive

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 3 Comments

January 18, 2012

CBS MoneyWatch posted my tip (#7) on How to Be More Productive When You Work at Home.

Here’s the link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-47540395/home-office-9-smart-ways-to-be-more-productive/

In a nutshell, my tip is this: If you work at home, keep regular hours. Otherwise, you’ll always be working, and thus always stressed out to a degree. I had to learn this by watching my dad work, live and sleep in the same room for most of my life. I have my own experience with being a workaholic, which I outlined in my blog post Why We Don’t Have Internet Connection at Home Anymore.

If you’re asking how the heck CBS MoneyWatch even found me, check out some of my PR tips here:

6 PR Basics for Beginners

In that blog post I wrote about using Google Alerts and Reputation Rhino to find some of the articles written about me and my clients. The CBS MoneyWatch article was one I found on Reputation Rhino. My blog post on how to grow your ears is still forthcoming, so stay tuned!

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6 Ways Educators Can Use Social Media to Keep Students Engaged

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 7 Comments

December 7, 2011

Here are a few social media tools that educators can use to teach and encourage their students, and to promote interaction.

1. Facebook Groups
Kids and teens – well, pretty much most people who breathe – love hanging out on Facebook. For team projects, have a student create a Facebook group where people can discuss the project easily with everyone else simultaneously. The group creator can add other students – they don’t need to add themselves. The easier the opt-in, the more the messages will be delivered.

2. Facebook Questions

Engaging students while they’re on summer vacation or over the weekend can be critical to keeping them involved and maintaining knowledge. You don’t need to know html and CSS to develop a fun game online. A school with a Facebook page can poll its likers using Questions, and people get to see who voted for what, or how other people answered. Before a test, teachers can ask key questions using this tool to get students prepared, and to get an idea of how well the students know the material.

3. Foursquare

Foursquare is a great tool for getting people to show up, and for making school cool. At schools with truancy problems, rewards can be given to the mayor of the school or a club (as long as there’s no more than one check-in per day per student!). You can up the ante by offering different badges, like the Swarm badge, for groups of 50+ people to unlock. Or borrow a kayak from a local outdoor sports store and have students sit in it while checking in to Foursquare at school and getting the “On a Boat” badge. While you’re at it, invite the local news station to cover the event, and show the community that you’re making school cool again.

4. Twitter Hashtags

Start conversations with hashtags on Twitter about upcoming social or sports events, even for science fairs. Hashtags like #mysciencefairproject can elicit some humorous responses, but the main goal here is to promote awareness of the event so that students who might not otherwise be involved at least can’t say they didn’t hear about something.

5. Facebook Ads

For private schools, Facebook ads with a video about that school can be targeted to reach students at lower schools from whence incoming students usually come. Or they can be targeted to reach the parents of younger students.

6. Rewards

Of course incentives are worth experimenting with, where there’s room in the budget. $5 Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts cards for answering a Facebook question or poll correctly can go a long way toward getting students to pay attention.

UPDATE, 12/17/2011

Thanks to David Littauer for sending me this video: Youtube’s new initiative for educators called Youtube for Schools:

These were just off the top of my head. Anything else? You’re a creative bunch. Write your ideas in the comments below…

If you work at a school and have questions about how to implement these ideas, please email me at margelit.hoffman@gmail.com. My email is margelit.hoffman@gmail.com for questions and pricing.

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Tags: educators, school, social media, teachers

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How to Save Time While Staying Social, aka the Ethical Hootsuite & Bit.ly Problem

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 11 Comments

November 29, 2011

I myself am a busy mother of three small children – but I do social media marketing for a living. Even if it is my paycheck, I’ve had to find ways to minimize the time factor.
Here’s how I do it:

1. I use third party tools like Hootsuite to keep all my social networks on one site so I can see what’s up without navigating to different sites.

2. I also pre-schedule status updates so that I don’t have to always be on.

3. In general, I stay off the computer at night. Otherwise it can eat up your marriage, your sleep, your health… not good. (See Why We Don’t Have Internet at Home Anymore.)

Now, a word about the ethics of using Hootsuite:

@JIDF, the Jewish Internet Defense Force’s work is so crucial that it’s a wonder no one else has taken on what he takes on to such a degree (at least that I’ve noticed). David, the mensch behind @JIDF, has been instrumental in spreading the word about the Hootsuite and Bit.ly problem. Here are some articles he cites on the subject:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704530204576235192926377066.html

ttp://www.thejidf.org/2010/10/libyan-sharia-legal-issue-takes-down-ly.html

The issue in a nutshell:
Hootsuite uses link shorteners that end in .ly, which are controlled by Libya. Every site who uses .ly at the end of its name pays Libya to do so.

My 2 Cents:
Hootsuite gives Gaddafi’s son’s postal service $25/year. I give Hootsuite nothing. In my 1-on-1 social media and online marketing course that I give via Skype to clients worldwide, I teach people how to use workarounds so that they don’t have to pay for it.

I also use oil for heat and in my car, and I spend much more on that, and it goes to Arab countries who want to see my country destroyed.

I’ve seen nothing that offers all that Hootsuite does. The minute I do, I’m transferring. Until then, I’m actually more concerned with some of my bigger footprints.

There’s also the counter-argument that if no one recycles, then nothing will be recycled. If we all don’t use .ly sites, then they would be forced out of existence. If I were Amish, I wouldn’t drive a car, but that’s a pretty unrealistic ideal at this point.

I’ve thought a lot about it. That’s where I hold now; could change.

What do you think? Tell me your opinion in the comments below.

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Tags: bit.ly, ethics, Hootsuite, internet, online marketing, online marketing course, online marketing courses, social media, social media marketing, social media marketing courses, time management, time-saving

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How to Create a Google+ Page for Your Business or Nonprofit

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies, Tutorials by Margelit Hoffman — 15 Comments

November 8, 2011

I heart Google+. Why? It combines the best features of Facebook with the ability to be non-mutually exclusive, like on Twitter. This means that you don’t have to confirm friendship, and can create a nice little newsfeed for yourself, enhanced with Facebook’s awesome rich media features. They’ve really taken the best of both networks and created something new from it. (See the bottom of this article to find out my personal favorite Google+ feature).

Yesterday they finally announced an option for businesses and organizations to have profiles, or “pages,” on Google+. Here are step-by-step instructions, with screenshots, for setting up a Google+ page for your business or nonprofit.

1. Go here: https://plus.google.com/pages/create

It’ll look like this:

2. Pick a category on the left.

3. Fill in your company name, your website, and choose a category.

I didn’t find what I was looking for in categories – describing a video production and online marketing company as “professional services” is a little too broad for me. So I just scrolled beneath all the categories and chose “company.” Also broad and not phenomenal from an SEO perspective, but it is what it is.

4. Click “create your page.”

5. Fill in your tagline with a specific description of what your company does, and who your clients are.

If you have specific keywords that you’ve researched and found to have a high traffic rate versus a low competition, this is the place to use them. Remember, this is Google! It’s a free SEO boost!

6. Upload a photo.

This is key. Do not skip this step! And do not save it for later or it’ll never get done! Try to use the same one that’s on your company’s Twitter account and your Facebook page. This will help people recognize it when they see it.

7. Hit “continue,” and tell your circles about your new page.

Type in a status update and it will post on your personal wall. Once you click “Share on Google+,” you’re finished.

The next time you log into Google+ you can use it either as yourself or as your page.

Now you can start sharing on your profile! For now I’ll probably use our new Google+ business page like I use our Facebook (fan)page. But there’s nothing worth sharing until there are followers! So announce your page on your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook networks and ask for followers.

BUT – people like to browse when they check out your page and see the kind of stuff you’ll post, so it’s best to have some status updates there to give people an idea of what they’ll get out of liking your page. Hopefully Google+ will roll out landing page options in the near future. Till then, instead of telling people what they’ll get out of following your Google+ page stream, show them by putting some status updates on there.

The coolest part? You now don’t need to upload videos “by hand” to a status update. You can just click on the video icon in the status box here:

Then click on Youtube, and you can search Youtube for the video you want to post in your stream.

Write your little blurb to introduce your video

Click “share” and it’s live!

I love the simplicity.

Are you on Google+? Please post your +URL in the comments below so that we can follow! In the meantime, follow our new Google+ page here: https://plus.google.com/b/101137870708015580859/101137870708015580859/posts

See you there!

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Tags: Google+, Google+ business page, Google+ fanpage, Google+ page, how to claim your Google+ business page, how to create a Google+ fanpage, how to create a Google+ page, nonprofits, nonptofit

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Why We Don’t Have Internet Connection at Home Anymore

Filed under: How To's, Marriage, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 30 Comments

August 5, 2011

Hi guys,

Check out the article I wrote for MavenMall.com, on how Facebook has taken over our lives, and why Shmuel and I decided to get rid of our internet connection at home. Happy 20th, Internet. You’re legal now, so it’s time to leave the nest.

We still have our iPhones & 3G for emergencies, but really. There’s no such thing as an urgent email anymore.

Now I’m looking forward to spending more time with my husband and kids, getting more sleep, being less stressed – though it will take more planning to get everything done in the office. Thank Gd for scheduled tweets (see my post on How to Save Time And Stay Social). Technology is advanced enough that we don’t need to be on it 24-7.

I’m a bit of an internet addict/workaholic, and as any 12-stepper knows, you can’t trust yourself when your addiction is in the home. No one who lives with an alcoholic uses mouthwash; that would be placing a stumbling block before the blind.

How will we do it? Well, Shmuel has an office, and I’ll be working there as well as at Starbucks, or anywhere there’s wifi. During office hours. And occasionally I may have to hire a sitter to stay home if Shmuel’s filming out of town so that I can leave to teach a social media class via Skype to a client in Australia.

What I won’t be doing is slipping in an email while I’m hanging out with my kids, or squinting into the broad daylight of my computer screen at midnight so that I can’t fall asleep until 2AM.

Here we go. I’ll keep you posted and let you know if there are any withdrawal symptoms. :-)

While you’re here, check out the DaytoDisconnect video that Shmuel Hoffman made with Gi Orman, and also the Portlandia Technology Loop clip.

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Tags: 9th of Av, Beis HaMikdash, Facebook, internet addiction, internet at home, Jewish family, Tisha B'Av

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The #1 Thing I Do to Get Clients, Jobs & Web Traffic on LinkedIn

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 7 Comments

July 20, 2011

As I wrote in answer to Hearpreneur’s question, “What’s next in social media?”, LinkedIn is awesome.

This is more for businesses and finding a job than for fun, but I get most of my blog traffic from LinkedIn, and I just scored a commercial project for Shmuel because I’d posted a link to one of his videos as a discussion on a LinkedIn group. A guy we’d never met saw it and followed it to our site. He must have liked the video, because a few short interactions later, we got a big check in the mail. We’d never even met the guy!

Join Margelit's Network

Here’s what I do:

1. Every time we publish a blog post, I create an event in my calendar with the name of the post and the URL of the post.

2. Each day I post the article as a discussion on a LinkedIn group. I’m a member of 50 LinkedIn groups, and this is the limit. The groups you join should include people from your industry who would be interested in reading your more technical posts, and prospective clients.

3. When you have a few minutes, take the time to browse other discussions in the group for stuff to read, like and comment on.

4. Once I post the article with some appropriate discussion text I make a note in my calendar what was the last group I posted that article on, and I schedule the next posting for the following day.

Join Shmuel's Network

Since I’m in 50 groups, I have a few events running at one time. I don’t just go through all my groups and post the same article on all groups in one day, and here’s why:

When I post a discussion in a group, it automatically posts an update to that effect as a status update. If I have 50 identical status updates in a row, that’s annoying to my network.

The only exception is when an article is timely, like the NY Venture Summit Ticket Giveaway I posted last week.

LinkedIn is less hip and fun than Twitter & Facebook, but making money never goes out of fashion.

How have you used LinkedIn to get clients, donors, jobs, blog traffic, etc? Leave your tips in the comments below.

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Tags: blog traffic, get clients on LinkedIn, LinkedIn, social media, social media marketing, web traffic

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Is Your Social Media Marketer Really an Expert?

Filed under: Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 12 Comments

May 23, 2011

Peter Shankman recently posted an article that’s generating a lot of buzz. It’s alternatively called “All ‘Social Media Experts’ Need to Go Die in a Fire.”

He’s onto something.

His point, with which I wholeheartedly concur, is that anyone can call themselves an expert nowadays. I know someone who has over a thousand friends on Facebook, and that’s all she needed to get a “social media marketing” gig. I’ve even had an entry-level contract worker who did little more than online research leave employment with me and go on to call herself a freelance social media marketer.

The keyword here is “marketer.”

So maybe you know how to tag someone in a video on Facebook. Maybe you had 25 comments on your last status update about the status of Matisyahu’s facial hair.

But come on. Show me the money.

You can look at my social media experience and say it’s not even 3 years old. But let’s look at something real here: I’ve been generating money through sales and marketing for businesses and nonprofits since 2001. In each organization, I was one of the top if not the top “rainmaker” in the ranks. Google the word “Expert” and Wikipedia will tell you: “In many domains of expertise estimates of 10 years experience or 10,000 hours deliberate practice are common.” (We have Malcolm Gladwell to thank for publicizing this discovery.)

Social media manager or marketer is just a catch-phrase that people use nowadays since social media is so big. I call myself a social media marketer, but my work also includes:

-writing and editing marketing copy

-”light” PR

-SEO

-video marketing

-creating overall (not just online) marketing strategies

When looking for a social media marketer, please make sure they have marketing – or at least sales – experience. All the technical stuff is easier to learn quickly.

It’s an issue that people expect so much from social media. They want to “generate buzz” and “make a splash,” but as my wise father says, “It takes 15 years to be an overnight sensation.”

Marketing only works if it’s consistent over time. Social media is a tool, not a way of life. Networking, connecting with people in a real way, being consistent and steady – this is a way of life.

If you’re not sure how much you should be paying your social media and content manager, check this out: The Social Media Salary Guide.

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Tags: marketing solutions, sales, social media

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6 Quick Twitter Tips for Gaining Followers

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 12 Comments

April 27, 2011

When I posted How I went from Barefoot & Pregnant to Social Media Manager, I was contacted by the owner of a NYC coffeeshop, who asked me the best way to get followers on Twitter. After all, 37% of Twitter users are more likely to purchase from a brand after becoming a follower, versus 17% of Facebook users, according to a report by ExactTarget.

Here are some general tips that will apply to everyone.

1. Make sure you don’t follow too many people at once. If the number of following to followers is out of balance, people won’t trust that you’re worth following.

2. Tweet as a human at a brand, not as a brand.

3. Tweet discounts and deals, but also tweet music, food, light politics, trending topics. Tweet well-rounded.

4. Connect with people one-on-one and promote other people.

5. Don’t expect overnight success. Social media masters are slow and steady – and win the race.

6. A new study from Dan Zarrella shows that highly followed users are less conversational than those with few followers. Post more links to get more followers. People want helpful content, not what you ate for lunch.

Got any Twitter tips to share? Please share your wisdom in the comments below. :-)

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Tags: followers, marketing and promotion, marketing solutions, online marketing, social media marketing, tweeting, Twitter

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How I Went from Barefoot & Pregnant to Social Media Manager

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 10 Comments

April 5, 2011

Here’s me:

I was lucky to be featured in Dr. Shannon Reece’s blog post called Does Social Media Pay? 32 Perspectives on ROI. Scroll down – I’m number 15.

There you’ll read my story of how I taught myself online marketing in between 3 pregnancies and childbirths in order to help Shmuel’s video production company with marketing. You’ll read about my success with it and how I began managing the social media campaigns for other companies and nonprofits, and how I also began teaching online marketing one-on-one to students internationally.

This is a cat I haven’t let out of the bag yet: yes, I teach it. Everything you need to know to market your business online. I either teach people one-on-one via Skype or in person, if we’re close enough. I tailor what I teach to the needs of their business.

I’m also giving a lecture as a guest to a marketing 101 course at a local college this week. Here’s a video of the last presentation I gave.

This is what Zev Jacobson, Director of Israel Maven Tours, had to say about my course:

“We have had a fantastic experience with Margelit to-date. She is SMM-savvy, professional, attentive and always ready to go the extra mile to assist. She has helped us with Facebook, twitter, email marketing, videos, web design, blogging and just about every aspect of our online presence. This has led to increased visibility & sales. In short, a very worthwhile investment.”

I teach:

-SEO (including keyword research, on-site SEO an off-site SEO)

-blogging

-social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more)

-email marketing

-creating a marketing plan

-how online marketing supplements online marketing (or in our case, vice versa!)

All of this will lead to increased traffic to your website, and increased sales. We went from 208 blog views in July 2009, to 1,805 views in January, 2011. For a 2-person business that’s a lot of traffic. You’re looking at more than 8.5 times the views in a year and a half. Yes, this equals a humongous increase in business. You do the math.

If you want to learn more about my one-on-one online and social media marketing courses for marketing managers and business owners, please email me at margelit.hoffman@gmail.com. Help me out, if you would, by writing social media course inquiry in the subject line.

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Tags: marketing and promotion, marketing solutions, social media classes, social media courses, social media lessons, social media marketing

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Contest Winner: What’s the Best Subject for an Email?

Filed under: Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 8 Comments

March 9, 2011

Hi all,

If you haven’t seen the email subject line contest, read this first.

You all made it way too easy for me! Only ONE of you got it right. You can go back and check who it was, but I’ll tell you here:

Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg, who happens to be a marketing genius, so it’s no surprise that he got it right.

He also sent us the most delicious mehadrin chocolate cheesecake I’ve ever eaten last year. I’ve never met him, but that cheesecake made a lasting impression. :-)

So here are the numbers:

We each sent our emails to 83 people. The group of 166 was split randomly and equally.

And yes, Issamar made a good point: we did send from different email addresses, which may have affected open rate too.

My Email:

subject: new camp video

sent to: 83

open rate: 45%

opens: 37

Shmuel’s Email:

subject: my latest Jewish camp film

sent to: 83

open rate: 30%

opens: 25

As I mentioned in my last post, the style of Shmuel’s email was more friendly/personable and mine was more businessy/markety. Despite the better open rate, my email saw a much worse clickthrough rate:

My clickthroughs: 12

Shmuel’s clickthroughs: 16

The real question of success, though, is how many inquiries we got out of it.

My email: 1

Shmuel’s email: 1

Well, sales are the ultimate indicator, but these contracts are still being negotiated, so I hope to have an update for you once the numbers are in.

Here’s my theory on why my email got more clicks:

The shorter the better. It’s as simple as that. And I’m not saying this just because I’m a relatively short person. I didn’t give as much away in the subject line and people had to click to find out what I was talking about.

Also, despite what a few of you wrote in the comments on that last post, video is a more popular word (in terms of clicks) than film. Check out Dan Zarella’s work if you’re looking for some facts to back me up.

So. Have you done any split testing lately? Tell us what you learned in the comments below.

Like what you saw here? Leave a comment below letting us know. And sign up to get our email newsletters so you never miss a beat! Sign up here.

Tags: email marketing, marketing solutions, social media

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Today’s Quickest Way to Score an SEO Point (with a Backlink)

Filed under: How To's, Social Media Strategies by Margelit Hoffman — 37 Comments

February 12, 2011

Shmuel and I recently had a contest. We sent out an email to prospective clients with a link to a video he made in it. And we did a split test.

What’s a split test? It’s sending two versions of the same thing to a randomly split crowd and seeing what gets the best results.

We decided that my email would have a more business-y tone, and his would have a more friendly tone. These sentiments spilled over into the subject lines, and that’s what I want to focus on in this blog post.

This was my subject:

new camp video

This was Shmuel’s subject:

my latest Jewish camp film

Now, this is a contest. In the comments below, tell us whose subject line you think got the most opens. You have a 50% chance of getting it right (though I’m not a statistician, so I may be wrong!) I’ll reveal to you in my next post whose email got the most opens.

Out of the people who get it right, I’m going to choose three whose website or blog I will feature in a blog post. Most of my blog posts get around 400 views in 2010, which isn’t an insane amount, but it’s about six times more than we got in 2009.

I’m not totally sure who reads this, but from what I can gather, it’s a good mix of small-to-medium-sized business owners, nonprofit staff, and college students looking up reviews for Jewish programs in Israel and in the US. This will be a good opportunity to see who reads this blog!

Your mission again, should you choose to accept it:

In the comments below, tell me which email got the most opens:

Mine (Margelit’s) which read: “new camp video”

Shmuel’s which read: “my latest Jewish camp film”

Please also post a link to your website or blog with your answer.

This is going to be fun…

Update on 3/2/2011: This contest is now closed. No more submissions will be accepted. Feel free to comment anyway! :-)

Update on 3/10/2011: To see the results of this contest, click here.

Like what you saw here? Leave a comment below letting us know. And sign up to get our email newsletters so you never miss a beat! Sign up here.

Tags: backlinks, email marketing, SEO

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Category: Social Media Strategies

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