New Posts, Tweets, & Pins for Bibbens Sales and Service

Bibbens Sales & Service, a leading powersports dealer located in Central New York, has commissioned Scriptable Solutions to handle their Social Media Marketing!  Our social media team is geared up and ready to get folks talking about the quality products and services that Bibbens has offered for over 45 years. Look out for tweets being sent your way!



View our web design portfolio to see some of our work.

Author: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=78

You look different in your online profile. . . I was impressing you with my #Photoshop skills. #FridayFunday #SSLLC

You look different in your online profile. . . I was impressing you with my #Photoshop skills. #FridayFunday #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Today in 1848 - W.G. Young patented the #icecream freezer. What ice cream flavor can you not live without? #SSLLC

Today in 1848 - W.G. Young patented the #icecream freezer. What ice cream flavor can you not live without? #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

22 Ways to Ramp Up Your Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing for small businesses. What may seem like the easiest discipline of all marketing strategies is actually one of the hardest, most time consuming and can be the most expensive.

As the founder of Pinetop Group, a content and video-marketing agency, I often get asked by small-business owners how to improve their content marketing strategies. While it isn't easy, it does pay off.

For those looking to get their feet wet in video, here is a list of best practices, along with actionable steps.

Initially, focus on quantity. Content marketing can be scary to start for any business and sometimes people are so concerned about quality, they don't make videos live. Don't be that person. One of the first things to learn is how to hit the publish button regularly and confidently. There will always be an excuse not to publish content, but what good will that do for your brand? Push yourself to create meaningful and relevant content.

Tip #1. Create an editorial calendar. Your editorial calendar will outline all of the content pieces you’d like to publish during the month. Create titles, set dates for publishing and stick to the calendar.

Tip #2. Set a goal to publish one piece of content each day. Content can be anything from updating your evergreen pages to creating a blog post.

Related: 3 Tricks to Create Premium Video Content on a Budget

Do not penny pinch. Only 32 percent of marketers say they are producing enough content, according to content-marketing software Kapost. The reason being is most companies that are new to content marketing quickly realize how time consuming and difficult it is to create quality content. Far too often these same companies resort to outsourcing their content for pennies on the dollar. Do not expect to receive any results with $5 blog posts. (It is better to publish nothing than to publish low-quality content.)

Tip #3. Research and find reputable content-marketing agencies or writers who can produce content for your site. Partner with agencies who have a track record of success and who don’t outsource content to low-quality writers. 

Tip #4. Create internal content guidelines. These guidelines should outline what is both acceptable and unacceptable when publishing content on your site. Determine what you consider to be quality content, and stay true to those guidelines. 

Have clear, defined goals. Save time and wasted resources by writing down clear goals for your content marketing efforts. These goals should include some (if not all) of the following:

• Traffic increases
• Lead increases
• Conversion increases
• Revenue increases
• Bounce-rate reduction

Tip #5. Set realistic timelines to accomplish each of your goals. As mentioned earlier, most content marketing strategies take time to develop sustainable results.

Tip #6. Identify tactics that will help you accomplish your content-marketing goals. Remember to diversify your efforts by producing different types of content such as interviews, blog articles, slideshows, infographics and videos. 

Know your audience. Content marketing can quickly become a hamster wheel for companies who don’t know their audiences. Eliminate guesswork by compiling demographic and psychographic information about your audience.

Tip #7. Dig into your site’s analytic data to compile useful information about your audience. Compile lists of your most trafficked and socially engaged blog posts and essay to identify why they were so successful.

Tip #8. Check out your competitors' blogs to get a glimpse into their audiences. Track who is commenting on their blogs and engaging on their social networks.

Related: 3 Tricks to Create Premium Video Content on a Budget

Tip #9. Place polls on your site asking your audience specific questions about their interests. Aggregate and analyze the poll information to better understand your audience.

Don’t overestimate your skills.  I get it, you see 12-year-olds creating blogs and building massive followings so you think creating and managing a blog is easy. Warning: bubble about to burst. Creating and managing a successful blog is not easy. There are over 27,000,000 pieces of content shared and published each day on the internet. It takes a lot more than a fun quote or meme to get your blog seen by the right audience.

Tip #10. Recognize that successful content-marketing strategies require a significant amount of skill, time and resources.

Tip #11. Audit yourself often and ask these questions:

• What kind of content do I like to read?
• Why does certain content appeal to me?
• How can I produce similar content?
• What are others doing that I am not?
• What innovations am I missing out on?

Seek out influential team members. It isn’t enough to hire just anyone to produce content for your site. Seek out the most influential people in your industry to create content for your brand.

Tip #12. Identify influential people within your industry with whom you can team up. These people should have large social followings and be published on major sites.

Tip #13. Reach out to your identified list of influencers and ask them to produce content for your site. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny for their content, but trust me, it’s worth it.

Related: 7 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Dead Blog

Tip #14. Finds ways to make your influencers happy. While money is a good start, try to give back by providing author bios on your site with back links. 

Don’t be socially awkward. Treat your social networks as a way to engage with your audience. Content interactions are happening more and more within the social networking realm. Use your social networks to discuss your content and interact with your community.

Tip #15. Define your purpose on each social network. For example your purpose on Twitter may be to share discounts, news and tips while your purpose on Facebook may be to post article and discuss content.

Tip #16. Do not limit yourself to Twitter and Facebook. Pinterest, Google + and Instagram all have empirical evidence as to why companies should be using their networks. Diversify your social networking efforts.

Related: A Simple Trick for Finding Top-Notch Writers to Create Your Content

Tip #17. Be relevant on your social networks. Don’t use your networks to simply publish your articles are speak at your audience. Use your networks as a vehicle to engage and start conversations.

You don’t have to be a one-person band. Did you know 16 percent of companies say it’s their policy NOT to share third-party content? This doesn't make too much sense, when 32 percent of marketers feel they don’t produce enough content. Be prepared to open the doors to contributors from across the web to help produce awesome pieces for your brand.

Tip #18. Create guest posting guidelines on your site. Allow other expert and authorities to publish content on your site in the form of guest posts.

Tip #19. Develop partnerships with complimentary brands or companies to help produce content for your site. These partnerships should be mutually beneficial so remember to also provide value.

Stick with it. There will be a time when you want to give up on your content-marketing strategy. Don’t. Content-marketing results take time and often take months of consistent hard work.

Tip #20. Audit your strategies to determine what is working and what is not working. Eliminate actions that are not producing results.

Tip #21. Consult with experts if you’ve realized you can’t manage your own content-marketing efforts. Remember to use only the best.

Tip #22. Continue publishing quality, relevant content on a regular basis.

Content marketing is an incredible vehicle for companies to reach their customers, because it doesn’t feel like advertising. Follow these best practices and your company will be on its way to content-marketing success. 

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=74

He uses #WiFi #WebWednesday #SSLLC

He uses #WiFi #WebWednesday #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

How to take advantage of Twitter’s new profile page

Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET

Those of you on Twitter may have noticed that your profile page now looks bigger (and a touch more Facebook-like). But what can you actually do with this new page? Let's dive in and find out.

First off, to view your new profile page at Twitter's Web site, click the Me icon at the top of the page. You'll see your profile photo and header photo at the top. Given the larger amount of space now up for grabs, you may want to replace either or both of those photos, so let's start there.

Click the Edit Profile button. Twitter opens an in-place editor so you can upload new photos and revise your profile information. Assuming you do want to change your existing photos, you'll first need to find or create new photos as replacements. Twitter suggests a resolution of 400x400 pixels for your profile photo and 1500x500 for your header photo.

Click the Camera icon to change your profile photo. Select one of the three popup options -- Upload photo, Take photo, or Remove. Assuming you choose the option to upload a new photo, select the new photo by browsing to its folder and then double-clicking the image to select it. Twitter then gives you the ability to position and resize your photo. Click Apply when done, and your new photo appears.

Next click the Camera icon to change your header photo. Again, select the option to Upload photo and select the new image from its folder. Twitter gives you the ability to reposition and scale the new header. Click Apply when done, and the new header photo is in place.

As a word of caution, you may need to spend time adjusting your photos in an image editor before they finally look good on Twitter.

You can also take this time to revise the description in your Twitter bio and the color of your Twitter theme. To adjust the theme, click the Theme Color bar and slide the arrows along the scale until you find a color that suits you. Click Done.

To apply all of your changes, click the Save changes button.

What else can you do via your new profile page? You can pin a favorite tweet to the top of the page so that it gets more attention. To do just that, hover over the tweet you wish to pin and click the three dots at the bottom of the tweet.

Twitter displays three options: Share via email, Embed tweet, and Pin to your profile page. Click the third option. Twitter tells you that this tweet will replace any that was previously pinned. Click the Pin button to confirm. That tweet then shoots up to the top of the page. To unpin that tweet, click the three dots and click the option to Unpin from profile page.

Some longtime Twitter users may be put off by the new (and bigger) profile page design. But you can use it to better highlight yourself and your tweets among your Twitter followers.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=73

HIS DIARY vs. HER DIARY - Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird... #MediaMonday #SSLLC

HIS DIARY vs. HER DIARY - Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird... #MediaMonday #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Happy Memorial Day! What’s everyone cooking out today? #SSLLC

Happy Memorial Day! What’s everyone cooking out today? #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Animal Urgent Care is Up and Running

Animal Urgent Care of Escondido, California, has just launched its new website designed by Scriptable Solutions. This state-of-the-art emergency and critical care hospital has a top-notch website that provides clients with helpful information and resources aimed at keeping pets safe and healthy. Animal Urgent Care's website now showcases their services, emergency information, staff bio's, monthly cases, photo galleries and much more!   

Check out the new website for Animal Urgent Care

Author: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=75

The evolution of the written language - Cuneiform script, Hieroglyphs, The Latin Alphabet, #Emoticons #FridayFunday #SSLLC

The evolution of the written language - Cuneiform script, Hieroglyphs, The Latin Alphabet, #Emoticons #FridayFunday #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Today in 1994 - "Pulp Fiction" won the "Golden Palm" for best film at the 47th Cannes Film Festival(@FdC_officiel). What movies are in your top 5 list? #SSLLC #PulpFiction

Today in 1994 - "Pulp Fiction" won the "Golden Palm" for best film at the 47th Cannes Film Festival(@FdC_officiel). What movies are in your top 5 list? #SSLLC #PulpFiction

www.scriptablesolutions.com

How To Produce More Quality Content More Quickly

The practice of “content marketing” as we understand it today is still relatively young, and there are plenty of wrinkles to work out. One of the biggest issues we face is a simple question of production.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of content marketing professionals say they don’t have enough time for content, and 45% struggle with producing enough content, according to the Content Marketing Institute.

Forward-thinking digital marketing blogs and sites are overflowing with solid best practices to do content marketing well, but few address the nuts and bolts of getting it done efficiently and effectively.

And so, I present to you some practical, real-life advice on how to produce more high-quality content, faster. (In other words, this is what’s been making my life easier!)

Make Sure Content Production Managers Stay Focused On Management

It is far too much to ask one person to handle content marketing from end to end, from high-level strategy to writing, editing, proofreading, social media and analytics. In fact, there are so many aspects of the content marketing strategy and production process that one person typically does not have the skill set to handle every area well, not to mention the capacity to do it all.

The content marketing process can be broken down to three broad levels of responsibility:

1. Strategy: C-suite, VP or Director
2. Production Management: Editorial Manager
3. Writing & Proofreading: Contractors, Staff, etc.

It is at the separation of the 2nd and 3rd level where most companies lose their grip on the production timeline and fall behind due to unclear responsibilities and the over-involvement of managers. Here are a few tips to keep your editorial manager focused on moving high-quality content through the pipeline.

• As a manager, stay focused on managing. Avoid the temptation to re-write or significantly edit content yourself.
• Constantly give your writers helpful, actionable and transferable feedback that they can apply to current and future writing projects.
• Attract and retain a team of A+ writers (more on that later).
• Always look for tasks that can be delegated — for example, proofreading for spelling/grammar. Don’t get caught up! Your time is your most valuable asset.
• Treat internal, subject-matter experts as your most valuable assets, because they are! Look for ways to help them reach their own goals while also improving their writing skills.

Work With Many Freelance Writers; Keep Few

A common complaint I hear among business owners and executives that try to hire freelance writers is that “freelance writers always stink.” This may be true in many cases. In fact, most freelance writers we work with turn out not to be a good fit. Even many of those we have vetted thoroughly will not produce the level of content we need.

Does that mean freelancing content simply doesn’t work? Absolutely not. If we embrace the reality that the market of freelance writers is flooded with people that have a very wide variety of experience levels and skill sets, we realize that finding a writer that is a good fit is an ongoing process of constantly reviewing and onboarding candidates, keeping only the best-of-the-best involved on a regular basis.

Finding freelancer candidates can be a very easy process — in fact, you might find yourself with too many writers and the cumbersome task of sorting through them all if you are not careful.

There are many talented writers on Craigslist looking for opportunities, and I’ve found the easiest way to identify the best candidates from the beginning is to include a simple request in the Craigslist listing.

For example, I typically ask candidates to send a link to their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles along with their writing samples and resume. This allows me to use Gmail filters to look at only those that followed those directions and send all others (and spam) directly to the trash.

This simple filter keeps junk email out and keeps the focus on the most motivated candidates.

I’ve used this process for a year and a half and have never seen a good candidate be sent to the trash. In fact, 80% of the leads the filter allows through are typically promising.

(Please note that you cannot use a Craigslist email address for this to work — you need to share a real email address. I usually set up a “Group” email address in Google Apps that forwards to my inbox, which I can turn off after the search is over to avoid getting spammed in the future.)

Using Craigslist to find writers might give you a number of strong candidates. What now? Collect your easy and/or less-important content production assignments to assign especially to new writers. Let them know that they are part of a pilot program and that you are excited to see what they can do so you can invite them to become a regular contributor in the future.

To truly evaluate a writer’s potential while working with their content, don’t just tell them what to change or change it for them — tell them why and let them do the work! (You know what they say: “Teach a man to fish…”) This will give you a much better idea of their true skills and adaptability.

On a final note: freelance writers, even the best, will always drop off, get busy, find a full time job or otherwise no longer have time for you. This is part of the nature of freelance work. If this reality, or the work required, is too much for your team to take on, consider partnering with an agency instead.

Give Writers A Reason To Stick Around

Simply put, just like any team member, you need to give freelance writers more motivation than just a paycheck. Contractors that feel like they are part of the team and are excited about the direction of the company will work harder, be more creative and stay around longer than those that are just collecting some cash and moving on.

This can start with your post to Craigslist, or any other forum or board you decide to use to find writers. Share about how your company is changing the world and why your team is fun to work with. Give them a reason to spend time responding to your listing instead of the 100s or 1,000s of others they could respond to.

Continue to provide creative motivation and excitement throughout the time you work with each writer. Celebrate their wins in front of others, invite them to team meetings when appropriate, and be sure to share part- and full-time job openings with them. (Your HR department will probably appreciate the pool of skilled professionals you have already introduced to the processes and culture of the organization.)

Communicate Content Goals Clearly With Every Team Member, Especially The Writer

It’s amazing how easy it is to develop a clear content strategy with well-defined goals only to never communicate those goals to the team or individuals doing the great work of producing said content.

It’s even easier, in the midst of the scramble of producing content, to forget goals completely or to only give them a brief glance as you fly by.

Don’t go too far before defining goals for a piece of content and ensuring that every team member that touches it — especially a freelance writer — knows and understands those goals.

Use Google Drive

We require every writer to use Google Drive when submitting content. This makes the editing process incredibly streamlined and gets rid of the constant email attachments and most-updated-version chaos.

Plus, Drive’s inline comments make collaboration incredibly easy. We have a simple workflow rule: all feedback and questions should be communicated via comments, and comments should be “Resolved” as soon as they are, in fact, resolved. Each comment then signifies a question or issue to address, so everybody knows what’s in progress and what’s ready to go.

Google Drive with inline comments makes collaboration easy and centralized. (Click to enlarge.)

Enough Is Enough!

Finally, set realistic content production goals for yourself and your team. The demand for quality, effective content will never cease. Stay focused on the measurable KPIs you have set for each piece of content and do more of what works, less of what doesn’t. You’ll never beat the competition with volume, but even one short blog post can move mountains if it strikes a chord with your target audience.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=72

#Facebook's demise - Parents on Facebook vs. Facebook Users #WebWednesday #SSLLC

#Facebook's demise - Parents on Facebook vs. Facebook Users #WebWednesday #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Does Your Digital Marketing Blueprint Have the Power to Impact the Business Landscape

When clients approach me to help them design and implement a digital marketing strategy, one of the first things I notice very often is that they find it very challenging to go about creating a digital marketing blueprint in this age where new media are sprouting at an astonishing pace.

So how do you structure your Digital Blueprint to create an impact on the business landscape? That’s what I’m about to share you in this article and explain how you can make an IMPACT with your own Digital Marketing Blueprint!

Integration – Using Social Local Mobile

To begin with, you need to understand how the digital landscape has changed so you can reach your prospects quickly and efficiently. There are three important elements you need to integrate into your digital marketing campaign. These have a huge impact on whether your products or services will be easily found online. They are Social,Local and Mobile. Let’s consider each of these.

Social

Social media has now taken over from traditional search. Why has this happened? Let me explain. In today’s market, people are exposed to more and more scams and are wary of being ripped off.TRUST is the new currency of the market. Product and service reviews on social media are generally unbiased and more people are relying on these, rather than testimonials on a business website, which always present a rosy picture. So that’s where your prospects go first.

A survey done by Hubspot among 3,300 participants from 128 countries including Australia revealed conversion rates for leads through social media are 13% higher than the average conversion rate using traditional media and double that of telemarketing, trade shows and direct mail. The survey also found that 85% of fans of a particular brand recommended the brand to others. Further, around 46% of online users rely on social media when researching products or services they consider buying.

Local

If you target the local area (i.e. your target market) whether through a store or online, you need to optimise your visibility in the local area. This means you should ensure your website is optimised for local search. One of the first steps you can take is to claim your Google Places page. This is a static page, you should integrate with your website as businesses with a Google Places page rank higher for local search than those which don’t.

Mobile

The introduction of smartphones and tablets has completely changed the search habits of people. It has allowed them to go from being stuck behind their desks on a computer to conducting searches on the go, using mobile devices. According to comScore, in June 2013, 55% of time spent searching online for retail products was on mobile devices. Of this, smartphones account for 44% of retail search minutes while tablets accounted for 11%. What this means for you is that you have to ensure that your blog, website and other landing pages are optimised for mobile devices.

Each of these three elements needs to be integrated into your digital marketing strategy if you want to be found easily and quickly when prospects search for your business.

Management – Your Digital Marketing Campaign

Now you know the important elements which need to be integrated into your digital marketing strategy, your next step is to manage the campaign successfully.

I strongly advocate a strategic approach to setting up your digital marketing campaign. Many business owners try one tactic like marketing on Facebook and hop around trying different digital media platforms, without success. What’s required is an integrated structure and it all begins with clearly stated goals. These will be unique for your organisation and will dictate your media choices. For instance as a general rule, LinkedIn is the preferred media for Business to Business (B2B), whereas facebook is preferable for Business to Consumer (B2C). With a strategy in place it’s easier to plan and implement a campaign. The campaign can be monitored using automation tools to determine whether objectives are being met and the corrective action to be taken if they aren’t met.

Process – Keys to Getting Your Digital Media Campaign Right

At this stage you’re probably wondering what the keys to a great Digital Marketing campaign are. There are a few key areas you need to focus on.

Customer Touch Points: How are your prospects and clients experiencing your products and services online? Is it through your landing page, digital media channels, emails or any other means? How often are you interacting with them? Are you finding a good middle ground so you don’t overwhelm them with content or do the opposite and rarely interact so they forget who you are?

Keywords: Target keywords your prospects are using in search engines and use these in titles for blog posts, in twitter, Google+ and Facebook posts and in other content you provide so you can be easily found when prospects and clients look for products you sell or services you provide.

Timing: It’s no use posting great content which nobody looks at because they are asleep or are having lunch. Post your content on social media sites at different times of the day to test what works best for you by monitoring the likes and shares for each.

Trends: Everyone wants to keep abreast of the latest products, services and techniques in their area of interest. Focus on trending topics and you will never find yourself stuck with deciding what content to share.

Activity – Soothing Away the Pain

While you may have the greatest products or services on offer, all your prospect or clients wants to know is how these will help in solving a problem or meeting a want quickly and effectively. Most people search online to find information to help ease their pain or for a product which will give them immense pleasure.

When offering products or services, tailor them in a way that is designed to solve specific problems your target market may be facing or towards helping them fulfill an immediate need.

Communication - To Attract Attention

So how do you communicate with your prospects or clients to get their undivided attention? This may require a shift in your mindset, but if you want to succeed with your digital marketing strategy you need to focus your communication on the prospect or client. Use more “you” words than “we” words in your social media posts, websites, videos and sales material. A conversational tone-of-voice as I’m using in this article works far better than the formal language you see in a corporate brochure.

Remember, your prospects consume information in different ways depending on their orientation. Some are visually oriented and prefer watching videos over reading text, while the auditory do exactly the opposite, preferring to read. The kinesthetic among your target audience are feeling oriented, so use words such as “feel”, “touched”, “put a finger on” when you write content.

Targeting – For Profit

Before preparing content for your website, blogs, videos and social media posts clearly identify your target. Think about the person you want to reach and tailor your communication accordingly. The more specific you are with your targeting, the higher will be the likelihood of your communication being consumed.

Who should you target? The obvious answer would be prospects and clients. This is true when preparing content for your website. However, when posting content on social media sites, think of the broader picture and include your suppliers, team members, investors and at times even your competitors. Who knows, your competitors could become your joint venture partner one day and together you could dominate your niche.

In conclusion, I hope you have found my above I.M.P.A.C.T. points trigger you to review and will stop for a moment to contemplate what I’ve just revealed before your next move.

Does your business have the power to IMPACT the Digital Landscape, or do you need to make some changes so you can quickly get back on track and watch your results accelerate? If change is what you need, don’t wait. Get onto it straightaway and watch your business profits accelerate.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=71