Portent » Madelaine Kellman

SOS: Save Our (Organic) Social

Madelaine Kellman — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:22:51 +0000

It is not exactly breaking news that brand page organic social efforts are being thwarted by Facebook’s algorithm changes, which are making it harder than ever to get your organic social updates seen by your desired audience. But all hope is not lost! There is a strategy that, if implemented correctly, can potentially improve your organic reach and help bolster your overall organic social efforts across multiple platforms. This important strategy is simply ensuring that you have the correct social media metadata coded into every piece of content you post. Social metadata is something that you have more than likely seen across your networks, but never really thought about how or why it appears.

What IS it?

Metadata, as defined by Tim Berners-Lee of the World Wide Web Consortium, is “machine understandable information about web resources or other things.” The key words here being machine understandable. Allowing a machine to determine a piece of content’s attributes leads to improved user experience. Social-specific metadata allows for sharing optimization on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest by specifically defining how titles, images, descriptions, URLs, etc. will appear in social feeds. The more relevant information you give your followers, the more they will want to not only click through to your website, but are also more likely to view you as a trusted source of information. This means that your tweets can look like this one, and who wouldn’t want their tweet to stand out among the rest of the Twitter noise?

Why should I care?

Metadata allows for optimized search results for your brand, both in a search engine and on social platforms. The way it appears in these results can dramatically influence the viewer’s behavior. Our research shows that, typically, a Google user will only look at each result on a Search Engine Result Page (SERP) for ~2 seconds. As such, it is essential to capture the viewer’s attention in order to motivate them to click through to your page. Correctly worded and displayed metadata like titles and meta descriptions, will improve the click-through rate. This same theory and data can be applied to social platforms, which are even more visual and almost require this extra step to ensure your content is being seen.

How do I use it?

There are different steps to take for different platforms. The general process is the same across most platforms: you need to include coded tags into the page source, specifically the tags, for your web pages.

Facebook:

Facebook’s metadata system is called the Open Graph protocol. It allows you to specify what you want your content to look like in a user’s timeline. Without OG, Facebook’s Crawler will not be able to generate a preview of your content and will automatically default to standard metadata, which is more often than not, not optimized for social sharing. In order to turn your content into graph objects, you need to include particular lines of code into your page source so that Facebook can read them easily and accurately. With the simple addition of a few lines of code:

You can create a social post that you can ensure will be optimized for the Facebook platform. With a large image and detailed description, this post has a much better opportunity at being seen and engaged with than a post without any of these crucial elements. Check out this article from Facebook Developers to learn more about what you could be doing to maximize your organic social efforts.

Twitter

Twitter Cards are essentially Twitter’s version of the Open Graph Protocol. They allow your content to stand out amidst the otherwise hectic and fast-paced Twitter feed. Twitter Cards are a completely separate set of meta-tags that need to be included in your coding. The Twitter Developer Center states that “Twitter Cards make it possible for you to attach media experiences to tweets that link to your content.” This means that tweets about your content will include the optimized formatting for anyone that clicks share, and as such, more likely to be retweeted. With this Twitter Card metadata set in the page source, you can create optimized tweets as seen earlier in this blog.

Be sure to check out this article from the Twitter Developer Team to learn more about Twitter Cards and why you should be using them.

Google+

Webmasters have the option to use Schema.org markup instead of the standard metadata or Open Graph tags that Google+ defaults to. It simplifies the process, as you can use it on almost any HTML tag on content already on the page. Google recommends using Schema.org because they also use this micro data to create rich snippets in their SERPs. Unlike Open Graph, which remains in the section of code, Schema.org markup can live in various places within the website. With the appropriate tags in place, you can customize your posts to be the best representation of your content for Google+ users. They even make it easy for you and create the code for you on their web snippet page, all you have to do is fill in the blanks. What could be easier than that? Thanks, Good Guy Google!

Not sure if you used the correct markup for your snippet? The Structured Data Testing Tool will verify your code and provide you with a report on all of the structured data coding on your page in question.

For Pinterest, you have a few options to give your product, article, recipe or place Pins just a little more oomph. You can use Open Graph or Schema.org markup, and for most, this is probably the simplest solution. However, if you have the ability to set up an oEmbed endpoint, Pinterest recommends this method, as it is the most flexible and accurate for your content. oEmbed makes it possible for Pinterest to only look in one canonical place for the information it needs to create a Rich Pin. Setting up oEmbed can be a bit of a tricky process, but the above article from the Pinterest Developers should help clear up any of your confusion.

All aboard!

When it comes to organic social, you don’t need to feel like you’re on a sinking ship because of the platform’s algorithm changes. Including metadata into your social strategy is an incredibly easy win when it comes to boosting your organic efforts. Encourage social platforms to share your content by making it easier for them to display all of the necessary components. You can get your brand, name, product, idea, etc. out there in a more effective way that, in the long run, can save you both time and money.

The post SOS: Save Our (Organic) Social appeared first on Portent.

How Not to be an #EPIC Social Media Fail

Madelaine Kellman — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 14:00:33 +0000

Alright, we all know which brands are nailing it when it comes to social media. I’m lookin’ at you Uber, BuzzFeed, Seattle PrideFest, Oreo, Nike, NO H8, and Coca Cola. These names represent a variety of businesses, brands and events. But despite their differences, every one of these companies has achieved great success by being social savants. Whether they are effectively using hashtags or finding the perfect photo to encapsulate their product, these are brands that harness the power of social media.

But, alas, the point of this article is not to talk about what companies do right (what’s the fun and shame in that?). I am here to highlight some of the biggest fails, flops, and social media disasters that have resulted in adverse consequences, even for some very big names.

While it would be entertaining to simply point and laugh at these poor, unfortunate social souls, I want to take their less-than-successful attempts and identify why they didn’t work and what they could (should) have done.

Example 1: Epic Tweet Fail

Now, while I am a social media professional, I’m pretty humble: I don’t claim to be an “expert.” This fact, however, further proves my point – it does not take an “expert” to spot the “what not to do.”

Let’s take the Justine Sacco case as an example. Needless to say, this PR exec (yep, you heard me…her entire job is telling other people how NOT to do things like this) was fired before her plane landed in South Africa.

Twitter is real, folks. Other people can and will see what you write and it will get retweeted. This is typically the goal and what people strive to achieve: the ever elusive retweet. Be especially mindful of this when you represent a company. In this case, getting noticed by Buzzfeed is what shot her now infamous tweet to stardom.

While there is no light to shed on this situation or any possible improvements that can be made (other than don’t say heartless, racist things), there is somewhat of a silver lining to this thoughtless incident. The clichéd expression “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” applies to this situation, as one savvy interwebber set www.justinesacco.com to redirect to the non-profit group, www.aidforafrica.org. As a result, the group has seen an impressive increase in donations, jumping to 3/hour as opposed to 3/day. Sorry, Justine, your handiwork was a lose/lose for you but a win/win for good Samaritans and people trying to make the social world a better place.

Example 2: #EpicHashtagFail

Hashtags are an ideal way to group Tweets and track discussion topics through keywords. They are integral to success on Twitter, and have recently been adopted by Facebook and Google+ as well. You can now unify cross-network promotions and prompt participation from multiple networks to improve reach and shares. They are intended to drive conversation and connect people with similar interests. Sounds great, right? What could possibly go wrong?

With great hashtags comes great responsibility. You must think through all of the implications of using a hashtag campaign and consider all of the possibilities and ways that it can fail before implimentation. Your hashtag must have context and add value for your followers. Failure to consider these will surely lead your hashtag to fade away into the Twitterverse and be forgotten faster than DrawSomething (yeah, remember that great app?). Or worse, it may lead to a PR nightmare as exemplified by McDonald’s.

Although potentially one of the most notorious hashtag marketing fails, McDonalds’ #McDStories campaign taught us all an invaluable Twitter lesson. Last January, McDonald’s launched their campaign with the comically vague #McDStories. They intended to receive stories of people’s favorite foods or how much their children love Happy Meals. What they got was, in fact, the opposite. People hijacked the hashtag and applied it to McDonalds horror stories.

McDonald’s ended up pulling the campaign within two hours of launching it. That didn’t stop the people from continuing to post with the branded hashtag.

The company did the right thing by simply ending their campaign early and not responding negatively to their Twitter trolls. Instead, they took responsibility for their mistake (communicated via Twitter, of course) and owned up to realizing that they should have been more thorough in their consideration of the hashtag.

McDonald’s lesson on vague hashtag campaigns can be considered a cautionary tale for us all. Be sure to really think a hashtag through before launching it. If considering a branded campaign, realize the potential it has to go viral and what that can and will do for your company, both good and bad: and accept that once you launch the campaign, the audience controls it – not your brand.

Example 3: Epic Facebook Meltdown

Our social bff, Facebook, is capable of creating a strong presence for a brand or business within the social realm. With photos and posts clearly visible on the profile page, people often look to Facebook when researching a company. That is why it is absolutely crucial to remain positive and supportive of your followers, and not attack them when they may leave a less-than-ideal review.

The prime example of a company not following through on this key objective can be found in the complete meltdown of Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro. After receiving bad reviews following the airing of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares (in which the owners were dropped by Ramsey after being “too difficult to work with”) the two owners took to Facebook to “defend” themselves and their restaurant. Now, I am not saying that explaining your company’s practice on Facebook is always a bad idea, but it is ALWAYS a bad idea to fire back at your followers with nasty, hateful comments (a lot of which don’t even make logical or grammatical sense).

Facebook should be a platform on which your brand can address issues raised by the public, but done so respectfully. The inevitable happened for Amy’s Bistro: they lost A LOT of social followers as well as previously faithful fans of the restaurant itself. There is no quicker way to ruin your company’s name than to fail to take responsibility for your actions, and then top it off by placing blame on your fans and followers.

Clearly, the lesson learned is to keep your cool when responding to negative feedback. It does not make sense to fight fire with fire, but instead to try and come to a reasonable solution, or at the very least be respectful.

The Takeaway

Social media, while relatively new, holds a lot of power in the marketing world. It has the ability to make or, as we have now seen, break a brand. When a brand abuses the power of social media, it more often than not comes back to bite them. So please, let these epic fails show you what NOT to do and try not to learn from experience. Use good judgment when posting and always ask for at least a second opinion. And don’t ever be embarrassed to ask for help. Social media is a new field, and the only constant is change. Building a list of trusted resources you can call for help is critical.

The post How Not to be an #EPIC Social Media Fail appeared first on Portent.

Essential Characteristics of an Internet Marketing Applicant or How a Dog Got Me My Job

Madelaine Kellman — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 14:00:47 +0000

The vast field of Internet marketing may not necessarily be new, but it certainly has changed from the days of simple email campaigns and standard websites. Now it involves numerous sectors, from SEO to social media and everything in between.

It is rapidly changing and requires someone to have their finger on the pulse of the Internet just to keep up. You have to be able to think three, no, make it nine steps ahead of the rest of the game and prepare for just about anything. Essentially, Internet marketing is the merging of the traditional types of marketing (news, radio, magazines, you know, the boring stuff) and the future of marketing (#Snapfacegram, #iPhone5000!).

In order to be a successful Internet marketer in today’s ever-changing world, an ideal candidate needs to be:

Agile and flexible with the ever-changing technology
Prepared for anything, even the worst
Able to work with a wide variety of people and situations
A great listener
Able to think on their feet
Intellectually Curious
Lucky

This is where my story begins. I, Madelaine Kellman, have made it to the big leagues, aka Portent, as a Social Media Strategist Extraordinaire. Okay, okay, there may be a “junior” in my title somewhere, but I still feel compelled to explain my story as proof of having what it takes to become an Internet marketer.

I applied for my position at Portent in early June, thinking it was a long shot. I didn’t know if I had the qualifications but I wanted them to understand that I had the drive and wit necessary to learn what I needed to be a social media savant. I even wrote a rap – yes, a rap – for my cover letter. I dug deep for this job. But in today’s economy, you have to. There is so much competition, especially in the rapidly growing field of Internet marketing that someone looking to enter the field has to be willing to reinvent the wheel.

Below are 7 “musts” for the ideal Internet marketing applicant.

Be flexible

By reinventing the wheel, I mean being agile and willing to constantly learn new technologies, tactics, and methods. Being a twenty-something means I have essentially grown up in a tech-infused world so the Internet is nothing new to me. Knowing what goes into Internet marketing is a completely different story.

I even have somewhat of a tech background, formerly working for a giant Internet corporation that shall remain nameless (it rhymes with Shmoogle). But rather than majoring in the Internet in college, I chose to take the route of English Literature. But all that really did was 1) turn me into a grammar fascist and 2) give me the desire to see what else was out there. I did some writing and editing for the aforementioned company but I still wanted something more.

Cue Portent, stage left. I realized that Internet marketing is the future and it was something I wanted to be a part of. But in order to get there I needed to completely switch gears and learn an entirely new skillset. For those who do not have vast marketing experience, understand that this skillset is mandatory. There is no getting around understanding the most basic concepts of SEO, PPC, social, advertising, and content writing. By the time my interview rolled around, I was prepared. I had pumped myself up with a pep talk that Vince Lombardi himself would be proud of. I knew the basics and beyond, and I was ready. That is, until I hit the Thursday morning rush hour aftershock.

Be prepared

All of a sudden, my preparation seemed futile. I had taken everything into account, except traffic. How could I forget traffic?? I thought I was leaving late enough in the morning to happily cruise down the freeway and arrive downtown with plenty of time to spare. But I hadn’t accounted for the traffic aftershock.

All of a sudden, I saw my dreams slipping away; I was going to be late. I flew into a maniacal road rage. I was shouting obscenities and honking and doing everything I could to make everyone else on the road acutely aware of the fact that I had something VERY important to get to. I…was that driver. I’m not proud of the person I became on that freeway, but I did what I had to in order to keep my social media dreams alive.

This is a great lesson in what it takes to make it in Internet marketing. You absolutely must be ready for anything to come your way. Just last week Google completely changed their search game by fully encrypting results. That’s right, SEO as we know it has drastically changed from this one decision. (Learn more about that here.) Things happen with little to no advance notice and we as Internet marketers have no choice but to expect the unexpected. Remember when I said it is beneficial to be nine steps ahead of the game? Yeah, this is where that comes into play. It is in your best interest to not only be aware of what is happening in the field, but also what has happened and what is still to come.

Be able to relate

Here at Portent, we work with a wide range of clients on a daily basis, which means we are required to know a lot about a lot of different things. From consumer bases and demographics to product knowledge and key targets, we have to bring our A-game. A successful Internet marketer will be able to relate to a wide variety of people and situations and be a truly great listener. Each day requires listening to our clients, interpreting their needs, and delivering outstanding results for them.

Evidently, I presented myself as capable of connecting with people during my interview. From small talking with the elevator operator about the weather to the not one, not two, but FIVE people that I met and spoke with throughout, I had a genuine desire to listen and learn from everyone I encountered.

Be a good listener

I met with Sara Lingafelter, the senior to my junior, and she singlehandedly solidified my need to work at Portent. I listened and intuited what she needed to hear from me and got a deeper understanding of the job at hand. I connected what was expected of me to what I was able to offer and found common ground with Sara. This was just a foreshadowing of what each and every day would be like once I landed the job.

Be levelheaded

After meeting with Sara, she introduced me to both her director and her director’s director. I knew I had to bring it. I sat down on the brightly colored couch in the office of the boss lady, Elizabeth Marsten, and made sure to not let my confidence falter too much. All of the usual interview things occurred, of course, but this one was different. I needed this job.

My brain felt like a dancing monkey as I sat and tried to answer Elizabeth’s questions while simultaneously reminding myself to breathe and laugh (but not that horrible, awkward laugh that happens when you’re uncomfortable) while trying to come off as if I knew what I was doing. Her first words were, “You had the most creative cover letter I think I have ever seen.” I remember just smiling, both out of smugness and a bit of embarrassment. Yes, my ridiculous rap tactic had paid off!

I realized that I wasn’t actually uncomfortable at all and that I felt quite at ease talking with Elizabeth about everything from the company’s goals to how she had gotten to where she is today. Looking back now, I realized that this was a key trait within itself, the fact that I was able to juggle so much in such a short period. A true Internet marketer is able to balance multiple clients, with multiple projects, with multiple deadlines. It requires you to be able to think on your feet and take whatever is handed to you and make it all look easy (most of the time).

Be a leader

While chatting with our senior content strategist, Isla McKetta, about our mutual love of writing and nerding out over literature, I got so caught up in talking with her about everything an English major only dreams of that I nearly forgot I was even in an interview. Out of excitement, I began to dominate the conversation and only after remembering I was, in fact, being interviewed, was I able to control myself and slow down.

After being hired, however, I realized that being intellectually curious and leading the conversation may not necessarily have been a bad thing. I have learned that in order to be successful, you must know when to stop following and take the lead. You have to be able to look just far enough ahead and trust yourself to really take the reins to get the job done. Although this tactic can be risky – especially if it is on a big project – it can pay off with incredible results. In my case, it resulted in landing my dream job.

Be lucky

Oftentimes though, what it really comes down to is a little bit of luck. Yes, the hard work and the drive and the preparation and the knowledge all have to be there, but sometimes just being in the right place at the right time is what it takes to get the job done.

Our clients want to achieve the virality equal to that of Grumpy Cat and while we can do everything possible to facilitate that, we can’t always guarantee success. Sometimes we need a little bit of luck from the Internet gods. This is evident in that yes, I may have had ten freshly printed copies of my resume (because you never know when you will need eight extras), and I met the necessary requirements for the position and worked hard as hell to get there, but I truly think I owe getting my job here to a wonderful pup named Space.

After being passed to the content team, content strategist Rebecca Bridge casually mentioned something about Space as we walked down the hall. “Space? As in THE Shiba-Inu that inspired my sister and her husband to get their own, that Space??” I asked as I trailed behind her and Isla to the conference room. “Um, yeah that’s my dog…” Rebecca replied.

I had failed to make this connection previously but I had already fallen in love with Space long before I ever arrived for my interview that day. My brother-in-law happened to work with Rebecca’s boyfriend and as a result, had been called upon for dog-sitting duty when they were out of town for the weekend. It was this one seemingly minor detail that played a pivotal role in not only getting my interview, but probably also for ultimately getting the job. This small bit of luck sealed the deal and combined with all of my awkward laughing, question-answering and hoop-jumping, paid off in a big way.

So thanks, Space. Without you, I wouldn’t be here at Portent to share my self-proclaimed “wise words” about what it takes to be an Internet Marketer with the World Wide Web. I couldn’t have done it without ya, buddy!

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