10 Tips to Increase Your Sales Page Conversion

If you are selling something online then you need to pay attention to the conversion rate of your sales page. The conversion rate can vary wildly and is totally unpredictable but even an one percent increase in conversion rate can make the difference between losing money or making profit.
 

What is Conversion Rate?

In online marketing conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action (for example: make a purchase or click an ad).

 

You can think of conversion as pouring traffic into a funnel where they get filtered on different levels and at last the remaining portion gets converted. Usually a large portion of the traffic will leave the sales page right after they land. A majority of the remaining traffic will abandon the sales page when they see that it does not fit their need or they want to do research or compare the price with other sites. The small remaining portion of traffic consists of customers that have already researched the products or were referred from another site and are looking to make a purchase.
 

Tips to Increase Sales Page Conversion

It is a good idea that you optimize your sales page with keywords related to the product you are offering. This way the traffic being driven to your sales page is targeted traffic for the product(s) you are selling. This will in turn lead to a higher concentrated pool of customers “With their minds set on purchasing”. The following tips on various sales page elements should help you increase the conversion of your sales page:
 

1. Headline

Headlines are an important step in getting the traffic to your post. The headline is what catches the visitor’s attention and draws them into visiting and reading the post. Headline starting with “How to…”, “Ways to…” “Top 10”, “Most popular” have a higher chance of catching the visitor’s attention. Some other headlines that can be just as effective for increasing conversion rates are:

• What you should know about…
• Here’s a Quick Way to….
• Little Known Ways to….
• The Secret of….
• Profitable tips for….

 

2. Purchase Button

Research has shown that using a larger “Buy” button is one of the most proven ways of increasing the sales page conversion rate. This is why the “Belcher button” is the most used button for sales pages. The creator of this button Perry Belcher tested every design element of the button in over 10,000 transactions and was able to increase conversion rates by 35% to 320%. Here is an example of the belcher button:
 

 

3. Font

The font of your sales page is very important. Always use a font which is easy to read and fits your sales page design. Here are some example of good sales page fonts for you:

• Arial
• Verdana
• Tahoma

The size of the font should be between 12-14pt. This way the font size is neither too big nor too small to read comfortably.
 

4. Image

You should use images relevant to the products you are selling on your sales page (this way the customer does not get confused as to what they are purchasing). This will make your sales page look more professional and creditable. This will also create trust with your visitor and they will be more likely to purchase the product(s) you are trying to sell.
 

5. Product Details

You should provide a detailed description of the product including why it will be useful for the user and how it can solve a problem that the customer maybe having. The sales page should explain the product in a nice well written flow of text, so that after the visitor reads about the product, he is completely convinced that the product is just what he is looking for.
 

6. Focus

The sales page should focus only on the product you are trying to sell to the user. It’s a good idea not to include any inflated content which may cause distraction. For example: you are trying to sell an e-book and your sales page has all the information about why your e-book will be useful to the user. Now, while the visitors are reading, if they see ads/image banners on the sidebar they can easily get distracted and click on the ad which will take them away from your sales page.
 

7. Targeted Traffic

Getting more traffic is always good for a website as there is a higher chance that this traffic will buy your product but you don’t want to bring in just any traffic to your site. Bringing in non-targeted traffic to your site is just a waste of your server bandwidth, as this traffic has no interest in buying your product(s). You really want to focus on bringing targeted traffic that is looking for a solution to a problem that your product will solve .
 

Traffic from social networking sites tend to be less targeted where as traffic from search engines are highly target so focus on getting search engine traffic more.
 

8. Testimonials

Consumers tend to believe others rather than the business owner’s hype to be truthful. Customer testimonials are a powerful form of endorsement. If you have any customer testimonials then include them on your sales page.
 

9. Price

Research has shown that using a price which ends with 5 or 9 after the decimal point increases the conversion rate (I don’t know why). For example: the following three amounts are all equivalent but the 1st and the 2nd one are suppose to convert more:

• $19.95
• $19.99
• $20.00

10. Limited Time Offer

One of the most widely used limited offer tactic on a sales page is to mention the quantity you have left to sell for that product. This way you create the fear that you may run out and they will miss out on buying the item if they wait too long. This helps converting the customers who like to sit on the sideline. You can also offer limited discount coupons.

 

If you can include a few or all of these elements on your sales page, you are bound to see an increase in sales conversions. Don’t forget to share your tips in the comment area below.

https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/10-tips-to-increase-your-sales-page-conversion-2957
 

15 Cool Tips To Help Your Business Master Pinterest

By now, you’ve probably seen numerous Pinterest boards floating around online. Whether it’s a friend of yours sharing her board full of wedding inspiration and desires or sharing recipes, it’s a fair bet you’ve been shown several Pinterest boards full of fun and interesting hobbies.

 

But is it just a fun way to create galleries of all the things you love and share them with friends or is there more to it? Can you actually capitalize on Pinterest’s popularity for your business? The short answer is yes.

 

With this post, I’m not only going to show you some compelling reasons on why you should be using Pinterest for your business, but I’m also going to give you some cool tips on how to master the platform.

 

Why You Should Be Using Pinterest for Your Business

Pinterest is a network that gives consumers the ultimate freedom: they can create boards and search for others based on their own interests and hobbies. By having a presence on the platform, you’re increasing the chance of your business being top-of-mind for consumers looking for certain interests, products or services AND the opportunity for them to pin images of your products and services to their boards.

 

According to comScore, Pinterest users spend more money on more products, more often than any other user on the other top 5 social media sites. Not only that, but Pinterest also receives an estimated 85,500,00 unique visitors in one month alone, according to eBiz.

 

Pinterest can drive web traffic back to your company website too. Placing the ‘Pin It’ button on any image on your company page will help drive traffic back to your website because every single one of your pins will include a link to the original source.

 

Convinced yet? Ready to create a Pinterest business account? Here’s how you do it:

 

How to Create a Business Pinterest Account

Go to http://business.pinterest.com to set up your business account and click the red button that says “Join As a Business”. Select a business type, add all the contact details, including a password. Then fill out your profile including a company logo, a description of the company, your username and your website URL.

 

Here’s a tip for the business type you choose: The business type you choose with help your account rank on more relevant searches and provide relevant fields on your page

 

Three easy steps to create a business Pinterest account. So now that you have a business Pinterest account, how do you go about using it to elevate your business?

 

Here’s the List of 15 Cool Tips to Help your Business Master Pinterest
 

 

1.) Promote Your Pinterest Account Across Other Platforms-Add the Pinterest button to your website and promote your account through your other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. Consider launching a Pinterest contest and writing a fun blog post about it on your website.

 

2.) Create a Board on a Specific Topic (Ie. Weddings, Brunch Recipes, Classic Cars)-Taking this approach allows you to attract users passionate about a specific topic. Create resourceful boards using a few core keywords that you already use in your SEO strategy. Having such a board means being ready to add other users’ pins to enhance your collection.

 

3.) Engage W/ Others’ Pins-Follow users that you want to follow you back. Like and comment on their pins; when they see you interacting with their pins, they might be more likely to follow you.
 

4.) Avoid Human Faces in Photos-Data shows that photos without human faces are shared 23% more than images with faces in them

 

5.) Be Selective W/ Your Color Choices-Data shows that images with dominant colors of red, dark green and pink are shared 3X as much as images that don’t have them. Red or orange images are also re-pinned twice as often

 

6.) Try creating a User Generated Board-Similar to the ideas I floated in my post about getting more sales through UGC campaigns; by allowing prolific users to contribute their own pins, you open up your marketing to an entirely new world of valuable content by involving fans.

 

7.) Highlight Happy Customers-Encourage customers to send you photos or take photos of them at your next event-using your product or service!

 

8.) Promote Your Blog Content-Use photos that could be successful on Pinterest for your blog posts. By pinning those images on Pinterest, you will drive traffic directly back to your posts!

 

9.) Host a Contest-Another idea plucked from my previous post, asking dedicated users to take the time to create their own boards demonstrating what they love about your brand, products & services gives your fans agency and tells them you valued their input in your marketing. They’ll love you even more when you tell them that the best pinboard will win a prize!

 

10.) Add the Pin It button to your website-Make it easy for people to share images from your website.

 

11.) Add Links to the Pin Descriptions-Adding links to the descriptions of your images on Pinterest will drive traffic back to your main website, which allows you to measure how useful the platform is compared to your other social media presences.

 

12.) Build a Video Gallery-YouTube and Vine aren’t the only places where you can share videos! Build a library of videos about your products and services along with relevant images to catch fans’ attentions.

 

13.) Use Hashtags-Hashtags make content more search-friendly and it can help you leverage a marketing campaign on multi-channels such as Facebook and Twitter.

 

14.) Feature Offline Events-Create a pinboard with the best photos and videos from your events to help promote buzz for the next one.

 

15.) Embed Posts on Your Website-You can easily embed a Pinterest post on your website and increase the visibility of your Pinterest account on other websites.

 

Hope these tips will help your business jumpstart new marketing campaigns on Pinterest.

 

http://www.business2community.com/pinterest/15-cool-tips-help-business-master-pinterest-0974431

 

Inside Twitter's Ambitious Plan to Kill the Password

Can some powerful new features reset Twitter's relationship with developers?

As he traveled the world last year as part of a user research project, Michael Ducker noticed a problem. Ducker, a senior product manager at Twitter, was part of a team that visited Brazil, India, and Indonesia to learn about how people use mobile devices around the world. Twitter is courting new users aggressively, and like most tech companies it signs them up with a combination of an email address and password. The problems with passwords are well known: they can be hard for us to keep track of, easy for hackers to figure out, and never anything but tedious to type out on your mobile device’s tiny keyboard.

 

But in his travels, Ducker and his team began to understand the other half of the problem in signing up new users: the farther he traveled from America, the less likely it was that anyone he met had an email address. In developing countries, people are more likely to identify themselves via their mobile devices. Instead of email addresses, they have cell phones — and no way to easily sign up for Twitter or other services. But that’s all about to change: if Twitter has its way — and developers decide they can trust it again — phone numbers will become the primary way we log into our mobile applications, and we’ll all have fewer passwords to remember.
 

The further you travel from America, the less likely anyone is to have an email address

---

Today at Flight, its first developer conference in four years, Twitter is unveiling a suite of developer tools aimed at re-making mobile applications. And while many of the details are of interest only to developers, Twitter is positioning the tool set — called Fabric — as a new start. "Fabric is actually the next evolution of Twitter itself," says Kevin Weil, vice president of product for revenue at the company. "After Fabric, as the platform grows, you won’t think about Twitter as just the consumer app. You’ll think about Twitter as a broader mobile services company. So Fabric is a really big step in that direction for us."

 

Introducing Digits

 

For most people, the most visible part of the new Twitter will be Digits, the company’s password replacement effort. Starting soon, developers will be able to use Digits to sign up users to their apps. The process has three steps: a login screen with an option to sign up via mobile device; a screen to enter your phone number, and a screen to enter the confirmation code Twitter sends you via SMS. (The process will look familiar to anyone who has signed up for WhatsApp or, more recently, Yo.) The confirmation code expires after you use it once, so the next time you need to log in to the app, you’ll be sent a fresh code.

 

Like Vine, Twitter’s video-sharing app, Digits will operate as a brand unto itself. It has a home at Digits.com, where you can manage other apps’ access to your phone number, or delete your account. For developers, it’s a more secure way to bring on users around the world. And for Twitter, it’s a way to help eliminate passwords. Most people use the same passwords repeatedly, and use passwords that are relatively easy to guess. And many buzzy new apps aren’t backed by strong security practices. Twitter says it is bringing everything it has learned about security since its founding to Digits. "Passwords just suck," Ducker says. "I go to dinner parties and people say, 'Oh, you work in tech? Can you get rid of the password?' And we’re finally getting rid of the password, for the vast majority of use cases."

 

 

Phone numbers aren’t perfectly secure; it is possible, though not easy, to clone a phone number. But for most people, logging in with a phone number is probably more secure than using an email address and a password. And because the login codes created through Digits expire after a single use, there’s less danger in hackers obtaining a cache of login information and using it maliciously, as seems to happen every other week. Eventually, Digits will support two-factor authentication for apps, sending users a secondary PIN code to use in combination with the expiring codes.

 

A Way to Diversify Twitter

 

Much of Twitter Fabric was first reported last month by The Information. But contrary to that report, registering a number with Digits does not create a "shadow" Twitter account. Twitter says there is almost no connection between Fabric and the consumer app whatsoever. Fabric is not primarily a way to attract more users to Twitter, they say — it’s a way to diversify Twitter, growing its nascent business of selling tools to mobile developers from a company that was born on cellphones. (It’s not the only social network to have this idea; Facebook started doing something similar last year after acquiring the developer service Parse.)

 

In addition to Digits, Twitter will also announce new features for MoPub, Twitter’s lucrative advertising platform, and Crashlytics, which offers developers free services for beta testing and crash reporting. Crashlytics will offer a native development kit for Android, let developers troubleshoot problems at the system level; and a tool for distributing beta versions of software to testers via an emailed link. And Digits is part of a larger module called TwitterKit, a new set of APIs for Twitter that, among other features, enables the same system-level sign on for Android that Twitter already has on iOS. Log in to your Android device with Twitter and you’ll be able to sign into any other app that has enabled Twitter logins.

 

Twitter Still Pays For All Those SMS Messages

 

Everything Twitter is announcing today will be free to developers, raising the question of how the company benefits. (The company will pay carriers for every SMS it sends through Digits.) The basic idea is that if a critical mass of developers adopts Twitter’s tools, the company will eventually be able to sell them services to complement the free ones. "If you do that, you’re providing a very powerful platform for developers, and there’s lot of benefits that come down the road from that," Weil says.

 

Can Twitter Be Trusted?

 

First, though, Twitter has to convince developers to embrace it. The company’s relationships with the developers who build on its platform has been strained since 2012, when it unveiled new "rules of the road" whose primary effect has been to discourage the development of third-party Twitter clients. A handful remain, but they seem perpetually at risk of disappearing. The developer Marco Arment, writing this week, said he would never trust Twitter again: "We’re just innocent bystanders getting hit whenever this fundamentally insecure, jealous, unstable company changes direction, which happens every few years," wrote Arment, who most recently developed Overcast, an app for listening to podcasts. "Twitter will never, and should never, have any credibility with developers again."

 

"Our API was so open that we allowed people to compete with us.

 

Twitter, for its part, says what happened in 2012 has little bearing on its platform strategy today. "The two situations are completely different — so different, in fact, that it doesn’t even really make sense to conflate them, honestly," Weil says. He named a few companies that have made millions of dollars developing on Twitter’s platform, including TweetDeck, Hootsuite, and the social-media monitoring company Radian6, which sold to Salesforce for $340 million. The changes in 2012 were intended only to ensure Twitter had control over its core service, he says. "Our API was so open that we allowed people to compete with us, and so there were changes we had to make."

 

If the old Twitter-developer relationship was about working in tandem to develop a new kind of media company; the new relationship is more about using what Twitter has learned since then to help developers do just about anything else. Today, more than 800 developers are expected at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco to hear about what Twitter has to say to them. But it may be even more interesting to hear what those developers have to say back to Twitter.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/22/7034113/inside-twitters-ambitious-plan-to-kill-the-password-on-mobile-devices

 

How to Use Pinterest Rich Pins to Sell Your Product

As the holiday season approaches brands are considering new ways to ramp up their efforts to sell products directly to customers online. Aside from comprehensive eCommerce website optimization retailers and other businesses are tapping into social media more than ever before. Certain networks are very effective in delivering consumers from casual online browsing directly to your virtual shopping cart. In particular, Pinterest leads the way as this bridge that catches “window shoppers” and turns them into paying customers. The untrained eye may deem Pinterest to be nothing more than a place to post a great picture of your product and link to the page on your website where it can be purchased. While that may be the gist of it, there is certainly more to consider. Today we will take a look at Rich Pins and how they can be a very effective tool to help you sell products on Pinterest.



5 Points on the Importance of Pinterest Rich Pins and How They Can Help You Reach Customers

1. Recognizing the Necessity of Pinterest to Reach Your Customers

Last month’s social media pop quiz detailed some very important statistics regarding Pinterest. First of all, a number many of you have already heard is that 80% of Pinterest users are women. What’s even more one-sided is that over 90% of pins made/shared on Pinterest are by women. Now let’s consider the implications of these staggering numbers when matched with consumer spending in general. Recent statistics show that women account for 85% of all consumer purchases and 58% of all total online spending. Another interesting fact that speaks directly to daily activity on Pinterest is that 92% of women pass along information about deals or finds to others. Which social network should you as a retailer start focusing on? Yep, that’s right.

2. The Definition of Rich Pins

Traditional Pinterest pins display your product image and only provide additional information to users when they hover their cursor over it. Even then that is the extent of the engagement unless the users clicks through the link to the product landing page on your website. Rich Pins however provide extra information directly on the pin itself, requiring no extra effort from the user to view it. This information can include items such as price, brand/retailer name, and where specifically it can be purchased. Rich Pins take users further along the purchase decision making process. If a user clicks the pin knowing this information “going in” then you know at that point that they are more qualified and less likely to opt out.

3. Types of Rich Pins

Currently there are five types of Rich Pins. There are Place Pins, which include a map/address/phone-number and are applicable to vacation property rental sites such as AirBnB but also have clear implications for the likes of real estate agents. There are Article Pins, which include a headline, author and article description to help users discover and save articles that matter to them. Content publishers will want to take note of this Rich Pin. Recipe Pins include ingredients, cooking times and serving information along with recipe search filters that allow users to narrow items down by dietary restrictions and preferences. Anyone on the food industry can benefit from this Rich Pin. Next are Movie Pins that offer users access to ratings, cast information, and reviews. Then we have Product Pins, the item most relevant to today’s discussion. Product Pins offer real-time pricing, product availability, and details on where users can buy the item (your online store, Etsy, eBay, etc…).

4. Product Pins in Action

One of the coolest parts about Rich Pin’s Product Pins is the feature that allows Pinners to receive immediate email notifications when Product Pins they’ve added drop in price. This action takes away the need for users to proactively return to a product page on their own to investigate price adjustments. They’ve already expressed interest in the product by adding it to their Pinterest collection, so when they receive the notification of a drop in price they will not see the email as being spammy, and will be more likely to make the purchase. Popular eCommerce platform Bigcommerce reported this week that just after two weeks of testing, their retailers saw an average Pinterest referral traffic increase of 38% with many others evidencing an over 50% boost. They also state that when big brand Target implemented Rich Pins their referral traffic from Pinterest increased by 70%. Rich Pins work.

5. Implementing Rich Pins

Assuming that you have set up a business page on Pinterest, have verified your website (follow the links to each if you have not), and have installed a Pin-It function on your website’s product images, you are then considered prepped to begin the Rich Pin application process. First of all, you will need to have your developer either set up an oEmbed endpoint or have Semantic Markup with Schema.org as you would if set up for Google Structured Snippets. With that technical stuff out of the way you need to simply decide if your business offering benefits from either Place, Article, Recipe, Movie, or Product Pins and then proceed to validate your Rich Pins by entering a valid URL for approval. All that you need to do then is await your approval from Pinterest while preparing to reap the benefits of Rich Pins in time for the bustling season of online shopping.

 http://www.standardmarketing.com/2014/10/use-pinterest-rich-pins-sell-product/

Facebook Offers Security Tips For Small Business Pages

Continuing its National Cyber Security Awareness Month campaign, the Facebook security team releases infographic with tips about managing roles and securing logins and mobile devices.

 

Like any big online network, Facebook is a target for all sorts of hackers, scammers and others of that ilk. But since Facebook business Pages are tied to personal profiles, the damage from a breach can be higher.

 

 

 

So it’s a smart idea to take a close look at the infographic posted this week by the Facebook security team, which is continuing its National Cyber Security Awareness Month campaign.

 

It should go without saying that Page owners need to keep close tabs on who has access, but the infographic goes into detail with tips about managing roles, enabling login approval and securing mobile devices.

 

http://marketingland.com/facebook-offers-security-tips-small-businesses-104990

 

Twitter Teams Up with SoundCloud and iTunes to Play Audio Within Tweets

Your Twitter timeline is about to get more musical, after the social network launched a new Twitter Audio Card feature that is already being used by SoundCloud and Apple’s iTunes.
 

David Guetta, Deadmau5, Alt-J and Coldplay are among the musicians already taking advantage, although the new card can be used by non-musicians too: the White House, NASA, Washington Post and BBC World Service are also on board for the new feature’s launch.

 

“With a single tap, the Twitter Audio Card lets you discover and listen to audio directly in your timeline on both iOS and Android devices,” explained Twitter product manager Richard Slatter in a blog post.

Twitter’s new Audio Card feature is being used by SoundCloud and iTunes.

“Throughout your listening experience, you can dock the Audio Card and keep listening as you continue to browse inside the Twitter app.”

 

In SoundCloud’s case, the Audio Card opens up a full-screen player for the audio, complete with whatever artwork the creator has uploaded to SoundCloud for it. The audio will continue playing when the card is minimised, though.

 

As the new feature launched, Guetta tweeted a link to a new remix of his song Dangerous, while Chance the Rapper followed suit with a link to his new single No Better Blues.

 

“We’re just beginning to test the Audio Card and plan to make it available to more partners and creators in the future so that many more musical artists and creators will be able to share exclusive, in-the-moment audio to millions of listeners on Twitter,” wrote Slatter.

 

An hour after announcing the SoundCloud partnership, Twitter revealed that Apple is also using the new cards for its iTunes Store, with links to the store popping up a full-screen preview player, with links to then pre-order or buy the songs.

 

Foo Fighters were the first artist to take advantage, tweeting a link to their new single Something From Nothing.

 

Although it’s not just for music, the new card is Twitter’s latest attempt to make it easier for users to listen to songs. The company launched its Twitter #music app and website in April 2013, recommending tracks and artists based on their popularity on the social network among other factors.
 

The app was not a success, and was closed in April 2014. However, Twitter has since continued its music work in other ways: for example, launching a “Trending 140” chart with music industry magazine Billboard in May.

 

Twitter also works behind the scenes with a number of artists and labels, helping them make the most of its social network.

 

Twitter and SoundCloud’s partnership goes back to 2012, when the latter became a partner for Twitter’s “expanded tweets” feature – similar to the new Twitter Audio Card, but for desktop users rather than mobile.

 

In May this year, there was speculation that Twitter might even buy SoundCloud, although the rumours died down, with conflicting reports that the barrier was either SoundCloud’s lack of licensing deals with music labels and publishers, or a failure to agree on a valuation for the company.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/17/twitter-soundcloud-itunes-audio-tweets

 

Apple Will Officially Launch Apple Pay On October 20

It's official: You'll be able to use Apple's new payments system in under a week.

 

Apple just announced at its iPad event that it will officially launch Apple Pay on Monday, October 20.  

 

© Provided by Business Insider

 

The company first announced the service, which will let you pay for stuff with an iPhone 6 or Apple Watch either in physical stores or through apps, in September. 

 

Apple has convinced some of the biggest credit card companies and banks to support Apple Pay including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and banks like Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo. CEO Tim Cooks says that Apple has also signed on 500 new banks since it first announced the service in September. 

 

To get started with Apple Pay, you can simply add a credit card from your iTunes account. You'll also be able to add new credit cards to Apple Pay just by using the iSight camera on your phone — no need to type in card numbers. Each card will get a device-only account number, so the actual credit card number is never stored on either your phone or Apple's servers.

 

The service is starting in the U.S. and will work with American Express, Mastercard, and Visa, as well as several major banks, like Capital One, PNC, and Chase.  

 

With Apple Pay, you'll pay for something with a touch of your finger using TouchID. Apple has partnered with a bunch of stores like Whole Foods, Macy's, Target, Walgreens, Chipotle, McDonald's, and, of course, Apple stores, and works at over 220,000 merchants total. So, you'll be able to go into one of those stores, open up Apple Pay, hold your phone up to an NFC reader, and simply touch it to authorize a payment.

 

It will also work with apps like Uber, Seamless, and Groupon, and websites like Target, which will give you the option to pay with one click. Cook says that since the original announcement in September, tons of new partners have signed on. The effects of Apple Pay, he says, will be "profound." 

 

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/apple-will-officially-launch-apple-pay-on-october-20/ar-BB9sfNu

 

Twitter Users Can Now Send Money Via Tweets

French Twitter users are now able to send out money to their followers following a landmark deal signed between the microblogging site and one of the country’s largest banks.

 

From today, users will be able to send money via tweets using the S-Money service from Groupe BPCE, France’s second largest bank in terms of customers. However, the service will be open to any Twitter users with a bank account, regardless of which bank they currently use.

© Provided by TechWeekEurope UK twitter homepage © PiXXart / Shutterstock.com

 The sender will also not need to know the recipient’s banking details, as the S-Money service is built on a platform allowing money transfers via text message, and using the credit-card industry’s data security standards.

 

Coming Soon

 

“(S-Money) offers Twitter users in France a new way to send each other money, irrespective of their bank and without having to enter the beneficiary’s bank details, with a simple tweet,” Nicolas Chatillon, chief executive of S-Money, BPCE’s mobile payments unit, told Reuters.

 

More details, including whether the payments would be kept private, or visible to select people will be revealed by the bank and Twitter tomorrow, Chatillon added.

 

Olivier Gonzalez, Twitter’s country manager in France, told the Financial Times that the site’s 140-character message model is well suited for payments due to its “live, public, conversational dimension.”

 

The news is the latest ecommerce move by Twitter as it branches out its user offerings as it looks to stay relevant in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Last month, the site launched the first trials of Twitter Buy, a new service which allows customers to make purchases via tweets.

 

Initially launching to a select number of customers in the US, the scheme allows customers using the iOS or Android Twitter app to purchase goods or content from registered accounts. Customers simply need to tap on the new “Buy” option in a tweet, which will take them to a new page with additional product details and prompt them to enter payment and shipment information.

 

Last week, details also emerged of a new payments service from Facebook. Revealed by an American hacker, the new service will allow users to send money through the site’s Messenger app, using either the existing bank details a user already has registered with Facebook (e.g. for use with in-site games or apps), or a separate debit or credit card.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/twitter-users-can-now-send-money-via-tweets/ar-BB92Rqb
 

Invest In Your Company Online

Social media marketing has proved over the years that it is one of the most effective tools to reach your target audience, and not only is it a great way to engage with people but it is also incredibly cost effective. Despite this, the developments within the social media world mean that it is now a full-time job to maintain in your business, so it is best to employ someone to solely run this part of your company.

Source: wenonmobi.com

Brand Building

Building a recognisable and successful brand in the year 2014 requires clever use of social media. To utilise social media, you will need to build relationships online with an audience, and target those who may have an interest in your line of work. It is vital that you avoid investing countless hours into a social presence that reaches people who have zero interest in your products, and to do this you will need an individual who has a background in marketing, as they will be able to identify an appropriate audience online.
 

Costs

The cost of social media marketing is a major plus-point when deciding on which route to go down. Traditional media is very expensive, and whilst it is a trusty source of advertising you have to be careful as to where you decide to place your advertising or else you could be throwing money away. Social media takes this risk away as you can set-up accounts on most popular social media sites for free, and in this instance, the only money leaving your business will be the wage of paying your social media manager.
 

Traffic

The potential of social media is so huge when considering traffic building. By securing more Likes, Follows and friends on social media platforms, you will generate more exposure for your brand, and the result of this will be increased shares, which will lead to a larger audience. Of course, this requires dedication and time, so it is recommended that you have a specific person to take this role on.
 

Source: marketingartfully.com

 

Beating The Competition

Despite most people using and embracing social media, not all companies have chosen to utilise it in terms of a business tool. By hiring a social media manager, your business could develop a lead in the industry you're in. A good social media strategy can establish your business as the ones to beat, and you could reach out to the customers who predominately do their business on the social networking platforms. In addition to this, Google recognises social media ranking factors, which means that well-exposed brands on Facebook, and Twitter receive improved search rankings.

Social media started out as an experiment online. A function of free speech, and a way to reach your friends over the Internet, but it has quickly expanded as its true potential has been revealed. Businesses across the globe have invested time and effort into ensuring that they build a reputation on the most popular social networking sites, and it has been great for business. It is cost effective, and a great way to reach your target audience, but don't make the mistake of taking it lightly. In order to succeed, you will need someone with the experience to take on the online world in order to make your presence count online.

http://www.socialmediafrontiers.com/2014/10/hiring-social-media-manager-crucial-in.html#more

8 Reasons You Don’t Have More Followers on Twitter

People follow businesses on Twitter because they want something from them. If you’re not offering what they want they aren’t going to follow you and will more than likely follow your competitors instead.

 

If you want to build your presence on Twitter and get ahead of your competitors use the infographic below from Search Engine People which gives you the top 8 things people want from businesses on Twitter.

 

 

 

http://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2014/07/07/8-reasons-you-dont-have-more-followers-on-twitter/

 



10 Things You Can Tweet About On Twitter

I recently introduced my brother and his company to Twitter, and the first question asked was truthful and simple:

“Um, this is all good.. but what do we Tweet about?”

 

I like to use the “big room” analogy to help people get a better understanding of what to Tweet about: Imagine you’re walking into a big room of fellow professionals, all mixing and mingling.

 

You might smile at someone and say “Great shirt!”, or you  may recognize a familiar face and ask “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”. You can ask directions to the appetizer table, roll your eyes and comment how crowded it is, jump into an overheard comment, or simply smile.

 

Applied to Twitter (and using it to network with others for business purposes), you can find many ways to create touchpoints with your friends and followers.

 

Here are 10 things you can Tweet about- drag this list out when your mind runs blank.

 

1. @Replies

 

The best way to develop relationships with people is to respond to their posts and conversations. Key in the @ sign followed by the person’s username (no spaces) with your response. Give support, laugh, share a similar experience… do what you can to show others that you’re interested in what they are Tweeting about.

 

2. Retweets

 

Second to @Replies are Retweets. When you see shareworthy posts, key in the letters RT or the word Retweet then @TheirUserName. If you use applications like TweetDeck or Twhirl, it makes this very easy. Retweeting is good karma 2.0!

 

3. Countdowns

 

You can fill an event and build anticipation by counting down to start time. 1 day left, 1 hour left, 5 minutes left… this strategy has worked incredibly well for live video casts, podcasts, teleseminars, and even in-person Tweet Ups!

 

4. Blog Posts

 

If you’re a blogger, let folks read your latest post by Tweeting the title and a link. Better yet, make it really simple by using a site like Twitterfeed.

 

5. “As-It-Happens” Updates

 

Whether you’re wandering an Expo Hall, attending a webinar, at a conference, or listening to a teleseminar, you can create a live newsfeed with your Tweets.

 

6. Photos

 

Use a site like TwitPic to upload a photo and send a Tweet simultaneously. What’s great about TwitPic is that when people leave comments on your photos, it will send those out as Tweets too.

 

7. Questions

 

This is a favorite of mine. Simply ask a question and watch your friends and followers respond. Great for impromptu market research or quick feedback.

 

8. Maladies

 

It’s OK if your Tweets aren’t all rays of sunshine and optimism… sometimes we need to commiserate in the public stream. When you Tweet about your sore throat, computer crash, lost cat, or stressful day, you’ll be amazed at the outpouring of expert support.

 

9. Celebrations

 

Tweet about getting a new client, finishing a big project, meeting a deadline, achieving a milestone, or whatever else merits a bit of festivity.This is a great way for others to learn about your achievements in a non-boastful way.

 

10. Trivial Touchpoints

 

Believe it or not, profitable contacts have been made on Twitter simply by sharing what you’re doing at the moment. Whether it’s drinking coffee, watching the Sopranos, standing in line, or waiting out a toddler tantrum, the mundane can turn itself into an avenue for real connections.

 

Twitter is no great mystery, it’s simply digital small talk. Small talk opens the doors to bigger, more profitable conversations. Use these 10 Twitter techniques to break the ice and make valuable touchpoints.

 

http://vivavisibilityblog.com/10-things-you-can-tweet-about-on-twitter/

 

 

3 Pinterest Marketing Strategies to Boost Sales

Is Pinterest a part of your social media marketing strategy? If it's not, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to increase brand awareness and sales. While product-based businesses are a natural fit for this visual social network, Pinterest has proved to be a low-cost, effective way for small businesses in a variety of industries to engage with and learn about their customers.

 

 

 

 

"At the heart of Pinterest is relevance," said Danny Maloney, CEO and co-founder of Pinterest analytics and management firm Tailwind. "Unlike Facebook and Twitter, which connect users based on who they know, Pinterest connects people based on their common passions. This means that users see content which is more likely to be of interest to them, and also more likely to lead to purchases downstream. Marketers are seeing the value in highly targeted, relevant content distribution, leading more and more businesses to adopt Pinterest each day."

 

Pinterest's recently released Gifts feed, which only features "Product Pins" with pricing information and buy links, is proof of the selling power the social network has. Marketing experts offered these smart strategies to help small businesses drive sales through Pinterest.

 

 

Tip 1

Learn from your followers. Focusing on the interests of your target customers can help you create a more engaging experience, and Pinterest can provide a small business with a lot of insight into this. Maloney advised looking at who's following you, who's repinning your content, and who's pinning from your domain. You can then see what else those individuals are pinning to identify trends across your fans.

   

Tip 2

 

Encourage wish lists. Pinterest users have begun creating "wish list" boards for holidays, birthdays and even special occasions like bridal and baby showers to help their friends and family with gift ideas. Kirsten Knipp, vice president of product marketing and brand at e-commerce platform Bigcommerce, noted that encouraging your audience to add your products to their wish lists can bring new business to your website.

 

"Pinning can work really well as a secondary call to action for someone who is browsing and not ready to hit buy just yet," Knipp told Business News Daily. "The customer gets to share what they really want, and when [a family member or friend] goes to buy it, one click brings them right back to you."

 

Tip 3

 

Tell stories with your boards. A softer sell can sometimes work just as well as a Product Pin. Entrepreneur and business consultant Nate Ginsburg said that crafting stories around your product with your Pinterest boards can inspire your audience, and get them to engage with and promote your product in a way that isn't pushy.

If you're new to Pinterest, one of the best things you can do to increase your brand visibility is add the "Pin It" button to your website.The majority of brand engagement on Pinterest is user-generated, so you want to make it as easy as possible for your website visitors to share your content there, Ginsburg said.

 

It's also important to make sure all your images are high-quality. Since Pinterest is image-based, having great photos of your product should be top priority, Knipp said. The more enticing and interesting a picture is, the more likely people on Pinterest are to look at and engage with it.

Maloney reminded business owners that Pinterest marketing is an investment, and seeing results may take some time.

 

"Many businesses think they're going to start a Pinterest profile and see profit roll in overnight," he said. "That's rarely the case. Investing in Pinterest is like investing in SEO or building word of mouth in your local community. Think of it as a year-round initiative that's important for the long-term. It isn't about the next three months; it's about getting in early on a platform that can fuel growth for years to come."

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6313-pinterest-marketing-tips.html

 

12 Ways You Can Improve the SEO of Your Website Today

As we keep saying SEO isn’t a quick fix, but there are slight improvements you can make to your website right now that could result in moving up a few places in the Google search results.

That might not sound a lot but if that is the difference between you and the first page that could mean a massive increase in web traffic and could lead to a load of new customers.

Take a look at the infographic below from Klood which gives you 12 on site SEO improvements you can make today.

http://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2014/05/27/12-ways-you-can-improve-the-seo-of-your-website-today/

Six Awesome RSS Apps for Facebook Pages

You may have already heard that Facebook killed the RSS feature in the Notes application. This feature allowed Page admins to automatically up date their wall with blog posts. But now with this feature gone, how can Page admins integrate a blog with their Facebook Page?

 

Following are six apps that allow you to pull in an RSS feed onto your Facebook Page wall:

 

Networked Blogs – This app is one of the most flexible – and it’s free. You can post multiple blogs, allow people share posts with their friends, and display all posts on one tab.

 

RSS Tab for Facebook Pages – This app allows you to publish up to five different blogs on your Facebook Page. You can also put a like gate on blog posts so that only fans see the blog posts.

 

Shortstack -  Another custom tab tool that includes an RSS feature where you can display blog posts to fans, non-fans or both.

 

TABMAKER RSS - This app allows you to integrate your RSS-Feeds in your Page and add a ‘Like’ or ‘Send’ button in each blog post.

 

Social RSS - This app, from Socialbakers, allows you to publish RSS feeds to your wall or a dedicated tab on your profile or Facebook Page.

 

RSS Graffiti – RSS Graffiti posts any RSS feed to your Page wall, or multiple feeds to multiple Page walls.

http://www.nonprofitfacebookguy.com/five-best-rss-apps-for-facebook-pages/

13 Blogging Statistics That Will Make You Change Your Strategy Immediately

The advantages of blogging as part of a content marketing strategy are clear for all to see (we hope). But the way you go about it may be about to change.

The infographic below from Social Marketing Writing gives you 13 blogging statistics your probably didn’t know. Some of these were an eye opener for us, particularly point number 3 about how much traffic increases once you reach 51 or more posts.

Do any of these stats make you want to change your strategy?

 

http://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2014/05/30/13-blogging-statistics-that-will-make-you-change-your-strategy-immediately/