Most Effective Times, Days to Send Email, Post Social Content

Media Post has a nice updated report, from various sources, of the most effective days and times to send marketing emails and post content to various social media networks, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Interestingly, the report shows that while the most popular time to send email is on Thursday between 11 a.m. and noon, the most effective time is actually on the same day between 2 and 5 p.m.

See the full report, and what it lists as the most effective time to post to your favorite social media network or to post blog content at http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/243355/when-to-post.html

Recommendations: Twitter Counter

Looking for a quick and easy way to track follower growth on Twitter? And even your level of interaction with your community on the popular social media network? Check out TwitterCounter.com.


The free account shows you a nice graph of Twitter followers growth over time (that’s what I originally signed up for – to be able to pull nice looking graphs each month for clients), but the paid service starting at just $17/month per account also offers the same for RTs, mentions, favorites, etc.

If you’re looking for a new analytics tool for Twitter, check this one out as a great free option as well as a budget-friendly paid option with enhanced feature sets for those paying users.

You’re Making Us Blush! A Raleighwood Review from Carmon’s Curl Up & Dye Salon

Thanks to Beth and Carmon from Carmon’s Curl Up & Dye Salon in Garner for the kind words:

Review of Raleighwood Media Group

It’s always nice to hear from old friends, but it’s a shame when they come calling because their former website designer is holding them hostage! Unfortunately, there are some less than stellar designers out there who give the rest of us a bad name. Luckily, we were able to work with the salon’s prior web designer to reclaim the domain name and create a new WordPress website based around the concept of a “content management system” (CMS). The big benefit of using a CMS is that Beth and Carmon are now able up post updates to their blog and update their website in just a few clicks – almost instantly! And when they need some help with the “heavy lifting” they know we’ll be around to help.

This model doesn’t work for every design firm, but we love giving our clients the ability to have a little freedom with their websites. Check out our website packages and let us know if we can help you out, too. And if you find yourself in Garner, NC and in need of a cut and color, visit the gang at Carmon’s Curl Up & Dye!

Now Offering Social Media Management Packages

Raleighwood Media Group is pleased to offer a new service, designed with small business owners and c-suite executives in mind: monthly social media management packages (click the link to find out more, including pricing).

Is your time better utilized managing your business rather than posting to Twitter — although you know it’s something you need to do every day to remind your audience that you’re in business and ready to fulfill their wants and needs? Read what Fred’s Beds president Lisa Stansbury had to say about the month of posting we took off her hands recently:

The month of June was so hectic for me that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to tweet much at all. Raleighwood Media Group provided me with quality content that was exactly what my customers needed to see. The content was much higher quality than what I normally produce myself. It was one less thing on my plate that allowed me to focus on other pressing matters. Social media is something that is easy to drop by the wayside when you have customers that need attention. You cannot make up for lost time. If you don’t send a message, no one receives a message. Raleighwood Media Group filled a much needed niche for me.

Social media management package begin at only $189/month and are scalable to fit your unique needs. Send us an email at Info@RaleighwoodMedia.com or call us at 919-229-9725 to get started today!

Email Never Went Anywhere

It seems like at least once a week I read a really well-written and well-thought-out article or blog post about how “email/email marketing is back” or that suddenly interest is surging in the “what once was old” medium of communication. I’m here to reassure everyone that not only is email not dead – it also never went anywhere.

Sure, social media has been the darling of all online marketing communications for the last seven years or so, but I personally cannot remember a single instance where I’ve seen the use of Facebook or Twitter alone out-perform the use of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign that included email. As any marketing professional will tell you, it’s highly unlikely that anything you produce will ever go “viral” and even when things go viral, they’re still often shared via the original social media channel: email.

As Facebook continues to limit what shows up in users’ feeds, the ability to actually communicate directly to users who have expressed an interest in our products and services without fear of a filter will continue to prevail. Who wants to spend their hard-earned time and investment to build an audience they aren’t guaranteed of being able to communicate with?

While the currently under-25 crowd may not be strong users of email, I believe that trend changes as they become career professionals, where the modern workplace still depends heavily on the use of email as the primary form of communication.

I’m proud to say that consistent, well-branded email marketing has always been a staple product and service provided by Raleighwood Media Group to our clients. It has a high ROI and is very trackable when it comes to finding out what’s working and what’s not in regards to subject lines, content, list segmentation, and other variables.

For your reading pleasure and if you’re so inclined, here are some of the articles I’ve read about email (and the “return” of email) lately… and often replied with the simple statement, “duh”.
The NY Times – For Email Newsletters, a Death Greatly Exaggerated
BiZReport.com – Email newsletters top news source for business executives
EmailOnAcid.com – Is Responsive Design Really Effective?

I would love to hear your thoughts on where you’re getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to online marketing efforts in the comments below.

Cheers!
–Lisa

New Facebook Feature: More Local Pages You Might Like

To be honest, this may not technically be new, but it is the first time I’ve seen this feature, personally. Facebook often rolls out new features and functionality in waves to different users, so I’m curious – has anyone else seen it, yet?

Facebook Feature - More Local Pages You Might Like

Facebook Feature – More Local Pages You Might Like

A few thoughts follow – as scattered as they might be:

  • Anytime I see something “new” on social, I wonder, “what can we (marketers, publicists, online marketing people) do with this?”
  • Can we do some positive PR and leave a nice comment on the wall of a new page we found and say “Hi, I’m here because Facebook thought I might like you since I liked (insert name of other local business here)!”
    • Does that open the door to a nice note becoming a nasty-gram if that other business is actually a competitor? (We can’t really expect Facebook to NOT suggest direct competitors, can we?)
  • Do we leave just leave it alone and hope Facebook doesn’t start suggesting that we like “Target” when we’ve just liked the neighborhood independent gift shop?
  • This rogue thought still burns me up and I think of it every time I think “Facebook Marketing”: when is Facebook going to finally stop so heavily throttling how many people see page-created content? These are the Facebook users who have opted-in to liking the pages we heavily invest time and effort into promoting (you’re welcome, Facebook). Facebook is forcing us to buy “sponsored” visibility to improve the chances that more than 10% of page subscribers will see the posts we take the time, and have been trained to, create. {Read more about this on NewMediaRockStars.com, if you’re so inclined.}

Ending today and this post on a positive note: big “thank you” goes out to Kim Adamof for the referral that came my way today in need of public relations services!

Happy Mondaying,
Lisa

Come Join Us Today at a Few Shop Local Raleigh Events!


This month marks the two year anniversary of the launch of Shop Local Raleigh by the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association – happy birthday, SLR! Join us in celebrating today with two great local events:

Networking Event at Joint Venture Jewelry in Cary
From 4:00pm until 6:00pm, come and enjoy networking, great discussion, and a beverage with other SLR members, volunteers, and local business owners. (Don’t forget those business cards!)

Anniversary Party at Natty Greene’s in Raleigh
Shop Local Raleigh turned “2” on April 15th and to celebrate, we have partnered with NCSU marketing students to plan an Anniversary Party at Natty Greene’s Brewing Co. On April 28th, starting at 7 pm, there will be giveaways, $3 pints of local beer and fun guaranteed for all.

To add to the festivities, we have shared some fun statistics regarding small businesses, public relations, and the return on investment of email marketing, for SLR to use at these events. Along with those “trivia facts”, we’ve also included a special offer for event attendees – so be sure to check out what’s “in store” and “on tap” at these great events tonight. We’ll be back with those special offers here later on the blog, but we didn’t want to spoil the fun by giving them away in advance!

Cheers!

Missed the February Social Media Seminar?

Did you miss the February 2nd Shop Local Raleigh social media seminar? We certainly missed you, but I’ve provided the information shared in that event below so that you can study up on social media and how it positively impact your marketing plans.

Presentation Files:

https://raleighwoodmedia.com/files/slr_marketing_seminar_2011_02_02.ppt (PowerPoint Format)
https://raleighwoodmedia.com/files/slr_marketing_seminar_2011_02_02.pdf (PDF Format)

My friend Greg – facilitator, educator, rhythmatist, Trained HealthRHYTHMS Facilitator, and founder of Shop Local Raleigh member business Drum for Change – asked if I could share these resources with him for an upcoming industry conference. I told him that “I am an open book” and would be happy to share this information as a resource for him and his group and also provided the following “talking points” (below) from the presentation (which I went back and added after the presentation, because if you’ve ever attended an event with me, you know I’m an “off-the-cuff” girl and like to let the audience and their questions about a topic steer our conversation). I thought it would be helpful to share here on the Raleighwood blog, too – for everyone’s benefit!

Talking Points:

Slide 3 – The AMA (American Marketing Association) board is comprised of working marketing professionals, so I feel this definition more accurately describes the business of marketing than the typical dictionary definition.

Slide 5 – As overused as the phrase “social media is a two-way conversation” is, it’s true! Businesses that only promote their businesses, but don’t take the opportunity to engage with their audience, are not going to benefit from the time and effort required to nurture this form of communication.

Slide 6 – BIG takeaway: DO NOT MAKE A PERSONAL PROFILE FOR YOUR BUSINESS. Make a PAGE. There is a difference. Signup at facebook.com/pages. Have a personal profile so you can understand how it works from the personal user perspective, but create a page for your business/brand/organization. A vanity URL is a short, personalized URL like http://www.facebook.com/raleighwood – this is the same as telling people what your website address is exactly so they can come right to you instead of telling them to “google you”, where your competitors could snatch up their attention, instead.

Slide 8 – Remember that twitter is a unique network in itself. You don’t want to have to Twitter profile for your brand and only populate it through your facebook activity. You won’t get very many followers if you’re not offering unique information to that audience separately. You’ll also be “blind” to the responses you get on Twitter if you never actually use twitter to engage your audience there, as well. (IE: They’re not going to go to your facebook page to leave you a comment, they’re going to do it on twitter and you will likely miss it.)

Slides 10 and 11 – I LOVE iContact.com for an email service provider. They are local to Durham, NC – as is Bronto.com. MailChimp.com is free as long as your list is under 1,000 subscribers.

Slide 12AllFacebook.com and Mashable.com are two nice resources for staying up to date on social media happenings and changes. They can be overwhelming due to the frequency of their content and updates, so I just check in once a month or so 🙂

Have any questions about this event? Feel free to ask! I hope to see you at the next Shop Local Raleigh seminar and will be sure to post details here when that event is confirmed!

Cheers,
Lisa

Join Me Tomorrow at Shop Local Raleigh’s First Seminar of the Year!

Join me tomorrow morning to kick-start your Spring marketing goals and hear from other local business owners and seasoned veterans who are using social media to support their marketing plans. The event, Free Social Media Seminar – Marketing for your Business: Facebook, Twitter, is the first for 2011 in a series of quarterly education events hosted by Shop Local Raleigh (part of the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association). ALL SLR & GRMA Members are invited.

We’ll talk about the idea of push versus pull marketing and some effective uses of social media for your business.

The free seminar will help you to understand:

Marketing and why it’s important for your business
Social Media 101
Email Marketing, Blogging & website and how they integrate
Top 10 Tips for Social Media Marketing 2011
Question/Answer panel including local business owners and veteran marketing professionals that use social media

And the best part? You’ll be able to hear me speak! (Just kidding about that being the best part. ;-)) Please do think well wishes for me though as today I’m fighting a nasty winter cold. Have no fear, I’ll be presenting tomorrow. Just please forgive if I sound a little raspy!

The event is from 9-11am on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 1 Maiden Lane – just off of Hillsborough Street.

RSVP to info@shoplocalraleigh.org today! Not a member, yet? That’s ok – come as our guest! But please still email to RSVP so we can have an accurate head count.