Articles in The 'Infographics' Tag

August 26 2013

Pinterest – Is it Right for Your Company?

Although a tad reluctant at first, many businesses have embraced the Social Media world and are pretty active on their channels. Social Media is a brilliant way to engage with clients or customers, offer exclusive incentives and promote new products or services. That being said, many companies have become rather proficient in engaging with their “likes” on Facebook and their “followers” on Twitter, but have little to no idea what Pinterest is, let alone how to utilize it (effectively) for their business. So, what is Pinterest anyway and how can it work for your company? Pinterest is self-described as “a tool for collecting and organizing the things that inspire you”. Wikipedia defines Pinterest as a pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies. Users can browse other pinboards for images, “re-pin” images to their own pinboards, or “like” photos.

If you are a business owner, you’re probably wondering (and you ought to be) how or if this booming social networking site could work for you. With its 25 million members and growing, Pinterest could be a wonderful addition to your overall social media marketing plan. One of the many benefits of Pinterest is that when someone “repins” one of your images, another person can then click on it, and he or she is then sent to your actual website and can either make a purchase, sign up for a Webinar, etc.

Here are examples of 3 top brands that are utilizing Pinterest very well:

Nordstrom

Whole Foods

Real Simple

In addition, below is an example of an ecommerce retailer (Polka Dot Peacock) currently running a giveaway contest on Pinterest. Being that I have made online purchases, I now receive their newsletters and this particular one caught my eye. It is a terrific way to gain Pinterest followers, as well as keep them engaged as they pin on their board(s) and what could be better than winning a free gift card?

I encourage you to take the time to research and understand how your business could effectively use Pinterest. Take a look at your competitors, as well as other websites you frequent to get ideas for how they might be utilizing Pinterest to interact, promote and grow their brand. For example, Infographics are quite popular on Pinterest, (especially for B2B companies) and are much more likely to be read than plain text.

The possibilities for how you can be creative and make Pinterest work for your company are pretty much endless.

Tags: Infographics, Pin, Pinboard, Pinboards, Pins, Pinterest, Repin, Repins, Social Media Strategy

Posted in: Social Media

August 16 2013

Creating Multimedia Content that Drives Links

by Lauren Owens

Multimedia content, such as infographics and videos, is user-friendly and highly sharable. And, because multimedia content is not text-centric, it can easily be “repurposed” for use in your offsite content and across your social media channels.

But, if created haphazardly, this type of content can harm your brand by appearing sloppy and unfinished. Instead of rushing to compete, or publishing content that doesn’t put your “best foot forward,” take a step back and focus on creating quality multimedia content that gets noticed.

Creating Quality Video Content

Thanks to the availability of inexpensive video cameras and video editing software, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to create great videos. But you do have to be mindful of a few “make-it-or-break-it” concepts. These include:

Sound Quality – Users never want to watch a video where they hear white noise, or where the audio sounds muffled or distant.

Visual Content – If possible, provide content from a variety of shots, images and/or camera angles. This will help your videos to be visually interesting.

Branding – It’s a great idea to “brand” your videos by including a graphical introduction that runs in the first 1-2 seconds of each video. (Make sure that the introduction does not run for more than 1-2 seconds. Anything longer may cause the user to lose interest.)

Once created, video content can be used on social media channels such as Facebook, Google+ and YouTube, and on your website. Just make sure to write unique, keyword optimized introductions to help your videos get noticed.

Creating Quality Infographics

When done correctly, Infographics are highly-sharable “link bait” that can help create groundswell around your products and ideas. The best Infographics have a few things in common:

They are visually appealing.

They have a single, specific purpose.

They use pictures to tell a story or illustrate a point.

They are easy to understand and follow.

Infographic content can live on your website (usually as part of a larger blog post), as well as be repurposed on your Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest pages. As with video content, be sure to use unique, keyword optimized description content and tags, so that your infographics can be found, wherever they are.

The Best Ideas Win

As with any content, the multimedia content you create should be useful to your audience. In other words, it should do more than sell.

Steer clear of creating promotional content and focus on providing solutions and illustrating points. If you can do this in a way that entertains, all the better.

Tags: Content Strategy & Optimization, Infographics, link building, videos

Posted in: Search Engine Optimization

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