Best Practices Guide

Utilize free platforms, our tools and your skills to best drive traffic and conversions.

Click on any section below for rapid navigation or scroll down.

1 | Driving Traffic To Your Page

FREE sources of traffic to your webpage.

Free Traffic Sources

Strategies and best practices to make the most of each free source of traffic.

2 | Social Media

Social Media Platforms

Posting Best Practices

Growth Strategies

2a | Social Media

Understanding each platform and where to best spend your time. You don’t need to use them all, simply get good at a few that work best for you.

Facebook

2.7+ billion users, 1.4+ billion daily
25-34 are largest segment of US users
68% of US uses Facebook
200 million members active in meaningful groups
97% of B2C companies and 89% of B2B companies use it

Best for photo/video and connecting with a community

Youtube

1.9+ billion users, 30+ million daily
5 billion videos watched per day
8/10 18-49 year olds use Youtube monthly
Google platform, content appears in search results
6/10 people prefer video platforms to TV

Best for video and SEO

Instagram

Best for photo/video and growing following

Twitter

Best for text and political initiatives

500+ million users, 105+ million daily
94% of B2B marketers distribute content
90 million senior level users, 63 million decision makers
49% of users salary exceeds $75k
51% of college graduates use it

Best for B2B (Business-To-Business) and informative content

Snapchat

Best for video and connecting with teenage audience

2b | Posting Best Practices

a | Type of Content

Using videos, photos, stories and the “Rule of 1/3’s”

Video Content

64% of consumers say watching a video has influenced a purchase decision in the last month
50% of people look for product videos before visiting a store
45% of people watch more than 1 hour of video on Facebook or Youtube each week
4 in 5 consumers consider video demo's helpful
Tweets with video get 6 times as many retweets as tweets with pictures
85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound
Video expected to represent 80% of internet traffic by 2021

Photo Content

Accounts for 75-90% of Facebook advertising effectiveness
Instagram photos with faces get 38% more likes
45% of B2C marketers believe visual content is their most important type (1st)
Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without
Article with images every 75-100 words were shared twice as much as those without
Facebook posts with pictures get 2.3 times the engagement than those without

Stories

Can post on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat
400 million people use Instagram stories everyday
1/3 of most viewed stories come from business accounts
Overstock.com ran Instagram story ads and saw an 18% return on investment and 20% decrease in cost per acquisition
Photo/video or live content (show human side)
Can link directly to your page (engagement & action)
Include elements of stories into posts and posts into stories

“Rule of 1/3’s”

2b | Posting Best Practices

b | Posting Frequency

General posts, Products With Purpose posts and the “7 Times Factor”

General Posting

Products With Purpose Posts

Mention in posts 2-3 times per month
"Jab, jab, jab, hook." - Gary Vaynerchuk theory - Offer 3 pieces of content with free value for every 1 you call for action.
Podcast content
Service information, how-to's and reminders
Thank you's
Seasonal related shopping

The “7 Times Factor”

Consumers typically need to see an ad 7 times or more before buying
People typically don't act the first time seeing and learning about a new service
47% of buyers biew 3-5 pieces of content before buying
Consumers like to "get to know" brands, products and services
Just because a message doesn't immediately convert, doesn't mean it isn't working
People at different points in life and busy at different times of the season (kids out of school in the summer, heavy shopping season Nov/Dec)
As a great publicist said, "you just beat the drum."

2b | Posting Best Practices

c | Posting Schedule

Different days and times are better to post than others on different platforms

General Posting Schedule Guidelines

Most consistent and best engagement is 9am-3pm M-F
Best time frame - 10am-1pm Wed & Fri
Best day of week - Wednesday
Worst day to post - Sunday, least engagement
Least engagement before 7am and after 5pm
As a great publicist once said, "you just beat the drum."

Post Engagement Heat Maps

Facebook Engagement

Instagram Engagement

Twitter Engagement

LinkedIn Engagement

Be creative, these are general guidelines only

Our Friday at Midnight Post

Each following and account are unique and different. Although engagement can be high during these times, there is also a much larger volume of posts during these times and which can make it tougher to be seen and featured on feeds.

With all of this said, our most viewed post to date is a video of an otter sliding down a bank of snow we posted at midnight on a Friday. Ultimately, we encourage you to be creative. Change and test different types at posts at different times of the day/week to find out what best works for you!

2b | Posting Best Practices

d | Hashtags & SEO

Hashtags help posts get seen in searches and support brand campaigns.

#

General 411 on Hashtags

Used to appear in search results 95-99%
Used to promote brands/campaigns 1-5%
Tweets with hashtags get twice as many retweets as those without
Different on each platform (see below)
Facebook - 0, no impact, not clickable or searchable
Twitter - 1-2, more than 2 and engagement drops
LinkedIn - 2-3, no limit, findable in search but engagement can drop
Instagram - Use of max 30, no change in engagement, most don't read, can't bury at end of comments
Instagram - Users can actually follower hashtags now

Types of #’s

Use #’s with 5,000-250,000+ posts

If more: Will get lost among numerous other posts
If less: Not enough popularity to be searched for
Simply start typing and the number of times each # has been used appears under the phrase
Can search for and use several other tools for keyword search volume (not just keyword use volume)

Pro-Tip:

Enter sets of a) brand and b) content related keywords into your phone’s keyboard “text replacement.” For example, we post a lot of environmental related content. “ENV” in our phones = #environment, #climatechange, #globalwarming, #sustainability, etc. This can help save time while making your hash-tagging strategies a key part of your exposure and growth.

2b | Posting Best Practices

e | Metrics

Key metrics to understand, track and grow.

Posts

Account

Action

2b | Posting Best Practices

f | Engagement & Impressions

Driving engagement increases impressions, likes and followers

What Drives Views & Virability?

Ways To Drive Engagement

Sharing quality content and through captions
Ask open ended questions/opinions/ratings
Ask to tag and share with "friends," "someone you love," "someone you want to do this with," etc.
Contests - Follow our account, like this post, share with 3 friends, etc.

FUN FACT: The most effective Facebook ads average 4 word titles and 15 word descriptions. “Short, sweet and to the point.”

2c | Social Media

Growth Strategies

Grow your following, likes, webpage views and conversions. Similar to the importance of the number of 5-star ratings/reviews online, a large social following leads directly to automatic consumer trust automatic and credibility for you or your organization.

Follow/Unfollow, “The Playground Technique”

The elementary school playground technique - running around to others kids and saying "Hi, want to be friends?"
Execution - follow and unfollow accounts 2-3 days later (can continue following accounts you choose and build relationships with)
Most effective technique for growing account (besides viral content or general popularity)
Used by all automated growth software and most social media growth companies/professionals

3 Follower Targeting Strategies

One of the best things about this technique is your ability to target your following and connect with your ideal followers.

Rate/speed

~100 follows/unfollows per day (~2,500 per month)
This is the industry recommended "safe" speed/rate but it's worth pushing the limits and seeing when you get a restriction as you maximize the acceleration of your account growth
Restriction - If you follow/unfollow too many accounts in too short of a time period, Instagram and others will restrict this for a certain time period
Restrictions only last 1 day, week (typical) or month (it remains unclear exactly what each platforms ever changing limits for these types of activities)
What to do if you get a restriction? Don't follow/unfollow any accounts for 2-3 days. If you get a warning the action is still restricted wait 7-10 more days before trying again - at this point the week ban will have usually lifted. If you're still unable to follow wait 30 days from the day of the first restriction (30 day bans are uncommon unless you are using automated software)
Will my account potentially get deleted? No, accounts typically get deleted for posting inappropriate content or vulgar comments

Pro Tip

Interaction – Like, Comment, Story View

Like the posts of accounts you're following in your feed and others (targeting posts with less than 100-150 likes will be more effective)
Comment - posts on any amount of likes/comments (noticed by account posting and others seeing the post)
Like's other's comments and respond to them
Respond to and like all comments on your posts
Watch stories, can also comment on them - posting account can see it

Genuine interaction can help attract new followers

DM Communication Outreach

Basic outreach through direct messaging
Can attract new followers and increase engagement with current following through direct messages
Can send news and announcements
Can help to personalize the message specific to their account, profile or reason for your reach out to them

3 | Email

Building an Email List

Email Schedule & Frequency

Email Content

3a | Email

Building An Email List

Email is still extremely effective and one of the most preferred channels of communication by online marketers.

Why Use Email Marketing?

2.9 billion email users worldwide (250 million US)
99% of consumers check email everyday (50% of US checks email 10+ times per day)
93% of business marketers use it
83% of business marketers use newsletters (40% say they are most crucial to their marketing success)
80% of retail professionals say email marketing is their greatest driver of customer retention
59% of B2B marketers say email is their most effective communication channel in terms of revenue
77% of people prefer getting promotional messages via email instead of direct mail, text or phone
86% of business professionals prefer to use email for business communication (73% of millennials)
Email subscribers are 3x more likely to share content on social media than others

FUN FACT: The most effective Facebook ads average 4 word titles and 15 word descriptions. “Short, sweet and to the point.”

List Building Strategies

Make it easy to subscribe - clean, clear and simple
Add email newsletter signup near top of the homepage of your website - one of the most important calls to action
Can offer value in exchange for email address to help capture rate - something free and simple
Collect email adderss whenever you can - personal contact, signing up for events, etc.
Send an email subscription confirmation and welcome email

3b | Email

Email Schedule & Frequency

When and how often to send what type of emails

Top-10 Consumer Spending Events (National Retail Federation)

Seasonality

JAN - missed items from holiday wishlist, spring break travel, storage, household items
FEB - Valentine's Day gifts, Super-Bowl parties, bed, bath, living, kitchen
MAR - Spring break, St. Patrick's Day, summer travel, spring/summer clothing
APRIL - Easter, tax return, home updates, spring cleaning
MAY - Mother's Day, graduation, summer gear, dinner/event hosting, patio
JUN - Father's Day, graduation, summer break, outdoor activities, youth sports/activities
JUL - 4th of July, Amazon Prime Day, travel/on-the-move, recreation, yard
AUG - Back to college, back to school, summer events/activities, beat the heat
SEP - Back to college, back to school, winter/holiday travel, football weekends
OCT - Halloween, home, winter/holiday travel, winter clothing, home decor
NOV - Black Friday, Cyber Monday, holiday shopping, latest technology, winter sports
DEC - Holiday shopping, gift cards, party hosting, family

Time of Day/Week

Tuesday is the best day to send (10+ studies)
Thursday is the second best day (use Tuesdays and Thursdays if you send about 1-2 emails per week)
Wednesday is 3rd best
10am - On-task, focused, ready to respond
2pm - Start looking for distractions in afternoon (typically)
6am and 8pm - Also showed to be effective, people starting and ending their day

Frequency/Cadency

3c | Email

Email Content

What to types of emails to send and what to include

Types

Informative - general awareness of service, how to execute, basics, friendly reminders
Thank you's - shows followers others are donating even if they aren't - people want to do what others are doing
Seasonally related shopping - based on content above
Contests - Although we don't use them a lot, contests can be a good way to increase awareness, open and click-through rates

Tips

Subject lines are important for open rates - need to stand out a bit from the clutter (ALL-CAPS, emoji's, engaging headlines, breaking news, stories, stimulate curiosity, short, free stuff, among others)
Keep it simple, short and sweet messages
Power of 3 - programmed to learn in patterns and 3 is the smallest pattern possible - messaging stick, engaging and efficient
"Blood, sweat and tears," "mind, body, spirit," "lights, camera, action," "click, shop, donate"
Create simple sets of tasks for users to complete if they are interested (1) visit our webpage, 2) click on your store, 3) automatically donate when you complete your purchase)
Clear CTA "Call to Action" - Above the fold, easy to find (Learn more, bookmark page, shop now, shop and donate now)
The more you or another person can be on video demonstrating, explaining, reminding or thanking, the more personal and impactful the message
Optimize for mobile - 46% of all emails opened on mobile
Unsubscribe - include an unsubscribe button (if people start to unsubscribe, it could be a sign you're sending too many emails or they don't like the content)

Optimal Email Campaign

Launch campaign - 1 email per week for 3 week (1 introductory/informative, 1 seasonal, 1 thank you)
1 informative/general awareness every 6-8 weeks
1 seasonal/shopping related every 6-8 weeks
1 thank you every 6-8 weeks
General rule - one email every 3-4 weeks specific to the service

NOTE: These general rules apply to emails specifically focused on your Products With Purpose page/service. It helps to include reminders, CTA’s and links to your page whenever you can in your other general email communication.

4 | Sharing

What can people share of yours?

Benefits of Your Content Being Shared

How to Drive Sharing

Ask people - they won't share it unless you ask them
Make it easy - share buttons, links
Tell people to share for different reasons
"Share with someone who would love this." "Share with someone who would enjoy getting involved too." "Share with your partner, 3 friends, someone that can relate, etc." "If you think your friends would like this too, we'd love you to share it. Thank you so much!"
Type of content most likely to be shared - a) video, b) photo, c) text
Popularity - more likes, comments and shares the more popular the content seems and more likely people will be to share it
High quality content people are proud to share with those close to them
Optimize for mobile - 46% of all emails opened on mobile
Unsubscribe - include an unsubscribe button (if people start to unsubscribe, it could be a sign you're sending too many emails or they don't like the content)

5 | SEO

Social Media Posts

Most impactful on Instagram and Youtube
Using your 30 hashtags on Instagram is best thing you can do to be found in organic search on the platform
Youtube - Title, description and tags are important for SEO on Youtube (remember your Youtube videos can also be shown in Google search results too)
Include the recommended number of hashtags in your Twitter (1-2) and LinkedIn (2-3) posts to help get found as well

Webpage, Backlinking, Domain Authority

Google wants to deliver the most relevant search results to it's user
Looks for sites with the related search results with the highest domain authority
Content, credibility and the backend of your website are 3 important ranking factors
Content - Relevant searches terms and keywords included in you titles, subtitles and text of content gives it a better chance of showing up more often. The content is as popular as the subject is being searched for.
Backlinking - The more people that link to your page from their website or blog posts, the more of a trusted authority you become to Google and will be shown more often
Website plugins - plugins and other data from your website setup can help Google read and understand it's content better to help rank better in search results

6 | We Help Drive Traffic

Podcast

When featured on our podcast, we post your clips to our social media as well.

Posts & Newsletter

We follow your newsletter and include random news in our social posts and newsletter.

Communities

Benefit from revenue communities drive for you that you’re included in as well.

Navigation

Your page also becomes part of our cause or community navigation menus.

7 | Goals For Success

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.”

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

Growing Your Revenue

The difference between pages that succeed and not, are those that manage expectations and continue to see the end of goal of complete adoption by your following
The 7 times factor can often be a 15-20+ times factor
Timeline of graph represents 18-24 months (pace adoption can be often be much quicker depending on your relationship with your following)
Stay patient early on, just because you're not generating as much revenue as you might want, doesn't mean you're not building familiarity and awareness
Stay consistent, continue to spread awareness, information, reminders and thank you's

The best thing you can do is “beat the drum.” We love to help you succeed and are always here if you need anything.