Before you can manage your Google business profile, you’ll need to first claim and verify your Google My Business listing.

In this post, we’ll provide some background on Google My Business listings along with instructions on how to claim and verify your business on Google.

What are Google Business Listings?

When you search on Google or Google Maps, you’ll regularly see business listings as part of the search results.
These are the search results that display vital information about relevant businesses in your local area. You can quickly view the business name, photos, description, ratings, address, phone number and hours of operation.

Google generates these business listings from publicly available information. So if you’re a business owner, your business may be listed here – even if you’ve never added your business details to Google.

What many business owners don't know is that you can update your business details, respond to reviews, and interact with potential customers via your Google My Business listing.
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First, you’ll need to claim and verify your business listing. Once you complete this simple process, you can update your business hours, add photos to your listing, respond to reviews, and answer customer questions.

You can also post your most recent offers, updates, and events to your Google business listing. This means prospective customers will see your latest promotions in the search results when they search for your business on Google search and Google Maps.

 You can use dlvr.it to schedule and auto post your promos and updates to your Google business listing. Check out our Google My Business scheduler and auto poster. 

Why are Google My Business Listings So Important?

Your Google My Business listing is often the first thing prospective customers see when they search for your business.
In many cases, prospective customers will make the decision to visit your business (or not) after viewing your listing, without ever clicking through to your website.

To give you a sense of how important Google Business Listings are for local businesses, consider the following. The vast majority of smartphone owners regularly use maps and navigation apps. Google Maps is by far the most widely used navigation app. Google Maps is used by close to 70% of smartphone users – nearly 6x over the number 2 app (Waze at 12%).

To make a powerful first impression on these customers, a strong and accurate Google My Business listing is critical.

For instance, if your listing doesn’t contain an accurate description of your business or lacks attractive photos, you may be losing customers at the very start of the search process.

If your listing includes the wrong hours, you might be losing customers who think you are closed when you are actually open for business.

What’s included in a Google My Business Listing?

Google Business listings display vital business information to prospective customers including your business name, ratings, hours of operation, and a brief description of your business. Google business listings also include vital contact information including your physical address, phone number, and a link to your website.

When searching from Google Maps on mobile devices, users can easily click the business listing to call the business or get directions. Users can also send a text message to the business if the business has activated text messaging.

You can also post your latest promotions, events, and updates on your business listing. Prospective customers will see these updates when your listing displays on Google Search or Maps.

Additionally, Google displays users generated details about the business, including photos, reviews, and questions asked by prospective customers.

Google Business Listings appear in Google Search and Maps results across desktop, mobile and voice search.

If you have used Google, you are familiar with business listings. You’ve very likely used Google business listing to get directions or check a store’s hours.

Why should I claim and verify my Google Business Listing?

Google Business Listings are now a critical component of local SEO. Your Google Business listing is the first thing many prospective customers will see when they search for your business.

The single most important marketing step many local businesses make is making sure your Google listing is accurate, attractive, and up-to-date.

Simply adding an attractive photo, adding your phone number, and updating your hours can make a huge impact on the number of customers find and visiting your business.

Once you complete the verification process, you’ll be able to manage your business listing and interact with prospective customers.

• Update description of your business
• Edit days and hours of operation
• Update phone number
• Edit website link
• Add photos
• Post your latest promotions and updates
• Responding to and managing reviews
• Answer questions
• Your customers can also follow you and get notified when you post promotions, offers, or updates to your listing.
• You can even receive text messages from prospective customers
• View key search analytics for mobile and desktop searches

If all this weren’t enough to convince you of the importance of managing your Google business listing, consider the following.

Many businesses report that updating their Google business listing has a huge positive impact on search engine optimization. In other words, updating your Google business listing may get your business higher up in search results.

How do I claim and verify my Google My Business listing?

1. Log into your Google account and head to Google’s Business Manager

If you have multiple Google accounts, be sure to use your business login. The Google account you start the verification process with will be the manager / owner of your business listing.

Additionally, the verification process (see below) may be faster if you are logged into a Google account associated with your business and with an email address at your business’ domain.

2. Enter the name of your business and select your business location from the list

If you have multiple business locations, you’ll need to claim and verify each one individually. Just start with the first one you want to claim, and then do the process again for the others.

If you do not see your business listed, that means Google does not yet have a listing for your business. Instead of claiming your existing business listing, you’ll simply follow the steps to create a new business listing.

3. Confirm your business details

You’ll be prompted to confirm your business’ name, address, phone, and website.

You’ll also be prompted to select your Business Category.

If your not exactly sure which category best fits your business, go ahead and pick one that is a good fit. Once you verify your business you can update your Business category and you’ll also be able to set more than one category.

4. Start the verification process

Google requires you to verify that you are authorized to manage the business listing.  Once you’ve completed the verification process, you’ll be able to update and manage your business listing.

The most common verification is via old fashioned Postal Mail.  Verification via postal mail is available to all businesses.

Google will send a verification code to your business address via postal mail. It can take 5 or more days for your 5 digit verification code to arrive.

For select business, Google offers faster verification methods, including verification via phone call, email and even instant verification for some Google Search console users.

5. Check your postal mail

You’ll receive a Google envelope at business location address. This typically arrives within 5-7 days once you initiate the verification process.

Inside the envelope is your verification code.

Be on the lookout for something that looks like this:

Open it up to find your verification code:

6. Log back into your Google Account to complete the verification

Head over to Google’s Business Manager.

Select the ‘verify’ option for the location you are verifying and enter your code.

Boom, your business is verified! You can now manage your business listing, add photos, manage reviews and more!

Once you’ve verified, your listing may enter a pending state. During this pending period, your listing may be reviewed for quality and can take up to 3 days to be published.

The post How to Claim and Verify Your Google My Business Listing appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

It is a violation of Facebook Terms to use your personal profile to represent something other than yourself, such as your business. And recent Facebook changes have made it more challenging for businesses to market on personal profiles. Importantly, Facebook no longer allows 3rd party applications, which are widely used by businesses, to post to personal profiles.

In general, Facebook is trying to encourage businesses to use pages for these purposes, rather than using their profiles.

Considering that Facebook Pages are far more useful than personal profiles for businesses, this change is a welcome one. While shifting your business marketing focus from your personal Facebook profile to a Facebook Page may be anxiety inducing, there are many good reasons to do it.

How are things different now for Facebook Pages and personal Facebook Profiles

Facebook has altered its platform for third party applications, in particular. Third party applications can no longer post to Facebook profiles on behalf of the user. Facebook clearly rejects any strategy involving businesses using personal profiles for marketing purposes. So while automated posting to Profiles is going away, Facebook will continue to support automation to Pages and Groups.

Facebook is continuing to encourage tools that help users manage and automated their business tasks.  Business users. That being the case, we must look at the reason that Facebook believes that Business users need Pages and Groups more.

Personal Profiles are geared toward helping individuals share personal details and connect with their friends and family. It provides opportunities to post to your friends, add your job title, and add your education. Nowhere in a Profile are you able to indicate a business entity. This represents a very intentional move on Facebook’s part.

What does Facebook have to say about this?

Facebook actually actively discourages using a profile to promote your business. Using your profile to represent your business is against Facebook’s terms of service, and could cause you to permanently lose access to their platform. This risk is definitively not worth losing all the hard work on your profile anyway, and all it takes is one report on your profile to make that happen.

The place that you can indicate a business entity is a Facebook Page. A Facebook Page and/or Group can help your business build its identity, rather than building a person’s identity. Your Facebook Page offers features that help your business hone their Facebook success, with Analytics built right in. With all these features available, Facebook makes your Business Page a great environment in which to operate.

Groups exist to market to your user base as well. A group can be set up to address a specific group of people, or a specific topic. As an Administrator of a group, you can set the topics and enforce rules of the group.

Groups are a great way to facilitate conversation and market to your desired consumer. By setting up a categorized group, or a group that talks about a specific product, you can find those people on Facebook who would be interested in your product. For example, if you have a company that sells cat toys, you may create a group that appeals to pet parents.

This is a great way for people to discuss their favorite cat products, their pets, and tips for caring for their pets. This being the case, you, as the marketer, have a great opportunity to slip in your marketing opportunities among the discussion.

Why should I post to Facebook Pages and Groups instead of to my personal Facebook profile?

Personal Facebook Profiles are intended to be for a person, not a business. In making a profile gear toward your business, you are actually performing a disservice to your business. You are limiting the reach of your business to just that of a profile. When you use a Facebook page, you are opening up a lot of opportunities for yourself, including a very powerful suite of Analytics, along with opportunities to implement calls to action and purchase Boosts for your posts.

A call to action on Facebook allows you to connect your customers directly to your resources. You may choose to connect a messenger, a website, a shopping page, or a contact us page. Any call to action option provides a valuable opportunity for interaction with a new or existing customer.

What are the analytics that I can access?

Facebook’s analytics are incredibly robust because of the wide variety of activity that is encouraged on Facebook. For your business pages, you can analyze timing of your posts, likes of your posts, reach of your posts, and engagement on your posts.

The most valuable analysis that Facebook provides is the analysis of when your followers are online. On a platform like Facebook, timing is everything. Many social media marketers want to know the ideal time to post to their timeline, and there are best practices for other social media platforms, but Facebook actually puts this info right in front of you.

Businesses can take advantage of so many opportunities through their pages and groups that simply aren’t available on a personal profile. Facebook’s analytics tools aren’t available for personal profiles. They won’t tell you when to post on a profile, but they will absolutely do this on your business page.

Why is a profile a bad idea for my business?

When you’re using a profile, you’re giving up your business identity. Because profiles are geared toward individuals (and should ONLY be used by individuals), you cannot place your business name front and center. In fact, again, this is against Facebook’s terms of service.

Your business identity cannot be part of your profile when you’re using Facebook. Remember that using Facebook is meant to promote your business. If you’re trying to do that on a personal profile, you are risking losing your access permanently.

Rather than putting all that work into a personal profile, put your efforts toward making your business page more robust. Put your energy into building this out so that your page can become verified. The verified badge helps users understand that this is your official page.

Getting your page verified by Facebook is a great way to generate an air of legitimacy about your business. Unfortunately, this badge will not appear on a profile if you are trying to use it for business.

What’s difference between posting to personal Facebook Profiles and Facebook Pages when it comes to SEO?

Within profiles, some choose to use their Facebook bio for SEO reasons. However, while this is a great addition to help with SEO, it isn’t necessarily the best tool to communicate about your business. Your page will allow you to build a complete profile for your business. Facebook has outlined a process to set up your page for your business.

Within that process contains information about how to set up a call to action. This may not seem like an important detail, but it is the one part of the process that can convert into money for your business. A call to action can direct your customers into your website where they can make a purchase.

This source of conversions provides the best possible chance you have from Facebook to get your business page to bring in money for you.

But I’ve spent all this time marketing on my personal Facebook profile

Not to worry. Facebook has already thought of that. There is a section of Facebook that will allow you to convert a profile into a page. Rather than losing all that work that you’ve put into the profile, you can retain all of that work. You won’t be losing any of the SEO that comes with your profile content.

A lot of businesses also worry about having people find their new page. There are actually a number of tools that can help with that. For example, Facebook’s people search tool can help. Of course, Ads may be the best solution for your business, but that’s a whole other post.

Not only will you be able to convert the profile into a page, you will also be able to add the friends into the page’s followers. Profiles may be a great short term tool, but for the long term, a page is the better option.

How do I complete this conversion?

With the conversion process, you will not be losing any of the information associated with the profile. The one thing that is lost in the conversion is the metrics associated with your posts. In the end, though, page insights are much more helpful for the analytics they provide.

Conversion also presents an excellent opportunity for page cleanup. Facebook allows you to select the content that you want to transfer. If you have information associated with your profile that no longer applies, you can simply choose to ignore it in the conversion. Beware, though, as the conversion cannot be reversed. If you want to convert, this will be a permanent page, and your profile will be gone permanently.

This is not a bad thing, but it is important to remember that this is a permanent process, so save what you must while you’re converting.

What happens after my conversion is done?

Once you’ve completed the conversion process, a couple of things will happen. First, your friends from the profile receive a notification that you’ve created a new page. They will then have the option to become a follower of that page.

If you choose that friend to follow your new page, they will automatically be removed from following your profile and will transition into a follower of your page. If your profile contained verified status, that verified status transfers over to your page as well.

Facebook also automatically takes care of transferring your profile and cover photo, so you don’t have to worry about that. You also have the opportunity to preview the changes before making the page live.

Wrapping it all up

Facebook wants your business to be successful, so they provide tools that help your business succeed. When you’re using a profile, you’re ignoring those finely tuned tools that Facebook has spent a lot of time and effort researching and implementing.

Understandably, many business owners are wary of these types of tools, but I promise, it is worth it to use these options. The call to action alone is an invaluable tool for your business. In the end, Facebook pages are simply a better option for most businesses.

The post Marketing Your Business on Facebook: Facebook Pages vs. Profiles appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

Why use Facebook Stories or Instagram Stories in the first place?

Because this is a platform on the rise, it is a great idea to get in on the ground floor. Facebook Stories recently hit 150 Million users, beginning to rival Snapchat’s numbers. Facebook has even said that it is likely that the Story format will soon overtake the Feed format of sharing. The shift that we’re seeing is overtaking the text-based post, and moving toward visual posts. Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram have recognized what seems to be obvious to some: the mobile camera is the future. The camera is what we take everywhere with us via our phones. It is what allows us to transmit those potentially important moments to our social media timelines to share with friends, family, and followers.

Because this is a platform on the rise, it is a great idea to get in on the ground floor. Facebook Stories recently hit 150 Million users, beginning to rival Snapchat's numbers.
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Facebook’s focus on this format is evident from the fact that they are launching Ads within Stories. Ads have been available on Facebook forever, which target their huge user base. However, Ads within stories is a brand new option. Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, indicated that they are looking to optimize Ads in the Stories timeline. The focus is now centralized on optimizing this feature for businesses as well as individuals. Stories is now being expanded to third party applications, like Spotify, for use within that timeline. One thing is clear: Facebook is trying to stay ahead of the curve and keep Stories relevant in their own platform.

Facebook Stories and your Timeline

The first thing that you may be wondering is what the heck a Facebook Story is. This feature is essentially a short term post. The post lasts for 24 hours, and then is launched into internet oblivion, never to be heard from again. However, as of Thursday, July 12, Facebook has made it easier to save your videos or images that you’ve posted through stories. Facebook recently introduced an archive feature that allows you to save posts that you’ve spent valuable time creating.

What is the difference between a Facebook Story and a Regular Facebook Post?

In essence, it is the duration that it is live, and the location in which it lives. The Stories posts will live in a separate section at the top of the timeline. This is what makes this type of story invaluable, but more on that later. The more important thing to know about a story is that it doesn’t work like a regular post. It’s not text-based with shared links or pictures. It is image based. This means that when you post a Facebook story, you won’t be able to explain what the story is about, so your content must be visual.

How do I create a Facebook Story?

Stories, as a visual platform, are specifically geared toward mobile. With that being the case, they are currently only available on the mobile platforms. You can create a story post via your Android or iPhone app and post that to your Stories timeline. This doesn’t get shared to your normal timeline unless you manually share it. If you do share to your normal timeline, you will not lose the content. To create this story, you simply use your camera on your mobile phone to capture your content.

What’s the deal with the archive?

The archive is brand new along with their new Highlights feature! It’s an introduction that Facebook has made that will save those posts that you’ve spent very valuable time creating. The archive allows you to look back over your Stories posts and retrieve those that you find that you want to retain. Simply access the archive, then save the photo, and it will download to your device. From your archive, you can share a post to your Highlights to make it front and center for your followers.

Where will my Facebook Stories appear?

Facebook stories appear in the Stories timeline. This is a very valuable section of real estate on a Facebook timeline. As you’ve probably noticed, your Facebook timeline is organized by an algorithm. Facebook determines which posts are placed at the top of a timeline based on behavior. However, in the Stories timeline, posts are placed chronologically. The timeline is set at the top of Facebook’s application in Android and on the iPhone application. In desktop mode, you don’t see actual stories, but you can see your friends and the last time they posted. It is important to note that Facebook users will not see your Stories unless they follow you. So, tailoring your content for people that you know already follow you is ideal.

If you want these stories posted on your timeline, you can share them on your timeline. This will allow others who don’t follow you to see your stories.

How can I tell who accessed my Facebook Story?

Unlike normal Facebook posts, there are no engagements on Stories. Viewers cannot like or react to your stories. However, you can see who viewed the story. Who is able to see your story is dictated by who you’ve been chatting with on Messenger. If you set your story to Public, your story will be able to be viewed by anyone who follows you, friends, or anyone that you’ve chatted with on Messenger. If you would like to see how many people have viewed the story, you will be able to see this on the story itself. There will be a view count and a list of people who viewed your story. The list is organized with friends first, which means that any friends who viewed your story will be at the top of the list.

Instagram Stories

You might be wondering why Facebook and Instagram would both have the same stories feature. Instagram is a platform which lends itself naturally to the Story format. Because Instagram already works primarily in image posts, the Story format is perfect for it. The difference, however, is in how the posts appear, and how the posts are tagged.

What is the difference between Facebook Stories and an Instagram Stories?

The stories are similar in how they function. There are a few differences, however. First, Instagram has released a highlights option. This is a feature that will allow you to retrieve your stories and re-post them to your timeline in a different fashion, under a special section reserved for those highlights. There is also an archive, like Facebook’s archive, that will allow you to share posts to your regular timeline. Like Facebook, though, these posts will only last 24 hours. If you want these stories to retain longer than this 24 hours, you will need to make sure that your archive is enabled. You can also add @mentions and hashtags to your Stories on Instagram, or you can draw on your stories. Instagram stories also feature Snapchat-like filters that can be overlaid onto your video or picture.

How can my followers tell that I’ve shared an Instagram story?

Unlike Facebook, there’s an easy way to tell if someone has shared a story. When there is a story active on your timeline, your Profile picture will be modified with a colorful ring surrounding it. This will alert your followers, or anyone viewing your profile, that you have posted a story. Your followers will also see that you’ve posted a story when they look at the top of their Feed. Your profile picture will appear there. You can also cross post your Stories to Facebook.

Now that I’ve shared an Instagram Story, how can I see who has accessed it?

This is similar to Facebook in that there are no interactions. You will have view counts, like Facebook, and you will be able to see who has viewed your story. Only you can see this information, as it is hidden from the public view. If you have a story that did particularly well, you can share that story from your archives.

What is this that I’m hearing about Instagram Stories Q&A?

Instagram has announced a new feature called Q&A. It is a feature that allows an Instagram Story to become interactive. As it currently stands, there are no interactions or comments on an Instagram Story. This new feature provides the opportunity to direct conversation to a specific topic by asking your viewers a question. You can then interact with those who have viewed your content via a short answer forum.

The OG – Snapchat

Snapchat is the original Story format. They created the short term post forum under the premise that some would want their memories to be experienced in the moment, without lingering. In that spirit, the Snap will only stick around for 24 hours before it’s gone. Snapchat also created the types of filters that are overlaid onto your posts. They created the multiple Snap animation, and they created the augmented reality that allows overlay onto any picture.

So, what the heck is the difference between Snapchat and Facebook and Instagram Stories?

Snapchat is significantly different than these platforms. The entire purpose of the platform is to communicate with others in ‘Snaps’ which are short picture stories. You can Multi-Snap, which means that you will see your photos as a short video, rather than a picture. Snapchat has a feature called Snapcodes. This feature is basically a QR code that allows you to Friend someone with a simple scan. These codes can also unlock lenses. A lens is the overlay filter that is signature for Snapchat. Snapchat has also implemented a feature called Snapcash. This is similar to the payment feature in Facebook messenger. This feature also offers a quirky feature that can make it rain on your friend’s screen. Snapchat, in essence, is a self-contained platform within the Story post format. The entire point of the platform is to send Story posts.

So, does Snapchat have an Archive?

In short, sort of. They have a Memories feature. This feature is a manual feature. As a user, you have to manually add each Snap into your Memories, or it is lost. There is an option to auto save, but only Snaps that are posted to your Story. Snapchat also allows you to add memories to a section of the app called “My Eyes Only.” This section is a vault. It is only accessible via a passcode, and if you forget that passcode, you’re out of luck. If you forget it, not even Snapchat has access to it. So take care to add this feature only if you know you will be able to remember your passcode. If you create a new passcode for the My Eyes Only section, it will wipe out all content within this section.

How do people recognize me on Snapchat?

Snapchat is very different from Facebook and Instagram in the way that they create profiles. The profile picture in Snapchat is not an actual picture. They have created an avatar of sorts that is called the Bitmoji. The Bitmoji is created through a different app that has to be downloaded separately from the Snapchat app. This can cause Snapchat to be a little bit more heavy in the amount of space that it takes up on your phone. Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories are both dealt with in their own native apps, but Snapchat needs this additional app to create your Profile Bitmoji.

Why use Snapchat over Facebook Stories or Instagram Stories?

The captive audience. Snapchat is all about the story posts. Your audience is specifically there for the content. They are using Snapchat to view this type of story. It is a great place to test content. If you have some type of content that you’re nervous about trying, it can be great to try it out on Snapchat to see how well it works. It is also a completely different space. Instead of having this tied to all of your other profile content, it’s the focus. In other words, in a particularly noisy Facebook and Instagram world, Snapchat is a breath of fresh air. It is the timeline that can remain clean and organized without all the other stuff that you’re trying to communicate to your followers.

Wrapping it all up

Snapchat, Facebook Stories, and Instagram Stories are all similar in how they operate and how they communicate to your viewers. Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories have recently added a few features that offer the user more customization than previously available. The real estate of the Stories features is invaluable, as Facebook and Instagram are trying to reach back to their roots and bring users back to the pure source of content. Facebook is trying to boost the value of the Stories feature, with new features being added every day. These features can provide the business user an invaluable tool to make Facebook and Instagram far more appealing to their average viewer. So, now that we know what these features are, we need to find out how we can use them to better our business. More on that next time. We will go over the features currently offered in Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, and Snapchat, and offer some best practices for when you’re developing your content.

The post Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, and Snapchat – New Formats for a New Age appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

There are quite a few things that you can do with your Pinterest to make it more relevant, and some of these things can be done in only an hour!
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Why do I need Pinterest for my business?

Pinterest is a fast growing platform that year-over-year expands its user base among both men and women. Pinterest is stereotypically associated with women, which is understandable since that is the primary user base. However, 40% of new user signups are men. This indicates that this form of social media is on the rise. Yes, photo-based social media is not just for Instagram anymore. There are quite a few things that you can do with your Pinterest to make it more relevant, and some of these things can be done in only an hour!

Pinterest is also one of the fastest revenue-generating platforms out there. Shopify partnered with Pinterest to gather data about product purchase habits of Pinterest users. They found that 96% of Pinterest users rely on Pinterest to gather product information, 93% plan purchases using Pinterest, and each of these purchases averages $50. All of this revenue could be slipping through your fingers if you choose not to use Pinterest.

1. Add your logo to your business Pinterest account

2 minutes
Setting up your business Pinterest account is the first step in this process. If you become a verified business through Pinterest, this can add a lot of goodwill and trust in the community. Not only can this add goodwill and trust, but it can offer opportunities that aren’t available in personal Pinterest accounts. The most important of these opportunities is Rich Pins. These Pins can provide information about your product right in the Pin.

Adding a logo as a picture in your profile can also add an air of legitimacy to your Pinterest posts. If you need a logo, there are many tools that can help you build a logo. I’ve always personally been partial to Canva due to their library of templates to get you started. However, there are other tools that can help in this arena. Once you have your logo created, you can use the steps that Pinterest has provided to get this added to your profile.

2. Make sure all your Pins are active and functional

5 minutes
This is probably the most important check to perform of all. After all, your Pinterest account will probably not be super helpful if it doesn’t direct back to functional content. Shockingly, VentureBeat reports that 50% of top Pins on Pinterest link back to outdated links that no longer function!

There are a number of tools out there that can help to perform this check. You can start with Boardbooster’s Pin Doctor. They require a monthly plan and they will also ask that you pay per Pin that you check, however, this is the fastest option to keep your business Pinterest as functional as it can be. Pin4Ever also provides an excellent suite of tools that not only backs up your Pinterest, but also checks the functionality of your Pins.

If you prefer to avoid paying for these checks, you can perform more manual processes that will help you check out these links. The ScreamingFrog SEO Spider tool will help you check your links manually. You can also use a broken link checker to make sure that your links are functional.

3. Add a Pinterest follow button to your website

5 minutes
A great method to link your business Pinterest account front and center is to create a follow button or widget to your website. These buttons can link directly back into your Pinterest profile and help your users follow the content that pertains exactly to what they’re reading. If they see these links on your website, you are setting a direct pipeline to your users that can provide them with everything that they need to know about your business.

Also, if you have an RSS Feed that is generated with your website, you can link this directly to your dlvr.it account so that your content is automatically published to your Pinterest account. This option will help you optimize your Pinterest publishing for the best dates and times.

img source: Pinterest

4. Add your keywords to your Pinterest username

5 minutes
This suggestion really has to do with SEO. Your search engine optimization depends on your ability to make your desired keywords front and center in your content. To become the Google authority on a subject, placing this keyword front and center in your title is key in making sure that Google picks this up. It’s much easier for Google to find a subject if it is placed within the headers in a website, and placing those keywords in your title is doing just that.

5. Promote your Pinterest boards on Facebook, Twitter and all your social media pages

10 minutes
Why would I want to use my other social media content? In order to promote all of your social media accounts, you must consider that all of them can be linked together. Your other social media accounts can benefit from your SEO that is implemented from your Pins. All of your business Pinterest content can lead back to your other content on your social media accounts. That being the case, linking your social media accounts to each other can only benefit you.

But posting each of your pins to your other social media pages and profiles can be a pain, particularly if you’re limited on time.

If you are looking to save time, try dlvr.it’s social media automation service to effortlessly share your pins to your Facebook pages, Twitter profile and more. Just connect Pinterest board to dlvr.it and add your social media pages and profiles. dlvr.it automatically posts your new pins across your social media pages.

How do I connect Pinterest to my other social media accounts?

dlvr.it provides many options to link your content directly to your Pinterest account along with many other Socials. Pinterest only states that you can directly link your Facebook and Twitter, while dlvr.it offers the options to send content simultaneously to Tumblr, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Company pages, and more.

Another great reason to use a service like dlvr.it to link your content to your Social Media accounts is that the content will appear more Curated. This means that if you have an RSS Feed that is more suited for Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook, but your other Feeds may only be suited for Pinterest and Facebook, you will be publishing your content to the appropriate Social Media channels.

If, however, you would like to do this through Pinterest, Pinterest has created a tutorial to help you add your business Pinterest account to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

If you find some extra time after sifting through your Evergreen content, take some time to comment on the Pins of others that tie into your content. It will help to direct potential followers back to your content.

To automate the cross-posting of latest blog posts to Pinterest, try dlvr.it’s social media automation service.

6. Re-pin some of your Evergreen Content

10 minutes
Pinterest has recently been publishing a string of what they consider important to consider when using their platform. One of the most important aspects of their anticipation of success is publishing Evergreen content. Unlike other platforms, Evergreen content is vital to Pinterest success.

The reasons for Evergreen content to be at the forefront of your strategy lies in the content itself. By nature, Pinterest content is around forever, and because of this, your content should be relevant to all audiences for a long period of time. Things like tutorials, infographics, and and recipes last forever and Pinterest will make sure that they are found.

dlvr.it’s EverQueue service helps you re-pin the Evergreen content that you find the most appealing. All you have to do is import the content that you want to republish automatically, set your Pinterest account to re-pin, and then let dlvr.it do the rest! This service cuts down on the time that you spend re-pinning even further.

How should I choose my Evergreen content?

Finding your most popular content is a great start to locating your best Evergreen content. Once you’ve located the most popular content, you can determine the most relevant content. Start with the content that is most currently relevant. Since it’s your content, you probably know it best. Find those pieces of content that will be the most timeless. “How-tos” and tutorials are the most Pinterest-friendly content.

When you create a new blog post, share your featured image and link to your Pinterest page. Take advantage of Pinterest’s vast audience to promote your blog. It’s easy to pin your new blog post page to your Pinterest board – be sure to use an attractive and compelling featured image with your post to grab the attention of your Pinterest audience.

7. Turn off your search engine privacy

2 minutes
Why would I want to turn off my search engine privacy? In short, this privacy setting has the potential to be a game changer in your Pinterest traffic. The search engine privacy setting functions to protect people from finding your content on Google. Pinterest is a unique social media platform in that it allows your Pins to be Google search results. Because this is the case, if this privacy setting is activated, you’re throwing away the traffic that could come from Google.

In essence, the traffic that comes in from Google is the most important traffic that has the potential to be retrieved. Because Google uses Pinterest to populate a lot of search results, you can steal this traffic right out from under your competitors.

How do I turn off search engine privacy in Pinterest?

Turning off this setting couldn’t be easier. Pinterest has made a tutorial that will help you instantly launch yourself into Google’s search engine.

If you find yourself with a little bit of extra time during the week, you can hone your search engine craft. The best way to do this is to use a search engine optimization tool. Using these tools can help you select the most important keywords for your company’s interests. This can help to skyrocket your Pins to the top of Google’s results. Check out our blog post that will help you find the best search engine optimization tools.

8. Make sure you finish your profile

10 minutes
Why would I want to finish my profile? Isn’t a picture enough? In many ways, no. Not finishing your profile makes you seem lazy and uninterested in optimization. Not only is this another opportunity to make an impression, but it is another opportunity for SEO. You must think about Pinterest as an SEO machine to generate money for your endeavors. The platform will only work for you if you put your effort into it.

When you remember that Pinterest is a direct venue to Google, you understand that every word that you put into Pinterest is important. All things Pinterest feed into your SEO directly, and therefore, your profile is extremely important to making that impression that you need on your business Pinterest account.

9 Rename your boards to be more bold and innovative

5 minutes
Renaming your boards can help to improve your SEO immensely. There is a school of thought that discourages renaming Pinterest boards, however, if you are having trouble with your Google results, the only direction that you can go is up. As long as you’re remaining on topic with one focused category, your SEO will only improve. You can’t afford not to change these titles if you’re not optimized for search engine results.

How do I rename my boards?

This is another quick and easy edit to your Pinterest boards. It’s simply a matter of accessing the edit panel and changing the name of the board.

10. Use a popular Pin as your Cover Photo

5 minutes
Why is using a popular Pin important for your board’s cover? This cover photo is the first impression that you can make with your users. It is an 800 x 800 pixel space to convey exactly what your users can expect in your boards. This gives you the opportunity to place your branding front and center in every board and make an impression with all that you have available in your boards.

The best reason to use this is that it is dramatically underutilized. The cover photo being the impression that your users see is also a first impression. This first impression can lead to additional followers of your Pinterest boards, and thus, convert a lot of traffic into money for your products and services.

img source: smitten kitchen Pinterest

How do I change the Pin for my cover photo?

This is also a quick and easy process. Business Pinterest users spend most of their time finding the most important Pin to use, but I recommend using the most popular Pin in that board. User feedback in the form of Pins and views are the most valuable information that you can use to determine the content that you want as a lasting impression.

Pinterest is a tool that can provide so much insight into your business, and convert a lot of cash for you.
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Bringing it all together

Pinterest is a tool that can provide so much insight into your business, and convert a lot of cash for you. It is a direct marketing platform that has proven to be extremely valuable. By putting just a little bit of time and effort into your business Pinterest account, you can turn your followers into customers. This tool is too valuable to ignore, and it’s not just for crafters anymore.

The post How to Use Pinterest for Business – Boost Your Pinterest Marketing in Under an Hour appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

However, these changes have created some short-term confusion and uncertainty.

We wanted to provide a quick update on how these changes impact dlvr.it users and the steps we’re taking to help you navigate the new landscape.

Posting to Facebook Groups

dlvr.it has been recognized as a trusted Facebook partner and will continue to provide posting to Facebook Groups.

On April 5th Facebook temporarily blocked all apps from access to Groups. This resulted in dlvr.it losing connection to some Facebook groups. You may need to log into your dlvr.it account and reconnect your Facebook Groups in order to reactivate posting.

Twitter & Duplicate Content

Twitter now prohibits posting of duplicate original content on the same or multiple Twitter accounts. In order to help you comply with Twitter’s new rules, we’ve updated our checks for duplicate content and will not post original content more than once to Twitter.

This means dlvr.it will scan  for duplicate items posted via your feeds or through the ‘create new post’ interface. If you attempt to post an item that you previously posted via dlvr.it, we’ll stop that before it gets to Twitter.

On a related note – we’ve created a Retweet utility that we think you’ll love. More on that soon!

Facebook App Authorization

Facebook will soon require users to re-authorize apps every 90 days. This means you’ll need to regularly re-authorize dlvr.it to keep posting to your profile, pages and groups.

Don’t worry, we’ll send you an alert when you need to reauthorize.

Posting to Instagram

We’re working on integrating Instagram with dlvr.it and we’ll be making an announcement soon!

Through all the recent changes at Facebook and Twitter, our mission remains the same. We aim to provide the most powerful automation tools to help you succeed at social media.

We’ll keep you posted as we continue to update our services and respond the rapidly changing social media landscape.

The post Facebook and Twitter 2018 Rules Changes – Update appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

Facing heavy scrutiny from the US Congress, Twitter recently announced a number of significant rule and policy changes designed to counteract some common uses and abuses of the Twitter system. Twitter announced policy changes on February 21, 2018 with rules going into effect 30 days later on March 23, 2018.

These policy changes are aimed at reducing the influence of spam across Twitter by limiting the ability of multiple twitter accounts to coordinate the spread and amplification of certain Tweets.

Twitter’s policy changes impact all Twitter users – not just the bad actors. So whether you are a Russian bot farm operating in St. Petersburg or an upstanding small business trying to market on social media, you are now subject to Twitter’s new rules.

New Twitter Rules

This means many common and effective tweeting practices relied on by legitimate Twitter users are no longer allowed.

For instance, if you manage more than one twitter account – you can no longer post the same or similar original content to those accounts. This limitation applies regardless of whether the Tweets are published to Twitter at the same time, or are scheduled/queued for future publication.

If you’re used to simultaneously publishing or scheduling tweets across multiple twitter accounts, you’ll no longer be able to do this. Twitter removed this option from TweetDeck and all apps must follow by March 23.

Per Twitter: “One of the most common spam violations we see is the use of multiple accounts and the Twitter developer platform to attempt to artificially amplify or inflate the prominence of certain Tweets.”

Additionally, Twitter is now stepping up enforcement of other policies related to duplicate content. Twitter rules prohibit duplicate updates on a single account. This rule was previously only loosely enforced by Twitter. For instance, Twitter previously blocked identical posts to the same account only if the posts were attempted within the same 12 hour period. Twitter is now poised to enforce this policy much more aggressively by restricting all duplicate content posting, even if it the posts are made even days or weeks apart.

If you are like many major brands, and recycle the same tweet more than once on a single Twitter account – you’re now in danger of suspension or termination from Twitter.

How do these changes impact your use of dlvr.it?

Most importantly, our goal is to help our users make sure they are playing by Twitter’s new rules. We want our help our users avoid any problems with Twitter that could lead to their accounts being suspended or blocked.

To that end, we’re making some changes to dlvr.it and the way we handle posting to Twitter. We’ll be rolling out these changes next week.

You may connect only one Twitter account to an RSS feed for automated posting

— You will no longer be able to connect more than one Twitter account to a single RSS feed for automated posting.
— If you have any feeds set up for automated posting to more than one Twitter account, we’ll deactivate posting to Twitter.
— We are working on tools to enable you to post the original content to a single account and then retweet out to other accounts you own. This will be available soon. Stay tuned!

You may select one Twitter account when posting or scheduling content

— When posting or scheduling tweets, you’ll be limited to posting or scheduling that update to a single twitter account at a time.
— You may build another, differentiated post for posting to another Twitter account.

No EverQueue posting to Twitter

— We’ll no longer support automated recycling of original posts to Twitter via EverQueue.
— You will not be able queue additional EverQueue items for your Twitter accounts and any existing Twitter EverQueue posting will be deactivated.
— We’ll continue to support EverQueue posting to Facebook and other social networks.

Automated HashTags

— We will limit the practice of automatically including hashtags on Tweets.
— You can continue to manually add hashtags to posts, However, the automated addition of hashtags as prefixes or postfixes to Tweets will be deactivated.

What’s next?

We understand these changes may not be welcomed by all of our users. But the new Twitter policies apply evenly to all Twitter users and apps – even if you’ve been responsibly using Twitter for upstanding purposes. The goal of these changes to dlvr.it is to ensure all our users continue to play by Twitter’s evolving policies.

There may be some pain in the near term as we all adjust to the new Twitter rules. In the long term, these updates may result in a  better Twitter experience for law abiding Twitter users. Expect adjustments and tweaks to Twitter’s policies as these new changes take effect. We’re closely monitoring the situation and will be updating dlvr.it’s features as Twitter tweaks and clarifies their policies.

We’ll be making announcements in the coming days and weeks regarding some fresh new features to help our users navigate the new Twitter landscape. Stay tuned!

What do you think?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the Twitter policy changes. Will these new rules result in a better Twitter experience? Will these policy changes keep unsavory actors from gaming Twitter? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The post New Twitter Rules for 2018 and Beyond appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

1. Microsoft Outlook Mobile App

Available on both iOS and Android

I know….this may sound lame, but it is actually a lifesaver for me because my school email accounts are all operated through Outlook. Since all these accounts are already there, I simply add a personal one and insert all my work appointments. The nice thing about Outlook on my PC is that it keeps reminding me. The window remains open and I can set it to yell at me. I usually don’t like it when people yell at me, but when my computer does, I generally listen. Also, my phone will keep yelling at me. It keeps my to-do list front and center, so it is very difficult to ignore.

You can also use the Outlook calendar widget as a great reminder for all of your tasks that need to be completed today. This enables you to retrieve reminders if you accidentally dismiss the one set of tasks that you needed anyway. The calendar widget also provides a great method to have a general overview of all of the tasks that are upcoming.

2. Google Keep

Available on both iOS and Android

Google Keep is a great time management tool that will help you with thoughts that are on the fly. If you have a quick thought and don’t have time to jot it down, you can record a voice memo that Google Keep will transcribe for you. Google Keep is also a collaborative app that will allow you to share your notes with others, providing a platform that will help you fill in your to do list, in case there is something that you’ve forgotten. You can also color code your to-do list, providing you the ability to prioritize your to-do list. Simply set colors and attach them to items. You can then use the categories to provide yourself with an up-to-date prioritized list of what you should be doing and when.

Not only can Google Keep provide an organization method for your thoughts, but it can also provide a quick and easy method to create study tools. According to Saikat Basu, Google Keep also has a great method of creating brand new flash cards for any upcoming tests.

3. MyLifeOrganized

Available on both iOS and Android

MyLifeOrganized is an app that is a pretty basic to-do list organizer. It provides a simple User Interface that provides a quick and easy method for organizing items that need to be done. It allows you to set categories and use expandable folders to give you a well-organized list of tasks that need completing. It also provides the option to set priority levels for those tasks. As you complete your items, you can maintain the item in the list and simply check it off as completed. You can also add sub-tasks for the items that require multiple components to complete.

4. Focus Booster

Available on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android

Focus Booster is devoted to making sure that you’re correctly appropriating your time. It helps you to track how much time you spend on certain tasks during the day, providing you more information as to where would be most productive in terms of devotion of time. Not only does the app provide you with a breakdown of your time, but it also provides you with a focus booster to help you to focus on the tasks at hand. They indicate that any interruption can cost 25 minutes of time getting back on track. Why waste all that time getting back to the task at hand?

This app has a few added bonus features in that it allows the user to create timesheets out of the application. By using the app for this purpose, you can quickly and easily generate invoices that make the billing process quick and easy. It also provides a great reporting tool that will give you a dashboard based overview of your day.

5. Evernote

Available on both iOS and Android

Evernote is a great time management app in that it provides a platform to organize all your thoughts. It can be a notepad, a voice recorder, a checklist, or even a list of links. It allows you to search anything, even handwritten notes. A business version of the app provides shared hubs of organized thoughts. This can be great for brainstorming, assigning tasks, prioritizing, and updating project status.

Evernote is also a great tool to use for your children’s activities. If you have a shared schedule with another parent, collaborating on Evernote can be an incredible time saver in coordinating times and activities among all parties.

Bonus time management tools:

dlvr.it provides RSS Feed automation tools that help you to take the manual work out of having to post your items. If you have Evergreen content, you can send that straight to your EverQueue and set that to be recycled indefinitely. You can also provide an RSS Feed to post automatically, so that your social media accounts will consistently receive new posts, and can even receive Echo posts automatically. This can save infinite amounts of time that you would normally spend on posting to your social media accounts.

Canva is also great for making sure that your infographics are designed properly and present your information in an organized fashion. Canva is a great tool to use to create visually striking designs, not only for infographics, but also for flyers and cover images for promotions in your business. With a lot of free tools to use, Canva is both a time saver and a cash saver.

The post Top 5 Time Management Apps appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

Set up a filing system

First, getting your office nice and clean requires a lot of attention. Setting up your filing system is vital. If you’re the type of person that just throws everything on your desk in a pile or in a bin and never remembers it’s there, this is for you. Set up categories that matter to you. My personal filing system is set up in things that are prioritized by category. First, bills to pay. Then, bills that are paid. Third, just for the records, and finally, things that are archived, but still important to retain (like tax records and such).

Setting up your filing system is more about appealing to what you’re looking at. You may have different categories that are important to you. Incoming correspondence, for example, might be something that is on paper for you. Setting up files to organize your incoming correspondence may be vital to you. Set up a correspondence file for clients and vendors to make sure that you don’t miss anything. If you work in paper contracts, set up a file with execution dates for contracts. This will help keep you honest with deadlines. for upcoming projects.

Or, organize things by date of appointment. Doctors and lawyers are great at this. They have their appointment books and files laid out for the next day at the end of the previous day. If you’re a busy professional with a ton of appointments, take the time to set out your files for the next day in a smaller filing cabinet, or if your files are electronic, set them on your desktop so that you can have them ready when your client comes in.

Take some spring cleaning to your email inbox

I am so guilty of this. If something seems like it’ll be useful at any time in the future, I will keep it forever. I’m an email pack rat. If you’re guilty of this like me, take some time to go through those emails. Find the ones that you’ve been ignoring and make those ones go straight to the garbage. And empty the garbage. This will give you a clean view of your to-do list. If you need some emails just for your records, create a folder in your email for archives and send those to those archives. Keep only the currently pertinent emails hanging around. Trust me, you’ll feel so much better for it. If you’re like me, I will go insane seeing something sitting in my email for any longer than a few days. So, I will be cleaning out my inbox, needless to say.

Don’t neglect your social media channels

If you have a ton of Evergreen posts sitting around, take this opportunity to prioritize the ones that do the best. Use the Analytics on your social media channels to find out what gets the most traction. Once you’ve figured out your best posts, set a schedule around those posts and fill in with the ones that may need a little bit more attention. dlvr.it has a great suite of tools that will help you set your Evergreen posting to the right specifications with the correct categories. Simply set one category with the prioritized posts, and then set another category with the less important posts. Then, set your schedule to alternate posts how you would like. Using your EverQueue, you can avoid posting too frequently.

Take the time to evaluate your vendors

Spring cleaning is the perfect time to re-evaluate the tools that you’re using. I tend to get used to a tool set or two, and never stray from those tools. However, if you’re using a lot of tools for a job that could be done by one tool, it would save you time, effort, and money to use fewer tools. Typically, a single tool will be a much better solution than many. For example, if you can edit sound and video with one tool, you would want to do that. In my case, I prefer SnagIt to capture video, audio, and screencaps. This tool helps to keep things consolidated and very simple. Using specific tools for specific jobs can be great, but if you can combine those jobs, all the better.

Remove unnecessary subscriptions

Huffington Post has an excellent suggestion. They suggest going through your email for subscriptions that haven’t pulled their weight. Check over the subscriptions that you have in your email and see if you’ve bothered opening the emails from these people anytime in the last month. If you haven’t, ditch them! You can subscribe later if you need to. For the most part, though, getting rid of the dead weight is only going to benefit you.

Update your templates

Particularly if you use a standard format for pretty much everything, updating these templates is essential to maintaining your business. Have you updated a policy in the last year? Put it in your contract. Do you now want to make deals via email for the most part? Write electronic templates for common issues. All of these templates will come in handy, whether you use them on paper or electronically.

Go digital whenever possible

Do you have to keep receipts for tax purposes? Get them input into your computer. Do you have a giant stack of bills taking up space on your desk? Put them into a spreadsheet and shred the paper copies. Keep doing this as your bills come in. Not only will the paper decrease, but you will be far more organized than if you had to remember a silly piece of paper. Also, get ebills as often as you can. Electronic bills can come into your email inbox and garner your attention much faster than a bill that might get lost in the mail.

Putting it all together

All-in-all, spring cleaning is about making your life easier with a clean slate. By getting organized on paper and in your computer, you will usually be happier because you won’t be forgetting things. I have trouble remembering all the items that I have to do, and getting together a to-do list by cleaning out the inbox that you haven’t touched in a year is only going to provide you with more time in your life.

The post Setting Priorities for Office Spring Cleaning appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

What is social media phishing?

The basics of social media phishing is that it’s an attempt to get your personal details in an effort to commit fraud. These frauds are perpetrated through links on social media. Social media is a prime target for phishing because it’s so easy to get you to click on a link. Generally, on social media,  you may not be paying as much attention as you would to a phishing email. It’s important to make sure that your personal details are safe on social media, so there are a few steps to avoid compromising your information.

How do these hackers get my information?

There are a few ways that they would normally target you.

First, you would most likely be familiar with impersonation scams. A lot of us have seen our family and friends fall victim to this because the hacker will use their actual information to get you to friend them. I’ve had people attempt to friend me via fake profiles at least 4 times in the last year. Generally, the point is to get you to click on their stuff, or to use private messages to solicit your information.

Second, they may target you through fake customer service accounts. Choosing a popular brand and creating a customer service account for it is a prime opportunity to get you to provide personal details. You may unwittingly contact them thinking that you’re contacting a representative about an order. Instead, they are simply collecting your information to use to their heart’s desire.

There are also the standard clickbait and fake contests. Clickbait may involve some outrageous headline intended to get you to click on it to see what the real story is. Instead of finding a story, you would find a virus. Fake contests will, in their very design, get you to spill those personal details in a flash.

How do I avoid these scams?

The best way is to make sure that you’re only clicking on links from trusted sources. If you suspect that one of your friends might have a fake profile, avoid clicking on those links and report it to the social media network. Also make sure that the links that you do click on are secure/encrypted. You may be familiar with the https;// type of link. That ‘s’ signifies that the site is encrypted. This is usually a safe link. Make sure that your profile is set to the appropriate privacy level. Also make sure that your antivirus software is up to date. This will help your firewalls catch threats before they make it into your computer.

What do I do if my information is compromised?

Inspired eLearning recommends shutting down your computer immediately. This should prevent additional attempts to gain access to your information. If you have the option of disconnecting from the network and rebooting to run a virus scan, you would be in an ideal position. Before reconnecting to any networks, make sure that you change all your passwords from a secure computer. This will make sure that the compromised computer is not logging your keystrokes and gaining access to your passwords anyway.

Also, protect your financial assets by making sure that you put a fraud alert on your accounts with major creditors. This will prevent you from losing anything financially that may have been compromised when the hack occurred. If you’ve already seen fraud on your accounts, cancel your cards and report this to the bank. You may have fraud protection remedies that would be available to you.

Putting it all together

Social media phishing is an issue that impacts so many of us. Most of us have at least one social media account that can fall victim to this issue. Fortunately, the previous steps that we went over will help you keep your accounts secure.

The post Preventing Social Media Phishing [INFOGRAPHIC] appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

Facebook Lets you Revoke Permissions on Third Party Applications

One of the situations in which I have found myself required that I revoke permissions from an app. I accidentally clicked on something. I accidentally granted permissions. Figuring out how to remove them was easier said than done. Of course, this was long before I worked in social media every day. Google didn’t have the document that I needed to find my way to it, of course, and I spent a few minutes clicking around before I finally found it.

How to revoke access to a third party application via Facebook

First, make sure that you are logged in to your Facebook page that is using the app.

Click on the down arrow on the right side of the toolbar.

Click on Settings

Click on Apps on the left side of the page

Click on the ‘x’ next to any app you’d like to remove.

And that’s all there is to it! If you’ve accidentally granted some permissions for an app that you don’t want anymore, just use these steps to remedy the situation.

There is a way to reload images on Facebook

Some of you might find an image issue with Facebook. Since Facebook is in charge of their own images, for the most part, when you’re posting shared links, this can be expected from time to time. Fortunately, there is a method that you can use if Facebook fails to pick the right picture.

Simply refresh the share attachment content. Now, in my case, the attachment was fine, but you may find that your attachment has the wrong picture, wrong title, or wrong description. In any of those circumstances, you may need to refresh the attachment.

How to refresh attachments in Facebook

First, click on the menu icon in the upper right-hand corner of the post.

Then, click on Refresh Share Attachment option.

Facebook will provide you with a new preview. If this is accurate, click Save.

Twitter Cards offer a great way to unify your formatting

Twitter offers a type of tag called a Twitter card. This tag is something you can implement on your page content to tell Twitter what type of stuff you want posted when you’re sending a link to Twitter. This includes images, titles, and descriptions. Twitter has fortunately provided an easy to use guide to help you implement these tags on your pages. You can find this guide here. You can also validate what your Twitter Cards look like to make sure that your tags are implemented properly. This card validator uses the information that is on your pages to provide a preview of your post.

Visual media is essential to creating popular content

Images, videos, and GIFs are the trifecta of visuals that can boost your content to popularity. You may think it’s not that important, but statistics would indicate that you are wrong. The visual appeal of your posts is what gets them selected when viewers are scrolling down their timelines. Imagine that you’re scrolling down your timeline. You’ve been working all day, and are just trying to get caught up on the day’s events. Would you click on a post that was just text? You might, but statistics indicate that there is a higher chance that your posts with images are going to get noticed far more often.

Consider the efficiency of the message that you’re trying to deliver

It’s possible that the most efficient way to deliver a message is in an image. It may be in a GIF. Perhaps even a video. In any case, you usually want to deliver your message as quickly as possible. There are many ways to create great visuals for your posts, but make sure that you’re using the appropriate one. Consider an infographic for large amounts of statistics and research. You may find that your message is communicated a lot more quickly in an infographic than in a traditional image.

Click stats may not show the whole picture

You may obsess over click stats in your posts. However, clicks and followers are not the same thing. You can get a thousand clicks, but what if those clicks are completely accidental? Interpreting analytics is not an exact science, but a couple of things to know is that you need a full picture of what’s going on with your analytics. To get the whole picture, try one of these tools that we found useful.

One of the most important things to pay attention to is what your content is saying about you. Make sure that you go over which of your pages is receiving traffic the most. Why is this page so attractive? Why are your other pages not seeing as much traffic? Analyze your content and compare it to your other content. I like to use Google analytics to give me a bigger picture. Not only does it provide info as to where your traffic came from, but it also provides info as to where your traffic is going. Then, you can combine these analytics with a tool like Ahrefs, providing you more guidance as to how to generate winning content.

Putting it all together

Social media may seem like a slam dunk when you’re diving in, but it can take a lot of thought and planning. When you’re starting out, use a basic toolset to give you the best bang for your buck. Start out with some SEO tools and then progress into more advanced analysis as you go. Also, make sure to keep organized, and always make sure to have fun with it!

The post The Things You Need to Know About Your Social Media Pages appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

The shift of marketing to Generation Z

Currently, you’re probably marketing most effectively toward millennials. That makes sense! Millennials are the people currently buying for their families and kids. However, Gen Z is coming into the workforce very quickly. The youngest millennials are around the age of 23, settling comfortably into their careers and their family lives. Gen Z is getting ready to enter the workforce and will soon have the buying power of the millennial generation. At the ripe young age of 22, Gen Z is something to watch for.

Of course, it is important to market effectively to Gen Z. I know it is hard to put yourselves into that perspective, but adapt to their currently used social media platforms. In essence, use the data that you get from your Gen Z customers to find out where they’re looking for their newest trends. Depending on your business, this could be in a number of places. Facebook still seems to be hot among Gen Z, and Instagram is trending for them. Snapchat is also an up and coming platform for Gen Z. Also, Gen Z wants to be positive about their presentation. Try to make their lives better with your social media marketing.

The trend of your customers to take to social media

You may have noticed that people are now taking to social media before they bother contacting you when they feel they’ve been wronged. Upcoming trends indicate that this is likely to continue and expand. Your customers are more likely to take something to social media than to email you and tell you that you’ve made them unhappy. What this means is that you have two opportunities here: one, to increase awareness around your brand and two, promoting your ability to make things right.

Letting these complaints just hang out on social media is a mistake. Of course, you don’t want to take personal information out to the open web, but you do want to resolve the complaint. Make sure to reach out to your customer via the original method of contact, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. When I have a complaint on Twitter, I respond to the complaint and take it to a private method of contact. This is always a good way to go. It keeps the resolution private, but lets your other customers know that you’re responsive to feedback.

Personally engaging content is more important than ever

Yes, Gen Z is getting to a point where their buying power is going to be important, but millennials are still the current demographic that retains the buying power. Because that is the case, we still need to pay attention to our millennial customers. What appeals to millennials the most is personal stories. Millennials want to know how your product impacts the daily life of an average consumer. If you have a product that markets to parents, how will your product make their lives easier? How will your product make their lives better? You’ll notice that viral products generally have a personal vision. The busy mom, the working professional, the student, all of these people exist in your demographic. You just need to figure out how your product will help them live their lives.

Livestreaming is going to be the next big thing

The social media audience seems to have moved on from video content to live video content. The masses are demanding a lot more responsiveness from those seeking to distribute their product to the masses. You may be sensing a theme here, and you’d be right. Live content is the ultimate form of responsive content. You’re getting out there and providing information about your product in a forum that can take live feedback and answer any questions that they want. I’ve been involved in quite a few live broadcasts myself, and the reason that they are so successful is the degree of spontaneity. Because the broadcasts are recorded live initially, the feeling is that you’re talking directly to your audience, even in a recording.

To keep your live recording on track, though, have a general timeline of how your broadcast is going to go. I’ve seen a few live broadcasts that had no plan. These usually will not have a direction. They lack focus. To maintain the integrity of your live broadcast, make sure to keep your ideas on track. It’s ok to go off on a tangent for a moment or two to answer questions, but make sure that you’re still sticking to your points. Don’t engage the trolls or the people who seek to just throw off the broadcast. Think of them as the tourist that is antagonizing the Buckingham Palace guards. They are trying to make you move from your post. You don’t have to indulge them. Keep your broadcast on topic and to the point.

Local marketing is likely to be on the rise

Getting closer to home seems to be likely. In this world, people are looking for the stuff that makes a difference in their lives. Local businesses are more likely to get the support that they need. Therefore, marketing to those around you immediately will get you much needed attention. Particularly if you’re a brick and mortar operation, the word of mouth marketing is critical. Those local platforms become so much more important, and networking becomes the most vital operation in your rulebook. Use your neighbors as a starting point. Start networking with those people directly around your business. Generally, those people will see your posts, then will talk to your neighbors a little further out. And, of course, the rest will be history. Keep your neighbors happy as well.

What we talked about with support is even more important if you’re a local business. If you have a complaint hit your social media, take action immediately. Either reach out to respond, or take steps to correct any issues. This will show the community that you put good faith efforts into addressing customer feedback.

The post Upcoming Trends in Social Media for 2018 appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

Keep a Journal

The American Psychological Association recommends tracking your stressors when you feel them at work. By identifying the most common stressors that you encounter, you have the ability to combat them more effectively because you are more likely to recognize the warning signs. Not only should you track the stressors, but you should also track your responses and thoughts that are associated with them. Once you have this full picture, you can make a change to how you deal with the stressor. Doing this can prevent a chain reaction that can lead to even more stress at work or even at home.

There are tons of stress management tips and tricks out there, but even the best strategies won’t work unless you’re tuned to what triggers your major stress responses. Once you’ve figured that out, the next steps are a breeze.

Get some sleep

Many of us have issues with sleep habits. We have a constant barrage of information coming at us from all angles during the day, and it is so important to separate that from our sleep habits. Sleep hygiene is extremely important in today’s fast-paced world. Make sure to separate your work life from your home life. If you’re like me and go to school too, that’s even more important. Keep the laptop and the schoolbooks out of the bedroom. You need to create a sanctuary. Consider reading leisure literature (books that carry no stress). Take up that novel you’ve been wanting to read. Most importantly, NO SCREENS! That seems like a big ask, but it is the most important part of sleep hygiene. For more pointers, visit Harvard’s guide to healthier sleep.

Keep the stress AT WORK

The stress that you experience at work needs to be left at the desk. In times of remote work access and cell phones, this is extremely difficult. But stress that is experienced at work needs to be left in those doors. Remote work access makes that more complicated. I created an office for myself in the corner of the house that I usually don’t spend any time in. That office is where my homework and office work stays. This creates a barrier for you in home as well. Once that barrier is crossed, you need to leave the work there. Take some time off. Take some time out for some fun.

Make sure to pay attention to your health

Poor physical health can lead to poor psychological health. Not to say that there is a causation relationship, but there certainly are correlational factors. These factors lead most psychologists to believe that there is an inevitable relationship between physical and mental health. For these reasons, many professionals recommend increased physical activity to help with those mid-day blues. Take some time out to take a walk every once in a while. Do a little rooftop yoga in that rooftop garden if you have the option. Get some time away from the desk and out of the chair so that your legs can stretch for a while. If you’re the boss, consider standing desks for your associates. These can lead to much better circulation and improved moods at the office.

Lend an ear

Support between coworkers is the one goal that we can all strive for. Community is something that can help you get something off your chest while talking to someone who can relate. Take some time in groups to have meetings! Your meetings don’t have to be about anything. Just have a meeting to talk. Run down to the cafeteria for some coffee to chat. Don’t have a cafeteria? Do a Starbucks run. The walk is also a great way to get some exercise. If you don’t even have that option, just take 5 minutes away from the desks and have a huddle. Work can be about community as well as work. If you have the option, take some time to teambuild. Your coworkers are your own little work family. My work family and I have the occasional lunch just to chat and reconnect. Build that sense of community and make sure that you all feel like you have each other’s backs. This may not inherently reduce stressors, but it will help the team to feel supported and connected. This will make work feel more like home for your coworkers.

Keep yourself organized

Work is stressful enough without having to look after a thousand things that aren’t in the appropriate place. Start with an immediate task list. Once you have your task list, prioritize that list. Have a conversation with your supervisor if necessary. They will be happy to help you figure out which items are highest on your list. However, in most cases, it will be fairly simple to sort out your list. Once you have your list of larger tasks, create sub-categories of tasks needed to complete the larger item. With a more organized list, you will have a to-do list that will help you make your way through your days. Many projects, of course, will be long-term projects. But with the task list you have organized for yourself, you have created a checklist of all the things you needed to do to complete that larger project. Because you’ve created more manageable tasks, you have now broken up your looming deadline into smaller, more manageable deadlines.

The post How to Combat Stress at Work appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

Take your evergreen posts from existing data

Evergreen content is unique in that it is always relevant. This can include posts that you generally did well with, or posts that carry some continued meaning today. The thing about evergreen posts is that you don’t always have an edit button on what you want to continue to post. This is where some strategy comes in.

First, use your analytics. Analytics data is invaluable in terms of understanding how users are viewing your information. If your viewers are grabbing your content in certain ways, you may not understand them until you get to the analytics. Analytics help you determine what content is being viewed and even perhaps when people are viewing it, based on your posting history.

Second, use that data to then determine how to make your content evergreen. If one post in particular is very popular, but is perhaps not the most evergreen content, make it so! Make that content shine in the context of what you do on a day to day basis. Make it relevant to the user, and make it helpful going forward. Take some dates out, make sure to avoid seasonal terms, and make sure that the content will likely never go out of style.

When do I post them?

The simple answer, test it out! We’ve talked about when to post content before, and the simple answer is that there is no right time to do it. When you’re posting any content is dependent on your audience and dependent on their reactions to your normal content. This is also dependent upon when you’re most likely to reach your viewer base. If your viewer base is largely people who are at work between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM, you’re probably going to be more successful posting around 6 PM, as this is when your viewer base is off work. If your audience is usually checking their social media throughout the day, you might have better luck at a time when not a lot of other content is being posted.

What’s the solution?

I like to do a lot of testing with my posts. I tend to post similar content about a month apart at different times of the day. Granted, there is always going to be an experimental difference between all data when you’re using evergreen posts, but the testing tends to tell you at least when your audience is checking social media. You can opt to use the same content, or different content. However, because this is not a completely experimental environment, exact duplication isn’t possible unless you want to use focus groups.

You can also conduct an informal survey. Interestingly, this does not need to be worded as a survey. Believe it or not, I have found that the best way to engage your viewers is with a simple question on social media. Ask something that your viewers would normally be interested in. This may not necessarily tell you what the viewer is interested in, but it will certainly tell you when that viewer is active.

Using these simple questions can have a huge indication as to when your population is online. Basically, you’re using your social media posting as analytics. When you get a response on your question, you know that the viewer is active and engaged. If you get zero responses to your question, you know that your viewer is probably not paying attention. Understanding this process is essential to making sure that you’re using your social media properly.

How do I best make use of my evergreen content in 2018?

Consider this the year the best time to test your content on your primary viewing audience and expand your viewing audience throughout the year. When you’re posting evergreen content, you’re using that post as a learning experience. You’re posting a piece of information to social media, hoping that it reaches your viewing audience in an appropriate amount of time. When that content doesn’t get the reach you anticipated, you’re probably pretty disappointed. Understandably so. You spent time and effort on developing that content and it certainly hurts to have that ignored.

However, you can also learn something from this experience. The best thing you can learn is that there are things you can do to improve the reach of that content. You can test and test the content in different context. You can change headlines or taglines. However, if nothing is working, it might be a good time to cut your losses and move on to a different piece of content. Let’s face it, they can’t all be winning content.

Also make sure that your content has all the images and video that it needs. If your content is about a process or product, consider developing a short video of the information associated with that process or product. Video is a fantastic method to engage your viewers quickly and easily. Video posting is one of the most quickly growing types of posts, and even a GIF can help attract that attention. People need to understand what you’re trying to sell them, and video can certainly do that.

You can also consider simply shuffling content in and out of your social media. This might work for you. If you have a lot of evergreen content, you may just want to publish and republish articles. This is possible using dlvr.it’s EverQueue service. dlvr.it is able to take your evergreen content and compile it into a list, then randomize that list into posts that will go out to your social media over time. This product can take a huge pile of work off your lap.

The post Creating your Evergreen Posting Strategy for 2018 appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

What is a hashtag?

In case we have any new users here who are just getting into the social media game, I want to provide a quick working definition for you. A hashtag is a term that you’ve preceded with a ‘#’ symbol. For those who grew up in the same era that I did, this can also be called the ‘pound’ symbol from your phone. We’ve reappropriated this term for social media purposes. The hashtag term that you define will be a clickable, searchable term that you can use to identify posts on social media.

You can create any hashtag that you’d like for any purpose that you’d like. However, certain hashtags already carry plenty of popularity.

How do I create a hashtag?

Creating a hashtag is as simple as stringing a bunch of letters behind a ‘#’ symbol. Creating a hashtag, though, can be a little bit more complicated, depending on how much thought you want to put into it.

First, if you want your hashtags to be directly linked to a contest or certain types of posts, make sure that you’re not using a hashtag with a huge number of posts already associated. It’s as simple as searching the hashtag on the social media platform that you’re using. You may want to consider the length of the hashtag that you’re using. If you use a hashtag that is too long, the likelihood is that people won’t use it. Make your hashtag quick and easy to remember, and make it catchy.

Second, when you’re creating a hashtag, make sure that it doesn’t immediately conflict with your brand message. This may sound counterintuitive, but hashtags that are already in use can be a powder keg for a business. This goes right back to checking the background of the hashtags that you use. Check, check, recheck, and check some more. Make sure that you’re not creating links back to your business that will be a problem for you in the future.

What do I need to consider with my hashtags?

Consider many factors. First, how many hashtags do you want to use? This is absolutely vital to making your posts go as far as they can. The most important thing when considering how many hashtags to use is how much content you have. A hashtag shouldn’t be the majority of the post unless it’s the only hashtag. Your hashtags are an accent to the content that you’ve already created. Making the hashtag the star of the post is a mistake. You want your content to stand on its own two legs, using the hashtag as a category or a marker for that content. Digital Information world found that if you use more than two hashtags in any given post will decrease engagement by about 17%. Adding more hashtags than two impacts the general engagement of your post and therefore negates any effect that the hashtags were having.

Also, make sure that your hashtags aren’t huge. Making a hashtag that is extremely lengthy is guaranteeing that people won’t want to type it into a post. Keep it simple and to the point, and keep it memorable. Keep the content memorable as well. Make sure that the hashtag is being attached to content that you stand behind and aren’t too shy to share and keep sharing over time. Remember, that hashtag will forge an association with you and your brand, even perhaps after a post is deleted.

Finally, make sure that your hashtag is properly formatted. Don’t use unsupported characters or spaces in your hashtag. This is another reason to make sure that you keep your hashtags short and sweet. If your hashtags have too many characters, it can become confusing to try to read them. Your viewers may have trouble actually understanding what your hashtag means if you don’t properly format your hashtags.

How can I tell if it’s working?

The best way to tell is through a little bit of testing on your part. It’s interesting to find out what works and what doesn’t on a social media post. I like to use simple tests that change only one or two things. This is a very controlled experiment. Keep your copy the same and then try a couple of different hashtags. Start out with one hashtag and then add a second one for the second post. Try to keep the experiment as controlled as possible. Use the same time of day, generally, to run your experiments.

If you choose to experiment with more than just a hashtag, your experiments can give you a little bit less relevance. The engagement could be different just because of the time of day that you’re posting. Try out a post 24 hours apart with different hashtags. Check out your analytics a couple of days later, and see which one performed better. Remember, stuff that worked for me may not necessarily work for you. Because my content and my audience is so different from yours, my experiments will give different results.

Putting it all together

In the end, what we’ve learned is that making your content work for you is about trial and error in some cases. However, there are steadfast rules that will never fail you. First, don’t spam with hashtags. Second, make your hashtags relevant. Third, use the hashtags as an accent to your content. Following these simple rules will make the hashtags work for you, not the other way around. Hashtags will become a valuable tool for you and will make your life a lot easier. And as always, happy posting!

The post #Hashtags and Your Social Media Presence appeared first on dlvr.it | blog.

Reinvention of where you are online

This may seem like a given, but serious evaluations of where your profiles are is vital to being an effective online presence. If you have profiles on social media platforms that don’t make sense, you might be confusing your audience. More importantly, you could be alienating the audience that you do have. Tailoring your content is also extremely important for each platform that you choose to use for your business.

No matter what, you need to invest a little bit of time seriously evaluating the usefulness of each of your social media accounts. Do you use your Snapchat? Is your Instagram abuzz with activity? Would YouTube be a better fit for your content? All of these questions have answers with implications that will help your business gain the traffic that it needs.

As part of this evaluation, bring in your marketing plan that you’ve had for a while. Dust off the old folder, so to speak, and crack it open. Figure out how your social media accounts have been performing according to your plans. Figure out if you’ve met your goals, or if you’ve learned something new about your strategy. If you haven’t made a marketing plan, take this time to do so! A marketing plan can be your best friend and it doesn’t take a huge amount of time to develop. Making that plan is your first step to reinvention.

Re-evaluate your sharing strategy

Like it or not, social media is not an exact science. That’s why there are so many opinions about how to engage your viewers. The truth is that no single strategy works for everyone. Evaluating how your current performance is working is key to evaluating future social media endeavors. The best way to do this is to check over your Analytics. Analytics can tell you how your current content is performing, and can help to analyze trends in your data. You can use this to determine if your current sharing strategy is working, or if there needs to be some tweaks to the overall strategy. Reinvention of social media is not only about what, but when.

Experiments with different timeslots could help you understand the timing of your customer base and the ideal sharing times. Give a few options a try. Try first posting in the morning, then after work, then in the early evening. Use your analytics to find out which posts are most successful. You can try to repeat this over some time by using Evergreen content. Pick your top-performing posts, make sure that they’re always relevant, and then try to share them at different times over the course of a few weeks. Give it a shot at each of those timeslots and mix it up! Change the order of the posts around and see what mix works best.

Most importantly, during these experiments, there is no wrong answer. This information can be invaluable in your overall strategy, and can help you understand your viewer base as you’ve never understood them before. Don’t be afraid to take a few missteps. The content is already there. Just use it in a different way, and make sure that you’re strategic with your placement. dlvr.it can help you with these experiments by randomizing your eveergreen content and helping you understand this information.

Decide if dramatic reinvention is right for you

Sometimes, we decide to reinvent and we take it too far. We may think that we’re not reaching nearly enough viewers, and we may be right. However, sometimes taking that to an extreme is ill advised. You can make a few small changes, but dramatically altering your identity as a company can be detrimental to your overall image. Make sure that your changes are small enough that your brand identity is still recognizable, but large enough that they are still noticeable. After all, why change something if nobody can tell?

For example, you may want to change your overall social media presentation, but if your logo is distinctive and successful, you may not want to change that. Updating your entire brand image may not be the best course of action unless you’re doing a full relaunch. If you are doing a full relaunch, make sure that you update all aspects of your brand when you do so. You don’t want confusing old information to be floating out there for your consumers to find. Make sure that your relaunch is widely released and work to get that old info removed from every one of your platforms ASAP. You may not want to get rid of all your old content, but updating fonts, graphics, and screencaps are vital to presenting a unified front to your viewers.

Putting it all together

In the end, reinvention is all about assessing where you currently are, and finding out where you want to be. If you are in a place that you like and you’re performing well, no need to change anything. However, most of us can find ways to improve, and when we find those improvements, we can implement them easily. We are constantly evolving and changing as people, and our viewers are also making those changes in their lives. It’s important to understand where your viewers are in their lives and what they value. The more  you understand that, the more successful you will be.

Make sure that your changes don’t confuse your viewers, but instead enhance their lives. Stick to what your message is, and make it more appealing for your viewers to visit you often.

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