One area that many businesses struggle with in online marketing is coming up with a social media strategy. Everything from creating social profiles to social content strategy can be daunting. Fortunately, your business doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Chances are, you can gain a good understanding simply by reviewing your competitor’s strategy. In this post, we’re going to look at how you can scope out your competitors and apply their best strategies to your social media campaign.

Selecting Your Competitors
Your first step in competitive social media research is selecting your competitors. You will want to find businesses similar to yours, but not limit your analysis to competitors of a specific size. For example, you may have a small local marketing agency, but you will want to include other small local agencies along with larger ones that offer similar services in your competitive analysis.

Choosing Social Networks
Next, you will need to choose which social networks to analyze. Most businesses will find that they want to start with the main social networks first: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you need to confirm whether a social network will be beneficial to your business, you can answer the following questions.

• Are your competitors on that particular network? If they are active and have a good following, then you need to be there.
• Are your target customers on that particular network? You can also create a test advertisement on that social network to see the size of an audience that fits your target customer demographic.

Having the answers to these questions can confirm your need to invest in social media marketing.

Analyzing Competitor Profiles
A great social media campaign starts with solid social profiles and pages. Here are some things you will want to analyze to see how your competitors have set up their social presence.

• What wording does your competitor use in their Twitter profile bio?
• What is their Facebook short description (the one on the front of their Facebook page)?
• What type of pictures do they use on Instagram?

Since you usually have less than 200 characters to describe your business to a first time visitor to your profile or page, you will want it to be great. See what your competitors have to say about their business, particularly noting keywords they include. And regardless of what your competitors do, be sure to squeeze your URL into both descriptions to increase the traffic potential from those networks. Especially on Twitter, as you will only see the URL in your profile in some areas of the site like search results.

Kristi Hines knows what she’s talking about – thanks for your Wisdom!

For Google CEO Sundar Pichai, one quote perfectly describes what it’s like to be an entrepreneur.

Pichai spoke before a group of more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors and government officials at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Palo Alto, California.

For the long-time engineer, it’s no surprise Pichai chose a quote by Thomas Edison, the American inventor who brought the world the light bulb and the first way of recording sound.

That quote by Edison is: “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

The summit took place in Silicon Valley, which Pichai described as “more of an idea than a location,” since innovation isn’t limited to the region and is happening around the around.

Pichai said that entrepreneurship is “about more than buildings apps to make money. It’s about transforming industries, creating millions of jobs, curing diseases and fighting global warming.”

This Bit of Wisdom was written by Marguerite Ward – thanks!

Google Posts is a micro-blogging Google My Business dashboard feature which displays your short-form on your Knowledge Panel and business listings on search engine results. If you were using Google+, you shared content (yours and others) with the hopes that someone would see it and find their way back to your website.

Reach Your Target Market with Google Posts
Google Posts are a better way to bring targeted search engine users from Google (where the majority of buyers’ journeys start) directly to your website. A year into this feature and still very few local businesses are leveraging this FREE Google My Business feature to promote their businesses. That means that adding Google Posts to your marketing mix gives you a fast and free advantage over your local competition.

Posts offer instant publication of your marketing and reputation messaging with little effort – at no cost.

Improve Your Online Reputation with Google Posts
Google Posts help you create your ideal online reputation by giving you a free tool to promote your business with content and messaging you control. Reach customers with the information they need right now to persuade them to pick your business.

Do you have a sale coming up? Have an event coming up? A promotion code for military members? Half-priced breakfast on Mondays? Senior discounts? Price match? Use only organic ingredients? Google Posts give you the opportunity to persuade customers as they find your Google My Business listing while researching the best place to make their next purchase.

Using Google Post to Promote Your Business
Google Posts were introduced as a way to share fresh content with people who found your business through Google Search. This free Google My Business feature lets you create posts with content you want displayed to customers when they find your business on Google.

Google Posts are meant to be used to show search user what is going on with your business right now. Each post you create is removed from search results after seven days, or after the event date, you specify if you are posting an event. That might sound like a restriction, but it’s actually a benefit that ensures that only the latest and greatest information of your choice is displayed with your business listings.

Quick List of Google Posts Specs & Best Practices

• Character Limits: Only the first 80-100 characters will show in the Post so make those characters count and preview the Post to make sure your sentence isn’t cut off.
• Headlines: Write headlines that make the reader want to click through. Think of it as an ad to inspire action.
• Call to Action: Tell the viewer what to do next. “Free Download” or “Learn How to” or “Order Now” are clear CAT’s that minimize the decisions the audience needs to make.
• Image Size: The best image size is 750 x 750. Anything smaller than 250 x 250 won’t be accepted. Preview the post to make sure the image appears as intended.
• Post Often: Share daily specials and current promotions to keep customers up-to-date on your offers. After 7 days your Post will be removed – thankfully, they email you when this happens.

Do’s and Don’ts for Writing a Google Post directly from Google

There is a right and wrong way to leverage Google Post. To get the do’s and don’ts we went directly to the source. This is what Google tells us about Google Post:

Google’s Suggestions for Writing the Perfect Google Post

• Be precise: What are the 3 things your customer needs to know? What do you want them to remember, for how much, and when? “Happy Hour! Half-price milkshakes from 5-6 PM every Friday.”
• Be personal: Show what your business values: “We love families at Mike’s and to show our appreciation, kids eat free this weekend!”
• Tell your customers what they can do. Are you selling a product? Tell them how they can buy.
  “Tickets range from $60-$160, and are available for purchase at the front desk starting at 12 PM EST today.”
• Highlight what makes your business, product, or offer unique. Large selection? Free shipping? Tell people:
  “Free shipping on orders over $50.”
• Be timely — use a key selling point or popular item as the hook for your post: “Spring is here. All flip flops now 30% off.”
• Be sure to include any redemption instructions, unique codes, or restrictions on offers or sales: “$10 off purchase of $50 or more. 50% off select women’s clothing.”
• Use abbreviations for days and months, and don’t use periods, to allow more space for your post, and abbreviate hours: Jan, Feb, Mar… Mon, Tue, Wed… 9 AM, 5 PM, 12 PM
• Avoid the commercial slang and excessive exclamation marks or all caps that make your post look like an advertisement: “BOGO: 50% off men’s sneakers.” “Crazy SALE today!!!”
• Don’t include more than one offer or too many exclusions in one communication: “Half price coffee and tea from 3-6 PM on Fridays, and buy 6, get one free donut on weekdays.” “10% off new seasonal sandwiches. Not valid on lunch specials.”

Thanks for your Wisdom Reputation Loop

The answer isn’t as simple as a number of words.

There are many variables that can and should be considered when deciding what is the best length for your articles and blog posts, but the two most important factors to get an answer are:

• Who is your target audience?
• How long does the post have to be to successfully explain the material in a way that resonates with its readers?

People are oftentimes quick to assume shorter content is best for users. It’s easier and faster to read, and people don’t want to stare at the same thing on a computer screen for long.

We already know attention spans are getting shorter each generation. But does that mean shorter articles mean a better user experience and, thus, a better organic ranking in search?

Probably not, no.

Statistics Don’t Lie

Stats offer a pretty good starting point, but we all know they can sometimes also be manipulated.

It’s probably true that shorter content is easier and faster for people to read; I’m not going to dispute that.

Google wants substance, evidence, and facts from authority entities on whatever the topic may be. Turns out, longer content typically has these elements baked into it.

That’s a big reason why long-form content ranks better in organic search than short content.

Average content length for Page 1 results is around 1,900 words. That’s a lot longer than the 200- or 500-word blog posts most writers or webmasters think is ideal.

Quality Over Quantity: Don’t Focus on Article Length

Too many people put too much of an emphasis on the average word length for articles and the misunderstood importance of having more than a certain number of words on each page to rank well.

Give users what they want regardless of how many words it takes to say it.

Don’t Just Focus on Written Page Copy

Quality content goes beyond just written words. The best content connects thorough research and respectable writing with a user’s interest (their search query).

Even a great video should be accompanied by well-written text that explains the video, it’s concept and goals, and any other resources that may improve the content to better help the user.

That’s our ultimate goal as content strategists: offer the best information, in the most appropriate format, on the right platform.

Some content is easier to digest in the written word. But other content is more suited to visual and needs imagery or video. Sometimes, audio files will be the best type of rich media.

When you use visual or audio content, be sure to accompany it with written content that can connect the dots and make sense of everything on the page, as well as help users find your content.

Your goal should be to supply the best, most useful (and optimized) version of content for your target audience that matches their intent.

Your audience will appreciate it – and your website analytics will reflect that.

Thanks for your wisdom Sam Hollingsworth