Tasteful Ad Tactics for Social Media
Jan 21, 2009 by Patrick Winfield | Design, Social Media Marketing
Internet advertising can be tricky, especially when dealing with social media. How do you get users to see ads without being ignored or too in your face? While ads bring essential revenue to a website, they can also turn off social media visitors losing crucial social media votes in the process. So don’t waste your valuable linkbait by using tactics that will hinder results and follow these tips.
Bad Tactics
1. In-Text Advertising
This form of keyword advertising inserts a script into a page and double underlines any keywords. When the mouse is over the keyword an ad pops up that is associated with it. Social media users thoroughly dislike this method. Many times this form of advertising will garner comments like “I feel like I’m on a mine field when I move my cursor.†If you do use in-text advertising, simply turn it off until your story is popular so users can focus on your content, not your ads.
2. Excessive Contextual Ads
While contextual advertising can generate revenue, excessive amounts can leave a bad taste in your visitors mouths. Using contextual ads all over the page, in the middle of the page,and in the middle of paragraphs gets out of control and makes the site look like it is trying way too hard to maximize its income.
3. Pop-ups, Pop-unders and Floaters
These are ad’s that pop up or under the browser window you are on. They have been evolving in tactic and style. Whether it be “shooting the monkeys or whacking the mole†these deceptive dialog boxes can be highly irritating (especially the ones with sound).
4. Too Flashy/Noisy
You don’t want to induce a seizure in the user or visitor to your site. Creating banner ads that flash like crazy and give people headaches will hurt (literally) you more than help. Ads that play sounds or music add even more distraction to the mix. Visitors rarely stick around a website that plays music, especially when they are in the office, or already listening to music of their own. Intrusive advertising disturbs and disrupts the user so get rid of these immediately to maximize your social media exposure.
5. Too Many Pages
When a site gets greedy and wants to rack up the adviews they split the content up across multiple pages, it is an instant turnoff to social media users. While slide shows may be great your ad impressions, they can instantly lead to a social media ‘down vote’ and bring the haters out of the woodwork on the comments. If you have 12 items on a list try putting 4 items per page instead of one item every page, your visitors will thank you.
The Good Tactics
1. Consistency
It is true banner blindness is an issue, but instead of trying to combat where you place the ad and further annoy users and disrupt interaction, keep ads consistent. Place ads on the top or sides of the pages, rather than located directly in the text. Studies show that we are suckers for advertising, even if it isn’t embedded within the heart of the story. So ditch those ads that float across the screen, and start being consistent and the user may follow up willingly.
2. Honesty
If I click on your ad I want to know where I am going before I get there. Being honest establishes trust. Ads that speak plainly and are not deceptive seem more credible.  Using credible ad sources also make your site look more professional. Many times lower level ad networks feature poorly executed ads that can “cheapen†your site.
3. Fast Load Times
Social media users are out for information and instant gratification, they live in the moment. Slowing them down are disrupting this process is negative and will be avoided by them. Make sure ads relatively small in size and they won’t die before the graphic even loads.
Using good advertising tactics translates into more social media votes for your website. Good content is extremely valuable, so follow these tips to make sure that social media is talking about your content, not your ads.
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How To Prepare For Stability On Social Media News Sites
Jan 13, 2009 by Greg Finn | Social Media Marketing
With all of the changes in social media news sites these days, including witch-hunts on Digg/Reddit, the banning of top users, and the increasing difficulty having your story seen above others , it has never been more important to have an account that is sustainable and that doesn’t rely on only one tactic for success. Those accounts that rely on only one approach for success on Social Media news sites are putting all of their eggs in one basket, and could be setting themselves up for future failures. To make sure your account will weather the bad (and the good), these are some steps to consider:
Do Not Break the Rules!
Those accounts that relied on scripts and other shortcuts to gain success on Digg.com were weeded out and banned. Following rules is a crucial step in the process. While these “banned substances†are a quick fix and give you short term success, you are begging to be caught and punished for your actions.
Sure, break all of the rules you want if you have sites and IPs to burn, but if you are looking for sustainable success for the long term, there is no magic banned potion that can give you instant success on Social Media news sites.
Do Not Stick Out: Join The Community!
So you started submitting to Reddit because you wanted to promote your own website: that doesn’t mean that you have to only submit stories from your site. Mix up your submissions with other content that the communities will enjoy. Finding and sharing good quality content is what makes these news sites flourish.
Do more than just submit stories. Regularly vote on other stories that you like on the site, and even interact with the community by leaving thoughtful comments and additional insight where you are able to. Even if not promoting a story, set aside a few minutes a day to be active on the site. Social media needs a 100% commitment to the community, and those who aren’t willing to put in the work will stick out.
All submissions are from the same site.
Do Not Promote Every Story!
This tip is a no-brainer. In today’s environment, Digg has a “shout†feature and it can help you get your submissions noticed. Suppose that you promote each submission by continually “shouting†each of your submissions to your friends. Using this methodology, you are able to have a good percentage of your submissions become successful.
But what will happen if next week this feature doesn’t exist any longer? Research other alternatives to gaining notoriety as the “shout†feature may disappear tomorrow when you wake up. Try finding quality content that you can submit to sites that do not need constant promotion to become popular. Relying solely on one method for success is a disaster waiting to happen. Here’s some additional reading about the different forms of Social Media News momentum.
Use Different Social Media Sites
The one variable in life that you can rely on is change. The current popular news site today might not exist in the same capacity in a year. These sites are “for-profit†and can change algorithms, ban users, kill different categories and do whatever they feel will help them the most.
So work on a few accounts as your main accounts, but create profiles on many different Social Media News & Bookmarking sites. Feel free to cross promote your different Social Media news sites; advertise your Mixx and Digg accounts in your StumbleUpon profile and vice versa.
Find Good Content!
This goes hand-in-hand with “Join The Community†and is one of the easiest ways to achieve success. While your goal is obviously to promote stories for you or a client, you should make sure that you go out of your way to find quality content that will make the community a better place.
Finding the hot story that becomes mega-popular on a site will gain you more followers/friends/karma which will, in turn, help your profile in the future. Good, unbiased content will also help your stability by keeping your profile “under-the-radarâ€. By submitting content from major news sources and popular sites on the web, you make your profile look like a much more “organic†account.
By adhering to these rules, users will set themselves up for long term, sustainable success … the best kind of success that there is!
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I am extremely pleased to be able to finally announce this new addition to 10e20. Greg Finn is one of the most talented Internet marketers I know and someone that I have always looked at as one of the industry’s ‘best kept secrets’. For the people that know him well and what he has done in the past – you know why I’m so excited about working with him.
Greg has officially joined 10e20 as our new Director of Internet Marketing.  Greg will also be posting here at the 10e20 Blog on a very regular basis (his posts from last year were some of our best and most popular posts).
Want to connect with Greg?
* Catch up with Greg in person at the upcoming SMX West conference.
* You can also follow Greg on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gregfinn
* Or shoot him a message.
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