How to Schedule Tweets from Pinterest using Buffer App

April 26, 2012 Leave a comment

I’ve been finding Pinterest an excellent addition for many of my social media clients. One new strategy includes sharing pinned images that include an @mention of a Twitter follower in order to cross pollinate the engagement; however, the inability to schedule these pins has been one of the drawbacks. I’d like these tweets from Pinterest to be spread throughout the day, but unless I’m right in front of the computer this has been impossible, until now.

Buffer App for Scheduled Social Media Posts

The technique combines Twitter and Pinterest with Buffer App for scheduling the tweeted pins. If you’re not familiar with Buffer App it’s a great tool to publish articles to your Facebook and Twitter feeds right from your browser using their plug in. Sign up for a free account and visit their Apps and Extras page for the Chrome and Firefox extensions. There’s also Buffer for iPhone, Buffer for your If This Then That programs and lots more. Once you get your account set up and linked to your Twitter and Facebook accounts you can begin adding posts to your Buffer.

Scheduling Tweeted Pins

Buffer App is cool enough, but using it for scheduled tweets from Pinterest is even cooler. Here’s how it works. First, upload your pin to Pinterest and include your targeted tweep by @mentioning them in the pin description. Here’s an example:

Using Buffer App in Pinterest

 Once you’ve pinned the image, go to your Pinterest board and double click it to bring it up. Pinterest includes social sharing buttons on the right side of each individual pin as you see in the photo below.

Pinned image

Next, select the tweet button and bring up the Twitter connection. Here’s where the magic happens. See how Buffer App is integrated into the tweet function? You can select it and add it to your buffer, thus scheduling the tweeted pin. Your targeted follower gets an @mention and you schedule several out over the course of the day to engage your tweeps. It’s that easy!

scheduled tweet for pinterest

Do you have any methods you’ve discovered for scheduling posts? Share them with me here!

Filed under social media, Twitter Tagged with , , ,

Are You Using the 80/20 Rule to Your Advantage?

December 5, 2011 2 Comments

Are you part of the 80%? I’m not talking about an occupy moment here. Instead, I’m referring to the 80/20 rule or the Pareto Principle. Anyone that’s served on a committee or worked on a team class project has seen this rule in action. It goes like this:

80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Or in business the distribution looks like this:

  • 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers
  • 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers
  • 80% of your sales are made by 20% of your sales staff
  • 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people

Named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1906 after observing that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population, he developed the principle by also observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas. Since that time the principal has been used in economic theory, optimization efforts and quality control measures. For example, Microsoft noted that by fixing the top 20% of the most highly reported bugs, 80% of the errors would be eliminated (Wikipedia).

How this works with Social Media

Simple. You’ll get the best results and engagement from your efforts if 80% of what do you adds value to someone else, either by providing free information, sharing articles written by others, offering discounts, crowdsourcing ideas or pointing out others’ successes. The other 20% can be about you, your products and your ideas. In other words, talk about yourself only 20% of the time. That’s 2 tweets out of 10.

Do you see this principle at work in your social media efforts? Share your ideas with me here.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

Filed under Business, Marketing, social media, Twitter Tagged with , , , ,

How to Handle Negative Comments on your Social Media Spaces

July 7, 2011 1 Comment

I had the privilege of working with a group of young leaders recently on strategies for using social media for business. During our lively discussion they expressed a common concern they hear from new clients: the fear of negative posts on their pages.

In my work I’ve seen these fears keep businesses from entering the spaces altogether, which is a shame. I’ll be honest here. You can’t control what people post. Negativity happens. My experience is that these posts are rare, but it is still a good idea to arm yourself with a strategy for dealing with them in advance. Develop a policy for your pages and post it publicly. If you’re looking for ideas, the U.S. Army has a great example.

Courtesy of authoritydomains.com

If a negative comment doesn’t break the rules of engagement treat it as an opportunity. Yes, you’re going to feel hurt and angry. Focus. Here’s how to turn your unhappy customer into an advocate.

Listen

Listening for online conversations involves monitoring the keywords surrounding your brand name as well as your @mentions and your Facebook wall posts. Are you using keywords to search out conversations that mention your brand across the social spaces? If not, you might be missing out on some valuable feedback that’s occurring outside your social media walls. Remember people are more likely to complain among friends than reach out to the brand. Look for those conversations and then develop a strategy for reaching out and offering assistance.

Respond Quickly and Publicly

Negative posts require an immediate public response. Show how much you value the feedback by responding with a comment that says you hear what they’re saying and you plan to take action. A good rule of thumb is to offer to take the conversation offline if the situation requires customer service action. Tell them to check their inbox for a message from you and then send that message immediately.

Care

When you do connect, act like you care and mean it. Whether publicly or privately, introduce yourself as the person behind the brand and let them know you are concerned about their experiences and want to help. You’ll find most people respond positively to this. It’s easy to be angry at a faceless brand, but when confronted by an actual person with a name and a face my experience is they become very reasonable and willing to cooperate.

Take Action

Now that you’ve reached out to offer help follow up and take action. Involve customer service if necessary and do everything you can to exceed their expectations. If their comments revealed something you need to change, change it. If you made a mistake, fix it. If you can offer a discount or reward for their feedback, offer it. Then thank them for their help in improving your business. Leave them feeling cared for. 

Don’t let fear keep you from opportunities to improve your business! Instead, use the social nature of these spaces to develop real relationships with your customers. Careful though – you might just have a brand advocate on your hands now!

Do you have a complaint turned brand advocate story? Share it here with me.

Filed under Business, Facebook, social media, Twitter Tagged with , , , , ,

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