Social Media Charlotte is an organization promoting social media growth and knowledge within the Charlotte region. One event the group puts on are monthly breakfast that either has a speaker or panel to discuss either a topic within social media or how a company and/or person utilizes social media for growth. This growth could be new business, leads or community inspiration.

We strive that at least one person from Ritz marketing is in attendance every month. More times than not it is myself, Arleigh Jenkins, the Director of Interactive Services. Depending on the topic I may involve co-workers so they can better understand the forever changing landscape of digital interactions.

This mornings Social Media Charlotte breakfast was lead by Kevin Grandia, the Director of Greenpeace USA. Before I hit the items shared in bullet point format I would like to mention that Kevin was a breath of fresh air. He brought real time information for those in attendance. His ego wasn’t inflated even though he runs one of the more successful green non-profits in the US. Maybe his humble views can be shared to those in the digital sphere. Do good things, be the change.

Topics and information shared during the breakfast. Unless noted these were tweets we shared from our @RitzMarketing Twitter account during the breakfast. Hop over there to read the full mornings information share.

• 100% increase in FB likes when using custom landing page telling to like
• Emails about urgency vs importance get more action taken
• Click-economics – Too many choices, no one will make a choice. People like choices made for them.
• crazyegg a click tracking and heat map tied with web analytics It differs from Google Analytics as it shows outbound link tracking
• Greenpeace USA has simplified their website for better conversion rate. Using the same mentality as microsites. Less stuff = less confusion and easier call to action.
• They also have removed YouTube, Flickr and Twitter buttons. The only thing left is a Facebook social share that shows others that have liked their Facebook page.
• Removed Twitter icon from homepage and are still receiving 2k more followers a month
• They are creating Twitter engagement and followers by engaging.
• Greenpeace doesn’t use a social monitoring system. They do it by personal touch and RSS feed.
• Highlighting 3 blog posts instead of 7 on their homepage. Less is more
• Removed drop down menu’s. Less options
• Conversion from homepage to email sign up increased 20%
• When you know 90% of your direct mail has been delivered. Send a follow up email. Multi-channel marketing
• Talk to who your audience is. Know your audience and talk, then sell to them
• How many emails a week should I send to my list? Test and watch unsubscribe rate
• What should I feature on my homepage? Test with A/B programs like Optimizely and CrazyEgg
• SEO is a tactic and technique to help businesses grow. Use it.