I have no idea if this is fake but it was a hot discussion on Reddit this past week. I for one hope it’s real as it would be one helluva PR stunt. A lot of brands are not against pulling off a stunt like this although they’re quite family oriented so I can see how this may be a photoshop. Despite that factor, this image has been the talk of the town and it has inadvertently brought a lot of eyes back on The Olive Garden.
Marketing your infographics properly is a sure fire way to snag natural links, build brand buzz and gain social media followers. It’s a form of content creation that is relatively inexpensive to do and can continue to bring in links for years to come. The latter aspect really gets me excited because I’ve seen some crazy good links come in a year later from some great topical link bait. There’s no doubt that infographics have become the most widely used link bait tactic in the past couple of years, and I don’t that expect to slow down any time soon.
Source: Infographic of Infographics by Ivan Cash
There are millions of ways to tackle the creative end of things, the marketing, however, can be done either correctly or incorrectly. We’re all in the market for links from related sites, so make sure you stick on point. For the most part, I’ve seen mostly topical infographics being used with the right market in mind, but I’ve also seen others where the goal is to just get whatever links from whoever will give them to you. Not to worry though, you’ll want those related links anyway so focus on your niche.
There’s a lot of prep, or at least a lot we do, before starting your marketing efforts, so prepare your spreadsheet of choice. We’ll cover the tasks we lay down and hopefully this helps you structure your campaign better. I typically have this sorted while the client’s infographic is being worked on so that should be more than enough time to prep!
Last but not least, make sure your infographics “info” is really friggin awesome, because it’s going to make life a lot harder if it isn’t. How many infographics have you started reading only to quickly hit stop reading? This is where big flashy pie charts, numbers and eye catching statistics should be popping out like a 3D movie! You’re going to want to also provide an embed code with your infographic for ease of spreading; it blows my mind the amount of people who don’t do this.
Identify The Influencers:
So get out your spreadsheet and think of each point I make here as its own area or tab within it. We’ll need to start finding the social people out there that are within your vertical and you might stand a chance to get a share from their end. Hopefully most of you are already quite active on Facebook, Twitter and have made nice with a few bloggers. Your reach can potentially lead to huge success. To demonstrate visually, let me refer you to the picture below:
Image Courtesy: SocialMediaToday.com
Twitter: – I definitely like to have at least 25 of my most active Twitter friends on my “to contact” hit list for D-Day. Tactics like pulling a pre-emptive strike by contacting them a day or two early to see if they’d be willing to help spread the content are also a good idea. This social network alone can launch your infographic into viral orbit if you’re lucky so make sure to target the beefy and influential users that you are friends with. If you don’t really have strong ties with 25 users on Twitter, then make a list of 50-75 people you can contact in hopes of matching the same ROI… best of luck there! There are always infographics being marketed on Twitter, so check out what’s going on there to get some ideas. (Hint) Guy Kawasaki LOVES tweeting about infographics so much that I cannot tell if he’s getting paid to or not… either way, you get him you’re golden!
Facebook: – This one is tricky because you’re not usually friends with your digital cohorts at this level, just your mommy, friends from school and perhaps a girlfriend/wife if you’re lucky. The same mentality from Twitter applies here. Prep who you can contact to potentially get the Facebook shares going like wildfire. Hopefully your brands Facebook page has some decent followers that can start that initial push. If not, this one will be a tough nut to crack. I’d check for groups and fan pages as well for your brand, then get ready to share with those folks too.
Key Blogs: – This is the really tough part. I’m sure you do enough link begging, but now you need to infographic link beg. Break down a list of the best blogs in your niche and get to it because, again, just a couple shares can lead to big things. If the content is any good, blogs should jump at the chance to collect some of the hype that goes with it. You’ll be able to see which blogs have already shared an infographic from others, which blogs have a “submit news/tip” form and you should also find some other contact details like their Twitter and other social media information. You’ll be surprised at the response you’ll get from fellow bloggers and if they’re fans of your brand, then you’re in for an easy day.
Forums: – While I don’t recommend signing up to your niche’s top forums to spam them with your infographic, I hope you already have built a rep. Forums spread content like wildfire, so identifying the forums that will help launch this to a different crowd is quite important. A lot of niches won’t be so lucky, so if you have a big forum option, make sure you utilize it (or at least prep your accounts for future use). Forums are great for marketing and making friends, and mixing the two together will keep you out of trouble and in a good brand spotlight.
Reddit/Digg/Buzzfeed/Delicious/ETC: – There’s no doubt that Digg still has a lot of influence in spreading your content. The same goes for a number of other social news sites. Unfortunately, the chances of going hot on Digg are next to none unless you pay for it. Yes even after they “changed” their algorithm, the website is still dominated by a few users who get most of the stuff to the front page. Reddit is a deadly serious site that requires no spamming about on your end! Submit that sucker to the appropriate subreddit and hope for the best. If you content is good enough, it should do alright in the right subreddit, but then again, even Reddit votes are bought.
Buzzfeed is also a great place to get your infographic going around the web like crazy. You can buy front page spots for this, but you best have $3000-$5000 PER DAY to spend on this. Because of the huge price tag, the site can send a lot of traffic and get your infographic around if you’ve got the green. The other social media sites out there are up to your reach and influence, including niche specific social sharing sites. This is what we do, so if you’re looking for infographic marketing help, get in touch.
Link Analysis & Social Media Recon:
This is a no-brainer, but do your homework on other infographics both inside and out of your niche. While it’ll give you an idea of what to expect, it will also lead to other market help you may have overlooked in your initial setup stages. There are a whole host of search and link tools out there that will break down the anatomy of an infographic success story. Here’s what we use to do a quick rundown:
– Link Research Tools – know who and what links to a successful past infographic campaign. Take special note of the infographics that provided an embed code, and the ones that did not. You’ll see how the linking patterns evolved and this is pretty important stuff to know. LRT can also report back on the number of social shares which can be valuable information if you know how to interpret it.
– Twitter Search – I love seeing who’s sharing infographics around Twitter, especially in my target niche. People who are already enjoying them are more than likely to give yours a Tweet, so why not beg/ask? This will also lead to seeing how their followers react by checking out the RT love that that Twitter user’s post got.
– Google Blog Search – While we could perhaps just use regular old Google search for this, I want to know specifically which blogs are engaging infographics. Those older posts are a potential spot to drop a link to your related infographic as well, even though that might be a bit spammy in some people’s eyes. For the most part, a few choice blog posts isn’t going to hurt anyone and if the moderator approves it, then you’re good to go!
– Google Discussions – You’ll definitely want to know what forums were picking up past infographics because they’re the breeding grounds for natural links and viral activity. Since you get time stamps on posts, you can tell with your own eyes how that piece took off (or didn’t).
Infographics Gone Viral:
Image Source: Marissa Louie ( Her old site is now dead and links to Viagra )
Hopefully you have all your prep in place and you’re ready to rock once your infographic is good to go. The launch is an exciting part of the whole process, if not the most nerve-racking, so enjoy it and learn from it! There is a good chance you’re going to come up with nothing but fail, but don’t let that discourage you. We continue to see links come in over a year later for past infographics so it will be worth it no matter what if your content is good.
There are a few key places to which you can submit your infographic making life a lot easier as well as providing some initial links to the piece. Remember that people love this type of content so there will be browsers that will kick off the viral aspect of it all. The list provided here is not the end all be all, and more sites are popping up all the time so keep an eye out (hint: set an infographic Google Alert).
Infographic Sites:
– http://infographicsite.com/contact-us/
– http://infographr.tumblr.com/submit
– http://infographicsgenerator.com
– http://videoinfographic.com/submit-infographic/
– http://www.reddit.com/r/infographics
– http://www.infographicas.com/?page_id=39
– http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/submit/ (costs $100 for a review)
– http://www.infographicsarchive.com/submit-infographics/
– http://www.cloudinfographics.com/submit-infographic/
– http://submitinfographics.com/submit-infographics
– http://www.newsilike.in/submit-infographic/
– http://videoinfographic.com/submit-infographic/ (video infographics only)
– http://www.infographicpost.com/submit-an-infographic
– http://theinfographics.blogspot.com/p/submit-infographic.html
– http://visual.ly/
– http://dailyinfographic.com/contact
– http://iheartinfographics.tumblr.com/submit
– http://infographicsbin.tumblr.com/submit
– http://fuckyeahinfographics.tumblr.com/submit
– http://www.styleandflow.com/submit/
– http://infographipedia.com/submit-infographic-4
– http://www.omginfographics.com/submit/
– http://infographic.co.za/submit/
– http://www.bestinfographics.info/submit-infographic/
– http://iinfographic.com/submit-brilliance/
– http://www.infographicgallery.com/contact/
Submit A Press Release:
Why not? If you’re working on an infographic that has a really big reach, then you need to set aside a budget for a press release or two. I’d recommend using PRweb.com’s social media package as well as a release from Market Wire. Some news sites definitely pick up infographics and you an see for yourself with a simple Google news search. I cannot stress enough the importance of the content here for any sort of decent exposure.
Attacking Your Contacts like A Boss:
This is another time when all your prep comes into play. Just like with any viral marketing attempt, be on the ball and make sure you’re out there interacting and keeping the chatter alive. If you’ve got your social media vote buys on the ready, then make sure those are off to the races because you can forward those voting links to people who matter on your end.
Your Blog / Youtube / Newsletter:
I hope to the social Gods that you have at least two of those in place. Your company blog will most likely be the first link it gets and it makes for a great place to show off the social voting buttons for your fans to get acting on. A YouTube video talking about the infographic can’t hurt either, especially if your brand has a big following there (people even make videos of their infographics). Lastly, use your newsletter for what it was intended to do… share news! You can ask in private for your readers to check it out and vote it up if they have the appropriate contacts.
Infographic Resources:
– our infographic design and marketing services
– Infographic design resources and tutorials
– 40 blogs, portfolios, resources and other awesome infographic related material
– TopRankBlog’s infographic marketing post is a must read
– Adobe Illustrator infographic design resources
– Tips for designing and creating beautiful infographics
Recently I’ve been enjoying the beta-test of TalkHotels.com, a new professional and social network for hoteliers and hospitality professionals. I’ve been sharing my knowledge and chatting with hotel industry members and had a chance to meet the founder, Anand Patel. He’s agreed to have an interview with me to share what it’s all about.
Simon: Hi Anand, please fill our readers in on the basic concept and features for TalkHotels
Anand: The concept for TalkHotels is simple: create a free networking tool for hospitality professionals to exchange ideas, opinions, and reviews of products and services. Hotels continue to face more challenges each year and I noticed there wasn’t a single tool they could use to get reliable, up-to-date, organized information from their peers. Of course, there’s trade magazines and a few notable hospitality blogs but that conversation is one-way; there isn’t much dialogue there between the people that are involved in day-to-day operations.
Simon: Give me a little history on what inspired TalkHotels
Anand: It really stemmed from the early experience I gained by working with hotels around the world. I made websites to help pay my way through college and the majority of my clients were in the hotel business so naturally, I heard stories about how difficult it became to find reliable information when you needed it most. With each story I heard, the idea for TalkHotels grew until I felt I had a pretty good, sustainable model to take to market. I guess the purest inspiration I had was the fact that nothing like TalkHotels existed before. I wanted to provide an authentic solution to a real-world problem and I believe I’m on the right track.
Simon: Here at Linkbuildr we’re pretty excited about how you are connecting vendors and services together with the hotel industry, Please elaborate.
Anand: The TalkHotels ‘Shop’ experience is designed to give hoteliers access to the largest collection of vendors and local service providers, along with unbiased reviews from their peers. If you operate a franchise hotel, you can’t just work with anyone so we wanted to provide our members with a catalog of vendors that was custom-built for you and the brands you’re involved with. As we grow and we get more vendors on board, we plan on introducing a handful of tools to make the buying process even easier for hotel operators. Simply put, the vision is to equip hotel operators with all the information they need in a concise manner to make educated, informed decisions on the go.
Simon: I see TalkHotels is taking on an environmental initiative as well. Tell us about these plans and your collaboration with CarbonFund.org?
Anand: Yes, the environmental initiatives were something I wanted to incorporate from the beginning because I’m aware of the impact hotels and travel/tourism in general has on the environment. As TalkHotels grows, I want to use our voice to help raise awareness and look for authentic solutions to reduce the impact hotels have on the environment. Right now, we’re planting a tree for each invite that’s requested. Later, we plan on introducing several other environmental initiatives for hotels and travelers to participate in.
Simon: Are you planning a mobile app version of TalkHotels?
Anand: Yes, that’s definitely something we’re working on in the near future. Before we fully jumped into creating a mobile version of TalkHotels, we wanted to build up our member base and gain insight as to what we can improve, what we can ditch, which features were deemed the most important, etc. We’re still in the process of gathering this information but we’ll definitely be unveiling an app for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, and iPad in the near future.
Simon: Do you have plans for any additional features or services from TalkHotels?
Anand: Absolutely. I wish I could share more information but at this point, we’re still in the planning stages. Stay tuned, though, because we’re going to be introducing some new services that we feel our members will enjoy and gain tremendous value from.
Simon: TalkHotels is still in beta testing, do you know when you plan to launch officially?
Anand: We’re getting there. We still have about 200 invites to grant so once we grant those we’ll give those people ample time to sign up and tour TalkHotels. After that, we’ll open up the invite system so that our existing members can then invite people they know in the industry. In fact, we have some interactive promotions and campaigns planned for our existing members so that we can share TalkHotels with even more people. We plan on keeping it invite-only because we want our members to have total power to let in people who they feel will contribute to the TalkHotels network.
Simon: Thanks for your time Anand. For anyone involved or who follows this industry you really see the progressive nature that people outside don’t pick up on. The trends of the modern traveler are evolving at an accelerating rate, with new niches and new needs that constantly challenge hotels. For instance I just discovered a new category I’m slowly getting sucked into called the “micro-tripper”. It’s being built around the popularity of flash sales, private travel sales and group buying sites and is made of people interested in very short or last minute vacations. While there are always naysayers when any new social network arrives, the size of the global hospitality industry is big enough to warrant its own. And with the constant changes we’re seeing in travel, the demand within the industry for this will only grow. The Linkbuildr team is excited to see how the community expands and what new features are integrated. I’d be happy to check in with you for another post in the near future.
If you’re in the hospitality industry, or supply a product or service for hotels, make sure to check out TalkHotels. Right now it’s an invite-only network, so please visit to request an invite. And remember, they’ll plant a tree just for your request!
TalkHotels on Facebook
TalkHotels on Twitter
Email Anand – anandp[at]talkhotels.com
Follow Simon on Twitter: @S_Gerard
I was recently adding the Google +1 button to my site, and while I’m not too happy about adding another bloody button to the long list of ones here, it had to be done. I’ve yet had to see any positive results, or notice a change within my Google SERPs in regards to this new social voting feature. The long tail search results still are over spammed and it seems that Google’s Panda update is still lost in the dark for the most part. So is this the next step to redeeming the polluted search results, or the next thing to game?
There is without a doubt a network being formed as I write this to sell, trade and gain Google +1 votes. I scoured some of the biggest webmaster forums for this post to see if anyone was already offering them for sale…not quite yet (and I’m kind of surprised). There is definitely going to be a blitz to buy these if they work, and if it does work well then Google is in for even more trouble.
For those in the know, or in the I read a ton of forums, their is another large update related to Panda coming. There has also been talk about a major change to the way they view links as well! I doubt this sooner than later update will incorporate the +1 votes, but in a year from now I imagine these will come heavily into play. Just like the people who have gamed links when the anchor text tip was out, they’ll game this and there will be huge money to be made. So this is why I’m a little worried.
So how many of you will buy these votes if it’s an option? If you’re not willing to dip your pen in the black ink, do you fear being left in the dust with nothing to do but complain to Google? I’d also love to hear from anyone who thinks the +1 votes are already influencing their rankings.
I was recently adding the Google +1 button to my site, and while I’m not too happy about adding another bloody button to the long list of ones here, it had to be done. I’ve yet had to see any positive results, or notice a change within my Google SERPs in regards to this new social voting feature. The long tail search results still are over spammed and it seems that Google’s Panda update is still lost in the dark for the most part. So is this the next step to redeeming the polluted search results, or the next thing to game?
There is without a doubt a network being formed as I write this to sell, trade and gain Google +1 votes. I scoured some of the biggest webmaster forums for this post to see if anyone was already offering them for sale…not quite yet (and I’m kind of surprised). There is definitely going to be a blitz to buy these if they work, and if it does work well then Google is in for even more trouble.
For those in the know, or in the I read a ton of forums, their is another large update related to Panda coming. There has also been talk about a major change to the way they view links as well! I doubt this sooner than later update will incorporate the +1 votes, but in a year from now I imagine these will come heavily into play. Just like the people who have gamed links when the anchor text tip was out, they’ll game this and there will be huge money to be made. So this is why I’m a little worried.
So how many of you will buy these votes if it’s an option? If you’re not willing to dip your pen in the black ink, do you fear being left in the dust with nothing to do but complain to Google? I’d also love to hear from anyone who thinks the +1 votes are already influencing their rankings.
If you are in hotel management, starting up your social media efforts can seem overwhelming, so I thought I’d throw up a quick beginner guide for you. For any size hotel or resort, taking hold and managing your social media presence is vital. We all know online research is mandatory for anyone planning to stay in a hotel and you don’t want your hotel’s image to be hijacked by a few negative reviews, comments or threads. You need to take control of your hotel’s online presence, through providing relevant content and engaging customers through social media, from Facebook, Twitter, FourSqaure, YouTube, TripAdvisor and more.
Social media is now your front line of customer service. If your potential customer doesn’t make it through your social media impressed, they will never make it you your front desk. Make sure you have your online battle stations and customer service troops ready for combat.
Review sites
Hotels are amongst the most reviewed business on the internet. People love to talk (or complain…) about their vacations, and more importantly, people read reviews to decide where to stay. There are some things you can do to make sure your listing gets attention and, in turn, gets listed higher. Here are the top spots online to add or check up on your listing with:
The sites that are most relevant to your hotel depend on your area. Search “[your city] hotels” e.g., “Vancouver hotels” and target the review sites that come up. If you haven’t listed your hotel, chances are somebody already has done it for you. It’s important to take ownership of your listing and fill it with accurate info, appropriate details and attractive content.
Upload photos for your hotel listing. Listings with photos get search result preference and more interaction from people. Remember to upload a logo image as well. You’ll get to choose which image is the default one, for hotel chains a logo image can invoke your established branding, otherwise a unique feature or attraction of the hotel, or even someone smiling at the reception desk (faces attract attention and if all your competition all have pictures of their buildings, how do you stand out?).
Fill in details as much as possible. Add your hotel’s features (e.g. Swimming Pool). Having this complete makes sure potential guest know what you have to offer.
Follow reviews: Afterwards keep track of reviews to properly address negative ones and thank positive ones. This can be tricky, make sure not to wait too long to respond, but don’t jump the gun before you plan an appropriate response. Following reviews can also give you insight to issues you might have with staff you wouldn’t be aware of in your day-to-day dealings.
Facebook and Twitter
Facebook and Twitter are the best places to manage your hotel image and personality. It is your platform to release new content from video, pictures, blog posts to articles. This is where your hotel’s personality should shine, showing its social side with events, highlights from the local areas, partnerships with local businesses and specials from your restaurant. They also act as the online version of your lobby, where customers can chat and share with each other. This all serves to keep your hotel visible, catering towards return visits. Fans will also act as brand ambassadors and draw in potential guests.
We all know Facebook and Twitter can pull a big time commitment. A neglected Facebook page can be worse than no Facebook page at all. People get a feeling similar to walking into an empty, quiet lobby; they’ll feel inclined to turn around and find a hotel thats not haunted. You don’t necessarily need a social media manager for this if you don’t have the time. Enlist your most trusted and capable front desk staff, this is essentially the online extension of their customer service role. As this is your front line between your guests and your hotel, make sure you have your strongest troops running it. Slip-ups on social media can hurt more than in-person because of the inability to shake a single slip up and the speed with which news travels online.
Location Based Social Media
With the rise of Foursquare, Facebook places and similar sites in addition to heavy smart-phone use with travelers, this is another area in which it is worth investing time. This is an advertising impression for your hotel. The basics are to ensure that your Hotel is listed accurately. For extra credit you can try and encourage check-ins with a reward. The reward could be compensation in the form of a trinket from the gift shop, a free drink from the bar or bonus points for your loyalty system. These sites have a built in coupon functions that can be used for redemption. Alternatively, you could give a bigger prize to whoever becomes the mayor (who checked in the most) like a loyalty program. You need to manage your costs for promotional giveaways, but remember these awards will be shared by the recipients with their social networks for bragging rights, giving you a valuable slice of exposure along with it.
YouTube and online video
If you have any promotional videos you should upload them on YouTube. A video tour of the hotel can be good to link from a listing or embedded in your website. Ideally you would host the video yourself, but your servers may not be reliable or simply too expensive. Be careful what you use for the title and tags though; if you have ‘hotel’ or ‘vacation’ in it, there is a chance an ad for your competition may come up in your video. You’ll have to decide whether you want the video to be found through YouTube or directly linked. Use a specific name and tags for a video that is directly link and avoid words that the competition may use for ad words in your title and tags. It may not be found naturally through YouTube but your age will direct viewers and lower the risk of competition’s ads showing up. I’d recommend using Vimeo for an embedded video; it doesn’t have pesky pop up ads in the playback and doesn’t suggest videos, other than your own, to users after they’ve finished watching yours.
Converting picture galleries to videos
If you simply cannot produce a good looking video at this point, a great option is to convert your picture galleries into slideshow videos. Google loves videos (especially ones from their pet, YouTube) and always rank well in their results.
Social media Success
Success with social media revolves around execution, planning and management. If you are just launching your social media and review site accounts, you need to have quality content ready to include and insure your staff and partners are filled in on your plans. For planning, you want to schedule your content to keep an active presence and be ready to jump on any current events to leverage into related content for your social media networks. You also need to be proactive with your management from thanking appreciative guests and handling complaints to simply socializing.
Killer hotel Facebook pages
Below are a few of my favorite hotel chain Facebook pages who truly excel at social media. Through what I’ve mentioned above, hub pages, individual location pages, mobile apps and even bookings through Facebook, these brands pave the way. Don’t be intimidated by these big time pros if you manage a small chain, boutique hotel or bed & breakfast, follow my simple tips and you’ll be on your way up to meet them soon!
Contact us today!
From hotels, luxury hotels, boutique hotels, resorts to B&B’s, the Linkbuildr team provides a range of social media, link building and SEO solutions for the hotel and hospitality industry. Please contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss what we can do to help!
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I’ve just spent that last couple of hours signing up and checking out a new social network for entrepreneurs that’s caught my interest. If the site owners are reading this and thinking, “oh no, we just got blogged about on a link building blog”, don’t worry I’m not working that angle anymore(lol). Everyone on the Linkbuildr Team is an entrepreneur, and I’ve had the pleasure of getting them on the team here. We appreciate the resources available to folks like us, and we’ll always do our part to share related news such as this launch. A lot of our clients are also in the same boat, and we know they’ll enjoy hearing about a new place to share ideas and perhaps make some businesses connections. There are a whole host of features offered on Startup Crave, so join up while the beta is free and add me to your network.
There are a whole host of features, as I mentioned, my favorite so far being the post an idea option in your user control panel. Once the site builds a large following, who knows who you’ll network with and make that idea into reality. Personally, there have been so many times I’ve needed a good programmer on board so I’ll be looking to link up here for that. There are also user forums, the ability to post videos and link up your social media accounts to spread your latest happenings. Current beta testers get to utilize all the features of Startup Crave so jump on board now while the getting is good!
This is fresh news hot off the press, and it has be a tad worried. Google is implementing a new social feature to their search engine similar to that of Facebook’s Like button. This is most likely not going to make much of a difference, although, you never know for those locked into a heaty top 10 SERP. I won’t go into it much because the feature is pretty self explanatory, and will only be used if you’re logged into your Google account. I do see how easy this is going to be gamed by black hats, but that’s not much of a big deal either as links are already as easily spammed. I’ll let the video do the rest, or one of the 100’s of other blogs that covered this news today already…dupe filter here we come!
