Social Media Marketing

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Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Adding Sizzle to Your Summer Social Media Marketing Plan

In January and even late December we were bugging you to start evaluating your social media marketing plan for the New Year.  In spring we were reminding you to clean up your site and re-evaluate your social media marketing goals, but now the weather has turned to warm and the summer season calls for adding a bit more sizzle to your social media marketing plan.

Summer is that time of year where events and parties abound and things in life kind of pick up a bit.  The same is often true for brick and mortar businesses, except those specializing in snow shoes and shovels of course, but summer still brings this natural increase in activity both online and off.  Unfortunately though, even for the most well thought out social media marketing plans, engagement and conversions often hit a plateau and there is no better time to add new sizzle to your social scene than during the long days of summer.

The ways to sizzle and shine on the social platform will vary depending on the business you are in and the product or service you are promoting.  Introducing a new product or service is a great way to get the conversation moving as you ask your faithful followers what features they would like to see.  Don’t have any new products on the drawing board, how about offering a free eBook or adding a new helpful tool that followers old and new will find useful? Running a special promotion or big event is another sure way to attract a crowd.  How about hosting an online party in honor of customer appreciation with drawings for food and appetizers or offering gift cards to nationwide stores?

Even with all these great sizzling summer social ideas, the basics of social media marketing remain true; it shouldn’t be about marketing at all.  It should be about engagement.  The best marketing you can get is what you’ll find through stellar customer service and quality of products.  Social media marketing during any season is about building relationships, being transparent and being relevant.  Feed the people information, not sales pitches.  Don’t exist on giveaways and bribes alone; give content that is useful, necessary and free.  It’s not about building lists; it’s about making connections and respecting those connections.

Add some new sizzle to your summer social media marketing plan with a solid dose of simple summer honesty.  While you’re making things summery and simple, don’t forget to switch to the button that keeps your website about you and not about your social connections; the Follow Me Button from Social Follow, streamlining all your social networks into one simple button.

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Monday, May 16th, 2011

Stressing out over Your Business’ Social Inadequacies?

stressed about social networkingMany businesses have been avoiding entering the social platform.  The idea of putting business matters in the public eye is more scary than exciting and the concept of getting linked in with other companies, including the competition, seems like a hook destined to sink.  If you are one of the many businesses still ignoring the power of social media or just can’t handle the stress of going social and the possibility of being socially inadequate, then it’s time to overcome your fears and step up to the social networking business plate.

There are a variety of reasons to go social with your business.  Social media has opened the door for influencing opinions about your business, generating new targeted sales leads and strengthening your search position in the World Wide Web.  One troubling factor for many business owners not yet worrying about search engines, twits and fans is the stress that can come with not properly maintaining, engaging and entertaining your social audience.  Once you hit the panic button on social media marketing, you are likely going to make poor decisions about your social networking time investment and come out with unfavorable results.

Part of the stress associated with social inadequacy comes because of the huge social pool one must wade through.  Everyday there is a new application, a new social network and a new tool for managing your social identity.  How can you ever be sure where you should hang your social hat and how often do you make conversations?

Businesses should always go where their customers are already at home and comfortable.  There are dozens and dozens of social networking and professional networking platforms, but only some of them are going to be appropriate to your business.  You can use Social Mention and Google Alerts to help to pinpoint which platforms are going to help you connect with the right followers, fans and friends.  However the three main players, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter are the best platforms to start building your social business identity.   While this isn’t the stressful part, knowing when and how to interact with your audience can and does spark feelings of social inadequacy.

Once you know where to be you have to be mindful of when to be.  Just because you find people talking about your brand, doesn’t mean you have an open invitation to join the conversation.  The best way to butt in on sensitive brand related matters is to offer information and links to information that would be of benefit to the conversation.  Monitor the interaction without getting involved and if necessary, private messaging one of the participants with contact information to talk to a company representative may be an appropriate course of action.

You only want to subtly encourage your brand.  Social networking is about building relationships more than it is about building leads, but in the end, those two elements walk nicely hand in hand to more sales.  Handling your social self with finesse doesn’t need to be stressful.  Make sure you invest time wisely and invest time properly by giving personal attention to your followers and fans to avoid the stress of feeling socially inadequate.  Also take the time to make it easy for your website visitors to find your social profiles by including the Follow Us button from Social Follow that allows you to include links to all your networking profiles without losing your own brand identity.

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Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

The Social Networking Squeeze Job

It’s a classic case of the old bait and switch, but with a new web 2.0 twist.  Where once you got a flyer in the mailbox directing you to a store for the BIG deal of the day only to find that the deal wasn’t what you were expecting, today’s misdirected social networking tactics are rivaling those of the snail mail days.

There is definitely a place for building your brand with social media, but there is also a fine line that you can cross with your online presence.  None of your friends, fans or peeps wants to be the victim of yet another social squeeze job. So, what is the social squeeze job you may ask? It is publishing posts and tweets with great headlines that lead your friends and followers to your email list squeeze page and requiring them to cough up personal information to get to the link you originally posted; or worse yet, sending the unsuspecting fans of your brand to a completely unrelated page begging for a sale.

Nobody enjoys getting squeezed and the social squeeze is among the most annoying squeeze jobs in the book.  It is highly advisable to avoid misleading posts in an effort to build your email marketing list, unless of course you want your social networking pals to feel irritated, frustrated and even a little trapped by your brand.  It is unlikely they will be your friends for long though.  It is also worth your time to avoid generating posts that misdirect people to your sales lead page without ever revisiting your original link topic.

This isn’t to say that squeeze pages are bad.  Well, not all of them are bad.  A well constructed squeeze page that includes information that your visitors will find beneficial and answers a need is definitely a useful marketing tool.    The trick is to not be tricky about getting people to your page.  Make it worthwhile for people to click on your link and make them want to join your list.  A good opt-in page includes lots of details, answers to every question and it shouldn’t leave visitors feeling like their privacy is about to be violated.  Offering a coupon to all new newsletter subscribers or even the never tiring free eBook promise is better than offering a completely unrelated video clip at the cost of one’s email address.

Social media marketing is about building your brand and strengthening your customer loyalty.  It is about the open exchange of information and when you aren’t open or you play games with people’s trust it is going to have a negative effect on your business.  Avoid being part of the social squeeze job and share information with your followers freely, without requiring them to be on your email list or forcing them to your sales page.  They have already done you the favor of liking, fanning or tweeting with you, don’t scare them away with poor posting choices.

There are some things that you just shouldn’t do in the online social circle and using shocking headlines to drive traffic to your squeeze page is one of them, but getting found in different social networks is not.  The best way to let your customers and site visitors find you in their social circles is to add a social media button to your website and online profiles like the free FollowUs button from SocialFollow.  But the very best way to keep your followers is to avoid the social squeeze.

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Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Using Social Media to Expand the Reach of Your Nonprofit Organization

In a way, social media marketing has leveled the playing field for non-profit organizations.  Where once the not for profits didn’t have the funds to market big fund-raising campaigns, there is now this new source of totally free marketing that can skyrocket involvement and contributions.  A completely free way to raise awareness, organize communities and increase the donations.

Nonprofit organizations that utilize social media outlets to further their cause aren’t working harder or longer hours than their predecessors, they are simply working smarter.  There is something to be said for the transparency that social networking brings to organizations and it is that transparency that strengthens bonds with loyal participants and loyal donors, but it is your return loyalty on these platforms that really counts.  Engaging in conversations, involving your followers in organizational decisions and just drawing them in with great content, news and shared information creates a strong bond between organization and its most valuable asset, the people supporting the organization.  The good news is that this kind of interaction doesn’t require longs nights of pushing paper to achieve; in fact, most of this marketing for non profits is quite enjoyable and takes just moments out of the day.

The reach of social media is quickly outpacing traditional media with a far greater impact thanks to the speed of exchanges.  Social media is mobile for heaven’s sake.  Over 90% of people in the United States under the age of 45 have a mobile device or cell phone that connects to some social platform.  Nonprofits that utilize the right digital tools of emails, blogs and social networking sites that encourage interaction between people and their organization and people with people, can quickly draw attention to their efforts with little to no expense.

There is organizational planning that should be completed before you launch your nonprofit into the world of social media marketing.  Take the time to determine what individual in your organization will be handling the listening and communication on your platforms and just how much time they should devote there.  Discuss how they should respond to questions about policy, criticism and praise as well as discussing the importance of honesty and transparency for building trust and loyalty in the online social world.  Also take the time to discuss how you will evaluate the effectiveness of your social media marketing campaign. 

Once your nonprofit is ready to go live into the world of social media, go in with your story written clearly on your arm; or I guess your wall would be more appropriate.  Share your stories.  Build awareness about your organization.  Share successes in numbers.  Share failures in photos.  Whatever it takes to expose your nonprofit organization for the awesome not for profit organization it is, you should listen and share and then listen and share some more.

One common question that we get is how to get people to social networking profiles to use the awesome power of social media marketing to broadcast great nonprofit causes to the masses and our simple answer is, of course, the free SocialFollow button.  Adding the free SocialFollow button to your website allows your web visitors to find you around whatever social networking water cooler they frequent.  Building nonprofit awareness never got easier, cheaper or more effective than social media marketing.

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Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Socially Optimized-SEO in the Social Network

“Hmmm…so 140 characters…How many of my keywords can I stuff into that space?” If you find yourself asking this question, you are likely missing the point of social networking and definitely missing the boat on social network marketing, but you just might have a clue about search engine optimization.  Posing the question of when does the marriage between SEO and social network marketing have your campaign walking down the aisle and living happily ever after?

Breaking Down the Search Marketing Strategy

Perhaps it is because social networking has been bundled into SEO by many professionals that do-it-yourselfers of the world get confused on where keywords do and do not belong in their social encounters.  Search engine optimization has on-site elements like keywords, Meta tag optimization and quality website content and then eventually moves to off-site elements like link building and content marketing that help to reinforce the relevancy of the on-site efforts.

A lot of off-site optimization elements fall more under the social media marketing terminology while also working to help deliver more relevancy to the on-site SEO aspects.  Social media marketing can include everything from social bookmarking to building profiles on different professional and social networks.  The actual act of ‘being social’ is more of the marketing part of the equation. Confused?

The Simple Social Strategy Breakdown

Setting up profiles on social networks provides the valuable opportunity to link to your website, to tastefully include your keywords in your profiles and to dominate more organic search placements with custom urls for varying networks, but your actual engagements on those social networks should be more about making connections with customers, strangers, employees and even your competition.  This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for your keywords in your posts and links to your site, but it shouldn’t be your daily mission to figure out a way to use your keywords in every status update.  Only once you stop focusing on pushing keywords and links will you truly see the rewards of social media marketing in your search marketing strategy.

Ultimately, once an optimized profile is set up on a social network, your main goal should be to share relevant content that uses great anchor text to show the search engines that the website at the other end of the train is relevant to this topic.  As your website gathers more links from social networking sites, it is going to gain positions in the search engines. The big BUT here is that your followers, fans, likes and retweets aren’t going to come if all you are sharing is link after link after link.  Be real.  Post for real.  Avoid making a link fest to your website.  Include content about you and your business, but ask other people in your organization to write posts, share information about employees (at their discretion please), about clients, about failures and successes and just get involved with conversations.

The Best Button for the Job

One great way to increase your social circle online is to make it easy for your website visitors to find you on the social platforms that they are a part of.  With free Social Media Buttons, like our favorite, the SocialFollow button, you can easily lead your visitors from your website or blog to your online profile where they can get an inside glimpse of your organization and see what you and your business is really all about.

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Monday, March 7th, 2011

Tips for the Socially Inept: Basic Rules of Networking Etiquette

It is the classic movie scene where the not so socially savvy character enters the room and does something absolutely ridiculous.  The reason it makes you laugh every time is because we have all had to overcome our own social inadequacies at one point or another; some before an audience and some in close company of family or friends.   If you are a person who is always finding your foot in your mouth and making corrective attempts to explain your words or actions, then you may want to familiarize yourself with the rules of social networking etiquette to avoid being the social incompetent and embarrassing your business or brand.

Social networking is a giant monster operated by people communicating and connecting to build relationships and communities in the virtual world.  Just as you have to give your neighbors and customers in the real world a certain level of respect and cordiality, a strong online community can only be built on the strongest of moral foundations.  With social networking, you don’t have the benefit of face to face contact and you have to be ready to relinquish some control over your image and let your online identity learn to stand on its own. 

When it comes to social networking etiquette there is one big rule you need to remember from the start.  Nobody likes to feel like they are being advertised to.  Therefore the biggest trick to great social media marketing is to create an environment where your online community can give feedback, express their creativity, give an opinion and get some value out of having a connection with you.  With proper social networking etiquette, you can achieve the most loyal customer base and best word of mouth advertising around.

Start by avoiding being a Fake.  Don’t establish an alter ego online; go into your social media marketing campaign as yourself.  Don’t try to deceive your followers, friends and fans.  Just act as human as human can be in the online sense of the word.  The more real and sincere you keep your postings the more receptive, interactive and loyal your fan base will become. 

Strike up conversations that aren’t about you, your business or your brand.  That’s right, share other people’s information.  Whether relaying a fund raiser for one of your followers or advertising the sale of another local business, it is good social networking etiquette to keep the flow of information moving.  Reach out to a new follower by questioning them about their own post and sparking more involvement from even more people.  Showing a genuine interest in what your followers have to say shows respect and you will achieve respect for your own expertise in return.

This brings us to the next rule of social networking etiquette; sharing your expertise at no extra charge and without strings attached.  Don’t send people to your website to blindly search for information or to your sales pitch page to turn them off completely.  Do your best to answer questions directly and with a real answer.  Show that you aren’t out to capture a conversion, but to show that you know what you are talking about when it comes to your industry. 

Pretty much the rules of the offline world apply to the online social networking realm as well.  Use your social media marketing plan to have fun with your brand, learn more about your customer base and just bring an innovative edge to your business.  The best way to let people know which social networks to find you on is to include a free FollowMe button from SocialFollow on your website, blog and pretty much anywhere online visitors may encounter your brand.  From there, keep it real and watch what social networking can do for you.

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Monday, February 21st, 2011

Social Butterfly or Party Animal-What Is Your Social Media Marketing Plan?

There are those who are people persons and those who are, well, just not people persons.  The interesting thing about the evolution of social networking is that even people who aren’t into being social, in the traditional sense of the word, are finding themselves quite the party animals in the online social networking world.  The same is true for businesses.  Those who were once perhaps shy about their brands are now broadcasting not just their business, but their personality and associations as well.  Then the question must be asked, in social media marketing, when is it better to be the party animal and when is it best to stick with being a simple social butterfly?

When it comes to deciding on your social identity, a lot of questions come to mind.  What social circles are you going to run with? Are you just going to hang with anyone or will you be selective of your peeps? When is it okay to block an un-cool follower and how often will you be hitting the social scene? All good questions and all should be addressed when coming up with your social media marketing plan.

For the party animals and even the social butterflies, all the invitations to go social can be a bit too attractive.  Let’s Connect is like the drug of the socialistas, but you shouldn’t join every network that you are invited to and even though you may not want to, there are some social networks that just aren’t good for business and you should decline the invitation.  Not every party is a blast, so you need to evaluate your would-be audience and the potential of each social networking situation. 

To research a social networking site before adding it to your social media marketing plan you need to do some checking.  Find out whom else is at this party and if they are people who you want to connect with and who would be interested in your brand.  Be sure that your presence and involvement would be a benefit to your business and your followers’ lives.  Most social networks have a particular demographic that they cater too, some broader than others, and this information should be taken into consideration as well.  Additionally, just like you wouldn’t go to a party that was serving the wrong kind of food and drinks, you shouldn’t hop into a social circle that is promoting products or services that you wouldn’t promote on your own website. 

Being a party animal also takes a lot of time and energy.  Before you start jumping on every invitation for every social network, make sure you have the stamina to keep your involvement welcome.  Social spam is not an option when it comes to building your social status online, so you have to show that you are invested in your social interactions and not spread yourself too thin across too many lines of social networking.  On the same lines, you have to be ready to change your social attire and conversation for each network you visit.  You wouldn’t wear your tennis shorts to a meeting with investors, meaning you need to mind your audience on particular network and practice the proper etiquette of the truly sophisticated social butterfly.

As always, we encourage you to let yourself be found on the networks you are already a part of by adding the free social media marketing button from SocialFollow to your website.  This snazzy FollowMe button lets your online visitors find you on a mutually convenient platform without the need for RSVPs.

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