Posts Tagged ‘social media’
Using QR Codes to Engage
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on March 8th, 2012
QR codes seem quick and easy – they’re all about convenience. But when you think about it, in order to take advantage of them, they require people to own a smart phone, have a QR reader downloaded and installed, and have their phone handy with the app open and ready to scan at any given time.
Whew! It’s a lot more complicated than it appears.
Worse yet, many companies are using them to convey data that could be just as easily delivered in another (more convenient) format. They are popularly replacing URLs in common advertising.
Are people really ready to replace URLs? When done correctly, all they require is your memory, not a smart phone, data plan, or special app.
What should they be used for?
QR codes are most effective when they unlock information, not lead users to a final destination. Especially one they can call up on their mobile browser! Is there an immediate payoff for your users’ efforts to take out their phone, open the app, point, scan, wait for the code to register, and find out what’s next?
Do you have a special list of products or services that continually get updated? Do you run promotions that change frequently? How about location-based campaigns? These are perfect candidates for your QR adventures!
Make sure your information is formatted for mobile, and again, that it’s relevant for your user immediately. If you’re trying to get people to your website, or to opt in to your list with no timely reward, a QR code is not the best solution. Just like when Twitter first hit the scene, don’t do it to be with the “in” social networking crowd – you have to have a solid plan to engage your audience.
How Well Do You Know LinkedIn?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on March 7th, 2012
LinkedIn has been proven more effective at generating leads than Facebook or Twitter, especially for B2B companies. It boasts over 100 million users and affords brands and individuals the opportunity to build valuable industry connections that can lead to new business, co-marketing and affiliate agreements. You can even find your next new hire.
There may be some hidden LinkedIn gems that you’re overlooking when navigating your social message. Some examples are:
LinkedIn Answers
LinkedIn Answers is a forum for people to ask and answer questions about virtually any topic. By answering questions in your industry, you build credibility and show your expertise and value. But that’s not all – it’s also a great opportunity to identify industry influencers with whom to network. In fact you can even search through experts in the Top Experts section.
If you’re looking for guest writers for your Blog, the top experts on LinkedIn Answers are the people to reach out to. Ask them to take some of the most common questions they answer, and write a post for your blog on that topic. Then whenever the question comes up again, they can refer people to the blog post they wrote for you on the subject. They get to build their reputation, and you get the SEO benefits.
Subgroups
You may belong to several LinkedIn groups, but did you know there were also subgroups of those groups? Click ‘More’ on the tab of your LinkedIn group, and you’ll find them.
Subgroups help maintain relevancy; as groups grow there are naturally some topics, industries, or side projects that develop that don’t pertain to everyone. Subgroups offer a chance to filter out any content that isn’t relevant for the entire group and keep your members engaged.
LinkedIn Apps
Enhance your profile and better collaborate with your network with the many available apps, like SlideShare Presentations, WordPress and Company Buzz.
News Module
Everyone with a LinkedIn Company Page should be using this feature. The News Module feeds mentions of your business to your LinkedIn company page, and also shows news to those who have your name listed in their profile. This helps your information be seen in multiple places. Go to your page’s ‘Overview’ tab while in edit mode, and check ‘Share news about my company’ to enable it.
LinkedIn Polls
Within your group you can now offer polls. Polling not only lets you perform your own market research and collect interesting data for content creation, but doing it on LinkedIn also means it can be extremely targeted based on group demographics.
Export Contacts
You can export all your LinkedIn connections to a .CSV or .VCF file. You even have the ability to filter out certain people — like friends and family — that aren’t relevant to your business. The only rule of thumb here is to make sure you do NOT include them in your email campaign list – being a LinkedIn connection is not synonymous with opting in to receive emails from you.
Are you using these to your advantage? What works better for your business? What tools did we leave out?
The Dangers of a Laissez-faire Attitude with Your Social Media
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on March 6th, 2012
If you’ve been on Twitter for any length of time you’ve noticed that everyone and their uncle seems to be a “Social Media Expert”. We agree with social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk when he stated that 99.5% of self-proclaimed social media experts are clowns. Setting up a Facebook page with a bunch of links to your website does not make you an expert. Sorry.
If you want your social media efforts to create an actual return on your time and money investment, it starts with the same solid strategy you would apply to traditional marketing, coupled with consistent, targeted implementation. Otherwise there are more consequences to bad social media than just the absence of “likers” and followers.
Why Google Hates Too Much Even More than Too Little
One of your goals for your social media campaign is of course getting your website or business noticed, chiefly through obtaining a higher search engine results ranking on Google.
But laissez-faire doesn’t mean tweeting too little; it is more comparable to doing too much. Google actually hates it when a site engages in an excess of aggressive, blatant self-promotion. So much, in fact, that such a practice can lead directly to your site being blacklisted by Google, resulting in a severe down ranking of your site and annihilating your traffic numbers.
Google wants to create the best possible experience for their users, which means helping them find the most authoritative, relevant sites as quickly as possible. If your social media campaign is solely broadcasting self-serving messages without offering valuable, relevant content to back it up Google will punish you via your search engine position.
What is the Right Balance?
This of course depends on the goals of your campaign, but here are some definite no-nos right up front:
- Creating multiple profiles and linking all of them to your site
- Having a severely out-of-balance ratio of following to followers
- Exclusively bookmarking pages that link to your site
- Using a software program to automate and steal followers
- Only talking about your company over social media
If you see your actions as clear self-promotion, odds are good that Google will too.
Second Biggest Mistake
The more common pitfall we see in a failed social media campaign watching a company dive into social networking with great enthusiasm, only to fizzle out shortly after. Whether they find they lack the resources, desire or motivation necessary to maintain the momentum, this is actually worse than not starting at all.
We know a customized social media campaign is very labor-intensive. Going for quantity instead of quality is how the big fizzle usually occurs.
Social networking site users expect interaction, and lots of it. If your company cannot answer comments and questions on all sites that you are engaging, users will not stick around. One-directional conversations are not tolerated.
If you are overwhelmed with your social media, let us help you create the right balance of content and keep the conversation going.
How to Break Into Mobile Without Breaking the Bank
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on March 2nd, 2012
How do you, as a small business owner cut through all the noise and reach today’s “always connected” customer?
You don’t have to pay top dollar for the latest and greatest bells and whistles to go mobile. Here are a few ways to get started:
Make sure you’re findable. It’s a bit labor-intensive, but well worth it to “claim” your business and its location on sites such as Yelp, Yahoo Local, Facebook, Google Places, and even Foursquare. This costs no more than your time.
Optimize your website for mobile viewing. Mobile searches have grown 400 percent since 2010, according to Google. Once they find you on their phone, consumers visit (59 percent) or call (61 percent).
If your website was created more than a few years ago, or was built with Flash or other outdated plugins, your site is at risk for being invisible to mobile searches.
If you’re confused by all the options available, Idea can help your site go mobile!
Take your social “pulse”. Sites like Kudzu, Angie’s List, Google, and dozens more are letting your customers review you (often without your knowledge). In fact over 80 percent of consumers say they read reviews before making a purchase? Any negative reviews or poor feedback about you can affect your customers’ purchasing decision. You can use Google Alerts to see what’s being said about you on a regular basis. Like GI Joe said, “Knowing is half the battle”!
Customers aren’t just browsing the mobile web anymore. They’re researching products, sharing opinions, and completing transactions. Don’t let your fear of breaking the bank stop you from getting your business on the mobile web.
Still Think Size Matters?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on February 21st, 2012
You’re a social media marketer – are you still worried about quantity over quality for your success measurement? Does size matter? Really?
In a recent study, 75% of the respondents really are still worried about size.
Sure, it would look great to be able to tout that your client has 25,000 followers on Twitter or 75,000 Facebook Likes, but how many leads and sales have your efforts led to? With the current options of buying followers and likes so prevalent how can anyone put any stock in numbers, anyway?
A more viable goal would be to drive as many people to a website as possible, having those become actual leads and, eventually, sales.
If your content, products, and services are top notch, it really doesn’t matter what your grand total is. It’s more important to look at the steady rate it is climbing, if people are hiding your messages or unsubscribing, and the quality of the comments and engagement.
What do you focus on when it comes to metrics and measurement? Let us know by commenting below or posting on our Facebook page!
Valentine’s Day is Coming… Are You Courting Your Readers Properly?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on February 10th, 2012
Remember when you first started dating your special someone? Did you jump in, head first with expectations of what they “owed you” or were you constantly thinking of little things you could do to surprise them and make them smile? A card, an impromptu dinner, little gifts… it felt good to give freely of yourself, didn’t it?
So let’s think about your readers and potential clients. Are you jumping into Social Media with expectations of a set number of followers and fans, comments and shares? Do you wonder why people aren’t just signing up for your newsletter or subscribing to your blog with that kind of attitude?
If you’re treating today’s social networks as an extension of your brochure, print ads, radio spots, or even press releases, you’re not courting your readers. You are probably repelling them.
So What Do You Do?
Think about what your audience really wants from you. Provide it.
Too simple? It really isn’t that complicated. Write your posts intimately to provide real-life tools and tips for those in need. Let them take away value whether or not they buy your product or hire your services.
Give them gifts. Thank them for signing up for your newsletter or liking your Facebook page with a free eBook or Special Report. Even an audio message or interview makes a great (unexpected) gift.
Be present and attentive. Do your readers hear crickets when they do finally offer their opinions and comments, or are you right there with a reply, letting them know that you appreciate and value them?
You may be looking at these actions and thinking, “How will these few things make my pocketbook bigger? This is silly.”
Think again. Your work will always speak for itself but you have to extend an effort to make your readers feel special. That’s what they’ll remember more than the product you created for them. That’s what they’ll tell their friends about. That’s what they’ll share on their Social Networks.
What about you? How do you make your readers and clients feel special?
5 Social Media ‘No Nos’
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on February 2nd, 2012
When social media is done right it can add tremendous value and voice to your clients’ marketing plan. Unfortunately, there are still so many businesses that are missing the mark and solely using it as an extension of their brochure or sales pitch.
Here are five big mistakes still being made when businesses do social:
1. Being generic
Your posts need personality and your engagement. This doesn’t mean you should air all your dirty laundry, be negative, or relay a play-by-play narrative of your day’s events. It’s more about being human, and not appearing to be an automated robot churning out posts.
It also means you should avoid sending the same content all the time over all your networks. Think about your audience and the networks they frequent and tailor your message to them. This demonstrates that when you reach out to people, the interaction is directed to them.
2. Not writing for your audience
It’s fun to share things that interest you, but keep in mind, that if you want to attract the attention of prospects and others, you need to share information and updates that you know will be of interest to them. This is one of the major misunderstandings of social media. It’s not about you!
3. Not interacting enough
It’s so important to maintain a good level of engagement with your connections, as well as responding to what people are saying, asking, and commenting on. Showing that you care will demonstrate to others that you take your connections seriously and strengthen your network as a result. So many still treat social media as a broadcast platform. Which brings us to number 4…
4. Using the space for advertising
You will destroy your network in a flash by constantly promoting your services and products. Social media is a platform for building, expanding and maintaining relationships, so directly selling to people will distance you from them. Keep any ‘selling’ to about 10% and the rest to 90%.
5. Not listening
Listening is vital to any relationship, and social media is just that. It is not a one-way system, so be aware of what people in your network and potential network are saying. Tune into their needs, feedback, and struggles. While many companies fear any negative comments about their business, it’s essential to monitor your social voice and address any concerns as they happen so you can circumvent any long-term affects.
What about you? What particularly irritates you about companies that don’t quite get social right? Let us know by commenting below or posting it on our Facebook page!
Is Facebook Affecting Our Happiness?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on January 17th, 2012
The Huffington Post published a thought-provoking article on th
e growing role Facebook is playing in our life and what the adverse effects or real-life consequences are.
You can read the entire post here. Here are our key takeaways from this post:
- Facebook’s explosive rate of growth and recent product releases focus on one goal: encouraging more sharing.
- Behind the liking, commenting, sharing and posting, there seem to be strong hints of jealousy, anxiety and even depression.
- Facebook is fundamentally altering our daily sense of well being in both our personal and work lives.
- It’s creating a den of comparison: users have a strong bias toward sharing positive milestones, and avoid mentioning the more humdrum, negative parts of their lives. This magnifies a culture of competition and comparison.
- Comparing ourselves to others is a key driver of unhappiness: as we judge the entirety of our own lives against the top 1 percent of our friends’ lives, we’re setting impossible standards for ourselves, making us more miserable than ever.
- Because of our fragmented time, hundreds of millions of people are less “present” where they are. Constant “tabbing” between real-life tasks and Facebook provides constant distractions that lead to late and poor-quality output.
- Perhaps the biggest: a decline of close, real-life relationships. As Facebook adds new features such as video chat, it is fast becoming a viable substitute for meetings, relationship-building, and even family get-togethers. People are missing opportunities to interact more deeply than Facebook could ever accommodate.
Do you feel sucked in by these negative impacts? How do you avoid these traps? Quit cold turkey? Limit your time with set schedules? Avoid gossip and online Negative Nancies? Let us know by sharing on OUR Facebook page, or if you’ve already quit, feel free to comment below 
Will Social Media Play a Role in the 2012 Election?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on January 12th, 2012
According to a recent study by Digitas, six in ten social media users expect candidates to have a social media presence. Facebook has definitely had influence: Barack Obama’s fan page has 23 million likes, the most liked politician on Facebook.
The same study also revealed that four in ten social media users think they will use it to help decide who to vote for in 2012. That’s 38 percent of American social media users.
John F. Kennedy is considered the first television President; next year’s victor could very well be determined by the impact of Facebook and Twitter.
Eighty-eight percent of adults who use social media are registered voters – no other medium can compete with those numbers. Candidates should take advantage of this reach by inviting them to join the conversation about who will be our nation’s next President.
Has Social Media swayed you in a popular, public opinion? Will you use it to gain insight in the upcoming campaigns? Do you think it’s a positive move or will it unnecessarily complicate things?
What Are Your Advertising Resolutions?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on January 5th, 2012
With the cusp of a New Year upon us, it’s common for us to start to plan resolutions in our personal life. Perhaps you want to lose weight, get in better shape, or stop smoking. But what about your advertising methods? Couldn’t they use a little resolution list as well?
Will you use video this year?
Video is a great way to reach customers, yet fear often stops people from utilizing it to its fullest potential.
With the latest changes to the YouTube homepage, the experience is more of a social feed now, which gives marketers a powerful opportunity to enhance their brand exposure.
Rich media, in conjunction with video, is now more effective than simple Flash. When considering rich media campaigns, also think about including video to increase intent.
Will you start to mix social media with your display advertising?
Making display ads social increases the conversation with your customers, which is the top goal for all new media.
Do you try making your social media pages a primary destination rather than the website? How about setting up banner ads for interaction rather than broadcast only?
Social sharing is now becoming the norm when it comes to ads, blog posts, and even websites.
Are you going mobile with your ads?
I know you’re afraid, but its inevitable – users are now moving more and more to a multi-screen experience via desktop, mobile, and display and marketers must create these experiences in order to keep up.
Most mobile advertising now includes location-based strategies automatically – learn to use them creatively.
Remember – there’s no one right mix for every customer or client. By constantly being aware of your social media presence, you can evaluate the right person, the right timing, and the right message for your business.
Social media is not going away any time soon, but it will keep refining itself. Are you doing the same with your message?
