Social Media ROI?
Can I measure my Social Media results?
I get asked that question all the time. I found a great article that addresses this very issue at the Blog on Hubspot. Here is a link: How to Measure Your Social Media Lead Generation Efforts
This article talks about Lead Generation being below Brand Awareness in the Marketing Funnel. The funnel takes you through Engagement, Opportunity, then Conversion.
Read the article then tell me what you think – will you start to measure your Social Media so you can get an idea of its effectiveness?
Webinar: Facebook Q&A
Get your Facebook Questions answered
Did you know that Facebook has made some changes to the FanPage layout and functionality? If you are curious how these changes effect your FanPage then come to the Free webinar.
When: Feb 23rd from 2:30 – 3:30 PM (Pacific Time)
Where: My FanPage!
There is an Event on my FanPage where you can ask your question before the event. There will also be an opportunity to ask a question on the Live Webinar as well. Get your question in early to be sure there will be enough time.
You can also ask your question in the comment stream below!
FanPage For Business
Why a Fanpage?
I get this question almost daily ~ so here is the answer…
If you would like these Online Marketing Tip of the Week emailed right to your Inbox for convenience then register with the form in the sidebar.
Social Media Strategies For Traditional Businesses
I own a local business – Why do I Care about online Social Media?
Many people mention that Social Networking is a waste of time and will not bring customers to a local business. This cannot be further from the truth. It is true that without a strategy time can be wasted, and huge efforts can go unrewarded. Having an Online Strategy for all your Social Networking is where the key to the gold lays.
Social Media Strategy
It is important to come up with a plan that can be used on a regular basis and that will yield the results that are needed. Some small businesses are happy with 100-500 visitors each month and others need thousands of visitors to make their efforts show in the bottom line. Many service industries do not want more business than can be handled so creating a workable and sustainable strategy in the onset is quite important. There are no cookie cutter answers – but there are some generalities that can be used for most small businesses.
Online Strategies
Social media should be a part of an entire online strategy. There are many different marketing ideas and methods that can be packaged into a workable strategy. Some of them are:
- Blog
- Pay-Per-Click Advertising (AdWords)
- Social Media
- Forums
- Commenting
- Other Peoples Blogs / Community Blogs
- Article Marketing
- Online Directories
- Link Sharing
Social Media plays a large role in online marketing because when used properly it creates a huge web of back links to your website. It also creates a large following of potential customers that like you and what you do professionally. They become a rather large source of referrals that will start to fill your sales pipeline. Do not think that social networking will give instant results – it is a process that grows over time.
- Here are a few ideas of how to use Social Media Sites in Traditional / Service Businesses.
- Post the Special of the Day
- Create a Special for Online Customers that walk into your store
- Offer Electronic Coupons
- Make Announcements that affect customers
- Create Customer Appreciation
- Customer Service
The ideas are limited only by your imagination. If you need help to learn how to use Social Media effectively then consider joining the online training- a step-by-step video training system for business owners that have the desire to learn social media and need guidance.
What is the Buzz about?
There are thousands of Social Media sites – blogs, video sites, FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter – hundreds of sites where people can interact with each other. Some of these sites are business related and some are not. Many niche businesses have their own Social Media sites. If you are a traditional business owner then there are four different social media sites that are a must for you to join. Here they are in order:
- BizNik
- Any site that is specialized in your personal niche
LinkedIn is the first social media site to join. This is a site for professionals that are looking to grow in many different aspects. It can act as an online business card, resume, and portfolio. LinkedIn offers the business owner a way to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack – creating trust that is hard to earn online.
Twitter offers ways to meet potential clients, potential power partners, potential joint venture partners, and your local customer base. It can communicate and broadcast what your business is doing in your local community, distribute electronic coupons, facilitate customer service, and many more important business related tasks. This is the ultimate in free marketing.
FaceBook provides a platform to interact with your customers and target market. They offer FaceBook Pages specifically for businesses. This is a great place to look for potential clients, post specials for your online clients, and to share about your business. Does your business participate in the community? Sharing these types of community connections can be a great Public Relations move for your business and FaceBook is one of the best places to get that information out.
BizNik
BizNik is a website just for businesses. This is a place to post business related articles, look for potential employees, look for power partners, and offer paid workshops or classes. This is a growing community of business owners that has a great deal of marketing and promotional ideas that are freely shared to help the community as a whole.
Marketing Traditional Businesses website is designed to guide and help business owners that want to gain customers from Internet Marketing. It is also here to get your questions answered and to help you to decide if your business needs more in-depth coaching in the area of Internet marketing. If you need personalized help then consider Renegade University – this is where people like yourself come to learn how to effectively market their business online – at your pace and convenience.
FaceBook Pages: Market Your Business With Facebook
How to benefit by Marketing with Facebook
I get this question all the time – Facebook is so personal – how can I use it for my business? The answer – Facebook Pages.
Facebook Pages differ from a regular Facebook profile in many ways:
- Facebook Pages are ranked in Google and other Search Engines
- Pages are for Branding your business
- Page Fans get notified when you update your page
- Tabs can be customized and linked to directly
- Facebook Pages allows for Event Posting
- Applications will pull in your Blog via a Feed
- Add a Fan Box to your Blog/Website
Facebook Profiles and Pages get ranked by Search Engines
Why not take advantage of this fact? When someone searches for your business name Continue reading
Twitter Is Your Friend
How to use Twitter successfully!
Twitter can be a confusing technology. I often get asked, “What’s the point?” There are 2 ways to use Twitter – the right way and the wrong way. Many people use it incorrectly (at least for business).
Think of Twitter as a way to build a huge opt-in list of followers. These are people that are interested in your business, your specialty, your knowledge, and in how you can help them either directly or indirectly. They are watching what you are doing - learning from observation. As you build your relationship with these people they begin to trust what you are doing/saying. As we all know – on the Internet people buy from people they trust – period.
Who To Follow
I follow people that are in the same industry (what can I learn from them), people that are experts in a field that interests me (what can I learn form them), and people that I can see needs help in my area of expertise (what can I teach them). I also usually follow people that follow me – Continue reading
Twitter As A Business Tool?
Twitter Can Bring You Business
As a web designer I often get asked how to use Twitter as a business tool. I would like to take a moment and outline what Twitter basics and what Twitter has done for my business then you might have a better idea how to use Twitter in your own business.
Twitter Basics
Twitter is a site to share short thoughts, share information, and share useful links. It builds credibility and gives insights into the Tweeter. Twitter is an excellent way to reach Local Internet Users. Most business owners are looking for ways to reach their own local markets – Twitter serves this purpose very well. There are tools designed to use with Twitter that will help you to find people in your local area. My favorite is TwellowHood. Twellowhood will interface with your Twitter account when you sign in with your Twitter information, then find your location on the map and it will find other Twitter users in the same city. It also allows you to follow them directly from the TwellowHood website making it very easy.
Another tool is the Search feature Continue reading
LinkedIn Profile: Pimped-Out Profile Brings More Business
Get Noticed On LinkedIn
LinkedIn has added Applications to help your profile stand out in the crowd – why not use them? I am taking advantage of them on my profile – Dotty Scott
When you are signed into your LinkedIn Profile there is a navigation box on the left hand side. The bottom option says “Applications”. Clicking it will take you to a page that lists the available applications you can add to your profile.
I am using the WordPress App to link my blog to my LinkedIn Profile. This pulls the last 5 blog posts into my LinkedIn profile so people can read excerpts from my posts then click to go to my blog for more of the post. Linkedin supports WordPress through the WordPress Application and TypePad, Movable Type, Vox, WordPress.com, WordPress.org, Blogger, LiveJournal and more through the BlogLink Application.
Do you have a professional PowerPoint presentation for your business? Are you an Artist that would like to display a portfolio? There is an App for embedding a PowerPoint Presentation, Word Documant, or PDF file into your Profile. It is called SlideShare Presentations.
Google Presentation is another Application that will link any Google App presentation you have for your business into your LinkedIN Profile. It can:
- Showcase a recent talk or presentation
- Display a visual portfolio of your professional accomplishments.
- Introduce yourself to recruiters and professional contacts viewing your profile
Are you reading any really great business books? Share them with Reading List by Amazon.
Would you like to create a Poll to gather data for a business presentation? Add the application called Polls.
There are 10 different business related applications that LinkedIN provides to create a really professional and very unique profile that can greatly benefit the exposure your business gets from the Internet. By not taking advantage of these free tools you are letting your competition get ahead of your business. Who wants to do that?
Social Media plays a huge role with your online marketing.
Dotty
LinkedIn: Benefits For Traditional Businesses
Using Social Sites to Create Backlinks to Your Business Website
When I first joined LinkedIn – I was like most average business owners – registered because someone invited me and then never completed the profile and never participated. Guess what – I never got anything out if it either! After reevaluating online networking sites I discovered a potential huge pool of people that can help my business grow in one way or another.
LinkedIn has become one of my best sources of business information and a great resource for potential customers. There are “secrets” to using LinkedIn – and now I am going to reveal the secrets to you.
- Fill out your profile completely – this means a current photo as well. LinkedIn’s profile area is really quite complete for an online networking site. If filled out properly you have a great opportunity to “shine”. Google will rank profile pages – This can be to your benefit or deficit – it is up to you. When searching for my name (Dotty Scott) I own the first 8 out of 10 listings on Google, with my Google Profile showing at the bottom of the page. All of these are either profiles at different Social Sites, Blog posts, or my website reference. The bottom line is trust – people do business online with people that have built up their trust and a complete profile is a great starting point for building trust. Continue reading
LinkedIn: SEO Friendly Profile Will Get Higher Rankings
Using Social Sites like LinkedIN to Drive Traffic
LinkedIn profiles have so many opportunities for Search Engine Placement and the majority of people do not take advantage of it for their business. Here are some easy things to change on your generic profile to make it really personal to you and your business as well as giving it Google Juice.
Here is a screen shot showing the placement of the “edit” links referred to below.
- Make sure your profile name is in the form you are using online. Example: Dorothy Scott vs Dotty Scott. Since I am using Dotty I went into the Account Settings and changed the Dorothy to Dotty.
- Change your public profile URL to reflect either your name or your business name. When you are in the Edit Profile mode there will be a link next to your “Public Profile” that says edit – click the link and enter your new profile url. Then use this link on your website, blog, email signature, and forum signatures. Continue reading