Fundamentals of a Social-Media Action Plan

As I get more involved in social media for business I'm doing a lot of that lately I can see more each day that the new business landscape social media creates is a significant change, social media marketing definition a good thing for a lot of businesses, but still something that depends on fundamentals. Whether it's for marketing, sales, customer service, fulfillment, or some other business purpose, when social media is part of what a business is doing, it should be managed by planning and follow-up.What's the problem? What are you trying to achieve? Start by stating that out loud, defining it, and writing it down. It may seem like too obvious but real business happens over time, with actions, not just in meetings. Setting the context correctly matters.For example, social media for your business might be a matter of generating and publishing content to attract visitors to your website, where they buy services. It might also be about publishing information, like the whereabouts of the taco truck. Or it might be to deal with complaints, like bad reviews. Maybe it's like sales collateral, helping to close sales by positioning the business and its expertise. Start your plan by stating the goal.But as the frequency gets high, you face ad fatigue. Even if the ad is excellent, your prospects stop clicking on it because they have grown tired of seeing it.LinkedIn is rolling out a major redesign for the 2 million Company Pages on the popular professional networking site. That means business owners will have additional ways to market their brands, and connect with clients and partners, LinkedIn says. "It's our goal to provide an environment where brands have the proper tools and platform to cultivate meaningful relationships with our members," social media marketing firm wrote Marc Bishop, LinkedIn's director of global product marketing, in a post announcing the changes.What can business owners expect? First, more prominent brand imagery. LinkedIn is allowing businesses to easily add an image that represents their company, similar to the photo on a member's profile.

New Tool Gauges Pinterest Mentions

Pinterest is now the third most popular social networking site (following Facebook and Twitter), social media marketing firms attracting millions of "pinners" who grab digital images from websites and add them to their bulletin boards. But many small-business owners are still on the sidelines, wondering if they should commit to signing on for yet another social platform that may not be worth the trouble. (Google+, anyone?) PinMe, a free online tool from Boston-based social media marketing dashboard MarketMeSuite, can eliminate that guesswork.Users go to MarketMeSuite.com/pinme, enter their company's URL and instantly see how many pinners are promoting that company on Pinterest. The very basic website bypasses the convoluted alternative: applying to join Pinterest and waiting up to 24 hours to receive an invitation; once inside, a company can conduct only a hit-or-miss search using keywords (not a specific URL) to see who has pinned a photo of one of its products."There wasn't a way for pinners to be thanked," says MarketMeSuite CEO Tammy Fennell, who developed PinMe after conducting an experiment with her father's e-commerce store, BakertowneCollectables. She created a Pinterest board for one of the store's products, Hummel figurines, and within 72 hours had 18 followers and five re-pins. But more telling was her discovery that other pinners had already been highlighting the figurines. It was a community Fennell's father never knew existed.MarketMeSuite released PinMe in April; more than 6,000 businesses tried it in the first two months. About 65 percent of PinMe users found that their site had already been pinned; Fennell says the next step for those companies is to create a Pinterest page and interact with those pinners. And for the 35 percent who discovered no pins to their URL,social media marketing books they can ignore the Pinterest hype and devote their resources elsewhere. Ads display on Facebook multiple times to the same user. The number of individual people who have seen your ad during a specific period is called reach. The average number of times each individual user has seen your ad is frequency.

Tracking and following up

Like everything in planning for business, the social-media action plan is only as good as the actions it causes. social media in marketing Goals, actions, tracking, and people lead to a review-and-revise session scheduled in advance on a regular basis, like once a month. Look at the plan, compare it to actual results, discuss the reasons for the difference between plan and actual, and revise the plan. This also includes reviewing performance of the individuals and specific tasks against their numeric measurement. At this point, it's called management. Technically, you are bidding on the ad space, against other unknown advertisers. Initially, the higher your bid, the more likely your ad will be displayed. After a few thousand impressions, additional factors affect the cost of your ad, including the click-through rate and whether users "like" or complain about your ad. The good new is that Facebook reserves the right to "lower the price" you pay per click, and usually does.You may also select to bid on impressions instead of clicks. In the Facebook interface, pay per view is labeled CPM, short for cost per thousand impressions. (Mille means 1,000 in Latin.) You can pay to have your ad displayed 1,000 times whether or not anyone clicks on it. So, instead of a simple logo, companies can now upload pictures or images that measure 646 x 220 pixels.New, streamlined navigation allows companies to more easily showcase their products, services and career opportunities, LinkedIn says. Businesses can target specific followers when posting company status updates.The redesign also features an augmented follower button and more visible company status updates.Another new feature to Company Pages is called the "Featured Update." small business social media marketing This allows brands to highlight important news by promoting it to the top of their company update stream for up to 48 hours.The new Company Pages are available on the web as well as LinkedIn's iPhone, Android and iPad apps.

Many Ways Instagram Can Boost Your Marketing Plan

From Levi’s to the local craft foods shop, businesses of all sizes are flocking to Facebook’s free photo-sharing app Instagram, hoping to get noticed by its 80 million active users and expand their reach. social media marketing plan sample What makes Instagram different from other social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter? It's almost entirely photo-based and available only on Apple iOS and Android mobile phones and devices. Instagram has emerged as an effective marketing tool because companies can quickly build brand recognition and consumer loyalty through an ongoing stream of photos that help personalize their brand.That Greek yogurt brand Chobani for example. In just a matter of weeks after joining Instagram a year and a half ago, Chobani (@Chobani) attracted a loyal clique of some 9,000 “Chobaniac” followers, which helped catapult the company from little-known to must-have. Chobani generated buzz about its brand on Instagram by encouraging followers to share their own pictures and holding weekly contests. A recent Chobani Instagram contest showcased Chobani fans' photos of their favorite yogurt mix-in ingredients. Chobani chose a winning fan picture each week and awarded winners free cases of yogurt.There are a few fundamentals that you must know before you begin spending your hard-earned cash advertising your business on Facebook. These terms and definitions are so important that you really should understand them comfortably and completely before giving Facebook your credit card and telling them to have at it.An ad in Facebook is content displayed to Facebook users at an advertiser's specific request. Up to five different ads may show at one time. Where ads are displayed, what they are called, how they work, marketing on social media how they are presented and how many are shown at a time are subject to change at any time.Here are six terms you'll want to get familiar with before embarking on a Facebook advertising campaign.Every time an ad is displayed, a user could potentially read the ad. Facebook calls that an impression; it's an opportunity for someone to see your ad.

Promote your goods and services

Post creative snapshots of your company’s products and services and avoid boring stock photos, social media marketing campaign infographics or text-heavy images.Show some flair when you tell your followers -- potential clients, customers and business partners -- who you are and what you do. Starbucks (@Starbucks) does this right. The coffee powerhouse posts casual, quirky close-ups of Frappuccinos, cake pops and other products for its 858,000-plus Instagram followers daily, as well as images of baristas frothing milk and sampling pumpkin spice lattes.To avoid brand burnout, don’t show photos of your products more than three to four times a day. And avoid posting the same picture twice. Repeat photos are generally a turn-off in the Instagram community, which thrives on fresh, new imagery.For example, if an ad has 1.4 million impressions, then the ad had 1.4 million opportunities to be seen.But that doesn't mean 1.4 million separate people have had the chance to see the ad. The estimated reach for this ad is 200,000, the number of Facebook users who meet the criteria that the advertiser has selected for people the advertiser wants to see the ad.If an ad has 1.4 million impressions and an estimated reach of 200,000 people, we know that, on average, each of those 200,000 people has had seven opportunities to see the ad.Most people don't click on an ad on the first impression. As users browse Facebook, moving from page to page, the same ads are displayed multiple times.If the ad title is good and the ad image is compelling, the ad may capture a Facebook user's attention and they may actually read the ad. If the user clicks on the ad, he is taken to a new destination specified by the advertiser. Facebook captures and reports the number of times all users have clicked on each ad. social media marketing degree One of the first questions everyone asks is "How well is my ad working?" There are many measures, but we'll focus on whether the ad encourages users to click.2. Click-through rates. Facebook reports how well an ad encourages a user to click, in a statistic called the click-through rate (CTR).

Create images that feature promotional codes

Promoting exclusive discount and coupon codes for new products and services within a single Instagram photo is a fast, social media marketing los angeles low-cost way to attract fans and boost sales. British clothing retailer Topshop (@topshop), which boasts more than 218,000 Instagram followers, uses Twitter and Facebook to drive consumers to Instagram images that reveal "secret" discount codes and sneak peeks at new store locations.Don't forget to hashtag your special-offer photos with promocode. Hashtags on Instagram work exactly as they do on Twitter. They’re an effective way to attract and track deal seekers.For example, Sharpie (@Sharpie) showcases Instagram images posted by followers who draw impressive doodles and sketches using, of course, Sharpie markers and pens. The result? Sharpie has attracted nearly 39,000 Instagram followers so far.This identifies how many impressions it takes, on average, before a user clicks on the ad. CTR is the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions. If your ad had 1,000 total impressions and users have clicked on the ad 10 times, then your CTR is 1%.The page that is displayed after a user clicks on an ad is called a landing page. The advertiser specifies the landing page when the ad is created in a field called destination URL.Facebook does not display ads out of the goodness of its heart. It wants cold, hard cash. You have to provide a credit card before Facebook will even think of displaying your ad. Once it has your payment information, it lets you create an ad. During this process it asks if you want to bid for clicks or for impressions.If you choose to bid for clicks, you will be charged only if a user clicks on the ad. You can specify the amount you are willing to pay for a click, the cost-per-click (CPC), starting at one cent per click. social media marketing strategy template If you say that you are willing to pay a maximum of 45 cents for a click, then that is the most you will be charged for a click.You can send a user who clicks on an ad anywhere that doesn't violate Facebook's landing page policies. You may send users to your own web page or you may send users to other locations within Facebook -- such as a Facebook page, event, application or group.

Ways to Promote Your Brand Without Facebook

Facebook is slowly but surely adjusting its algorithm to require brands to pay for exposure to their own fans.Recently, a blog post from Weber Shandwick mentioned that a Facebook vice president social media marketing resume had announced that the free ride for brands is over. Frustrated by the lack of reach Facebook was allowing on the Dallas Mavericks Facebook page, owner Mark Cuban tweeted that he was looking for another alternative for the popular giant.I've been hearing the rumblings of smaller brands talking about leaving the platform for a while now. Many don't have the budget to invest in promoted posts and Facebook ads, nor do they want to take a chance on investing in something that many claim doesn't show a measurable return.What's a small brand to do? If you have been thinking that Facebook is not worth your time and money, here are three ways to boost your brand without it.Photo contests can be a fun, free way to attract, interact with and convert potential customers. Ask your Instagram followers to submit personal photos of your products and then post the best ones on your online store.To keep followers coming back day after day, launch a photo-of-the-day campaign. Change it up and invite your followers to submit captions for your photos or answer trivia questions about your snapshots. Pick daily or weekly winners and reward them with prizes.Make Instagram photo contests light and fun, but keep your eye on the marketing prize, as Levi's (@Levis) recently did with its iamlevis Instagram photo competition. In a bid to discover its next star model and reach a wider audience, the company asked fans across the globe to post Instagram photos of themselves wearing their favorite Levi's clothing. During the contest, social media marketing campaigns people shared more than 3,513 Instagram photo entries. Each follower’s image was a reinforcement of Levi's brand, basically a free ad, and the winner took center stage in Levi’s 2012 "Go Forth" ad campaign.Show your customers what happens at your company by posting candid snapshots of employees collaborating in their cubicles or kicking back in the break room.

Step up your brand advocacy strategies on and offline

Most small brands thrive on word-of-mouth. Companies such as Zuberance are dedicated to the message that spending time finding and cultivating people who already love your brand has a much higher pay-off than broadcast or reach strategies. social media marketing service Learn about advocacy strategies and implement the mindset into your marketing strategy. Data indicates that the vast majority of people never visit your Facebook page after they "like" you, asbrands struggle to build effective online communities on Facebook. How proactive are you at encouraging good customers to share your content?People can talk about you to their Facebook friends whether you're on Facebook or not. You can embed a "like" button on your website to enable people to share your website content on their Facebook page. The protocol isn't drag and drop, but it's doable. Encourage loyal customers to post positive reviews about your business on third party review sites (but do not offer incentives). But beyond the visuals, she observes how many people "like" the images and make comments; Shopatrend then uses that information to prune less popular images and guide decisions about what products to sell and what to display on the website.The instant feedback is invaluable. Once a photo becomes popular, more people are likely to view it and "like" it. Over time, Acosta says, the process of posting and refining images--including which to remove and which ones to build on--becomes "organic."Shopatrend also has a presence on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Pinterest, and Acosta often uses one social media site to encourage participation in another. For example, she'll post a promotion on Twitter and Facebook promising a 10 percent discount code to anyone who clicks "follow" on Instagram.Though she won't release revenue figures, Acosta says social media has helped double Shopatrend's sales over the past several months, and the company now boasts customers as far afield as France and Australia. social media marketing conference The online growth has inspired Acosta and her sisters to start thinking about opening a brick-and-mortar boutique."We like the idea of an organic relationship," she says. "The business is built on close relationships. Nowadays, retailing has lost much of its personality. We want to put some of the fun [and] fantasy … back into fashion."

Experiment and engage more with other social media channels

If you have a walk-up storefront, have you tried geo-location social media yet such as Foursquare? Have you claimed all your online business profiles? effective social media marketing How about adding a blog to your website? If you don't have a website, how about putting up a free "website" on a platform such as Wordpress.com or Tumblr that has the interactive look and feel of Facebook? Do some research on other social media channels such as Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, or Google Plus. Experiment and see where you get some traction. Most of all, take some time to school yourself on engagement strategies. Even though Facebook claims to have a billion users, getting the attention of the fans you need to reach is a difficult task, and now, possibly an expensive one.Brands have alternatives. You can be successful at creating loyal brand advocates without Facebook. Maybe it's time to consider the alternatives. Do you need Facebook to survive?Post pictures snapped at company parties, charity dinners, product launches and industry events, too. Such behind-the-scenes glimpses help personalize your company and can create a sense of camaraderie and trust with your followers, making them more likely to do business with you.Zappos (@Zappos), a relative latecomer to Instagram, is already a standout at posting brand-reinforcing, behind-the-scenes pictures. The online retailer predictably posts many pictures of shoes, but its designers mix up the feed a few times a day with colorful images of models on a fashion shoot or workers’ cubicles decked out with fake mustaches and cute family and pet photos.Choose a follower of the day and promote him or her with an @mention. Similar to Facebook and Twitter, an @mention is how Instagram users tag each other in comments. This can fire up powerful word-of-mouth promotion and deliver more followers and potential customers. social media as a marketing tool Many people -- Instagram photo buffs included -- like to be personally recognized by companies for their loyalty, and they're more than happy to spread the word about their special status within their Instagram network.

Things Entrepreneurs Should Be Tweeting About

Apart from creating a vibrant branded Twitter account for your startup, business owners should consider creating their own personal account on Twitter. Fans and followers often want to connect with the person behind the brand. social media marketing pricing Giving customers and prospects a glimpse into the entrepreneur's life and mindset can allow them to cultivate a deeper relationship with customers separately from the brand. The goal, of course, is to increase customers' loyalty to the brand.Sharing your recent purchases, such as music, video games or sports equipment can stir up comments and conversations from others that have bought similar items and enjoy the same kind of entertainment.One way to get people buzzing about your brand over social media is to "gamify" the experience and engaging users in fun ways, says gamification expert Gabe Zichermann. You can drive repeat traffic to your social channels by creating a contest or through longer-term projects that tie into the features of specific social platforms, such as Facebook, he says.An example is NBC Universal's USA Network, which collaborated with gamification firm Bunchball to create Club Psych, a web and social media project based on the TV show Psych that rewarded users with weekly prizes by completing challenges. "They challenged users with different questions and quizzes, and asked them to find various things inside the show over a period of time," Zichermann says. "They doubled their traffic on social media using gamification, and so can you."Like the cost-conscious young women they seek to outfit, the owners of online clothing boutique Shopatrend have plenty of style but little money to spend, especially on business functions such as marketing. So sisters Jennifer, social media marketing blog Elizabeth and Victoria Acosta, who started Shopatrend in September 2011, are leveraging their keen visual sense to market their company at little cost through social photo service Instagram."It is an extremely powerful marketing tool," Jennifer Acosta says. "What makes Instagram so valuable is that it provides immediate feedback about what people like and what they don't."

Pictures of unusual things you see

If something catches your attention, it's probably going to catch the attention of others, too. social media marketing experts So why not share it? This includes visually impressive products, food and architecture.Not replying to comments on your blog or over social media is no different than starting a conversation with someone and then ignoring their response. Actively monitoring comments and questions on every post can be time consuming, but even posting one follow-up comment per post can show you care and that you're engaged.Quotes from sports heroes, military leaders and artists can teach us about innovation and leadership, which are essential to business success.Your website should already have a social look and feel. If it does not, there is your first disconnect. Do you have a photo gallery of customers using your products? Do you have positive customer testimonials on your website?Make sure you temper the promotional aspect of these elements by having customers talk about how your product solved a problem for them. Have you got a video player on your website? It doesn't need to feature videos that you have produced. It could include how-to or informational videos that revolve around your product sector. You can run polls, contests, guest blogs, story-telling micro sites, and many other customer-oriented features on your website.The more you can get people coming to your website and sharing it with others the less you need to worry about Facebook.More small-business owners are focusing their marketing efforts on social media than in years past. According to a recent survey from Vertical Response, a small-business marketing company, 66 percent of small businesses are spending more time on social media compared to last year. Facebook dominates, social media marketing articles with 90 percent of small businesses surveyed actively posting, and Twitter comes in second with nearly 70 percent of small businesses tweeting at least once in a while.The company surveyed 462 small businesses, most with 100 or fewer employees on how much time they spend on social media activities.Below is an infographic that highlights their findings.

Wisdom from the book you're reading

When you hit a "golden nugget" of wisdom in a book, share it. It not only shows that you're well read, but that you value wisdom. social media marketing dallas Those are two things that can only help your reputation.Social media is not the place to work out your problems with people. It's no different than yelling insults at someone in public or raising your voice at a retail store employee. Yes it gets peoples' attention, but that's not the kind of attention you want.Unfortunately, the higher you climb in social media, the more people will want to throw stones at you. But don't retaliate publicly. Simply delete the negative comment, block the person and then decide if you want to address the issue privately, or just move on.The greatest links you can share are links to your personal work, but don't limit that to what you do professionally only. If you have a hobby or passion for something creative, share it.Los Angeles-based Shopatrend has more than 20,000 followers on Instagram, with about 1,000 new followers signing on to see the company's snaps each week. Subscribers view a steady stream of images on their smartphones or at Followgram, a web-based Instagram photo viewer. "It creates a unique relationship with our customers," Acosta says.Photos showcase the hip and stylish lifestyle that customers either have or aspire to have. Images go far beyond clothing, to people, animals and interesting objects or designs. For example, one Instagram photo that captured 867 "likes" depicts nail art featuring typeset words."People wind up with a pretty good idea of who we are, what we think about and how we feel," Acosta notes. The images and the overall sense of personality, in turn, help define and frame the brand. learn social media marketing "We want to create an ooh and aah effect so they will keep coming back and, along the way, buy things," she says.Acosta typically posts several photos per week. "Instagram is appealing because it's different than other social media sites. It's an album filled with pictures. It's direct and straight to the point," she explains.

Ways Social Media Can Ruin Your Reputation

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ allow us to connect with the players in our market. But, when used improperly, social media can be a dangerous platform for entrepreneurs to ruin their reputations. importance of social media marketing A boring post is anything that lacks your unique personality or perspective. Giving a fresh perspective on an old topic or going against the status quo is what gets noticed.So ask yourself how you can infuse your own character or sense of humor within each post. This is the essence of branding. The last thing you want to be is forgettable.In this special feature of 'Ask Entrepreneur,' Facebook fan Amy Clark Braden from Austin, Texas, asks: Which social network is better for converting followers into customers? So far we haven't had much luck with Facebook. What about Twitter or Google+?Converting customers through social channels is not as cut-and-dried as most business owners think it should be. Put yourself in your customer's shoes and ask, "Why would I engage with this brand on Facebook?" Often, the answer is not, "So I can buy stuff from them."Perhaps a better question to ask is, "Where would I buy things from a brand?" Chances are, Facebook is not going to be the first answer for many.Consumers see the social layer around a brand as one that supports their buying decision in providing engagement and information pre-purchase, then supports them after the purchase when they have questions.There's a disconnect when brands say, "We want to use Facebook to engage our audience," but then expect the result to be purchases. It's also misleading to think that your Facebook fans are the same type of captive, opt-in audience that you might find in, say, your email marketing list. They clicked a like button. It's a virtual high-five. social media marketing agencies The barrier to entry there isn't much of an obstacle.This doesn't mean you can't drive conversions or build a customer base using social media, but that you have to first understand that's not what customers are turning to many social networks for. Secondly, approach your social channel with a strategic plan and purpose to drive business.

Failing to promote others

When it comes to building your business and developing a powerful network, you'll want to develop a reputation as someone who highlights others. search and social media marketing Not only does this give credit where credit is due, it also communicates that you're secure with your success and have the ability to promote others in your industry.When someone gives you a great piece of advice, post it on Facebook or Twitter and tag that person.Utilize the Endorsements feature on LinkedIn and begin endorsing people within your network.My guess is, for a business that says its Facebook fans don't convert, it isn't providing content that attracts likely customers or asking them to convert. Sometimes you have to present a call-to-action and give them a compelling reason to click, download or buy.One social network that seems to get the most nods when I ask, "Are you driving business there?" is LinkedIn. This makes sense because it's mostly used by business people for business purposes. Networking with sales in mind is more natural on LinkedIn. On Facebook? Not so much. But if you've approached your Facebook strategy with the conversion in mind, you'll see much greater traction than if you just "engage" and cross your fingers.Still, it's not the channel that is often to blame, but the strategy at play. If you want to convert fans on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social channel, you have to drive likely prospects and customers there with promotions or compelling content. Then you have to give them the opportunity and reason to convert. If you've attracted the right audience with the right messages in the right place and the right time, they will.Share the big events of your personal life -- vacations, weddings, births -- the type of info you'd share with close friends. social media marketing applications It can help keep your followers feeling like they're "in the loop." You're also more likely to make a connection with followers who have experienced something similar.Sharing mistakes and what you learned is a sign of growth, not weakness. Try doing a "What I learned this week" tweet and see how your followers respond.

Being tagged in questionable photos

Most everyone has been captured in a photo that should be titled, "This is not how it looks." As funny as some photos can be, marketing using social media think twice about allowing yourself to be tagged in questionable photos. As a business owner, be mindful of how you want to be perceived publicly. Untag or delete yourself from any inappropriate photos.Your best ally in creating an image that attracts the right kind of people and attention is to simply use common sense, which usually not so common. As long as you're consistently infusing your unique style and communicating with the same class that you would in public, you'll do just fine.Generate greater customer engagement by giving your clients an inside peek at your business through a board or boards that offer a feel for your company's style, ideas, projects and commitments. For example, Whole Foods has a board called Whole Planet Foundation, which features pins of projects from around the globe that reinforce the Whole Foods commitment to sustainability, organic farming and green in general, as well as inspirational sayings that reflect the company's whole-living message.While these boards aren't likely to make you Pinterest superstar overnight, they can help get you started on a path to finding and engaging your potential customers with visuals that speak to their needs.If someone asks a question on Twitter and you know the answer, share it. This can also be a way to develop a FAQ within your industry, which you can later point them to via a link.They key to sharing articles is to also include your unique opinion. Let others know why you liked or didn't like an article. los angeles social media marketing When a billboard or any other advertising catches your attention, take a picture and tweet it. Everyone can benefit from seeing smart marketing.Just remember that your opinion paints a public image, which means you should be cautious about which opinions you choose to share -- ideally only those which are congruent with your market. Keep the rest to yourself.

On Social Media, Share Content That Makes Your Followers Say 'Holy Smokes!'

Social media can be a great way to for entrepreneurs to engage with customers, provide customer service and even make a few sales. But it can also be time consuming and not immediately generate the results you might be after. social media marketing university review So what's a business owner to do? We spoke with online marketing expert Jason Falls for a live Google Hangout, "Tap Into the Power of Social Media for Business," during which he answered your most pressing questions.The point here is to give people a compelling reason to follow you on social media -- namely content that gives your audience value and evokes an emotional response. Falls cited a Cisco advertisement that uses humor to promote an otherwise boring product: its ASR 9000 router. "They were able to make a $150,000 router sexy," Falls said.Extend this philosophy to your social strategy. Instead of simply asking that people follow you on Twitter or "Like" you on Facebook, give them a compelling reason for doing so.Figuring out how to help your customers will grow your business. By understanding their needs, you can transform your business to suit them, not you, and you will flourish.This inside knowledge doesn’t automatically translate to sales. It’s what you do with it that makes a difference. This information must create an emotional benefit for your customers. Not just the functioning of your business, but a real emotional connection with your customers.By creating an emotional benefit you will do something magical: You will turn your business into a brand. You will create a brand that transcends your product and differentiates it from your competitors. You will transform your customers from needing your products to wanting your brand. facebook social media marketing That’s the power of an emotional connection: a brand that your customers will want over and over again, because they have an emotional attachment.Because you understand them, you get them and you serve their needs not just functionally but emotionally they will reward you for it.Spend the holidays getting to know your customers and creating an emotional benefit.

Share other people's content

Don't just broadcast your own marketing messages. Sharing other people's content can be an effective way to give your audience value without taking the trouble to create it yourself. " disadvantages of social media marketing Most mornings I get out there and select the 10 or 15 most useful articles on social media and digital marketing, and then share them throughout the day," Falls said. Sharing content from other sources can also go a long way to generating credibility for yourself as a subject-matter expert.If you start showing up to client meetings and hear, “Wow, you look different than you do in your profile,” call a photographer today. You may really love how you look in that headshot from the past decade, but unless you’ve found the fountain of youth, it’s out of date. A good rule of thumb is to update your photo every two to three years. This covers changes in hairstyles, fashion and -- sigh -- aging.Consider using the same profile pic across all the social media sites you're on -- LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and others. A consistent image across platforms can be a visual personal brand strengthener.Then it will be the most wonderful time of the year. As the rest of the world settles down for a long winter's nap, entrepreneurs have an opportunity to spend time plugging into their customers. But it isn't a time to focus on the business. It’s a time to learn about your customer’s lives -- stresses, happiness, worries, hobbies, families -- anything really important to them.Figure out what motivates your key audience. Listen to what is going on in their lives, so that you can figure out how your product fits in and where you can add value.This advice might sound obvious, but be honest: How well do you really know your customers? hotel social media marketing You can try getting to know them the old-fashioned way, in person or on the phone, but social media has opened up a whole new, more productive way. As one of the biggest advancements in market research and relationship marketing in decades, social media allows us to get to know our customers like never before, and observe how they are living.

Social media sites are not created equal

Different people use different social media sites for different reasons. Instagram, for instance, appeals to people who love sharing great photos. atlanta social media marketing And a business that has visually-appealing products or service might consider spending more time on Instagram or Facebook than others like Twitter or LinkedIn.The key for business owners, of course, is to know which social media sites your audience is engaged with most. A good way to find out? Ask them, Falls said.Unless the essence of your brand is a cartoon character you have created and whose face is what you show the social media world, skip the avatar. Let us see the real you.While sexy over-the-shoulder looks and sideways glimpses might work for a fashion shoot, they are the opposite of what you want in a profile picture. The best option is a shot of you looking straight into the camera, full face forward.The purpose of your profile photo is to give a visitor a quick hint about who you are as a person. Think carefully about the signals you'll be sending. Odds are good that you'll send the wrong message if you're wearing sunglasses, shown with someone else, or holding Fido, your surfboard or a glass of anything.Actually, we can do more than just observe, we can live right beside them.Social media gives entrepreneurs a window into what our customers are thinking, feeling, and doing, an inside window to discover ways that we can help them. That’s where the productive part comes in: creating ways to help customers.For many business owners, the lead-up to the holidays is jackpot time. It’s when we are the busiest, cranking through everything that our customers need. We’re on turbo-drive and it feels good.Then boom. The holidays hit, and the world suddenly stops. how to do social media marketing Most people see this as a relief, a time to unplug, have a few cookies and turn off the computer for a few weeks.Not entrepreneurs. There’s a hidden opportunity during this holiday lull, a time to be the most productive you’ve been all year.While others drink eggnog, you could be doing something that will set you up for success next year, something you rarely have time for.

Easy on the Airbrush and Other Tips for Your Pinterest Photo

If you’re one of those people who thinks that the new year is a good time to post an updated profile picture to your Pinterest page and other social media sites, I would agree. social media marketing trendsVisuals are a key component of many social networks. Let’s face it: We have all shaken our heads those unfortunate profile photos of people doing tequila shots in their bathrobe. Don’t let this be you.Some people even think that foregoing a profile photo is OK. It isn't. By some accounts, social media profiles with photographs are seven times more likely to be viewed than those without. The picture you choose may seem like a simple thing, but it can have an immediate and weighty impact on a potential customer's first impression of you and your business.If you use a personal photo rather than one of your business logo, here are seven things to keep in mind when selecting an image.Chinese mochi-ring donuts, Korean banana donuts, Thai chicken-and-chile donuts and German flower-shaped donuts are featured on the international page, just one of more than a dozen boards that make up the site. There's even a section called "Cooking w/ Dunkin'" with recipes such as a mole sauce that makes use of the brand's coffee.We buy the same sneakers as sports stars. Drink the same cola as rock stars. Wear the same clothes as movie stars. But sadly, we've had no role models when it comes to where we get our hair cut. Until now. Supercuts' Rock the Cut, launched last March, is a multifaceted social media campaign, with commercials featuring musicians talking about their experiences at the salon franchise. But most important has been the Artist Ambassador program, in which the brand enlisted musicians in cities across the U.S. to talk about Supercuts on their social media accounts, reaching a total of more than 6.5 million fans. social media marketing new york Add to that a Supercuts-backed iHeartRadio channel, a website full of free music downloads and promotions with Live Nation, and Supercuts is positioning itself to be to music what Red Bull is to extreme sports. We applaud the effort. But please, Supercuts, we're begging--don't let your musicians bring back the mullet.

Go light on the airbrushing

If you’re 50 years old and have no wrinkles, you just look like you are trying too hard. social media marketing pdf Remember, people do business with people they like and trust. If you don’t look reasonably like your online photo when you show up to a meeting, your credibility is compromised, even if unconsciously, in the other person’s mind. It not only showed how the pickles were placed just so and the ketchup squirted on with a syringe; it also explained why the burger that comes in your bag looks a little worse for wear than the one in the advertisement (the gist: The bun shrivels due to steam). But that's not the only inside information at the McDonald's Canada website YourQuestions.Mcdonalds.ca, which answers dozens of customer queries forthrightly, sometimes with a full video for additional explanation. Consumers have asked questions like "Do you use laxatives in your creamer?" "Why don't McDonald's burgers rot?" and "Do you use snouts in your burgers?"--nothing is too weird. It's a win for transparency, and for marketing. But consumers, be careful: It's the type of site that can accidentally eat up your entire afternoon.Before the town-hall style second presidential debate in October, Pizza Hut made an offer: It would give anyone in the audience free pizza for life if they would ask the candidates that age-old question, "Sausage or pepperoni?" The reaction to the offer was likely not what Pizza Hut expected; it was decried by the media, the advertising community and customers as a gratuitous ploy for attention and for trivializing presidential politics. The company backed down, turning the promotion into an online discussion, and leaving the presidential candidates to answer more substantive questions from the public. social marketing media Like "Boxers or briefs?"Donuts can be beautiful. And strange. That's the take-away after spending some time at the Dunkin' Donuts Pinterest page, the company's social media headquarters. Donuts, it turns out, are perfectly suited for that visual medium, and the fleet of goodies from Dunkin' is fascinating.

Stay within the size range for the site

For example, the exact size of your Pinterest profile picture is 160 by 160 pixels. Any image you select will be stretched or shrunk as needed to fit those proportions. social media for marketing For this reason, the ideal image is a square photo around 200 by 200 pixels in size.If you follow these seven simple guidelines your picture will be heads and shoulders above most others on social media sites. So smile, say cheese and put up a pic that shows off your star quality. Sometimes one line can tell you more about a brand's personality than a commercial or press release ever could. A brief Twitter exchange in July between Old Spice, which is known for its tweets ribbing other brands, and Taco Bell conveyed the irreverent attitudes of both. When @OldSpice asked @TacoBell, "Why is it that 'fire sauce' isn't made with any real fire? Seems like false advertising," Taco Bell shot back, "Is your deodorant made with really old spices?"It's the type of humor that hits at both companies' 18- to 34-year-old male demographic, and the Twitter snark-a-thon that ensued was a hilarious win for all. (Although @OldSpice probably came out of the exchange victorious, ending the brief conversation by tweeting, "Depends.Charlice Noble-Jones opened the doors to her Hawkinsville, Ga., Snap Fitness franchise last January--without paying a cent. The fourth-grade teacher was chosen out of more than 2,000 entrants to win the Partner with Peter contest, a Facebook promotion in which aspiring franchisees submitted a 250- to 500-word essay to Snap Fitness CEO Peter Taunton for a chance to win a franchise valued at roughly $250,000. Noble-Jones--a widow and single parent who survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks while working in a building adjacent to the World Trade Center in New York--was informed of the decision at a surprise school assembly. Last we heard, social media marketing course the doors to her gym were still open.You may have seen a video circulating on the web last summer showing how a photographer primped and prepped a Quarter Pounder With Cheese for a McDonald's photo shoot.