| |
Posts Tagged ‘social media marketing’
Saturday, March 10th, 2012
Frank Reed has written an interesting post on Marketing Pilgrim that highlights where blogs are now going in the business world. Nielsen’s NM Incite is currently tracking over 173 million blogs – that’s a lot of blogs, many of which you will need to compete against. The key to success is keeping your blog up-to-date and keeping it relevant to your visitors. Social media has taken over many of the functions of a blog, but social media generally only scratches the surface – it takes a blog to really delve deeper into topics. Frank Reed makes an important observation when he states:
The need for a place for more developed thoughts and examinations of subjects has actually never been greater. As people realize exactly where social media falls in the process of content ingestion there needs to be a place where the 140 character idea is worked out in more detail.
I’ll go a step further – social media is great at raising issues, blogs are the ideal tool to explore them more deeply, foster discussions, and perhaps even provide answers. Social media is a good place to determine if your content is up-to-date and if you are creating content that is still relevant. Your own customers and the types of questions being asked on forums is also a great place for determining current issues.
Blogs are still powerful tools in the right hands. Interestingly, it is no longer the amount of content you create, rather, it’s the quality of that content that is now important. In some niches, publishing quality content two or three times a week is better than publishing a lot of fill in content – that fill in content can often bury the quality content you do publish. You also need to avoid content fatigue – that is, turning content production into a dreaded chore. It will show in your writing, and it can sour what could have been a good quality article.
When it comes to blogging for small business, I’ll leave the final comment to Frank Reed – and there really is a lesson to all here:
In the end, the lesson here is that a deeper and more thoughtful examination of information will always have its place. In fact, it will be something in such high demand that we may even see a very quick renaissance of the traditional approach to media.
Tags: blogging, blogs, social media marketing
Posted in Blogging for Small Business | 6 Comments »
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
Come March 30, the Facebook Timeline rollout will be complete with all business pages also sporting the new look. There are positives and negatives to come out of this change. One of the big negatives is the loss of the ability to set an app on the front page. While this may reduce the number of people being added to emailing lists, it can also be seen as a positive – many users resented the appearance of apps when visiting, especially first timers – they wanted to get to know your business before being confronted.
On the plus side, the Facebook Timeline will allow businesses to control their own home page images. A well designed header image complete with logo should be a real boost for many businesses. If you are a small business that uses Facebook to connect with consumers, and you don’t have a recognizable logo – get one. Logo’s are not expensive to create, yet they become an instantly recognizable part of your business no matter where you are on the Internet. Once created, a logo can be used on your own website, in advertizing, on Twitter, and now on Facebook.
This will make Facebook an important part of any social media branding campaign, especially if you can collect a lot of followers. The new Timeline should also help to keep visitors on your pages, reading more of your content and your interaction with other visitors. The longer visitors stay on your pages, the more exposure they receive to your branding. More importantly, if visitors are actually reading your content, it may encourage more of them to click through to your website. An increase in traffic always has the potential to increase your businesses turnover.
You don’t have to do anything to your Facebook – come March 30, it will automatically change to the new Timeline. However, you don’t have to wait, and you do it now and by doing it now, you have complete control over the look of your Facebook Timeline page. It will help you brand your business, and it may even help you grow your business.
Tags: Facebook Timeline, social media marketing
Posted in Social Media | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Online marketing and SEO are really trying to achieve the same results – they just go about it differently. Some will argue that SEO is part of an online marketing strategy whilst others will argue the opposite, online marketing is part of an SEO strategy. It doesn’t matter which argument is right, what is important is to remember they do go hand-in-hand.
A good example is any advertising copy, press release, or social media marketing engagement. SEO is still important. When writing a press release, keywords and website links do matter. Keywords are also important when engaging socially, or writing advertising copy. If you engage in coupon marketing for example, coupons do appear in search results.
That then becomes an important issue. If anything you do online has the potential to appear in search results, it should be optimized for those search results. This includes using keywords effectively and promoting the right pages on your website. There are many small business owners who complain of failed marketing campaigns (and coupons are again a good example here). In reality, the campaign may have been well thought out in marketing terms, the failure coming from the lack of any SEO involvement.
There is a simple approach to take when it comes to online marketing and SEO. Marketing to helps to sell your business, your brand, and your products. SEO helps to sell your marketing strategy. Having the two working hand-in-hand often marks the difference between success and failure, more so for small businesses since they don’t have the leverage of big dollars and a much broader customer base.
When putting together an online marketing strategy, do you stop and consider how an effective SEO strategy can help you sell the campaign? Do you want components of your marketing strategy to appear in search results? Most business should be answering yes to both of those questions – and that’s where online marketing and SEO converge. They each rely on the other for success.
Tags: SEO, SEO for Small Business, social media marketing
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 28 Comments »
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Sometimes it’s the little things on a web page that make all the difference. Often, it’s not what the user sees that makes the difference, it’s what the search engines see and interprets. Kristine Schachinger on Search Engine Watch considers the title tag to be the single most important element on a web page. From a users perspective, the title tag is the text that may appear at the top of their browser, and generally appears as the link in search results. When it comes to SEO for small business, how much do you know about title tags?
Kristine’s post makes for interesting reading if you are not sure about the title tag. Some of the points she makes include:
- not using a sentence structure for the title (leave that for the description)
- using pipes | to separate keywords rather than commas or dashes
- placing your keywords left to right in order of importance
- keeping your title to less than 70 characters (that includes spaces)
- ensuring every page has a unique title tag
- the title tag is relevant to the page
The title tag has to be relevant to the pages content, and shouldn’t be keyword stuffed. Because it may form the link in search results, you want it to appeal to the reader – engage them and encourage them to click through to your web site. While that may sound difficult, there are some important points to note when it comes to people using a search engine.
Your page has appeared in the search results because it is relevant to the users search term. They should immediately relate to that search term through both the title and the description that appears below the search result link. Placing your keywords first should help to attract the searcher to your sites search listing – your description then should invite the click through.
Sometimes it’s the little things that can make a huge difference. You work hard to create content, develop inbound links, and perhaps social media attention. Your hard work may pay off with a front page (or better yet, top three) listing in the search results. Will your title tag let the team down? Kristine is right, at that point, the title tag is the most important element on the page.
Tags: link building, meta tags, search results, social media marketing, title tags
Posted in SEO for Small Business | 7 Comments »
Monday, February 20th, 2012
Every time a new social media site comes online, marketing people try to find ways to use it to advantage. Why not? It’s their job to look for marketing opportunities at every opportunity. Paying for tweets is not new. Cynthia Boris (writing on Marketing Pilgrim) came across a new twist on the paid tweet option – rather than having a customer pay cash for a product, they could pay by publishing a prewritten tweet.
Naturally, you wouldn’t be doing this with an expensive product. Cynthia’s example was for an ebook, however, even at a paltry $2 a copy, if you have 100 customers use the tweet options, that’s $200 out of your business’s till. You could write it off to marketing costs, however, there is still some expectation of a return.
Cynthia’s post goes a step further and ponders the affect that FTC advertising disclosures have on these types of activities. It’s a valid point. When does a tweet or like become a recommendation? If the person tweeting or liking has not used the product, and is tweeting or liking in return for a reward, should there be a disclosure?
This is where businesses, particularly small businesses, need to tread warily. The regulations, whilst black and white in principal, they are very gray in practice. It will all come down to the wording, and whether or not a normal person would consider that tweet or like a recommendation to buy. If they would, then disclosure is a must.
Paying for tweets and likes does not always deliver any benefits to the business. If rewards is the motivation, then you are likely to see a lot of people taking the reward, but not converting into long term customers. Your marketing dollars could be better spent on coupons, advertising or any number of alternate marketing options. It should also be remembered that people often look down on businesses that try to buy popularity – this could then have a negative effect on your brand, your image and your reputation.
Tags: social media marketing
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 6 Comments »
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
The business world can be brutal, and the online business world is even more so. Name me a product and a price and I daresay I could find a handful of offers that beat yours either on price, service or reputation. That doesn’t mean the millions of shoppers who search online could, though a fair proportion of them will. Are you a small business owner who is trying to survive online by doing it all yourself? There is a good chance your business is going downhill, and possibly your health as well.
There is only so much a person can do. You have a choice, you can work on the periphery of your business, managing a website, keywords, content, marketing including a social media marketing campaign, and perhaps even a PPC campaign as well – and we haven’t touched on the business side of things, the stock control, money management and growth of a business. The alternative is to work longer building your business, increasing turnover and profitability. There are some small business owners who can manage this full time, however, their stress levels are high and their interaction with family and friends low.
The alternative is to engage professionals to work on specific areas of your business. Are they expensive? Despite popular opinion, generally not – although expensive depends on your own personal opinion. There are very competent web designers, content writers, marketing consultants and SEO professionals, just to name a few, who can help you build your business. The key to their success is your ability to let go.
We can often identify one common trait amongst those who insist on a DIY approach to an online presence – they really do go it alone. The best recommendation we can make is to stop – and network. You don’t have to give away business secrets, although you’ll be surprised with what you’ll learn once you start networking, and that includes reliable information on who best to engage to help with your online presence.
Small businesses with a DIY mindset often fail, or at best, remain static and fail to grow. The time will come when your business will need a professionally produced website, aggressive SEO, and perhaps a strong marketing (particularly social media marketing) campaign to survive in this brutal online world. Networking is one approach to breaking the DIY cycle, and to obtaining information that will help your business grow – are you networking? Are you doing it all yourself? It’s time you broke free and found professional help for your online business.
Tags: online professionals, SEO, social media marketing
Posted in Tools for Small Business | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
One of the platforms behind search engine optimization is content. “Publish useful keyword content regularly” has been the mantra for over a decade now, however, one wonders if that is all about to change and that content on websites could become defunct. I know that will raise eyebrows, but then, we do know that Google, the number one source of traffic for many websites, is trying to escape the inbound link component of their algorithm.
There’s an interesting article on TechCrunch which, while discussing privacy issues related to Google+ and Facebook, also had this to say:
Google’s PageRank algorithm is seriously out of date. It promotes pages based on the number of links to it. Today, pages are no longer the unit of publishing. Far smaller items than a page dominate our senses. And those smaller messages are produced in huge quantity and in real time.
Those smaller messages are references to Facebook, Twitter and many other social media sites, forums included. This raises the question of content on websites – will it become defunct and replaced by short messages? I for one hope it never comes to that. The content on Facebook and Twitter can never really adequately answer a question. Forums are a different story, questions are answered, often in depth, and with a lot of input from a range of users. You are more likely to find an answer in a forum than you will on Facebook or Twitter. Interestingly, most small messages on those two sites generally include links to more indepth answers often on blogs.
Logic would then suggest that the indepth answer is more relevant and more important than the smaller message on a social media website. Keith Teare, the article’s author, is right when it comes to the privacy issues facing social media. However, when it comes to content, I don’t think we’ll be losing that anytime soon. Yes, Google will find a way to reduce the effects of links in its search ranking algorithm, but that will be because they have found a better way to measure worth, and yes, social media mentions will most likely lead that change.
I wouldn’t be tearing down content or reducing the amount published in too much of hurry. Rather, I’d be concentrating on content that individuals find important enough to share with others. Blogging for small business is still one of the best ways to communicate with the rest of the world, and that won’t be changing anytime soon.
Tags: content, search engine optimization, SEO, social media marketing
Posted in Blogging for Small Business | 3 Comments »
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Social media is certainly dominating people’s minds when it comes to online marketing to consumers, but are they the best places to network with other business owners? There is an interesting article on The Next Web highlighting the demise of local social media due to the dominance of Facebook. Whilst there is a lot of hype surrounding Twitter, it fills the number two position in only two countries, the U.S. and the U.K, admittedly big markets. LinkedIn is the second choice in many other countries, yet it is not really designed for consumer marketing.
LinkedIn has become a powerful force when it comes to networking and business-to-business marketing. Professionals appreciate the tighter security surrounding who can link to you, and who is able to see your complete profile. This means you can concentrate on those who interest you, or who are in the same niche as yourself. Where Facebook is all about gaining as many followers as possible, LinkedIn is more about connecting on a professional basis – the heart of networking for small business.
Whilst LinkedIn does offer an opportunity to network with others from all over the world, it’s not the only opportunity. In fact, more traditional methods often have a much more lasting effect. It’s interesting to look at the online marketing industry as an example. Whilst day-to-day contact is maintained through social media channels, online marketing professionals take advantage of every opportunity to meet in person. International online marketing events draw crowds from around the world, all looking to network face to face, all looking to ‘humanize’ their online networking activities.
For small businesses, social media channels such as LinkedIn offer a great opportunity to connect with similar-minded business people. However, if you get the opportunity to meet in person, grab it. Chambers of Commerce, trade associations and state or national conferences are all important areas to develop a network. While you may think that you can’t spare the time, the connections you make could well save you a lot of time.
Tags: business-to-business marketing, social media marketing
Posted in Networking for Small Business | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
What’s the one problem that every small business owners faces when it come to social media marketing? Time. There are just not enough hours in the day to manage a business, often work in the business, manage traditional marketing problems, and then manage a wide range of social media interactions. Having a Facebook page is becoming a must and for many businesses, a Twitter account as well. Google’s +1 will become a go-to place and for professionals; a profile on LinkedIn is also a big help. What’s really required is a comprehensive way to bring all four of those social media sites together, and that’s where Nimble comes to your rescue.
We’re currently putting Nimble through its paces, however, first impressions are positive. Nimble will solve some of your social media time problems since you can bring in your contacts from those four sites and review all of your interactions with those contacts. Having it all on the one page can reduce the time spent on social media by at least 50%, if not more.
Nimble is possibly one of the easiest yet comprehensive online CRM programs available. They seem to have thought of everything, even email and calendars. Personal users get one free account that comes with all the basics. Businesses can opt to pay $15 month to have multiple users and access to advanced features. There is plenty of help available including videos, which make it a lot easier to visually gain an insight into all the features.
The last word should be left to Nimble – they describe themselves as the all-in-one place where you can :
Unify all your contacts, calendars, conversations from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google. Monitor the most popular social networks from one screen, engage prospects, and build deeper relationships.
If time is your problem when attempting social media marketing, give Nimble a try; you may just find that you have plenty of time left for the other important areas of your business.
Tags: marketing, Nimble, social media marketing
Posted in Social Media | 7 Comments »
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
QR (quick response) codes are everywhere now. You’ll see them on billboards, the sides of buses and trains, and even on television. They are not placed in these areas for practical purposes; they are being used as part of a consumer education/branding campaign by marketers, particularly the big national brands. QR codes are really best suited to areas – as a download to a smart phone in the form of deal or coupon, and in print media. Large corporations have the jump on small businesses in this area, however, you can fight back. Large corporations can place these codes on national publications such as newspapers and magazines. The cost to advertise in these publications is often prohibitive for small businesses – you can get around it.
To begin with, let’s look at QR codes. They are used in a similar way to a bar code. A smart phone can scan the code and either store it for later use – for example, to claim a discount or deal – or they can be used as a link to a particular web page on the Internet. For small businesses, your opportunity lies not in national advertising, but in your own printed matter. This includes letters, business cards, invoices, brochures or flyers, and in local media such as local newspapers. You can even have QR codes in your offline storefronts.
The key to successfully using a QR is to have the right destination in place. Smart marketers are linking to their Facebook or Twitter pages suggesting users ‘follow’ them in order to receive news and special offers. A well written intro on these pages can result in a lot of new friends on these social media sites.
Big businesses have taken on QR codes very quickly. They can see the benefits that they can bring to their business, and since the costs involved are fairly minimal, easily justified. For small businesses, you may need to update your technology, however, the long term costs and benefits are proving to be very sound and producing good conversion rates.
Tags: QR codes, social media marketing
Posted in Branding | 3 Comments »
|
|
|
|
| |
|
