Social media is an invaluable tool for small businesses. The medium allows them to connect with consumers on a personal and interactive level. One of the major benefits of social networking is that it reduces marketing expenses and amount of finance investments. A well managed social media campaign can be far more successful than traditional marketing and is completely free.

Social media sites function as a large scale “word of mouth” connection between consumers. Positive reviews and recommendations by consumers is the most powerful tool available to small businesses and is a huge aspect of social networking.

The following guide will assist small businesses in developing a social networking campaign that will pull in consumers and increase company profits.

Yelp

Yelp is an excellent social networking site for local businesses. It allows companies to post their contact information as well as descriptions of products and services. Local users can comment and rate the quality of the business.

The more information a business adds to Yelp, the more likely their business page will show up in searches. Good reviews on Yelp encourage business and can increase profits.

Twitter

Twitter is an ideal social networking tool because it places small businesses in constant contact with consumers. Followers on Twitter can receive updates via a number of tools, including desktop icons and mobile phones.

The most successful businesses on Twitter offer a personal touch to their postings. It is best to use a voice that will appeal to the business’ target demographic. It’s also important that the postings include more than simple promotional material. Postings that are informative and entertaining will result in the highest number of followers.

Facebook

Small businesses can draw in new customers via facebook fan pages. The fan pages are by far the most customizable of the social networking options. Company’s can attach directions to their locations, coupons, product information, and virtually anything they desire.

The most successful fan pages are ones which encourage involvement. Frequently updating the status of the fan page with interesting and relevant information is one way to encourage consumers to purchase from the business.

Blogs

Blogs located on the company’s website encourages visits by consumers. Utilizing external social networking sites tends to drive traffic away from the company’s site and towards sites that are readily accessible like Twitter and Facebook. Placing an interesting and engaging blog on a company’s site will pull consumers towards information about the business which makes them much more likely to purchase products or services.

Company blogs should focus on providing engaging and relevant postings. How-to articles, fun facts, production information, and humorous postings are all excellent ways to pull viewers to a company blog. Optimizing search engine results is another excellent way to obtain more page views. This can be achieved by placing frequently searched words in the title of the blog and throughout the postings.

How to Increase Views and Followers

In order for a social networking campaign to be successful, small businesses must pull in large numbers of views and followers. This can be achieved a variety of ways, the most important of which is providing valuable and engaging content.

Offering contests or sweepstakes is an excellent way to pull in views and followers. If consumers believe that checking the sites often will result in free or discounted products, they are far more likely to become followers or frequent viewers.

Another way to pull in views is to connect the social networks to the business’ main site as well as to each other. This will allow viewers of one site to be drawn to all the others.

Provided to you by Victoria of Ratelines.com, a place to find the best money market rates.

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Benefits of Social Media for the Small Business

Show me your friends and I will show you your future. In the law of attraction the principle relates to this same statement:

1. Know exactly what you want.
2. Ask the universe for it.
3. Feel, behave and know as if the object of your desire is already yours (visualize).
4. Be open to receive it and let go of (the attachment to) the outcome.

While I’m not ‘huge fan’ of #2 (As I believe in God) but nonetheless the fact of the matter is going to a ‘higher power’. In marketing / sales / business / life – you gravitate to those with similar views / morals / ethics. You are attracted to them.

It’s the law of attraction. You can’t deny it but you can adapt and change.

I will give you an example. A few years back I went through depression – I was a pretty negative person which to this day I still do not understand and bet most depressed people couldn’t really give specifics – just generalized ‘cons’. I decided it was a time for a change. The help of family – friends – church I was able to get over this hurdle.

I haven’t looked back ONCE. I don’t plan on it and never want to be in that state of mind ever again. It’s dark. It’s lonely. It’s boring.

From that day of change I have stopped looking at the negative aspects of people and trying to bring out the good stuff. Yet, before I go any further I will say that I am not blind to the ‘bad stuff’ – what I would rather do is not dwell on it. I would insist on ways around that obstacle. There are always problems in life and business – how do you want to solve it? Wallow in self-pity and blame everyone else OR pull yourself up and get moving.

It’s not going to be easy – it’s going to be tough. It has been for me. Then again that’s the way I like it. Stay busy: active mind is the best thing. Keep focused on your objectives and goals and work towards them. When a wall comes into play look at it and come up with a plan to go over or around or even blow it up.

After awhile you can’t help but smile at each wall because you know of the rubble behind you. Keep going – Keep staying strong.

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The Law of Attraction

While I’m not a ‘huge’ fan of Best Buy I am a die hard marketing fanatic (which my wife doesn’t like sometimes when I point out items online / tv / etc). In the last couple of weeks Best Buy released a marketing campaign geared towards the customer – on.their.network.

This is something I’ve been trying to tell people almost daily – you can’t force people to come to your site. You just can’t do it. Unless it offers something fantastic (in the eyes of the customers – NOT YOU) then they will not come. In turn Best Buy decides to go TO the customer and react quickly and be in tune to the consumers need.

The plan: twitter. It’s quite simple but difficult at the same time. Follow @Twelpforce and ask them a question on any product Best Buy might have and they will give you a contact (best buy contact) that will help you. The marketing campaign on television is pretty amusing and in honesty sucks you in.

Simple yet thought provoking. In a time when we supposedly “need” answers now (see KGB text your questions) now you can do so via twitter when it comes to electronics. Way to go Barry Judge – hopefully this will help in deciding a Sr. Media Manager.

In the end this is GREAT brand management – you are not only making sure your brand is taken care of you are funneling it FROM the consumer.

What are your thoughts on this?

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Best Buy Goes Next Level Customer Support

When I talk with people who are trying to expand their business and I mention going “online” and utilizing “social media” it becomes a road block for some. Others it becomes something new and adventures. These usually capitalize on it and do very well.

Nonetheless not everyone is built the same way. So, when I try to break down just how to use social media in various avenues I see and hear “marketing” responses.

1. This is not a campaign – no.matter.what. You are not creating a fan page on facebook just so you can blast emails to those who joined. That is a quick way to lose fans (and brand reputation).
2. This is not advertising – You are not just advertising your business products / services. It is time to show others that you know about your niche. If you are selling “office chairs” let people be aware that you KNOW about…wait for it…”office chairs”. A quick way to be “unfollowed/blocked/etc” is give “tips” along with sales. Don’t be pushy – people haaaate that. I know I do. I work with salespeople all day so I know the type and the successful ones know about the product inside and out. They believe in it but they also know that you hold the checkbook.
3. Do not focus on one thing – Social networks are created almost daily. You need to be on top of it. Early adapters rule the waves and it shows that you are on top of new technology. Don’t just tweet. You need to have a blog – flickr account – facebook page – etc. Take the time in each avenue to make it right.

While I’ve mentioned the top 3 things NOT TO DO – I might as well do the top 3 TO DO!

1. Be yourself – or be someone that is interesting. Give a good mixture of ‘personal’ and ‘business’ updates. Remember you are in charge of your brand online.
2. Plan and execute. You know you’re going to have a sale on a product coming up – start planning immediately and look over your analytic’s to see which would be more effective. Remember to place your time and energy with the biggest ROI.
3. Have fun. Social media marketing is not just about marketing your products/services – it’s about connecting with people. Remember not everyone is going to like your product/services (or even you) – find out why and learn from it.

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Social Media Is NOT A Campaign

I love social media and love how major brands use their leverage to cross barriers in various mediums. One was Dell (@delloutlet) and how they are blowing away competition online by getting over 3 million dollars in sales just by utilizing twitter. How are they doing this? By giving their followers something unique and actually interacting with them.

Then there is Best Buy (@BestBuy) which I was fan of when I was teen but have since distanced myself due to their joint venture with Geek Squad. Nonetheless when a company goes online I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. However when I saw the image below at Soshable -  I literally LOL’d at Panera this morning:

What do you think – does Best Buy REALLY understand social media marketing?

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Best Buy vs. Dell: Twitter

In the past I’ve broken down what exactly social media is and if you are reading this post from a link on facebook or twitter and you make a comment below you are enjoying web 2.0. Yet people fail to realize this over and over and over and over and over AGAIN.

You found a great website and you copied the link – opened your email (aol/hotmail/etc) – pasted the link and sent it off to your friends. Then you add the site to your bookmark (for the computer you are on).

Then let’s move forward a few years:

You found a great website and you 1) leave a comment 2) stumble it to bookmark it 3) from the site post it to your facebook profile 4) ReTweet it 5) Digg/Sphinn it 6) then from the site you send it all your contact’s using your Gmail all why IM’ing it to your those online.

So, which one is better? For those who aren’t able to adapt to changing times and overall new technology I would insist on #1 yet the latter of the two shows us that the possibilities to connect with our friends / family / coworkers are endless and need to be looked at more carefully.

What say you?

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Social Media and Web 2.0

If you haven’t created a profile for yourself on Google then I suggest you stop reading now and do so immediately. Seriously, this could be the one thing that shows you in the light that you WANT to be in.

Go to Google and search your name and see what the results are. A few years ago I would do that for myself and I think I found myself on page 5 from my Myspace page that I have no longer really maintain. Do it now and I’m in some way related to the top 10 results ranging from LinkedIn – Facebook – Twitter and most importantly my personal blog/main site.

The greatest thing though is setting up a profile WITH Google (mine can be seen at http://www.google.com/profiles/nathan.driver) which would show:

Get Your Google On

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So, why set up yet ANOTHER profile online? The question should be WHY NOT?! This is done thru the most popular search engine out there and they over specific profile names and links to your sites. Add in the effect of linking from your site (blog) back to the profile (such as I’m doing in this very article) and you have a back-linking. The correspondence will only enhance your rankings in the Google.

So, don’t ask WHY you should be doing this rather look at all the pro’s that you can benefit from utilizing it. It’s your decision on how you want Google to see you – I prefer to myself and my brand (company) in the good light.

I’ve actually had friends find me this way because they haven’t joined Facebook or LinkedIn just yet…I still don’t know why. Nonetheless the power behind it can be great if used properly so my question to you all: what do you want Google to say about you?

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What Does Google Say About You

The web is a fecal place. The days of posting something from images, video and basic content then deleting it knowing no one will find it are looooong gone. Let’s all thank Google and their “cache” abilities. You might have posted a ‘tweet’ about a past employer only to find out that while looking for another job a future employer stumpled upon it. The principle is valid and honest – you need to research the web capabilities.

Google Yourself

Whether you know it or not you are on google, msn, yahoo, ask, etc – you might have joined myspace when it first got  online only to have stopped two weeks later. Guess what, your content is there STILL! You need to make sure what ever you put up is going to be direct representation of you and your talents. There have been too many reports of college kids posting videos and images of them partying. Pretty harmless in nature but after they graduate what does that tell a future employee. Maybe that guy doing a keg stand is studying to become a kindergarden teacher? How about that young women making suggestive sexual gestures with other women looking to work in the marketing field?

Don’t forget to set up google alerts for different variations of your name as well.

Write About Yourself

That’s right – if you’re not online (your name or business) then make yourself known. Why? The basic reason is that one way or another you WILL be online but the question will be on whose terms? Start taking innovative put yourself in light that you want to be in. The last thing you’d want is to have someone write about you or tag you in an image that you don’t want to be tagged in.

Join Social Networks

It CAN be a chore if you make it but objective is simple. Just by writing about yourself is only half the equation. By joining these networks and having the same message across them then that will ensure that you or business will be first in search instead of anything negative. This will help boast you rating online quickly and easy.

Sync Those Networks

So you have a message you want to put “out there” and you’ve joined all these social networks – sync them. The last thing you’d want is to have all these networks under your umbrella and have no correlation between them. If you’re on myspace promote your twitter. If you’re on facebook then promote your blog. In the same sense make sure each and every network has the same name extension. If you search for “drivenmg” you’ll see my various networks I’ve been apart of from myspace to linkedin.

The bottom line is this: get your name – your brand out there before someone else does. If a blog is created every minute then how soon before someone writes about you or your brand? Get a head start and do it yourself but be smart and reasearch it before doing so. The last thing you want is to do all the work and not know how to utilize the content media networks.

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Research Before Going Digital

When I try to tell people that I’m trying to really get into social media I get this bizarre look. I try to explain that by using various methods on social networks and social mediums I get an evan stranger look. When I tell them what “social networks” I use such as facebook/myspace/bebo/linkedin/etc and “social mediums” such as digg/stumpleupon/sphinn/etc – the looks go away and I get the eye roll and usually the following phrases, “Oh, your playing on the internet like facebook, where’s the money in that?”

NO! This is far from playing and believe it or not there is a lot of money in that. I usually have my laptop so I open it up and let them cruise their facebook profile and look at their app’s and groups they belong to – then ask how they came to be apart of them.

“Someone told me about it and it looked cool”

That my friend is social media

When a “friend” told you about it that social media now became social media marketing p2p (person to person). Social media marketing is best described by the following:

Utilizing social networking and user-generated content platforms to promote a product, service or content

I’m a marketer at heart (or at least like to believe it) – I go to the malls with the family and love to people watch and see how they get interested to go into stores and wonder what made them purchased new Nike shoes or food at the food court. The answer could range from the colors the store used to prior usage of the store all the way to having a desire to be apart of a ‘crowd’.

That same exact princple(s) apply to social media and marketing towards it. Why join facebook and linkedin? Why have a blog when you have email? Why twitter…period.

To answer that question look at what your customers or clients are looking “at” and looking “for”. You can create that “need” or “want” just as easy by examining the average consumer in your target market (from age specific’s to location).

The bottom line is marketing for stores vs. online are the same – the approach might be different but the overall layout is the same. So, what is social media? It’s everything and everyone online – that’s my definition, what’s yours?

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Explaining What EXACTLY is Social Media

This has been something I’ve always thought but recently Jeff Nolan put together in a recent post: Is Twitter Killing RSS? In it he writes the following:

Twitter provides publishers with several key advantages over RSS, namely the ability to control brand and force traffic back to their monetized site.

TwitterFeed or RSS Feed?

If you’ve used twitter for any length of time AND you have a website then you know about Twitterfeed. The basic concept is that twitterfeed will grab your rss feed and tweet it so you don’t have to. I find myself a lot of times clicking on these than reading the persons rss feed.

The biggest reason is being able to communicate (back-and-forth) with the author about that certain post because majority of the time in my rss reader I’ll read the article and not leave a comment (even though I should).

Is this good or bad?

It really depends on the person(s) and the site. How is it branded, marketed and most importantly monterized. RSS readers make us think outside the box so should Twitter when it comes to this. We need to market our items better. One thing that stands out is last week Peter Shankman (@skydiver) tweeted and live streamed all day giving out prizes. Thinking outside of the box!

The bottom line is that twitter should NOT be used JUST as a rss feeder to your followers rather an alternate branding tool to utilize. This is why A LOT of people I don’t follow because they have nothing BUT post from Twitterfeed’s and no real communication.

What say you? Do YOU think that Twitter is better than RSS – is there even a battle?

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Twitter vs. RSS: Who Will Win?