Your business should be active on Twitter, but how often does the day get away from us and we just can’t seem to make time? [Read more…] about A Coffee and a Tweet
Social Media
Social Media Focus – An Overview
We’re kicking off a series today, in response to our clients’ questions about how to effectively use social media for business. If you’re an RSS subscriber, you’ll see this in your feed reader on the day we publish. Email subscribers will receive these tips as part of our weekly newsletter that now comes out on Saturdays.
What is Social Media?
Social media is not just Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn or your blog. Rather, it encompasses all of these social channels and many more. I’ve lost count of how many social sites are online, but that doesn’t really matter anyway. We’re going to help you appear to be everywhere, but we’re only going to focus on one thing at a time. [Read more…] about Social Media Focus – An Overview
Talk is Cheap – An Example of Poor Social Media Strategy
I went to heat up a Red Baron 4-Meat Pizza a couple of Saturdays ago.
To make a long story short, there was glass in my mouth from the pizza. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone. The 800 number was only answered during the week, their Facebook page had no way to message them, and they let me tweet for four days before I ever heard from them. I wasn’t about to ‘Like’ them on Facebook in order to complain.
Finally their social media team who had monitored for the company name noticed I was complaining. Their approach was basically, “Hey! Heard your tweet! What’s up!”
Yes, they did give me another shout out to let me know they contacted the company.
Was that a good strategy for them? Did it matter that they had a social media presence?
Not one single bit. [Read more…] about Talk is Cheap – An Example of Poor Social Media Strategy
Your Staff on Twitter – Communication Strategy
Twitter has a lot to offer the local business, but it’s all about strategy. It took me a couple of years to figure out. Back then, no one really thought about using Twitter in the office interactively. Few are talking about it now.
Let’s say you operate a micro-business, maybe one person in the office and a two to five people off-site visiting 
clients. By using Twitter tools like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and SocialOomph, you can build a network of local followers that are very likely to need your services.
Why Should Your Company do This?
I believe the beauty in what Twitter offers local business is the mobility. You see it every day, people staring down at their phones to text, search or call. To do that effectively requires a compatible phone. Those phones aren’t cheap. I think that’s a strong argument for segmenting the population right there. First and foremost for most companies is building a client base of customers who can afford their products or services. Marketing on a mobile platform increases the odds that your message is going out to that base.
Add to that the ability those clients have to tweet to their friends and family about the great company they just hired, and you’ve again increased your company’s validity online. [Read more…] about Your Staff on Twitter – Communication Strategy
How Online Content Grows Wings
Exact Target reports that Twitter users are more likely to post regularly to blogs, more likely to post product and service reviews, and more likely to share coupons on coupon sites. We’re also more likely to write articles, post videos, contribute to wiki’s, and comment on other people’s blogs. This rings true for me, because as a Twitter user, I like to find interesting or educational tidbits that I can share with my readers. [Read more…] about How Online Content Grows Wings
I’m Guilty: 6 Social Media Sins
Social media forums like Facebook and Twitter offer brilliant free marketing for small businesses when used strategically, but there are a handful of things I’ve begun to hate, I mean…er…strongly dislike when it comes to socializing on those platforms. They are, sadly, things I could have done better or understood more fully if I had made it my entire life for a set period of time. I couldn’t, and can’t, and I’ll assume that you don’t have that kind of time, either. I really do work, and because I write for my living, quiet thought is my friend. That means long hours of intense mulling over and reading (the one thing I love about Twitter, by the way – things I read and learn from what is posted there.)
Please learn from my mistakes. I committed these social media crimes knowing full well what I was doing, and thought in time these problems would rectify themselves. They haven’t. And now I’m paying the price for poor planning. [Read more…] about I’m Guilty: 6 Social Media Sins