Well, here we are in August, 2010 and location-based social networks are all the rage. Everyone’s talking about Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp and now, Facebook Places. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn are all considered mainstream and imperative in terms of marketing.

However, it is obvious that many, if not most, businesses have yet to venture into the simplest and arguably the most effective type of social marketing…blogging.

Blogging is nothing new. Blogs date back to 1997, took off in 1999 and were considered mainstream by 2004.

It’s 2010 and your company hasn’t started blogging. Why is that? Are you afraid of what someone might post on your blog? Here’s the deal…people are going to talk about your company, whether it’s on your blog or in the grocery store. Perhaps you don’t see the importance and you’re not completely sold on blogging for business.

A recent study by eMarketer shows a strong increase in companies entering the blogosphere. Their study predicts that 43% of companies will be blogging by 2012.

Here’s a short list of 5 reasons why your company should be actively blogging:

1 - Blogging gives you the opportunity to establish yourself as the expert in your industry or field. Are you a local fitness center or gym? Your blog should contain posts and information on why someone should join your fitness center, as opposed to your competition. You never want to downgrade your competition on your blog. Rather, focus on what your fitness center has to offer and emphasize all the positive attributes of your facility and staff.

2 – Blogging gives your current and potential customers a platform to ask questions and communicate with your business. This adds credibility and can increase customer loyalty. Monitoring your blog closely, answering questions and replying to comments will promote trust and transparency.

3 – Search engines love fresh content. If you don’t add new content to your website on a regular basis the search engines have nothing new to crawl and distribute. Integrating a blog into your site makes it easy to post fresh information on a regular basis for the search engines to find.

4 – A blog is another chance to issue a press release, announce an event, launch a new product or make an important announcement. Blogging is marketing. What are you marketing? Your business!

5 – Your blog serves as what I call your “content distribution source.” With every blog post you publish, you can take that article, create profiles on dozens of other social platforms and post. Not only will this generate more traffic to your blog and website, but you’re also creating links, which will aid in search engine optimization.

Maximizing your blogging efforts will take time, but it’s worth it. Post often, include important keywords for your business/industry and engage with your audience. In my opinion, this should be the first step in creating a powerful social media presence and personality for your company or business.

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By: Scott Dickson

When asked if they’re utilizing the power of social media and relationship marketing, many business-owners and CMO’s will reply, “Of course! We have an awesome Facebook page and we’re getting started on Twitter.”

Well, that’s great. But, setting up a Facebook page and linking your posts to a Twitter profile doesn’t mean you’re “on Twitter.” It means you’re doing it wrong.

In my opinion, you’re putting all your eggs in one basket by relying too heavily on Facebook. Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is a huge piece of the puzzle. But, if you’re not executing effectively AND not implementing other social media platforms, you’re missing opportunities to engage your potential audience.

YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine on the planet. If you do a search for your company, will it appear in the search results? Better yet, if you own a restaurant in Charlotte, do you have a video tagged appropriately that shows up in a YouTube search for “restaurants in Charlotte”?

If you’re business to business, you must be on LinkedIn, right? Are you a wedding photographer with pictures saturated and tagged on Flickr? If you’re a movie theater you must be using Foursquare to reward your mayor and other customers checking in. And how about Twitter? Are you engaged? Do you really know what it means to be engaged on Twitter, or are you just pushing out content?

Are you utilizing the power of social bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Propeller, Stumbleupon, etc.?  Have you claimed your blog at Technorati? Do you even have a blog? Is your website set up to convert visitors into potential customers?

Is your head spinning?

Chances are pretty good you’ve watched this video ad nauseum. But, it does drive home the point that there are other platforms to pay attention to.

So, yes…Facebook is gigantic and amazing.  You’d be crazy not to work very hard to have a commanding presence there. However, you shouldn’t stop at Facebook.

Take the time and do the research on the other opportunities…or, you can always just contact me!

A shameless plug, no doubt. But, hey…it is my blog.

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However, in my opinion there are a couple of things about Facebook that aren’t garnering enough attention, but need to be addressed.

Recently we all heard in the mainstream media and in the social world about Facebook’s privacy issues. There was considerable chatter about “Facebook alternatives” popping up and the potential demise of Facebook. Needless to say, this seems to have passed rather quickly.

Still, I belive there is way too much transparency on social media as a whole…but, especially on Facebook. What I see is a lot of people who still haven’t figured out how to secure their privacy settings. If you don’t care if robbers see your photos, email address, where you live, where you work, etc…please disregard this.

I believe it’s a mistake to post on Facebook that you’re on vacation or away from home for awhile. If you are bound and determined to do that…please make sure your privacy settings are set in a certain way. If they’re not, it’s very easy for robbers to do what they do best.

First of all, do you really need to include private, pertinent information like address & phone number in your profile? (Answer: no.) Do you also include where you work and where you go to church? If you do, then it’s even more important to set all your privacy settings on Facebook to “friends only.”

Let’s say you have 200 Facebook friends and you’ve included where you work in your profile AND you have some of your settings set to “friends of friends.” Do you know all 200 of your friends AND THEIR FRIENDS? Probably not. If this is the case, there’s no way you can be sure who else is able to see certain areas of your profile. 

Here’s what can happen: A robber finds your profile through one of their friends. You just posted that you’re at the beach on vacation. On your profile you’ve left off your address and phone number, but you do have your current employer listed. The robber simply prints off your profile picture, Googles your employer’s address and follows you home from work when you leave one afternoon. Now the robber knows where you live. So, the next time you post that you’re on vacation…the robber goes to work. It’s that simple.

Now, that’s a pretty creepy scenario to think about. But, it can and does happen.

Here’s the real point I’m trying to make: lock down those privacy settings. Make sure all your information, pictures, wall posts…everything…is set to “friends only.” You might also consider leaving as much information as possible off your profile. Your close, personal friends probably already have your phone number and know where you work & live.  Also, think twice about posting that you’re on vacation. Play it safe…wait and share your photos when you return.

Along these lines…I will be posting soon about teens and college students on social media, how you should conduct yourself on social media and how to use social media to land a new job.

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- We sell septic tanks? Who would want to follow that?
- Our customers don’t use social media.
- Our company is in a highly regulated industry.
- We don’t have time for social media.
- We don’t want to know what people are saying about us online.
- We tried it once and had no ROI.

The list could go on and on. For B2B, the answers to these questions just aren’t that simple. However, at this point the risk of not participating is far more dangerous than taking a step back and approaching social media with a strategic plan of attack.

Here are three basic components you should have in your plan:

1 – Position your company/brand as the expert: Start a business blog and keep it updated on a regular basis. Not only will this aid in search engine optimization, it also gives you a strong source of content for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Communicating your expertise sets you apart from your competitors and demonstrates leadership within your industry.

2 – Connect with your audience: Chances are the people you need to reach are out there and motivated to engage with you on different social media platforms. By connecting, you’re projecting transparency and giving your audience the ability to communicate with you on a more personal level. This helps build loyalty and respect.

3 – Manage your brand: Online reputation management. Look it up. You have to claim your identity online and take control of the content associated with your company or organization. Social media gives you the opportunity to monitor and engage negative feedback, as well as express appreciation for the positive feedback…thus, building your brand.

Share compelling content, engage your audience and monitor/respond to the chatter. These are the basics that can lead to a positive and powerful online presence for your company or organization. Combine this with an effective search engine optimization campaign and you can take a closer look at whether or not you should spend all that money on every trade show on the calendar.

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Your employees should be some of your biggest evangelists and ambassadors. When launching a social media marketing plan, it’s very important to get those employees excited about engaging and interacting. 

Let’s look at one example…Facebook. Your employees can be very effective at facilitating the growth of your Facebook page or group. But, why would you even need their help?

Here are five reasons why you should encourage your employees to get involved:

1) Great ideas can come from any level of an organization. Encouraging employees to engage on Facebook fosters collaboration and allows workers at all levels to contribute ideas.
 
2) Encouraging employee awareness of the Facebook page/group builds morale and boosts confidence. It shows the public and the employee that the organization is forward-thinking and takes itself seriously when it comes to new media. 
 
3) Employees engaging and becoming more active on the Facebook page/group will help the organization project a more positive image to the public, therefore enhancing the public’s view of the organization and its transparency.

4) Customer support. An employee can provide support and feedback online through Facebook by responding to complaints and thanking customers for comments, etc.
 
5) Employees suggesting their friends to “like” the page or join the group, helps it become more “viral” and facilitates a stronger growth of the audience on Facebook.

The next question should be, “How do I GET my employees to engage on our Facebook page or group?” That’s another blog post, but I’m thinking time off would be a great way to do it! Just kidding…well, sortof. Stay tuned…

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Maximizing your social media marketing is hard to do if your website is not set up to convert.

You can Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr yourself to death…but, unless your potential customers are landing on a page or a site that makes it easy for them to contact you…it could be a waste of time and money.

Some key questions to ask include:

1 – Is there a prominent phone number on every page of my website?
2 – Are there simple contact forms strategically placed on my site…preferrably on every page?
3 – Does my site make it very easy for anyone to contact me?
4 – Are there strong headlines and calls to action within the content?
5 – Are the colors and images on my site inviting?

Addressing these 5 simple questions will help put your website on track to turning visitors into potential customers. Of course, there’s much more to it. These are just some of the basics.

Don’t have the budget right now to redesign/reconfigure your website? Try custom landing pages with analytics instead.

To learn more and get a free, no-obligation analysis of your website, CONTACT US!

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For instance, on Twitter I see many well-known businesses and organizations who have apparently just given up completely. Typically, they haven’t posted a tweet in 2 months or longer and they don’t follow back. It’s like they tried it, didn’t work…moving on. Giving up is the easy thing to do.

A popular song by Journey suddenly pops into my head…”Don’t Stop Believin’”

Here’s the chorus:
Strangers waiting, Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlights, people, Livin’ just to find emotion
Hidin’, somewhere in the night

Yep, that sounds about right. They’re hiding somewhere in the night…waiting on “the boulevard.”

With so much hype surrounding social media, it’s easy to understand how a business can set up a Twitter account, post a few tweets and then wait patiently for the social media tooth fairy to arrive with thousands of new potential customers…only to be disillusioned when nothing happens. 

Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Social media is just like anything else. You get out of it what you put into it. Take some time every day and do a Twitter search to find interesting people to follow and by all means, follow people back. You don’t have to follow everybody back, but you should check them out and follow those that make sense to you.

Most importantly…engage. One of the best ways to grow your audience is to participate in pertinent conversations and provide interesting information to your followers.

Don’t expect a glorious appearing of new business in the first month. But, do monitor your analytics closely to see what’s working and what isn’t…keep managing & tweaking the process and you will see results. Above all, “Don’t Stop Believin’”!

For more information, or to get help with your social media strategy, CONTACT US!

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Having said all that…here are a few tips on how to tell if the person who called on you is someone who truly knows their stuff…or someone who may know the lingo, but probably can’t deliver.

A snake oil salesperson…

1 - Tweets about themselves and what THEY are doing…constantly.
2 – Uses automated programs like “Top Followed” to grow their list of followers.
2 – Does not re-tweet others and isn’t involved in conversations on Twitter.
3 - Has a Facebook page containing posts with no links, has only been live for a month and only has 20 fans.
4 – Doesn’t have a blog on their website, or they haven’t posted on their blog in 2 months.
5 - Can’t provide success stories or share any case studies of their work.

The snake oil salesperson is out there and on the prowl. Don’t get led down the primrose path. Do a little homework and make a good call. Work with a consultant who has a proven track record of success and can back it up.

For more information, or to get help with your social media strategy, CONTACT US!

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1 – Retweet your followers: If one of your followers posts something you think is funny or interesting…retweet it for them. They’ll most likely see that and thank you…exposing your content to more people. Remember, Twitter’s not just about you.

2 – Post articles from other writers: Whatever your passion is…write about it on your blog. But also, post articles from other sources with similar content. This lets your followers know that you’re genuine about your passion and not just looking to push your own message out to them.

3 – Answer questions: Monitor your community and try to answer your followers’ questions. If you don’t know the answer to one…maybe someone else does. Find out and respond. This helps build your reputation and credibility, which can lead to more followers and the likelihood that your posts will get retweeted…hence, extending the reach of your message.

For more information, or to get help with your social media strategy, CONTACT US!

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High Country Mom Squad founder, social media maven and close friend, Sarah Pinnix; created this series to help local businesses implement and execute social media and relationship marketing effectively. With her amazing experience and knowledge of the art form, I jumped at the chance to be involved.

Together with Sarah and website design/development expert, Boomer Sassman of Big Boom Design, we held hands with notable area businesses and walked through the social media maze together.

So…as we come to the end of our first round of Talk of the Town Social Media Workshops it’s gratifying to think back to where we all started more than 6 months ago. Most all of our attendees didn’t have a blog and few had a Facebook page or a Twitter account.

As more High Country businesses come to these workshops and jump online with social media marketing, these early adopters will already be masters of the art.

In our last session on Tuesday, February 15th we wrapped up and shared success stories. Mast General Store has nearly 5,500 Facebook fans as we write this. The NC Christmas Tree Association is getting tons of traffic on their blog and site. Appalachian Regional Healthcare System is setting up multiple Facebook pages, writing social media policies and growing followers like crazy on Twitter.

Doug Uzelac, General Manager of The Broyhill Inn & Conference Center and host of our workshop series states,

“Social Media Marketing is such a fast growing segment and it is the Broyhill Inn’s pleasure to be to be able to host these very informative sessions.  I would greatly recommend folks that have an interest in increasing their social media knowledge to attend.”

This is a serious workshop series where we get down in the hole with you and dig. We show you how to make relationship marketing work for your business. We give you the tools and help you understand measured results. We walk you through step-by-step from setting up your blog, Facebook, Twitter and much, much more. Most importantly, our team provides one-on-one personal coaching to make sure you’re getting it. We do much more than just helping you get set up.

Our smaller, more intimate and controlled setting makes it easier for you, the business owner…to learn, implement and execute effectively.

Vicki Stevens, Marketing Manager for the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System adds,

“The Talk of the Town series provided phenomenal insight to the world of social media and assisted our organization in establishing a new presence with our audience. I highly recommend the series!”

To learn more you’ll have to sign up for our next round beginning in March and we’ll share more personal testimonies and quotes in future posts. For details, CLICK HERE and register for our next series, beginning on March 2nd!

Visit http://talkofthetownworkshop.com, follow the workshop on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

“When are you going to do a workshop in the Winston-Salem area?”, you ask. It’s in the works and the wheels are in motion, so stay tuned for an announcement…coming soon.

For more information or to get help with your social media strategy, CONTACT US!

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