Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Strategies

So you already have a great Facebook page, share content regularly and have a pretty healthy “like” count? Great! That is a good start.

To truly take advantage of that Facebook network you need to engage users. How do you do that? Well here are a few ideas to get your engagement started:

Share. Make sure you aren’t only sharing links to your website - post photos, ask questions, reshare useful content, etc.

Have fresh content. Refresh (rewrite) content as often as you can – try once every quarter to start.

Promote special offers. Try running an exclusive pricing deal or promotional offer on Facebook. Or, try a giveaway for customer interaction – example: “Answer our poll question for $5 off your next visit” or “What did you think of our last blog post? Leave a comment and your next order is shipped free!”.

Reward loyal fans. Have a “Fan of the Month” highlight where you reward those who are engaging with you and on behalf of your brand across Facebook.

Having a large network on Facebook is important, but how that network is interacting and engaging with you is equally (if not more so) important. Engage your network and be successful on Facebook.

Want more Social Media tips? Download our Social Media Marketing Strategy Kit.  

When considering starting a blog you have to decide what type of blogging is right for you (or your company). Let’s discuss the different types of blogs out there and the difference between them:

Long-form Blogging
This is considered the most traditional and original type of blogging out there. As the name suggests, long-form blogging is just that – blog posts in a long, often consistently formatted style. This WSI blog you are currently reading could be considered a long-form blog.

So, what is the benefit of long-form blogging? The obvious answer – space. While posts on this type of blog often take longer to create/write, they allow you to include all the information you want to get across. This allows you to educate the market on your topic without be constrained by 140 characters.

Common platforms for this type of blogging? Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad.

Micro or Short-Form Blogging
This is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of blogging out there. This type of blogging is short and usually ongoing status updates to your audience. While restricting how much information you can share at one time, this is a great method to keep in almost constant contact with your customers, or audience.

A popular platform for micro blogging is Twitter or Facebook.

Lifestreaming Blogging
Lifestreaming is a way of sharing activities of one’s life in a timeline format with very little educational information being shared. This type blogging is mainly short posts with lots of documents included. Types of documents often shared are photos, videos, mp3s, etc.

This type of blogging is not used very often for business, but is more of a self-promotional type of blogging style. 

Platforms for lifestreaming blogging – Tumblr or Posterous.

Once you have decided what type of blog will work for you and what platform you want to use, you can start focusing on building your blog and generating traffic. For more information on blogging and how you can make your blog a success read our other posts on blogging here.

Good luck and happy blogging!

 

Internet marketing is one of the fastest changing industries on the planet. Nothing stays the same in the internet marketing world for very long, which is why it's so important to stay current with the latest technology and applications that are available. 

For businesses that participate in social media marketing the latest development is the introduction of location based applications. These applications enable users to "check-in" at business locations which will automatically send a post to their Twitter or Facebook page. Common location based applications include Foresquare and Facebook Places (see my post about So-Lo-Mo to learn more).

For a business that wants to take advantage of the benefits of location based marketing here are 6 simple steps to get you started.

1. Get comfortable with location based applications -
Download Foresquare to your mobile device and link it to your social media profiles. Using the application yourself is the best way to understand how your audience is going to use it.

2. Evaluate your goals -
Depending on your business and your marketing strategy Foresquare can be used to do a few different things. If you are a new restaurant you may want to use Foresquare to market your business and offer a discount for checking in at your location to encourage new and repeat visits. If you have a retail location you may use Foresquare to move a specific type of inventory or to promote a new product. Focusing on your goal will make your locations based marketing more successful.

3. Register your location -
You will need to verify your location on several location based applications. Foresquare, MyTown, Loopt, Facebook Places, and Gowalla are a good place to start. Your listing should be simple, however make sure the important physical location information is complete and correct and include contact information.

4. Start spreading the word -
Make sure all staff, friends and contacts know you have registered with Foresquare and the other top 4 location based applications. Put a sign at the counter, front door, menu, ticket, business card,....or whatever, letting visitors know to sign in when at your location. Tell everyone you know about the benefits of signing into these applications. 

5. Give them a reason to check-in -

People will act if you offer a reward, coupon, content. Provide customers a discount if they check-in at your location. A free gift or rewards program will provide great incentive for customers to check-in with Foresquare or Facebook Places.

6. Start the interactions -
Get on your location based social network and get talking to customers. What rewards are they competing for? Why would they choose a competitor over your business? Find out what you can do to keep their business or gain a loyal customer by engaging and testing.

Any internet marketing expert will tell you that mobile devices are vital to online marketing success now and into the future. But not all businesses are a great fit for location based marketing using the "sign in" feature, but there are some creative ways to incorporate local, mobile and social into your campaigns (which we will discuss in the future on this blog). 

Joining location based social programs will help incorporate mobile users into your social media plan. Following these steps will get you started and help build your mobile social media presence. 

Want to learn more about Mobile Marketing? Download our Mobile Marketing Strategy Kit Today!

Facebook is definitely the leader in the social media marketing industry. Businesses and individuals both see value in having a personal and business Facebook profile. It gives users of Facebook the opportunity to check in for news and current events within their circle while building a community and online presence with posts and pictures that appear on your Facebook personal page and you can target specific messages to your Facebook Fan Page.

Twitter is a little less personal. It operates on a larger scale where anyone who decides they want to follow your Twitter posts is open to seeing what you post. Facebook offers users extensive privacy settings and businesses have the opportunity to turn off the "wall" function on their profiles. This decision means no consumers can write on the business' Facebook wall. While this can make a business owner feel more comfortable with their social media marketing, it is not always the best decision, because it takes the communication and user generated content out of the Facebook presence you are trying so hard to build.

The Facebook experience is simply more personal, a better arena for customer service for example. Twitter has more of a blanket marketing reach. Your Twitter message can span the social media marketing world in a matter of seconds as it reaches every follower as well the followers of everyone who decides to re-tweet your message. This makes Twitter the perfect platform to announce big news or update on new product developments or upgrades. Other viral information such as contests of giveaways should be shared on Twitter. Share things that will interest your followers and encourage them to re-tweet the news.

Facebook and Twitter are very different but both can aid in your internet marketing and allow you opportunities to growing your business and improve customer communication. Include both in your social media marketing campaign but consider your messages before you post and decide how to word posts to speak to your (personal) Facebook audience vs. your (viral) Twitter audience.

If you want to learn more about Social Media Marketing and which marketing channels are right for your business, Download our Free Social Media Strategy Kit Today. Packed with resources that will help you succeed in social media and help you develop a strategy, make sure you grab your free copy. 

Facebook is designed so that your personal page "feed" will show you what your friends and the businesses that interest you are up to, offering, sharing, etc. Have your own Fan Page is a great way to get your message in front of your target audience, however there is also a risk that what you're saying won't interest them (or you spam them) and they'll decide to "unlike" you.

It is important to remember that they decided to like your business for a reason. Now it's your job to engage them and feed the relationship.

One of the biggest mistakes made by a business on Facebook is to only post sales pitches. As a consumer, if a sales pitch from your business pops up in their news feed everyday, or multiple times per day, it will not hold their interest or entice them to go from being a target to being a life long customer.

The very first step to starting this communication is to decide upon the voice that you will use in your Facebook posts. This will vary depending on your product and target. You might take a humorous voice or go from the customer service angle. Whatever you choose, stick to it.

When trying to decide when and what to post consider these internet marketing consulting guidelines:

Start with a question -
When starting any conversation it helps to ask a question. Facebook is a great place to get some customer feedback so find out what they think by asking for input.

Respond quickly -
If someone comments on your post you need to respond back, quickly. If their comment doesn't warrant a response then a simple thank you for commenting. Keep in mind that the more comments made to a post the more the post will show up in news feeds.

Celebrate Facebook success -
Reaching a milestone such as 500 fans is something worth celebrating. It gives a good reason for a post You talk about a milestone before it is achieved and celebrate once it is reached.

Maintain a balance -
As terrible as it is to have a static page that is not updated, it is equally important not to post too often. Overwhelming your friends with updates can have the negative effect of annoying them.

Each of these tips has to be weighed with the type of business you have. Some require more frequent updates and allow for Facebook contests which can be very successful and sometimes even viral.

The most important thing is to find a way to use Facebook so that it works for you. Opening a page and not using it is not helping your social media marketing campaign.

If you want to learn more about Social Media Marketing, Download our Free Social Media Strategy Kit Today. Packed with resources that will help you succeed in social media, make sure you grab your free copy.

In today's technology driven society social media marketing has become a staple for most businesses. At the very least, most businesses have a Facebook fan page and many are communicating with their target audience via twitter and hundreds more social media sites.

In August 2010 Facebook passed Google and became the number 1 site visited. During August 2010 Americans spent more than 41 million minutes on Facebook. Social networking accounts for 25% of the time Americans are spending on the internet.

There is no denying that social media marketing has become a tremendous way to communicate with your target audience. And apparently Toyota believes it's the best way for your car to communicate with you also. 

Consumer Reports is reporting that Toyota has announced that they are building "Toyota Friend" which is an exclusive online social network for Toyota customers.

Toyota demonstrated that a Prius could actually alert the owner that it needed to be charged via their Smartphone. Then after plugging the car in the owner was alerted by the car when the charge would be completed. It wasn't a plain notification though. According to an article in USA Today the car said "The charge will be completed by 2:15 a.m. Is that OK? See you tomorrow."

The users of this social media can keep communications between themselves and their car private or share them with other members of "Toyota Friend". These dialogs can also be put through on Facebook, Twitter and other existing social media platforms.

This new technology is telling us that Toyota understands how their customers prefer to handle their social communications. If you're not already doing so it's time to consider how integrating social media marketing into your business plan can benefit you.

A Facebook fan page is a form of social media marketing that can be beneficial for any type of business. Businesses of all types can reap the rewards of communicating with their fans and potential customers through Facebook.

Your business may be a service like building homes or selling products on a website or even blogging. Whatever you business is Facebook can help you reach out to your audience, communicate with others who hold similar goals and values and spread the word about your business.

According to Facebook's press room, they have more than 500 million active users and those users are spending over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. Using a Facebook fan page to capture the attention of even a small selection of these users could have a major impact on your business.

Use the following tips to improve your social media marketing, grow your Facebook fan page and convert those fans into customers:

1. Advertise your Facebook fan page on your business webpage. Make the Facebook icon large and hard to miss. Making sure your current customers are fans is your first task.

2. Add your fan page link into all of your correspondence. Your Facebook page as well as any other social media sites you maintain such as Twitter or LinkedIn should be clear and easy to see at the bottom of all the emails you send.

3. Bribery is a terrific way to grow your fan base. Offer fans a constant discount or giveaway a large store credit to a random fan when your fan base reaches xx number of fans. Tempt them to join in by promising future sales and promotions exclusive to Facebook users.

4. Offer reciprocation to other fan pages you like. Post on their wall and tell them you like them and what you do. It's a polite way of asking them to like you back.

5. Email your current database and spread the word about Facebook and why they should join, (Insert bribe here.) Make it easy for them to like your page.

6. Once you've grown that fan base talk to them. Share upcoming product arrivals, offer Facebook exclusive discounts and deals and respond to criticism and compliments professionally.

When used correctly Facebook is an extremely valuable social media marketing tool. Follow these steps and let your fan page help grow your business!

Facebook boasts over 400 million users and 50% of those active users will log into Facebook on any day. While logged in they are updating their status daily and uploading over 3 billion photos every month. Users are sharing links, blog posts, articles and more, over 5 billion weekly. Each month 3.5 million events are created and 1.5 million local businesses have active Facebook pages.

Despite statistics like these many business owners are nervous about what an active Facebook page will do for the brand reputation of their company. People will be able to come to their Facebook page and share an experience of terrible service or a negative review. This negative feedback can be very unnerving for a business owner.

It's true that not all businesses are a good fit for Facebook. You will want to determine that it's an effective way of reaching your target audience. If you do decide Facebook is a good fit for you then potential negativity is no reason to stay away. As a matter of fact there is nothing stopping a disgruntled consumer to start a page on Facebook simply to talk about how lousy your customer service is. Or to post negative comments on their own page. There really is no stopping a disgruntled customer from sharing their opinion. What Facebook will give you is a clear line of communication between yourself and your audience as well as a platform to defend yourself where appropriate. You can upload customer photos, share customer feedback and use your page to improve your customer service.

Don't think of how Facebook can hurt your company, think of how it can help your business grow. You'll soon see that the benefits far out weigh the negatives.

A branded social media presence is inexpensive and very valuable to any company. Marketing and new business may be the first things to come to mind when you think of social media marketing however you can make a social media page like Facebook do a lot more for your company:

1. Find Quality Employees and Keep them Longer:

Actively using social media will ultimately build your brand online. Which will aide human resources by attracting more job candidates. Encouraging current employees to use social media by corporate blogging or running a company Facebook page will make staff happy and encourage them to stay longer.

Ultimately this will decrease employee turnover thus lowering hiring and training costs and lower costs for job advertising.

2. Communicate with Customers:

A social media presence makes you more available to your customer. Allow your social media sites to become a line of communication between you and current or potential customers. Use social media to address timely customer problems and needs in an open and public setting. This type of accountability will go a long way with customers and build their trust.

This method of customer service will cause less customer churn and lower customer acquisition costs and increase customer conversion rates.

3. Share News and Build Media Relations:

Social media is being used more and more by traditional journalists as well as bloggers etc. It is a great way to spread news and information as well as sharing photos, links and videos. Get the word out and educate consumers and journalists alike.

When press about your company is reposted to another site it increases attention to your brand and business and can increase traffic to your website and ultimately grow your customer base.

There is a lot of information floating around about social media. Some people rave about how great social media is while others believe it's a total waste of time. Below is a list of common misconceptions that businesses often have about utilizing social media.

"Sites Like Twitter And Facebook Are For Kids"
Fear: Business owners have trouble understanding that it could be possible that the same site that kids use to socialize with friends could also be utilized to connect a business with it's target audience.
Fact: Yes, there are a lot of teens and college students on social networking sites. However the fastest growing demographic has been those 35 and up. In fact internet users age 35-54 make up 40.6% of MySpace visitors. Social media is a great way for organizations to reach out and connect with their audience to grow business.

"Building Online Relationships Is A Waste of Time"
Fear: There is no reason to network with people you will never meet. It will not drive my business.
Fact: Social media is a medium in which you can network with your target audience, clients and customers. There is no such thing as time wasted when you are networking with your target audience. Not all of your contacts will become customers but they can still provide feedback on services and products plus you can keep them informed about what is happening in your organization.

"You Cannot Measure Social Media"
Fear: It will be impossible to measure ROI on social media.
Fact: Social media is internet based which automatically makes it measurable. You can look at the number of fans that increased over time, the number of comments posted on your channel, the number of discussion threads on your forum, or the number of ratings your video received. These performance indicators can be measured to determine campaign success.

"Social Media Is Free"
Fear: I can easily create my own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn page. Why is it being suggested that I need to pay money to implement these campaigns.
Fact: A lot of the technology is free but simply creating an account on Facebook is not a social media campaign. You need to ask yourself:
~How do I increase the number of fans I have on my Facebook page?
~How do I get users to subscribe to my YouTube channel?
~How do I get people to retweet my message to their followers on Twitter?
~How do I get users to subscribe to my blog?
You need the campaign, creative and the drive to get your social media plan working for you.

"This Is Something I Can Probably Do In-House"
Fear: We have employees who are using social media. Why not use them to grow our business online?
Fact: Most employees are probably using social media for personal reasons, connecting with friends, sharing photos etc. When leveraging and monetizing social media for business it's an entirely different ball game. For creativity, campaign ideas and experience the key is to find an expert in this field to put your plan into place.

With these common misconceptions explained you can click here :
to read more about Social Media Marketing