Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Strategies

Did you know that by the end of March your companies Facebook page will be moved over to a new layout? This new layout has several aesthetic changes that allow businesses to highlight their brand and company heritage.

Up until now, most successful business Facebook pages had a content rich Custom Tab and News Feed strategy to engage their audience. The focus was “what is happening right now?”. With the new timeline features it will be about not only what is happening now, but what has your business done / been a part of in the past?

Facebook is currently offering you visual testing, so you can see how your business page will look after the conversion. Be sure to see how your business page is going to look and also make sure you are aware of several new features of the Facebook timeline:

Cover Image. A cover image is a large (850px by 315px) image across the top of your business’ Facebook page. This is one of the big introductions in the new timeline layout and you might have already seen examples of these on personal Facebook pages already converted to the new timeline.

A cover image shouldn’t be approached as just another profile picture, but think of this as an image that gives you the opportunity to create a great first impression. Beyond that, your Facebook cover image should drive home your overall brand image and makes it stick in the users mind.   

Before you create or upload any new cover image, please note that Facebook does have guidelines for what content can and should be there (specifically surrounding call-to-actions). Be sure to brush up on these guidelines before creating any images for this space. You might want to also consider rotating this image as often as you can to keep your fans interested.

Milestones. Considering the new layout is a “Timeline” focus, it only makes sense that major milestones and activities are going to be dated and marked along the way. Users will actually be able to look or filter through your information and the major milestones accomplished based on dates. Milestones also allow you to add a picture, so be sure you are snapping photos and adding them for major events!   

Pins. This new feature allows you to control how important stories or news updates on your business’ Facebook page are seen. When you pin something on your page it will remain at the top of your timeline for 7 days (or until it is unpinned). This means you can have featured content each week and makes promoting weekly specials easy.

While being aware of the new features is obviously important, it is also good to know that there are also several changes that limit previous features or take them away all together.

Profile Pictures. While this isn’t a huge change, the size of the new profile picture has actually shrunk (due to the new cover image) to 180px by 180px. This means you have a very limited space, making businesses’ previous attempts at including call-to-actions in their profile pictures almost impossible. Focus on using a profile picture that promotes your brand while being clean and simple.

Default Tabs. One of things most businesses did when setting up their Facebook page was to create a default tab for non-fans; these tabs were used as a tool to increase fan conversion. Well, Facebook is taking these away in the new timeline layout. That means your business’ Facebook page is going to have to utilize new tools, such as cover image and pins, to convert users into fans.

Just remember, even with the new layout, the goal of your business’ Facebook page should be about engagement and providing useful content for users. Focus on those key elements when converting your page over to the new Facebook timeline and you should have no problem maintaining and increasing your fans.

Before creating your business’ Facebook page or converting it over to the new timeline layout, you need to have a Social Media Strategy - Download our Social Media Strategy Kit to develop your own.

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.  

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. 

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's New Mobile Application Facebook Deals Adds A New Benefit To Social Media Marketing.

Businesses are finding more ways to capitalize on the merging of mobile marketing and social media together. Smartphone users view their emails on their phones and most users now access their social sites the same way. This has changed the way we send out messages and communicate with our friends, family, and clients so that they can also be viewed on cell phone screens. Text messaging has also given a new opportunity to stay in contact with cell phone users.

Facebook launced Facebook Deals just 6 weeks ago. This is a new application that targets smartphone users and is making a strong push for Facebook to enter into the multi billion dollar online coupon space. Currently it only works for computer users, Android and iPhone users, but will eventually become available to all cell phone users.

This application works in conjunction with Facebook's Places application. When a Facebook user identifies their physical location Facebook Deals will search for discounts and sales in close proximity to that place.

Deals will only show up for businesses that have a Facebook business page that the smartphone user has said they 'like'. So, when a user indicates through Places that they are dining at a specific Chicago eatery Facebook Deals can kick in and let them know that the restaurant down the street is offering 1/2 price desserts and the women's boutique next door is offering 30% off all accessories.

Now a nearby fan of these establishments has a great reason to stop in even if that hadn't been part of their original plan. This also encourages businesses to increase the number of Facebook users that 'like' them. Growing this base of fans will increase the value of an application such as Facebook Deals.

There is great potential for businesses small and large to benefit from this new Facebook application. Staying current with new advances in social media marketing is imperative to continuing to help your business grow and evolve.

Social media marketing can be very beneficial for your brand and your business. However not every business is using social media to their advantage.

Businesses have a tendency to approach all customer communication in a very professional manner. In most cases this is absolutely necessary however social media is just that, social. You want to post and comment in a conversational and friendly way. You're not talking business to business, you're talking to your consumers. Let them see who you are and they will feel more comfortable and interested in communicating with you and reading what you have to share.

Another mistake that is easy to make by businesses is focusing all of your time on promoting yourself. Social media is about building relationships. If all you do self promote you'll send your followers running in the other direction. Use social media to share things you've written or great things you've read or that you found interesting. Some self promotion is totally acceptable but you'll need more than that to gain the respect and interest of your followers.

Make sure you're not spreading yourself too thin. Having a presence on more social media channels is not beneficial if you're not able to give each one the attention it needs. It's better to focus in on one social media site and be an active participant.

Social media marketing takes your attention and consistency. Don't give up if you're not seeing results right away. A successful campaign will take time.

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.

It is no big secret that content is a huge contributor to your search engine ranking. Unfortunately it is possible to have terrific content within your site but still not rank on Google's first page. 

Having quality content is a great first step but it needs to be done with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind from the start.

Google uses two things to prioritize its search rankings.

1. Inside Content - The most obvious determination of rank is within your content. Google will search your content for related keywords. Keywords should be used in headings, sub headings, bullets and internal link text. 

2. Outside Content - The second factor in determining your rank is slightly more complicated to master. Google looks at your website and then looks at all the external links that point to your website. Google sees these links as recommendations for your site and the content that you have within your site. Basically it builds your credibility and Google ranks your website based on the number of related links. 

Adjusting the keywords you use and the frequency with which you use them is a fairly simple task. Getting these external links to your site is not as simple. Blogging and writing articles to appear on content marketing websites, such as HubPages and Squidoo, can increase links back to your site and hopefully ignite conversation about your topics and point to your site within the conversation. 

In addition to these methods you can also ask a related website to trade links with you. Offer to post a link to their site in return for a link from their site to yours. 

Finally use conversation as a tool to accrue links back to your site. Social Media Marketing is a great way to reach a large target audience and get them talking and clicking back to your site. Social media sites vary greatly but whether you're sharing a video, promoting a blog or plugging a webinar these sites spark interest and encourage conversation. Combining content with conversation is key to SEO success.