WSI Blog - Internet Marketing Tips and Strategies

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

You may have a beautiful and user friendly website but that alone will not insure that consumers are finding it. Contrary to some beliefs the best way to increase visitation to your site is not through costly print, radio, TV or online banner ads. The ultimate way to attract more visitors is through content marketing combined with a good SEO strategy.

Filling your site with fresh content that is valuable to your target audience and then promoting that content can have a major effect on your site's exposure in the search engines. The ultimate goal it to write great content that your relevant for your target audience, promote the content on your site and additional content marketing sites/article marketing sites. Promoting on article marketing sites can help drive new links alone will and improve your search engine rankings. Finally promoting your content within social media outlets, YouTube and blogs will complete that extra step to taking your content virally.

The most important factor here is that your content be relevant and of high value to your reader. In order to take the first step towards content marketing is to create a content blueprint. Here are 6 steps to creating a content blueprint:

Step 1: Define your business goals
What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months?

Step 2: Identify your ideal website audience
Who exactly do you want to be visiting your website? This is typically the person most likely to be making the decisions about your product or service. As a homebuilder you may want to target housewives for example as they may be the primary decision maker when it comes to building a new home.

Step 3: List the types of information they require
For each target audience what questions will they typically ask and what is the information most requested about your company, product or service?

Step 4: Determine the action you want your target to take
What is their call to action? Watching a video? Signing up for your newsletter? Whatever you direct them to,m that information needs to help your visitor solve their problem and ultimately encourage them to engage with your company.

Step 5: Research search keywords
Use keyword research tools such as Wordtracker or Google's keyword tool. Find out what people are searching for and use the tool to identify niche topics that you can create content for.

Step 6: Create your blueprint
Sort your content by target audience and create a sitemap and navigation plan to channel your content effectively to your visitor. For each piece decide what channels you will use to promote. Consider website, blog, YouTube, Podcast, LinkedIn, Facebook and anywhere else you anticipate your target frequenting.

Create a schedule for when you will create and publish content. Publishing regularly will increase visibility. The best part about content marketing is that the information you create and share is actually increasing the value of your business.

Lastly make sure you have a way to measure your success. Install Google Analytics to monitor website visitation and set business goals that you can measure.

Facebook is often thought of as a site where young college students socialize and discuss the latest event and what to wear. For many it is the last place they would think to promote their business using Facebook social media marketing. However InsiderFacebook.com has reported that while two years ago Facebook's demographic was made up of those 35 years and older, today it's made up of woman over 55. In fact, 45% of Facebook's audience is 26 years and older.

Each user spends their time on Facebook in different ways; however the average user is spending 55 minutes a day on the site. Think of that as 55 minutes with a captive audience who is not getting up for a snack during the commercial breaks. Facebook social media marketing has so much information about its users that you can target a marketing campaign to women between the ages of 24-30 years in a specific geographic location and have their relationship status set to 'engaged'. In fact a photography studio called CM Photographic did just this and over the period of 12 months generated $40,000 in revenue directly from the $600 they spent on this Facebook social media marketing campaign.

Not sure how to get Facebook to work for you? "

Follow these four steps to market your business on Facebook:

1. Facebook Advertising - determine your target audience including age, sex, location and lifestyle. While those people may not be searching for your product on Facebook they are in a position to need your services. Use Facebook's business tools to write optimal ads and ensure that your campaign is strong enough to entice your potential customers.

2. Facebook Pages - Facebook requires you to have a personal page before you can have a business page. Due to the nature of Facebook you may have concern that a photo of you asleep on the couch with a magic marker mustache courtesy of your toddler is not how you want your business associates to see you. Facebook's privacy settings allow you to totally separate your personal and business pages while also allowing you to control what information you want users to be able to see. Familiarize yourself with these settings to ensure that you won't have any personal and professional blunders.

3. Get The Word Out - Now that you have a Facebook Page it's time to spread the word.
• Send an email blast to your contacts alerting them of the page.
• Use your website to alert visitors that they can find you on Facebook.
• Encourage people to follow you on Facebook by using a contest or promotion.
• Run a Facebook ad campaign targeting your ideal audience and invite them to join your fan page.

4. Facebook Events - By inviting your audience to events via Facebook you are utilizing the event tool while promoting your company. When someone replies that they will be attending your event it automatically gets posted to their Facebook page thus alerting all of their friends and potentially encouraging them to attend as well or at least find out more about you.

Facebook has proven that it is here to stay. It's time to start using it to your advantage and incorporating this into your social media marketing campaigns. 

Watch our webinar on Facebook Social Media Marketing

LinkedIn has grown to include more than 55 million users in 200 countries worldwide. LinkedIn has grown on the principle that every person is connected to one another by no more than six degrees of separation. It’s amazing how many people we are connected to through other people we know. LinkedIn allows you to easily get introduced and make new contacts for your business (new prospects, vendors, suppliers, employers, employees, friends, networking, etc).

Surprisingly, when utilizing LinkedIn, it's not always your “strong” contacts that prove to be most valuable when looking for new job opportunities or business opportunities. They typically belong to your same circle, both professionally and socially, and don’t typically recommend a person or business outside of this network. Instead your “weak” contacts are the ones that can open up new doors and introduce you to new opportunities.

Using LinkedIn, you can quickly and easily increase your sphere of influence using your “weak” contacts. When used properly, you can use LinkedIn to generate leads, increase your credibility, increase your visibility, communicate more effectively, and manage your brand.

Make sure when getting started on LinkedIn you have a social media strategy, even if it’s a basic one.
Ask yourself – What are the needs of my business? What do I want to accomplish by using the site? Who am I trying to reach?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you target the right LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn users. LinkedIn Groups are a great way to make new contacts. Start by finding relevant, local, LinkedIn Groups that you can connect to. Join, monitor, engage (social media is a 2 way street, you need to respond and interact with other peoples post, don’t just push your posts to the discussion boards). Using a “Push” strategy on LinkedIn will probably fall on deaf ears. Make sure you make time to interact with what other people in your network are talking about.

Other Tips:
- Fill Out Your Profile Completely – a poorly thought out or 50% completed profile lacks professionalism and will turn others off from connection with you.
- Use the 1st Person – it has been found that using (I/We/us) is more effective at reaching people then the 3rd person (he/she/it).
- Use Keywords – similar to optimizing a website, optimize your posts with your targeted keywords.
- Get Personal, but Keep it Professional – let people know what you are interested (hobbies, activities, music, books, etc), but keep it professional. Showing you are human and not just a lead generation machine will help people connect with you.
- Join Groups - joining Groups on LinkedIn can be one of the most powerful ways to grow your sphere of influence. Most Groups allow you to post discussions - use this as an opportunity to introduce yourself, network, promote webinars, etc. Don't over self promote, make sure your reciprocate when you can by responding to other's posts. Also, by joining relevant groups, you can contact people in your groups for FREE on LinkedIn, even if they are not a connection.

Social media sites have changed the way consumers interact with businesses. In the past, marketers could maintain a positive spin on issues that would arise with their products or services, by using a combination of media advertising and news coverage. Only extreme, newsworthly stories got any visibility beyond a small number of people, and big companies had entire departments devoted to dealing with issues that would arise that could affect their brand. With the growth of social media sites, so has the opportunity for consumers to easily comment (positvely & negatively) about a companies products and service. These comments and posts are available to view by millions online in seconds.

Are you monitoring the chatter about your company? How are you dealing with negative reviews?

FREE Social Media Apps
Try Google Alerts or Yahoo Alerts. Two free tools that will allow you to monitor keywords relating to your business, brand, products, and people. 
Technorati - the leading blog search engine, will help you keep your finger on the pule of what's being talked about online. Lexicon
Monitter - find out what people are talking about on Twitter. Monitter provides real time monitoring of the Twittersphere.
Tweetburner or Budurl - lets you shorten and track your URL posts so you can determine where your social capital is getting the best results.

The introduction of social networking and social media has leveled the playing field (to some extent) for all businesses. I mention "to some extent" because implementing a solid social media strategy takes a lot of time and skill, those who invest the most social capital tend to get the best results. Most small business owners simply don't have the time or resources to create enough social capital to make an impact vs. the mid sized to large companies who hire full time marketers or outsource to agencies to manage their social media campaigns.

Savy companies, who are open to communicate directly with consumers, can leverage social media in their favor. Responding quickly to negative posts or complaints, in a positive way, can strengthen your relationship with your existing clients and generate new business. Consumers who post negative comments should be met with offers to resolve their issues in a polite soft tone. Avoid re-acting negatively or giving away the farm each time someone files a complaint. Need to strike a balance that works for your company that will help you resolve issues without costing you a fortune in both the bank account and brand degredation.