We’re down to the last post in our Facebook marketing series. By now you’ve set up your company’s official Facebook fan page, filled it in with content and invited clients to become fans. Excited to start engaging with those fans? Ready to hear some sure-fire ways to get them involved with your brand on Facebook?
Put your thinking cap on…
That’s where you come in. I’d love to tell you some guaranteed ways to get your clients involved, but every audience is different. Social media marketing requires a strategy. Spend some time thinking of your specific client base, and the types of clients you’d like to reach out to in the future.
What would they be interested in? What motivates them to act? What questions do they have that you may be able to answer? What value can you add through your Facebook posts?
A few hints to get you started
In my experience, there are a few things that are more likely to initiate conversation than others:
Free things. Can we all agree this is obvious? According to this study, exclusive deals and offers is the #1 reason Facebook users interact with a brand. Promote (worthwhile) discounts and giveaways exclusive to Facebook fans to keep fans coming back for more.
Questions. Don’t make your posts all about you. Ask your fans if they have any questions about your products and services they’d like answered, ask what they think about an article you post, solicit suggestions for a new product you’re launching
Good news. If your business wins an award, share your good fortune. If a government rebate is approved that will help people save on your products or services, let them know.
Visual media. Photos and videos let your Facebook fans in behind the scenes of your business. Transparency is highly regarded in social media spheres — don’t be afraid to show glimpses into your company’s culture, processes and more.
And remember, building a community of fans on Facebook is a lot like building a client base offline. It takes time. Patience. Consistence, paired with the willingness to change and adapt when when your current strategy isn’t working.
Remember also that social media users see sites like Facebook as an extension of their offline social lives — they want you to add value to that experience, not bombard them with sales tactics.
If you’re just setting up your company’s Facebook fan page, comment to this post with a link to your new page and let us know how it’s going! (And, while you’re at it, drop by the Click Optimize Facebook page to say hello)
Here it is: part 3 of our Facebook marketing series. Last time, I left you hanging, having just set up your company’s Facebook fan page. Today we’ll talk a bit about the reason you finally caved and set up your fan page in the first place: getting found by clients (and prospective clients).
Use what you’ve got
Take advantage of the marketing channels you already have to promote this new one:
Does your company send out an e-mail newsletter? Highlight your new Facebook fan page there.
Have a website (please, please tell me you do – if not, give us a call!)? Add a Facebook icon to the site in a prominent location and link it to your Facebook fan page.
Do clients visit your place of work? Place a “Friend us on Facebook!” sign where people can see it – by the cash register, in the window, at the front desk, etc.
Already running radio and TV ads? Edit your existing ads to mention your new Facebook fan page.
Extras
Think of the points of contact you have with people outside of your company, and use those avenues to promote the new Facebook fan page. Do you use an e-mail signature? Include a link to your Facebook page. If your employees use Facebook, ask them to become fans.
Another way to get found is by optimizing your page to be found by search engines. When writing the description on your Facebook fan page and when posting updates, use words that prospective clients might search on Google when looking for your services. If you work for a Raleigh home builder, remember to post news about Raleigh and new homes – it’s relevant content, plus it may help your page get found. Note: While you want to use keywords sometimes, don’t overdo it. Remember, we’re trying to be social here. Too many keywords look spammy – and no one likes a spammer.
Stay tuned for pt. 4, when we’ll address how to keep those fans now that you have them.
This is part one in a series about how to effectively market your Raleigh business on Facebook. To start, I’ll be addressing what every company wants to know before making the leap: what’s in it for us?
First (and most importantly), it’s where your customers are. With more than 350 million active users, 50% of which log on in any given day, you can bet some (or all) of your clients have profiles. The average user spends more than 55 minutes a day on Facebook – in fact, Facebook use accounts for 5.5% of U.S. internet usage.
If your business doesn’t have a Facebook page, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to reach those customers. While social media sites are about forging relationships and making connections, studies have shown time after time that these sites also effect consumers’ buying decisions. 40% of Facebook users say that they connect with brands on the site. 28% of U.S. holiday buyers said that social media has influenced what they’ve purchased this holiday season.
Also, with Google and Bing now indexing Facebook posts in their search results, having a social media presence is more important than ever. If nothing else, a Facebook fan page is just another way for your company to get found on the web – and that’s never a bad thing.
While getting found is good, having a Facebook fan page can do a lot more for you. Through interacting with your fans, you can learn about what makes them tick: why they love your product, what made them buy it, what it means to them and what you can do better. If used correctly, Facebook can not only be a tool for growing your business, it can a be a tool for improving it as well.
Does this mean that every company should have a Facebook fan page? No, probably not. Building a community of fans takes commitment. Plenty of people are registered on the site – but you should determine whether enough of your target demographic are Facebook users to make it worth your marketing time and money.
If having a fan page isn’t in the cards, you can still market your business on Facebook! Facebook ads are another option to consider. If you’ve used the site, you’ve noticed the ads running on the right of the page.
If you are ready to set up a fan page, great! What next? Stay tuned as the series continues.
It’s unlikely that you’re shaking in your boots at the prospect of joining Facebook, Twitter or other social sites. Let’s face it: with over 350 million Facebook users and YouTube serving well over a billion views a day, social media is far beyond its humble beginnings with early adopters. Social media is mainstream. It’s where your friends, your family and your clients are.
But just in case you’re still skeptical, I wanted to share this video with you. It’s full of reasons why those who haven’t been paying attention to social media should think about starting. A few of my favorite statistics from the video:
If Facebook were a country, it’d be the 4th largest
80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find potential employees
25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
Yesterday, big news dropped about the future intersection of social media and search.
First, news broke that Microsoft’s Bing had inked deals with Facebook and Twitter to include status updates in search results. Big news. Huge, as Mashable put it. Just as that proverbial wave was crashing, however, Google announced a similar deal (but without Facebook).
Both search engines plan to activate social search in the coming weeks. Why is social search such a big deal? On a personal level, it means a couple things:
Those Twitter and Facebook status updates? Unless you’ve set your accounts on private, your personal musings will be displayed in search results. Next time you tell your tweeps that “My nose is running from eating all those hot wings,” you better believe people around the world will see that statement pop up when searching for “running” or any other word you’ve included.
Just as strangers will see your status updates, theirs will be turning up in your searches as well. Need to know where the best vegetarian food is in Raleigh? Search Google or Bing. I’ll bet you’ll find more than a few people recommending their favorite spots through Twitter or Facebook status updates. Real-time observations mean that you’ll have recent info by consumers like yourself. Is a restaurant tasty, but crowded right now? Reading a strangers tweet complaining about the line will help you avoid the hassle.
While the news of social search is pretty cool on a personal level, the implications are even bigger for companies and brands looking to keep up online:
Online reputation management will be more important than ever before. When a customer comments about your brand on their Twitter or Facebook profile now, that comment won’t just spread through social media — it’ll be visible to anyone searching about your company on Google or Bing. If the comment is good, kudos! If it’s bad, you’ll need to run damage control faster than you can say “social media FAIL.”
Having a social media presence will become increasingly important. Once social search goes live, Twitter and Facebook updates will give brands another way to show up in search results. Want to show up for “Raleigh ice cream shop”? Updating your company’s Twitter and Facebook profiles with posts that include those keywords will help you show up in the ranks.
While the latter implication means that social media will be an important tool for many companies (when paired with SEO), it’s crucial to remember the cardinal rule of marketing in the social realm: don’t be spammy. It may be tempting to get a Twitter profile for your business and tweet out keywords all day, but while you’ll show up in social search, spammy content will only earn a negative reaction.
With rumors circulating that Twitter may integrate a location sensitive element to its tweets I’m sure many people are wondering what that means in general for social media and for the marketing world at large. First a definition. SearchingNetworking.com says: “A location-based service (LBS) is a software application for a IP-capable mobile device that requires knowledge about where the mobile device is located.” For some practical examples of this idea in action see Loopt, BrightKite and Latitude.
What Location-Based Service Means For Users
1. Context- Users can add another dimension to their status updates by showing their location. For example if someone says, “It’s snowing out.” This statement has a much different effect if you can see the person is in Florida rather than, say Maine.
2. The Proximity Effect- Most LBS sites show a map highlighting where you are. When their followers/fans/audience see this then they’re apt to recommend nearby attractions, stores or maybe even notice that their friend is close enough to meet-up with. It’s even a way to meet people you don’t know if you happen to see their messages and note their location is the same as yours. For example someone might Tweet that, “This bar is off the chain!” Noting their location their friends message back and offer to leave the bar they’re currently at next door and meet up with the person who initiated the conversation.
3. Say More with Less- Not having to articulate where you are saves characters in Twitter where each character is precious to the user.
What Location-Based Service Means For Marketers
1. Increased Message Relevance- In theory you could build an application that would allow you to notice all messages sent close to your locale and offer users a discount to drop by. There would be less of a barrier because they’re already in the area. A fine-tuned version might include higher level filters including keywords like “shopping” or “hungry.”
2. Be a Connecter- Some products/services have a social element. Your bar/restaurant might notice other people who have social profiles set to single and are currently messaging from your establishment. Maybe they appear as red dots on a map to each other. Helping people find each other is a great way to set your brand apart online and offline.
3. Mashup Raw Material- As evidenced by the success of the various Google Maps mashups there is a large amount of interest in combining data you may have as a company with someone’s location. The possibilities are endless and you might even partner with a software developer to produce this killer app. Next you brand it and release it into the wild.
As a marketing flunky it can be easy to start navel gazing and thinking how grand it is to be working with the wonderous technology of social media. It’s the best way to talk to other marketers about marketing! The trouble is that doesn’t really pay the bills for normal companies. Here’s an insight into how some average users are leveraging social media to enrich their lives.
#1 Sara- New Media Mom
Even though Sara works for a large dot-com based in NYC she once told me, “I hate social media. I don’t get the big deal with regard to Facebook or Twitter.” Then Sara decided that for her 1st child she would be using cloth diapers. That’s when she started using http://diaperswappers.com/. It’s a niche community where moms can trade, sell and buy cloth diapers. There’s extensive advice on which brands are best, ways to mend existing diapers and of course the normal chatter mothers engage in. Sara had found her niche online and started chatting with her new-found friends like crazy.
LESSON: If you provide value even the most reluctant consumers will seek you out online. Everyone has an itch waiting to be scratched.
#2 Frank- Enterprising Employee
My friend Frank initially balked when I suggested that Twitter had a variety of interesting uses. I offered to give him a brief walkthrough and suggest some uses for it. About a week after the walk-through I checked back in with Frank. He was a changed man. His position entails that he manage PPC and SEO issues for his clients. Frank chose to use Tweetdeck to monitor the chatter on Twitter. He had chosen search terms like PPC, SEO, Adwords and SEM. Frank started sharing links with me regarding interesting advances in his field that he discovered by monitoring conversations via Twitter. Not only that but he was even helping other folks who needed assistance with Adwords and SEO.
LESSON: People like to help others. Empower experts to do so. Then connect them with those in need of advice. Each side wins and your audience will love you for it.
#3 Mike- Music Maker and Risk Taker
Mike has a day job as a project manager but what really gets his blood pumping is music. He likes all sorts of great stuff from rock to R&B to funk to hip-hop. During his free time Mike put together a great album of tunes. He created all the instruments using his keyboard, did all the vocals and mixed/mastered it himself. Completely DIY! Mike wanted to let his friends know about his new creation so he shared the link via Facebook. They in turn shared it with all their friends as they saw fit. The album reached far more people thanks to this collaborative sharing than it would have otherwise. Mike leveraged his friends online to help promote his new album.
LESSON: It’s not selling online when those who are helping you are your friends. They just want to see you succeed. The trick is to turn those customers into friends.
Every community has them. The tried and true business owners who have weathered countless economic disasters, rattle their sabers to “Keep It Local” and eschew big brands with little personality, quirks or passion for the areas they inhabit. The David vs. Goliath of the 2.5 era can be fought with weapons that level the playing field and help local businesses exploit their largest advantages over mammoth competitors.
Living large but staying small. Off the map and into the niche. Create, innovate and dominate. Authenticity comes naturally. Love conquers all.
Living large but staying small. The thing I love about Internet marketing for small businesses is that it allows you to beam your message to multiple locations 24/7 at a minimal price. As a small local business you don’t have an army of sales people or a legion of marketing folks telling your story. Your Internet marketing can take on this challenge if you leverage it correctly. While having a quality website that is properly optimized is important, your social media channel can add another dimension. Social media is about adding personality and a sense of humanity to your brand. The customers you interact with might assign traits to your company like funny, smart or adventurous. Social media helps tell this story online by allowing you to share this experience through vehicles like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Another nice thing to note is that most of the best social media sites are completely free. You just need to roll up your sleeves and apply the elbow grease to see the results. Organic growth tends to tie in very neatly with most small businesses plans for expansion and that is the very essence of social media. Speak “small” and carry a big digital footprint. (My apologies to Theodore Roosevelt for turning his quote inside out.)
Off the map and into the niche. While major social media juggernauts like Facebook and Twitter are all the rage these days there are other really valuable communities you can address that will set you apart from the Big Box stores. Your local blogging community will likely turn up its nose at most corporate marketing but might be willing to partner with your company to promote a neat event. Get to know them and they can serve as brand evangelists helping to spread your message to a very targeted and attractive audience. There’s also an entire nether world of forums that you can delve into that are perfect for you to participate in. Become the local expert that folks suggest online. There’s even an opportunity for a very cost-effective ad spend on display advertising via forums. The cost per impression will likely be very low and if the forum is city/state/region specific the audience you’ll be reaching will fit your needs perfectly. Go off the map and into the places only locals tread online.
Create, innovate and dominate.Small businesses are more nimble than their hulking counterparts. You can institute a social media plan in a week whereas it might take cutting through a lot of red tape and hand wringing for a big corporation to do the same. You’ve got access to the decision-makers directly within your company or you can just make the call yourself. If you purchase a cheap camcorder device like a Flip you can shoot and upload videos about your business weekly or even daily. Why not highlight your favorite customers, your staff talking about their area of expertise or just something unique that only happens in your office/store. If you create things of value online your customers will love you for it.
Authenticity comes naturally. Large amounts of virtual ink has been utilized talking about why big brands should “keep it real” online. One thing small businesses tend to do well is to just be themselves. The lack of rigid hierarchy and TPS reports tends to favor local businesses when it comes to social media. It comes naturally because you’re intimately involved with the day-to-day operations of your business, your customers and all the minutiae that makes up your brand. In online social networks people like to know that they’re talking to a real person even when the person represents a company. Just being yourself can give you a leg up on your larger competitors.
Love conquers all. Now, I’m not suggesting we all hug each other and break out an acoustic guitar but your passion for your business is an advantage that can be conveyed vividly through social media. A short video on 12seconds.tv featuring a tip from you, a thoughtful blog entry about the future of your industry or an audio podcast of your staff hosting a round-table discussion on how to receive the best service possible can go a long ways with prospects and current customers. If you love your business and articulate that passion by developing an online conversation with your customers, you’ll stand out against the “Big Boys.”
Go local and keep those dollars in your community everyone! Tell the story of how your small/local brand used social media to compete against bigger rivals in the comments section.
12seconds is a great place to create video status updates online. You create videos through your webcam or your mobile phone’s video input. With 12 seconds to say your piece you’ve got to be quick and creative. Sounds limiting? That’s what they said about Twitter. Your brand can gain a lot by setting up an account.
1. 12seconds has wisely tied their service directly into Twitter. Your video updates can go directly to your Followers without creating an extra link. Services like TwitPic and 12seconds are the sort of difference-makers that can help add depth and personality to your account. Text-only is so 2008!
2. 12seconds integrates as smooth as silk with Tweetdeck. You can watch your friends’ videos directly inside this Adobe Air application, record new videos to share and even retweet your favorite video updates.
3. Celebrities often herald the masses when it comes to emerging technologies. Check out the bump that Ashton Kutcher just gave to Twitter. We’ve got Shaq in our corner. His first update has already received 12,000+ views in its first day on the site. Don’t be surprised if the site’s membership sees a huge increase in the next few months.
4. With a new social media platform there’s a chance to establish thought-leadership prior to the rest of the crowd showing up. With a little ingenuity and imagination you could be the Gary V of 12seconds and have the first case study of video status update success written about you.
5. Often in these embryonic stages there is less competition for viewer’s attention. On Facebook you’re competing with millions of other companies to the stimulate the rods and cones of the 400 million eyeballs (200 million users X2) on there. With 12seconds if you create something quirky or of value there’s a high probability that you’ll find your video in the Featured section or in the Popular section of the site.
6. Whoa! I forgot one of the best things that 12seconds just rolled out. They now offer the option to throw a link to something you want to promote like a product release, event or new service offering in with your video. Give your elevator pitch with a 12omercial!
7. There are some really useful features built in to help you interact with your customers and prospects in a meaningful way. You can react to other users creations with videos, props via the “bump” feature or just plain old text comments. If users like it when someone just sends them 140 characters imagine how they’d feel if a rep from your company sent them a fun little video? Higher Level Interaction = More Trust.
8. You can embed your best video to your site. This ability can spice up the social media savvy of your main corporate site. It’s all about buying into this channel and throwing up a flag that you’re committed to it. Users respect that and will show you love for it.
9. Everyone’s boss loves metrics. 12seconds feels your pain and gives you stats on your impressions, views, embeds, mobile views, downloads, RSS feeds and retweets/mentions. All that would look good on an ascending chart in a PowerPoint presentation, right?
10. It’s about the meta-data. 12seconds allows you to add both tags and your location to each video. One can anticipate further integration that would add a more in-depth location-based element to the service in the future similar to BrightKite. These extra details make your entries more search-friendly and create deeper connections with your audience. This location-based element would be particularly important if you’re a local business or a retail with brick & mortar locations.
11. Did you know that worldwide more people own cells than computers? Estimates have the figure at over 4 billion. Wow. Is your brand ready to go global? A service like 12seconds helps you to not only be everywhere but to have fans creating videos everywhere. The more mobile devices with video technology and better video support we have the more media that will be consumed and created on them. Why not corner that market now?
Posted on February 24th, 2010 by Hannah
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