8 Ways to Keep Your Social Media Updates Fresh

Small business owners managing their own social media often ask the same question: "How can I keep my updates fresh and engaging?"

It's no easy task. If one were to poll marketers and business owners alike, he or she would find that creativity and the challenge of keeping updates from becoming stale is a top concern in social media. Luckily, at Omnicore Agency, our team of social media experts never run out of good ideas.

 

Taking a page from their book – and asking their recommendations – we've compiled a list for you to use the next time you get stuck on what to write, or for those moments when you need your content to pop, or those instances where you want to take what you've been doing to the next level. No matter what your social media challenge, these tips for keeping your social media updates fresh are sure to make managing your social channels a whole lot easier -and more successful!

• Don't Always Talk About Yourself: This is the key to success in social media. Don't just share links to your site or overly promotional posts. Be human, be conversational, and talk about the good words of others, including sharing their content, their links, or their creations (with credit, of course)!
• Check the Date: No idea what to post? Check the calendar! Each month - or even each day or week, for that matter – plays host to a variety of holidays, awareness weeks, and events. Find the ones that tie in to your business and find a way to connect with your audience over those occasions. Not only is it timely, but it's also unique. Try implementing date or time-specific promotions through social media that relate to the occasion, host chats or streams using hashtags relating to that event to raise awareness and generate conversation, or create graphics associated with that specific event and share them throughout your social channels.
• Crowdsource: Your social networks are a goldmine of opportunity for content, so source from them on occasion when you need a break. Ask for photo submissions for a contest, or retweet their answers to a poll, prompt, or question. It gets the conversation going and has the potential to grow your audience at the same time. Bottom line: ask for their input!
• Quotations and Questions: Questions and quotations are always good for sharability and engagement.

Quotations are good for more inspirational or lighter topics – for an added bonus, turn that quote into a graphics that's pinable and sharable for maximum impact. When choosing quotes, go for something fitting for that day, a particular topic, or just your industry in general. If you can, find a way to connect it back to your own business by sharing that quote and then linking to a content piece you've created that uses that quote or connects back to it in some way. Alternately, post a quote and then ask a question relating to its contents to try to ignite some feedback.

Questions alone, on the other hand, are good for getting valuable feedback and sparking conversation. Just make sure the questions aren't too complicated or too controversial. Think of questions you might ask in a focus group or customer survey, or go for the conversational/laid-back sort of questions one might find in small talk – you may be surprised on who you connect with! Speaking of questions, also use your social channels to answer them. If you have FAQs, do a Q&A post series and then make that content perform double duty by turning those Q&A updates into a blog post or other content piece. Answer questions builds credibility and connects with the customer.

• Add Visuals: Adding videos, photos, or graphics instantly makes your status update more attractive, plus, it boosts your potential to have it shared across multiple channels (research shows it!) . Take the time to enrich a post with a photo or a video you've created – you'll be surprised at the increased levels of engagement you'll see as a result.
• Make the Next Step: Post a teaser of something and then link to the content or landing page where they can get more info or explore something more indepth. Think calls to action when you make your updates!
• Search for Sources: Stuck on where to find the topic of your next tweet or status update? Check these standby sources for new information and inspiration:

• Today's Headlines: current events are always a great way to generate conversation. Just approach with caution and make sure you're choosing topics that are relevant and reflective of your brand in a positive way.
  Industry blogs or websites: see what the buzz is in your industry and share it with your audiences!
  Your competitor's websites and media channels: if your competitors are writing, tweeting, or blogging about it, it's valuable – look at what they're doing and see how you can do it better.
  YouTube: videos are great ways to look at a topic from a visual angle. Look for industry relevant videos and see how they might be shared or turned into a status update.
• Flickr: like YouTube, Flickr can also be a great way to get inspiration for a status update, simply by looking at a topic from a more visual angle.
• Pinterest: do a search or two for phrases relevant to your industry and see what content is out there – can you create something similar or better to share?
• Slideshare.net: look for slideshows for snippets of information that are ultra-sharable through social media and may inspire presentations of your own.
• Your swipe file: if you don't have one, you need one! Here's how to make one.
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• Your latest newsletter: look through your latest email marketing blasts – is there something there that could be shared through social media too?
•  Your blog: check your blog for recent posts and see if you can condense down your post takeaways into tweetable, shareable, or Facebookable snippets.
• Short and Sweet: Research shows that on Facebook, shorter posts tend to perform better in terms of engagement and views, so keep that in mind when making an update. Don't be afraid to make a short exclamation and let it roll from there.

These are just a handful of tips (there are countless more and we'd love to hear some of yours in the comments!) for keeping social media updates fresh. The key thing is to not do the same thing over and over again. You know this as a common sense takeaway, but it can be tempting to do so. Remember that Mark Twain quote about insanity – it's when you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Don't do only the same things!

Article Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/salman-aslam/2059286/8-ways-keep-your-social-media-updates-fresh

Where has the Facebook 'thumbs up' gone?

Facebook are constantly having small makeovers to their site but this one is a little more noticeable. The iconic thumbs up has gone from the 'like' option. So why do the social media company feel this is necessary and is it a sign of things to come?

Image: http://techbeat.com

Following MySpace, Facebook boomed onto our computer screens back in 2004/2005 and is now a force to contend with in the social media world. Considering they may be at their peak, why the constant changes? Is it due to their being more competition? Is it a clever marketing strategy? Or are the owners just bored and want to go in a new direction?

Continuity has always been an important part of being a brand and there would be slight fears if Facebook decided to have a massive change all at once but moving with the times is not a bad idea. Blue and white were always associated with social media site; it is reliable and easy to recognise. Now you have many other sites, within social media, using the same colours - this can have a knock-on effect with how we view sites, their brand and the individuality of the product.

The thumbs up is possibly on par, if not more recognisable, than the Facebook 'f'. It is a mass produced symbol and not only is it used on Facebook itself, it actually appears on millions of other sites as a link.

Image: http://kentuckysportsradio.com

Luckily, Mark Zuckerburg and his marketing team are rather meticulous when it comes to any changes on the site and credit it to them. What you don't want is people disassociating your brand and as we all know, we like simple and reliable ideas and icons when it comes to marketing.

So this may well be the start of a bigger thing, the face of the company altering, but I am sure this is a well thought out move and could still be changed at any time. Although the thumbs up may seem like a little thing it is amazing how quickly and widely it was noticed.

You may have already noticed or you may go to look now; do note that it has not vanished completely. The 'like' button now only says like and it has been removed from there, under your comments and photos there will still be the symbol.

I suggest we all watch out for the tiny changes Facebook and other social media sites may be making in the near future. Technology changes all the time, as does the market, and the big contenders must keep up.

Snapchat Stories - A New Feature

Last week Snapchat released its latest surprise feature – Snapchat Stories – an update which allows users to create their own ‘story’ which lasts for a day, signalling a new way to share photos and videos over this social network. What does this new feature offer in terms of marketing possibilities? And what does it signal for the future of Snapchat?

www.ibtimes.com

The Snapchat team announced on its website last week, “We’re introducing Snapchat Stories. A totally new way to share your day with friends - or everyone. It’s fun and ephemeral, just like Snapchat.” The Snapchat Stories feature still works in a very similar fashion to the original Snapchat function (where photos and videos are sent to friends and magically self-destruct after a set time) however, instead of disappearing after a maximum of 10 seconds, the Snaps now remain visible for a full 24 hours after they are shared. This allows friends to view the video multiple times before it is eventually erased from the system. The Snapchat Team hope that this will create a narrative, which can be built on by adding more content and creating a 24 hour story update of your life to your friends. As the posts become older than the 24 hour limit they are deleted, so as to create space for new stories and act as a constant update on your life.

www.techcrunch.com

The CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, hopes that this feature will encourage users to act more like their true selves, instead of creating an ‘online persona’ like they might on Facebook or Twitter. This is because on Facebook your timeline provides a transparent view of your life and posts do not disappear leaving them there for a significant length of time and possibly allowing them to lose their original context and meaning. However, with Snapchat there is the ability to send out a story to last only for one day – in this way you can act like your true self, knowing that it will only be viewed for a short amount of time and will not go down on your online history to be referred to years down the line.

Although some may believe that this new feature takes away from the instantaneous nature of the application, the Snapchat team is keen to point out that it still represents the same principles as before – it is a way of instantly sharing your life events. The team commented that “Your Story never ends and it’s always changing. The end of your Story today is the beginning of your Story tomorrow. And each Snap in your Story includes a list of everyone who views it”. Therefore, the emphasis still appears to be on instant updates of your life to your friends, even though they are now available for longer.

What this new feature does provide is a significant new marketing opportunity. Companies have already started to use Snapchat as away to advertise their brands to the correct demographic, for instance Taco Bell and MTV’s Geordie Shore, who have utilised the young age group of this social network to send out their latest updates in a new and exciting manner. With the possibility of now creating stories and videos which last for a more than the original 10 second clips – the potential for brands to use the application has increased greatly. The recognition of Snapchat’s value to brands can be seen in the promotional videos which were sent out to advertise the new feature to all snapchat users. To debut their new feature, Snapchat partnered with a number of brands and musicians to show you their stories – for example the bands Smallpools and Guards. Does this signal that Snapchat is moving to a more business-like approach, hoping to gain revenue from capitalising on companies who would like to advertise on their platform by sharing stories? Will this lead to the monetization of Snapchat?

www.nbcnews.com

What do you think?

Have you used Snapchat stories yet? Do you think that it is leading the way for a change in the use of Snapchat in the future?

Instagram for Business

There are a number of benefits to using Instagram as a marketing tool for your business. Instagram is particularly beneficial for brands or companies that have a lot of visual content to share – good examples include food retailers, clothing brands, and any other company which is selling visually appealing products. Marketers should give Instagram consideration before implementing a marketing strategy as it can be used as an effective platform to market from providing a way to communicate directly with customers, who will subsequently be influenced into purchasing products.

www.blogworld.com

A recent study has shown that the top 5 brands on Instagram include Nike, Starbucks, Forever 21, Adidas and Victoria’s Secret – brands which all produce visually appealing products and have focussed on the way that they can use Instagram to tell a story to their audience and entice them into buying their products or support the brand. These brands use Instagram as a way of showing off their products but also as a way to engage with their potential customers. For instance, Nike has used the Instagram platform to further connect with their audience asking Instagram users to tag their photos with their tagline #justdoit in order to have the possibility of being featured on the channel. This shows that the use of the hashtag on Instagram is an important marketing tool as it allows greater audience engagement and helps brands to find people who are talking about the product or brand and means that you can follow these people or their conversations.

Brands who bring a bit of originality into their images tend to be most successful on Instagram, for instance, Starbucks who is second in the rankings for top brands on Instagram. Starbucks posted the image below in order to advertise their fall special ‘Pumpkin Spice Latte’ which featured the caption, “Ready, steady, #PSL #stackit #pumpkin #love# Fall #boots”. The image has been liked by 73,800 people – showing the real power that an original image can have on a brand’s fan base, helping to create a stir and excitement over a new product or a seasonal offer. The message is to get creative in whatever way you intend to use you Instagram account for your business – through this it will be more likely to attract a positive fan base, whether your company is large or small.

Another way in which brands can engage with their audience is through creating compelling stories or content on their Instagram pages. Brands need to create a balance between fun images and their business images which will help sell their product – this makes sure that the customer is drawn in and doesn’t always feel like they are being sold something. Anthropologie are a great brand for striking the correct balance on their images – a good example is that every September they hold an annual Sit. Stay. Love. campaign, which is a pet adoption event and pet supply drive for animal centres across the U.S. They feature images of dogs and hashtag #SitStayLove to get their audience engaged with something that is slightly different from their products but still represents their brand ethos. These images are juxtaposed with those which advertise their products, and effectively strike a subtle balance between their product placement and other interesting images. The two images below are both featured on the Anthropologie Instagram site and show the variety of visually appealing content that they post.

Geo-tagging Instagram images is another great way for local businesses who use Instagram to get the most out of the application. Geo-tagging lets people know where you are and can help specific campaigns link with certain locations. It can be particularly valuable to advertise the brand’s presence at a marketing event that the company is hosting or when the company attends a particular conference. By sharing a specific location with fans, it can help develop the relationship that is built up with customers and allows it to become more personal. This is often a feature which is not used enough by businesses.

What do you think?

What are the best ways you have seen brands advertise themselves on Instagram? Would you consider using Instagram as a marketing tool for your business?

The Rise of Snapchat

Snapchat is a photo messaging app which allows people to connect with friends through sending instant photos or videos, which automatically self-destruct after a few seconds. The app, which has seen a significant rise in its use, now sees as many as 350 million photo uploads daily, a number which rivals Facebook. Why has this app seen such a rise in popularity over the past few years? And how can this activity be channelled into a form of social media mobile marketing for brands?

Snapchat has been extremely popular as a social media network among the younger generations, especially teenagers who like to share their life updates in an instant manner and often through the medium of photography. Snapchat in particular reflects the growing use of instant messaging among teenagers which they access through their smartphones, however, by including disappearing photos it adds a new dimension to existing instant messaging platforms like Whatsapp. Snapchat has seen its appeal among this audience because it allows them to send a picture of what is happening to them right at that moment, and is something that is not permanent – the picture is supposed to be grainy, fun and instantaneous – this is all part of its appeal to the younger generation. Snapchat is also a more private way of messaging your friends – with the user only selecting a particular friend or group of friends to send the image to and only receiving messages from their friends.

The ability to draw on the images you send is also a feature not seen on any of the other social media networks, and allows inventive individuals to create interesting Snaps to send to their friends – increasing the fun, and unique nature of the app and encouraging its popularity. Some individuals even use the app to create ‘SnapChat Art’ showing the potential for the use of the app for different means.

The popularity of Snapchat among teenagers and young people has led some brands to target it as a platform for marketing their products or their brand to this demographic. The first brand to use Snapchat as a marketing tool to reach their target audience has been MTV’s Geordie Shore – the app seems a great match for the target demographic that MTV are trying to attract to watch Geordie Shore – a young crowd, interested in receiving pictures for only a few seconds. The nature of the app, in that you are in control of watching videos or viewing the pictures that you receive, means that the target audience feels a greater involvement in the advertisement and is particularly engaged in it. In addition, most people cannot resist viewing the Snaps that they receive as they are filled with a natural sense of intrigue at what it might contain and the creativity it might involve. An interesting Snap could work as a particularly memorable form of advertising. On the other hand, if advertising is poorly done on this platform it will be erased immediately after being viewed, so will not affect the brand’s image for long. So, as a method of marketing it could be effective providing the target audience are Snapchat users, as it has little cost and for some particular brands there could be a lot to gain.

Image - www.marketingweek.co.uk

MTV have not been alone in using Snapchat as a marketing tool, Taco Bell have also adopted this approach in their marketing strategy asking their Twitter followers to add them on Snapchat. Could this be the beginning of the monetization of Snapchat? The success of brands like MTV and Taco Bell on Snapchat may lead other brands towards Snapchat, and may lead to developments which introduce ads to Snapchat. However, with almost half of Snapchat users having received nude or inappropriate photos via the platform, it has received an undesired reputation as an app on which unsuitable photos are sent and therefore has been slower to attract brands. However, Taco Bell does not seem to fear the reputation of the site, and has instead focused on how the person who receives the Snapchat feels instantly special and connected to the brand. Taco Bell’s social media and digital lead commented “we want to make someone’s day everyday with our social channels… it feels extremely special to get a Snapchat. It’s almost like we pick up the phone and give them a call”.

Taco Bell Snapchat image - www.shoutlet.com

An interesting idea used by the American frozen yoghurt chain 16Handles has been to use Snapchat as a way to interact with their customers and offer them discounts on their next purchase. The way it works is - you have to send a picture of you and your friends enjoying a frozen yoghurt at one of the 16Handles shops, sending it to Love16Handles on Snapchat. In return you will be sent a discount vouchers ranging from 16% to 100% off your purchase, allowing the cashier 10 seconds to scan the coupon. This is once again dependent upon the correct target audience being on Snapchat, which was correctly identified by 16Handles. The surprise and possibility of getting a discount is likely to be an effective marketing tool for the brand, but will other brands adopt this approach?

Image - engage.synecoretech.com

Therefore, it is fair to say that there is only a limited number of brands who have the potential to advertise on Snapchat in the first place, as it needs to appeal to the correct audience and needs to have a visual appeal. Currently, brands are only able to advertise through Snapchat if their followers add them on the social media platform and Snapchat itself is the only company able to send out Snaps to everyone. This is effective as only people who wish to receive the Snapchats from the brands will do so. This begs the question of whether Snapchat may start to allow brands to pay to send out Snapchats to all users, beginning the monetization of the application. However, will this detract from the personal nature of the app where you only receive messages from your friends? If all Snapchat users start receiving unwanted adverts, will it change the nature of its use?

What do you think?

Do you think Snapchat could be used as an effective marketing tool?

Realty Strikes Gold With Social Media As Rupee Falls

Can social media lift India's realty out of the crisis?

The Indian economy has been in a major currency meltdown in the past few months. But does economic gloom always mean bad news for businesses?

It is definitely not the case with the realty (real estates) in India, with the help of social media.

Rupee Downward Spiral Since April 2013

Ever since the rupee started on a downward spiral in April 2013, it has led to speculation that the currency will continue its free fall until the end of the year. There has been optimism among financial experts on the Rupee bouncing back very quickly, however with the current performance on the exchange, it does not mirror their optimism.

Chart 1: The rupee's long term decline and we are rapidly seeing it breaking grounds reaching new lows.

Realty can safely say to us. In times of turmoil there will always be a window of opportunity.

Whilst importers and industries take a huge hit from the currency exchange, it paved the road of golden opportunity to India's realty to target oversea markets.

The general idea behind the currency exchange is to create a fair rate of exchange as reflected by the different currencies economic strength, dependent as well on the demand and supply of the currency available on the exchange. With Rupee weakening and losing its value against other currencies like the Sterling (Pound), Euro and the US Dollar, it meant countries utilising these currencies will have a greater economic competitive advantage when buying Rupee services and goods.

Realty Targeting NRIs

Now armed with the knowledge what the depreciated Rupee could do, realty players are targeting NRI (Non-Resident Indians) to invest in the Indian property market. Why do they see NRIs as the perfect clientèle to pursue? You will find majority of NRIs living abroad in the west, with a good education background and fall under the high income bracket. This may come as a stereotype but comparing with India's vast population still irking out their lives on a meagre living with a huge income disparity in the country. You will find the stereotypical archetype of NRIs to be very reasonable indeed.

In the picture, Mike Jatania is one of the wealthiest Asians in Britain with an estimated self worth of £640 million. One of the many potential investors in the Indian realty market.

However, how could realty players target these niche markets abroad?

The answer is very simple social media.

Social Media - The International Market

It is always easier to do business at home than abroad. The number of factors you have to overcome trying to target a niche market on foreign soil can be a very daunting task.

• How do I find them?
• How do I find a foreign intermediary to act on our behalf?
• How much would it cost to target a foreign niche market?

The amount of time, cost and coordination it requires would make the venture unprofitable and in some circumstances result in devastating losses. Social media has provided realty with the answer to all their problems.

• Facebook alone has over (Global) 1.1 billion (monthly) and 710 million (daily) active users.
• With direct contact with your target market, you can cut out the intermediary or the middle man.
• The running cost of using social media is low.

Social Media is like the spider web, bringing all the different markets together.

The barriers to entry for foreign markets have been simply broken apart by social media platforms like Facebook. Twitter could be just as important a mouth piece for realty companies spreading the words of the latest offers and getting the showcase properties out there, whilst fuelling the interest of potential buyers at the more profitable rate of the Rupee.

Pinterest is another viable social media platform, which have been exploited to showcase high end condos and luxury apartments. With trends showing in a recent article aesthetic products being shared via Pinterest having a higher percentage of resulting transaction.

The benefits of social media for realty can be explained by Rajeeb Dash, Head of Marketing, at Tata Housing. "Tapping NRIs through the social media route helps cut marketing costs by 30 to 40 percent, and also makes our marketing efforts more focussed. Since the Rupee depreciation of the last two months, NRI enquiries are up by 20 to 25 percent."
 Realty in India has suffered major setbacks with the decline of the Rupee but by targeting NRIs via social media, they have somewhat minimises the losses. By seeing the window of opportunity and with the help of social media, it may have got some of the tech savvy companies out of jail.

What do you think?

Do you think the same strategy is viable in your home country? Could the same thing be done in another different industry? Only by thinking outside of the box could you see the opportunity that may arise.

Feel free to share with us your thoughts.

Learn How Social Media Works For Business

Are you a Business Owner who hands over your social media management to someone internally or externally because they “know how it all works?” Big deal they know how Facebook or Twitter works, they’re just tools. How are they with online marketing or at producing content that is aligned with the strategy and goals you have for your business. In my experience working with SMEs I find many Business Owners take a hands-off approach when it comes to social media and the most common reasons quoted is a lack of time to learn how it all works and/or holding a belief that social media is the domain of the young.

I’m going to dismiss the latter reason quickly for the simple fact that social media is now a part of life and one way or the other it is a part of yours. On the other hand, lack of time is a real problem for SMEs, with many doing whatever it takes, regardless of hours, to stay on top of all that is going on relating to their business. When it comes to introducing new systems or tools like CRM or accounting packages it is standard practice to invest in training. It’s also acknowledged it will take training, time and practice before everyone is using the new tool to its full effectiveness. And yet this practical ‘real-world’ thinking is often forgotten when a business enters the online world.
Let me explain. I constantly hear Business Owners say, “I don’t know how Facebook works myself, I never use it.” So when I’m trying to talk with them about the customer experience on that same platform, the one they have chosen to promote their services on, the same one that has access to 1Billion users , they have no practical experience of how it works. Which seems a little remiss given it’s your business at stake.

In order for you to understand how Social Media works means taking a walk in the shoes of your online community. It requires you to become a user on the site(s) you’ve chosen to promote your business. You’ll learn how people interact and engage online with Brands, the kind of content that grabs attention and what turns people away. Armed with practical user experience combined with the vision you have for your company and shared with those tasked to execute it the direction and goals for your online marketing become clear. The content you share is better, it becomes more targeted and in turn engagement levels increase.



Images source: Creative Commons

And that’s important because when an online audience is engaged with your Brand, you’re creating relationships. As relationships flourish, trust follows. When we trust a Brand we are far more likely to buy from them than from a competitor. That’s how Social Media generates sales and it’s why savvy online marketers take the time to understand the customer experience online.

As New Year’s resolutions go, if you’re an SME Business Owner, using social media to market your business, isn’t it in your interest to have top of the list, ‘Learn how Social Media works in business?’

10 Facebook Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

At this point, most people know to market their business on Facebook — there are more than 900 million people on the social platform, constantly "liking," sharing, commenting and posting. We've gone over some best practices for Facebook marketing, discussed hot trends and shared customer service tips, so now you know what you should do.

But there are a few things that you shouldn't do. Mashable spoke with Facebook's Communications Manager Elisabeth Diana, Head of Measurement Platform and Standards Sean Bruich and Director of Online Operations Sarah Smith, as well as Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow to learn more about the most common Facebook marketing mistakes.

"There's actually a science behind this — yes, it's an art, but we have found some strong conclusions that there are levers that marketers can pull to be more successful," says Bruich, whose team recently studied 1,200 posts by 23 brands over a month-long period, using quantitative measurements to determine the unique impact of each post. "This is not a black box ... there's a lot of opportunity to understand how to make your marketing better."

Below, we outline 10 of the most common Facebook marketing mistakes. Have you fallen victim to any of them? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.

1. Not Filling Out the Page Completely

This one's obvious, but make sure you're using Facebook to its full capacity and fill out your Brand Page. Businesses should have hours, address, photos and more on their Brand Pages, so users can gather this information quickly. And if you're opening a new location, either list it or (if you decide it's best to create separate Brand Pages for your locations) add a new Page to Facebook. Make sure you also nab a good vanity URL — bonus points if it's also your web URL and Twitter handle.

2. Using an Illegal Cover Photo

The cover photo is prime real estate on your Facebook Brand Page, and it's the first thing consumers notice. Therefore, it ought to abide by Facebook guidelines, which state that a cover photo can not have:


Price or purchase information (including discounts, such as "40% off")


A call to action to "like," share, comment, download, "get it now" or "tell your friends"


Contact information, such as web, email or mailing address

In your cover photo, use something that flaunts your product and captures the essence of your brand — a close-up of food is great for restaurants, a shot of a runway show is perfect for fashion labels and a diaper company could have a few cute babies. Don't forget to switch your photo up every once in a while — you can refresh your image to promote a new or different product, an upcoming event or a new location. More than half of the brands Buddy Media recently analyzed had only uploaded one cover photo, and another 21% had only uploaded two cover photos. "Switch it up to keep things fresh," Lazerow says. After all, the cover photo is pretty much a billboard on your Facebook Page — you should use it to promote your best offerings. Just remember to abide by the guidelines above.

3. Breaking Contest Guidelines


While it's hard to stay on top of the fine print, it's imperative that any Facebook contest you run is legal. Contests always add a layer of complexity, as state and federal laws may differ, so here are a few things you need to know: Contests asking for submissions or votes via comments, "liking" or other Facebook UI functions are prohibited. You as a brand are responsible for the lawful operation of that promotion, including official rules, terms and eligibility requirements. Contests or giveaways must be administered within Apps on Facebook.com — on a Canvas Page or a Page App. Your Page must acknowledge that the promotion is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook.You cannot notify contest winners through Facebook (wall post, message, chat, etc.)


There are several third-party providers that help brands run Facebook promotions legally, and most have free trials. A few prominent ones are Wildfire, Offerpop and Buddy Media.

4. Overposting

Less is more. Facebook suggests that brands start out with one or two posts a week to feel out the platform and see what works. Many brands post once per day, and many find that posting more than once per day can actually have an adverse effect on engagement. Facebook indicates that the averages user "likes" four to six new Pages each month, so your content is constantly fighting for more attention from its fans. It's better to post one excellent item per day instead of two decent ones.

Even if you're only posting a few days per week, you can still keep your Page active on a daily basis. Check your Page and "like" or respond to comments on your Brand Page, and remember to tag the people you're replying to — that's a great and easy way to get people to come back to your Page to engage more. And it can be easily done with the new Facebook Brand Page Manager app. (Facebook says tagging features are in the works for a later version of the mobile app.)
5. Focusing Too Much on Likes

Sure, Likes are important — the more Likes you have, the more people your message is reaching. But Likes are just step one. Step two is to confirm that you're reaching the right audience and keeping them engaged, says Diana. If they "like," comment and share your content in a regular basis, then they have become brand advocates who are pushing your message to their friends.

The post above, from the Book of Mormon Facebook Page, shows solid engagement on all counts — Likes, comments and shares — thanks to a quirky photo and a clear call to action.

It's also important to note that content shares better on certain days — Buddy Media research has found that engagement rates for Facebook posts are 18% higher on Thursday and Fridays. So if you're strategic, you can get more engagement with fewer posts. Using the new posting tools, you can queue up the content you want to share throughout the week and then ride the wave of engagement over the next few days. "Brands that aren't paying attention to their own data and when their fans are engaged will not see the reach and engagement they desire," says Lazerow. Last year, Buddy Media released a more granular study of industry-specific engagement stats, indicating what days and times of day are best for certain kinds of content, which also can be useful for planning your editorial calendar.

6. Too Much Text
 

Facebook research has shown that posts between 100 and 250 characters — one or two lines of text — get 60% more Likes, comments and shares than ones that are more than 250 characters, says Diana. Buddy Media research found a similar trend, determining that posts with 80 characters or less in length have 27% higher engagement rates. The moral? Like content on Twitter, keep it short and sweet. Of course, your post should be different than your content on Twitter, or else your fans don't have a reason to follow you on both platforms.

One tip for making sure the post is as engaging and short as possible is to remove the link URL from the text field in the post. Once you paste the URL in the field, the page title, a blurb and a thumbnail will populate — you can then delete the URL to streamline the post and cut the clutter (see above).

7. Posting Boring or Off-Brand Content

This might come as a surprise (well, we hope not), but the things you post on Facebook should be relevant to your brand. If you own a company that makes iPhone cases, it doesn't make sense for you to post about a Kickstarter project just because you think it's cool. Being on-brand is a significant predictor of engagement — just because people like your product doesn't mean they share all of your interests, so just give them a mix of content related to the product. Since your fans don't see every single thing you post, you risk wasting their eyeballs on irrelevance and incurring negative engagement on the post.

8. Ignoring Insights



Facebook Insights offer a lot of useful information — it'd be silly to not take advantage of the data. The Friends of Fans metric is particularly interesting, as Friends of Fans typically represent a much larger set of consumers than a brand's Fans. In fact, for the top 1,000 brands on Facebook, the Friends of Fans number is 81 times larger than the fan count, says Bruich. This means there's a huge potential audience that can be tapped into by posting engaging content (because your fans' activity will show up in friends' feeds) and by enhancing this content with other Facebook ad tools, such as Promoted Posts.

Smith says consumers are 51% more likely to buy something if they know their friends did, so capitalize on the army of advocates who have opted in to learning more about your brand.

You should also pay attention to the People Talking About This (PTAT) and reach metrics in Insights to see how your message is faring in the Facebook ecosystem, and create a comprehensive Facebook marketing strategy based off of what works. "That's the kind of media plan that's going to lead to results," says Bruich. In a sense, you can think of your Facebook audience as a focus group and get a grip on what they want to see more of.

Also check out the real-time insights, which help you see the impact of pinning, highlighting and promoting posts.

9. Being Vanilla
 

While Timeline transformed Facebook into a much more image-based platform, it's important to spice up your content. Too much of anything is boring, and the right mix of polls, questions, photos and video will keep people engaged and excited about your brand. Humans crave diversity, and different kinds of posts drive different kinds of engagement — so a smattering will lead to more well rounded engagement. For example, someone might comment on a question post, share a photo and "like" a video, so it's best to give consumers a wide swath of ways to engage with your brand.

Pro tip: Asking questions is typically a driver of additional comments. The post above by Coffee Bean is a great example of engagement — it's an image that promotes a live Q&A session on the brand's Facebook Page.

If your brand is experimenting with video, Diana has an interesting finding to keep in mind — videos shared from third-party sites (YouTube, Vimeo) generate less organic activity than videos hosted on Facebook.

Regardless of what type of post you're sharing, make sure the tone and voice reflects the personality of your brand. Virgin America is cheeky, Birchbox is feminine and chatty, MTV is casual and approachable. What's your brand's voice? A Facebook user should know it's your content in their feed without seeing your brand name next to it.

10. Not Making the Most of Facebook's Ad Options

Not all businesses have the budget to employ Facebook Ads in their marketing arsenal. But brands that do could benefit from Bruich's advice about what makes a good ad.

He says the ad needs to be well branded. If it's not clear and obvious who and what the ad is promoting, then consumers will be less likely to recall the ad and the brand. It's also important to have some sort of reward or "payoff," as ads with a reward tend to be more influential over purchasing decisions. Also, try to have the creative in the ad have one focal point — with everything else happening on Facebook, a focused creative unit helps fans recall ads.

Can't figure out what your ad should be? Dig into Facebook Insights and turn the most engaging content into a social ad. "Your content and ads are one and the same," says Lazerow.

You can give your recent content an added boost with Promoted Posts, which extend the reach of your post and are easy to do. Sweet Cheeks Diaper Company, a brick-and-mortar and online store in Maine, saw a 49x return (tracked via the unique URL) after promoting a photo on its Brand Page, says Diana.
Conclusion

Facebook marketing is a crucial way to build a fan base and spread word about your business. But a successful campaign doesn't have to be a drain on your time or your wallet. A few minutes a day and a strategic plan can have an immense impact on your brand's Facebook presence, as long as you avoid the mistakes above.

5 Social Media Tactics to Increase ROI

Social can be one of the most challenging platforms for brands to measure return on investment. Companies that grew up on traditional advertising and metrics often have trouble making sense of the value of the online ecosystem. But with 52% of U.S. consumers using the web as their primary purchase tool, it's an area brands can't afford to ignore.

Last week the commenting and social curation platform Livefyre hosted an evening chat with a handful of influential analysts, marketers and publishers, sharing thoughts on need-to-know ROI growth tools. It's a formula Forrester Senior Analyst Kim Celestre calls "social depth," a fancy phrase for discovering, exploring and engaging with online consumers, eventually leading those conversations back to brands' websites.

Here's the social depth formula broken down into five, easy tips.
1. Engage

User-generated content, blog posts, videos, tweets and chatter are all over the web. Harnessing the power of brand advocates, addressing customer concerns and fixing problems empowers participation. It's easier to put out a fire than it is to ignore it.

People want to interact and create relationships with brands online. Catering to those fans via product giveaways, social interaction and real replies separate the companies that get it from the ones still in the dark.

"The consumer is boss, so we have to match that," explains Andrew Backs, P&G's manager for global business development. "Look for solutions to unlock the consumer voice."
2. Be Authentic

You can't fake it online, says Sid Shuman, who runs social media for Sony Playstation. "They can smell that a mile away."

The same die-hard brand advocates championing your product will be the first to call out shady behavior or content that doesn't reflect brand culture. When in doubt, ask your community for help when it comes to content. Shuman suggests crowdsourcing content for in-house interview and articles. Because they live and breathe the brand, fans "come up with better questions that we could any day," he says.
3. Keep Content Premium

Hitting "publish" is social suicide if the material isn't quality. Take advantage of Wordpress,Tumblr and social media to craft strong messages. Know the rules and follow them: Every network requires a specific approach and language (tweets are written differently than Facebookposts).

Stick to a calendar for posting, and focus on making followers feel part of the brand's family. Using platforms solely as selling tools quickly alienates customers. Hire professionals—and fight the urge to turn sites into content farms or automate feeds.

Peter Yared, CBS Interactive's CTO/CIO suggests using your sites to curate and amplify positive content about your company. "Find the interesting content that’s being posted and use it to bring value to your audience."
4. Integrate Real-Time Apps

Incorporate social into every aspect of what you do, says Jordan Kretchmer, Livefyre's founder and chief executive. Kretchmer's company reports 88% of businesses using Twitter feeds, comments, ratings and reviews on homepages increases user engagement. Forty-two percent boosted their average time on site.

It may sound painfully simple, but adding these tools are the equivalent of a restaurant showing off a top health code letter grade. It empowers consumers to interact and share content. Plus, constant updating improves search engine visibility much more than static pages.
5. Experiment

Nothing risked is nothing gained, especially when it comes to social. Fail and see what works. Test tone, style and new monetizing tools, such as native advertising, which serves sponsored content, tweets and Facebook stories. eMarketer reports 73% of U.S publishers now offer some form of native advertising. But be careful: This hot topic still often fails to hook users, as do most click-bait attempts.

Did we miss something? Engage with us and share your tips in the comments below.

Top 10 Social Media Tips for Business

1. Plan Your Social Media Marketing Strategy
As with any small business marketing campaign or business strategy, you have to create a plan and stick to it in order to be successful. Outline the goals and the steps you will take -- in addition to the tools you will need -- to meet your marketing objectives.

2. Find Your Customers
With so many social networking platforms available to consumers, it can be difficult to choose a social network for your business to use. I recommend Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to start with. You can also research to find out where your customers already congregate online. You might find some specialized sites to join in addition to the big four.

3. Schedule Social Time
Once you become a social resource for customers you have to stick with it and be there on a regular and frequent basis. Using social networks is time consuming, so schedule social media posting time for yourself and your internal or outsourced employee.

4. Be Authentic and Human
People are more likely to create relationships with other people more so than with businesses. You can encourage customers if you use a "human" voice -- not a corporate presence -- when connecting in social spaces. You can do a few simple things like show a picture instead of a business logo on your profile, and assign one or two people within your small business to be your social voice.

5. Be an Expert
One of the best ways for a small business to interact with customers is to be an expert in social spaces. By joining existing communities where your customers are, you can easily insert yourself into the community by being a voice of expert advice. For example if your small business is plumbing hardware, find those online social communities on Facebook, Twitter, discussion forums and blogs and start answering questions and offering advice.

6. Learn to Listen
It's easy to fall into the "broadcast trap" where you spend too much time talking about how great your products are or how fabulous this week's sale is. In a social network you have to stop broadcasting and listen to what your customers have to say. People use social networks to converse, and the best way to build a strong social relationship with a customer is to be a "friend" who can listen.

7. Be Social
A small business also needs to demonstrate good conversation skills -- after all responding to people is the best way to show you are listening. The point of a social network is to converse, and customers will get bored very quickly if you don't participate in the social flow. You can demonstrate good listening skills and boost participation by responding directly to questions and comments in a timely fashion.

8. Respond Often
Successful social media marketing depends on your own ability to respond to customers in a timely fashion. You want to show customers that you are a "reliable friend," so stay active and participate in all conversations related to your company or area of expertise. If you see new questions or comments, be sure to answer immediately.

9. Provide Value
You'll find that just your own conversation and participation is not enough to keep a continued interest in your social network. There has to be value in the interaction for people, and you will need to provide the reason for people to stay and participate in your social network.

10. Offer Exclusivity
Your social network should not just be about deals, but there is nothing wrong with making your fans, friends and followers feel special. One way to do this is to offer rewards or promotions exclusively to social networking customers.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6418511

5 Basic Facebook, Twitter and Social Media Tips For Small Businesses

Social Media is nothing new these days. Everyone from grandmothers to first graders have their own Twitter or Facebook page. With comScore reporting a 25% increase in unique visitors to social media sites in June, 2008 compared to June, 2007, social media needs to be in every small business marketing plan.

The problem is, how can small businesses find customers via social media with such a saturation of users? Here are some tips that can help:

1. Focus On the Big Names First

Open accounts on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to start. Every small business with an online presence - whether you actually sell products online or simply have a site for your brick and mortar business - should have an account with them. They are all easy to set up and free. Be sure to create a Facebook Fan Page for your business, rather than a typical Profile Page.

2. Brand Your Pages

Twitter, Facebook and MySpace all allow you to customize your pages in some way. Be sure not to use the default templates each site offers you. Facebook and Twitter even allow you to have your own vanity URL, meaning if you own a pizza parlor, your Facebook URL could be "facebook.com/"yourpizzaparlor" (some qualifications must be met).

Create a 200 x 200 image containing your business name, logo and contact information for Twitter. You can also use this template or simply create it in Word or Powerpoint (just remember to save it as a PDF document).

Facebook does not yet allow you to customize your entire Fan Page, but you can create an image that contains your business name and logo and upload it. This way, every update or post you create contains your image.

MySpace allows you to customize nearly every aspect of your page. Be sure to upload an image of your business name and logo (use the Facebook image you created) as your profile image, and create a background containing either your business colors, themes or your logo.

3. Add Unique Content

Unique content can be created easily for even the smallest businesses as well as those that do not even sell their products online. Go beyond basic written content explaining the mission of your small business, the products or services you offer and your location (though all of those ARE necessary). Give your potential customers something unique that will make them want to visit your website and/or business location, and eventually return. Videos, photos, polls and contests are just a few forms of content that can make your page stand out.

For example, a bakery that only sells its products direct from their location could make a short, documentary-style video of their baking facility. An online jewelry site could upload images of some of their newest pieces. A florist located in Los Angeles with only an informational website could post a poll on Twitter and Facebook asking people what their favorite summer flower might be, and then responding to those who answer with a special offer.

Note: Every business should at least have one short video on their website, Facebook and MySpace page for three reasons:

1.Video is one of the most easily consumable forms of online content.

2.It is easy to make (most digital cameras or phones can make a decent video).

3.It can be easily shared online.

4. Advertise Your Pages

One you have all of your pages up and running with some content and pertinent information, make sure to advertise them properly. Each site has its own name for what you would simply call a "potential customer":

1.Facebook Business Pages have "Fans"

2.Twitter pages have "Followers

3.MySpace pages have "Friends"

Create links to each of your pages using logos, text or both, and place them in a prominent position on your website. Make sure to include those same logos/links on every email you send out to your email list.

5. Engage Directly

The best advantage social media advertising holds over any other form of advertising (besides being free) is the ability it gives you to interact with customers and potential customers. Be sure to take advantage of this fact the moment your business pages are up and running. Start by making friends: just use each site's search tools to find people who might be writing about or searching for the kind of products you offer.

Facebook will take care of some of the work by suggesting some people you should "invite" to become fans of your business, but be sure to also search for your own. Try looking for similar businesses and invite fans of their pages.

Twitter will also suggest users to follow who will then follow you. However, search.twitter.com is an invaluable tool for any business because it can immediately put you into contact with people who might want what you sell. Let's use the bakery example again: Go to search.twitter.com and search for "breakfast pastries Los Angeles". You will be given a long list of every individual on Twitter who has recently typed in the phrase "breakfast pastries" as well as the location "Los Angeles". Some might simply be talking about a great breakfast pastry they just finished, but others might be asking for a great bakery in the Los Angeles area for breakfast pastries. Now is your chance to engage them directly and suggest your bakery.

By using these tips when setting up your social media pages, you will be on your way to breaking through the throngs of users and finding genuinely new customers to help make your small business even more profitable.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2577880

Google Plus Etiquette – The Do’s and Don’ts

A lot has been written about Google Plus and how people should use it, but in truth it is still a platform many people are still trying to get to grips with. It’s yet to really, fully establish itself (although it does have somewhere in the region of 20 million + users) but Google is tying it in more and more to many of its existing platforms. I personally love it and think it offers some key advantages over platforms such as Facebook andTwitter. Having become quite a big user of the platform i have learnt quite a lot and today i wanted to provide a round up of mine and others view of how to use Google Plus.


Guidelines on Posting Messages

As with any social space the key thing is to be yourself while being mindful of others. Audiences on certain platforms prefer certain types of content and communication methods and Google Plus is no different. If you are posting four or five things within a very short time period then this is going to annoy people. Why? Well, because you will dominate someones stream. This is probably the single quickest way to piss someone off on Google Plus. So avoid this at all costs.

The other big consideration is who you share your posts with. Google Plus is great because it lets you segment the people you share specific posts with. This means you don’t share things that won’t be of interest to certain people in your sphere. Remember if you are going to make your posts public then they will very much be this. Anyone can comment them. If you are tagging people in those posts makes sure you ask them. As they would also get public comments and responses.

A hotly debated feature of Google Plus is the ‘notify people about this post’ feature. If you select this then everyone in your selected circles will be notified. This is ok if it is a post for close friends but i would avoid it for any other audiences. This is another thing that will annoy your followers. You can also turn this feature off by click here.

Do’s: be yourself, share relevant posts with relevant circles, be creative, be respectful

Don’ts: notify every user of new posts, share all posts with all circles, post large number of posts in short succession, don’t be offensive, don’t post private pictures publicly
Guidelines for Re-Sharing

Re-sharing is a slightly trickier affair with accreditations and privacy. If you are re-sharing something that is already in the public domain then it is good practice to tag the post with some like ‘via +originalpostername’ and also provide a comment or opinion. This lets people know why you re-shared it and the original poster know that there stuff is being shared in good faith.

The area where caution is required is when you are considering re-sharing a post by a friend or someone in your circles who have only shared their post with specific audiences. There maybe a reason why they limited the post to certain circles, for example privacy. As a result you don’t want to be re-sharing this publicly as this would then mean anyone could see the post. It is sometimes difficult to remember this but is very important.

Do’s: Consider using +1 rather than a re-share where appropriate, re-share interest posts to interested circles, always accredit the original author

Don’ts: Don’t re-share private posts of others publicly, don’t re-share stuff without accrediting the original author
Etiquette in Hangouts

This really comes from my own experiences of hangouts but might not be applicable to all of them. The first thing is to ensure that you mute your microphone when not talking. This is because background noise can really disrupt a hangout and annoy other users. If you are not actively participating in a hangout you should also make sure you logout. This is because spaces on popular hangouts are limited and someone else can benefit from being involved. Other things include testing your camera and microphone before you login. This video about Google Plus Etiquette as posted by +Katerine Graman rounds it up nicely.

Do’s: Test your cam and microphone before hand, share your ideas, mute your microphone when not talking

Don’ts: Have loud music or noise blasting in the background, but in repeatedly, talk out of context
Check-ins

This feature doesn’t seem to be heavily used yet but i suspect it might do more with the recent changes to Google Local pages. If you have not come across these before it is when someone shares their current location through Google Plus. The FourSquare platform is currently much better at this but anyway the key thing here is to ensure that you only share your location with friends. Not everyone is going to be interested in your movements, especially people who don’t know you.

So as you can see there is nothing here that isn’t common sense. However people do often fall down on the smallest things. The main one i experience is over posting. I have unfollowed a number of people because of this. I could adjust my stream settings but frankly its not something i can be bothered to do for one person. If you want to read some other great posts on this i would recommend checking out JAANA NYSTRÖM’s post, Don’t Feed the Animals posts or Axel Kratel’s. All interesting reads and helped to form the basis of this post.

http://www.maynem.co.uk/blog/google-plus-etiquette-the-dos-and-donts/

Top Ten Linked-In Do's and Don'ts

If you are job-seeking, you need to join LinkedIn, an essential job-search tool. If you're not on a job search but you're into online networking; or want to acquire new partners or clients; or otherwise want to rev up your networking activity level, you should likewise become a LinkedIn user, in my view. All that being said, there are some iron-clad rules for polite and professional use of the network. Here's my Top Ten list for LinkedIn do's and don'ts:

1) DO connect to your "real-world" friends.

I'm amazed by how many LinkedIn users join up, create a profile, and immediately set to work inviting all sorts of online strangers to join their networks. Sure, it's fun to browse the LinkedIn database and look up people you might want to know better....but what about your friends back in three-dimensional space? The first thing to do as a new LinkedIn user - after creating a rockin' profile for yourself - is to invite your true-blue friends and former workmates to join your network. There are three steps in this process:

a) Download your Outlook address book so that LinkedIn can find your friends who are already members.

b) Use the Find Colleagues and Find Classmates functions to synch up with people you know from school and past jobs; and

c) Invite bunches of "real" friends who aren't already LinkedIn users, to join the network - you'll be helping them get connected at the same time you grow your own network.

2) DON'T become an Invitation Spammer.

It's tempting to start sending "connect to me" invitation to every Tom, Dick and Sally you find on LinkedIn, but it's bad manners. If you want to reach out to someone you've spotted who has an enticing profile, send the person a Contact request rather than an invitation to join your network. A Contact request, to use an offline networking analogy, is like an invitation for a coffee date. An invitation to Connect is like asking someone to go steady. Unless you know a person already, don't spam him or her with a "want to start recommending me to people, and vice versa?" invitation - it's creepy.

3) DO unto others....

It's astounding that a person would send out connect-to-me invitations while proclaiming on his or her profile that no new connection invitations will be accepted. Talk about all take and no give! There are other LinkedIn users who set up a profile and make connections, and then specify on their profiles that they won't act on requests to forward (a key piece of LinkedIn's value). These messages say, I want to be on this site and get its value, but I don't want to deal with other people's requests. A modern-day Dante would design a special, uncomfortable and crowded level of Hell for these folks: no pits of fire, but perhaps a zone where all connections are dial-up, cell phones can't hold a signal and no one helps you with anything, retribution for the me-first approach to online networking that you showed in your most recent incarnation on Earth.

4) DON'T make assumptions about your own irresistibility.

Connection invitations should state clearly why you expect your invitee to link up with you - for instance, because you serve on the same fund-raising committee or because your daughters are best friends in the fifth grade. With so many activities crowding a typical businessperson's schedule and so many people in the mix, it's easy for people to forget how they know you. Likewise, even Contact requests should state your case as plainly as possible. A message that says "May I call you? We could collaborate" is not the world's strongest pitch. People are incredibly busy - if you're job-seeking, or trolling for new clients, you may lose sight of the fact that a person needs a compelling reason to even spend ten minutes on the phone with you.

It's helpful to remember what I call the Happy Life theory of networking: when you reach out to a stranger, that person is presumably leading a happy and fulfilling life without the benefit of knowing you. It's not enough to say "I'll buy you lunch!" or the online equivalent of that offer; a $25 lunch (or a scintillating phone conversation with you) just might not be as hard to pass up as you believe. So lay it out there: here's what I can do for you, or here's what I need, or both.

5) DO keep your profile current.

A pox on the person who lets her LinkedIn profile languish! If you can't be bothered to keep your profile current, why should another person bother to engage with you? If I receive a Contact request, jump over to the requester's profile, and find that its details don't match what's in the requester's email message, I'm already underwhelmed. Bonus: when you update your profile, you can send a one-click blast message to let your entire first-degree network know about your news. Note: please don't abuse this feature! Reserve profile-update blasts for news on the order of a job promotion, book launch or appointment to a national commission....as opposed to news items like "I have started my PMP certification class."

6) DON'T confuse quantity for quality.

If I were a recruiter, I'd build the biggest network I could, on LinkedIn or otherwise. After all, there's zero downside to being able to view, and reach, a massive number of candidates when your job is locating talent. But for the rest of us, it's easy to get the notions "a big network" and "a strong network" confused. The question to ask yourself is "could I recommend this person, and could he recommend me?" If not, the principal value in any individual LinkedIn connection will be your ability to view his network (and vice versa). That's not a bad thing, but it would be a shame to mistake that kind of visibility for influence. Amassing connections can become a kind of addiction, but withdrawal will kick in when these near-strangers begin to ask you to vouch for them to your dearest friends.

7) DON'T pass along questionable requests.

I got religion on this item in an instant last summer, when a fellow asked me to send a friend of mine a spammy invitation to his business conference. "I can't do it," I wrote, "it's purely a marketing message." The gentleman's return message essentially ripped my head off, affirming my initial gut reaction that his request was an improper one. Don't hesitate to stand up for yourself and for your friends when sketchy requests come down the pike (and they will). If you pass along every bit of dreck that finds you, your trusted friends will start to doubt you, and that's a far worse fate than having to write to another LinkedIn user, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable passing this on."

8) DON'T abuse the Find Colleagues feature.

LinkedIn's Find Colleagues feature allows you to find old workmates and send unmediated connection requests to them, a boon if you've lost their email addresses over the years. Unfortunately, it's easy to abuse the feature by listing false employers or dates of employment on your profile. What can we say about this? If you believe in the wheel of karma, avoid the temptation to claim employers and employment dates you're not entitled to.

9) DO join the PowerForum.

Newbie LinkedIn users have lots of questions, and a great place to get answers is the user group called MyLinkedInPowerForum. Send a blank email message to mylinkedinpowerforum-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to join the group and get LinkedIn (and general) networking advice. MLPF founder Vincent Wright is a helpful guide and mentor to LinkedIn users all over the world - I can virtually guarantee that you'll learn something useful from the Forum's daily conversation.

10) DO disconnect from bad apples when you need to.

Finally, it's worth noting that LinkedIn gives you the ability to disconnect from other users if you find that the connection no longer works for you. If you're plagued by inappropriate requests or other annoyances from one of your connections, you can cut the cord and save yourself from recurring headaches. Some people just don't get the notion of an online community with standards and norms; and it's not your job to teach them how to behave. Just move on.






Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/184051

Social Media Tips - Expand The Voice Of Your Business

The world of social media is ever changing and is very fast paced. To use the social sites available for your business here are some social media tips for you to get you started. Keep reading as there's some great stuff for you if you're starting out

1. Firstly you need to be yourself on social media. Just because you are a business doesn't mean you have to be corporate. In fact, on social sites people are looking to connect with people. They want to know who is behind the business and not be faced with some faceless corporate entity.

2. Here's one of the most important tips of all. Listen to your customers. They're making the effort to be on social media. They're looking at your stuff, they're obviously interested and social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter are fantastic sites for you to find out what they're saying. Look at their posts, read their comments, and above all else take action on what you learn. They can be your biggest advocates so treat them like real people and listen to them.

3. Social media is a long term game so you need to be patient. It takes time to build a brand, but because of the reach of social media, once you've got your name out there, it's very hard to hold back the floodgates! (If you do it properly). Give helpful tips about your niche, interact with people and that will go a long way to building and establishing your brand.

4. You need to make the most of every opportunity to get your name out on social media. There are many different social media platforms and if you're serious about building your business using social media, then try to structure your posts to the various platforms. One of the most important tips is to have a schedule of what you're going to post and stick to that schedule. That way you've got a plan of what you're going to say, it prevents you going off on tangents, and will build a better brand for you in the long term.

5. We said above that social and online media is forever changing and that means you need to be flexible. Websites change all the time, Facebook is forever changing and new players are constantly coming into the market, so you need to be nimble enough to allow for these changes. Post great content and you can't go wrong.

6. Collaborating with others is key to your success. Don't think of your competition as competition. Think of ways that you can work together to spread both brands. Social media makes companies very transparent and if you're a small business collaborating with other similar businesses is a great way to get your name visible and noticed.

7. The last of our tips is to be humble about your achievements. You need to let people know what you're doing as you can be sure your competition is doing exactly that (but read point six above!). But you don't need to blow your trumpet from the rooftops. Just be subtle and quietly let people know about what you're doing and if you treat people with respect, and show them your successes you will find your social media marketing to be much more effective.

These seven tips give you an overview about how you should treat your social interactions. You use social and online media to keep your business and brand ahead of the curve and to give yourself high visibility. Use these easy ideas to turn marketing strategies into a successful brand.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7265491

8 Advantages Of Using Social Media

Today, the article will be discussing about social media, and how it has helped many sites get bigger everyday. Bigger sites are continuing to use the power of Social "awareness" on these Social Sites.

I have been able to attract the majority of traffic so far from social media, and it has been a great starting point to do so. Every new blog will need to first attract and mobilize the advantages of social media sites.

One of the advantages being the use of its traffic already on the sites. The ability to add connections on each site. And finally having to use it anytime you are in need of any two of the previous points.

With one mention of a social site, everyone knows the growth of it everyday. Pinterest. It is now officially the "third" largest social media site, surpassing even LinkedIn. It has been named, "50 Best Websites of 2011" according to Time.com and its list.

Every social site's trend right now has to be the visualization of the interface. The trend has been growing with Pinterest's example as the prime interface. It has grown a trend to put that style into practice on Internet Dreams.

Social media in general has been a huge focal point of success on the internet since the "human" seems to find connection to each other a must-need aspect of life.

This article will list the top 8 advantages social sites offer. You, too, take advantage of the social site's offers. Find out below, and get the "Advantages" identified! Please share!

1. Get Instant Traffic

With Facebook having over 845 million monthly active users according to jeffbullas.com and Pinterest with 10 million, it shows to prove that social media is one of the most accessed feature of the internet.

Why not take advantage of the traffic some of the social media sites receive? It would be beneficial to your site to get that traffic and get your brand more "aware".

Not all of that traffic is what you are going to need. Only a small portion of the numbers. The small portion that is high-targeted and what you are really looking to attract to your site.

There are some stats that is worth taking note on the internet. Of all of them, it is pretty obvious Facebook is the "King" and worth investing time into. It could be different for you, since you could be more engaging on Twitter.

It is all about what time you invest in a social site and based on that is the yielding return.

2. Talk And Connect With Your Peers

Your peers could be site owners or bloggers that have their content and they're distributing it to the social masses. Social media has made it a possibility and a "must" to form relationships with your peers.

Connect and talk with them. That is one of the most important tasks for a beginner. Just saying, "Hi, how are you" is a killer opening to a connection. Also offer to let them know if you could share any content they may have.

Having the right top wordpress plugins at your disposal is one step closer to taking full advantage of social media.

Ask them personally to make sure they know you shared their content as they are more apt to respond with the same action.

3. Capture A Following!

Getting traffic from social media is one thing but to get them to like or follow you is another. Since social media traffic is known for traffic that comes and goes, it creates huge spikes then dwindles the next day.

Half the time you are looking to get traffic from a social visitor, try the other to get them to follow you. Asking is a start and providing unique content is also a start in getting them to sign up.

4. Get More Help To Share Your Content

Since social media is about connections and sharing what best interests them, posting your article there might interest them as well. They will look at it and what they see, might help you get started with sharing.

One way to get more shares form a piece of content is to involve your peers in it in some way and asking them to share it. The other is to contact your "legit" readers or followers you are in good connection with and ask them the same way as well.

5. It Is Free To Use

There is no cost involved and use them as much as you can. Set up a profile that looks worked on and has all of your current "information". Start following and making friends with as many as you can, and slowly refine your search.

It is free to share and use the features of the social site, such as meetings or groups. Be aware of the possibility of connecting with other "similar" people and sharing what you have to offer. Keep this strategy at a consistent basis. You'll see the rewards.

6. A Huge Database Of Ideas

On the social sites, in some areas of it, there are many looking for answers to their problems. People are looking for solutions and one of the places they are looking is in social media where they might be following one of their teachers such as a blogger or mentor.

Problems = Ideas. You can also get ideas by looking at what is the trend out there and capturing some of that vibe. Look at other content and analyze for yourself what is getting hits on it. It isn't hard to figure that out. Just look at the social signs such as comments or likes, retweets, etc...

Spying on your competition basically.

7. Social Media = Social Networking

Absolutely the fundamental aspect of receiving success on Social Media. That could be possible as its other name. If you are not networking with others on these sites, and just pumping just your own content and hoping it gets recognized.

Nope. It isn't.

The only way it would be is if your followers or close ones share and help you promote further. That is something I had to learn and didn't think of it that way. So, contact your close connections and help each other out with sharing. That way, you will be able to reach further down the channels of social media.

8. Increase Your Brand "Name"

Even "big" name companies that have existed prior to social media madness, have jumped on this medium to grow their business even more. According to eMarketer.com, 88% percent of marketers agree that social media has helped grow their brand "awareness".

Even if you haven't had your website exist before social media, now is the time to grow that name of your site into the brand that can be known by a wider mas, when grown. A smart strategy is to take a look at the big dogs and catch "some" of those tricks they use, cause they have more experience in the field.

Recap Of The 8 Social Media Advantages

There you have it. The 8 huge advantages listed here you can't miss of social media engagement. It could also be the top ten advantages of using social media for your site.

No more excuses not to use social media like it is, and if you are using it, I am sure you are not using the full advantages of it. I was doing the same till I rediscovered, myself, on what the true meaning of social media is.

Work on each of these eight points, one at a time. These are meant to be working points and stepping-stones to the next level of your social media engagement.

Out of all these points, the true key to success on any social site is engagement and time. Time you spend on getting better on that specific social media site.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7153890

How To Get The Most Out Of Facebook For Your Business

Setting up a Facebook page is quick and easy, especially considering how beneficial one can be to your business. However, to get the most out of Facebook, your business’ page, profile and presence on the social media site needs to be correctly managed and maintained.

Here are five categories you should consider when managing and maintaining your business’ Facebook presence:
1. What to Post

The Basics:

Post pictures, videos, questions and facts related to your business, or that you think will engage your audience.

Post pictures and videos that excite and amuse or that your page’s viewers will find instantly recognisable. Why not post pictures celebrating special days like Valentine’s Day or Christmas, but with your company’s own special twist? For example, biscuit manufacturers Oreo sculpt pictures emblematic of certain holidays and anniversaries out of the cream in their cookies.
If your company is running a multimedia advertising campaign, post images and videos on Facebook to coincide with your billboard, magazine and television adverts.

Be an Industry Leader:

Ask your fans questions or post facts related to you and your company’s field of expertise. Post links to articles that you think your fans, followers and customers will find interesting, with pictures that will catch the attention of those who view your Facebook page – Facebook lets you post links and pictures at the same time. Cement your position as an expert in your field and your company’s position as an industry leader with the relevant and interesting information you post.

Ask your Fans:

Ask your fans for their input in certain company decisions, like what your mascot should be called, what new flavour of ice cream your frozen goods company should sell, or what your retail company’s new range of clothes should be called. Plush soft toy company Squishable gained over 700,000 likes on their Facebook page by asking their fans to vote for which creatures should be made into cuddly companions.

Promoted Posts:

Whatever you post will show up in your fans’ News Feeds – those who have liked your page – and the better the quality of posts, the more likely it is that people will like your page. Facebook users spend an average of 40% of their time scrolling through the News Feed, so having your posts appear there ensures that your fans will see them.

If your page has more than 400 likes, you can pay to promote your posts. Promoting posts moves them higher in the News Feed so that the people you shared it with are likely to see it. According to Facebook:

You can promote any post you share from your News Feed, profile or Page, including status updates, photos, videos, questions and offers. You can also promote and share posts from friends and people you follow.

Any post you promote will be labelled “Sponsored by” and then your business’ name.

Celebrate Milestones:



Milestones are special page posts that take up the entire width of the timeline rather than just one side of the timeline. Add them to your page to mark special dates in your company’s history, such as when the company was founded or when you moved to new offices.

You can post pictures alongside milestones to better illustrate their significance. When your company does something special, record it with a milestone on your Facebook page.

Conclusions:

According to Facebook’s business page, successful posts are:

Short: Posts between 100 and 250 characters get about 60% more likes, comments and shares

Visual: Photo albums, pictures and videos get 180%, 120%, and 100% more engagement respectively

Optimised: Page Insights help you learn things such as what times people engage most with your content so you can post during those hours.

Post regularly, about once or twice a week, but make sure you don’t bombard your fans with information: if their News Feed is inundated with your posts they will get sick of hearing about your company and “unlike” your page.

Bear in mind that many of the users who have liked your page have done so because they are interested in the product or services you provide (unless they are friends, employees and colleagues, although they might like your company regardless) so make sure you provide enough information about your company on your page and in your posts.

2. Engaging with Fans and Followers

Responding to Comments:


You don’t need to respond to all the comments on your Facebook page, but answering questions and liking a few statements will make your fans feel like their opinions matter. If managed right, your page will act more like a forum for people to talk about your products and your posts amongst themselves.

Reward your favourite comments, not just by liking them, but by illustrating them and reposting them as a picture. This will further ingratiate your company to your fans and will help you highlight positive feedback about your company.

Unfortunately, there will be a few people who take advantage of the popularity of your page by posting back-linked comments. It is not worth the time or effort to constantly comb through comments to delete the few that are unrelated to your company, your fans are intelligent enough to work out which ones to avoid by themselves.

Promotions, Competitions and Contests:

Facebook has very strict guidelines for companies who want to run promotions on the site and, if you stray outside them, you run the risk of having your company’s Facebook page deleted.

Promotions, however, are one of the most successful ways to attract more fans onto your page. The problem is, you can’t use any of the features on your page to run the promotion.

All Facebook promotions need to be run through a third-party application, such as Google’s wildfire. You can’t use any of the features on your company’s page – the comments section, the photos, the events tab, the like button, etcetera – to run your Facebook promotions.

What you are allowed to do on your company’s Facebook page is advertise the promotion. However, make sure that at no point are you requiring users to “like” your page if they want to enter the contest or contacting winners and entrants on your page. It is advisable to include a disclaimer with any material related to promotions on your Facebook page, saying that in no way is Facebook itself involved.


Keeping Facebook’s stringent policies in mind, running a successful Facebook promotion is easy and often extremely beneficial: according to ExactTarget, 40% of Facebook users become fans to take advantage of promotions.

Here are a few ways to ensure your promotion's success:

Make sure it’s free and easy to enter.
Offer prizes for the winners that are related to your company’s products or service.
Decide what sort of Facebook competition you want to run. There are four basic types: sweepstakes, essay, photo and video. The last three take a lot of time, but will potentially provide your page and followers with some quality content. Sweepstakes are an easier way to engage with fans and get their information.
Collect emails: one of the greatest benefits of running a promotion on Facebook is that you can collect all the names and email addresses of the entrants, making it a great way to reach more potential fans outside of the site.
Advertise the contest everywhere you can: your website, on Twitter, in a Facebook ad, for example.
Make sure the third-party app you use is flexible, competitively priced, has mobile capabilities and can be embedded on both Facebook and your website.

Post on the Pages of Other Companies:

Businesses with smaller followings on Facebook can leverage the networks of businesses with more followers in order to increase their own fanbase.

Post on the pages of competitors and experts in your industry. Comment on their posts or the posts of their fans and followers with related information and links to your own Facebook page or website.

If you comment on the pages of other businesses, their followers who have commented in the same thread are instantly notified, drawing their attention to you.

Even if a follower hasn’t commented on a thread that you comment on, they may see it on the page. If they appreciate what you write, they may click the “like” button, which will show up in their activity for their friends to see, or they may even follow you.



Offers:

If you are a page administrator, you can pay to run offers on your page, which will reach those who have liked your page and even their friends.

Offers will appear on your page and in your fans News Feed. When your fans claim the offer, it will show up in the News Feeds of their friends, who can claim the offer in turn.

Offer something that your fans will want, like a discount on a new product or a free trial. if more people claim the offer then more people will see it.

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the greatest tools in a business’ arsenal: according to Facebook, businesses typically receive a 3x higher return on investment when fans refer friends.

Rewards:

You could also reward your fans exclusive benefits for liking your page.

Say you are a chocolatiers releasing new flavours of one of most popular snack bars: why not give your Facebook fans the chance to taste them first.

You shouldn’t only be trying to get new fans to like your page: you should be thanking those who have liked your page already. Customer retention is the basis of growth and rewarding your customers is one of the best ways to do this.

Conclusions:

Always stay active on Facebook: posting comments, replying to your fans, constantly networking and connecting.

Make sure that the quality of your response is high and that you post information relevant to the thread – don’t be mistaken for a spammer!

Give your fans something they want, so they will keep returning to your page and also refer their friends to your business.

3. Marketing and Advertising

Creating adverts:

Creating adverts on Facebook is perhaps the best way to get people to like your page and buy your products from Facebook: according to Facebook, people who like a company’s page will spend an average on 2 times more than someone unconnected.

Facebook gives businesses three options at the start, asking whether they want to:

Get More Page Likes: Reach people who aren’t connected to your Page yet. You’ll be asked to design your advert including headline, body text and image

Promote Page Posts: Promote a specific post; giving you increased reach and increasing your chance of placement in the News Feed

Advanced Options: See all creative and bidding options in one place. You can toggle your bidding options between CPM and CPC.

Creating a good advert is like creating a good post: you need to ensure that the picture and the text is just right, catching the eye of the viewer and then telling them exactly what the advert is all about.



Targeting:

Businesses are then given options on who they want to target with their adverts, with categories such as gender, age, interests, location, connections and marital status.

Make sure you target your adverts to the right audience. For example, if you are advertising a new people carrier, the ad should pop up on the pages of parents rather than the pages of single teens.

There is even an “advanced targeting” targeting option to narrow the boundaries even further.

Paying for and Scheduling Adverts:

After you’ve named your advert (make sure its something easy to remember in case you plan on making a few) you will be asked to set a budget for your advert.

You will never pay more than your budget, but you may pay less. What you’re paying for is impressions (clicks-per-minute), the more impressions, the more of your budget the advert will cost. However, impressions prove that people are seeing and clicking on your advert, increasing the chance of a sale.

You can adjust payment options, however, by clicking “advanced options” in the goals section.

Make sure you schedule your adverts for an appropriate length of time. Facebook allows businesses to schedule their adverts to start on a certain date and end on a certain date.

Schedule your adverts to be seen at the best possible time. For example, if you are advertising for the January sales, schedule your adverts to start after Christmas and end at the start of February.

Running Multiple Adverts:


If you are unsure of your best audience (and you have the money) you can run more than one advert targeted at different audiences to determine which audience is best.

If you are running more than one advert, Facebook will optimise your adverts automatically:

When multiple adverts are running in a campaign, we'll automatically allocate more of your daily budget to higher performing adverts so it's important to put your adverts in different campaigns when you're testing them.

Change things subtly to fine tune your advert. Facebook make it easy with the “create a similar advert” option.

CPC and CPM:

Cost-Per-Click and Cost-Per-Impression are used to monitor Facebook advertising’s ROI. Here are the figures for the average CPC (also sometimes called PPC) and CPM (also sometimes called CPI) in the twelve most expensive countries, as measured by socialbakers.com:



As you can see, the price of Facebook advertising in the UK is relatively cheap CPC-wise, compared to Australia and the United States, but is equal to the latter for CPM. Canada and Germany are cheaper still: Canada’s CPC is $0.41 and there CPM is $0.09, while Germany’s CPC is $0.37 and ther CPM is $0.08.

Coordinate your Adverts with Third Parties:

You can coordinate with third party services to run adverts on Facebook based on traffic to your website or people who have bought your products online or in-store.

Target customers who may not have liked you on Facebook but have been in your store with offers and adverts for new products.

Sponsored Stories:

Sponsored stories are Facebook’s brilliant feature which highlights the comments of fans, allowing companies to pay for them to appear in the News Feeds of people who are friends with the commenter.

Sponsored stories are optimised to reach the highest number of people through word-of-mouth advertising, promoting businesses through the words of people that the viewer trusts.

Conclusions:

Make sure that what your advert is offering something that your targeted audience will see and will want. Drive traffic from adverts to the relevant websites. You could advertise an offer or a coupon to drive more traffic onto your main site.

Chinese restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s ran a three-week Facebook ads campaign which offered coupons to reward their customers.

The restaurant chain also used sponsored stories, it’s Facebook page, its website and other social media sites to drive traffic into their restaurants'.

The campaign reached 9.1 million people and grew P.F. Chang’s Facebook fanbase by more then 100% to 420,000.

Facebook ads and sponsored stories are costly, but effective. If you have money to spend on advertising then Facebook is an economical outlet, allowing you to promote your business to a wide but targeted audience.

For more advice on running Facebook ads, click here.

4. Monitor and Analyse

Monitor you Page:

It’s simple really: keep an eye on your number of fans by counting how many likes you have. You can count how many of these likes are coming from your adverts and sponsored stories in the “actions” section of the Adverts Manager page.

Make sure you monitor the comments on your page, deleting anything that is inappropriate or too irrelevant. As I said before, you can delete all the spam and back-linked comments if you want, but checking through them is not very time-effective.

Adverts Manager:

From the Adverts Manager page, you can view various statistics and analytics to do with your adverts. Here isFacebook’s list:

Actions: The number of Page likes, app installs, and event joins that come from your adverts.
Reports: In-depth performance and demographic information to understand how your campaigns are doing over time. Run News Feed reports to optimise adverts being shown in News Feed.
Inline Reporting: Your bid and price for each advert or sponsored story, advert previews and a summary of your targeting and performance.
Key metrics: Info on the size and engagement of your audience to help you monitor the success of your campaigns.
Audience graph: How much of your target audience your campaign is reaching compared to how much it could reach. If you find you’re not reaching enough of your target audience, try raising your bid or budget.
Response graph: Track the performance of your campaign by clicks and actions over time.

With all these analytics at your fingertips, you can optimise your adverts and your page to get the most out of Facebook.

Conclusions:

Always keep abreast of how your adverts and your page is doing. Adjust and optimize your adverts according to their success. Make the most of your budget. You can spend as much or as little as you want, its up to you to make it count.

5. Manage

Manage your Posts:

As well as monitoring the comments of your fans, you should monitor the success of your own posts on your business’ Facebook page.

If a post isn’t getting any likes or comments, delete it. Posts that don’t get you any interaction are just taking up space on your page.

Manage your IFrames:



IFrames are the interactive images at the top of your page beneath the cover photo in which you can put links to your photos, old polls, apps, campaigns or even display how many likes your page has.

Your first two iframes should contain your photos and how many likes you have. The rest should be constantly updated to stay relevant to your company’s activity on Facebook at the time: what competitions you’re running, for example.

Stay Abreast of Facebook’s Updates:

Last year, Facebook introduced the new timeline view for pages, providing businesses with a new challenge and a new opportunity to make their pages original and interesting.

Since then, Facebook has already started testing a new page design, introducing it to New Zealand last month.

Facebook has also announced one of their most important features to date this year: Facebook Graph Search.

Facebook Graph Search has numerous applications that could help your business: Graph Search has a huge amount of quality data about Facebook users that could help businesses target new customers or find potential employees.

Facebook’s news feed is also getting a facelift. In the proposed redesign, more space will be taken up by a content and image-laden home page, with the stories, notications and advertising within the news feed taking prominence.

Facebook is updating its service frequently. Make sure you keep an eye on news blogs and websites like this one so you can take advantage of all the features Facebook develops.

Stay Mobile:

Mobile is the future of social media marketing. It is, of course, not the only future, so don’t spend all your time streamlining your social media for mobile users.

It is a good idea, however, to make as many of your adverts and apps as you can mobile friendly. For example, if you own a clothes shop and you are advertising a sale, you want to be able to target customers who are already shopping near your store. Customers who are already shopping will be using their phones.

In November last year, Facebook Mobile hit 488 million monthly active users. Try to ensure that every single one can access you businesses Facebook apps.

Conclusions:

Keeping your business page up-to-date, not just the content you post but the posts you delete, is of vital importance.

Your fans won’t want to come to your page unless the content is changing frequently, giving them something interesting and new to look at and potentially share.

Stay current by utilising Facebook’s frequent updates to the advantage of your business, whether on desktop or mobile devices.

How do you get the best out of your business’ Facebook page?