There are definitely two uses for Twitter; personal and business. For people who use Twitter for personal reasons, it is easy to fill your tweets with information that is important to you and to your followers. However, when using Twitter for business reasons you need to ensure that the information you are sharing is still real and valuable to your followers.

Twitter has grown into a true business tool and therefore is becoming a testing ground for sales pitches and affiliate marketing. However, neither Twitter nor other social networks react well to individuals who are transparent in their business approach. Having followers in Twitter does not necessarily mean you can pitch and market to these people immediately, If you are going to use Twitter as a business tool, make sure you do the following:

1. Provide a good source of recurring information to your followers.
2. Interact with followers communicating to you.
3. Don’t hard sell in Twitter.
4. Build a strong foundation of reputation amongst your followers first.
5. Become known as an expert or resource first.

From an Internet Marketing perspective, Twitter becomes very valuable when you acquire and interact with a large group of followers on your Twitter account. The more people who follow you on Twitter, the more influence and networking opportunities you have. Therefore, it definitely makes sense to try and build a following. Here are some best practices on getting others to follow you.

Follow Them. There is an almost automatic reaction to follow people who follow you. However, there’s a backlash against people who follow just about everyone for the sole purpose of gaining followers. In short, be discriminating with whom you follow.

Post some good tweets right before following someone else. Help people decide to follow you by posting some good, informative tweets. This helps your potential followers see that you are providing valuable information through your tweets. Remember to tweet regularly.

Complete your company bio. People rarely follow strangers, so complete your one-line bio and include your company URL in the “More Info URL” section of your profile. People want to know who they will be following before they actually follow them, so providing this information up front helps strengthen your reputation.

Add your twitter feed to your blog and other social media portals. If you have a following at your blog or a lot of connections on Facebook or LinkedIn, you can leverage this audience to increase your followers on Twitter.

Reply to people you are following – especially if they’re not following you yet. This is a great way to engage someone and get them to follow you, even if they didn’t follow you immediately. Remember though, some people have THOUSANDS of followers and may not be able to respond to every reply.

Twitter is no longer a peer-to-peer communication vehicle; it is now a great way for companies like yours to engage with their consumer base. Below is a list of the many ways Twitter is being used as an everyday business tool. If you need help implemented these practices in your company, give us a call.

Some of the ways Businesses Use Twitter (and some resources to help get you started):

Expand your customer database by locating individuals with the same interest and need your company addresses; http://tweetsourcer.com/

Increase your brand recognition amongst your followers; http://mashable.com/2009/05/20/twitter-personal-brand/

Demonstrate your expertise and gain followers who look to you as a source of information and subject authority; http://mashable.com/2008/12/19/how-to-win-twitter-friends/

Ask questions of a target community and get answers relevant to your needs; http://mashable.com/2009/04/21/twitter-questions-answers/

Build trust and a loyal community amongst your followers; http://mashable.com/2008/11/10/twitter-community/ and http://mashable.com/2008/11/17/twitter-community-donts/

Use as a customer service tool; http://mashable.com/2009/05/09/twitter-customer-service/

Use as a market research tool (a very effective tool); http://mashable.com/2009/05/09/twitter-customer-service/

For many, Twitter is a well known and well used social tool. For the rest of you, the question remains, what is Twitter? Twitter is an online portal based on continual updates of your very own personal or business related activities. Its primary service is for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

Over the past year, Twitter has become a popular avenue for businesses to communicate with the audiences that matter most to them (ie: customer base). Its inherent nature as a real-time news feed, its ever growing population and its low cost of use (its free – the only cost is the time and resources needed to use it) makes it an ideal business tool.

So how can a company use Twitter for business? The answer is probably bounded only by your creative marketing energies, however some specific uses include; customer service, public relations and news, advertising new products, thought leadership and knowledge sharing, research and development to name a few. One thing is certain, Twitter is one of the most talked about social portals at the moment and many businesses have jumped on the bandwagon and are using Twitter in their business.

Here’s a quick video to help explain how people use Twitter. Of course, if you have questions about using Twitter as part of an effective Internet Marketing program or for Social Media Marketing, please give us a call or drop us an email. Or better yet, tweet me @ronpacker.

Using video as part of a good Internet Marketing strategy can be a very successful tactic, and using YouTube is important because of the significance of YouTube to the online community. YouTube video search uses a variety of signals to determine the placement of a video in their rankings, including the video file name, title, and any associated metadata. The more information provided about a video, the better it can be searched.

In general, YouTube strives to give the best possible objective video results. That said, here are some best practices that you can use to help your videos rise in the search results.

First, add a descriptive title to your video. When users search for a video on YouTube, they will find your content easier if you include an accurate and descriptive title for your video. An engaging title can also help your video stand apart from the rest of the crowd.

Second, make your descriptive content clear and specific. Try to determine what content your video contains that will help users find it and distinguish it from other videos. Providing content that is descriptive, accurate, and unique is an important factor. Using complete sentences in your description is also a good idea.

Third, provide accurate tags with your video. Including tags that users may use when they search or browse videos also helps. However, avoid using techniques such as keyword stuffing which will ultimately hurt your video rankings.

Finally, plan to embed your video on your website. Embedding videos on your website may make your videos more discoverable and easier to find on the web.  

So, let me continue our conversation on creating an effective Internet Marketing campaign for your business. Have you spent any time on YouTube? Did you know that YouTube is one of the largest search engines on the Internet? Have you seen how easy it is to share videos on the web, as well as on your mobile phone? Will, if you have not started using videos to promote your business, it is time to start thinking about how you can begin using this very effective marketing channel.

YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos locally and worldwide through a web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.youtube.com and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs and emails.

Everyone can watch videos on YouTube. People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos about their hobbies and interests, and discover the quirky and unusual. As more people capture special moments on video, YouTube is empowering them to become broadcasters of tomorrow.

So, how does it work? Like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, YouTube is free to use. All you need is to register with the site and create a profile if you want to post videos or comments (you can view videos if you don't have an account). The videos you publish - which include tags, a category, and a brief description - can be made public or restricted to members of specified contact lists. YouTube also allows videos hosted on its site to be embedded in other web pages, such as blogs or websites.

When it comes to using YouTube to promote your company, here are some ideas on videos you can create and upload to YouTube and also your company YouTube channel.

• Existing company webmercials
• video version of company blog posts
• videos on your products or services
• videos of company events
• video of customer testimonials

Next we will take a look the 4 steps you can take to get your video ranked higher.

Ok, have you started using Facebook yet as an Internet Marketing tool? If you have you now need to think about that classic marketing topic of “promoting your business”. In this case, let’s talk about promoting your Facebook Fan Page. To keep it simple, let’s discuss the 5 best practices. These practices are: 

1. Create an Engaging Page. Give users a reason to become fans of your Fan Page (special offers, inside information, etc. only available to Fans). You should also use the Facebook applications like the discussion board and YouTube video box to add more interesting and engaging content to your page. 
2. Leverage the Viral Nature of Facebook (the News Feed). An added benefit of creating an engaging page is that every time a fan engages with your page (from becoming a fan, to posting a comment, to attending an event) that activity is published to their “news feed”, which is seen by all of their friends on Facebook. 
3. Draw on Your Existing Network. If you already have email subscribers and blog readers, make sure you let them know they can become a fan of your company on Facebook. Publicize your fan page on your blog, website, email, etc. 
4. Make Your Page Publicly Searchable. By default, your page will be public so that it can be indexed by search engines, which gives you the opportunity to drive organic search traffic to your page. 
5. Use Facebook Ads for an Extra Push. Facebook ads allow you to advertise a website or something on Facebook, including pages, groups, and events.

Once you start using your Facebook Fan Page, you will see that it is a great tool with a lot of potential for expanding your Internet Marketing campaigns. If you are in the Sacramento or Northern California region and have any questions or want help with your Facebook campaigns, please give us a call. If you are simply looking to get some questions answered, make a comment or send us an email.

So, we discussed some ideas of how your company can use Facebook to leverage your company on the Internet, but how do we get started? A great question, and one that will stop a lot of us from using this great Internet Marketing tool.

So, let’s start with a “Facebook Page”. These “Fan” pages give your company an identity on Facebook and have more functionality and provide you with greater opportunities to engage with your customers and prospects than a Facebook Group. You should use your fan page to:

• Build a following and create a buzz about your business in your local area and among other professionals.
• Promote special offers.
• Highlight upcoming events that your company plans to host.

Next, consider using the “Facebook Polls”. These polls are great for companies looking to get a quick answer about a particular campaign they would like to implement, or just to discover general information and opinions from a specific demographic. What types of polls might you run? Will here are some suggestions:

• Industry Poll; see what industries your fans belong to, so you can communicate to their specific vertical market.
• Services/Products Poll; see what services or products your fans already use and what ones they are looking to use.
• Trends Poll; ask your fans what other social media platforms they are using and why they use them.
• Stats Poll; post a stat relevant to your company or industry and poll your fans on how they relate to the statistical data.
• Seasonal Poll; see if your fans have any new plans for the upcoming season and how your products/services can apply to their goals.

How about “Advertising” on Facebook? Facebook has a powerful advertising engine that enables companies to specify a demographic target, see how many people that demographic will hit, and advertise to that demographic. One key point is that the Facebook click thru rate are much lower than in Google Adwords, however the cost is much lower also.

Next we’ll discuss the 5 best practices for promoting your Facebook Fan Page. I would love to hear how you have used Facebook, so share with everyone by adding a comment to our blog.

As I am reviewing the top social portals and helping to define where a business should start I have found a number of great resources and informational videos and articles. If you have not already considered the role of Social Media Marketing on your business, you should view the following video. Social Media Marketing is impacting not only Internet Marketing, but traditional marketing services and philosophy. 



What do you think?

Ok, to date we have reviewed the major social portals at a high level and taken a closer look at a primary component of any successful Social Media Marketing strategy, your blog. So what we want to look at next is a recent social explosion called, Facebook. In a nutshell, for those of you who have not been pulled in to the Facebook experience, Facebook is a social networking service that lets you connect with friends, co-workers, and others who share similar interests or have common backgrounds. Originally designed to only serve the college scene, it is now a major portal for connecting with old and new friends. Facebook is different from other social networks because of its extensive privacy controls, development platform, and a large and quickly growing user base. In fact, with 350 million users worldwide, Facebook has even surpassed email as the most frequently used tool online!

Now, how would you as a business user or company leverage Facebook? An excellent question and I’ll start by answering how companies are leveraging Facebook as a business and marketing tool.

• Branding: Facebook can be a great resource for generating brand awareness, as it has become popular with a wide range of different demographic groups and can be used as a great interception point for building your relationship with your consumers and potential customers.
• Customer Engagement: Using Facebook applications can be a great way for communicating promotions, contests and events. Again, this is another interception point that can be leveraged to entice customers to engage with your brand, your products or your service.
• Drive Web Traffic: Facebook can easily become an important portal point for driving traffic to your company website and other online properties.
• Reputation Management: Facebook can be a very useful tool for seeing what users (can you say customers?) are saying about your company and brand. Further, your Facebook profile can now be indexed in the search engines and as a result may provide you withy additional listings in the organic search results of the search engines (a good thing!).
• New Customer Acquisition. Facebook provides you with another opportunity to find consumers you may not have otherwise discovered.
• Lead Generation: Another way to say, Facebook can act as another potential lead generation tool that can help you qualify leads. Reviewing prospective prospects’ profiles may help you build a relationship with your prospects and aid in the lead generation qualifying process.
• Client Retention: Facebook provides another potential interception point to build a relationship with your existing customers.
• Access to the Social World and its inherent value – aka “the Cool Factor”: The perception that Facebook is “IN” and the fact that your company is using Facebook could help influence potential customers and their perception of your company brand. This can be especially true if you have succeeded in acquiring positive posts about your company. Having said all of that, there are still many who are anti-Facebook, so it could become a negative factor for those prospects. The fact remains, Facebook continues to gain in popularity and it is not going away anytime soon.
• Feedback Mechanism:  Using Facebook and the various applications available can help you understand consumer behavior based upon the sharing of content and commentary on the social networking site.
• Build Business Use Cases: Facebook can provide you with an opportunity to build successful business cases as you target specific vertical markets with specific business objectives.

What do you think? Do you see or use Facebook for any of these strategies? In the Sacramento market, do you see
our local population engaging or not engaging with Facebook? Are you engaged?

Next, we’ll discuss how to leverage Facebook in your company.