Are you looking for a short overview on what Social Media Marketing is and how it applies to you, the business owner? This recorded webinar is a high-level overview on what Social Media Marketing is, why your business should be involved, whether you should focus on Socially Facilitated Sales or Socially Directed Buying sales models and how you can get started.

This is not a how to webinar, but is directed to those business owners who want a straight answer to what is social media and do you need to get involved. You can view the recorded webinar by clicking on http://wsiinstitute.com/media/ec/socialmediamarketing.html.

Ron Packer, Social Media Expert presented an educational overview on How Businesses Can Take Their Marketing to the Next Level through the use of Social Media. 

Folsom, California, May 6, 2011– Hundreds of business owners and marketing professionals from around the world attended a digital marketing webinar hosted by WSI, the world’s #1 Internet Franchise. The webinar was conducted by Ron Packer, a respected Internet Marketing Consultant based in California and was titled “Social Media Marketing: The Art of Conversational Sales”.

“Social media marketing is the most asked about and least understood of new marketing concepts from the Internet”, says Ron Packer, Internet Marketing Consultant. “Almost every business is asking what is it and do I need to be using social media in my business, or they have jumped on to the bandwagon but really don’t have an effective plan on how to best use social media or even how to measure the success or failure of a social media marketing strategy. The key is to understand that social media marketing is part of the bigger marketing picture, and that it is clearly focused in engaging your target market in real, honest conversations on topics that are of interest to them. We are seeing a tremendous growth in social networking across all age groups and more of these customers expect the businesses they do business with to have a presence on the appropriate social sites. During my presentation, I discussed how a business can leverage these digital media technologies to take their marketing efforts to the next level.”

To read the full press release, click here. 

In developing an effective Internet Marketing strategy you need to consider how to build a credible and successful online community. Here are a few key points to consider in planning for and implementing your online marketing strategy.

• Do build your community with your business contacts (i.e., business associates, past and current colleagues, partners and customers).
• Do ensure your are engaging yourself in other people's social networks.
• Do follow or add business contacts to your community that chose to connect with you.
• Do email your customer database and encourage them to follow or add you on the social portals.

Of course, there are a few points to avoid.

• Don't mix your personal contacts (friends and family) with your business contacts. Keep a separate profile for personal use.
• Don't assume people will find you. Actively search for social network users relevant to your company.
• Don't neglect to manage your followers. Block those that are not business appropriate.
• Don't forget to include the social icons and "follow me" links in all of your marketing materials.

So, whether you have a profile or are looking to create a social media profile, it is always good to review a few key guidelines. So, from an Internet Marketing perspective, let's review the do's and don'ts of a good social media profile.

Let's start with the positives.

• Do use your company name in your profile name, or use your company domain name.
• Do have a company logo or professional photo for your profile picture and use a consistent picture across the social portals.
• Do provide a company biography on your porfile and list your industry or service expertise.
• Do use a branded profile design where possible.

Ok, now for the profile items to avoid.

• Don;t use multiple names across your social portals.
• Don't use the same profile for personal and business use, keep them separate.
• Don't use your personal contact details (ie, gmail) as this looks unprofessional. Use your company branded contact details instead.
• Don't detail your personal hobbies and religious or political beliefs on your company profile.

So, as that first step make certain you are establishing a profile that is appropriate and complete for your business and professional needs.

Over the next few days I plan to recap some of the do's and don'ts associated with good Social Media Marketing. We'll discuss some of the following highlights:

1. What to do or not do in creating an effective profile
2. What to do or not do in building an online community
3. What to do or not do for video and image sharing
4. What to do or not do in creating status updates and messages
5. What to do or not do for you blog posts and comments (and you are right, this will be a longer set of do's and don'ts)
6. What to consider about privacy and confidentiality in your Social Media Marketing campaigns

Any specific questions? Feel free to email or post a comment for us to discuss.

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.

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/

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.

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.