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Top 10 Reasons to Use Social Media for Business |
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Research published by analyst firm Access Markets International Partners shows that almost 70 percent of small and medium businesses actively use social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to promote their companies. But simply posting what your CEO had for lunch isn't going to do much to help move your business forward. Smart companies are tactically using social media tools to increase their exposure to potential customers.
We've compiled ten of the most compelling reasons that you should consider using social media tools to promote your business.
1- Brand Recognition: Using social media allows your company to reach the highest number of potential customers possible. Getting your name out there is incredibly important - studies have suggested that customers need to hear a company's name at least seven times before they will gain the trust and respect needed to become a customer.
2- Brand Monitoring: Having a social media presence allows you to better understand what current and potential customers are saying about your product or services. Through active social media monitoring, you have the opportunity to address negative comments and correct false or inaccurate information about your brand.
3- Be Forward-Thinking: Your target audience is becoming savvier when it comes to the using social media sites in their daily lives. If you want to appear relevant and in-step with the latest advances in technology, your potential customers will want to see you on these sites as well.
4- Find New Customers Through Friends: You shouldn't neglect your personal social media accounts as potential avenues to promote the activities of your business. Posting regular updates relating to your business and activities can remind your friends of what your company does and either to use your services or refer one of their friends.
5- Find New Customers Through a Company Profile: Your company profile is a great opportunity for you to post regular updates on your activities, but also about important news and trends in your industry. This will catch the attention of new customers interested in your industry and increase your reputation as an expert in the field. It's critical to post regularly if you want to increase your followers or fans and convert them to potential leads.
6- Generate Site Traffic: By updating regularly on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with posts that link back to your site, you can create additional traffic to your site. Social media bookmarking tools like Digg, Stumbleupon and Slashdot can also generate additional traffic to your site if you create frequent articles and blog posts.
7- Links for SEO: Many social media bookmarking sites use NOFOLLOW tags that limit the outbound link value of posts made on their sites. There are still many leading social media sites that allow DOFOLLOW tags including Slashdot, Digg, Furl, Mixx and FriendFeed. However, you can see benefits from posting to social media bookmarking sites that use NOFOLLOW tags if people read your posts and link back to your Website.
8- Increased Search Engine Rankings: Social media profiles frequently rank highly with major search engines. Using brand names and keywords in your profiles can help you to generate traffic for your social media sites and company homepage.
9- Integrated Social Media Results in Search Engines: Search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing are increasingly interested in indexing and ranking posts and other information from social media sites. Videos from popular Internet sites like YouTube can also be optimized for indexing by the major search engines.
10- Niche Marketing: Social media allows you to reach very specific subsets of individuals based on their personal preferences and interests. You can create social media strategies based on reaching individual interests or even create unique social media profiles to target these audiences. |
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Helping Your Customers Find You |
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Business owners have a hunter's mentality. They need it to pursue and capture enough new business to successfully compete in this challenging environment. They spend thousands (dollars and hours) attending trade shows, conferences, seminars, and networking events with the primary goal of cultivating new business relationships. They make sales calls, send post cards, and blast e-mail messages, all in pursuit of their most desired prey: new customers. These time-tested tools have served the business hunter well. But times, they are a-changing. Now, when people are ready to buy, they morph into hunters, with their tool of choice being Google's search engine. So it's vital for businesses to understand the importance of making it easy for prospects to hunt them down in their pursuit of the products and services they desire. Here are a few easy ways to raise your GQ (Google Quotient) and pass "The Google Test" given by prospective buyers on the prowl.
Commenting online drives traffic
One quick way to boost your GQ is to leave well-written comments on popular industry blogs. You'd be surprised at the contacts you can make by writing thoughtful, concise responses to interesting blog posts. Also think about leaving book reviews and creating book lists for popular industry books on Amazon.com. When people read a good review they tend to check out your Amazon.com profile, so include your website address and other information that could drive them to you. You may also want to find a wiki that is related to your industry and begin participating in it. This is a also great way to build credibility online, network with others in your industry, and bring new opportunities to yourself and your business.
Blogging
Don't stop at just commenting on other people's blogs: create your own. According to Technorati's latest "State of the Blogoshpere" report, 120K new blogs come online every day, meaning roughly 1.4 blogs get created every second. Each day, 1.5 million posts are written, equating to more than 61K posts every hour. And, because it takes next to nothing to get started, blogs continue to be a great way to gain exposure. Many people and business owners are making use of low- or no-cost blogging services to do so.
Participate in a few online networks
Speaking of profiles, creating a profile on business networking sites like LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), FastPitch! Networking (www.fastpitchnetworking.com), and JumpUp (www.jumpup.com) can help expand your reach and raise your GQ. For example, FastPitch! is an online business community that is a great compliment to the more established LinkedIn.com. What makes FastPitch! so compelling is the ability to include links in your user profile to your blogs, press releases, podcasts, and other content you create. You can even include links to your training and demonstration videos. As you create blog posts in tools like TypePad or Blogger, FastPitch! uses RSS to automatically incorporate them into your profile. Press releases you create using FastPitch! are syndicated to the search engines and begin showing up in results lists. And the best part is, when people view your FastPitch! profile, they can see every press release, blog entry, and other content you've created, all in one location.
Share your slides with the web
Slideshare.net can be viewed as the YouTube for PowerPoint presentations. Just about every business person has created a slide deck at some point. Why not use this content to drive traffic. If you've put together an interesting presentation, you can upload it to Slideshare.net and have people view and comment on it, and even mark it as their favorite. Once uploaded, Slideshare generates code that can easily be cut and pasted into a page on your site. Slideshare.net even makes it easy for those people who like your presentation to incorporate it into their blog or website. And each time someone views your presentation, SlideShare.net keeps track of it. If it's really popular, your presentation can show up on the Slideshare.net homepage, bringing your site a whole bunch of traffic and potential customers. SlideShare also helps you pass the Google Test as your uploaded presentations can show up in search results.
YouTube, iPods, and your business
Some of the people may be thinking that YouTube is for teenagers and people who have plenty of time to watch exploding Coke bottles. But you can no longer dismiss social networking sites like these and others as being strictly for fun and games. Businesses of all sizes are starting to utilize these tools to help them find new customers. YouTube serves up over 100 million film clips a day…and is growing rapidly. The most popular videos are definitely on the entertainment side, but there are a growing number of businesses using YouTube to build awareness for their companies. You can find out how to change a spark plug, configure a Cisco router, or create a Web page using Adobe Photoshop. And each video invites the viewer to learn more by stopping by the clip creator's website.
Like YouTube, the fun side of the iPod is easy to see, but there is an increasingly important business side to consider. More and more professional/business content is being created for the professional on-the-go, and the iPod is leading the charge. Podcasting may have started with individuals sharing their private thoughts, but now companies of all sizes are using iPods to communicate with customers and prospects.
These are a few inexpensive, easy ways to raise your GQ and begin building a good rep on the Web. With the cost and complexity of creating and distributing content coming way down, it's time to figure out what makes sense for you and your business. After all, when it comes to the Web, it's not just who you know, but who knows you AND what they know about you, that makes the difference. |
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Choosing an Effective Domain Name for Your Business |
Choosing an Effective Domain Name for Your Business
Deciding on a domain name that's unique for your business and that helps your customers and prospects easily find you on the Internet is an important part of your online marketing strategy. Ideally, your domain name will reflect the core products or services of your business. And because many of the obvious domain names — such as www.ipodrepair.com — are already taken, some creative thinking may be called for.
When you're deciding on the domain name for your business, keep the following tips in mind:
Keep It Simple — Most people who surf the Internet expect speed and convenience, especially when they're searching for a product or service. So it's important to keep your domain name as short and sweet as possible, but without sacrificing its relevance. For example, www.greenplasticwidgets.com is a much more targeted domain name than www.myshop.com. Although your ideal choice may not be available, don't overcomplicate the matter. The shorter the domain name, the easier it is to type, remember, or refer others to.
Use Keywords — When you're deciding on the right domain name for your business, it's important to consider search engine optimization (SEO). By using the main keyword phrase in your domain name that you'd like to optimize your website for, you can help your site's ranking on search engine results pages (or SERPs) and in the never-ending quest to appear on page one on Google™. How specific you get depends on the range of your products or services. If you only sell "gold jewelry," for example, then including that phrase in your domain name is a smart move. If your product or service offering is broader, then using that keyword phrase may be too limiting for your marketing efforts.
Make It Relevant — Your domain name must be relevant to the products you're selling or the services you're offering. And when you're choosing your domain name, it's helpful to keep your own shopping and searching experiences in mind. For example, if you were searching on the Internet for a new fishing rod, which of the following two sites would you head to first: www.fishingrodsrus.com or www.fredsenterprises.com? Although both sites may carry the exact same equipment you're looking for, you'd most likely click on the first domain name.
Go for the .com — Your first choice for a domain name should always be .com. But when that choice isn't available to you and you can get an exact-match keyword domain on .net or .org — such as www.goldjewelry.net — then go for it. When you create an exact-match keyword domain, the search engines are more likely to rank the keyword phrase in the domain name higher than a domain name that is less descriptive.
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5 Sources for Up-to-Date Online Marketing Information |
5 Sources for Up-to-Date Online Marketing Information
Online marketing is one of the most dynamic forms of advertising in history. In the space of less than two decades, it has evolved and grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. It started with basic images and messaging and has morphed into a specialized discipline that continues to create wealth in a harsh economic climate.
Because the whole field of online marketing is based around ever-changing developments on the Internet, some of the most savvy entrepreneurs in the field are constantly educating themselves about the latest trends in the industry. Here are five of the best sources for keeping up-to-date on the best Internet marketing tactics:
- MarketingExperiments.com. This site helps clients turn existing Web traffic into sales and leads. With regularly scheduled live webinars, members can present an existing website to a team of experienced specialists who point out obvious and subtle reasons that can keep people from filling out an online form or completing a sale. In the world of eCommerce, "shopping cart abandonment" is one of the biggest challenges faced by retailers, and this site regularly presents users with options to reduce the "friction" in the shopping process.
- bgTheory.com (previously eWhisper.net). Aside from their core business of providing Internet marketing training, bgTheory.com blogs extensively on developments in the online marketing and pay-per-click (PPC) arena. The advice on PPC is especially useful for people who manage their own online marketing campaigns in Google™ AdWords, Yahoo!® Search Marketing, or Microsoft® Advertising adCenter. By improving one’s quality score, increasing conversion rates, and using new features outlined on this site, novice and seasoned PPC managers can get more results from their Internet marketing budgets.
- WebProNews.com. This site provides a broad array of timely topics on ebusiness, search engines, and social media. The broad scope of WebProNews.com’s articles helps the full-time online marketing guru stay up-to-date on the latest trends, ad spending rates, and the Internet in general. An "Expert Articles" section is invaluable for anyone who is looking to create or rebuild a marketing strategy.
- MarketingProfs.com. By offering advice about online and offline marketing strategies, MarketingProfs.com gives its members access to more than 2,000 how-to articles on email marketing, branding, positioning, social media, and lead generation. Their 90-minute online seminars help to educate users on improving the customer experience, utilizing databases to increase sales, and creating winning online presentations. Although this site is heavy on general marketing knowledge, it creates an ideal bridge between traditional marketing and its Web-based counterpart.
- Sphinn.com. Although this site is weighted toward search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) information, it should be part of every Internet marketer’s toolkit. A voting system (similar to Digg.com) allows members to mark articles that are highly relevant or topical, and discussions range from brand building to avoiding penalties on search engines. Sphinn.com’s network of experts also makes it possible to find more in-depth information from specialists in a particular field of online marketing.
Most of the sites above publish newsletters, have forums or "Ask an Expert" sections where questions can be submitted to knowledgeable people in specific fields, and hold regularly scheduled events with question-and-answer sessions. In those sessions, users can often get free tips and tricks from consultants who charge corporations several hundred dollars an hour for the exact same advice. |
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How to Claim or Add Your Local Business Listing on Google Maps |
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If your business has been established in the same location for a while, then your local business listing probably exists on Google Maps™, and you'll need to claim it (if you haven't done so already). If your business is relatively new or if you've recently relocated your business, then you probably need to add your business listing. (To learn why this is important for your business, read our blog article on Claiming Your Local Business Listing on the Search Engines.)
Ready to get started? Just follow these simple steps to claim or add your local business listing:
- Go to Google Maps.
- Enter your business name and ZIP code.
- If your business listing appears, click on the "More Info" tab to claim your listing. A form with information loads (skip to step 5).
- If your business listing does not appear, go back to the Google Maps homepage and click on the "Put your business on Google Maps" link. A form with no information loads.
- Update/complete the form with information about your business, including your website address, business hours, a description of your products or services, and the business categories you want to be listed under. You'll also find options for including photos and videos.
- Submit the form. After doing so, you'll need to verify your account via phone or mail. When you click the "phone" option, you'll receive an automated call in a matter of seconds. Be prepared with pen and paper to write down a five-digit PIN, which you will then enter in the verification box that appears on your computer screen. Voilà—you're done!
Be sure to update your listing as frequently as you can. Even if your website already includes all of this information, the more content you include in your listing, the better organic ranking your Google Maps listing will achieve.
And most importantly: Keeping your listing fresh and up-to-date helps to increase your chances of being found by customers who are searching in your area for your products or services. Missing a free and qualified lead could mean missing a new and long-term customer. |
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Generating Content for a Customer-Focused Website |
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When you’re gathering information for the new website for your business—or when you’re planning content updates to keep your current site fresh and appealing—it’s important to focus on the needs and expectations of your customers to make their website visit an informed and productive one.
To that end, we’ve prepared the following questions—and some of the possible answers—to help you generate creative and constructive ideas for content about your business. When you take the time to pinpoint the information that’s relevant and valuable for your website visitors, you’re one step closer to gaining . . . and retaining . . . the customers you’re looking for.
Why would a customer choose your business over a competitor’s? What differentiates your product or service offering from your competition?
Consider the following:
- Quality
- Selection
- Price / price guarantees
- Personalized service
- Service area
- Specialty services
- In-home demonstrations
- 24/7 emergency services
- Product or service warranties
- Special-order items
- Custom work
What visual examples can help convey the quality and value of your products or services?
Consider the following:
- Before-and-after photos or videos of your projects (such as kitchen renovations)
- Before-and-after photos or videos of your services (such as beauty treatments)
- Photos or videos of what you manufacture, sell, or repair
What information resources do you have that answer questions about your products or services?
Consider the following:
- Frequently Asked Questions (or FAQs)
- White paper (a downloadable resource)
- Video tutorial
What information can help customers feel confident about your skills and experience?
Consider the following:
- Licenses
- Accreditations (such as the Better Business Bureau)
- Certifications
- Testimonials from customers
- Product or service ratings from customers
- Years in business
- Years of experience in your field
- 24/7 emergency services
- Bio and photo
- Bios and photos of your employees
How has your company been recognized in your industry?
Consider the following:
- Product or service awards
- Endorsements by trade associations
- Endorsements by local, regional, or national organizations
What special incentives or discounts do you offer customers?
Consider the following:
- Loyalty programs
- Website and mobile coupons
- Email specials
How are you contributing to your local community?
Consider the following:
- Sponsor of a local event (such as a 5K race)
- Donor to a local nonprofit organization (such as a food bank)
- Volunteer for a local nonprofit organization (such as Habitat for Humanity)
How are you connecting with customers in the social media space?
Consider the following:
- Social network (such as Facebook)
- Professional network (such as LinkedIn)
- Microblogging site (such as a Twitter)
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