Oct 20
Love0

Social Media Questions from the Field

By Social Media

I have been doing a lot of public speaking lately — and that’s great — because it’s something I really enjoy. One reason I like it is that it generates a lot of questions and keeps me on my toes, answering those questions on the spot. Here’s a sampling of some of the questions I responded to yesterday.

  • Should we be blogging every day? Every day is a great, although probably unrealistic goal. Shoot for three times a week. 
  • What do you think about QR codes? Funny you should ask. 
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/Marijean/status/126043437496680448″]

Here’s my issue with QR codes — conceptually they’re great. They are an efficient way of transmitting information using a smartphone. There are creative ways to use them effectively and some good ideas for their application. My problem is this: the execution of the use of QR codes is so often poor that I’ve become jaded and reluctant to use them. I’m hoping this changes, or that there’s greater adoption and better examples of their use — otherwise, I’d just as soon see them replaced by something else. 

  •  How can we use Facebook as a group? Think of it as your internal communications vehicle. Is it your new company newsletter? Is it a forum for discussion about company topics and industry news? Create an editorial calendar of topics to share and generate consistency to get the conversation rolling. 
  • Can we use Google+ as a business? Nope, sorry. You can use it as individuals, however.
  • Is there a way to update in one place and have it show up on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Sure, that’s what Tweetdeck and Hootsuite do; I like Tweetdeck, myself.
  • Is it OK to blog off topic? Well sure, once in awhile, to make it personal and to keep things interesting. I submit, as an example, my friend Ken’s video below which really isn’t on his main topic, which is social media, and yet does a great job of letting the audience get to know Ken. 

Are you still here? After THAT?

Awesome.

I love answering questions about social media, so share yours here in the comments and I’ll follow up with another post.

Oct 18
Love0

Social Media Lesson #14: Mind Your Web Site

By Communications

See this?

 

 

 

 

This is a screenshot of “Client D”‘s web site when viewed in Chrome. The site looks the same way when viewed on a smartphone.

In fact, “Client D”‘s web site only looked “right” in Internet Explorer . . . and the worst of it was . . . the client didn’t even know this.

Today’s social media assignment is simple — but what it reveals may not be. Look at your website in a variety of browsers, in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome . . . and on a smartphone or two. Do you like what you see? Is it useful? Is it WHAT YOU WANT YOUR CUSTOMERS TO SEE?

The great news is that “Client D” will be launching a brand, new fabulous web site in just a few days . . .

It’s important. Mind your web site.

 

Oct 17
Love0

How to Manage Social Media in Five Steps: The Who, What, When, Where, Why

By Communications, Social Media

I’ll admit it; I am a decent time manager. I’ve also been a bit of a control freak, managing whole aspects of social campaigns (i.e. doing all the work myself instead of delegating it). With the amount of work it really takes to manage social media for a business and, in my case, numerous businesses, holding it all in my greedy little hands simply isn’t possible. Having a plan to manage it, using tools to make it efficient and delegating roles to others are the keys to making it all work.

A lot of businesses get stuck on this point — the lack of a plan to follow results in failed, frustrated efforts — but what is a plan? And how is it managed?

How to Manage Social Media in Five Steps

It’s not easy, but it IS simple:

  1. Discuss and decide WHY you’re using social media for your business. Is it to inspire loyalty, attract new customers or to pay attention to what existing customers are saying about you and your industry. (All of the above is a perfectly acceptable answer.)
  2. Decide WHAT tools you’re going to use.
  3. Determine WHO will be responsible for developing content.
  4. Schedule the content that needs to be developed and designate WHO will make sure it happens and WHERE the content will be shared (Twitter? LinkedIn? StumbleUpon?)
  5. Create goals and schedule WHEN you will look at, analyze and report the analytics and your progress toward your goals.
What do you think? Does this framework solve any issues for you? 
Oct 14
Love0

Seven Ways to Get More Fans for your Business on Facebook

By Social Media

I’ve been doing a lot of coaching, guiding and talking about legitimate ways to use your Facebook page to get more fans for your business. It’s really about building community and the ideas shared here are not unique to Facebook sharing, but are really excellent ways to use that platform. So often, businesses start going down the road of promotions and contests that, if done incorrectly, violate the Facebook terms of service. I assert that these promotions may not be what you need, (even if you are doing them the right way.) Rather, focus on what you CAN do to build community without resorting to bribery, freebies, conditions and begging.

Seven ideas:

  1. Be a resource for your community. What’s the latest news? What are you reading that your community would find of interest. Share the link in status updates.
  2. Take a poll — make it fun, and ask community members to share the poll with their friends (you can use the Polls or Questions applications to do this.)
  3. Feature a fan of the (day? week? month?) — what ever time frame works best for the resources at hand.
  4. Tag businesses you’ve “liked” in status updates (use Facebook as the page, then “like” other business pages; use the @ symbol to tag those pages in your updates.)
  5. Are there businesses geographically close to yours? Can you be a good neighbor by sharing their specials, their news or events?
  6. Ask closed-ended questions — people don’t want to work that hard to answer you, so give them a choice of two or more options to answer.
  7. Do share links to your best content (blog posts, videos, photos, etc. ) but share links to others’ content as well, at least a third of the time. It’s called SOCIAL media.

What other organic ways can you use your Facebook page to increase fans of your business?

Oct 13
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Three Ways Your Company is Doing it Wrong on Facebook

By Social Media

Facebook is tricky; devious, even. Navigating the guidelines for operating successfully as a business is mystifying. Every day I catch companies doing something that violates the Facebook terms of service or is an unsound practice in online marketing. A sampling:

  1. After posting as the business on the business page, the admin user is commenting on the post, again as the page. Here’s how to do this right. 
  2. A random display of not necessarily relevant “likes” appear in the left sidebar. Here’s how to change that. 
  3. Promoting a contest or offer that requires Facebook interaction. e.g., Like us and you’ll get . . . that’s not kosher according to Facebook rules.
Stay tuned for some tips on ways to use Facebook the right way to earn more fans.