Social Media

Facebook Marketing – Are You Human?

by blogmistress on June 20, 2011

Social media has given us ways to connect and network in ways that are just incredible. Social media marketing is on the rise, and more and more people are connecting with businesses through social media. However, sometimes with social media, you can lose your human element. The human element is what makes people want to do business with you in the first place. People don’t do business with businesses, they do business with people! Let’s look at a few examples of not having the human element.

I am reminded of a lady at a Facebook seminar I attended telling us that she didn’t want a personal profile – she just wanted a business page where she could post her specials. She didn’t want to have to interact with anyone, and she didn’t want anyone to get to know her personally. She really misses the whole point of social media. She actually saw the value of Facebook and it’s potential for reaching a lot of people, she just didn’t want them to know who she was.

Recently, I commented to a business owner about something that I had posted on my Facebook wall that he might find interesting. He told me that he never looks at anyone else’s profile or even his own news feed – he just looks at his own profile and his own business page. He will interact if someone interacts with him first, but he doesn’t actively go out and show interest in them. He is also missing the point of social media. It’s all about him.

One business man uses his Facebook profile and page to broadcast all about his business. When you look at his profile, you don’t see anything about him just his business. Everything revolves around business. I happen to know this man personally and know that he is an avid gardener and loves cooking. Even though I understand that he is a business owner, adding a little bit of personal information would really help people connect to him as a person.

All of the people in the examples are very nice people who are friendly people to do business with. They actually are interested in other people and care about their customers. I know that about them because I know them personally. They don’t show what great people they are on Facebook. They just haven’t transferred their human element to social media.

Facebook is a great marketing tool because it gives you the opportunity to reach more people. The important thing to keep in mind is not that you just reach them but that you actively interact as someone who is interested them. You have to interact as someone who is human.

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Blogging for Business – The Social Media Connection

by blogmistress on May 20, 2011

In a recent webinar by internet scientist, Dan Zarrella, he told of his survey of social media users and their connection with blogging. He found that 71% of social media users reported that blogs influence their purchasing decisions either somewhat or very much. He also found that over 80% of them read blogs once a day or more. Social media users are using blogs to research products before purchasing. One of the best quotes by Dan is “The takeaway here is that if you’re not blogging, and you’re a marketer or small business owner, you’re doing something wrong. You’re not doing everything you could possibly be doing.”

Does your target market use social media such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? If so, your blog can be a powerful marketing tool. Feeding your helpful, relevant blog posts to social media is a great way to promote your content and attract more people to your site. Remember, studies show that companies that blog get 55% more visitors.

Think of all the content you can post on your blog! You can answer questions, post about events and interesting industry news. There are so many ways you can use a blog to establish yourself as the go-to expert in your field and to communicate better with your customers.

Blogs don’t have to be long dissertations. In fact, in many cases, shorter blog posts are more effective. In a world where so many people are using social media, easy to read, short articles full of helpful information are not only great for your readers, but probably easier for you to create as well.

The social media connection for those blogging for business is key.

At the Blogging for Business Seminar you will learn:

How to set goals for your blogging efforts so you can measure its effectiveness and know you are going in the right direction.
The do’s and don’ts of setting up a blog
Terms that will help you as you navigate the blogosphere
What technical skills you need
What the best platform is for your blog and why
What types of content you can create and how to make them effective
Time saving tips and tricks
How to integrate blogging with social media as well as your website to make it all work together
What makes blog articles shareable
When is the best time to post

We will also spend some time creating a list of blog topics that are relevant to your business and a plan for how to use those topics to reach out to your target market.

From the Blogging for Business Seminar, you will have a plan going forward to make blogging an effective and profitable part of your marketing efforts.

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4 Reasons You Aren’t Blogging

by blogmistress on May 9, 2011

Yes, I’m talking about blogging again. I know, I know, you don’t want to blog. You love Facebook, but you just don’t really want to get into blogging. You’ve heard that studies show that small businesses that blog get:

55% more visitors

97% more inbound links

434% more indexed pages

Still, you have your reasons. The reasons that most companies don’t blog can be wrapped up in one – they are afraid.

They are afraid they don’t have anything to write about. They can talk to people all day long about their product or service, but when it comes to writing, they suddenly don’t have anything to say.
They are afraid they don’t write well enough. Maybe, they think their 8th grade English teacher will be reading their blog instead of the people who are interested in what they have to say about their products.
They are afraid they don’t have time. They are very busy and writing a blog takes time.
They are afraid they don’t have the technical skills necessary to write a blog. After all, this is not like writing in a notebook, this is writing on the web so it must be complicated.

Any of those ring true with you? In the next couple of weeks, we will be addressing these blogging concerns for all the scaredy-cats out there and put your fears to rest. We will also discuss some tips and tricks for blogging and how to make your company blog the most successful and profitable part of your internet marketing strategy..

So, stay tuned, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday here at the Wharton Internet Marketing Blog. We will also be announcing a new opportunity for you to not only be a great inbound marketer, but to get an inbound marketing certification as well!

If you are anywhere near the North Arkansas area, you can even come listen to me talk about blogging in a 3 hour seminar for the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center on May 24th from 1 -4 pm at the Donald W Reynolds Library. Don’t be a scaredy-cat. It will be lots of fun!

Sign up for the seminar by calling the ASU Small Business and Technology Development Center at (870) 972-3517

Photo by Highway Skylines via Flickr

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The Power of Facebook

by blogmistress on May 6, 2011

Floods, tornadoes and storms – all of these have been going on in our area and in many areas of the Country recently. Where have people been turning to get information? Facebook! Facebook is where you can find out if your friends and family are safe. It is where people post pictures and pass along news of road closings and cleanup efforts.

I saw postings asking if someone had freezer space available because their power was off. I saw people asking for volunteers to help with cleanup efforts. Many who were without power were posting status updates from their mobile phones.

Facebook has really connected people and helped them stay connected. That is a lot of power! As business people, we have a powerful opportunity here. No, I’m not suggesting taking advantage of people when they are down. I’m talking about getting involved and helping when you can. Not for what it can do for your business, but because you are a part of your community and you care.

Caring about your community and keeping in touch with those in it through Facebook is a great way to be involved. And by the way, showing that you care does have a positive impact on your business.

What do you think?

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What Your Business Can Learn from the Royal Wedding

by blogmistress on April 29, 2011

The royal wedding this morning was a spectacular occasion. I was struck by the throngs of people who camped out ahead of time and waited and waited and then stood outside the church and waved flags during the ceremony. All of those people wanted to be a part of something special. They didn’t have to get an invitation to sit on the front row. They just wanted to be near the event so they could enjoy it and say they had been there. People go out of their way to be associated with something special that makes them feel good.

What small businesses can learn is that going the extra mile to make people feel good can set them apart from their competition. This means that you make your customers feel like, well, royalty. In a world of superstores with little service and long checkout lines, you can offer the people you come in contact with something that everyone wants – you can make them feel special.

You may be thinking, “Don’t you do inbound marketing on the internet? How can you make anyone feel special online?” That’s a good question. This is a where social media comes in! Social media allows you to get to know people that you could never have met otherwise. You can like what they say, ask questions about what is going on with them. Making people feel special all comes down to showing them that you care – that you authentically, truly, honestly care. This isn’t something you can fake just because you are not communicating in person.

My daddy used to say, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I know that quote didn’t originate with him, but it is one of the things that he said that is very important for business people to keep in mind. By the way, caring about people who are not your potential customers is just as important. Showing you care only about people who are your potential customers is not very authentic and really just kind of tacky.

Treat people like royalty and make them feel good, and you have given them something very special, indeed. People naturally want to be associated with things that make them feel good and special. What can you do today to make someone feel special?

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Facebook Marketing: Engage

by blogmistress on April 20, 2011

More businesses than ever are realizing the power of Facebook Marketing. A recent Small Business Technology Poll revealed that 41 percent of small businesses surveyed have a Facebook Page for their business. Last year, 27 percent said they’re using the social network, which represents a 52 percent jump from the previous year. That is great news for small businesses that need a cost effective, as well as customer effective, way to market. Facebook marketing is clearly not a fad.

The problem is that many businesses use their Facebook Page to broadcast rather than to engage and miss the best opportunity given to them by Facebook: engaging with their customers. So let’s look at some ways that businesses can use Facebook to engage with their customers and potential customers.

Ask Questions – This sounds like the same advice you get for having a conversation in person, right? People don’t want to hear your broadcast, they tend to prefer to talk about themselves. It is only human nature. By engaging your fans in conversation by asking questions, you can learn how your business can better serve it’s customers. Facebook has also given us the nifty “Facebook Questions” feature that helps us do even a better job with our questions. Have you used Facebook Questions yet?
Post Frequently – To be visible in your fans’ newsfeeds, you need to be there when they are. You need to be posting at least once a day to give your fans something to engage with. You want to post frequently enough to show up, but not so frequently that you appear to be spammy. Mix up the your types of posts. Questions, information, links, photos. The more possibilities people have to engage, the more likely they are to engage.
Keep Your Posts Short - Studies show that there is a 27% increase in engagement by posts that are 80 characters or less. There is a lot of information posted on Facebook, and people don’t always have a lot of time to spend reading long posts. Keep it short and simple for better engagement.
Time Your Posts For Better Engagement - The same study that showed short posts get more engagement also showed that posts on off-business hours get more engagement. Even though many businesses embrace Facebook marketing, there are also many businesses that block Facebook at the workplace. If you are posting during the hours that your target market is blocked from seeing Facebook, they won’t see your posts and won’t be able to engage. Do you work at a place where Facebook is blocked?

Broadcasting on Facebook is applying old marketing to a new platform. What ideas do you have for engaging your fans on Facebook?

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Internet Marketing – Not Your Grandpa’s Marketing

by blogmistress on April 15, 2011

Internet marketing is very different than the kind of marketing my Grandpa and family did when I was growing up.

I grew up in a family of small business owners. I remember many family gatherings where there was much discussion about marketing and advertising. There was discussion of competition and strategy. As kids, we were told this was “dead man’s talk”, which meant whatever we heard was not meant to be discussed outside of the family. As I write that last sentence, I’m thinking it kind of sounds like mafia, but it wasn’t anything like that- just business talk among family.

Marketing has changed a lot since those days (don’t I sound old?). In those days, marketing was interruption based. Commercials would interrupt your favorite TV shows, commercials would interrupt you while you were listening to your favorite tunes on the radio. Telemarketers would call you while the family was having dinner. You get the idea. Businesses who were advertising had to interrupt you and get your attention to market to you. TV and print ads focus a lot on “getting your attention.” Print advertisers think a lot about colors and fonts and placement. Everything is designed to get your attention away from reading an article and on to their advertisement. Those techniques are still used in those media.

The internet is a different kind of medium. Internet Marketing is permission based. The majority of people now start the purchase process online. When people search for a product or service online they are looking for the site that gives them the best information. Yes, they like sites that are aesthetically pleasing, and an attractive site is important. They want to be able to easily move through your site, so good navigation is important. However, when someone is searching for your product or service and they land on your site, what they are really looking for is information.

Unlike old interruption marketing, once people find you online, you don’t want to interrupt them from finding the information they are looking for by having things that are flashing or jumping up and down or popping up on the screen. You want to give them information that will give them confidence to take the next step in doing business with you. So give them visual cues as to what to do next. The next step depends on your sales cycle. If you have a short sales cycle, the next step may be to click on a “buy now” button or call you and make an appointment. This would be the case for retailers or services like plumbers or electricians. For others, the sales cycle is longer, so you may have to give your visitors a call to action that just gets them in your sales funnel so you can start nurturing them through the sales process. This would be the case for real estate agents or for businesses selling big ticket items.

Marketers of the past would have been astounded at the possibilities offered by today’s internet marketing. Unfortunately, there are still some marketers who want to cling to the past and are still trying to tell us that new marketing is a fad. We have heard it for years, haven’t we? The internet is a fad. Well, they don’t really even try to say that anymore. How about the old style marketers that say Facebook is a fad and that you will never get customers from Facebook? How many of you have gotten customers from Facebook. I know we have.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that all old marketing is bad. I certainly don’t think that TV, radio and newspaper ads are going to go away any time soon (well maybe newspapers, but we won’t go there). The truth of the matter is that internet marketing is here to stay until something better comes along. I’m sure the newspaper people didn’t like it when radio came along and started taking advertising dollars from them to use on radio ads. In the same vein, I’m sure radio people were not to excited when TV came along and started offering TV advertising. In the same way, today, all of these media are not really excited about internet marketing, but this is the way of the future, whether it is a website, social media or mobile marketing, internet marketing is here to stay.

My Grandpa died at the age of 94 last August. He was a very smart man, and I think he would have loved new marketing!

Key Take Away

Marketing has changed and continues to change. Smart businesses use effective marketing that will grown their business and get them customers.

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Facebook News

by blogmistress on April 13, 2011

Here is a roundup of the lastest Facebook News.

Using Email Contact to Build Your Facebook Page

We all know about Facebook’s recent major Page updates. They added lots of features, but one that got taken away was the ability to suggest your Page to friends. Of course, you can always go to your friends individual profiles and suggest they become a fan, but the easy “suggest to friends” feature will be greatly missed. After a lot of grumbling by Page owners over losing this feature, Facebook has added a tool to help out Page owners with less than 5,000 fans. The new tool allows Page owners to invite their customers and web contacts to connect with their Facebook Pages.

With the new tool you can import your email contacts into Facebook where you can then suggest that they “like” your Page. This feature has two parts, so it can accommodate contacts from programs such as Outlook, Constant Contact, a .cvs file, etc. or you can choose to import contacts from your web based email program such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo. To access the email importer, visit the “Tell your Fans” section on the Marketing tab of your Page editor. You can find more information about the contact import here.

Who Has Visited Your Profile?

Have your friends been posting stats on how many people have visited their profile? Are there really applications that can do that? I have been seeing a lot of these lately. Here is the scoop from Facebook.

Q. Can I see who’s viewed my profile? There’s a group or application claiming I can find out who has been viewing my profile.

A. Facebook does not provide applications or groups with the technical means to allow people to track profile views or see statistics on how often a particular piece of content has been viewed and by whom. If an application claims to provide this functionality, please report the application by going to the application’s About page and clicking “Report Application” at the bottom of the page, or by clicking “Report” at the bottom of any canvas page within the application.

Applications you use may ask for permission to access content from your News Feed and Wall. Granting this permission does not allow applications to see who has viewed your profile. It simply allows applications to see which friends have interacted with posts, such as which friends liked or engaged with a particular wall post.

New Facebook Application for iPhone

What’s New in the Latest Version?

- Added Map View for Places
- Added the ability to Check in to Events that you’re attending
- Added the ability to unfriend from the phone

The smart phone applications for Facebook still lack the full functionality of the desktop version, but any new functionality is appreciated!

That is your midweek Facebook News update. Go out and make some new connections for your business today.

Like us at www.facebook.com/whartonmarketing or just connect with us from our connect tab over on the right side of the page (under the SEO eBook download). We would love to meet you!

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Facebook Page – Another Chance To Do It Right

by blogmistress on April 8, 2011

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the difference between Facebook Pages and Facebook Profiles. If you are using a Facebook profile for your business, of course you are in violation of Facebook’s terms of use and in danger of having your profile removed by Facebook.

“Maintaining a profile for anything other than an individual person is a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. If you don’t convert your profile (the one you are using for your business) to a Page, you risk permanently losing access to that profile and all of your content.” – From Facebook (see 4-1)

However, building a page and transferring all the current friends to fans is a lot of work and a bit daunting for many businesses. Well, Facebook has made the process a lot easier! They have created a conversion tool to help you move your profile to a page. Other than the risk of losing your business profile, why would you want to use a page instead?

“Since profiles are meant for individual people, they aren’t suited to meet your business needs. Pages offer more robust features for organizations, businesses, brands, and public figures.” – Facebook

The conversion tool is great news for businesses that created a profile instead of a page. You get to keep all of your friends who will now become fans. You get to keep all of your pictures. You will lose any other content so you will need to copy that information and save it if you want to keep it and copy it to your page.

“Be aware that when you convert your profile to a Page, your profile pictures will be transferred, and all of your friends will be automatically added as people who like your Page. No other content will be carried over to your new Page, so be sure to save any important content before beginning your migration.

The account associated with the profile you previously maintained will be converted to a business account, which will be the sole admin of your new Page.” – Facebook

Because Facebook has created this conversion tool, I imagine that they will start really cracking down on businesses that continue to use a profile and, thus, continue to be in violation of their terms.

If you are still using a Facebook profile for your business, you definitely should get it converted ASAP! If you know anyone who is using a profile for their business, share this article with them.

Click HERE to get the conversion started.

In addition to avoiding removal, businesses that use a Facebook page get a lot of great tools that can help them get found. Facebook pages are indexed by search engines. Facebook pages have analytics called “Insights” to help you measure your effectiveness. Facebook pages have marketing tools to integrate with your website, blog email and other platforms. Facebook pages have a host of useful apps that you can apply to your pages including custom pages, email opt in and lots more. While you are limited to 5,000 friends on your profile, there is no limit on the number of fans (or people who “like” you) for pages.

Key Take Aways:

Using a Facebook profile for business is a violation of terms and you risk being removed.
Facebook has created a great tool to convert a business profile into a business page.

Next Steps:

Download the Facebook for Business 1o1 eBook to learn how to effectively use both your personal profile as well as your business page effectively.
If you are using a profile for your business, convert today! If you know someone who is using a profile instead of a page for business, share this article and encourage them to convert so they will not be removed.

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Growing Your Social Media Following

by blogmistress on March 28, 2011

We have discussed a lot about SEO in the last couple of weeks. One point that keep jumping out are that businesses wanting to be found on the web these days have to increase their presence there. The best two ways to increase your presence on the web is through blogging and growing your social media following.

Let’s look at Facebook. People often discount the importance of their personal profile and want to only work on increasing the number of fans to their business page. Your personal profile is an important tool to growing your Facebook network. Making personal connections with people and getting to know them is a great way to increase interest in your business.

I’ve used this quote from my dad before because it is so true and so appropriate when we are talking about social media,

“People don’t care how much you know, they want to know how much you care.”

This means when you are using social media, you have to really engage with people. Sincerely get to know people you are connected with on social media. Invite them to get to know you as well. In order to do this, you must be somewhat transparent. This makes many people a bit uncomfortable. It is sometimes hard to be so “out there”. Look for things about yourself that you are comfortable sharing, such as your interest in gardening or love of classic rock music. There are lots of people who share those interests. Sometimes, when you start out being transparent about little things like this, it makes you more approachable.

People don’t do business with a business, people do business with people! Make it your goal to get to know more people and build your network on social media as a person. Building your business following will naturally follow.

Key Take-Aways:

1. Make it your goal to get to know more people and build your network on social media as a person.

2. Just mentioned this: People don’t do business with a business, people do business with people!

Next Steps:

Friend me and Fan us on Facebook. Tell me about you and your business and let’s get to know each other!

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