In this age of affordable web design and local business directories, getting online is no longer an issue for even the smallest of businesses. Being seen, however, is an entirely different ball game. By virtue of the fact that every man (or woman) and their dog are now able to establish at least a basic web presence with ease – for those businesses dependent on local trade staying ahead of the pack has never been more important.
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Posts Tagged ‘Social Networking’
Social Networking vs. A Website – Who’s Winning?
Posted March 15th, 2010 by Lisa Chirgwin in Social Media Marketing, Social Networking
With rapid developments in the way people both perceive and use the internet over the last few years, debate has grown over the use of traditional websites and their place in what has arguably become the age of social media. (more…)
User Expectations – Does Your Website Meet Them?
Posted March 9th, 2010 by Chrisi Reid in Miscellaneous, Website Development
Inspiration can come from unusual sources. I am a regular reader of several blogs and forums, and happened to notice an interesting discussion on one of these yesterday. The participants were reviewing the newly launched website of a brick-and-mortar shop, and how the site – despite the company’s generally good reputation – failed to meet some critical customer expectations.
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Is Social Media Really Driving Online Sales
Posted February 9th, 2010 by Stephen Harvey-Franklin in Advertising, Microblogging, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking
Is Social Media all hype, or is it really delivering on the promise?
We keep hearing about Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. We even hear about big Social Media phenomenon: The Facebook Group set up to get “Rage against the Machine” to number one in the music charts, the spoiler to stop X-Factor winner Joe McElderry being the Christmas Number One. Dave Carroll’s song on You Tube viewed nearly 7,000,000 times that tells the tale about how United Airlines broke his guitar (Search for United Airlines on YouTube and Dave Carroll’s song comes top every time). Millions of people everyday use some form of Social Media every day; we hear of big company campaigns on Social Media, but does it have a commercial impact for local businesses? The short answer is Yes, very much so.
20 Twitter Tips for Business
Posted November 10th, 2008 by WSI Yorkshire in Microblogging, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking
The social networking website Twitter continues to grow in popularity amongst British web users, recently becoming the 38th most visited website in the UK. Twitter is a free-to-use micro blogging platform allowing users to correspond (or ‘tweet’) with each other in 140 characters or less.
Estimated at having more than 10 million users, Twitter is currently growing faster than any other networking site. As a result, businesses are getting on board as a means of extending their reach and participating in the ‘online conversation’. So what are some of the best ways to use Twitter for business?<!–more–>
Tweeting for Business the Right Way
The ability to communicate in real time with your followers is one of the main attractions of participating in the micro blogging arena. Add to this the ease of making updates of only 140 characters or less – and the ability to do so via a mobile device – and you can see why Twitter’s popularity is growing so quickly.
These same benefits also apply to businesses. At present, Twitter is free to use for companies. But users are not easily fooled. Participating with no other reason than to make sales will soon leave you ‘friendless’. To help you succeed on Twitter, consider the following 20 Twitter tips for business.
- Begin with a strategy; otherwise, you may quickly find it a fruitless (and time-consuming) exercise
- Update your personal profile, incorporating your business colours and ‘visual personality’
- Add a picture profile
- Include a ‘Follow us on Twitter’ link on your own website
- Include a ‘Follow us on Twitter’ link in your email newsletters
- Update your Bio information to give a little background, including a link to your website
- Keep your strategy in mind as you tweet: stay on song
- Use the Twitter search tools to find your target market
- Search for Tweets related to your industry and participate in the conversations
- Use ReTweets (RT) and replies (@…) when commenting on related Tweets
- Keep an eye on trending topics
- Ask for help from other Twitter users – it’s a great way to engage people
- Use links in your Tweets to others sources, including (but not exclusive to) your website
- Recommend other Twitterers; it’s a genuine act that is often reciprocated
- Be yourself. Don’t be afraid to share your personality – it’s a part of being genuine
- Ask questions and conduct polls
- Give advice or assistance where applicable; this helps position you as an expert
- Keep an eye on your Direct Messages (DM) and take time to respond to the genuine ones
- Try not to use automated software. Think quality before quantity
- Add yourself to the We Follow Twitter directory.
Other social networking sites such as FriendFeed and Facebook provide micro blogging tools as well, and it is possible to link your accounts with each application in order to update them all from one interface. Be selective, though. Don’t spread your resources too thinly.
While Twitter is fast becoming one of the biggest players in the social media arena, it shouldn’t be adopted as your only marketing activity. Instead, use it to complement your other marketing channels. If you would like help improving your social media strategy, call us on 01484 690430.
5 Point Plan to Great Business Blogging
Posted November 9th, 2008 by WSI Yorkshire in Blogging, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing
Social media is finally taking off in the UK, with over 13 million online social network users in 2008 – and growing. Quite likely, you have friends that use Facebook or your children socialise via Bebo or MySpace. There may even be a few Twitterers among you.
As consumers and professionals become more familiar with social media sites and comfortable with taking the ‘conversation’ online, your business must be in a position to participate as part of the web community. Publishing a business blog provides many opportunities for engaging with your customers online.<!–more–>
Getting Business Blogging Right the First Time
Many companies are concerned primarily about three issues regarding blogs: a) the time required to source a regular flow of content, b) the costs involved in getting professional copy written, and c) the need to attract readers to make it all worthwhile.
To address these concerns, you can use the following 5-point plan, which will enable you to take a phased approached to preparing for, setting up, and running a successful business blog.
1. Establish Clear Objectives
Knowing what you want to achieve with your blog will enable you to choose a clear direction from the start. Although it’s important to use your blog to participate in a genuine manner as part of the online community, it is also completely reasonable to have your own business objective, which might include:
- Sharing your expertise in a friendly, entertaining way
- Driving traffic to your sales pages
- Engaging search engines in conjunction with a SEO plan
- Publishing product updates, reviews, and special offers
- Writing articles relating to your industry
- Conducting market research
As you set out your plans, you may find you have more than one objective – that’s fine, as long as you can establish measures that enable you to identify what is working and where you may need to improve.
2. Know Your Target Audience
You don’t have to be all things to all people; in fact, it is better that you don’t even try this approach. Identifying who you are writing for can help focus your content and help you ‘find your voice’. Choose a style that will appeal to your intended readers and go out of your way to stand out from the crowd.
Good content is important, but the same news shared in a completely unique style can win over readers as well. Your corporate blog doesn’t need to be stuffy; instead, you should see it as an opportunity to share some personality and engage customers on another level.
3. Devise a Workable Content Strategy
This may sound a little like executive speak, but establishing a ‘workable content strategy’ from the start will enable you to keep your blog regularly updated – which is vital for attracting regular visitors (and indexing) from search engines as well as keeping your readers engaged.
Schedule time for researching content (using RSS feeds and news websites), writing posts (remember: it doesn’t need to be an epilogue), and publishing it via your chosen blog platform.
4. Maintain Quality Control
Be creative, be informative, be provocative even, but don’t be boring. If you have nothing to say, keep quiet for now. Focus on quality over quantity. Your readers will thank you for it.
It’s also important to maintain an appropriate tone. Over-familiarity in a business setting doesn’t always go over well with clients. In other words, keep the latest about your ingrown toenail to yourself.
5. Include a Marketing Plan
How are you going to spread the word? Online marketing is worthy of an article all its own, but for starters, the search engines and social media marketing are key for getting your blog noticed.
In addition, you may want to consider using one of the increasing number of web 2.0 applications that make it child’s play to share your blog posts across numerous content platforms.
In conclusion, consider this: By refusing to engage with customers as part of the online community, you may actually be sending the message that you do not WANT to communicate. If you would like help implementing a blog for your business, call us on 01484 690430.
