The benefits of successfully engaging customers through social media marketing has prompted much to be written on the subject. In fact, you might be forgiven for thinking everyone has an opinion on how best to market your business using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter – the list of do’s and don’ts is literally endless.
Posts Tagged ‘twitter’
Google is getting into Social Media with Google Buzz
Posted February 10th, 2010 by Lisa Chirgwin in Miscellaneous, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking
Google has started to roll out its own Social Media platform to take on Twitter and Facebook. Check in your Gmail account over the next few days to see if you have access! It’s also planned to make Google Buzz available to businesses and schools using Google Apps, with added features for sharing within organisations.
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.
Tweet Your Way to Success!
Posted February 8th, 2010 by Chris Mann in Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing
Twitter is one of the newest and most successful platforms to enter the social media arena in recent years. Social Media Marketing is still a relatively new concept and many companies have yet to fully embrace the opportunities it offers. Social Media Marketing if managed correctly can be a highly cost effective form of advertising. Twitter in particular is proving it is both a great tool for building personal social networks but also as a highly effective marketing tool for building business relationships and attracting new prospective customers.
5 Basic Tips For Joining Your First Social Media Site
Posted December 4th, 2009 by Chris Mann in Social Media Marketing
Creating your first social media presence can sometimes be a daunting but deceptively simple process. However before you sign up to your first social media site it is important to first understand the official and unofficial rules to ensure you stay safe online. Here are some tips to help guide you through your first steps in the social media arena:
Twitter to Launch Paid Business Accounts
Posted November 24th, 2009 by Chris Mann in Social Media Marketing
Biz Stone, Twitter’s co-founder has announced this week that the microblogging service will begin charging companies for using the platform in the new year.
Businesses will be under no obligation to sign up to a paid Twitter account. However businesses who do sign up will be rewarded with an elevated level of access, including feedback and statistics. Many big brands have embraced Twitter as a method of communicating directly with consumers and engaging with customers. Businesses which sign up to a paid account will be presented with a layer of features, which will aim to allow them to become more effective at utilising the platform through the analysis of inbuilt analytics. Stone confirmed personal twitter accounts would remain free. (more…)
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.
