mlr3cffjYhymHPTsI3vN3OD02lanAV: Business

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Sunday, December 2, 2012

What Needs To Be Ready For A Social Networking For Business Campaign to Succeed

A business owner needs to be ready for the amount of chatter that comes from entering the social networking realm. If the social media realm is about anything, it is about the amount of chatter that a business or person is able to post on the site. This chatter is anything from questions about a product or service or straight heckling of those products and services. In fact, it is not a stretch to say that anyone who runs a social networking campaign needs to have thick skin to run his or her campaign effectively.

Many leading marketing experts say that if a business does not have enemies than it does not stand for anything. The truth about social media is that any post that is not set to private (an important factor for any business social networking platform) is subject to scrutiny by the community who uses a certain social media platform. The business owner and the person who is assigned to the social networking campaign must have thick skins. This is because those hecklers who are the social networks are trying to get the business owner or person assigned to the campaign to take the insults personally. However, the ability to manage the those feelings is important (as well as the ability to remove those comments through the social networking platform so they are not a distraction for other companies or individuals trying to make a buying decision).

The person running the social networking campaign also needs to be properly trained to handle the campaign as well. One of the biggest mistakes that a manager or business owner can make is the assignment of a social networking campaign to a person who has no training to run the campaign effectively. Social networking is an art form and takes a certain kind of etiquette to be effective. What most people do when first starting a social media campaign is to try to gain as many followers as they can in a short period of time. However, this is rarely ever effective for developing new business contacts. Many of the people who a business can "friend" or "follow" are actually not people, they are what are called "bots" in marketing communities. They are really computer programs that pull down lists of users and add them to their "friend" or "follow" lists. These bots hope that real users will "follow" or "friend" them back. Trying to gain a following that is large from the start is the wrong approach to social networking. This approach is also is rarely ever effective.

A social media manager also should be skilled at "pacing" other users. This means that the user of social media should be able to match the language of other users in the system. The ability to speak like other users increases the chances of the business to develop real relationships that are beneficial for the business. The inability to do this can cause a business to not to able to relate to the community. Therefore, the business will be ignored by the target market and effectively be tuned out by the community.

A business should never take an employee and put them in front of a computer to manage the social networking campaign. There are many nuances that a person needs to know before they are able to effectively run a campaign. This person needs to have thick skin and the ability to mimic the speech patterns of the target market on the social networks. A person who has these qualities can be very effective at leading and generating revenue from social media programs.

Top Reasons to Engage on Twitter How Are You Leveraging Your LinkedIn Groups to Build Your Empire? How Online Social Networks Help Build Businesses 3 Drawbacks of Online Social Networking For Business What Is Instagram?

Local Vs National Social Networking For Business

Many people want to know if it is better to focus on local or national social networking for business. The truth about this is that it depends on what the goals of the company. However, there are downsides and upsides to focusing on both approaches. Each can be effective, but the timing of each method really depends on what state the business is in at the moment that the decision is made that they should join the social networks.

In general, it is better for a company to focus on the local area first. This is because the company can catch the low hanging fruit in their business. There is far less competition in the local area than the whole world. This allows a business to train in a small pond before they invest a lot of time and money in competing with the big boys in a market place. Too many businesses try to be larger than their skill level allows them. This causes them to lose a lot of money in advertising. This is no different than testing a message in direct mail. A message can be sent to a very small portion of the list. This allows a business to get an idea of the effectiveness of the ad before they jump into the deep end with both feet. This is the smartest strategy that a business can take before they spend a lot of money in a market that may not be profitable.

One of the problems with marketing to a smaller town is that the town may not have the statistical relevance necessary to make an educated guess. This lack of relevance makes it very hard to test a message. There is a major search engine that says that 1000 actions are needed before statistical relevance is achieved. However, this is not possible in some markets because a person may only get 20 visitors a day. These visitors may not click anything, which means that it could take years to finally get to that 1000 action threshold. This is a massive problem that should be considered before a business makes the choice to be local first.

The solution may not be to be national, however. Even though the pool is larger, it takes skill to manage the amount of clicks that can come into a server. The competition is also much stiffer and a company may never generate much traffic unless the person managing the campaign is a master of driving social media traffic. A business can also experience explosive growth where the business cannot keep up the demand placed on them. This is a massive problem that should be avoided.

The real answer to this question depends on where the business is before it enters the social media platforms. There are pros and cons to targeting the local area and the national area. However, it is always smart to start small and work up from there. This allows a business to learn the pitfalls in their marketing message and allows them the business owner to make changes as needed.

6 Reasons Instagram Is Perfect For Your Business

Instagram is a mobile app that allows users to instantly take and/or upload photos and quickly edit them using a unique set of filters and a branded tilt-shift feature (3-D effect) that sets them apart from the rest. It's taken off in popularity faster than any other mobile app and is most likely the reason the person standing in line next to you at Starbuck's is taking a picture of the pastry case for no apparent reason. Instagram is addictive and it has a whole nation of iPhone and Android users hooked. And where the public goes, your business should follow.

If you're the owner of your company and/or the person responsible for branding and social media, you should be privy to the 6 Reasons Instagram is perfect for your business:

1. Instagram is Instantaneous

There is no waiting around until you get back to your home or office to take full advantage of Instagram for brand building. Using your iPhone or Android, you snap the photo, edit, upload, add a comment (remember to #hashtag keywords), and share from your brand's profile within seconds.

2. No Duplicate Accounts Needed

Unlike Facebook and Google+ where you're required to set up a lengthy personal profile before you can set up a brand page, you are allowed to jump right in as a brand on Instagram without any consequence. It's a fairly easy set up process.

3. Everyone Has an Inner-Photographer

Many business owners are at a loss when it comes to using social networks to grow their customer base for the most part because they do not have a way with words or know how to hone their creative juices for content marketing. But everyone likes taking photos and let's be honest - almost every one of us feels like we have a knack behind the camera. While darkroom results often prove otherwise, the ease and foolproof editing of Instagram will in fact turn you into the Herb Ritts of your product/service content marketing.

4. It Makes Your Brand Look Interesting

This is the great thing about using Instagram to showcase your product/service. Instagram filters make office supply suppliers, garbage removal services, and even internet marketers look cool. Use Instagram to show off your product/service and even your corporate culture by capturing candid office moments. Instagram albums give personality to brands in a manner that no other sharing network has been able to accomplish thus far.

5. Create a Location Page for Your Business

Google Places and the new Google+ Local Pages for businesses have proven the importance of having a physical location attached to your brand's online presence. Instagram's integration with the Foursquare location database allows you to Geotag the location the photo was taken from (i.e. your place of business) which allows it to be added to the location page on Instagram. If users are browsing photos based on location and see a product of yours that appeals to them within their area, you may have a new customer. If a location is not listed, you can add your business to the Instagram/Foursquare database.

6. It's Easier to get Followers

Because you can't post links on Instagram, the public won't feel like they are being bombarded with SPAM when following your brand account. If you frequently post interesting images that feature your product service on Instagram, customers are more likely to follow you there than on any other Social Network. It will be easier for you to build brand recognition with a bigger fan base. Because Instagram easily links to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, it helps those social networks grow for you as well. The same rules of social network marketing apply though - interact with (comment and "like") and follow your customers FIRST. On Instagram, they actually follow back.

Conclusion:

While it doesn't provide the linking opportunities that many internet marketers are overly obsessed with, Instagram is the easiest and most fun-to-use social sharing network out there and it can be a tremendous tool in developing your business' brand persona and in gaining brand recognition with your online customer base.

What You Should Remember When It Comes To Your Business Social Networking Profiles

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and the list goes on and on. We are now in the era of staying socially connected and socially abreast of the world around us via social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. We can literally reveal to the world any and everything that we want others to know or not know about us with the push of a button. What we look like, where we live, how many children we have, who we are married to, what we drive, where we shop, where we vacation - this is all on public display for the world to see at the push of a button.

So exactly just what should you be including in your profile and display pages anyway? For starters, it really depends on what exactly you are using social media sites for. Is it for business, family, or for pleasure? It may possibly be for all of the above. At any rate, you should always be very strategic in how you use social media no matter what you use it for!

Social Networking for Business

Assuming you are using social networking sites for business it is important to keep one thing in mind. Despite what you may think, most social networking websites do not have restrictions on who can view your personal profile and information. The bottom line is that where there is a will and or a need, there is definitely a way. Your information can be accessed no matter how private that you believe it to be because you ultimately have no right to the actual sites! Once you publish information on social media sites, it no longer belongs to "you." Always proceed with caution in what you say and do on social media sites.

What Not to Do on Your Business Profile Pages

Do not post pictures of yourself half naked or in compromising places or positions! Assuming that you are a business professional that is not in the adult entertainment industry you always want to be extremely tasteful in the pictures that you post. While it is great that your body looks good enough for a bikini and you love Vanilla Vodka, your customers, business partners and potential customers and business partners don't need or care to see your bikini body or Vodka bottle(typically)! A rule of thumb should be that if it doesn't relate to business and it is on your business page - DON'T POST IT! Do not get too personal! Leave the "drama" off of your business page. Often times, people will get into politics and it can become extremely personal, offensive, opinionated and controversial. Save the sports, reality TV and politics talk for your personal page. After all, it is business! Therefore, your potential customers and partners have their eyes on you and are "judging you." Leave your personal life on your personal page. There is a fine line to be drawn here. Yes, you want to have some personality and reveal who you are but a line must be drawn in the sand. Do not post updates and images on a regular basis regarding your family life and personal life. Unless you can make a connection to your business life in what it is that you are posting, leave that for your personal page!

Always be on purpose when posting to the social networking sites that you use for business. Keep in mind that people are "watching your every move" whether you realize it or not. What you do online, as well as offline, has a direct impact on who joins you and who conducts business with you. When it comes to your social networking business strategy, always ask yourself three questions:

1) What will my customers think?

2) What will my partners think?

3) What will my prospects think?

Keep it professional, informational and inspirational and you will have nothing to worry about. Lead by example and post on purpose. People will respect you for it and want to be associated with you, which will ultimately grow your business and your bank account in the end!

Where Social Networking for Business Is Going In The Future

Social networking or social media is heading towards a more business friendly environment. The bigger social media sites were generated with the individual in mind. The features of the current social media networks may not only be ineffective for businesses but also detrimental to developing strong business contacts. These social networks may cause businesses to lose money because they may be too open for businesses to use for everyday business.

A business networking system must be close ended. For a business social network to be effective, it must be like a real Rolodex. When a business meets another business for the first time, they do not want to show off their whole Rolodex on the first meeting. Unfortunately, this is how most of the bigger social networks have built their platform.

Most of the users can see each other in their "friends" and "followers" areas. This can cause some businesses to lose their competitive advantage based on the relationship they have with another one of their business associates. For example, a business may have spent months searching for a wholesale distributor of a certain product. This distributor may be delivering that product at an unbelievable discount that the business can use to generate a great amount of revenue. It would not make sense for a business to reveal who that distributor is to everyone they meet. However, this is exactly what happens in most social networking sites. The full contact, "friends," and "followers" list is revealed to anyone who becomes a friend or follower of a business.

Generally, any update that any person makes on the regular social media networking systems will push down the updates from any other user (this includes other business entities and potential consumers). This fact alone can mean that a business may miss an important piece of information from a vendor or even a client who wants to make a buying decision. Any information by any person can and will be pushed down by any update in the major social media networks and this is a massive problem for businesses. A business needs a clean social network where contacts cannot see each other unless designated by the business and the stream of communication can be controlled to the point where only pertinent information is seen by the business and not mixed with personal information from personal contacts.

A business owner will likely own more than one business. This means that having one social media or social network profile is not an option for most businesses. Every business needs to be treated as a separate business and have its own profile. This allows a business to avoid a phenomenon called "piercing of the corporate veil" where a business is legally associated to each other by not properly maintaining the borders between two or more businesses. This means more assets can be at stake when a company has legal troubles. Having separate accounts for social media can be very useful for this boundary between businesses and avoids future problems that have to do with litigation.

In the future, social networks will be created with business use in mind and personal use as an afterthought. This change will allow businesses to make better use of the social media systems and allow them to have different profiles and keep contacts from seeing each other on the systems. These businesses will be better prepared for developing contacts through the internet and create a global marketplace that is better suited for the needs of business owners everywhere.