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As I have previously discussed, online social media tools drives business.
How you use them is up to you. Brand awareness now more than ever in this digital age can make or break your company. You may be Joe's handyman shop in rural America or a fortune 500 company in New York City. Either way, social media is being implemented and our society is deeply entrenched in using it. Here are a few more tips I would like to offer as I continue my blogs on social media and it's deployment in your business. Networking Make sure you are out and about meeting people. Networking with people who are in your industry or potential clients is a key factor. They see your face. If you don't have the time, send one of your key employees who knows your business. If you have a marketing person, he or she needs to be at chamber events, leads groups or other social business events handing out business cards, promoting your company, or scheduling presentations to talk about products or services that are relevent to your business. You might be asking yourself "What does this have to do with social media?" Networking is social contact my friend! Create Contact Participation If you do blogs or offer some kind of newsletter within your web site or online community, make sure you do something that allows interaction. Do a contest for a chance to win a prize, solicit nominations for a free service, offer to do a business spotlight, anything that creates interaction. This creates a tighter client-business relationship and makes them feel like you care about them not only as a customer but as a friend. Be Current & Up To Date Keep your social media interaction up and current. Don't post something and forget about it. Nothing is more annoying than having a customer check your website or Twitter feed to find "Happy 4th of July" and it's September. If you do not have time to post, don't post at all. (Find someone who can for you) Link, Link, Link Make sure you link to everything and everywhere. From your website, link to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, whatever you using. Make sure those same sites have links back to everything else you do. It creates more impressions, increases your position on search engines, and allows more "hits". Don't Be Cruel (With Apologies To Elvis) Keep in mind that many of your clients have no clue about landing pages, what a "tweet" is or what those funny boxes called Quick Response Codes are. Help them find you. Help them understand and use social media. It creates word of mouth referrals to your business. I hope this helps you and your business deploy social media to its best potential. If you have questions, visit my website and contact me via my portal. Get Social! As if we just start to get a grasp on Instagram and Social Cam, Tumblr now
begins to grow up and out of its diapers. This social media web site has been around for some time. (2007) As with any unique social media website, Tumblr has been on a pathway of discovery. As I look at Tumblr even today, I think it is still evolving to identify what it wants to do. You might call it Social Cam on steroids. A variety of categories from A to Z can be found on Tumblr and the subject matter even more so. The users are mostly the under 35 crowd and please understand, I am not knocking Tumblr. I find it actually pretty cool to surf around. For the purpose of my blog this week however, the question is can Tumblr work from a business marketing perspective? My answer is "maybe". To use Tumblr for marketing your business, it is going to take several considerations. The most important one is time. Besides account maintenance, you must have some savvy in web video presence. This is not social cam where you post 20 or 30 seconds of unedited "look at me" content. There is a some thought and creativity that goes into Tumblr productions. Like You Tube, Tumblr strives for some quality from its users. Pictures can also be used and I would be amis not to say that Tumblr has an excellent array of photos in various categories as well. How does all this fit in to the business sector? Considering the age group on Tumblr, if you have a business that is trying to reach the 35 and under crowd, then yes, you might want to consider establishing a business account and post lets say fashion ideas or gaming products, ect. The NFL has a category on there mixed with individual teams supported by fans. There is even blogging on Tumblr but I personally don't think Tumblr is the place to blog if you want exposure . I feel Word Press gets more attention. (or my own web site here (:-) In conclusion, Tumblr is up and coming but just how far up, I think we need to take a few steps back and let it evolve some more. In the meantime, check it out for yourself and surf around! Tumbler can be found at http://www.tumblr.com In a nutshell, Public Relations=publicity. How you gain publicity for your business however becomes the "sleeping giant" we all want to slay but can't figure out how to do it without spending a ton of money for a professional to do it for us or thinking it all means advertising in the local paper or radio-television stations. Well my friend, you are only 1% right and 99% wrong.
Today, sure you need to advertise (your 1%) but public relations goes way beyond that. Much of this can be done at little or no cost as well. Let's focus on some of these. Community interaction such as the local Chamber, Civic groups, or creating a blog for your company are examples of fee sources. You can also engage in public speaking as well. Reporters for area media love a good story on a business helping their community. If they do not cover it, write your own press release on what you done or are presently doing and send it out. (Check the internet on how to do this or drop me a line) Remember when creating a public relations piece or full campaign for your business, think it through and remember who you are trying to reach. Communication is very important. Here are some basic tips I found that have worked for me. Keep in mind I used to be on the receiving end of this when I was a broadcast journalist. I was always looking for something that was not self serving to the business but had a "feel good" story behind it. Goals---Have goals in place and know what you are trying to achieve for your PR campaign and review them frequently to stay on track. Preception---What are you trying to get from your audience about how they see you? Message---What is the message from your PR blitz? Remember if you are trying to be self-serving, most smart journalists or reporters will ignore you. Sources---Develop an execution for your PR plan and then go to your sources. In conclusion your can spend money on advertising or use that other 99% that you have at your disposal. Develop relationships withn your community. Always ask yourself about your business. "What can I offer, what do I know that I can share;what do I know about a topic better than anybody else that the public would have a vested interest in?" Good luck and email me your results or thoughts. |
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