How to Use Twitter to Feature your Staff

As a small business owner, you already know that you should have a Twitter account that should be updated weekly, if not daily.  But have you ever thought of how to use Twitter to call attention to all of your excellent staff members?

Featuring Your Staff

how to use twitterMany of your staff members may already have their own personal Twitter accounts.  But as a staff member at your small business they should also have their own business account correlated with their job.  After that, your small business Twitter account should make weekly posts about their staff.  This can be something simple such as:

“Jennifer Gray, our very own licensed dietician, will be out of the office this week on vacation – enjoy Florida and bring us back some sun!”

Or it can be a little trivia fact such as:

“Did you know that Mathew Jones graduated from UNLV with a 3.90 GPA back in 2007?  Way to go!”

However you want to do it, this will show potential clients that you care about your staff and as a result of that, you will care about them, too.  This will also show your staff that you appreciate them and everything they contribute to your small business every day.  In addition, this gives you, the owner, a chance to introduce your current clients to new staff members that have joined your team.  When you feature each staff member, this also gives your clients the ability to reach out to specific members of your staff with their own Twitter accounts associated only with your small business.

by

How to Use Facebook to Get More Clients

With revolutions in today’s technology, an astounding 50% of American’s own a smart phone.  This is a fact that you, as a small business owner, need to keep in mind as you create your smart marketing campaign.  You need to realize that a smart phone user carries the internet in their pocket.  This is vital to get more clients.

“Like” Us!

how to use facebook to get more clientsIf you have clients coming in to your office on a daily basis, place a simple poster in your waiting room asking them to “Like” you on Facebook using their smart phones.  For an incentive, enter everyone who “Likes” your page into a monthly contest to earn a free service or product from your small business.  This is a small price to pay for having the attention of every single one of your clients because you can market to them right from their smart phones.

When clients “Like” your page, anything you post as an update on your page will automatically go directly to your clients’ newsfeed.  This is the perfect place for your brand to engage with its users as well as get the word out about weekly specials, new services and interesting products you are offering. Interacting with your clients on Facebook also lets them see all the other cool people you serve.  You will get more clients if you engage on Facebook.

You can post pictures of events, feature different clients monthly, embed coupons especially for your Facebook fans to print out or show to you on their smart phone directly in the office. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

by

Smart Marketing: Where to Place Your Call to Action

As we learned last time in our previous smart marketing post, Call to Action, or C2A, buttons are helpful in tracking progress of potential customers to clients.  They are also useful for enticing new website visitors to learn more about your small business.  Below are some valuable tips for placement of your calls to action so that your business can engage in smart marketing:

Visitors who are new to your site are there for information. 

Statistics show that most website visitors that are new to a page are simply there to find out more about who you are. They just want information.

where to place your call to action buttonsThey are also very unlikely to scroll below the fold, while on your homepage.  Using this information, you should place your call to action “above the fold” on your website.  This means that the reader should be able to see it without having to scroll down the page at all.

Address the different buying phases of your site visitors.

You will have visitors on your site that are at different buying stages and know that about 75% of readers are in the early stages of the buying process.

These visitors are interested in what your business has to offer, but are not sure if they want to invest quite yet. Knowing this, make sure that your homepage has several call to action buttons that speak to visitors at different phases or a button that speaks to a common problem your customers may have regardless the phase.  If your small business focuses on treating chronic back pain, create a call to action that jumps on your front page that says, “Chronic back pain? Click here to find out how we can help you.”

The other 25% of website visitors are in the later phases of the buying process and have probably already visited your website and/or subscribed to your blog. They are familiar with the layout and navigation of the page.

They don’t need to be convinced that your product or service works, they already know it does, and because of this you should have C2As located in lead nurturing campaigns that focus on targeting their specific needs and lead them further down the sales funnel.

Also, be sure not to leave out your current customers. You should have C2As on your site that encourages your current customer base to upgrade or check out your latest and greatest product or service. Create demand for your business with a C2A focused just on your repeat customers.

Now it’s your turn. What are some other ways and places you can use C2As to convert your website visitors? Tell us your ideas in the comments box below.

by

Smart Marketing: Call to Action Ideas

One of the most annoying things about surfing the internet these days is the over-use of flashy, in your face advertisements.  You go to YouTube to watch a video and it forces you to sit through a 30 second advertisement that isn’t even related to the video you want to watch.  The problem here is the outbound approach to marketing that many businesses around the world are currently using.  But statistics prove that this movement is slowly causing the US population to tune out advertising of all kinds, including commercials on radio and TV, billboards, and internet pop-ups.

With the inbound approach to marketing, customers are seeking out your business.  This allows the small business to save money in the long run because they are not paying high advertisement fees.  If you want your small business to effectively use smart marketing, you need to add Calls to Action to your web page.

A Call to Action, or C2A, is a link on one page of your website that takes users to a new landing page with information that they are interested in.  Here are some tips on creating compelling C2As:

call to action ideas for smart marketingIf you wouldn’t click on it, other users probably won’t click on it either.  Take this concept and apply it when you are designing your C2As.  Also, make the entire C2A button clickable.  Users are not going to click five places before finding the right place to click on a larger button.  They will simply move on a lose interest, exactly the opposite of what you want them to do.  So, make the whole button clickable, not just certain parts that say “Click Here!”

Everyone loves free things, so offering a free service with a C2A is a perfect opportunity to implement smart marketing techniques.  If your small business doesn’t offer free services, this would be a good time to think of simple things to offer potential clients.  Free services range from consultations, tips, e-books and white papers – all of which will increase traffic, which in turn will increase conversion rates.

Ask yourself this: why are customers coming to your site?  If they are trying to solve a problem, then make sure your C2A leads them to a solution.  It should be obvious what you are trying to promote with your C2A.  But in the same respect, don’t go with the obvious “Click here!” gimmick.  Make it interesting, creative and pleasing to the eye.

by

Creating a Social Media Marketing Crisis Plan

why you need to create a social media crisis planDid you know that when the US Airways plane landed in the Hudson River on January 12, 2009 the first news sent out was a Tweeted picture?  Then, within minutes hundreds of people around the world knew about what happened, and they didn’t find out about it on the news.  So what is the lesson here?  Create a social media marketing crisis plan for your company.

Hopefully you will never have to use this crisis plan, but you need to be prepared for anything that comes your way in the future.  There are two main crises that your small business should focus on to maintain a level of smart marketing:

Overblown customer complaint: It can happen to any small business out there, but if you have a social media marketing crisis plan it can be easier to handle than you might think.  Let’s say you post a new blog and a current customer of yours reads it and is highly upset by the blog’s content.  In turn they leave negative feedback in a comment on the blog or they update their Twitter or Facebook page with negativity.

The first step that needs to be an ongoing process as a small business anyways is building strong, valuable relationships with your customers.  This can be accomplished by providing original, useful information on a continuous basis.  Customers will learn to appreciate and value all of the information you are giving them and they will learn to really trust everything you have to say.

Unfortunate Publicized Event: Picture this: your small business appears on the evening news for something that happened at your company that day.  Or how about this viral Twit Pic that has been circulating around the Internet for the past few days: Seriously.  Your immediate reaction might be panic, but what you really need to implement is prevention and precaution.  After an event like this, social media sites (including your blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts) should be updated as quickly as possible with timely, correct information for your clients.

Not only does this show your customers that you care about your small business, it also shows that you care about your customers as individuals.  Taking the time to update your social media sites lets your customers know that they come first.  Although I all wish and hope that an event like either of the above mentioned never happens to your small business, I do want to ensure that you and your company are protected.  The quickest and simplest way to do this is to implement a social media marketing crisis plan that can be followed whenever a business-threatening event happens.

by

LinkedIn Means Business: Get More Clients Using Social Media

Article first published as LinkedIn Means Business on Technorati.

how to use linkedin for small businessThere has been a lot of talk as to whether or not social media is the front runner in another inflated internet bubble waiting to burst, leaving users “virtually” friendless and clueless. Will everyone be out of the loop, with no one keeping track of daily deals, happenings or status updates? Warren Buffet confirmed this fear stating that although it’s not as big as the dot com bubble, social media is not long term by any means. However, industry trends and buyer behaviors are stating otherwise.

Facebook has proven beneficial to marketing efforts for B2C companies, but B2B marketing has struggled to find its footing on the platform. That’s where LinkedIn has emerged as the go-to medium for B2B marketers.

A recent study done by BtoB Magazine, showed that when asked “Which of the following social media methods does your company currently use for your B2B marketing (i.e. not personal use)” 72% of B2B marketers said LinkedIn. After reaching more than 100 million users, LinkedIn has solidified its niche as Facebook in a business suit, and B2B companies have taken notice.

The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing (an annual report done by HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company) found that 61% of B2B marketers who participated in the survey acquired a customer through LinkedIn. The targeted and measurable aspect of inbound marketing is what makes it so attractive to smart business owners who are tired of spending money on marketing with no proof that it’s working. Former Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s, M. Lawrence Light said, “It no longer makes economic sense to send an advertising message to the many, in hopes of persuading the few.”

Social media from a marketing perspective changes the rules of the game. Inbound marketing is completely driven by the social aspect of the internet. By gaining permission from your target market you introduce them to your products and services, educate them and show them your value, then let them determine if it’s a good fit or not.

The “experts” are certain that social media is mostly smoke and mirrors. Maybe the social media “naysayers” don’t fall into the nine out of 10 internet users who visited a social networking site each month in 2010. This means, they probably just don’t “get” social media. They should stop the fear-mongering and recognize that social media has given access to “regular” people to determine what is share-worthy and have allowed small businesses to grow by creating a more level playing field.

While the debate if social media plays as significant a role as is perceived continues, there is no question that business owners are using it to grow their businesses, and the proof is in the data.

by

Why Some Small Business Owners Excel at Social Media…And How You Can Too

As a small business owner, it’s normal for you to compare your business successes to that of your peers both in the same industry and in other industries, and it’s easy to wonder why some of them seem to be doing so much better in certain areas than you are.

You’ve probably checked out their website and you notice they are active in social media, something you have yet to do, or yet to do well. You’ve gotten as far as setting up a profile but you’re not sure you get it yet so you haven’t really been active, and you’ve certainly seen no added value as of yet.

excel at social media by listening to what your customers wantWhat makes social media marketing easier for some than it is for others? It boils down to the desire. If you really want your small business to be active in social media––and you should––you will either learn how to participate, or you will find someone who already knows how and figure out how to integrate their knowledge of social media with your knowledge of your business and target market.

Those small business owners who excel at social media marketing are part of the more than one-third of US small business who owners who say social media helps them get found online. The ones who are most successful have fully bought in to the power social media marketing can have on getting found and growing your business.

Small business owners who use social media marketing successfully do three key things:

They begin with a measurable goal.

Small business owners who use social media marketing have to know what they want to get out of it. Why build a Facebook page? What are you looking to gain by having one? Answer the why and what questions before you begin and you’ll know what success looks like and how to measure it.

They know where to listen and where to find their audience.

You can only engage your audience using social media if you know where they are and you can only engage them effectively if you’ve been listening to what they need. So after setting your social media marketing goals, hangout on the networks you’ve decided to participate on and listen to what your target market is talking about and see how they engage with other brands. After doing so, you may need to tweak some of the goals you’ve set.

They understand how social media plays a role within their larger marketing plan. 

Small business owners who use social media marketing successfully know that social media is part of an overall marketing plan. if one of your overarching goals is to get more brand exposure, social media is a tactic to help you do that; a means to an end. It is not a strategy unto itself no matter how many “gurus” say otherwise.

Have you had social media marketing success? Share some success stories in the comments area.

by