Social Media Marketing: Where to Begin?

By Tabitha Jean Naylor 

The buzz on social media is that small businesses are succeeding more and more, thanks to websites like Facebook and Twitter. Of course, the buzz is all over because of social media websites.
There are many reasons to utilize social media for marketing, as many business owners are already aware. Beginning to advertise can be stressful enough, but finding how and where you’re going to market is another step in the direction of confusing.

To make matters worse, with all of the social media outlets available, you’re left with the mind-blowing question: where the heck do you start?
Knowing the pros and cons of the social media outlets available for marketing can help provide assistance in choosing where to begin your advertisement process.

Facebook

Facebook is usually the first place to begin advertising and marketing on, because it is used so often on a daily basis by a number of users, including you.
Some of the pros for marketing on Facebook are:

• Marketing on Facebook makes it easy to target an audience. In fact, Facebook now has ads that appear in the suggested interest of each user, so targeting is almost inevitable.
• With the continuously growing use of apps on Facebook, choosing the right apps can help promote your business. A lot of the apps available are great for driving traffic towards your page.
• Facebook allows users to easily access information about your business as well as its employees and owners. It can give you the option to remain personal or completely anonymous when uploading information onto your business page.
• Commenting and sharing gives users the option to spread the word about your business or company, bringing more potential clients your way.

Cons of Facebook marketing are:

• A lot of communication is required, especially if users are consistently sending messages to your company. Your lack of a response can make the consumer think you’re unavailable or not interested in their business.
• It is time consuming to set up the perfect page as well as respond to all of your followers.
• You must pay to advertise on Facebook and their advertisement prices vary.

Pinterest
Pinterest is another new and developing social media outlet to market through.
Some of the pros are:

• Marketing is mainly visual. This allows the readers to get the picture rather than reading through a boatload of text.
• The audience available to market through seems endless. There are so many different kinds of people who use Pinterest, so the ability to market to people you hadn’t intended is possible.
• Whatever your business or company is selling or marketing can be specifically searched, making it easy to find. If the user types it in, or even a keyword attached to it, it can be found.

Cons:

• Your pins can get lost or go unseen. It’s almost like rankings on search engines. If they’re not frequently viewed or re-pinned, it’s almost like they disappear.
• Your page requires a lot of updating because users want to see new pins from you regularly or you’re just another follower on their list of friends.
• Liking and repining can get confusing and may not actually bring the attention your page needs.
• The rules of Pinterest read along the lines of ‘no self-promotion’. This can make things fairly difficult.

Twitter
Last, but certainly not least, is Twitter. Twitter users can be a great audience to market to.
Some of the pros are:

• Tweets are easy to see because they immediately pop up and are not hidden by other posts or long written stories from other users.
• Everything is straight and to the point. Whatever it is you’re trying to say, the reader will be able to digest because of the 140 character limit.
• The Twitter world is like Pinterest: endless. There are so many users on Twitter, many of whom are willing to follow anyone because of their following count.

Cons

• The 140 character limit can also make it difficult to get in what you need to, to persuade interest to your business.
• Twitter is not good for visuals. Unless you’re a celebrity or close friend, clicking on links to visit the picture is almost too inconvenient.
• Twitter must pre-approve you to promote your business. Like Pinterest, that can make things very difficult if you’re unsure of the process.

Read more at business2community.com/social-media

Is Social Media Necessary For Getting New Customers?

By David Cuevas

Being a successful entrepreneur requires the ability to develop potential customers by using any means necessary. If you are not currently active on social media marketing channels like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you can bet your competitors are and they are producing significant results.

83% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business.

The number of businesses that say Facebook is critical or important to their business has increased by 75%.

Social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing.

Still think social media is a fad? Here are some usage stats for you.

• The fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year age bracket. This demographic has grown 79% since 2012.
• The 45–54 year age bracket is the fastest growing demographic on both Facebook and Google+.
• For Facebook, this group has jumped 46%.
• For Google+, 56%.
• YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18–34 than any cable network.
• Every second two new users join LinkedIn.

Social media can also be used to help you find more details about your business than you ever imagined possible. An example of the power of social media is the use of hashtags and trending topics, which allow you to find specific information about your company, what people may be saying about it, or even find insights regarding the market in which you are involved.

Now What?

Social media is a vital tool that is readily available and will help your business reach new customers and grow in ways – and at speeds – that more traditional marketing can’t accomplish. As the statistics above show, social media usage has gone mainstream. Because people are spending significantly more time on social media sites, the battle for the attention of all of these eyeballs has also intensified.

Develop effective social media campaigns. 

Social media marketing is now becoming a necessity for most businesses.

Companies MUST move in this direction by allocating resources to sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest. While costs have increased, the rewards are significant. Social media has quickly become the best way to develop social influence and increase brand awareness on the web.

Be sure to implement social media into your marketing campaign today, as it will be the best way to keep up with those around you.

Social Signals Are “Backlinks” of the Future

BY Chris Guthrie

For years, Marketers have been jockeying for page #1 rankings, focused solely on backlinks.

Well guess what...
The future of SEO has EVOLVED and making a major shift towards CONTENT and SOCIAL SHARING.

Google and other search engines have realized that people LOVE to share content via social media.
...and that measuring engagement, social sharing and social signal diversity is a better indication
of what is quality content and worth of high organic rankings.

- Share buttons (like, recommend, tweet, bookmark, etc.)
- Connect buttons (Like a Facebook page, Follow on Twitter, Follow on LinkedIn, etc.)
- Social commenting

Which means that Social Signal monitoring is the NEW backlink monitoring for SEO.

Which is why Marketers NEED to Check out WPSocialTracker:

http://chrisloves.com/signaltracker

WPSocialTracker is a social signal monitoring dashboard that will allow you to easily monitor social signal/sharing across your website and individual posts for the most popular sharing sites like...

- Facebook
- Twitter
- StumbleUpon
- Pinterest
- Google+
- Delicious
- LinkedIn

Its by far the easiest way to monitor your social sharing effectiveness between you and your competitors.

How to Determine Which Social Media Network Fits Your Business

BY Jayson DeMers

There are numerous variables that go into running a successful social media campaign. Factors like quality and frequency of posts, along with proper engagement quickly come to mind. These are obviously important, but choosing the network that caters to your target audience is equally important.

Since there can be a disparity in terms of user demographic on different social media sites, you should understand which network best fits your business before launching a full blown campaign. Here is a rundown of the demographic of some of the most popular networks to help you choose which one to use.

Facebook and Twitter
These two heavyweights are at the top of most marketers to-do list, and rightfully so. With Facebook recently surpassing one billion total users worldwide, it can be used by marketers to reach consumers in nearly any industry. Twitter isn’t all that far behind with over 500 million users that also are seeking content in a multitude of niches. Consequently, both Facebook and Twitter tend to be great places to start your campaign and test the waters.

If your business has a broad demographic, you should be able to effectively reach your audience. The same thing can be said even if you have a relatively small demographic, and you’re trying to zone in on a smaller segment of the population. Regardless of your industry, you should be able to bring exposure to your business and establish a community around it.

While creating a presence on both of these networks is applicable for nearly any business, Facebook can be even more advantageous when you’re looking to reach females between the ages of 18 and 29. According to CMS Wire, the vast majority of Facebook users are women and young adults, which makes it ideal if this is your business’s main demographic.

When it comes to Twitter, it’s also popular with a young audience between the ages of 18 and 29. A large part of its user base is comprised of African Americans and individuals living in densely populated, urban areas.

Google+
Although this network didn’t receive all that much attention a few years ago, it’s seen steady growth and currently has over 500 million users. Unlike Facebook and Twitter which have a relatively balanced gender demographic, Google+ is heavily favored by males. According to Social Statistics, nearly 70 percent of total users are male, which makes it the perfect network if your business focuses on this demographic.

Taking it one step further, the majority of the users are fairly well educated with many having a background in technology based fields like web development and software engineering. Nearly 44 percent are single and nearly 42 percent are looking for friends. As a result, launching a marketing campaign on Google+ could serve you well if your company offers a product or service that appeals to men that fall into these categories.

LinkedIn
If you’re looking to grow your business and gain B2B networking opportunities, LinkedIn is an effective way to do so. Unlike many other social media sites that are more casual in nature, this one is more designed for educated professionals that are looking to advance their careers. According to statistics by Quantcast, the majority of users have earned either a bachelor’s degree or completed grad school. Male users outweigh females, and a large percentage of them have no children.

LinkedIn users also tend to earn considerably more money than those on other networks. For instance, individuals earning over $150,000 annually account for the largest number of users. Not far behind are individuals earning between $100,000 and $150,000.

Another factor that differentiates this network from others is the average age of its users. Unlike many that cater to a younger demographic, LinkedIn users are typically older and range between 25 to 64 years of age. If you want to connect with an audience that is well-to-do and mainly consists of business professionals, this can be the perfect resource.

Pinterest
This social media site has really gained a lot of momentum in the past couple of years. While it pales in comparison to the user base of Facebook and Twitter, it’s seen plenty of growth since its conception and could be a major contender in the near future. The concept of Pinterest is incredibly simple, which involves “pinning” images onto boards.

This simplicity combined with its eye appealing aesthetic probably accounts for the success it has seen. Like Google+, Pinterest also has a significant disparity in terms of gender. The difference is that it swings the other way and has a massive female user base of around 72 percent.

Most users are relatively educated and have either attended college or have at least a bachelor’s degree. Users are primarily Caucasian and between the ages of 18 and 50. Going even deeper, the top geographic location of Pinterest is the south east United States including states like Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. Due to the large volume of females who use this network, some of the most widely shared content is based in the following niches.

    Cooking and recipes
    Arts and crafts
    Clothing and fashion
    Home décor
    Home design
    Gifts

If your business focuses on any of these areas, Pinterest can be a potential gold mine. Since this site is image centric, it’s a great resource for displaying pictures of your products or services in action. It’s also possible to achieve a level of virality on this network because of the ease with which users can share content.

Tumblr
Many business owners have heard of this site, but aren’t necessarily sure how it can fit in with their marketing campaign. In a nutshell, Tumblr is a microblogging site that allows users to share a variety of content including text, images, audio and links. They can upload their own original content or re-blog content from other users. It has an incredibly easy to use interface which many people find appealing and has contributed to Tumblr’s success. While you could consider this network in its early stages, more and more legitimate brands like IBM and J Crew are taking the time to build their presence on it.

The most noticeable aspect of this site is its young audience. If you’re in a business that’s looking to reach people over the age of 35, then Tumblr isn’t for you. However, if you’re mainly looking to connect with consumers between 13 and 25, you should definitely consider this network. One of the most interesting statistics is that more young people in this age group now use Tumblr than Facebook. According to The Real Time Report, 61 percent of teens and 57 percent of young adults use Tumblr regularly, while only 55 percent of teens and 52 percent of young adults use Facebook regularly.

While it’s not completely clear why Tumblr is so popular among young people, it’s suspected that it relates to the fact that most parents aren’t using the site. Consequently, teens and young adults can use it without their parents constantly keeping tabs like they can on Facebook and other more notable networks. If your business offers a product or service that’s youth oriented, Tumblr can be an excellent choice. The best part is that competition is likely to be minimal for at least a few years.

4 Low-Cost Ways to Turbo-Charge Your Website

BY Jonathan Blum

Creating the most dynamic and effective business website doesn’t have to break the bank. With reasonable effort, investment and a modicum of Web know-how, you can either build a website or significantly improve your existing Web presence -- for less than $200 in one-time costs.

To do so, you’ll need to know which tools are essential and how to use them. Here are four low-cost ways to get your site not only functional, but attracting customers and helping you close more sales.

1. Get a professional look.
One of the easiest ways to create an effective, low-maintenance website is to combine off-the-shelf content management systems with a pre-made Website template. That way you have a unique-looking site that’s distinguished from basic Web tools such as Google’s Blogger format or Typepad that can also support complex live content.

Among the most popular website hosting services that support free content management systems are WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal. All can manage dynamic content without any tricky or costly coding on your part.

The basic software packages for Joomla, Drupal and WordPress are free. Premium features and extensions, such as e-commerce tools, can be purchased but prices vary. Downloading and installing the basic and advanced versions of these tools does require an understanding of Web software. WordPress, however, offers a hosted version which doesn’t require any software installation.

You’ll also need a professional-looking template for your site that is compatible with your content management system. Options include New York-based Template Monster, which lets users narrow down themes based on business type and website purpose. Templates can cost about $50 each.

2. Analyze your website.
Not getting an accurate picture of how customers use your site might be the single biggest mistake online businesses make. Analytics tools can help you find out how many people visit your website, how much time they spend on each page and what service referred them.

One option is Visistat, which not only offers a number of web analytics services but also tracking of your online marketing campaigns and behavioral data on your site’s visitors. The average package costs about $50 per month.

But the most popular and perhaps the most effective analytics tool is Google Analytics. This free service generates deep, constantly updated visitor statistics. Installation usually only requires you to copy and paste a line of tracking code into your Website code, although some content management systems including WordPress make it even easier through plugins.

3. Get feedback.
Constructive criticism can be key to any business website. While full-on website testing technologies can be effective, they can also be costly.

Southborough, Mass.-based uTest offers access to a global network of 50,000 Web-connected testers and can create custom testing templates for everything from usability to security. Basic usability testing starts at several thousand dollars per engagement.

But there are numerous low-cost online testing services that can provide reviews. For example, Washington, D.C.-based Feedback Army lets businesses post four to six questions about its website, which are answered by online testers. Prices start at $20 for 10 reviews. For $39, Mountain View, Calif.-based UserTesting.com, can provide you with a video of an actual human tester using your website and talking about it as he or she navigates it.

4. Integrate social media.
Your website should link to your business’ social media accounts, but it’s even more important that your visitors be prompted to share your website through their own social media identities.

Most social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, provide detailed instructions for how to insert “Like”, “Share”, “Comment”, and “Tweet” buttons onto your Web page. Depending on how your website is hosted, can be installed as simple as copying and pasting some code into a website template or downloading and installing a plugin.

They also provide feeds showing your Facebook updates, Tweets and other ways people are interacting with your website -- which can be some valuable information when it comes to knowing your customers.

Bottom line: Working through the fundamentals of good design, compelling dynamic content, properly installed social media and user data can be the fastest and most affordable ways to gets results online.