Posts Tagged ‘Social Media Marketing’

Select the Right Social Media Tools for Your Business

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Everyone is talking about social media and the marketing potential it provides for businesses. What you don’t hear a lot about, unless you’re listening to the right individuals, is how to select the proper social media tools for YOUR business. Just because you only hear about Facebook and Twitter, doesn’t mean that they should be the ONLY tools you use. It may be that you shouldn’t focus on Facebook and Twitter at all…Perhaps LinkedIn and Squidoo are better suited for your business. This post is going to cover the process you should take when determining what social media tools you should be using to support your online marketing strategy.

So, before you jump in and create profiles on all of the latest social tools in the news, do a little planning. Proper planning won’t ensure success, BUT it will significantly increase the chance for success. Below are the steps that we recommend you take once you decide that an online marketing strategy makes sense for your business. If you have any additional steps that you think should be added to this list, please leave us a comment with what the step is and where it fits into the list below.

7 Steps to Choosing the Right Social Media Tools

  1. Be sure your company is prepared for social media marketing. Social tools allow businesses to interact with customers and prospects on a level never before achieved in business. With that said, you have to be sure that your business is setup to thrive in this environment. For example, customer service is changing with the explosion of social tools. Customers will expect that they can Twitter a question to you and you’ll respond within a reasonable amount of time (24 hours or so). Customers will express their happiness with your service and they will also express frustration if you are not meeting their needs. You should be prepared to use social tools to embrace these types of interactions.
  2. Determine your goals for social media marketing. It’s always a good idea to establish your goals up front, this way you have something to measure against. Ask yourself the following questions:
    1. What am I trying to achieve with social media marketing?
    2. What is a reasonable time frame for me to achieve these targets?

    I’d recommend that you go back to your goals quarterly. If anything needs to be changed within your marketing tactics, then you can do so at that point.

  3. Find out where your target customers are hanging out online. If you are a new business and you haven’t already identified your target customers, then you should definitely do that first. Once you know your target (age, gender, spending habits, interests, etc) then do a little research to find out where those types of people are spending their time online. So if you’re a recruiter, your target market is other business professionals. With a little research, you’ll find that LinkedIn is a great place to find other business professionals who are looking for work and for businesses looking for workers. Make a list of the top four or five social tools that your customers are using. Research each of those tools to find out what they do and how they are benefiting other businesses.
  4. Align your market research with your goals. Now that you have determined where your targets are spending their time online, you can use that information along with your goals to determine what social tools to use. As we discussed earlier, some social tools make more sense for your business than others depending on your goals and customer information. If your goal is to create an online space where your customers can connect with you and other like-minded people, then you might consider using Ning or Facebook. If your target customers are senior citizens, then Ning is probably better than Facebook because seniors, although a growing Facebook audience, are not using Facebook as much as others. It’s all about matching your goals with your market research to come up with the top social tools to spend your time developing.
  5. Build your profile. Now comes the fun part. Go ahead and build your social profile on each of the tools. Post as much information as possible. Explain what the site is about and how it will benefit those who sign up. Share images, articles, event information, and special offers with your online followers.
  6. Promote your social tools. Once you have your social tools to a place where you’re comfortable sharing them with others, then start promoting your tools. Include links to your social tools on your website, in your ads, on your business cards, and within your email signature. Seek out people in your life who are on the same social tools and invite them to join your network. Search for other local business owners who also have sites on the social tool and become a follower of theirs. Hopefully they will do the same with you. It doesn’t make sense to invest the time in social media marketing if nobody is following your moves. Get out there and promote your social tools.
  7. Continually update your site and interact with your followers. Social media marketing takes time. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Be sure to answer any comments that come through from your network. Try to post valuable information at least once a day. Start discussions. Encourage your network to interact with one another and not just with you. If you stay with it, I guarantee you will have success using social media marketing.

Do you have anything to add to the list above? Perhaps you have a success story that you’d like to share with us? Please leave a comment below OR connect with us on Facebook to share your information.

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Posted in Online Marketing, Small Business | 2 Comments »

Today’s Top 5 Business Influencers

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Everyone has someone, or a select few individuals, who have influenced them in their lives and their careers. We have personal influencers, more times than not, these are friends and family members. And we have professional influencers. A few years ago, professional influencers were mainly found at your current job or even at a past place of employment. These are people who you respect, trust, and admire. These are people who you take business advice from and put it into practice for yourself. Through the rise of social tools like blogs, email, e-books, Twitter, etc. it’s becoming easier to find business influencers all over the world, as opposed to the next cubicle over. This post is a dedication of sorts to the people who have had an positive influence on me and my company.

Here are my top 5 business influencers today. I want to say thank you for helping so many of us understand your thinking, hone our skills, and put into practice what you preach.

  • Seth Godin: Seth is today’s predominant marketing guru. You can see his ideals coming through in all great marketing agencies work. He has the ability to recognize new trends and then turn them on their heads in order to capitalize on them. He’s the author of many bestselling books. Some of my favorites are, Survival is Not Enough, Unleashing the Ideavirus, and Tribes (notice I didn’t mention Purple Cow and Permission Marketing – 2 of the greatest marketing books of all time). I’ve been following Seth for years now and he never ceases to amaze me. Thank you sir.
  • Anita Campbell: Anita is the Executive Editor of Small Business Trends. She’s also a renowned speaker. Anita has dedicated herself to helping small businesses thrive in today’s economy. Through her site, she spots business trends and relays them to her followers in a way that’s easy for us to understand. I recently began following Anita and the results have been impressive so far. If you’re a small business owner, I suggest you visit Anita’s site, go hear or speak, or follow her on Twitter: @smallbiztrends
  • Chris Brogan: Another person who I didn’t discover until last year, but someone who’s made the biggest impact on me in the shortest amount of time. Chris Brogan is to Social Media what our government is to America (or at least supposed to be), “of the people, by the people, for the people. Chris Brogran runs an ultra-successful blog, which he updates practically daily, if not more. The people love what he’s about, which has increased his popularity. He’s dedicated to helping everyone he comes in contact with understand how to take the next step in social media marketing. With that said, many of his topics transcend SMM. He just wrote a new book, Trust Agents, and I cannot wait to read it – don’t spoil it for me (I’m finishing a few other books right now Chris ;) ). Go pick up a copy, or stop by his blog to see what I’m talking about.
  • Daniel Pink: Dan Pink is probably best known for his book, Free Agent Nation. It’s a remarkable book, which urges readers to rethink their approach to their professional lives. Perhaps getting good grades in order to get into a good college, so that you can find a good job, just isn’t working anymore. Perhaps you need to nix that thinking and strike out on your own. Daniel Pink, through his books and his blogs, provides readers with “A Whole New Mind” on working for yourself. His ideals are grounded in statistics, which gives credibility to his statements. Dan’s got a new book coming out, Drive, which I cannot wait for. Everything this guy does turns to gold (which is quite valuable these days – Thanks Mr. Kiyosaki). He helped motivate me to quit my job and start Catalyst Marketers. Thanks Dan.
  • Robert Kiyosaki: Last, but certainly not least, Robert Kiyosaki. Robert is, in my opinion, the leading financial thinker of our time. Perhaps you’ve heard of his bestselling business book of all time, Rich Dad, Poor Dad? Robert has dedicated his life to helping others find financial freedom. He is a student of history, which helps him make bold predictions on the future…and guess what, most of his predictions turn out to be correct. If you want to escape the “rat race” and live a full life, free from financial insecurity, pick up everything ever written or sponsored by Robert Kiyosaki, as it will change your life forever. Robert, thank you for taking the time to educate us all on the importance of financial literacy. You have truly made an impact.

These are my top 5 business influencers. Who are yours?

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Posted in Online Marketing | 3 Comments »

Jay-Z Built a Following to Build his Business

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

"Had a couple of meetings no offers yet,
Maybe I ain’t good enough for these offices,
Back to the drawing board ducking officers,
It’s all good cuz the streets is A&R’ing this,
So with or without any of your involvement,
I’m coming for all of this, respect my conglomerate,
I went from pauper to the President"
- Jay-Z “So Ambitious” from Blueprint 3

A little hip hop first…I have to say I’m a big Jay-Z fan. Growing up I always listened to BIG and remember PAC slamming Jay-Z on a few songs, so I never really gave Jay enough of a chance. A decade later, I think he’s one of the greatest lyricists of all time. Just look at his latest song, So Ambitious. Talk about pumping you up as a business owner…

"Motivation for me was them telling me what I could not be,
Oh well, I’m so ambitious…
No matter what the conditions,
Forget the personal issues
When you been what I been through,
Hey if you believe it,
Then you could conceive it."

Not only are Jay-Z’s lyrics incredibly motivational, but they hit on a big change in business today. Through the internet, and more specifically, social media and other online tools, people have been able to connect with other like-minded individuals in a way that we have never seen before in history. What that has done is even the playing field for entrepreneurs and startups when it comes to competing with larger organizations with bigger bank accounts. If you can build a large following, the big competitors will have to begin paying attention. Just listen to how Jay-Z became successful.

Jay tells us in his lyrics from So Ambitious when he says, "Had a couple of meetings no offers yet, Maybe I ain’t good enough for these offices, Back to the drawing board ducking officers, It’s all good cuz the streets is A&R’ing this, So with or without any of your involvement, I’m coming for all of this, respect my conglomerate, I went from pauper to the President". When he says, "the streets is A&R’ing this", he is telling the big record labels who wouldn’t sign him that it’s OK, he has built a following of supporters and through their support, he is building his own successful brand.

American business used to be built on selling products and services, but now things have changed through the advent of online tools. They allow entrepreneurs to sell nothing but ideas. Ideas that other people across the world can get behind. As the idea spreads, people will find a way to monetize it if it isn’t already generating revenue. Need more evidence that this change is occurring? Hearing Jay-Z talk about it and me write about it just hasn’t convinced you? ;) No problem.

Check out Seth Godin’s "Tribes". Seth talks about the power of building your tribe. Seth Godin is, in my opinion, the leading marketing thinker on the planet, so I tend to give a lot of credibility what he says and writes about. If you’d like even more evidence of this change, look at Twitter. The micro-blogging service is supposedly valued at $1 billion after their recent round of funding. Twitter doesn’t generate any revenue at this point, though they have left the door open for future advertising initiatives. What they do have is millions of users who love their service. Twitter is literally changing how numerous industries do business. So not only is Twitter a great example, along with Jay-Z, as to how building a following is a legitimate way to become a successful business, but the service it provides actually allows entrepreneurs to do the exact same thing!

So go buy the Blueprint 3, listen to So Ambitious, and start building a tribe for your business today. Take advantage of the many free online tools out there like Twitter and Seth Godin’s Squidoo. Let us know if you have any questions about what social media tools to use.

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Posted in Online Marketing | 1 Comment »

Socialize Your Business Cards

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Social tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Squidoo, and the list goes on, are providing small businesses a way to communicate with customers, build relationships, and ultimately drive sales. These online tools are also a great way to drive traffic to your website, your blog, a microsite, or even a promo page. But before you can drive traffic from your social tools to your website, you must first drive traffic to your social tools.

I was at a networking event in Philadelphia, PA the other day and when I was explaining the power of social tools to a prospect of Catalyst Marketers, she asked, “how do I drive traffic to my Facebook page or my LinkedIn profile?”. It’s a legitimate question. My response, “there are a number of ways to gain followers of your social tools; creating an e-marketing strategy is a good place to start”.

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your social tools is through your business card. Everyone loves to give and receive business cards. Even with all of the great new technologies out there, business cards are still very popular in today’s business environment. With that said, if your business card still only has your business phone number, fax number & email address, then you’re not making it work hard enough for you. Use your business card to drive traffic to your social tools. Then use those tools as a way to build trust with your audience and educate them on the benefits of your product or service. Ultimately drive them from your social tools to your e-commerce website or to your store.

Here’s an example of my business card for Catalyst Marketers:
Click to email Ryan Taft

What are some other ways you like to drive traffic to your social tools?

Put it on your business card that you know how to play video poker using top video poker tactics then find a game with the online casino reviews at CasinoBonus.org!

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Posted in Online Marketing | 10 Comments »