Archive for category Social Networking
Build your Network to Build your Business
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on January 2, 2013
An article from Richard Branson on Entrepreneur.com suggests that when you’re starting a business, you should network early and often – saying that the first step on the road to business success is building a network. With LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ it’s easy to find avenues to launch, connect, and grow your business.
Not sold on the benefits of social for your business? Neither is Patty Azzarello, who says social media still can’t compete with face-to-face interactions as a way to build your business. Tell that to the thousands of small and online businesses who’ve seen their customer base grow as a result of solid social media campaigns.
So for the skeptics out there, and those who’ve embraced social media, here are a few tips to get the most out of your social networking efforts.
Find Your Target Audience’s Preferred Network.
Do you provide business-to-business product or services? Chances are that if you’re marketing a b2b solution, you’re not going to captivate your potential audience through Facebook. Look for groups, industry magazines, forums and trade shows, or relevant associations that will give you an avenue with clients, referrals, and prospects. LinkedIn is a great place to find groups of like-minded business people who are looking for product like yours.
If your clients are average internet users and not businesses, you may have a better chance marketing on Facebook, through a series of organic and paid posts that up your EdgeRank and build brand community.
The Elevator Pitch is Dead – Work on Your “Twit”Pitch.
Brevity has been built right into Twitter – and because of that, attention spans may be shorter. Consider this when thinking up your pitch strategy, and don’t be afraid to get a little creative. You need something that will grab your client’s attention, but you only have a few seconds to do it. This is why we say the “Elevator Pitch is Dead”.
Some great examples of Twitpitches are:
@hackycatapp: “Hackycat. It’s like hackysack but with cats.” – The pitch is for an iOS game, and the pitch is dead on.
@42goals: “A simple tool for tracking personal goals and daily activities”
@garmz: “Enable fashion talent. You design fashion, we provide the rest.”
Create a Connection.
One of the biggest complaints in social is a lack of engagement. Engagement should be handled in one of two ways. Ideally, you’ll create compelling content that motivates users to respond because your content triggered some visceral feeling. More often than not, this is not the case – especially if you’re in the habit of creating content for content’s sake, or if all your messages are a sales pitch. Put your best message out there – and focus on thoughtful, but not continual/needy contact. Remember, your agenda isn’t the point of networking through social media channels. The point is to create connections, to engage those connections, and to gain collaboration, not just another sale. This is especially important in business-to-business networking where your point of contact probably has 20 pitches flooding their email each day.
You’ll need to be crafty with your content if you’re a new business on the web – your authority is based on your content and connections.
Overall, be yourself, and find a way to humanize your business.
Got any tips for networking through social?
Reasons a Strong Business Presence on Facebook Matters
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on December 5, 2012
There’s a bit of rift between long-time successful companies and relative startups. Businesses that have been turning a profit and molding their brand image for years are up in the air about whether or not a Facebook presence—or social media in general—is required to achieve success. Newer businesses, however, without the luxury of tenure, insist that it’s a must.
So, which is it? Can you get by without a Facebook presence, or do you really need one in today’s marketplace? Well, that particular question can be argued until the cows finally come home, but as you’ll read below, logic points directly toward having a presence.
5 Reasons to Keep a Solid Foothold in Facebook
1: The Stats are Overwhelming
Over a third of the American population alone uses Facebook. All told, the site has over one billion users, which is going to push a lot closer to 1.5+ once India and other parts of Asia come into the fold. Over half of all Facebook users visit the platform regularly. Trust is growing amongst Facebook fans toward businesses. The stats can go on and on, including the fact that advertising on Facebook cost very little compared to other mediums, and the potential for higher ROI is enormous.
2: A Business-Friendly Atmosphere
Facebook has not only created an extremely business-friendly atmosphere, but one that doesn’t intrude on a user’s experience (unlike MySpace and other networks). With updates like Custom Audiences, Timeline, new advances in their ads via Sponsored Stories, and other measures Facebook has taken to rake in the advertising dollars, the network is currently in the midst of its own boom right now, and no one sees a dropping off point yet.
3: Ways of the World
The world today is trending Internet. There’s no other way to put it. Although Facebook only has a billion users, there are over 5 billion people across the planet who have access to the Internet. As we evolve further in terms of technology, Facebook’s numbers will exponentially increase, as well as Internet activity in general via people handling their shopping online. Any business would be missing out not to ride this train.
4: Adding Credibility
What do you think a tech-savvy customer thinks of your business when they find out you don’t have a Facebook page? (And that’s even assuming they can find you at all without one.) The odds are great that they don’t see you as credible. You’re not a part of the culture they’re a part of, so why would they trust you? Having a Facebook presence works wonders for your credibility.
5: Infinite Traffic Potential
From your business Facebook page, you can interlink an entire web network, including blogs, a main business site, Twitter, LinkedIn, and an infinite number of other sites, profiles and pages. You can reach out beyond your network and work with other businesses to share traffic. You can drive an enormous amount of traffic with a Facebook page (to and from), and there is literally no ceiling on how much you can attract.
Reasons like “free” and “easy” were left off the list, but you can include them as strong factors that may help you make up your mind. The fact of the matter is that your business might not need a Facebook page. But it’s also true that your odds of success increase with one.
Author’s bio:
Eric Taylor works as a freelance writer and business developer for Qwaya, a Facebook ad manager tool. Qwaya provides extensive information, tools and up-to-date news about social media marketing trends and strategies, most specifically on Facebook. The company’s goal is to build and develop a very sophisticated tool with powerful features that are user-friendly and affordable specially for social media marketers world wide.
Put a Public Face on Your Social Media Strategy
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on November 27, 2012
Here at RoryMartin.com, we talk a lot about branding as part of a good social media strategy. At a very basic level, branding is about how we want a potential customer to feel, and what we want them to think, when they see our company out and about – in advertising, on Twitter, being interviewed…
Being interviewed? How can a ‘company’ get interviewed?
When it comes to branding there is one school of thought which believes that people are more likely to connect with a person, than with a faceless corporation. You will most likely agree with this theory, but it’s probable that you will also have ‘good’ feelings when you see a Coca-Cola advert. Of course, Coke have millions of dollars to spend on advertising and marketing, and their branding is all pervasive.
Small to medium companies with rather smaller budgets for getting their brand in front of people may benefit from having a spokesperson or public face of the company. This way, a company can go the usual branding route with online networking and information dissemination but also send their public face out to meetings, networking events, and conferences to relate to potential customers on a personal level. Having a spokesperson, who is represented as an expert in their field, also provides the opportunity for guest-posting, and being interviewed!, on other industry blogs and websites, which then creates link-backs to the company website, as well as positive feeling towards the spokesperson, and therefore the company.
There can be a downside to have a public face on a company, however. Firstly, what if they were to leave the company! Some fashion companies have avoided this by having anonymous public faces, such as @OscarPRGirl who ‘reports’ from inside Oscar De La Renta, and which could be authored by anyone. Secondly, the public face on a company should live according to the company’s ethos at all times when they are in public. As a representative of the brand, it would be hugely detrimental for them to be found acting in such a way as did not represent the brand. This is ultimately quite a responsibility.
What do you think? Do you have a public face for your company? How has it worked for you? Have you ever had any problems with this marketing route?
Linking Businesses Through Social Media Networking
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on November 12, 2012
Have you ever wondered how some small to medium companies never seem to run out of clients, even though you never see them at any networking events? You might be surprised to learn that they do much of their networking from the comfort of their own offices, homes, tablets and smart phones.
Recently, we are seeing more and more often that small to medium companies are scoring new clients and big sponsors through the medium of social media networking. In a time when many businesses are still slow to even jump on a social media platform – or don’t use it once they do – then this information may have many of you shaking your heads. Isn’t social media for listening to customers? For gathering potential customers? Is it possible to make business contacts through social media? The answer to all of these questions is: yes.
Social media platforms are perfect for listening to customers and gathering potential customers, and it is precisely this use which makes it such a great opportunity to reach out to other businesses and potential sponsors, donors and investors. Of course, it’s important to remember that reaching out to potential business contacts, investors, donors and sponsors is no different than reaching out to anyone else. You want to let them know how much you enjoy and value their work, while also providing them with a reason to get in touch with you. At first, this might be a few Tweets which praise a particular ad campaign, or recommend a certain event of theirs. Consistent, but not overwhelming, contact should lead to their notice of you. If your social media audience looks large and engaged, your potential contact will see that your customers and clients trust you. This could be the beginning of a beautiful business relationship…
Have you ever used Twitter, Facebook or another social media platform to find a business contact, sponsor, donor or investor?
Get the Most Out of Your Branding – Twitter Cover Photos
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing, Social Networking on October 23, 2012
Branding is one of the first marketing steps that a company usually takes. The basic questions asked start with ‘How do we want the customer to feel about our company?’ ‘What tone should the company take?’ Often, the answers to these questions boil down to a few words. Sporty. Out-going. Friendly. Professional. Trust-worthy. Wholesome. Everything which a company then does in terms of marketing, advertising and other forms of publicity and outreach are then done with this brief in mind. This used to be relevant mostly to print media, but, nowadays, we have to consider social media branding.
At the most basic level, social media branding is similar to regular branding. The most instantly recognizable aspect of a business is usually their logo, and this should be used somewhere predominate. For Twitter and Facebook, where users have updates scrolling past them faster than they can read, it’s best to have the company logo as the profile photo. It’s easier to spot a recognizable picture in a list of updates than it is to even skim-read users names.
However, now that both Facebook and Twitter have implemented ‘cover photos’, it’s possible to get creative with your homepage. Your Twitter profile picture will appear in the center of the Twitter cover photo, so using a team photo will often result in someone’s face being obscured – but it might be possible to use this to a humorous advantage. For example, we’ve seen some pretty creative cover “hacks” like this one from Ryan Seacrest
This juxtaposition shows you exactly who Seacrest is in his cover photo. Just make sure to estimate spacing for your tagline and webpage.
The cover photos on Facebook and Twitter are an incredibly useful tool when it comes to social media branding, as businesses are no longer limited to just a 180×180 square company logo. Cover photos can be used to indicate the purpose of the company in a fun and interesting way, or to show people interacting with the company in a positive way.
Have you integrated the new Twitter cover photos into your branding strategy? Check out some quick twitter branding we did for artist, Wyly Astley!
How to Schedule your Social Media Updates
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on September 7, 2012
Scheduling updates can be a contentious issue in the world of social media, and with good reason too. There are two schools of thought among social media consultants. On the one hand, social media is all about customer engagement – it’s called ‘social’ for a reason. Companies are expected to converse with their customers and clients, politely and publicly. On the other hand, social media is just another marketing tool to be used to get information out to the world. People don’t follow you because they want to chat, they’ve got friends for that. They follow businesses for specific information – offers, events, industry news. Just get the information to them when they’re online.
Of course, the reality is somewhere in the middle of these two theories. Followers and fans want information on current events, but they also want to let you know what they think, and the problems which they’re having – and they expect you to respond in a timely manner. Scheduling social media updates certainly has a place in a well-rounded social media strategy – the key is to use it wisely.
Good practice with scheduling updates is to take the time in the morning to consider what information needs to go out that day (or week). Craft a few brilliantly worded updates, and use a tool such as HootSuite or ViralHeat to schedule them. Take a look at which ones you think will generate the most engagement and write a note to yourself to check in around that time to monitor comments and mentions. This way, you don’t spend all day wondering when to tweet again and what to say, and there’s no need to religiously log in to Facebook and Twitter to respond to everything immediately. By doing your social media in chunks like this, you will save time throughout the day.
However, it pays to keep up with industry news and current events – especially if you’re attending them! Having scheduled updates which interrupt the live-tweeting of an event, or which are reporting on suddenly outdated news, will look strange to your followers and Fans, so it is still necessary to keep an eye on your future stream and make sure that it continues to be relevant.
A lot of companies only update their social media streams during business hours; when their employees are at work. This means that users likely check in to their accounts most often outside of business hours; when they are not at work. Perhaps they check Facebook over breakfast, and tweet on the train home. Scheduling social media updates outside of business hours is a great strategy for increasing the potential reach of your updates without going into overtime.
What do you think of scheduling updates as a social media strategy? Do you think that it takes the spontaneity out of the conversation, or do you see it as an intelligent response to a real need?
Is Your Business Truly Social?
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on August 7, 2012
This year, the Harvard Business Review analyzed the backgrounds of the CEOs and Directors of America’s largest companies and discovered that only 9 companies, 2% of the Fortune 500, are ‘highly digital’. It seems as though we all understand that social networking for companies is important, but when it comes to integrating social media into business practises, many companies just don’t go deep enough.
According to The Social Skinny, 65% of the world’s top companies have an active Twitter profile.
So how is it that only 9 of the top companies are rated as ‘highly digital’ by the Harvard Business Review? To qualify as ‘highly digital’ a company must generate a high percentage of revenues digitally; its leadership (both the CEO and the Board) must have deep digital experience; it must do business significantly enabled by digital channels; and must be recognized as transformational in its industry.
Many companies see social networking as an add-on to their marketing department. Something which they know they ought to have, but which they don’t necessarily accord a substantial amount of resources. It’s no surprise then, that many Board members of Fortune 500 companies don’t have a deep digital knowledge, even though this prevents them from becoming a truly social, and highly digital, company.
It’s also true that while many companies will have active Twitter profiles, they may not be using this channel to its best advantage. Without a thorough knowledge of social networking, many companies are just shouting their offers into the ether, with very little engagement or feedback from customers and associates.
So how can you create a truly social business?
You could take the time to read up on social media advances and techniques, and encourage your staff to do the same, then put that knowledge to use on your various platforms. Or you could bring in the professionals. Save your time and energy to focus on your products and services and let RoryMartin.com start building your social networking strategy.
Create a Long-Lasting Social Media Strategy on Facebook
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on July 6, 2012
RoryMartin.com team is here to help businesses succeed in the world of social media, social networking, and web marketing; we’ve got a few questions you should ask yourself to help your business create a long-lasting social media strategy using Facebook.
Is Facebook really where your business needs to be?
This is a question that many businesses never asked themselves, in their hurry to jump on the social media bandwagon with everyone else. There are many, many businesses on Facebook with abandoned profiles, who decided that they should be where everyone else, but then didn’t immediately receive the influx of positive feedback which they were hoping for. Is Facebook really the right platform for your business? Or is it that your business isn’t making the best use of Facebook?
Is my target demographic on Facebook?
Sure, Facebook has over 900 million active users on a monthly basis, so statically speaking, there must be some people using Facebook who are interested in what you’re saying – but how many of these users are your targets compared to how much time you spend creating the perfect Page? Once you’ve ascertained whether your target market use Facebook, and how much, then you need to ask…
When does my potential audience use Facebook?
Thanks to EdgeRank, it’s likely that only 17% of people who have Liked your Page are actually seeing your updates in their timeline. This percentage drops after every update which doesn’t receive Likes or Shares. If even less people see them to begin with, there are going to be even less interactions. You could be crafting the perfect update but if you post at 9am when your audience is mostly active after 7pm, then that’s an incredible amount of traffic which you’re immediately missing out on. In order to create that perfect update though, you need to ask…
Why does my target market use Facebook?
Do women over the age of 50 use Facebook to follow businesses? Are they active on company Pages? Or are they just staying in touch with their grandchildren and cooing over family photos? You need to find out why and how your potential audience uses Facebook – and harness that knowledge to work for you. Do they prefer to share interesting links to content, or Like images of animals skateboarding? Would they rather help you come up with a punchline to a joke, or enter a competition to win vouchers for a family day out? Once you know how they are using Facebook, you can create targeted content, dedicated to engaging your prospective market.
Finally, you need to ask…
What do I want my audience to do on Facebook?
It’s easy to forget that a Like doesn’t equal an opt-in. People who Like a page are not a captive audience, on the edge of their seats waiting for the next update from your company. Using the data from the answers to the above questions, you can create targeted updates and start tracking that data. This can show you the progress towards your goals – what you actually want to achieve with all this Facebook activity – and help you work towards measurable ROI in terms of customer satisfaction, customer acquisition and brand integrity.
When you have answered all of these questions, then you can start to build a long-lasting strategy on Facebook. Not sure where to start? Email RoryMartin.com today for a social media consultation, or to speak with one of our web experts.
Dos and Don’ts of Social Networking
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on July 3, 2012
For a good social media strategy, there’s no make-or-break way to be truly successful. However, being successful at this type of social networking requires a little finesse (and a lot of patience). We’ve got some tips for both companies who are just finding their niche, and established businesses who want to see more ROI from their networking efforts.
Do Give Your Brand a Personality
People, especially on social media, like to connect with people. Come up with a persona for your business, and stick with it. Followers and friends then know what to expect from your feed, and feel more like their connecting with some*one* rather than some*thing*.
The bonus is that having a personality – and a personable networking account – builds trust and authenticity. Trust and authenticity are 2 of the cornerstones of any great social campaign.
Don’t Go Straight For the Hard Sell
Would you ever start a conversation at a networking event with “Hi, have you bought our product yet?” No? Then don’t do it online either. People like to be introduced to a company on social media networking sites before they trust or value them enough to connect.
This also draws us towards our next point – users don’t respond as well to self-promotional talk, as they do to conversation.
Do Start Conversations
You want more information about your client base; people love to talk about themselves. Ask a few questions about contentious, but relevant, topics, and soon you’ll have a full-scale debate on your feed. As a bonus: people will feel more warmly towards your brand, because you actually care what they think.
This is also a great time to show off your customer service skills by engaging and responding in a professional, friendly, and timely way.
Don’t Be Boring
Have you ever been stuck at a cocktail party with the self-absorbed bore who won’t stop going on about their own personal woes? It’s not fun for anyone. Provide value with your feed – link to interesting, informative and relevant content which your followers will value – and even share!
Don’t Use a ‘Comedy’ Photo
While it might be tempting to portray your company’s sense of fun with a photo of Dave in a cardboard crown, remember that people want to believe that you are capable of handling their complaints, inquiries and orders in a professional manner. Unless you are an actual clown, just the company logo or a serious head and shoulders shot will do.
Of course, being too stern in photos can also have repercussions. You want to seem approachable, as well as professional.
Do Have Fun
People turn to social media to enjoy themselves, so go ahead and link to that skateboard otter story for a little light relief. Extra points if you can find something life-affirming or giggle-worthy which is relevant to your marketing pitch.
Still not sure how to make friends and influence people using social networking sites? Get in touch with our Seattle social networking experts today, to improve your business connections.
How to Opt Out of Facebook’s Email Program
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Networking on June 25, 2012
Logging into our Facebook this morning, we realized our email address had been changed to the new Facebook default address – an email@facebook.com account. We realize that many FB users probably don’t utilize Facebook’s messaging system. This is especially true, since as one Forbes writer put it: “social network’s screwy messaging system … auto-sorts your email for you, putting emails from ‘strangers’ in a shadow inbox that’s easy to miss.”
Whether you opted for an @facebook.com email address or not, you now have an email address with Facebook. Facebook has stated that they’ve done this to make their branding (including email addresses) consistent sitewide. Don’t fret, though – it’s easy to opt out. They’ve also added a setting that lets people decide which addresses they want to show on their timelines.
How to Opt Out of Facebook’s email addresses.
Go to your Timeline and click “about”, under your contact info. Scroll down to “Contact Info” and hit edit. For the email addresses you want visible, switch the crossed out circle symbols to a full circle. For the email addreses you DON’T want shown, including the @facebook.com address, switch the setting from a full circle (“Shown on Timeline”) to the crossed out circle (“Hidden from Timeline”). Click save, and you’re ready to go!
As Gizmodo notes, “This is also a good opportunity to check your privacy settings and make sure your various inboxes are visible only to friendlies.”
What do you think about this change? Was it necessary? Do you wish Facebook had left your email alone? Tell us below, in the comments.
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