There has been a lot of discussion on which site is best for marketing your business. It seems like their are more pages to manage than there are hours to keep up with it all. How do you choose a Social Media platform for your business?
6 Things to Consider Before Creating a Company Page on Google+ Pages, LinkedIn Company Pages or Facebook Fan Page:
1. Which Social Media Platforms do your Ideal Customers use most?
My rule of thumb is Linkedin for B2B and Facebook for B2C or individuals who are sole proprietors or small biz owners. Google+ pages are unproven, but will likely favor early adopters of technology until it goes more mainstream.
Bear in mind that although your customers may be on face on Facebook or LinkedIn, they may not be looking for your content when interacting with the site.
For example, just because there are a lot of Sales Managers on Facebook, they are not likely to be looking for tips to motivate employees while surfing Facebook. They are most likely sharing photos and using it for entertainment.
Those same people may be using LinkedIn to find tips to help Sales Managers because their frame of mind is around their business.
2. What is your Value to customers when they use your Google+, LinkedIn, or Facebook company page?
You need to be willing to create compelling and relevant content in order to drive viewership, or at least sharing relevant content from elsewhere in order to hold their attention. You must give them a reason to visit your page more than once. Numbers mean nothing if your customers don’t do anything once they get there. Consider making your company page around a related topic and not necessarily a sounding board for your company. One way is to share your expertise in your field to stir discussion. If your page is a resource on your field it will attract customers who need the information and will add brand credibility to your company. Try not to use it for just sharing the same content you share elsewhere or product announcements.
3. What do you want Customers to do once they get to your Company Page on Google+, LinkedIn, or Facebook?
One big mistake companies make is to not have a clear purpose for their Social Media pages. You need to determine the action you want people to take and why. Are you trying to generate business leads or simply do some branding for your company. These two strategies will have vastly different implications on how you design your page and your content. If you want to build a brand image, focus on spurring customer to customer conversation that is relevant, but not directly tied to your product. If you are trying to generate leads, be sure to lead the conversation back to your products and provide an incentive to get them off LinkedIn, Google+, or Facebook and on to your email list or sales page. If you are generating leads all the content shared should be your own as it will drive people to your site. And then you can work to get their email and converting them to customers.
4. How does a Google+ Company page, Facebook Fanpage, or LinkedIn Company Page Integrate into your Current Marketing Strategy?
People feel like they are missing out on opportunity when they don’t have a presence on each and every social media site. That is not necessarily true. Yes you need to be in front of your potential customer as much as possible, but just because you are in more places doesn’t mean you will generate more leads. Having a deeper and more meaningful presence on one Social Media Platform does more for your business than have a shallow presence on many.
Think of it this way, when you see a Facebook Fanpage with 30 people on it , would you consider it an “Authority” on that topic? Would you then check LinkedIn or Google+ to see if the company has other pages on the same topic to total up their followers? Of course not. Now what if I said that same Company had 7,000 likes, a lot of content, and a bunch of user interaction on their wall? You would probably think about this brand differently. If the topic and content was relevant, you would probably join into the conversation and like the page.
So make sure you are not spreading yourself thin. If you already have a successful Fanpage, don’t commit to a Google+ or LinkedIn page unless it fits your model and you can dedicate the necessary time or resources to it so that it becomes as engaging as your current efforts and more.
5. How are you going to manage it? What Social Media tools?
As social media gets larger, more feature rich, and fragmented, social media management tools have increased in importance. You need to make sure you know how you are going to update your content, reply to posts, and generally interact with you customers on our pages. There are great tools out there, but not all of them are appropriate for your purpose. For example, hootsuite is a great tool, but it doesn’t have support for Google+ pages in their iPhone app. For me, that prevents me from managing my page from my mobile and forces me to sit at a PC. That is wasted time given that I travel a lot and don’t want to take out my laptop to reply to a post. What does your current tool support that you can use to manage your presence.
6. Who will Manage our page on Google+, Facebook, or LinkedIn?
Your page doesn’t need to be managed by you, but it does need management. If you don’t have the time, you have a few options. You could hire a social media manager. You could outsource to a Social Media Marketing company or you could hire a virtual assistant.
If you plan to do it yourself, I would recommend doing something semi-automated with an alert tool. Remember that none of this should be fully automated. Nobody wants to talk to a robot. Alerts can be automated, but responses should not be. Automated alerts tools will allow you to know when there is a post while not requiring you to log in each hour or day to your page.
A poor mans method for Alerts is to set up a filter in your email that puts all your Facebook, LinkedIn, or google+ notifications in a folder. You can check them each morning and generate your responses. This saves time and effort without forking over any money.
Once you answer these questions you are prepared to choose a platform. For tips on how to build a profitable fanpage find me @MrSimpleMedia on Twitter.
If you know of any tools, tips, or have questions, leave a comment below!
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Nov 23rd, 2011. 
In today’s economy, people understand that networking is important. Whether it is in-person or through social networking sites, for the most part, people try to take advantage of networking.
However, because people often associate LinkedIn as a place to find jobs, they forget about how powerful it can be for networking. Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s Connections Director, told us that the professional network could actually be a game changer in terms of a person’s career.
As she explained, LinkedIn is a platform that is full of credentials and qualified referrals that people need to be utilizing. Through products such as LinkedIn Today, users can keep up with the latest developments and events in their related industries. Additionally, the company recently introduced Causes to allow users to get credit for their volunteer efforts.
Williams said that both these areas, among others, create great networking outlets, which could lead to potential job opportunities. Are you taking advantage of them?
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 24th, 2011.
If you’ve ever heard me talk about social networking then this will not be news to you because it comes up every single time I deliver a keynote or workshop. Without fail someone asks, “Is it worth it to upgrade my LinkedIn account?”
Yes. And no. Allow me to explain.
To be successful on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site requires first and foremost your time. And we all know that time is money. So the short answer is that if you’re not routinely using LinkedIn to make new connections, nurture currents contacts and research your sales targets than there is no point in upgrading. You’ll have more reach but not more time.
You’ll know it’s time to upgrade when you hit brick wall after brick wall. What’s a brick wall? It’s a profile you can’t see… a connection you can’t make. It’s road block on your path to networking nirvana. If you’re feeling short sheeted by what you can’t see on LinkedIn then perhaps it’s time to pull out your wallet.
But be forewarned, an upgraded LinkedIn account will not write on-brand status updates for you, or add new connections, participate in groups or drop off your dry-cleaning either. As my pal Leah is fond of saying, “It only works if you work it.”
Compare LinkedIn upgrade account types or watch these short videos on premium account features for more information. Or better yet, use the time to update your status instead.
Did you like this?
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 12th, 2011.
LinkedIn is the poor second cousin of the social networking fraternity with its glamorous siblings Facebook and Twitter hogging the limelight.
Facebook wins the popularity contest with nearly 8 times more friends than LinkedIn and Twitter just keeps getting mentions in the newspaper’s society pages.
If LinkedIn had a personality, you would maybe say that it was quiet, professional and quite private.
How you use social media is dependent on what you are trying to achieve (goals) and who you want to meet (target audience) and if you want to make serious professional contacts for B2B then LinkedIn is the place to hang out.
LinkedIn is the Cocktail Party
LinkedIn with more than 100 million members and an average income of more than $ 100,000, is the social networkings equivalent of the cocktail party while Facebook is the backyard barbecue.
If you want to network with serious decision makers then LinkedIn provides the appropriate channel. So how do you Use LinkedIn to network and how do you generate business opportunities
4 Key Steps to Creating Leads and Opportunities with LinkedIn
Social media sites provide a platform to network with peers and people of similar interests globally and LinkedIn does this for professionals and executives with leverage and efficiency that provides networking opportunities on steroids.
So what are four key ways to take advantage of the LinkedIn for business.
1. Commit once a week to use LinkedIn to connect with several current or former business associates this will put you top of mind for opportunities that may emerge out of these strengthened connections.
2. Over the next month make the effort to join ten groups on LinkedIn. This will raise your visibility and personal brand.
3. Once you have joined these groups start a discussion in each of these ten groups you have joined. As you are an expert in your field people will notice your thought leadership and will want to engage your services for their companies.
4. Go to LinkedIn’s Answers section and answer 5 questions a week. This is a long term strategy but will pay off over time.
The goals of these 4 steps is to create new connections, strengthen existing relationships and position you as a thought leader and an expert that will provide you with leads and business opportunities.
So How do other Executives use LinkedIn?
Infographic by Lab42
Image by nan palmero
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 6th, 2011.
How often does this happen to you? I experience it several times daily.
You check your email and see something like this:
I’ve blanked the name to protect the guilty.
Do I recognize her name? No. Did she give me a clue? No.
Avoiding the work I should be doing, I click through and see this:
So, this Teresa person lives in Canada and has three connections. Why on earth would I connect with her on LinkedIn? Ain’t gonna happen.
If you’re new to LinkedIn, here are some tips for connecting with people:
- Start by requesting connections with people you actually know in real life: colleagues, employers, clients, friends, classmates, fellow members of associations, and so on.
- When you do send LinkedIn invitations, always always always personalize them. I suggest something like this:
Hello, Joe. I see that we’re not yet connected on LinkedIn, and I’d like to add you to my network. (This is short and sweet and ideal for someone who will recognize your name instantly.)
OR
Hi Varinder. Since we’re both members of the Society of Technical Widget Makers, I thought it would be great to connect on LinkedIn. Thanks. (You’ve jump-started the person’s memory, which is helpful.)
OR
Hi Diana. We both worked on the SAP project back in 2008 at XYZ Corporation. Hope all is well with you. I’d like to stay in touch on LinkedIn. (In this case, the person may not remember you, but you’ve provided a tangible clue.)
By personalizing each invitation, you’re adding a human touch, and also jogging the memory of the recipient.
If you send the standard LinkedIn invitation, you’re likely to be ignored. And if your profile is almost blank, you’re wasting your time in general. Beef up that profile before inviting people to join your network.
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Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 4th, 2011.
