Marketing your biz using social media

Facebook is not "new" - it has actually been around since 2004; however, many of us, me included have just started using it in the past year or two. I started using Facebook about a year ago to reconnect with a few old friends, found out that all of my current friends are using it, played some games, poked and got poked, "liked" a lot of things, went online several times a day to update my status (before I realized that my Blackberry had an "app" for that...) and a year later, I am hooked.

During that year, I started noticing that several businesses I frequent where starting "fan pages". In fact, I even set a few pages up for some of my customers. Click, type, save - you’ve got a fan page! Is that all there is to it? The answer in a nutshell is: No.

I have long been trying to tell my clients that the days of "if-you-build-it-they-will-come" on the Internet are gone. If you perform any search on Google and you notice the tens of millions of results that are returned, you should realize that your website is a pretty small needle in a pretty large haystack. A similiar philosophy can be applied to your new Facebook fan page: "if-you-build-it-and-don’t-give-them-a-reason-to-come-back.......they-won’t". Attention spans are short and social media is probably only making them even shorter.

With over 300 million active users and the second most searched database next to Google, Facebook is argueably a very powerful, cost-effective marketing medium for businesses.

Here are some strategies to help you make your Facebook fan page a success:

1. Have a clear understanding of why you want to be on Facebook. Having a Facebook fan page is not necessarily the best strategy for every business, especially as it does take time and resources to do it right. Are your customers on Facebook? If not, don’t waste your time.
2. Make your fan page a resource. Before you begin posting, think about your customers’ interests. What information do they want or need from your company? What would they be interested in? Your fan page is an opportunity for you to showcase yourself as an expert in your field. If you provide these things for your customers, they will return to your page again and again.
3. Post frequently - but do not SPAM. Your goal should be to add value, to educate, to inform, to entertain. More is not always necessarily better. You do not want to become overbearing or over promote your brand. Balance is the key here.
4. Engage your fans. Post questions or topics for discussion that are relevant to your business. The goal here is to get your fans to interact with your posts - interaction indicates interest and interest generates more interest.
5. Answer every post. When a fan posts something on your wall, be sure to thank them, answer their question or acknowledge them in some way. Just because you are hidden behind a computer, do not forget that your fans are human and if they were in your store, you would respond to their comments. (You don’t need to respond to "likes".)
6. Use Facebook as a tool to promote your website. Do you have a coupon on your website? Did you just post your most recent newsletter? Did you update your photo gallery? Let your fans know and include a link directly to the page you are promoting. While we are on this topic, it helps if you are frequently updating your website as this gives you more content to post!
7. Stay true to the medium. Facebook is not your corporate website, so your tone can be less formal and a little more fun. You do not need to use your logo as your profile picture and in fact will probably do better overall if you do not. The use of a logo on Facebook tends to remind people that you are trying to sell them something and are NOT their friend. It would be better to use your own photo, assuming you are the owner or manager. How about you wearing a hat with your logo?
8. Kill two birds.... Did you know that if you have a Twitter account, you can set up your Facebook posts to automatically post as tweets?
9. Evaluate. Just like with any other form of marketing, you need to periodically review and evaluate the effectiveness and either make adjustments or discontinue as necessary. Even "free" forms of marketing are not free if they are taking you away from time that could be spent more productively.

Here are a few more "tips & tricks"...

1. Set your username. Once you have at least 25 fans, you can set a "vanity" domain for your fan page by going to http://www.facebook.com/username/. For example, http://www.facebook.com/SalemCountyWoman/
2. Add your vanity domain to your email signature, right underneath your website address. Make it easy for people to find your page.
3. Link to your fan page from your website. I am not recommending a huge, obnoxious "fan page box" on your corporate website, but a link or small icon to help your customers find your Facebook page is good. By cross-marketing your various consumer outlets, you are providing your customers or potential customers with lots of resources to learn more about your company.
4. Use the "insights" to learn about the demographics of your fan page. There is a lot of good stuff here - gender, age range, geography and how your fans are interacting with your page.
5. Use Facebook’s Social Ads to attract even more fans. You can create an ad and set daily limits so you don’t exceed your budget.

Finally, here are a few specific ideas and examples to help you get started!

For Realtors:

1. Post upcoming dates for open houses under "events".
2. Provide a steady stream of useful information for potential home buyers/sellers, such as: Where can I obtain my credit report and what do I need to do before get pre-approved? What types of programs are available to first-time home buyers? Where can I find information about local schools? What DIY improvements can I make before I list my house to get the most bang for my buck? Is there a "best time" of year to list my home? Should I start looking for a new home before I list my current home? Come up with a list of frequently asked questions such as these and then answer them!
3. Make an announcement every time you list or sell a property.
4. Take pictures of the areas you serve and post links to local events. Show people why this area is such a great place to live!

For Restaurants:

1. Post your daily specials.
2. Post photos and feedback from satisfied patrons.
3. Offer an incentive: "Mention that you are one of our fans to get a 10% discount today!"

For Service Providers:

1. If you are in the "heating & air conditioning" business, for example, offer preventative mainentance tips to your fans. This show of good will goes a long way and people will remember you when they do need a technician.
2. Give advice. If you are an accountant, provide advice on everything from setting up Quickbooks to the importance of saving those receipts!

Good luck and Happy Facebooking!

Ideas for your Business Website

As we embark upon the year 2010, most business owners have realized or are beginning to realize that the Internet is not going away and that having a website address is as common and as expected as having a phone number or a business card. Many businesses have already gone through several websites over the years, hopefully becoming more improved each time as new technologies become available.

Many business owners fall into the category of not understanding "why" they need a website other than "because it is expected" when they make the decision to hire a web designer. They fail to understand how a website can help them better market their products and services. They fail to understand how a website can help them improve their customer service initiatives. They fail to understand how their website can enhance their current marketing efforts. Unfortunately, unless you are able to find a web designer with Internet marketing experience and a desire to help your business succeed, this lack of knowledge is going to translate into lost opportunities and wasted dollars.

In order to be effective, your website needs to become a priority in your marketing plan and should be viewed as an investment into your business, whether in time or money or both. Besides the obvious, here are some ideas you may want to consider for your business website:

Content - The content on your website needs to be timely and relevant in order to be effective. Both your visitors and the search engines are visiting your website searching for content. It is up to you and your web designer to figure out what it is that they seek. Depending upon what business you are in, it may make sense for you to have a website with pages and pages of content. Often, the more expensive your products or services, the more information your visitor will need before they make the decision to call you. Keyword-rich search engine optimized (SEO) content is necessary in order to help you achieve higher rankings in the search engines, a necessity if you are selling a product or service to a larger geographic area. Riana Milne is an example of a larger website with lots of keyword-rich content.

Menus - If you are a restaurant owner, you must have your menus, or at least a pretty good sampling of what’s on your menus, on your website. Why? Because there are basically only two reasons that a visitor is going to look at your website - to find out what your hours are and to look at your menu. So, you need to have your hours posted and your menu available. Period. If you offer take-out, you need your phone number front and center as well. Here are some examples: Dawns Deli, Papa Luigis Ristorante, Sweet Tomatoes Cafe, Wagon Wheel Restaurant.

MLS Listings - If you are a Realtor, having the ability to allow your visitors to search the MLS Listings while on your website will ensure that YOU get the leads when they request more information. Here are examples: Enzo Savarese Realty, Dawn Rapa, Warner Realtors & Auction Company

Monthly Specials and/or Coupons - Offering monthly specials or coupons is a great way to get your existing customers to return each month or to get new customers to come to try your services or to visit your retail shop. Owner Diane D’Acqua of The Scarecrow Factory told me that she has numerous new out of state customers stop in with coupons printed from her website. The goal here is to convert online browsers to in-store buyers! Our website, The Women of Salem County, has an entire section filled with coupons for shopping in Salem County, the MARKETPLACE.

News & Newsletters - Your website is the perfect vehicle for distributing information to your clients, potential clients, etc. in the most efficient, cost-effective way possible. Henry D. Young Insurance offers a vast wealth of information on a variety of personal and business insurance topics while the Academy of Performing Arts Dance Studio has their monthly newsletter online to save paper and make it easier to distribute to the parents. Websketching (that’s us) has a press room for press releases as well as newsletters to help establish us as experts in our field.

On-line Stores - If you sell a product (or offer memberships), then you might want to consider selling it online! Jackie M’s sells cheesecakes online, Dr. Magaziner sells supplements, NJ State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs sells memberships, Auburn Road Vineyards sells wine (through Hops & Grapes).

Photo Gallery/Slideshows/Videos/Media Center - Your website is the perfect place for sharing photos and video, if appropriate. Although I don’t recommend it in every case, Cowtown Rodeo was the perfect example of a website that needed a videos and Tara LaRosa absolutely needed a media center - in fact, she really needs an entire section rather than just a page. Slideshows are the best way to show a large number of photos, showing the thumbnails on the page and allowing the viewer to click to view. Here is an example from our NJ Wedding Photographer website.

Portfolio - If you are an artist, an interior designer, etc., you may have a portfolio of work to showcase. Artist Lori Levin of Soulful Studios Pet Portraits has a terrific gallery of work for review. Jolene Petrowski of Inspired by Design shows before and after photos of her interior design work. If you are a photographer, you will want to showcase your best work as my partner did with his Jersey Shore Wedding Photographer website.

Sign-up for Mailing List - Allowing your visitors to sign-up to receive emails from you is a great way to grow your database for current and future marketing campaigns. Auburn Road Vineyards collects email addresses both on and offline and has Websketching send out their weekly e-Newsletter to announce "What’s for Dinner Friday?" Scott Donnini, owner of Auburn Road told me that on Thursday, right before the newsletter goes out, they usually have about two reservations each week... once the newsletter goes out, the phone starts ringing.

Testimonials - People like to buy from other people - they want to know that someone else tried it first and liked it. You don’t necessarily need a whole page of testimonials, but you definitely want to pepper some throughout your site. Check out http://www.warnerrealtors.com/ for a nice example - as you click through the site, the testimonial at the top changes.

Ok, for those of you who want to know what the obvious are... Home, About Us, Products/Services, Hours, Directions, Contact Us...

About Websketching

Websketching is a web development company offering a full range of website design, development and marketing services. Websketching specializes in creating custom website designs that can be equipped with their proprietary content management system, as well as the development of online website directories aimed at promoting tourism. Websketching is the creator of http://www.salemcountywoman.com/. For more information, please visit http://www.websketching.com/ or call 856-769-5600.