Tag Archives: twitter

5 Google+ Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

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Your small business only needs to maintain a presence on Facebook and Twitter, right? Wrong. Even though Google+ can seem like an afterthought in social media, ignore it and you’ll miss out on an enormous audience. There are five things you can do on Google+ to promote yourself in a new and exciting way and boost your brand’s awareness:

1.       Use the “About Page” to link your website

Take advantage of this opportunity to tell the audience about your company. This is the perfect place to add important keyword links for your site. Another cool feature is that Google+ allows you add bullet points, so you could simply list your products and services and have them link to pages on your website, which go into more detail.

2.       Plan events

Gmail accounts are ubiquitous, and Google+ has really neat optimized features for users. Their event feature, for example, is a great tool to use if your company would like to plan webinars, parties or other events. Regardless of whether or not they are Google+ users, their invitation will sync up with Google Calendar and help you track attendance. It’s also a great way to keep track of planning and logistics related to the event before, during and after!

3.       Create frequent optimized posts

By including keywords in your Google+ posts, you will ensure that you show up whenever your followers search for that keyword. This feature is called social search and it is especially effective for those with a large following. By frequently posting relevant content, you are increasing your chances of coming up in Google search results, which is one of the biggest benefits to maintaining a Google+ page.

4.       Be a Google Author

Google is constantly looking for new ways to authenticate content. By setting up Google Authorship, you are establishing yourself as a credible source for content. This means that you will be trusted by Google and will be able to reap all of the SEO benefits that come with that. By simply adding a photo of yourself and a miniature bio, you can drive tons of traffic to your page and significantly boost awareness.

5.       Talk to the right people

Google+ is all about talking to the right people, and it makes it pretty easy to do so. One way to do this is to join communities that are relevant to your company’s industry and interests and becoming a valuable part of the conversations. Once you have done this, you can begin to form relationships with people, and when they add you to their circles, you can add them to your company’s. Once they are in your circle, the things you post will show up for them.

Danielle Pacelli is the Marketing Coordinator at MycroBurst/Logo Design Guru. MycroBurst is based in Langhorne, Pa. and is an online marketplace for graphic design. MycroBurst provides custom designs through crowdsourcing. Follow Danielle and MycroBurst on Twitter @MycroBurst.

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How to Celebrate Holidays on Social Media

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The digital community expects you to stay on top of major holidays year-round. It looks pretty bad when a business overlooks a widely celebrated holiday and just goes along with the usual content and strategies. Holidays are a great way to create excitement, make noise, and even boost sales. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1.       Change your cover photo

Whether you are trying to spread some Valentine’s Day love or some Christmas cheer, a great way to start is by updating your cover photos to reflect that. Social media is becoming more visual by the day, so give the people what they want – pictures! Find or create an image that reflects your business and the holiday and make it your cover photo on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and any other platform.

2.       Tweet festively

Maybe you just want to say “Happy Halloween,” but there is an easy way to get attention for doing so. Get in on the trending topics on Twitter by using hash tags. When users search for the holiday or click on it, they might just come across your tweet and re-tweet it and follow you. Get creative and get noticed!

3.       Pin to win!

Pinterest is building quite the following and is an excellent tool for your business to use. A great way to promote your business during the holidays is to host a “Pin It to Win It!” sweepstakes and let your audience get their hands on a generous gift – promote it as a holiday gift. Simply have them follow you, re-pin a certain pin, and include a hash tag for a chance to win something your business offers or some other great prize. Users tend to keep their eyes open for these types of offers when holidays roll around.

4.       Offer an exclusive discount

Offering a coupon is an easy way to get a boost in sales. Offering a coupon code that is exclusively for your social media following will make them feel appreciated and help gain loyalty. Make the offer fan-gated in order to ensure that only your fans and followers are able to redeem the offer.

5.       Give helpful advice

The holidays can be stressful, but maybe you can help. Remind them of the goods or services your company provides or offer them useful tidbits. An easy way to do this is to write a holiday-themed blog post and promote it on all social media platforms to get the maximum amount of readership.

Don’t miss out on a golden opportunity for your company to shine by missing holidays and looking cold and unwelcoming. Open up your digital door and invite everyone in! 

Danielle Pacelli is the Marketing Coordinator at MycroBurst/Logo Design Guru. MycroBurst is based in Langhorne, Pa. and is an online marketplace for graphic design. MycroBurst provides custom designs through crowdsourcing. Follow MycroBurst on Twitter @MycroBurst.

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Guest Post: Can Interns Really Boost Your Business?

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Finding the perfect employee for your small business can leave you caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. You want to hire a candidate who is enthusiastic and a good fit for the position and prepared to work hard. But your budget may not allow you to pay them more beyond hourly wage or provide the full set of full time hours that they want.

Meanwhile, your current staff can’t cope with the extra work, and having an extra pair of hands would be more than welcome. So what is the solution?

Increasing numbers of businesses all over the world are turning to young interns to boost their businesses productivity. In terms of hiring temporary or short term employees, there really is no better solution.

The Ins – Benefits of Hiring an Intern

Often fresh out of college or still an undergrad student, interns are an invaluable asset to any company. Armed with a fresh set of skills, a passion for learning, and a desire to get ahead in their careers, your business really couldn’t find a more perfect employee. But what are the real benefits to your business? How can these young professionals really boost your productivity?

Fresh Ideas

Many people seeking out internships are university graduates or undergrads still studying within their majors. They’re ready to start putting what they’re learned into practice – after years of exams, assignments, and studying; it’s time to take their first steps into their chosen career.

Because of this, they can really bring something new to the table. Interns come with fresh ideas and methods of working, many of which your current workforce would never think of. They can see your products and practices in a whole new light. They can see whole new ways to improve your productivity, sales and revenue – and ultimately, your entire business.

Keen to Learn

Interns are willing and excited to explore new techniques and try different things on the job. They are also eager to impress, as they are looking to make their mark on your business. This means they will be ready to work hard for you.

Give them an appropriate amount of work within the position, instead of having them go for tea and coffee runs. Treat them with the same amount of respect you would with a full time staff member and they’ll do the same to you with the same amount of courtesy and appreciation.

Ready-Trained Employee

When a full time, paid position becomes available, your intern is ready and trained to take on the job. This saves you money on the recruitment process. Why would you re-train someone else, when you have an employee ready and waiting to take on the position?

If you cannot provide your intern a job once their internship is over, you can still lend a hand in helping them find a job elsewhere. Be sure to offer letters of recommendation, and act as a professional reference for your intern. You should also use your contacts to try and help them find a paid position that suits them – either as an intern or employee.

The Outs – The Hidden Pitfalls

Like all aspects of recruitment though, it is important to assess the cons of hiring an intern for your company. Is the process too good to be true? Are there any factors to be aware of before starting up the internship?

Recruiting is Still Involved

If you want to hire an intern, you do still have to go through the recruitment process and luckily social media is making this process faster and more affordable. Candidates are increasingly using social media to aid the job hunt. On Twitter for example, students can search hashtags such as #PRjobs to help hunt around for vacancies. With professional networking platforms like LinkedIn letting them apply for jobs on the site, you can place advertisements at no cost.

Payment Problems

Paying interns is a real issue because not every business has the budget established in place for it. You should always try to offer some sort of compensation – even if it is just a small stipend. Sometimes this can be too much for small businesses and their budgets. If candidates are still at college, you could also try offering telecommuting options. This would allow them to work from home and save on commuting expenses.

Interning is mutually beneficial, when it works well. The benefits of hiring interns far outweigh any potential pitfalls. If your business is looking for a boost, you should definitely begin your hunt for the perfect intern today!

This guest post has been supplied by executive search and selection specialists Outcomes UK. They strive to help businesses of any size employ the right staff for them. To find out more about how interns , interim managers, and temporary employees can boost your business visit them online: http://www.outcomesuk.com.

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Guest Post: 10 Things Every Business Should Know About Social Media

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The internet is full of articles singing the praises of social media. “It’s the most important thing ever for businesses. If you have it, your company will become bigger than Google; if you don’t, you’ll disappear faster than Pets.com (remember them?) and have to move back in with your parents.”

Let’s set the record straight. Can social media help your business make a name for itself, gain new clients, and forge relationships? Yes. Should you jump in with both feet even if you don’t understand social media so your company can become an overnight success? No. That’s not going to happen.

Social media is a tool, and like any other tool, you need to understand how it works or you might embarrass your company. After all, you wouldn’t try to use a nail gun without knowing how to use it, right? I hope the answer is no, or at least that I’m nowhere near you the next time you find a nail gun.

Before you begin your business’s journey into the world of social media, here are 10 important things everyone should know.

1. Ditch the hard sell. If the only things you post on your Twitter feed, Facebook page, or blog are announcements about new sales, products, and services, no one will follow you.

2. Keep the content coming. Companies who are successful in social media put out a continuous stream of quality content that allows them to steadily grow their fanbase, gain trust, and strengthen the brand. Only updating your Facebook or Twitter accounts once a week just doesn’t cut it.

3. Don’t drown your audience. The flip side of that coin is that you shouldn’t be overzealous in your posts and updates. If people are getting several notifications from you every day, it might turn them off and lose you fans.

4. It won’t happen overnight. Social media doesn’t work like a TV or radio commercial where millions may hear or see it each time it airs (and where you’ll pay for that privilege). Growth will occur due to word-of-mouth and through you seeking out fans and followers who have similar interests related to what your company does. Give it time and keep at it.

5. Look beyond the big boys. Everyone needs to be on Facebook and Twitter, and starting a company blog is always a smart move, but there’s a lot more out there. It’s important that you look for social networks that seem to reflect your audience. Pinterest is great for companies that have amazing visual content. Seeking dog owners? Join Dogster. Whatever your niche is, there’s usually a social network close by.

6. It’s time consuming. Generally speaking, businesses that want to stay top of mind with their audience should post at least 2 to 3 times per week on their blog and each of their social networks. Already you’re looking at several hours a week of blogging, and that’s not counting monitoring and responding to comments. Businesses that really dive into social media often find it’s worth the money to dedicate someone to the task. Because of this…

7. Social media isn’t free. Perhaps the previous tip makes this obvious, but I think it’s worth saying directly. Even though it doesn’t cost money to join social networks or start a blog, at the very least you’re “paying” with your time.

8. Be human. With so many things competing for our attention, it can be difficult for your business to stand out. People tend to respond better when they feel a human connection, so don’t be afraid to have a personality and even share your personal story.

9. Use multimedia. The beauty of social media (and the internet in general) is that it can incorporate all other kinds of media. Rather than just posting text, share pictures, put together infographics, and even post videos on your blog and social media feeds.

10. Remember: you’re a unique snowflake. The key to using social media well is to hone in on what makes your business different and focus on that. If you don’t feel like you’re finding that sweet spot yourself, it might be worth the money to consult with a social media expert.

Josh Weiss-Roessler is a freelance writer and small business marketing consultant based in Los Angeles. He’s also a contributor to Resume Builder Online and a professional resume editor. You can learn more about his work at WeissRoessler.com.

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MyCorp Survey Results Revealed!

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Last month, we conducted our first ever MyCorp 2012 Survey for Small Business with five quick questions on the state of small businesses in 2012 and beyond with questions that focused on consumer spending, business spending, predicted growth of the business in 2013, the social media outlet you’re looking to establish for your brand, and quite literally the state of your small business – where you’re putting your business out on the map and which states are the most popular to form a small business in!

We tallied up the votes on Constant Contact, conducted the random drawing for our lucky $50 Starbucks gift card winner (congrats to Elizabeth Sneed!), and the results are in from our voters!

1) What State is Your Business In?

Four states vied for the top spot in our polls with New York taking in fourth place and Florida and Texas snatching third and second place respectively. The number one spot was easily no contest with California snagging top honors, with a healthy number of C-Corporations formed throughout the state as our infographic from earlier this summer showed!

2) 2013 Spending Budget For Your Business

2013 met a very close tie in two sectors at 32% respectively, as businesses in 2013 plan on investing in updated electronics and tech equipment and marketing, including SEO, PR, and social media for their companies next year. Taking in third place at 27% was employees – looks like businesses in 2013 will be expanding their teams too!

3) What Consumers Are Spending Income on in 2013

The holidays may be coming, but that doesn’t mean that our survey shows you’ll be carrying the expense leftover well into the new year! A little over 50% have bill payments on the mind to pay off in 2013.

4) Social Media Outlets – Which Will You Create or Expand in 2013?

Over 50% of you will making several status updates by creating or expanding on your Facebook accounts. Hopping in at 45% is LinkedIn with Twitter rounding up the trio at 26%. (Psst – MyCorp has all three of these accounts in place that you can follow us at!)

5) Your Business in 2013: Expecting Growth?

Our survey says yes! Over 80% of you expect your business to swim on over to the shores of success next year – and we here at MyCorp couldn’t be happier to hear it!

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Guest Post: Do You Have Business Liability Insurance?

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Business liability insurance isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity for your business in the event of a potential lawsuit.

Say you’re a physical therapist with your own business. You’re crushin’ it in your biz and then boom! Out of nowhere, one of your old clients sends you a letter and is suing you because he tripped and fell inside your waiting room. Your heart is racing and the last thing you need is to deal with this.

So you call your attorney and he asks you if you have business liability insurance. You’re thinking: did I ever buy that? Time literally stops. You remember reading about it but you know you never got around to buying it.

I don’t want this to be you. Hard work and a really bad lawsuit that is the result of not having business liability insurance can put you out of business. As a business owner, you will need this insurance and there are several types of insurance that you can buy to best fit your business too.

Business liability insurance protects you from liability arising from accidents, injuries, libel, and slander. The policies also cover the legal fees to defend the lawsuit. Some of your vendors or customers may even require you to have this before they do business with you.

If you sell or manufacture a product, than you most likely need product liability insurance. Product liability insurance will cover you if there is a lawsuit that results from someone using your product. The insurance will protect you even if you are negligent and liable for damages. Many wholesalers and retailers of your product will require you to have this type of insurance if you are the manufacturer. Also, many wholesalers and retailers are encouraged to have product liability insurance s well. The insurer also pays the costs to defend you.

If you are in a service based business, you may need a general business liability policy and a professional liability insurance policy. Professional liability insurance is more commonly known as Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance. E&O insurance protects you if someone sues you claiming they lost money or were somehow damaged as a result of the service you offer. The insurer also pays the cost to defend you.

If you are a home based business owner and work out of your house, most homeowner’s policies won’t cover liabilities or losses from your business activities.

Here’s what you should do to protect yourself as an entrepreneur :

1) Get a referral for an insurance broker. They are independent insurance professionals and can shop the best policy from the best insurance company that’s right for you. If you go to your local State Farm or Farmers or Allstate agent, they may be able to offer it to you, but they can only sell you their company’s policy.

2) Tell your insurance broker the nature of your business. Ask him/her to identify your potential exposure, should you ever have to pay a claim.

3) Do 25 jumping jacks. You still reading this?

4) Tell your insurance broker what your sales and profits are.

5) Look into how much everything is. I have seen policies for business liability insurance that cost under $1000 a year for $1 million dollars of coverage. It’s not that expensive. Review this with your insurance broker.

Justin Krane is a Certified Financial Planner with Krane Financial Solutions. Follow Justin on Twitter @justinkrane.

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How to Select the Right Social Media Service For Your Company

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There are a ton of social media sites and services out there. Nearly every major network has a handful of tiny competitors, who all hope that they can attract even a small percentage of the unique visitors checking out their behemoth counterparts. Understandably, this can create some confusion for new businesses. Which networks should you focus on? Do you need to have a profile on every single one? Or can you just hit the big guys and skip the little ones? Well the answers aren’t a simple yes or no, but there are some questions you can ask yourself to help figure out where you should focus your resources, and who you can ignore.

1. What is the size of the service?

This one is pretty darn important – after all, if no one is using a website then it isn’t worth your time. But there are some services that sort of fall in a grey area – an odd limbo-esque state wherein there is a sizable, core group of users but not much interaction outside of them. Google+, for example, is one of those sites. You should always make a profile for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Those are the major players in the social media world, and are where most of your customers are going to be. Then start to look at the smaller guys. Google+ enjoys a very large core group of tech aficionados so if you’re a tech company, you should be on Google+. But if you don’t see much of your target audience on the smaller sites, then feel free to ignore them. You should cast as wide a net as possible when it comes to social media, but sometimes it’s just impossible for new businesses to devote that much time and effort when first starting out.

2. Why am I using this site?

A pretty basic question. Why are you devoting your time and energy to this particular social media site? Is it to get people to read the articles you put on other outlets? If so, you should consider looking into services like StumbleUpon and, as long as your articles weren’t only written to sell something, Reddit. StumbleUpon is a little bit more relaxed and simply guides traffic to any articles filed under a particular broad heading, like business or sales. Reddit is trickier, and requires that the user-base positively reacts to your submission. If they don’t, no one will read anything you submit.

But maybe you aren’t writing anything for anybody, you just want a place that customers can find and follow. In that case, stick with Facebook and Twitter. Keep in mind, though, that you have to give your customers a reason to follow you. Typically that reason is pretty basic and doesn’t change from the time-tested formula of ‘If I follow them, they will give me discounts’ but it’s up to you to figure out if you want to expand your profiles beyond being another source of coupons.

3. Can I honestly maintain this outlet?

This question is key. There is nothing more damning to a potential customer than an outlet that hasn’t been updated in three months. Going off of your Twitter account alone, they may even wonder if you’re still in business! You need to be able to dedicate at least an hour a day to updating all of your social media outlets – especially for services like Twitter that expect constant updates. Anything less and you’ll be doing more harm than good. And remember that your updates shouldn’t just be a constant stream of updates and tweets that essentially say ‘Buy stuff from me because I’m the best!’ Like we said above, you have to give your followers a reason to follow you. Post news about your industry, updates from the office, pictures of cats (if you think that they are appropriate). And never forget to talk with your followers – social media is about opening channels of communication, giving your customers a bit more of that all-too important human element.

Starting and maintaining a presence with social media sites is more complicated than people think. It requires an enormous amount of creativity to keep from stagnating, and it is very easy to put off updating your feeds to focus on things you consider more important. If you don’t think you have the time to update eight different sites every couple of hours, that’s fine – you just need to remember to pick the ones that both fit your needs, and that you enjoy using. Social media shouldn’t be a chore, so don’t get in over your head and just start out with whatever you think you can handle. You can always sign up for more accounts later!

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Guest Post: 5 Hot Business Ethics Issues of 2012

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Business ethics within corporations deal with the code of values a company adopts. They determine how the company operates and what it will potentially achieve in the long term. This year, businesses are faced with many difficult ethical questions and must understand the trends in industry as well as how to handle tough situations. In moral grey areas, businesses must take a stand on issues of all types, some of which include:

1) Honesty, Integrity, and Fairness

Don’t be afraid to turn away business when your products or services won’t benefit your clients. During the financial crisis, some banks – like BB&T – refused to offer the popular “pick-a-pay” mortgages (i.e. subprime loans) to customers. BB&T did not view these products as being in its customers’ best interest, despite their popularity. Other banks, like Citi, ignored this view and paid the price. BB&T came out of the crisis clean and on the side of honesty, while many of its competitors depended on a government bailout for survival.

2) Risk Management:

Overnight success is great for companies but sudden fast growth can cause a lack of focus on value and sacrifice quality. To solve the problem of faltering quality control, slow down growth. Don’t be a commodity product. Don’t cater to the masses. Create something for a niche market and refine your offering slowly over time. You don’t need to out-compete other companies. You only need to do better than you did last year.

3) Corporate Responsibility

There’s no necessary dichotomy between doing what is profitable and doing what’s right, but just make sure you’re doing it to the benefit of your shareholders and balancing the line between social and corporate responsibility. Don’t get lost in a moral fog. Stay honest and true to your business values. Your customers expect you to provide quality products and services and your shareholders expect you to make a certain amount of money – you have a responsibility to them. Make every move a profitable one for the long-term as much as you can.

4) Worker Exploitation

Even if you employees enjoy working overtime and staying on for longer hours each day, don’t take advantage of their willingness to work hard for you. Do, however, make your workplace inviting and comfortable to be in should they decide to stay late a few times a week.

5) Social Media

Or the ethics of buying “likes” and tweets. Some marketing departments within various companies have suggested that the company buy “likes” on Facebook and pay for “tweets” on Twitter to make the company look more popular. Instead of buying social signals on networking sites, double down on the marketing strategies that have worked in the past. Add social buttons for “likes” and “tweets.” If you get them, great. If not, don’t fret. What matters most is that you’re honest and profitable.

Author Bio:

Guest post contributed by Trace Anderson, for aimcrm.com, CRM software for lead and customer relationship management.

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Three Ways to Follow the Olympics from the Comfort of Your Desk

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The Summer Olympics come but once every four years, and social media has evolved fast since 2008′s games. Facebook had only just cracked 200 million active users, overtaking MySpace for the first time. Twitter was also really beginning to grow with six million users, and many of us often spent hours staring at the infamous ‘Fail Whale’ wondering how the heck this service was going to make money. YouTube, though well established, had only just begun to make a name for itself as a source of Olympic coverage as people who had never used the service began passing links to the outstanding opening ceremony at Beijing.

And now, in 2012, most of these services have matured. Social media is the number one activity on the internet, and the International Olympic Committee has decided to release (some very strict) guidelines on social media to its athletes. But despite the muzzle, there are still a few great ways for you to get your Olympic fix, even from your work desk.

Make use of that Google+ Account you signed up for

Now that Google+ account you were dying to get but have sadly neglected after absolutely no one made the transition from Facebook can get some much needed love. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) announced that they’ll be utilizing the Google’s native social media service and fans of Google+ are ecstatic that they haven’t been overlooked. Of course they’re also running coverage on Facebook but the Google+ feed has shown a much more aggregated approach to its coverage of the pre-game festivities, at least so far. Compare the two pages and you’ll see blurbs from major news outlets filling up the Google+ page, while Facebook is relegated to a few pictures posted by the IOC. Of course we’ll be following both, but if you really want to stay on top of things it looks like Google+ may be the go-to outlet for updates.

Check out the IOC Hub

The IOC has accomplished something wonderful for us Olympic fans – it’s centralized its social media campaign. The IOC hub lists the twitter feeds of thousands of athletes, offers its own coverage, and even has a cute little community with rewards and tiers for those who want to try and connect a bit more closely to the action. If that doesn’t suit you, you can always just sit back and let the news updates/tweets roll in after merging your account with the Hub. The whole idea behind the Hub is actually quite astonishing, as putting all that information into one place is a fairly behemoth undertaking, but it seems to be working, and we’re all the happier for it.

You can still follow your favorite athletes on Twitter

Don’t let that IOC muzzle scare you away – many analysts are guessing that the IOC won’t be chasing down athletes who post pictures of themselves warming up or tweet about their joys and disappointments on the road to Olympic gold. Really, they’re just trying to make sure that an athlete sponsored by Coca-Cola doesn’t tweet about how much they enjoy Pepsi. The involvement of advertising dollars sort of sullies the experience, but at least the tweets won’t have to pass an IOC committee before being sent out. It is still a great idea to follow the athletes, if for nothing else to connect that much more closely to the men and women representing your country. And how else would you know that Michael Phelps isn’t a fan of the new Team USA swim caps?

At the end of the day, social media is about enjoying yourself online. It allows you to connect with other people – people you may never have had a chance to connect through any other medium. And while we’d never recommend loafing on the job so you can scan pages of tweets and status updates, following all of these wonderful outlets is a great way to stay up to date while at work.

Just remember to go back and look for what you missed once you get home!

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Guest Post: The Value of Social Media Buzz

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Today we’re featuring a special guest post from guest blogger Rachel Walker at FastUpFront which provides business cash advances for small businesses. Social media buzz is pivotal to the success of businesses both big and small but how does the marketing work for it and once you have an engaged customer, how do you get them to stay engaged with your brand?

I remember when social media was still in its infancy, with Facebook and Twitter leaping to become overnight social network sensations. Today there are a whole slew of social media sites which allow people to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on anything and everything- and businesses are working hard to keep up with the tweeting Joneses.

Savvy consumers use these platforms to share their opinions of businesses with one another, while said businesses scurry to leverage their social media reputations to attract more customers.  In the blink of an eye, social media has now become one of the most important marketing platforms worldwide. Now that we’re there, how does social media marketing work and how exactly does one keep a customer engaged with their fan page to keep that buzz going?

How Does Social Media Marketing Work?

There are many different methods when it comes to taking advantage of social media for marketing purposes being utilized, but here are a few tried and true ways to getting online exposure easy.

•          By “liking” a brand on Facebook or promoting it via Google+ fans are able to give their favorite companies a much-needed boost in Insight popularity and help to spread word of mouth out to their followers and friends

•          When businesses run promotions on the major social networks, fans of the brand can help spread the news by posting about the giveaways on their Facebook wall and tweet out a quick message with a bit.ly link included, all the while providing valuable exposure to the promoting brands

•          Sites like Yelp allow consumers to rate and comment about brands that they feel inspired to provide feedback about. Businesses can view the comments and reply if they like and also create new marketing campaigns for their company based off of reviews.

How Do Businesses Keep People Engaged Through Social Media?

One of the great things about social media is the fact that it allows businesses to build communities with personality as opposed to being known as a faceless brand.  Once a business succeeds in getting people to opt-in to something, they can work on continually marketing to them, knowing what the audience responds to best.  Here are some examples of ways that businesses are able to keep their fan base engaged…

  • Giveaways and exclusive sales for fans only
  • Have a community fund to raise money for a charitable cause
  • Hosting an online contest via Twitter with a fun prize offered at the end
  • Getting your customers to have a stake in your brand by encouraging them to drop you a line at a specific fan email address

So, it would seem that social media must be an effective form of marketing, but is it really?

According to the numbers, the answer is overwhelmingly, ‘YES!’  Social media not only has the power to bring in new business, but social media referrals are also a lot more valuable than most other referrals.  Not only do social media attracted visitors convert better, they also make better customers.

Rachel Walker is a FastUpFront blogging contributor and business consultant. Fastupfront offers fast business loan financing solutions based on business cash flow.

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