Small Business Marketing Blog

How to start Social Media Marketing in 1 hour a day

Recently I was asked on a Linked Group: “Where would you recommend someone start? How much time do you recommend spending working the social media?”

This is a very good question, thanks for asking Bryan. And a question, Im sure, many business owners would like an answer to.  Unfortunately it’s not that easy, however, I will attempt to give you some answers.

The key thing to remember is to align social media marketing with your business objectives.  No doubt your goal is to increase your bottom line.  Increase revenue and decrease expenses. There are many ways this can be achieved:  brand and company awareness, improved systems, better understanding of your customers’ needs, competitor knowledge, reputation, customer feedback, market research and referrals. Each one of these is important to building a successful and sustainable business, however their importance to your business depends on whether you’re a B2B, B2C, where your business is located, your industry, trends and many other factors. 

Social media can provide solutions for all of these. So the answer is in the questions:

1. What’s the most important element to your business right now?
2. What do you want to use social media for?
3. How are they aligned with your business objectives?

I would recommend focusing on the three main sites: Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. Use them to:

• Build your network and reach
• Build your authority and awareness
• Promote (not sell) your expertise: blogs, webinars, presentations, ebooks
• Promote events – that are relevant to your audience

Have a long term plan to build relationships and friendships with the right people. It’s no different to building relationships face to face. The first thing you’re going to do is introduce yourself, get to know your connections and let your connections get to know you. It’s a lot easier to sell something to a friend or someone you know who respects you, rather than a stranger.

Knowing that business owners are very time poor,  I recommend finding 1 hour day – maybe in the evenings whilst you catch up on the news or watch TV.

1 hour each day to monitor Google Alerts, Read Blogs and review Twitter
• If you set up Hootsuite – that is an easy way to monitor all your social media accounts, and post links and status updates to all of them at once.
• Use Google Alerts to stay up to date with conversations that are happening on the web about your industry, company, brand and competitors. This is great way to connect with bloggers who have a following that represents your target audience.
• Set up RSS on iGoogle: I don’t like to have my email filled with blogs and alerts. What I find works well is to have it all syndicated through RSS to my iGoogle home page. Each night I scan through all the blog articles, read the ones that interest me, comment if appropriate and scan the Google Alerts for what’s happening in my industry. This keeps me up to date with my industry and competition.

Spend 2 hours a week (1 hour x 2 days per week)
• Finding groups to join on Linked In
• Search for people to connect with on Facebook, Twitter and Linked In.
• Set up and run your own group on Linked In and Facebook
• Answer questions on Linked In– search through your groups and Answers for topics you know.
• Connect with everyone you come in contact with
• If you have something that is of value and interest to your groups like a great blog or webinar – let them know about it.

This is a great lead generation strategy that can prequalify your prospects before you start selling.

Does this help?  Let me know what you think.

 

Social Media Optimization News Updates - Its all about location.

I found this Social Media Marketing article on Foursquare - this one is worth reading and worth sharing.

Im yet to get involved with anything new to social media. Ive decided to sit back, to wait and see how long they stick around. My guess is social media is heading down the road of the dot.com boom and bust and there will be a lot of new comers trying to make a quick buck, but very few will survive. And even fewer will add value to businesses. I want to make sure that when I suggest a particular social media strategy or tactic to my clients that its worth their investment. With that being said, Foursquare (which I haven't had any experience with) appears to be gaining in popularity with proven results. Especially for location based, B2C business like Restaurants.  Diane's article on Foursquare is really a worthwhile read and will open your eyes to the possibilities of social media and the role it will play in our lives, in the not too distance future. Now Im intrigued... time to sign up to Foursquare? Maybe :). Check it out, its a good read!

Social Media's New Mantra: Location, Location, Location
Fast-growing network Foursquare is luring potential buyers

Author: Diane Brady
Publication: Bloomberg Business Week

 

Do you use Foursqare? Please share your thoughts or experience. 

Did you like this article? If so, please click on the Facebook "like" icon to share it with your friends.

If you're a business owner or marketer and would like some assistance with developing a Social Media Strategy for your business please click on the Free Marketing Consultation and fill out the inquiry form. 

 

Does Social Media Confusion Have You Paralyzed? Want Solutions?

If you're a busy business person who is interested in learning how social media can help your business but you're overwhelmed by the whole social media thing. Where to start and what to do... then this article is for YOU!

 

Here are six things you need to do:

1. Make the decision to start.
2. Put aside 1 hour per week.
3. Keep it simple!
4. Don't lose site of your business objectives.
5. Focus on just 1 or 2 social sites.
6. Be Patient!

Your objective when starting with social media should be to:

1. Build your network based on your target audience and your industry thought leaders.
2. Build a rapport with your target audience and to position yourself, and or your company as a trustworthy, thought leader.

NB: Forget selling or promotions at this point, you'll push people away. You may see results initially but it's a short term strategy with short term results.

Because the majority of people have a  Linked In account I chose this site as the first social media site to concentrate on when starting with social media.

Linked In

• If you haven't already set up a profile go to www.linkedin.com and follow the prompts to set up your account.
• Search for groups that represent your target audience and industry, and join them. Engage in this group and comment in discussions and answer questions - don't promote yourself or your company. Your insightful, intelligent and helpful answers and comments will do that for you.
• Search for your keywords in Answers, and answer any questions you can. Remember to avoid the sales and focus on offering professional advice that is of value.

Here's a couple of articles on how to use Linked In for business.

4 Minutes To Optimize Your Linked In Profile for SEO

Linked In For Lead Generation

The other two social media activities I would recommend - in order:

1. Blogging
2. Twitter

Did this article help? Do you have any questions regarding social media for business?

What Does "It's a People Driven Economy Stupid" Mean To Inbound Marketing?

Are you one of the 1,463,130 people who have viewed the Social Media Revolution video by Erik Qualman on YouTube? If not, there's a link to it at the bottom of this article.  I encourage you to watch it, its only 4mins. The stats of social media usage in this video are amazing!

Understanding what this truly means presents an unparalleled opportunity for marketers to be successful with their online marketing in the new decade. Here are some key stats and quotes from the video:

1. If Facebook was a country it would now be the 3rd largest country (updated stat).
2. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook are 55-65 year old females.
3. Youtube is the 2nd largest search engine.
4. There are 200 million bloggers.
5. 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily.
6. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and services.
7. People care more about how their social graph ranks products or services, than how Google ranks them.
8. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements.
9. "Social media isn't a fad it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate."
10. Social media is about listening first, selling second.

As a marketer what do these stats mean to you?

We can clearly conclude that the trend is towards more time using social media, and less time watching TV, listening to the radio or reading a newspaper.  To a traditional marketer this would mean a shift in where you advertise or promote your product and services. And this is what many marketers are doing. The last point I mentioned above is the key to successful social media marketing...

Listening First, Selling Second!

The trend towards social media means that people are now communicating your message not you! People are talking about your company or industry regardless of what you're doing. 

So what should you do?

The new marketer, the Inbound Marketing marketer listens, responds and builds relationships before selling or promoting. They take the time to understand how social media, has changed marketing psychology. The successful marketer of the new decade uses social media to:

1. Listen to what consumers' needs and frustrations are.
2. Respond to the questions, problems, issues and unhappy customers personally.
3. Build relationships , trust and respect with their audience. So when they promote their product or service it is of interest and value to their audience.

If you're thinking your product is too niche, your target audience isn't using social media or your business is too small. Check out the link to the Social Media Revolution (link below) and look at the growth of social media. How long will it take for your target audience to start using social media, 1 year or 5 years? 

"Social media isn't a fad it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate." Erik Qualman

What are your thoughts on social media marketing? Have you started? Are you having success?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you for reading.

The view the Social Media Revolution video click here.

Hands Up Who's Heard of Inbound Marketing

When I asked this at a recent business networking function no hands went up. 

Now this is a group of proactive, dynamic, driven small business owners and I had expected that at least one person would have caught onto the ‘Inbound Marketing' wave. Admittedly this is a new term, or as some marketing veterans would have us say an old term, applied to new technology. Basically it's a term that is applied to ‘permission' marketing and developing a strategic web presence so your prospects can find you when they're looking. With the rapid pace the internet is growing and changing with new technology it's no wonder business owners are being left behind with the latest tools to market their business.

The toughest thing for small business is having the money to market their business and with the recent tough economic climate, increasing marketing expense without knowing its ROI is something business owners aren't prepared to risk.

So let me explain in brief how inbound marketing is helping small business and why it must be part of every business's marketing mix in 2009.

1. Your Strategic Web Presence:

This is more than a website, it's about all your online activity showing up in searches when your prospects are looking for your product or service.  It's about having a presence across all search engines and the various social media sites for your web pages, blog articles, videos, podcasts, press releases, photos and presentations.

2. Your Website:

Your website is to provide the information your prospects are looking for and providing an easy process to convert your visitors to leads and leads to customers. The purpose of your website is to ‘CONVERT'.

3. Choosing The ‘Right' Keywords:

The right keywords are often not the high volume keywords that you think, so it's important to do research and learn what terms your prospects are using when they're searching or interacting on the internet. It's about targeting some of the more specific keyword phrases that may have a lower search volume but better chance of ranking in the top 10 and driving qualified prospects to your site.

4. Organic Rank:

With 80% of searchers clicking on organic listings over the paid listings, organic rank should be part of your long term goal. The best way to boost your rank is through inbound links; directories, industry listings, blogging and social media.

5. Blogging:

Blogging for business serves many purposes and should be on every business owners weekly ‘to do' list, and definitely part of any marketing strategy.  In saying that, there should be some planning done before you jump into blogging so that you get the results you're seeking. You need to think about who your audience is and what information is of value to them. Each article should use your keywords, hyper linking these keywords to your website or other pages of your website. Part of successful blogging is also about subscribing and commenting on others.

6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

Optimizing all your online content and constantly reviewing your position in the search engines compared to your competition and against your goals. Testing and measuring new strategies to get you closer to your desired goal. There are tools to help you do this and experts to do it for you.

7. Social Media Marketing:

Social media strategies should be focused using social media tools to achieve business goals through: customer relations, market research, customer research, competitor tracking, building strategic partnerships, networking, promotion, optimizing and driving traffic to your website.

8. ROI:

It's all about testing and measuring and knowing your ROI. For this you need the right SEO and social tools and reporting. There are some easy to use tools for business owners and inbound marketing experts available to train you or do it for you.

None of this should be started without an Inbound Marketing Plan. The first step, like any traditional marketing includes research and analysis to know your market and identify your opportunities.  The second step is to identify clear marketing goals and thirdly a strategic inbound marketing plan that will achieve your goals.  Not every social media tool is right for every business based on goals, budget and market, so take the time first to have a Strategic Inbound Marketing Plan developed that is aligned with your goals by a inbound marketing professional who can walk you through each step of the process and coach you if needed.

Are you ready to include Inbound Marketing into your marketing mix? The first step is to book in a complimentary consultation to talk about your goals and identify the best strategies and tactics for your unique situation.

Does that help explain Inbound  Marketing or are you still unsure how it will benefit your business? I would like to hear your comments or questions regarding Inbound Marketing.

 

 

 

 

Why I Asked To Be A Hubspot Partner

Several years ago I identified the need to optimize our website with keywords so we could rank higher in the search engines.  Through my research in looking for the ‘best' search engine optimization company to employ, I quickly learnt that SEO wasn't something that you do once, it was ongoing and continually changing.  Not only that, the seo experts I was speaking with charged in excess of $1000 with no guarantee.  I decided it was going to be cheaper and better long term, for me to learn seo and make the changes myself.  So I spent a considerable about of time studying SEO until I knew what we needed to do with regards to optimizing the website, headings, page titles, meta descriptions and rewriting the website copy.  But the next challenge I ran into was updating our website.  Our web developer charged $100 p/hr to make the changes. This didn't provide me with the flexibility I needed to upload new content, test and measure results and change offers, calls to action. Also we needed to start a blog, but again the cost factor outweighed any financial benefit we could foresee.  It was frustrating and expensive, to say the least.

So you can imagine my excitement, as a business owner when I discovered Hubspot. As a business owner, entrepreneur, who isn't a tech geek or web developer Hubspot made website development, seo and social media marketing doable and affordable. 

As a marketing consultant, I help business owners develop an effective website,  incorporating SEO and social media marketing. The one and only product, that I've come across, that is both user friendly, effective and helps business owners implement strategies, test and measure and ultimately get results is Hubspot! And that is why I asked to be a Hubspot Partner.

If you haven't already, check out the marketing effectiveness of your website with Hubspot's Website Grader.  And if you have any questions about Hubspot or Inbound Marketing please ask, I look forward to helping you.

How Inbound Marketing Converts Traffic To Leads

Search engine optimization (seo) is an integral part of effective social media marketing. Done well it will drive qualified traffic to your website.  But an increase in traffic means nothing to your business if they're not converting.  Before you spend any more money to drive more traffic to your site, think about what you want your visitors to do and how you can encourage them to convert to a lead. If your traffic is not converting, it's not a numbers game, you need to go back to the planning stage and focus on leads.  Here's some basic pointers on how to convert your traffic to leads.

The first step is to understand your audience, and I mean really know your audience:

1. Who are they?

2. What are their needs, problems?

3. How does your product or service help them?

4. Are they looking for information or are they ready to buy?

The second step is to give them what they're looking for:

1. Make sure the keyword phrase they clicked on takes them to a landing page on your website that is relevant.

2. You have 3 seconds, so make sure the content on the landing page is what they're looking for, easy to read or scan.

The third step is the conversion:

1. Make sure your call to action is clear and easy.

2. If extra information is required provide an option to subscribe to your blog, enewsletter or even download a free ebook.

3. If a free trial of your product would help, offer a free sample, free trial or complimentary consultation.

4. Make it clear for those visitors who are finished researching and are ready to purchase what they need to do. Make the purchase process as easy as possible.

 

My challenge to you is to focus on leads not traffic, here's what you need to do:

Choose a keyword phrase that represents just one of your products or services, that talks direct to a specific audience and addresses a specific need or problem.  Follow my steps above, test and measure and see if you get a better result in lead conversion.  More than likely your traffic will be much lower, but if you've done your homework the conversion should be higher. Generating leads, not traffic is the start of effective inbound marketing and a successful business. 

If you need some assistance or have a question before you get started, ask me. And don't forget to let me know your results.

Social Media Marketing: Understanding the Change in Psychology

If we take a look at history, marketing is continually changing, largely influenced by technology. Over time technology has changed production, distribution, communication, advertising, consumer needs and buyer behavior, necessitating a change in marketing strategies and marketing psychology.

Today, the technology introducing the new era of marketing is the internet and more specifically social media marketing. The internet has created a platform which has changed distribution, advertising, consumer needs and buyer behavior, introducing a new psychology and approach to marketing. In order to run a successful business, understanding how this technology is influencing and changing your market is paramount to guaranteeing marketing victory. It's the marketers and business owners that harness this change in marketing and the psychology who will be the ones that build sustainable businesses and not only survive these tough economic times but position themselves to prosper in the future.

One of the significant benefits for small to medium size businesses (SMBs) is that there is now a level playing field for large and small business. No longer do you need a huge marketing budget to reach your market, conduct market research or get media coverage. Your market reach is the same as large business and your marketing costs are significantly reduced. This is true for both B2C and B2B businesses.

It's not easy though. There is a learning curve to understanding the new technology and psychology behind social media marketing.

The new marketing psychology is about:

1. Valuing your time on the internet: this is no waste of time

2. Appreciating the value of writing: the ‘new' advertising

3. Transparency: your audience expects it

4. Listening: customer relations and market research

5. Giving: creating brand/company awareness

6. Patience: it's a long term strategy

7. Your website: it's about lead generation and conversion

I hope this article has provided some value to marketers and business owners in understanding how marketing is always evolving and the importance of changing your marketing psychology accordingly to get the best return from your marketing efforts and to build a sustainable and profitable business.

Welcome your comments, feedback, questions.

Social Media Marketing: Tell Me The Facts!

I recently discovered the Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael A Stelzer. 880 business owners, employees and sole proprietors were surveyed in an attempt to uncover the who, what, where, when and why of Social Media Marketing. There are a lot of interesting findings in this report, however, I've pulled out just a few results that I believe would be the most valuable to SMBs. If you're interested in reading the entire report you can download it for FREE at: Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

Is your competition using Social Media Marketing?

• Business owners were more likely to use social media marketing than employees working for a business.
• The largest group just getting underway with social media marketing was sole proprietors.
• Small business owners were the most experienced, 29.3% reporting doing social media marketing for years.

What are the benefits to using social media marketing?

The top three benefits are:

1. Exposure of business
2. Increasing traffic
3. Building new business partnerships

An unexpected benefit was a rise in search engine rankings reported by more than half of participants. About one in two marketers found social media marketing generated qualified leads.

How does time invested influence results?

• 62% of marketers who have been using social media for years report it has helped them close business.
• Nearly all marketers spending 6+ hours a week on social media marketing found exceptionally positive results.
• At least 2 in 3 participants found that increased traffic occurred with as little as 6 hours a week invested in social media marketing. And those who have been doing it for years reported even better results.
• 62% of people who have only invested a few months in their social media marketing report new partnerships were gained.
• Owners of small business were more likely than others to report benefits.

What are the top social media tools?

The most common social media tools in order are:

1. Twitter
2. Blogs
3. LinkedIn
4. Facebook

If you're looking to get started with any of these here's some quick tips for social media marketing.

So what can we learn from this?

The takeway here is that your competition is using social media marketing and they're getting results. With as little as 6 hours a week you can expect to see an increase in traffic to your site, and in just a few months develop new business relationships. The longer you've been implementing social media marketing the greater the results, so the sooner you start the better.

What are your questions regarding social media marketing?

 

 

5 Inbound Marketing Tips To Generate Leads From Your Website

I find so many business owners, especially in small business, have a misconception about the ‘true' purpose of their website and therefore, aren't getting the most value out of their website. The most overlooked marketing tool that (almost) every business has is their website. Many business owners, when they start, set up a website because it's what is expected nowadays. Your prospects expect to find you on line and it's where your competitors are, so of course you need a website if you want people to take you seriously.

No matter what you ‘think' the purpose of your website is, it should be to generate leads and conversions.

The average website conversion is 1-2%, proper SEO could double your traffic and an effective call to action can increase your conversion to 4-5%.  If you know how many visitors you're getting to your site on a monthly basis and how many are converting to leads, do the math.

So how do you implement some fundamental Inbound Marketing strategies like SEO and lead generation to improve your business?

There is a lot that can be done on-page (on your website) and off-page (internet) with Inbound Marketing to boost your organic rankings and convert visitors once they're on your site.  But here are 5 SEO and lead generation tips to get you started and improve the value of your website.

1. Choose the right keyword phrases:

a. Know who your audience is, who's coming to your site and why.

b. Choose keywords that your audience is using and that you can rank for in the search engines. There's no use going after high traffic keywords if its next to impossible to rank for them.

2. Make sure each page on your website is optimized for unique keyword phrases (not the same keywords for every page):

a. Page title
b. Meta description
c. H1 tags
d. Content
e. Internal links

3. Inbound Links

a. Don't direct all your traffic to your home page

b. Make sure the links directing traffic to your site are hyperlinked with keywords relevant for the page.

c. Set up relevant landing pages that have a compelling offer to encourage visitors to fill out a form or contact you in some manner.

4. Have a call to action on each page.

5. Set up some form of analytics to track your results.

In recent weeks I've conducted many website audits with Hubspot's Website Grader tool and I would say 90% are missing fundamental Inbound Marketing strategies like SEO and lead conversion. Is this your website? 

If so, here's your action plan:

1. Check your website out yourself at Hubspot Website Grader or contact an Inbound Marketing consultant to do it for you.

2. Then set yourself some conservative goals such as: increase your traffic by 10% and conversions by 1%.

3. Make some simple changes as mentioned above, or contact an Inbound Marketing consultant to help you.

4. Monitor the results. Tweak. Test. Monitor.

I would love to hear how these tips and the action plan have helped you. And your results.

If you know someone who would get value out of this blog post please pass it on.