What to Write? What to Right?

One of the biggest issues people have with #socialmedia is: What to write?  If this stumps you, not to worry, you’re not alone – at one time or another, everyone gets stumped with that!  But you don’t have to look as far as you might think to come up with some great ideas for social media and blog posts.   

Mark Twain said, “Write what you know.” Great advice! You’re an expert in your industry. But not everyone else is. Position yourself as the ‘go-to’ person in your field. And write what you know.

Let’s look at some examples of sources for inspiration:

1.     What are the 2 (or 3 or 4 or 5) key misconceptions about your industry? What are some of the most common myths surrounding what you do? Be the mythbuster! Social media is a great way to disseminate the information that will set people straight.

2.   What about your industry has changed within the past 5 years? What’s new? You’re the professional. Let people know that. Since you’re the one with your finger on the pulse, use that. Change within your industry is the important stuff that people need to know. Share it on social media.

3.   Think for a moment. What are the questions that you are most asked about your industry; about what you do; about your products and services? Elaborating on the responses to these questions can provide you with plenty of inspiration for social media and blog posts.

4.     Finally, and this is really important: What is the call to action? Make sure you include something. Once you have people’s attention, what is it that you want them to do after they absorb all of the useful information you’ve provided via social media? Well, ultimately you want them to buy your products; you want them to use your services. And how do you leverage social media to entice them to do that?  That’s your call to action. And you want the call to action to be an immediate response. It might be to call or email you to request further information about your services, or even better, to set up an appointment (don’t forget to provide contact information where it will be easily seen - and in the case of an email, link to your email address right there). Or it might be to come into your store/offices/workshop to purchase what you sell (again, a very visible address and a map to your location should be included on your social media sites – not to mention a link to your website). Or you might want people to subscribe to your newsletter or blog (and yes, you can write those, too! Piece of cake!). If that’s the case, ensure that you include a “Subscribe” button that people can click on right then and there. Easy!

Posting to social media sites isn’t rocket science, but it does take some time and thought. It’s also a necessity in business these days if you’re going to be competitive. I defy you to find one big business that doesn’t have a social media presence. I’ll bet you can’t! And there’s a very good reason for that. In today’s climate, if you don’t have a social media presence, you pretty much don’t exist. Just some food for thought…

Want more help with your foray into the realm of the social? We’ve got just the course for you! Join one of our Social Networking for Business workshops today! (See the call to action??)

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR TIME WISELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

A very commonly asked question about using social media for business is:  “How much time does it take?”  Lots of people mistakenly believe that a good social media strategy for their business is a total time suck and not worth the effort.  Not so!  If you are one of the people living under that misconception and not taking advantage of what social media has to offer, you are missing out on important conversations and networking opportunities that can greatly benefit your business’ bottom line!            

                                                        

I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that it takes no time at all to implement, develop and maintain a viable social networking strategy, but I can tell you that it’s not as daunting an undertaking as you might think - the risk of missed opportunities far outweighs the risk of time lost.  And, you are in complete control of how much time you put into it.  Here are some tips to help you manage your time wisely on social media activities for your business:

First, focus on why you want to use social media.  Depending on industry and company mission, business owners use social media for different business purposes.  Do you want to use it for research? Networking? Sales?  Or, a combination of all of the aforementioned?

If research is your aim, you’ll want to source out blogs and relevant news sites that provide you with the quality information you require.  You can subscribe to their RSS feeds (news feeds) so that you can keep up with any updates posted that are of importance to you.  Imagine having all of that information literally at your fingertips?  If you ask me, it sounds like this will actually save you some time!!

If you want to use social media for networking, it’s imperative that you build a community or audience.  This is easy to do on sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Once you have created your accounts (a snap), it’s just a matter of building your communities by posting on a regular basis (again, this does not take a whole lot of time) and interacting with your audience.  Depending on how much engagement you’re interested in, this can take anywhere from only minutes a day to a couple of hours – not necessarily any more than that, unless you so choose.

If your motivation is sales and marketing, it’s important that you get your brand name out there.  You’ll want to let people know what your brand is all about – what services and/or products you offer – how these services and products can benefit people.  Again, engagement with your audience via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging will be key here.  Social media sites are currently the most innovative methods of marketing your brand’s products and services.  They provide an unprecedented means of getting the word out.

Secondly, it’s important to develop a strategy to manage your time wisely.  Once you gain perspective on your purpose for using social media for your business, it won’t be difficult to determine how much time per day or per week you’ll require.  Here are a few ideas that can help:                                          

-          Create a schedule.  Set some time aside each day (at least at first) to check your Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn accounts.  Take a few moments on each account to post something relevant and especially to respond to any inquiries or concerns that people in your communities may have.  Make it a point to join in on conversations/dialogue wherever you can contribute something meaningful.  (Remember, it’ll take a bit of time to build an audience.)   If you decide to blog, ensure that you post something at least once every other week or so.  Blog posts take on average anywhere between an hour to a few hours to research and compose, but unless you’re a very ambitious, avid blogger, a post a week or every other week should suffice.

-          Focus on activities that will have the most impact.  A crucial thing to remember here is that you have to be where your customers/clients are.  If you have identified that they are mostly on Facebook, then by all means, concentrate a good chunk of your social networking time there.   But, you don’t want to neglect the other networks, as they are all beneficial.

-          Although you want to garner a wide audience, it’s not necessary to overdo it. You don’t have to be friends with or follow each and every person with whom you come into contact.  If a relationship will be mutually beneficial, you want to be connected to that person, if not, then don’t be afraid to be selective.  If you’re connected to absolutely everyone, you will be spending more time than you have to on social media.

-          By the same token, it’s imperative to stick to your purpose.  It’s easy to get sidetracked with irrelevant activity on social media (do you really have to watch that YouTube video right now??).  Stay focused on your business purpose and you will spend your time much more efficiently on social media.                       

                                                                 

If you use your time wisely and keep your focus in mind, you will find that you social media endeavors significantly pay off and that you actually enjoy your time spent with your connections. 

Need help putting together a social media strategy for your business?  We’d like to see you at our Social Media for Business workshop.  We can show you how to use your time wisely and effectively to make social media work for your business’ bottom line.  Please click on the link below for a schedule of workshops in your area.

https://escomputertraining.com/socialmedia

6 Tips for Posting When You Don’t Have Time to Post

So your business is up and running across multiple social platforms and your blog is alive and well.  Good for you!  I’m sure by now you’re reaping the benefits of social media marketing. But if you’re like most of us, there are some days that social networking has to take a backseat because you’re swamped with other pressing matters. Well fear not!  If you have ten minutes to spare (Oh come on, you have 10 minutes to spare!), then I have  a few ideas for you that will make posting quick and easy on the days that  you don’t have a lot of time to put into it…

                                                                                                      

1.  Scan the News – With an online version of almost every publication known to mankind at our fingertips, it takes only seconds to scan the headlines of two or three online daily newspapers. Make a quick comment or two on whatever captures your interest or whatever’s trending right now. Don’t forget to include a link to the article so others can have a gander at what you’re referring to.

2.  Share a Quote – The internet is ripe with quotes of all kinds – inspirational quotes, funny quotes and brainy quotes – some from people we’ve heard of and some from anonymous sources. Pick a few and post ‘em. Everyone loves a bit of inspiration or a great one-liner.

3.  Use Visuals  – See a photo or video that interests you or that is relevant to your business (or not)?  Then post away.  Images and video are wonderful for fan engagement. Make a quick, insightful comment about it and voila – you’ve got yourself a great post!

4.  Retweet or Share – It’s well entrenched within the culture of social media to share other people’s comments, photos, links and tweets. Hit your Twitter and Facebook accounts and share a couple of things that immediately capture your attention. If it’s piqued your interest, chances are it’ll pique the interests of others.

5. Stockpile – You know those quotes, photos and videos that I mention above? 

Well, on days that you do have a little more time to spare – or even just as you see things that you know will make a great future post – save the link or photo to a special file on your desktop so you can just jump right on in and grab stuff to post when time is tight.  I have one – it’s named “Posts for Tomorrow” and it’s been a lifesaver for me on more than one occasion.  Just don’t forget to check it often – sometimes items are time-sensitive and won’t make any sense if they’re posted two weeks after they’re no longer relevant.  (And do the same thing for blog ideas – keep a file of ideas complete with links and you’ll never run out things to blog about.)

6. Take Advantage of HootSuite and the Like – Making use of HootSuite and other social media management tools (think Seesmic, TweetDeck & TwitterFeed) can be a godsend.  They’ll streamline things for you and make your life a whole lot easier!

21 Social Media Statistics for 2014 (So Far)

Social media continues to be a widespread phenomenon – it continues to grow both in terms of the number of people and businesses who use it as well as the number of social media platforms it encompasses. Insofar as its relevance to business is concerned, well, let’s just say that if you’re not social, you can’t possibly be competitive in the market as it exists in 2014. Why? Here are some stats, courtesy once again, of Jeff Bullas, social media guru and author, that will illustrate the importance and astonishing reach of social media...                                                                                                      

An Overview of Social Media:                       

• 72% of all Internet users are now active on social media

• 89% of those between 18 and 29 years old are social media users

• 72% of individuals aged 30 to 49 are engaged in social media

• 60% of people between 50 to 60 years old are active on social media

• 43% of those 65 years old and above are engaged in social media

• 71% of users access social media from a mobile device

Facebook:

·      Facebook now has over 1.15 billion users   

 ·         One million webpages can be accessed with the “Login with Facebook” feature

 ·         23% of Facebook users login at least 5 times daily

 ·         47% of Americans say Facebook is the top influencer of their buying decisions

 ·         On average, Americans spend %16 of each online hour on Facebook

 ·         70% of marketers acquire new customers through Facebook


Twitter:
 
·         Twitter now has over 550 million registered users and 215 million monthly active users
 
·         Between 2012 and 2014, Twitter achieved a growth rate of 44%
 
·         34% of marketers use Twitter for lead generation


Google+:
 
·         Google+ now has over 1 billion enabled accounts and 359 million active monthly users
 
·         Google+ is has a growth rate of 33% per year
 
·         People aged 45 to 54 years old have increased their Google+ usage by 56% since 2012


Visual:
 
·         YouTube has over one billion monthly active users
 
·         Pinterest has 20 million monthly active users
 
·         Instagram has 150 million monthly active users
 
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Regardless of which social media platforms on which you engage (some work better than others for different businesses – it’s crucial to do your research to find out where your customers and prospects are), the bottom line is, there’s no denying that social media can actuate real sales and marketing results! 

  

It’s 2014: Is Your Business Social Yet?

If you haven’t yet begun to implement social networking as a means of brand awareness and connecting with clients and prospects, it’s gotta’ be because:  a) you’ve been doing a stint in prison; or b) you’re afraid / resistant and you still don’t get how & why social media can be your business’ greatest asset.  Well, WAKE UP!! It’s 2014, and if you haven’t implemented a solid social media strategy for your business, you pretty much don’t exist!

There are all kinds out there now: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr (and all the wonderful blogging sites), Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and, well, I could go on for a while. So, for the purpose of brevity, I’ll just give you a quick rundown on why and how Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging, if nothing else, are essential to the well-being of your business.

Let’s start with the basics about social media as a whole.  What do social media do for you? They keep your name in front of clients and prospects – on a regular basis. They're second to nothing else in terms of community building. They provide you with platforms through which you can easily and quickly maintain regular contact with your business connections. They allow you to effortlessly share and disseminate crucial information, via both text and images (not to mention video).  And last but not least, they promote brand awareness – in real time. 

Here, briefly, are some ways that social media can work for your business:

1.  Facebook – Facebook is the perfect place for you to connect with clients & prospects on a human level – a personal level. The first rule of using Facebook for business? Don’t try to blatantly advertise or sell your business on Facebook. That’s not what it’s about. You want to make lasting connections. You want to let people know what’s in it for them. Facebook allots you a forum within which you can mix the business and the personal. Let’s, for argument’s sake, say you’re in the real estate business. What can you post on Facebook? Photos and details of your listings, changes to mortgage lending rules, home improvement & décor ideas, links to informative industry related articles and videos, helpful hints & tips (for example, on how to ease the pain of moving), getting your home holiday ready, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Facebook also allows you to do really cool things, like form Groups (a home decorating group?) and create Pages (how about a Page for your listings?) that will take your business to the next level. Try to post on a regular basis – once twice a day – or at least several times a week. Keep your posts informative, engaging and entertaining to garner tons of “Friends” and “Likes” and “Shares”. And, most importantly – have fun on Facebook. It can be a great way to engage people and communicate!

2. Twitter – Twitter functions as an effective broadcast medium – you can think of it as a ‘micro-blog’. Twitter allots your customers/ clients a forum within which quick and easy access to your business is possible.  In business, communication with your clients is key – not only do you want to reach out to them, but they want take comfort in knowing that you are accessible to them NOW. And that’s what Twitter can do. Tweet about relevant industry news and information. Tweet links to important articles and news items that you know will be of benefit to your clients. Ask for feedback about new products and services via Twitter. It’s fast, it’s easy, it’s completely interactive and it’s always there – in real time.

3. LinkedIn – LinkedIn is the business connection place within the realm of social media. A LinkedIn profile not only lends credibility to you and your business, but much like Facebook, it becomes an integral means of communication and connecting with people – with business-minded professionals. It provides a platform within which you can promote your services as well as the services of others. And others, in turn, can promote you and your business. Use LinkedIn connections to find jobs, people and business opportunities. Use it to find quality employees for your expanding business. Follow other companies within your industry on LinkedIn to keep up to date on news, important information and available offers. Research companies and people with whom you are interested in doing business and ensure that your profile is complete so that others can research you. Take advantage of features like LinkedIn Answers, LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Direct Ads to position your brand in the forefront of people’s minds.

4. Blogging – Blogging is an innovative and creative way of giving people a glimpse into the confines of your business. Your blog is the voice of your brand.  What to blog about? That’s easy! You don’t have to be Ernest Hemingway or Mordecai Richler. As a professional with years of expertise and knowledge, you may not be aware of the depth of information that you have to offer your clients. What’s common knowledge and taken for granted by you is not necessarily available information to the average person. The blog is a place that is easily accessible to your clients, where you can disseminate this information. So go for it – showcase your knowledge – be a smartypants – and an industry leader through your blog!                                                                                   

There’s just SO much information I could share with you on how you can effectively use social networking to your business’ advantage. I could actually teach a whole day’s course on the subject. Hey, wait, I do teach a full day course on the subject. If you want to join, we’d love to see you. Here’s our link: http://escomputertraining.com/socialmedia

4 REASONS WHY IT’S CRUCIAL TO KNOW YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKING AUDIENCE

Social media is all about engagement and connecting with people.  To successfully run any customer-facing business, the first rule is:  Know your clientele.  And, in social media speak, that means: Know your audience.

Why is this so important?  Because your audience (hopefully comprised in large part of your clients and prospects) is your sole reason for being active on social media sites from a business standpoint.           

Here are four definite advantages to knowing who your audience is and what they’re all about:

1. You’re Able to Better Focus – If you can focus intently on whom you are targeting, it makes it easy to create content that resonates.  And that’s important because generating valuable content that allows you to engage the highest number of people is the essence of your social media business strategy.  

2.  The Walls Come Down – You’re able to listen to what people have to say about your business – the positive as well as the negative – and respond in kind.  Social media is all about, well… being social.  And interactive.  Social networking affords you the opportunity to effortlessly communicate with your audience in an unprecedented manner.  Make communication with clients and prospects a priority.

3. You Can More Readily Respond to Specific Needs – Imagine being able to get to know clients so intimately through social media that you come to the point where you’re able to offer them what they require prior to them asking.  You can make valuable suggestions to them and can tailor your services to fit their specific needs simply because you have made the effort to communicate with them.  Ask lots of questions and interact often.   The ultimate in customer service.

4. You Can Position Yourself as an Industry Leader – When people in your audience have industry related queries or need to be apprised of current information, you want to be the one they turn to.  Make yourself readily available to people on your social networking sites – be the expert. Blog, blog and then blog some more.  Blogging is a prime way of showcasing your wealth of industry knowledge.  And, don’t forget to post links to your blog posts on your other social networking sites.  

For more information on social media and the importance of getting to know your audience through social networking, join one of our Social Networking workshops.  For a schedule of upcoming workshops in your area, please visit: http://escomputertraining.com/socialmedia

6 TWITTER TIPS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE (OR AT LEAST YOUR BUSINESS)

Twitter is by far one of the most popular and the “noisiest” of the social networking applications.  Twitter is a microblog – a distinctive way of communicating with consumers. and consumers, by nature, like to feel that they can easily access your business and communicate effortlessly with you.  Twitter functions as a broadcast medium.  It is an informative newsfeed and very useful for announcements and updates.  Twitter’s premise lies in its principle that, “The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact.”    

Doesn’t Twitter sound like a most effective means by which you can reach your clients?  And, what a great platform whereby to get tongues wagging about your business!  

Tweet-based marketing and customer service campaigns are two fundamental ways in which Twitter can be used to promote your business.  The essence of Twitter from a business perspective is consumer/client engagement.  Engaging clients with content-heavy tweets positions you as an industry expert!  Here are some tips to help you tweet more effectively to reach your clients:

1. Examine Twitter to Understand its Functions – No matter what you want to say on Twitter, you have to keep in mind that you only have 140 characters with which to say it.  Your messages must be brief, but informative and engaging.

2. Craft Your Messages – To point #1, given the 140 character limit, it’s important that you think about what you want to tweet before you tweet it and ensure that each tweet is relevant to as many people as possible. Remember, your tweets have to be engaging and newsworthy – no one is really going to care what you’re having for dinner!  And, try to refrain from tweeting solely about your current listings – be more imaginative.

3. Follow and Be Followed – Your aim is to reach as many clients and prospects as you can.  Yes, you want to be followed!  But, you want to be followed by people that are actually interested in what you’re tweeting.  Follow other leaders within your industry and get them to follow you.  Follow your clients and prospects and get them to follow you.  The goal here is to communicate with people you can help and those who can benefit you and your business.

4. Never Over-Tweet – You don’t want to be posting a gazillion times a day.  People are going to think you’re spamming them and that’s a terrible thing for people to think about you and your business.  Each time you tweet, you want to capture people’s attention with something meaningful and thought-provoking.

5. Add Detail to Your Profile – Ensure that you include all of your business contact information within your Twitter profile.  You are afforded the opportunity to include a short bio & a photo and from a business standpoint, it’s a good idea to provide as much detail as you can so people know with whom they are communicating and have the opportunity to take the next step and contact you.

6. Get Tweeting!! – So, now that you’re more familiar with Twitter and the concept of the Tweet, you need to get active!!  Start tweeting and eventually, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without the wonderful little microblog we all know as Twitter!

If you want some more in-depth information on Twitter and how to really use it effectively to drive business, we’d love to see you at one of our Social Networking for Business workshops.  Just click on the following link for a schedule of what’s going on in your area.  http://escomputertraining.com/courses/list/industry/2

9 Easy Things You Can Do to Build Your Brand

Your brand is your business’ very identity. Increasing your brand’s visibility, therefore, is a fundamental component to your marketing strategy. You can spend millions of dollars a year – not to mention an obscene amount of time – propelling your brand to the forefront of the minds of consumers. But are you aware that, thanks to social media, there are a few very easy and non-time consuming ways you can build your brand? 

Without further ado, here, courtesy of branding guru and author, William Arruda, are 9 nine-minute things (along with my own commentary) you can do…      

1.       Build your Network.  It doesn’t have to take hours &hours out of your schedule – even if you just connect with one person a day on Facebook or LinkedIn (it could be someone in one of your LinkedIn groups – or a connection of one of your existing connections), you’ll be amazed at how quickly your network will grow. It is, after all, called “social networking” for a reason!

2.       Bolster relationships.  What good is having a broad network if you do nothing to maintain and nurture it? Stay in contact with your connections. Recommend & endorse connections on LinkedIn. “Like” other brands on Facebook. Send complimentary and/or congratulatory messages to people in your network on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. You have to give to receive.

3.       Get a seal of approval. In the culture of social media, it’s about give and take. As you recommend and endorse others, don’t be afraid to request recommendations, endorsements, shares and “Likes” from people in your network. Enlist these from colleagues, satisfied clients and coworkers, past and present.

4.       Record it. Nothing wrong with blowin’ your own horn once in a while either! Document your outstanding accomplishments and achievements for all to see.

5.       Be current. One of the many fine attributes of social media is that they make it so simple to update your profiles as often as is necessary. Unlike websites, social media platforms take only seconds to update. So take advantage of that and ensure that all contact information and status postings are up to date.  And that goes for your photos as well!!

6.       Expand on your thought leadership. Start your own group on Facebook or LinkedIn. If you haven’t already (and shame on you if you haven’t), start a blog and post to it often. Comment on other people’s blogs and answer questions on LinkedIn and Facebook. Post timely and relevant content to Twitter. These are all ways you can showcase your smarts and industry knowledge. Oh, and don’t forget to link your blog to your other social media platforms.

7.       Be real in the virtual world. YouTube is a wonderful thing! Make use of it. Create a video – a bio of yourself or your business - or something that illustrates a facet of your business (a how-to or an informational piece). Go ahead – be a rock star in your own right!

8.       Build a home on the Web. “Link the different places you reside on the Web into one place, with sites like about.me, flavors.me, or vizify.com. Using these tools, you can actually set a site up in nine minutes! Then you can use your subsequent days' nine minutes refining and enhancing it.”

9.       Research. Social media make it easy-peasy! Get to know all you can about your clients, prospects, colleagues and, yes, even - or, especially – your competitors. LinkedIn and Facebook are great places to get some investigating done!

How to Lose Friends & Alienate Clients: 7 Deadly Social Media Sins

The very purpose of using social media for business is to garner Friends & connections, to communicate and to network.  Social media have become an immeasurable tool for facilitating client relationship management as well as for your marketing initiatives.  But if you’re committing any of the following 7 deadly social media sins, your efforts might just be counter-productive.    

Deadly Sin #1:  Promoting Yourself / Your Business Relentlessly

I’ve blogged about this before.  One of the most appealing characteristics of social media is that they displace the traditional advertising/promotion model of in-your-face, unsolicited interruption.  As the name predicates, they’re social – a means of connecting with people on a human, personal level.  There’s no room for blatant self-promotion within the realm of the social.  Unparalleled customer service is more like it. The idea is to connect and engage with clients/prospective clients so that they become interested in using your products and services. It’s inbound marketing. People are engaging with you because they want to be engaging with you.  It’s interactive, two-way communication. So,:

Deadly Sin #2:  Getting Into It (And Not in a Good Way)

Because social media is about two-way communication, it’s inevitable that people are going to butt heads and encounter differences of opinion, just as we would in every-day, face-to-face interaction. The worst thing you can do, however, is to engage in a knock-down, drag-out with someone over a social media platform for all to see. And you do see it all the time, especially in comments sections.  But as a business professional, if this is the way you conduct yourself, your clients are going to take one look at your social media interactions and run the other way – fast!  Which leads me to:

Deadly Sin #3:  Not Minding Your Manners                                              

It’s a no-brainer, but you’d be astounded at the number of people who don’t pay any attention to manners and etiquette while using social media.  Just remember to use basic politeness when engaging.  Would you be boorish in a face-to-face meeting with someone?  Likely not.  So just because you’re sitting behind your computer monitor and no one can see you, doesn’t mean that you can forget about social graces.  Pleases and thank yous go a long way. If someone pays you a compliment, acknowledge it. If a less than satisfied client comments negatively, acknowledge that, too – politely.  Now, off to:

Deadly Sin #4:  Not Responding to Comments, Complaints and/or Criticism

By not responding to your clients’ comments, you’re essentially saying, “I don’t care!”  If a comment is positive and complimentary, a great, big “thank you” is in order, along with a little response about why you’re so pleased that he’s pleased and about how much you value him as a client.  If a comment is negative – in the form of a complaint or criticism – a full response is warranted just the same. Again, it’s crucial that you make the client feel important and relevant by addressing the criticism and doing whatever is in your power to rectify the situation.  I recently posted an extensive blog on how to respond to criticism: http://escomputers.blogspot.ca/2013/04/your-customers-comments-on-social-media.html  Damage control is critical. And remember, others will be able to see how you respond, so do it eloquently and with finesse. Snark is never a good idea!

Deadly Sin #5:  Spam, Spam & More Spam

Everyone hates to be spammed.  Don’t spam people!  Enough said.

Deadly Sin #6:  Not Steering Clear of Religion & Politics

Oh, this is a slippery slope, my friends.  The basic rule to bear in mind is that your religious and political views have no place within your business networking.  Remember, wars are fought over religion and politics. Everyone’s view is different and you will in no way be able to avoid ruffling a few feathers if you pontificate with respect to your views or if you comment on another’s.  Just stay clear!

Deadly Sin #7:  Not Fostering Your Relationships

It’s all well and good to garner plenty of connections through your social media endeavors, but what good are those connections if you do nothing to cultivate meaningful relationships with them? The beauty of social media is that they allow you a relatively intimate glimpse into the lives of the people in your network. They can provide you with invaluable information about people. Using this information to help you provide better service to your clients is what it’s all about. Take advantage of that – get to know people and let them get to know you. That’s how trust is built and maintained.  If your clients don’t trust you, what’s the point?

Your Customers’ Comments on Social Media: Listen, Respond & Learn

Did you know that “56% of customer tweets to companies are being ignored.”? (source: AllTwitter) That’s scary.  One of the most functional aspects of social media platforms is their ability to provide you with insight pertaining to how your business is perceived by others.  Why would anyone want to ignore that?  More to the point, what’s the purpose of putting together and maintaining a social presence for your business if you’re not going to pay attention and use it to your advantage?  And yes, that includes reading and responding to customer comments, inquiries and most especially, complaints.  

No one takes particularly well to negative criticism and complaining.  And if you want to keep your head buried in the sand and not know what people are really thinking, then perhaps networking your business via social platforms isn't for you!  But, why not look at it this way:  Every negative comment, complaint and criticism you receive is an opportunity to glean valuable information and to implement positive change.  Feedback, whether positive or negative, is never a bad thing.

How to Respond to Negative Comments & Criticism

                                         

Let’s identify the different types of negative comments & deal with them accordingly:

1.  If a comment is negative but polite and offers some constructive criticism and/or suggestions as to how to remedy the issue at hand, that’s great!  Take into serious consideration what the poster is telling you and decide if it makes sense for your business.  Respond by thanking the poster for bringing the issue to your attention and for his suggestions, and validate him by letting him know that you will take said suggestions under advisement.

2.  If a comment is negative and carries an irate tone and the poster is lodging more of a complaint than criticism, again, you want to validate his feelings. Placate him. Start by letting him know that you’re sorry to hear of his less than satisfactory interaction with your business and that you appreciate his forthrightness.  Let him know that you value his business and that you’ll do what’s called for to remedy the issue.  It warranted, offer him an incentive to ensure that he remains a faithful customer (a partial rebate, service free of charge next time, etc.).  He’ll appreciate this, be satisfied and will likely want to spread the word that yours is a wonderful company to deal with!  Customer service at its finest.

3.  If a comment is negative, unconstructive, deprecating and/or rude, things can get a little dicier.  While you want to try to keep your customers happy, you in no way have to be subjected to rudeness and insensitivity.  You have two options in this case, and either one would be justifiable. 

First, you could simply delete the comment and ignore it.  Again, it’s written nowhere that you have to put up with someone else’s bad behavior.  (And, although it might be tempting, whatever you do, don’t respond in kind by letting him know what an @$#%!@#% he is.  I posted a few months back on how to NOT respond to customer complaints.)

The other option is for you to try to deal with this Neanderthal as you would the poster in point #2 above.  Try to placate him and let him know that you’re sorry that his dealings with your business were less than satisfactory.  You just might be able to calm the savage beast, but often, people like that are not to be satisfied no matter what you do.  In fact, more often than not, these people just want to get something for nothing, or simply love to stir up trouble. Bear in mind also, that this poster could be a competitor just trying to play hardball with you.

 

If, however, there is some merit to the poster’s outrage (someone in your organization made a real blunder), it might be worth investigating.  Only you can know and decide for sure if there might be something behind a poster’s emotional outcry.  If there is a serious internal problem (and I’m not saying that the poster is any more justified in being rude if that’s the case) it might be just as well that it was brought to your attention, even if it was in such a negative manner.

The moral of the story is that it’s never okay to ignore your customers on social media sites.  If you do, you might just wind up not having any customers to ignore!  

Want Your Posts to go Viral? On Social Media, Timing Is Everything

Ah, the busy life of the business professional – good for you if you’ve implemented a social media campaign strategy into your hectic schedule.  But, did you know that there are certain times of the day and specific days of the week that the content you post is more likely to go viral?  According to data put forth on Bitly.com, it’s true! 

The data indicate, for example, that on Twitter, “…posting in the afternoon earlier in the week is your best chance at achieving a high click count (1-3pm Monday through Thursday). Posting after 8pm should be avoided. Specifically, don’t bother posting after 3pm on a Friday since, as far as being a gateway to drive traffic to your content, it appears that Twitter doesn’t work on weekends.”

                                                                                                                           

This does make a lot of sense if you think about it – how productive, after all, do you think most people are after 3:00 on Friday?  The research furthermore maintains that the peak of Twitter activity occurs prior to the optimal time to post.  Twitter’s busiest time tends to be between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, Monday through Thursday.  Should you post on Twitter during its peak hours, while there are more people clicking, it might raise the average number of clicks, however, your posts may not be receiving all the attention they deserve due to the fact that there will obviously be more competition for this attention. 

For Facebook, the data states that, “Links posted from 1pm to 4pm result in the highest average click throughs. The peak time of the week was on Wednesday at 3pm. Links posted after 8pm and before 8am will have more difficulty achieving high amounts of attention. As with Twitter, avoid posting on the weekends.”  It appears that Facebook traffic tends to peak around the middle of the week, from the hours of 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm and begins to fade more after 4:00 pm.  Moreover, the research contends that although traffic counts are comparable at 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, if you post at 7:00 pm, you will garner more clicks than you would posting at 8:00 pm.

With respect to Tumblr, one of our  favorite blogging sites, there’s currently a vast difference from Twitter and Facebook.  The data from Bitly show that posting on Tumblr after 4:00 pm stands to garner optimal results, and that, “…postings after 7pm on average receive more clicks over 24 hours than content posted mid-day during the week. Friday evening, a no-man’s land on other platforms, is an optimal time to post on Tumblr. Bitly traffic from Tumblr peaks between 7pm and 10pm on Monday and Tuesday, with similar traffic on Sunday. ”

So, there you have it – valuable information on optimal times to post on three of the most prevalent social media sites out there.  As you’re undoubtedly pressed for time on most days of your life, knowing what times it’s most worth posting will help with your strategy!