Turbo Social Media Marketing » Social Media Marketing | Turbo Social Media Marketing

What Types of Social Media Messages Should I Be Publishing?

Tom Sullivan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:55:53 +0000

By now most medium to large businesses have a social media presence. An assortment of small businesses are also using social media. While this is a good sign, the problem is that “having a social media presence” and “using social media” doesn’t necessarily translate into success.

The goal of any business using social media should be to grow the brand presence, engage the new audience and monetize these new Fans & Followers. So how exactly do you do that?

The key here is engagement. More specifically, getting consumers to engage with your business via social media. A 2011 study by Chief Marketer revealed that when deciding on whether to engage with companies or brands via social media, users look to several key types of interactions, but primarily, consumers will engage so that they can receive free products, discounts or coupons.

As you can see, consumers will also engage with businesses so they can receive product information or answers to a question or concern. Many consumers also like the ability to give feedback about a company’s products or services. In some cases, businesses can even rely on their Fans to help develop a new product, technology, or even care out a task. This is a newer phenomenon known as crowd sourcing.

So does this mean that you should simply post your promotions or discounts on your social networks? NO! Despite what statistics have shown, even with discounts and coupons, consumers will get tired of the same, boring messaging. In fact, according to interactive marketing provider Exact Target, the third biggest reason (38%) for consumers “unliking” a business was “the content became repetitive or boring over time.”

What was the number one reason people “unliked” a page? “They post too much,” said 44% of people surveyed. This response leads me to my next point: do not over-post or “spam” your Fans! Once a day is more than enough. More than likely you’ll find a sweet spot of about 3-7 messages per week.

So if you’re not just posting promotions then what else should you post about? Talk about anything that will strike up a conversation: the weather, the weekend, the Holiday coming up, etc. More importantly, provide feedback in the form of tips, advice and education to your Fans about industry-related questions consumers might have. One easy way to do this is to link to your blog.

Another idea is to ask your Fans for their feedback. If you’re think about running a special, or you’re looking to combine products or services, or you’re just looking for new ideas, ask your Fans. Their feedback is valuable, and the could even provide new ideas for your business.

Finally, make it fun to be a Fan! Offer sweepstakes and contests that will get Fans excited to check your page every day.

If you have any questions about getting established on social media or developing a strategy then contact Turbo Social Media, or give us a call at 877-673-7096 x2.

A Look Back at 2011 Predictions

Tom Sullivan — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:14:41 +0000

What a year! 2011 is nearly over and it’s time to look back. Rather than talk about Steve Jobs, the Zynga IPO, or any other social media news I want to look back on some 2011 predictions I made early in the year.

Keep in mind that I really didn’t go out on a limb with any of the predictions. It’s safe to say that social media will only continue to grow in the future, but some sites or applications, if successful, will be swallowed up by bigger companies (Facebook). In any event, here’s a look back at my predictions…

1) Video Marketing becomes more and more important to your online business success:

It’s safe to say that this prediction is true and will continue to be true. More and more people are searching on Youtube now, which is part of the reason why the search results and Youtube channels have been adjusted. Youtube remains the third most viewed site (after Google and Facebook), and Youtube also remains second to only Google in terms of number of internal searches.

2) Local Advertising & Marketing will continue to grow:

If you’ve noticed, Google has adjusted its search results to incorporate more local business results. Sometimes these results take up the majority of the page. This prediction was definitely accurate.

3) Software for tracking social media marketing efforts will be cheaper and more available:

There are more and more applications available to track social media efforts, and most of these companies have partnered with Facebook. Even Google Analytics has evolved to incorporate more data pertaining to social media. Real-time mobile statistics, demographics info and social engagements are now all measured by Google Analytics.

4) Review sites will grow:

I really didn’t go out on a limb with this one, but it’s safe to say that Yelp is as big as its ever been. During 2011 Google stripped out 3rd party reviews, making Google reviews much more important to your Google Places listing. Look for review sites to continue to grow in 2012.

Happy New Year, and stay tuned for 2012 predictions!

Most Popular Athletes on Social Media

Tom Sullivan — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 20:02:07 +0000

Football season is almost here and I thought it would be a good time to talk about athletes and social media. Specifically the most popular athletes on social media. I’m not going to prioritize by number of Facebook Fans or Twitter Followers; rather, I’ll simply outline some of the notable uses of social media by athletes of different sports.

Here are some notable athletes using social media (in no particular order):

1) Shaquille O’Neil: Shaq is has the second-most Twitter Followers by athletes with 4+ million (the first is Brazilian soccer star Kaka). Shaq has always been somewhat of a controversial guy, saying whatever is on his mind and calling out whoever he feels like. Now that he’s retired expect just as much banter from him because he’s now working as an analyst alongside Kenny Smith and the equally boisterous, Charles Barkley.

2) Chad Ochocinco: Love him or hate him, Ochocinco is always candid and never camera-shy. Reporters followed Chad around throughout the summer while he attempted to play professional soccer, ride a bull and wrestle alligators. Chad’s online persona is just as available as the guy who the cameras film. He tweets multiple times a day and has over 2.5 million Followers. The best part is that, unlike many of his NFL counterparts who use social media to spew negativity, Chad’s use is typically as upbeat and interesting as he seems to be on TV.

3) Ricky Fowler, Bubba Watson, Ben Crane & Hunter Mahan: This golf foursome, known as the ‘Gold Boys,’ came out with recent Youtube “rap” video called “Oh Oh Oh” that shows a different side of golf. The video is both funny and clever, and with nearly 2.5 million views, it’s getting a lot of attention. With no clear cut superstar emerging from Tiger Woods’ shadow quite yet (possibly Rory McIlroy) having like-able, young guys on tour helps keep golf relevant.

4) Lance Armstrong: One of the early “pioneers” of athletes to use social media, Lance is the fourth-most followed athlete on Twitter with over 3 million Fans. Much of his time on social media has been spent promoting his foundation, Livestrong, an organization promoting cancer research, funding and awareness. Armstrong has been arguably the most influential athlete to bring awareness and money to cancer research. Of course, his use of social media certainly helps.

5) Shaun White: Having grown up during the social media boom, Shaun White is no stranger to Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. As a professional skateboarder and snowboarder (and aspiring race car driver), and a good-natured and very like-able personality, White is a sponsor’s dream. What he does so well is promote himself and his image in an authentic way, but at the same time seeding his sponsors, endorsers and products. He’s not as popular as Shaq, Ochocinco or Lance Armstrong, but he makes very good use of his presence.

Not all athletes fire off ill-timed and misinformed tweets. It seems like much of the attention on athletes using social media today is the handful who get upset about something and immediately run to Twitter to post a message, and then back track and apologize for the Tweet after their PR company sees the post.

As an athlete you want to develop a personal brand. All of the athletes listed above have done that to a certain extent. Being authentic and available to your fans (or haters) will make you more appealing to sponsors. Unfortunately, social media is not like PR, which can be handled almost exclusively for the athlete by an agency. A strong presence on social media takes time, because the updates and messages have to come from the athlete themselves.

The more influential you are as an athlete the more people you reach. The more people you reach the more appealing your brand is to sponsors. It’s as simple as that. Only it’s not so simple, because so many athletes struggle with social media. Is it because their PR agencies haven’t evolved enough or is it simply because there are too many hot-headed athletes? Probably a little bit of both.

Searchial Marketing: What is It?

Tom Sullivan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:45:22 +0000

There’s a new term buzzing around the social media world, and it’s “searchial marketing.” The phrase was coined by Dr. Alan Glazier, an optometrist and Founder/CEO of a 4 doctor private optometric practice in the Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Glazier is a frequent lecturer on social and new media and blogs professionally at SightNation.com and for Jobson’s “Click” e-Newsletter publication. In 2006 Dr. Glazier made the decision to eliminate traditional forms of advertising and started the transition of his practice towards EMR and online marketing.

Dr. Glazier’s experience with social media has led him to see the value in it far beyond the “relationship building” that social media is known for. Dr. Glazier claims that “when (social media) works, the relationship building is often labor and time intensive with a return on investment that is often hard to measure. Not many people understand that social media campaigns can be orchestrated to build relationships and drive in new business at a much greater rate than using the relationship aspect of social media alone provides. When I discovered this, relationship building became the least compelling part of the picture.”

“Searchial” is a term that describes the method of interacting within social media while elevating your profile in internet searches for the products and services that you offer. In short, the book (and the term “searchial marketing”) describe how businesses can utilize social media to not only build relationships, but more importantly, better optimize their rankings on search engines.

While I’ll credit Dr. Glazier with this term (which I happen to like a lot), this is a concept that we have been preaching at Turbo Social Media over the past 3 years. The blog is the core piece of any social media strategy that we implement with our clients, and this is because it serves as a tool to update your social networks with valuable information, and, if optimized correctly, can show up very highly in search engines. Check out the example to your right and you’ll see one case in which we’ve implemented this strategy flawlessly. As you continuously grow your blog you’re increasing the number of opportunities for you to rank for various services that you offer.

I encourage you to read Dr. Glazier’s new book “Searchial Marketing,” and if you have any questions about implementing a social media strategy and how you can benefit from both the relationship building and the search engine visibility then contact Turbo Social Media today, or call 877-673-7096 x2.

Social Media Optimization

Tom Sullivan — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:57:43 +0000

Wikipedia defines social media optimization as “Social Media Optimization (or SMO or Social SEO) is the methodization of social media activity with the intent of attracting unique visitors to website content. SMO is one of two online methods of website optimization; the other method is search engine optimization or SEO.” I would like to elaborate on this a bit and provide some tips for developing a social media optimization strategy.

Social Media Optimization means having a comprehensive social media strategy that works with all other marketing efforts. You want to keep your main goal in mind when developing your strategy, and this main goal should always be driving traffic to your website and building relationships with your clients and prospective clients. Here are some tips for a successful social media optimization plan:

1) Have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube AND A BLOG: Pretty self explanatory. You have to have these set up in order to optimize them

2) Have a strategy to grow your Fans or “likes”: Start with your email list of clients and send out a blast encouraging them to “like” you and follow you on Twitter. To get more aggressive you’ll want to plan a sweepstakes or contest. If you’re considering this you’ll want to look into Wildfire, a Facebook promotional software, and you’ll also want to consider using Facebook advertising to get the word out.

3) Have a strategy to grow your Followers: You can start by directing Fans from Facebook to your Twitter page. Also, consider using a tool such as Tweet Adder in order to grow your Twitter Following with an automated software.

4) Have an easy way to post and schedule posts: Use a tool such as Hootsuite or Social Oomph so that you can schedule your posts out

5) Have a strategy for what to post about: You want to engage people, first and foremost. Here are some tips on what to tweet or post about and what to blog about.

6) Promote social media everywhere: You’ll obviously want to start by having social media icons on your website, in your emails, and on your brochures & business cards. Beyond that you’ll want to promote your social media presence within your business. This is especially important if you meet with clients and prospective clients at your office.

These are just a few strategies that can help you a solid social media optimization strategy. If you need any help developing a social media optimization strategy then talk to Turbo, or give us a call at 877-673-7096 x2.

Social Media is Changing Search Results

Tom Sullivan — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:03:34 +0000

If you’ve done a Google search lately you’ve probably noticed that in addition to links to websites you sometimes see videos, Facebook pages and even Twitter streams. As social media continues to grow, search engines continue to evolve to incorporate social media into their results. This has resulted in smaller search firms popping up and claiming to offer more personalized search results. These firms are hoping to revolutionize how search engines work, in the hopes of making searching online a smoother experience.

So who are these firms?

The Bay Area boasts two up-and-comers in Blekko and Topsy. Blekko, founded in 2007, uses what’s know as a “slashtag” in order for users to help them determine the best links by “slashing” them. Then editors help rank the top sites for different categories, or slashtags. The premise is that a human, as opposed to a computer, should be able to determine the best results because they can’t be fooled by websites trying to take advantage of the system. Despite the evolution in major search engines such as Google and Yahoo, they can still be fooled by link farms and ‘black hat’ tactics.

What are the advantages?

You ever notice that when you’re on certain web pages you can see which of your Facebook friends recommends this website or business? Chances are you’re more likely to “like” this particular business if you see your friends do. Moreover, you’re more likely to trust this business if your friends like them. This is precisely the kind of influence companies like Blekko want to utilize in their search results.

What are the disadvantages?

The underlying problem with Blekko is that they have to rely on humans to go through and slash links for ever possible search query. Blekko acknowledges that most web users won’t be inclined to slash links. However, Blekko CEO Rich Skrenta believes that a core group of volunteers, much like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, will be passionate enough about quality search results to manage the core slashing (they’re currently at 100,000 slashtags).

Assuming Blekko does get a dedicated group of volunteers to work on these slash links, there could still be oversights. For example, a search for recent YouTube sensation Rebecca Black returns with a number of links to an author and professor, not the 13-year-old singer. Google, on the other hand, shows her most recent video first. Score one for Google.

So what does this all mean?

Don’t think for a second that Google isn’t aware of these “competitors.” Back in February I announced that Google would be tweaking their search results in order to improve the user experience. In March, Google also rolled out its most recent social search strategy: +1. It lets users recommend links, which helps users narrow down the most relevant results that have been suggested by friends.

Google will always be striving to stay ahead of the curve, and companies like Blekko will only continue to push them to do so in order to maintain their huge market share. Meanwhile, the verdict is still out on Blekko. They clearly have challenges ahead of them, but they are growing and they have $25 million in funding.

Social search will continue to evolve, but it’s only one element to an overall search algorithm.

If you would like to learn more about how social media can benefit your business then contact Turbo Social Media today, or give us a call at 877-673-7096 x2.

Social Media is Not Just Limited to Facebook!

Tom Sullivan — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:41:55 +0000

It seems like somewhere along the way people began to simply equate “social media” with Facebook. It makes sense given that Facebook is the largest social network online, but it overlooks the meaning of the term “social media.” Social media is a broad term that refers to the use of web-based or internet-based applications that allow for the creation and exchange of user-generated content. This means everything from blogs and forums to text message marketing to review sites to social networks.

The purpose of this article is to discuss how social media can help every business, regardless of whether they’re using Facebook or not. Obviously the first thing you need to research is where your target market is, and where they are looking for answers to their questions. One notable network that has proven the most valuable for connecting with executives is LinkedIn. There are two key ways to connect with people on LinkedIn, without having any prior relationship with them. The first is to join an established group. The second is to get involved in LinkedIn advertising. The latter is a new feature of LinkedIn, but like Facebook, allows you to selectively target who sees your ads.

If you are a cosmetic physician then you want to go where your patients might be. Unfortunately, your potential patients likely do not have Facebook or LinkedIn profiles that express their desire for or interest in plastic surgery, so advertising on these networks is fruitless. Instead, focus on user-generated forums such as Real Self and Make Me Heal. This is where patients go to ask questions when they’re in the research phase.

If you are a freelance copywriter looking for work then there are several networks that you should look into. The first is Craigslist. Typically companies looking for a consultant, independent contractor or part-time freelancer will use the “gigs” section of Craigslist to post what they need. Another option would be Elance. The only problem with Elance is that you will likely be competing with many foreigners who will do the job for much less than you. Fortunately, if you’re a copywriter this is a good thing, as your writing should be more advanced than a foreigner’s.

Facebook may be the right social network for specific professionals to focus on. If you are a photographer, then Facebook would be a great network to put up ads. Why? Because you can specifically target and advertise to the types of clients that you want to find. Most photographers want clients that they can establish a relationship with. This means shooting photos of their engagement, then their wedding, then their pregnancy, and eventually the birth of their children. Not only does Facebook allow you to target geographically, but you can also target by relationship status. Since almost every 18-35 year old engaged woman has announced this status on Facebook, so if you’re a photographer you should market to them!

Obviosuly I can’t give an example for where every professional should turn to in order to find their ideal partners or clients, but no matter what your area of expertise is, you can find where your potential clients are looking. When all else fails, do a search on Google for your profession followed by “reviews.” If, for instance, you are a general contractor you’ll see this brings up Angieslist. If you’re a dentist this brings up DoctorOogle, among others. If you’re a chiropractor this brings up ChiroHub, among others. Get listed in these directories and review sites.

If you’re looking to connect with potential clients, find partners, and increase your businesses’ exposure online, Facebook may not be the best place for you to be spending your time (at least to start). Instead focus on review sites, forums, blogs and directories where your target market is researching and asking questions. Focus on websites where visitors are making comments. These are the types of social media sites that you need to be involved with.

If you have any questions about how you can grow your business online contact Turbo Social Media today or call 877-673-7096 x708.

Web Predictions for 2011

Tom Sullivan — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 23:25:38 +0000

As we start 2011 it is important to take a step back an evaluate everything that’s happened in social media over the past decade, as well as the past year. The rise of Google and Facebook over the past few years, the rise (and fall) of MySpace, the growth of mobile marketing, and the explosion of local group discount websites like Groupon all play a role in where we are right now. Social media will continue to grow in 2011. That’s something most people won’t debate. The real questions is how its growth will affect social media marketing. Here are some predictions for 2011:

1) Video Marketing becomes more and more important to your online business success: YouTube has already surpassed Yahoo as the second most searched search engine. Video editing, optimization and syndication will help increase the visibility of your business, build your brand, and even improve conversion rates. Zappos, as one example, simply added videos of people holding shoes and moving them around to its sales pages and its conversion rate went from 6% to 30%. While Google has tinkered with its search engine results page layout, expect to see more and more videos showing up in general search results.

2) Local Advertising & Marketing will continue to grow: Facebook is currently expanding the technology within its location platform. Google has already revamped its search engine rankings to emphasize local business listings in ‘Google Places.’ Yelp will also continue to grow as the main source for reviews of local businesses (see #4). Local businesses will benefit as search results become more relevant. This “relevancy” will depend significantly on reviews.

3) Software for tracking social media marketing efforts will be cheaper and more available: Many smaller business are getting involved in social media but have no plan to track its effectiveness. This is not good. Start by setting goals and then focus on metrics to analyze. Expect to see more affordable platforms for small businesses to monitor interaction and “engagement.”

4) Review sites will grow: This is kind of a no-brainer, but worth mentioning. Despite some legal setbacks in 2010, Yelp continues to grow. Many other “niche” or industry-specific sites continue to grow as well. It is vital that your business has a presence on review sites because people are becoming more savvy. With more information available than ever before people are able to do research on any company they want in less time. Having a good presence on review sites is important to developing a credible brand.

In 2011 it’s not good enough to simply know who your target market is, it’s important to understand where your target market is. Furthermore, it is important to compare data from your website with your social networks. For instance, if your website generates 1,000 unique visitors and you have 2,000 Fans on Facebook, there are more eyes on your Facebook page. Many people neglect to educate themselves with their internet statistics. In order to be successful in 2011 your business needs to focus on statistics. This will help you track any ROI from social media marketing.

If you have any additional predictions feel free to leave us a comment. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can improve the social media marketing startegy for your business in 2011 contact Turbo Social Media today or call 877-673-7096 x2.

What should your business tweet about?

Tom Sullivan — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:32:06 +0000

I’ve encountered a common question when consulting with my clients: what the heck do I tweet about? If you’re relatively new to social media you’ve probably asked yourself this very question. You can even apply this same questioning to Facebook wall posts.

Assuming you have the audience, or are growing the audience (of Fans and Followers), then the key is putting out the right messages. Here are some basic ideas for “stuff to Tweet about“:

1) Blog posts: If you have a consistent blogging strategy then take advantage of that and set up a feed for your blog posts to your Twitter and Facebook accounts. This can be done through Feedburner, Social Oomph, Twitter Feed or Hootesuite, to name a few. You can also re-purpose old blog posts and link to them from Twitter and Facebook.

2) Tips: Consider tweeting out a tip of the day to your Followers. Tweet about tips, tools, strategies and advice that you know as an expert in your field, but your Followers may not know. They will begin to see you as more of an authority figure in your industry.

3) Questions: Consider discussing a struggle or challenge that you or your Followers have had, and then pose an open-ended question as to what solutions or conclusions your Followers have discovered about this issue. This is a great way to gather feedback from your target market and really learn more about what they want to know and what they are struggling with.

4) Quotes: Famous quotes can be refreshing and inspiring. It’s never a bad idea to tweet out a famous quote now and again.

5) Mentions or Retweets: If you have a new client or a colleague who does something special for you consider giving them a mention. A thank you goes a long way, especially on Twitter. Retweets are also nice to utilize, as you can not only repeat a tweet that you like, but you can also give credit to the person who originally tweeted it.

As you can see, there are plenty of things to tweet about. Remember, unless you’re a famous athlete or celebrity, no one cares what you ate for lunch or where you went shopping. You cannot monetize the power of Twitter if this is your strategy. You need to take the time to learn about your Followers (and Fans) and use Twitter to establish your credibility, increase your visibility, and build relationships.

If you know of other popular things to tweet about feel free to leave us a comment.

5 Tips for Writing Quality Blog Posts

Tom Sullivan — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:31:50 +0000

Does it ever take you hours to write one blog article? Do you constantly dread thinking about writing blog posts because of the time it’ll take? Fear no more. This article will take you through 5 tips to write your blog articles in about 15 minutes.

1) Do keyword research: Check on the analytics of your website (if possible) to see which keywords are bringing people to your website. Also do some research on the number of hits certain keywords are getting per month, then analyze where you website ranks for these terms. From there you’ll have an idea of which keywords you’ll want to incorporate into your articles.

2) Plan out your topics: Every month or week you need to come up with ideas for blog posts. These topics will help you organize your thoughts and produce an article. Consider coming up with a title for each article, a question related to that title, a solution, examples and a call to action, all before you ever sit down to write the article.

3) Break up the text: Breaking up the article is crucial to keeping your readers’ attention throughout. Consider including images, video, and breaking up the text into bullet points or numbers. Also, remember to keep your paragraphs short.

4) Let the facts speak for themselves: In order to be effective with your time you’ll want to write clear, concise sentences. That being said, don’t get too bogged down in writing overly compelling paragraphs with unnecessary esoteric overtones. You’re not writing a novel, you’re providing solutions with facts.

5) Write a series: Often times you can’t quite say everything about a topic in one article. No worries. Simply create a series with the same title; just add “(part 1)” or “(part 2)” after the title for clarification. This is a great strategy if you’re really trying to publish a lot of content about a specific keyword (an excellent SEO strategy, by the way).

Consistently updating your website with blog articles is crucial for maintaining and growing your search engine rankings. However, it shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes. Follow these key steps and start to time yourself.

Also, remember to have a strong call to action at the end of your articles. Drive people to your Facebook page, your Twitter page, your contact page, list your phone number (877-673-7096), or simply encourage comments.