Avoid common social media networking pitfalls and create a successful social marketing strategy…

Social media is the new marketing buzzword but many companies do not understand the full scope and potential of social networking sites. Done well, it can enhance your brand image but done badly, it can have an adverse effect. Companies have dived into the sink or swim social media space with little thought about the ongoing costs and time of maintaining new media accounts. Here are ten common social networking mistakes you can make with your social media marketing and how to avoid them.

head in the sandpit mentality

Social media is not going anywhere soon. In fact, it’s increasing in popularity with the average Australian internet user spending 23 hours and 58 minutes per month and more time on Facebook than other social media sites. Companies need to engage in social media to stay relevant in the internet marketing space.  The worst mistake would be to ignore social networking altogether and the tangible benefits it can provide to your business.

look before you leap

Admittedly, social media networking can take a chunk of your time so before you jump on the social media bandwagon, make sure you have the time and resources to actively participate in your accounts. It’s a mistake to think that social media is free. It is a cost to your business in terms of developing and customising social media sites and the ongoing cost of updating the accounts and keeping your knowledge about new media up to date.

taking your foot off the pedal

One of the biggest mistakes that companies make is to stop updating their social media sites. There needs to be a balance between providing quality content and updating too often – that the updates turn into noise and are ignored by users. The trick is to have a dedicated team updating the social media accounts and creating a schedule for updates. Some companies automate their accounts but this is not a recommended social media strategy. (see below).

automated accounts

Social media represents the opportunity to engage with your customers, clients and other people important to your business one on one. However, some time-poor managers lose sight of this and automate their new media accounts like Twitter so it turns into a monologue rather than a dialogue. People are adding themselves to your social media accounts because they want to interact with a real-life person. Start automating your social media sites and you may find people may start deleting you.

sell sell sell

Social media is about creating relationships with your clients and customers, strengthening the association to your brand and building trust and credibility. With new media, the idea is to provide added value in the terms of education, providing tips and tools and valuable resources and not just spamming your audience. Remember that social media is about return on engagement initially and not just about return on investment. People do not want to be overwhelmed by your brand message.

one size fits all

Each social media site whether it be LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook have their own different nuances and a different strategy should be applied to each social networking site. On LinkedIn, you may adopt a more businesslike tone and focus on certain elements of your business whereas on Twitter, you may prefer to have a more casual approach to your tweets.  The audiences for each social media networking site may be different so tailor your message to each site.

not understanding the bigger picture

Another mistake that companies can make is to use social media marketing in isolation and not integrate it with other communication tools. Each internet marketing tool you use should reflect the look and feel of your brand and help establish your brand identity. It is also important that your communication tools feed off each other and work together. Used well, social networking can create synergy across all your communication tools and increase your brand equity.

think before you publish

Remember that anything you post on social media blogs and sites is most likely to become a permanent record on Search Engines. So think before you publish and make sure what you are publishing is in line with the company’s corporate values and reflects your brand image. This means exercising caution when responding to negative feedback, not participating in flame wars or writing sarcastic comments. If you’re unsure about what to post, it’s better not to post at all.

expecting immediate results

Social networking can do many great things for businesses but it’s not a get rich quick scheme. Similar to public relations, you won’t see an immediate impact on your business – especially overnight. Getting the most out of new media requires healthy and managed expectations. Building relationships, credibility and trust takes time, patience, persistence, and passion. Keep updating your social media networks and engaging with your customers and the rewards will surely come.

not measuring engagement

Another mistake that companies make when it comes to new media is not allocating KPIs and measuring results. Like all internet marketing campaigns, you need to set benchmarks for metrics such as traffic referral, number of followers or fans, comments and so forth. Social media like Facebook and YouTube have their own analytics programs and with some new media sites, you can also install Google Analytics on the website as well to help measure engagement.

Contact us to find out how our social media experts help you create a social networking campaign from customising social media company pages to ongoing maintenance. Done well, you can reap the benefits of social media in enhancing your online brand, building strong relationships with your customers and seeing the results of your social media investment reflected in your bottom line. It may not happen overnight but it will happen with a well managed social media strategy.

Television ads are often prohibitively expensive for small businesses to produce and air. Magazine and radio ads are less expensive but still require a sizeable investment when part of an ongoing campaign. Although you can spend a lot of money on an Internet campaign, there are many ways to leverage the Internet and gain free advertising for your business. Following are 20 ideas to consider.

1. Increase your visibility on search engines: Insert keywords that describe your business into the HTML < META > tags on your Web site pages. Repeat these keywords in the text of your Web site’s homepage. Strategic use of keywords can put your business name at the top of customers’ search results. For more information, see our article “Optimizing Your Site for Search Engines and Directories”.
    
2. Put your URL on everything: Maximize your advertising efforts by listing your Web site address on everything you do. Print the URL on your company’s letterhead, on your business cards, on the front of your building or the door to your office suite. Use the URL in your e-mail signature. List the URL on any print advertising that you do, including phone books, brochures, flyers, and direct mail pieces.
    
3. Submit your site to every directory, specialty listing, industry organization, and yellow pages you can find: No matter what industry your business is in, there are online directories, such as Yahoo! Yellow Pages, that you should register with. Many business and industry associations allow you to list your business on their Web site. In addition, there are individuals who maintain popular lists of resources; use Web search engines to find these lists, and then create an entry for your business.
    
4. Utilize evangelists: Channel the energy of your most enthusiastic staff and encourage them to promote your company’s product as they surf the Web.
    
5. Blogs: A Weblog, or blog, is a collection of short articles, essays, or loosely-formatted thoughts, usually written by one individual. Since the 2004 U.S. presidential election, blogs have become extremely popular as both a medium to get your message out and a vehicle for paid advertising. Blogs also encourage reader comments, making them a valuable tool for gathering customer feedback. 
    
6. Podcasting: Podcasts are audio files recorded in a radio talk show format. By posting podcasts on your Web site and other sites like Apple’s iTunes (www.itunes.com), customers can subscribe to your podcasts, download them as soon as they are available, and then listen to them on their computers or portable MP3 devices. The software to create podcasts is free; for more information visit www.podcastingnews.com.
    
7. Join online communities: No matter what the topic, there are thousands of people discussing it passionately on the Internet. By contributing to these discussion groups, you can inform your customers and advertise your business..
    
8. E-mail lists: Cultivate a list of your customers’ e-mail addresses and send them new product announcements, coupons, special offers, and useful information. 
    
9. Get the attention of the press: Pitch news ideas about your industry to local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations. Pitch ideas to Web news sites. Propose that one of your employees be the expert interviewed in the news piece.
    
10. Win awards: Research organizations that give awards for the products or services you provide. Apply for these awards and take the process seriously. When you win, make the most of the publicity.
     
11. Donate time or resources to a charity: Encourage charitable organizations to promote your business’ donations and involvement. Try to get media coverage for the organizations and community causes you champion.
     
12. Publish information and reports about your industry: Provide consumers with free information about your business’ industry. Invest in potential customers and they will invest in you.
     
13. Reciprocal links: Companies such as LinkLeads (www.linkleads.com) help businesses by facilitating an exchange of hyperlinks. By allowing a company to insert links to their products on your site, a company will allow you to insert links to your products on its site.
     
14. Reciprocal banner ads: Companies such as 123Banners (www.123banners.com) help businesses by facilitating free banner advertisement swaps. By allowing a company to advertise on your site, they allow you to advertise on theirs. Be sure you retain control over what Web sites carry your ads, and what ads you post on your site.
     
15. Coupons: Make coupons available on your Web site and e-mail them to your customers. Encourage them to give the coupons to friends and family.
     
16. Free samples of your product or service: Offer free samples of your product or service. Distribute these samples as widely as possible. Register your giveaways with Web sites such as A+ Free Stuff (www.aplusfreestuff.com) that act as a clearinghouse for free products. Before giving something away for free, ask customers to provide their e-mail address or fill out a short survey.
     
17. Free classified ads: Use services like Yahoo! Classifieds (http://classieds.yahoo.com) to post free ads for your products and services. Also consider posting offers for free samples of your products, sweepstakes, and other giveaways.
     
18. Excellent customer service: There’s no advertising like personal recommendations made between friends and family. The best way to encourage this type of “viral marketing” is to provide excellent customer service. Take the time to properly train and motivate your sales people and do what is necessary to satisfy your customers’ needs.
     
19. Business alliances and partnerships: Build partnerships with businesses that offer complementary products and services, and then promote each other. Make joint press statements about your industry, your partnership, and your products and services. Make sure your partners provide links from their Web sites to yours.
     
20. Ezine: Write an e-mail newsletter, called an ezine, with articles about your industry, your products and services, and related news of interest to your customers. Check out sources such as goarticles.com and ezinearticles.com, which provide free articles you can use in your ezine. Advertise your ezine for free with directory sites such as www.ezine-dir.com.

Not all these ideas may be appropriate for your business. The important thing is to think creatively and experiment. The Internet is an extremely flexible tool that gives your business many avenues for advertisement and enables you to react quickly to customer feedback.

 Pure Web Group specializes in website design and marketing. For more information about our services please visit www.purewebgroup.com or call (226) 799-9769

Using the Internet as a marketing tool is a wise business decision no matter the size of your company. Here is something to ponder if you are sitting on the fence about getting your business online.

Consider what kind of information a potential customer gets when he enters your office (showroom, restaurant or store). Perhaps your customer can...

• Read the sign stating the hours of operation (or holiday hours)
• Pick up a business card with your full business name, mailing address, fax and phone numbers
• Read a brochure about your company's history, products/services, mission statement
• Look at photos of the owners/employees at promotional and staff events
• Read notices on a bulletin board
• Get Information about affiliates, partners or suppliers
• Admire award plaques, trophies, team photos, and "Thank You" certificates
• See how staff interacts with customers
• Learn methods of payment
• Pick up a catalogue, schedule an appointment, ask questions, meet staff
• Feel the spirit and energy of your company

A website provides the experience of visiting your business in person. You need a website for the potential customer who...|

• Doesn't or can't drop by
• Wants to know if you are open on Sundays
• Doesn't know your location(s), phone number(s)
• Needs to know about parking/public transit/handicapped accessibility
• Wants to gain product/service information before making a decision
• Wants to comparison shop before making a commitment
• Has time to browse now: at midnight on the Sunday of a long weekend or after the kids have gone to bed

Wants the assurance your firm is professional, up-to-date, credible and is interested in catering to his/her needs at his/her convenience