Reach Out and Touch Someone with Your Company’s Blog

In the small business blogging world, there are good blogs and there are not so good blogs. That being said, how would you rate your blog? As a small business, what is your goal behind having a blog in the first place? Do you use it as an opportunity to promote your company’s products and services? Is it more of a forum for you to get things off your chest or talk to other business owners? Or is it just something you felt you had to have given your competitors have one? Like many small businesses that sport blogs, the initiative to grow the blog is often there, but the time doesn’t seem to be. What ends up happening is the blog takes a back seat to other more important matters, the content becomes stale, and next thing you know you have a blog whose hits become less and less. Growth is Possible If your company’s blog is collecting dust on the Internet, there are means by which to grow it and enhance your company’s online profile. Among the initiatives to employ are: Who is my audience? – If you haven’t already answered this key question, you’d better. You can spin your wheels on your blog if you don’t know the answer to this question. In order to make your company blog stand out, you need a niche, something that sets you apart from the competition; Determine the time factor – It is important as a business owner with a company blog to determine how much time and effort will go into it. If you have a marketing person/team in place, the blog typically falls to them. If not, and you are the one primarily responsible for the blog, set time limits each week as to how much time will go into the blog; Good copy is imperative – Whether you are writing your company’s blog or a staff member is it is imperative that it offers good copy. Your content needs to be interesting, useful and timely. Make sure that the blog provides both current and potential customers with information that peaks their interest, is important to their lives and is up to date. Also, keep the blog postings relatively short, given that the time demands on readers are greater than ever; Just as important as good copy is, your blog needs a clean look. How many blogs have you visited where the design is cluttered, hard to follow and looks like a kindergartner laid it out? If you’re not a design guru, find someone who is so that the blog looks and acts professional; Reach out to others – Another key is linking to other blogs and commenting on other’s posts. When you scratch someone’s back, they will hopefully do the same in return; Respond to comments – In the event you are getting comments on your blog, by all means respond to them. This shows the reader that you are engaged in the conversation brought by others, along with getting you noticed more throughout the blogging community; Know your metrics – If you’re writing a daily or weekly blog but not checking the statistics, what’s the point? Company bloggers want to know how many people are clicking on the blog, what demographics do they represent, when are they clicking on the blog etc. Find the right analysis program to track your numbers and see what your traffic reports look like. While these are just a few of the areas you should zero in on, remember, YOU control the look and sound of your company’s blog. Don’t expect the company blog to itself bring in a ton of revenue, but look at it more as a component of your overall strategy to reach out and touch someone, in this case, customers. Read more at www.successful-blog.com

When it comes to online and mobile advertising, many local businesses are still getting their feet wet. Even for those who have dove head-first into opportunities online or via mobile, the rules and solutions are changing so fast, it’s often difficult to keep your head above water and stay ahead of the competition. As we head into fall, let’s catch up on the latest trends and developments in local search space – and what you should consider as you start to build out your business’s advertising strategy for 2012. Take Charge Of Social Media Social media is playing a significant role in how consumers find and interact with businesses on a national level, and we’re increasingly seeing that trend extend to local businesses as well. Yet while the majority of local businesses are signing up on social networks, they’re not creating a presence on enough of them. And even when they do, their level of engagement is often too low to leave a meaningful impact with current and potential customers. These insights are derived from the results of a recent study by Palore, which found that: Source: Palore While nearly six in 10 (58%) of local businesses have a presence on either Facebook or Twitter, only 22% have pages on both Facebook and Twitter. The percentage of small businesses with Facebook pages is nearly double the share of those using Twitter. While Facebook dominates the social media space – and one might expect a higher number of pages – Twitter is quickly attracting a very sizable audience as well, counting approximately 13% of U.S. adults among its user base. Approximately 38% of Facebook pages had fewer than 100 likes, while nearly 45% of Twitter pages had fewer than 100 followers. Only a handful of small businesses’ Facebook pages had more than 1,000 likes (16%) and more than 1,000 followers (19%). So what do these results about social media mean for your local business? If you haven’t launched a presence on Facebook or Twitter, the time to get on board is now. There’s no longer a doubt about whether consumers are relying on social media for local products and services. In fact, the Local Search Association’s recent Local Media Tracking Study found that 12% of consumers said they leveraged a social network within the past week to find local business information. While this is a small figure next to other major sources, the role of social media will surely grow exponentially as consumers begin to integrate it more into their daily lives. Make social media a integral part of your local advertising strategy by dedicating the necessary personnel and resources to ensure that your channels are successful. If you’re not social media savvy, consider hiring or dedicating one of your existing staff members who knows social media to build and manage your accounts. Integrate your sites into all of your communications and launch social media-only contests, discounts and other incentives to get people to “like” or follow your pages. Create dynamic content related to your business – links to insightful articles, or top-line tips based your expertise – to provide value to your followers and demonstrate that you are a thought-leader in your field. And most of all – do whatever you can to engage users by asking them for their opinions and answering any questions they may have. Source: Bloomberg/YouGov Survey Always look ahead to what’s next – and right now, it’s Google+. The new Google social network launched in June, and predictions already show that the site may grow to claim 22% of online U.S. adults in a year, passing Twitter and LinkedIn to become the second-most popular social network after Facebook, according to a new Bloomberg/YouGov survey. Already, Google+ is growing faster than MySpace and Facebook did in their early days, with more than 13% of U.S. adults signed up and another 9% projected to be added over the next year. While Google+ doesn’t have local business-related capabilities just yet, they’re sure to be coming down the line. In the meantime, make sure you or those running social media at your business get signed up fast so when the opportunity comes, you’ll have existing familiarity with the site and be ready to build a presence there. Prep For Big Mobile Changes And while we’re talking about Google, last week, the company made major headlines by announcing that it is purchasing Motorola Mobility, effectively rocking the mobile landscape by turning the search engine giant into a full-fledged cell phone manufacturer. Source: comScore Today, various manufacturers leverage Google’s Android platform – now used by 2 out of 5 smartphone users – and despite the new deal, Google has said it will keep the platform open. That said, analysts are speculating that some manufacturers may begin looking for new partners (such as Microsoft) now that Google has effectively turned into their competitor. In addition, Research in Motion (RIM), which makes BlackBerry and has struggled to keep up with Apple and Google in recent years, is thought by some to be next in line to be purchased. In light of these developments, what should your local business do to ensure it’s ready for what’s next in mobile? First of all, recognize the importance that mobile is already playing in how consumers find local business information. According to the Local Search Association’s “State of Local Search” study, 77.1 million mobile subscribers accessed local business content as of January 2011, up an astonishing 34% from a year ago. In fact, local content users now account for one-third (33%) of all mobile subscribers, up from 25% last year. Given this, mobile should play a growing role in your local advertising strategy in order to attract new customers and keep old ones moving forward. We can expect ongoing changes in the popularity of different mobile platforms with consumers – now more than ever after Google’s announcement. These trends are increasingly important to local businesses given the rising popularity of mobile applications, which are now used by 56% of local content users, up 34% since last year, according to the study. Make sure your local business is listed on as many online and mobile directories as possible – everywhere from CitySearch to Google Places to the Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs). These days, you never know where consumers will search for you, so it’s important to cast as wide net as possible. For many sites, the signup process only takes a few minutes. While most online business directories and local sites have applications for each of the major mobile platforms, local businesses should make sure that they’re investing in those that are the most popular. For example, an online directory may have a popular iPhone app, but a lagging Android app – so your business should compensate by finding another directory with a stronger Android presence to supplement your existing directory. On a related note, local businesses can now purchase in-app local ads on the AT&T Interactive mobile ad network, which opens another set of doors for consumer engagement. Widen Online Exposure This summer alone, popular search engines and local sites including Microsoft’s Bing and Foursquare continued the trend of teaming up with IYPs to help inform and expand their online directory databases. These sites are increasingly depending on IYPs to provide comprehensive, accurate listings of local business information. Additionally, we’ve seen strengthening advertising distribution relationships with a variety of local search companies, which is broadening the exposure that local businesses receive. How should local businesses leverage these growing partnerships in the online local search space? Look for opportunities to get the most exposure for your spend by placing your advertising dollars where you’re guaranteed the widest range of consumers, combining the “eyeballs” you’ll receive  with those promised by your provider through its distribution channels. Recognize the ongoing value that listings in established and trusted online directories, as well as other types of media, give your business by ensuring that potential and current customers are provided with your accurate contact information. Take advantage of opportunities to integrate your online advertising efforts with a smaller set of companies, or even with just one. Today, many online offerings provide packaged services that meet a variety of needs while simplifying and streamlining the advertising process and saving money for your business. Read more at searchengineland.com

Shared by you “The NOW Revolution” written by Jay Baer and Amber Naslund has received reviews from the likes of DuctTape Marketing’s John Jantsch, Chris Brogan and Seth Godin. It outlines how you can retool your organization to make real-time business work for you rather than against you. “You Say You Want a Revolution…” I got a copy of the book at SXSW earlier this year and really enjoyed it. It covers seven shifts that will help you make your company faster, smarter, and more social. The book includes a lot of bonus material (videos, pdfs, podcasts and links) accessible through Microsoft Tags located throughout the book. Full case studies in each of the shifts, chronicle success stories from Moosejaw, ThinkGeek,Autodesk, Sweet Leaf Tea, Taylor Guitars, Boingo and Martell Homebuilders. The book also contains examples from 50 additional companies, most of them small and medium-sized businesses. That’s a lot of content. Shift Happens As their web site notes, ”the book presents seven shifts that businesses need to make to adapt to the speed, expectations, and immediacy of the social web. It’s the operational guide to building and organizing a socially-equipped business, from people to process.” The shifts discussed in the book include: Engineer a New Bedrock: Without a consistent, powerful corporate culture you can’t win in real-time. — I’ll add that regardless of how we start working with clients on social media, we usually wind up focusing on internal operations before the launch. Find Talent You Can Trust: Moving fast requires empowering employees to make quick, smart decisions. That impacts HR and hiring. A lot. — This also gets back to culture. If departments like IT, HR, Customer Service, Legal and Marketing can’t talk to each other readily and easily, it’s going to be a tough road to journey down. Organize Your Armies: How social media and social participation are organized and managed internally. — Process is critical to ease any issues folks might have in getting started. Answer the New Telephone: The art, methods, and pay-offs of meaningful social listening. — When passionate customers interact directly with brands for the first time, it has a big impact. Emphasize Response-Ability: Responding to customer inquiries on the social Web, but also moving beyond that to creating your own stories and conversations. — If a business has identified its Social Brand, it ensures content created will resonate with customers and start conversation. Build a Fire Extinguisher: How to find, judge, and solve a social media crisis. — As much as things change, they seem to stay the same. Companies still do not prepare proactively for communication crisis…online or offline. Make a Calculator: The many ways you can measure social media, and how to select and utilize the most appropriate metrics for your company. — This usually starts with the initial planning process. Instead of focusing on what (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or another social platform), focus on why. Why are you engaging in social media? Is it connected to business goals? Success metrics up front make it much easier to measure success once the program is launched. Read more at prblog.typepad.com

Social Media Roundtable Discussion          Pam Perry                         Melih Oztalay               Dwight Zahringer                Tom Nixon             ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………   Q.  Based on your experience, do most clients prefer to outsource their social media services or, do they prefer to coordinate their social media needs in-house? PP:   Most clients and their staffs are super busy. That’s why they reach out to us to be their “social media pr solution.” They have one person to be our point person on staff but basically it’s up to our team to do all of their SMM services. This includes creating the strategy and publishing the content to growing their email database and keeping it current. DZ:    We are seeing a pattern, similar to a few years ago with “website maintenance” where a company wants to elect an employee to help or partake in the management of social media. While the idea is good it is almost always a failure and they take it to outsource and work with a liaison internally at the company.   MO:    We find that the results are mixed and size of business does not seem to make a difference. For businesses that are early adopters of Internet technologies and are committed to a “Internet team”, will focus on managing social media internally with only a request for consultation to review, improve or enhance their efforts.   Businesses that are not as web savvy will outsource their social media and the process requires close communications with the client to know what activities are taking place to insure the social media efforts are effective.   In either case, if a business seeks consultation or outsourcing, a professional web marketing agency can assist with social media that goes beyond Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Not only is there cross communication in social media that can include blogging and creating an industry community, but Google’s recent Google+ with the Google 1+ button will directly affect what can effectively be called “social media search”. Another way of viewing this is “Facebook for Business” in which your Google community will affect search engine rankings of websites in search results.     TN:   Most businesses at this point are still exploring social media. Most read that they need to dive in head first, so they go ahead and jump. They prefer to start in-house…but over time, they realize that something’s not clicking, and they aren’t getting the results they anticipated when reading that exciting article in Time or Newsweek. Then comes fatigue. What many soon realize is that they didn’t have the in-house resources to pull off what amounts to a very significant undertaking. They lack the time and personnel to remain actively engaged on social networks (so they ask someone to wear a new hat), and they lack the experience and strategic oversight to set goals, establish metrics and monitor success relative to social. At that point, that’s when businesses look to outsource.   * * *      Q.  Do you consider having a “social media presence” to be an absolute must for a company to be successful in today’s business climate?     PP:   Yes and clients realize this too. The game has changed and smart business owners and corporations are changing with the times by implementing new, targeted and cost effective marketing methods via the internet. It’s all about search – and they aim to be found online. This is survival of the fittest.     DZ:   It is not a “Must” but in order to be competitive you need to participate. Even more so now with the emergence of Google Plus and +1. Social activity is now a consideration in the ranking algorithm for a company, their products and services. If you are not at a minimum listening and responding when and where necessary you are missing many opportunities and not in the “norm”. Like having a working website that will harvest leads, calls and sales you need to do the same with social media. If not you’ll jump on after you hear of a great case study from your competitor.     MO:   The short answer is “Yes”. I think that the problem with social media for business is that businesses do not understand how to best use it or how to use it most efficiently. Many businesses see social media as a waste of time, when in fact it allows for the most efficient communication and relationship marketing through many people very easily.   Additionally, many businesses see this as a B2C marketing tool and not so much as a B2B marketing tool. What the B2B world doesn’t necessarily realize “yet”, is that staff at other businesses are between 20 – 40 years of age and they all grew up with the Internet. Of course the first thing this B2B age range staff does is use the web to seek out other businesses, products, services and do so not only through search, but social media.   If we add the new Google+ social media tool into the mix, we will find that businesses will migrate towards Google+ much more readily as it will have an impact on their website ranking position and what others in their networked community will see. By default, businesses will be more likely to tap into social media whether they want to or not.     TN:  Like any consultant’s favorite answer, is “it depends.” Again, businesses need to guard their enthusiasm when reading about the latest shiny object in the news or online—the latest shiny object being the collective “social media.”  For most companies, there is an appropriate social strategy to explore, identify and define. But you shouldn’t assume it to be so. Our advice to companies is not to jump on Facebook because everyone is doing it. Do the work upfront to truly define your audiences, examine and communicate your overall business strategy, and from there define your marketing strategy, from which will flow your social strategy. If your target audience is 60+ men, it’s likely that Facebook has no place in your social, marketing or business strategies. Ditto Twitter. LinkedIn is a maybe. Think first; act later…you can’t go wrong taking that approach. Read more at the-creative-collection-detroit-edition.onsugar.com