Tag Archives: social media marketing

Social media is becoming more popular than ever and businesses are taking note. These days it’s hard to find a business that isn’t on Facebook or Twitter and there’s a reason why. When used properly, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can be powerful resources for business. These networks provide a direct line of communication to your customer and target audience and help with brand recognition, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. So if you still think social media is just a pointless way to waste time, read on to find out how social media can help you get the attention of new customers and keep current customers happy.

Social media helps increase brand recognition. Since most of the population is already going to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, getting your brand name across those networks lets people know you’re around. If you haven’t begun creating an image for your brand, social media is a great place to start. You can do this by creating a fun YouTube video that entertains as well as informs and making your Facebook and Twitter pages into energetic online communities where your target audience can share with each other and your company. Social networks are meant to be places were people can, just as the name suggests, be social. This means that when one person becomes a fan and starts interacting on your page, their “friends” or “followers” will notice. This will help build your online community and in turn, increase your customer base and bring in more sales.

Social media helps build customer loyalty. Making your social media network a place where your target audience feels comfortable and entertained will make them more apt to do business with your company rather than your competition. People like to interact with other people or friends, not a big corporation. That’s why it’s important that your business speak in a more casual tone on your social media network. Humanizing your company will make people feel more comfortable which will make them more likely to trust and interact with your company. Then when your “fans” need your service or product, they will likely become more than just fans, they will become valuable customers. These customers can then recommend your business to others as well as become returning customers in the future.

Social media helps improve customer satisfaction. Social media networks allow for your company to directly interact with customers. Customers can post questions or concerns on your social media network and the company can answer them in a timely manner. This not only improves customer service and satisfaction, but it also saves your company money on long distance customer service phone calls. Social media also provides a forum for customers to voice their opinions on new or existing products. Also you will be able to ask them for suggestions to improve your product or service to better suit their needs. After all, you are in business because of your customers, so it is important to keep them happy by serving them the best way possible.

The power of social media can help your business in many ways. Whether you need to attract new customers or keep your currently customers happy, these techniques can help you grow your business and increase your profit. See below for an example of how one brand (Pura Vida Bracelets) is connecting with its customers on social media network, Facebook.

Pura Vida Bracelets Posts Its New Merchandise On Facebook For Its “Fans” To See. The Fans Then Interact With The Posts, Asking Questions, Sharing Their Opinions Or Just Making A Statement That They’ve Ordered The Product.

So you decided to take the advice of thousands of Internet marketers and create a Twitter account for your business. After picking the perfect Twitter user name, and tweeting your heart out about your business, you’ve noticed that your Twitter followers aren’t increasing. In fact, you lost a few followers since the last time you checked. You were tweeting (Twitter terms explained here) interesting information about your business and products, so where did your followers go? Unfortunately, the problem is, you probably weren’t engaging them through interesting and informative tweets. Remember, if all of your tweets are sales-y or promoting your business, you won’t keep your followers’ attention. When done right, Twitter can increase brand awareness, customer loyalty, help improve your business and convert followers to customers. So how do you do this? Here’s 5 steps to improving your Twitter following and getting the most out of Twitter.

1. Use keywords in tweets. Think about your target audience. What keywords would they use to search for your business? If your business is a Mexican restaurant in Long Beach, CA, then use the keyword “mexican restaurant long beach.” Or focus on other long-tail keywords like “best happy hour long beach,” or “best chicken street tacos long beach.” These are things your potential customers might be typing in to find your business. Tweets are now indexed in Google so when people type keywords in the search engine, your tweets may show up. This gives you the chance to gain more followers and boost your SEO.

2. Appeal to people who don’t already know who you are. If you want to gain new followers and turn them into customers you need to gear your tweets (and keywords that you use in those tweets) toward people who don’t already know who you are. That means you shouldn’t only use your business name; describe what your business is. Make sure your Twitter profile makes it clear what your business does. Tweet coupons or promo codes for new followers so they can come to your business location and receive a discount or giveaway.

3. Reference other industry professionals. Another point of view will breathe refreshing new life into your tweets. Retweet an industry professional (not a competitor) to show that you’re paying attention to what’s going on in the industry and you aren’t threatened by other expert sources; you’re simply trying to ensure that your followers stay educated.

4. Use a link and a call to action in every tweet. Use ow.ly or bit.ly (websites used to shorten links for Twitter) to make links that lead to pages on your website or other reliable sources (not competitors). This will direct people to your website and help to convert followers to customers. You can also track clicks on ow.ly’s and bit.ly’s so you will know which tweets enticed followers to click in order to write more like them.

5. Be creative. Tell stories, share YouTube videos, share tools and tips that can help your followers, tweet about news and trends and share quotes. Just remember to write something worth reading. If your tweet were to end up on a billboard tomorrow, would you be 100% proud of it? If the answer is no, don’t post it.

Following these tips will help you gain more followers and get the most out of your Twitter experience. Engaging your followers will help turn them into customers who will then recommend your business to others.

If you are new to Twitter, you have probably noticed (and been confused) by all of the crazy Twitter terms being used on the social network. Twitter users have their own language, so as a newbie, it’s time for you to learn it. Here are the top 15 most commonly used Twitter terms. Learn these and you’ll be “tweeting” like a pro in no time.

1. Tweet: A post made by a Twitter user. Tweets are limited to 140 characters.

2. Retweet or RT: Reposting a tweet that has already been posted on the Twitter stream. RT usually precedes the original poster to give credit. Here is an example of a retweet: RT @localsplash New blog post: Twitter for Dummie: 15 Common Terms Explained

3. Follow: Choosing to follow someone means their tweets will appear in your home stream. You can also get their tweets sent to your phone as text messages.

4. Follower: If someone is following you, it means they have chosen for your tweets to appear in their home stream and they are most likely reading them.

5. Unfollow or De-Friend: This is when one of your followers decides to stop reading your tweets.

6. DM: This is a Direct Message sent to a twitter user. In order for you to DM someone, that person must be following you. DMs don’t appear in the public twitter stream. They go directly to the receiver’s inbox.

7. @ Reply/Mention: The @ symbol is used to reply to or mention a twitter user. For example, if @localsplash tweeted something and you want to make a comment publicly, you could write @localsplash then the message. Local Splash will be notified of the “mention” but your tweet will also be able to be seen by all of your followers.

8. # (Hashtag): A hash symbol (#) is used to comment about a popular topic in a tweet so that people who are searching for that topic can easily find it. “Trending topics” occur on Twitter when a lot of people use the same hash tag. Anyone can make up a hash tag, however, not all of them become common trending topics. Only when a large number of people use the same hash tag is when it becomes a trending topic that appears on the home page of Twitter. Hash tags provide users are way to find out what the most talked about topics of the day are. Ex: @localsplash: Hooray it’s Friday! #TGIF

9. Twittosphere: Twitter atmosphere. The collective group of everyone who uses Twitter.

10. Tweeple: People who use Twitter

11. Tweeps: Your Twitter friends. “Peeps” on Twitter.

12. Twitterati: A-list Twitter users or Twitter élite. These are people who have a lot of followers. Usually includes celebrities or people who are highly influential to other Twitter users.

There are many more Twitter terms floating around the Twittosphere. These are just the most commonly used terms. For the official glossary, visit Twitter.com.