NOT ALL SOCIAL NETWORKS ARE CREATED EQUAL
Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google Plus, and LinkedIn are all social networks, but that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. Most small businesses don’t have the time to invest in varying their messages to effectively communicate with each very different social network audience. So, some small business owners resort to using programs which duplicate the same content across all the networks to save time and effort, but that is not an effectively strategy. It should be a relief for you to know you don’t have to use all of the networks. You don’t need to utilize all the networks, especially as you’re getting started.

Now a quick disclaimer, the following suggestions may or may not be right for your exact business. These are just general rules of thumb for the average businesses. If you’re a B2C brick-and-mortar small business, then you probably wouldn’t need to worry about LinkedIn, Pinterest, or maybe even Twitter depending on how you use it. On the contrary, if you’re a B2B business, Pinterest or Facebook might not be a benefit. If you are an online-only business, and sell product directly from your website only, then Pinterest would be a great place for you, but Twitter maybe not work for you that well anymore. Finally, if you’re a comedian, then you will definitely want to focus on Twitter and YouTube, for example, because those networks will suit your brand and style best.

WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS…AND ISN’T
Social Media is a place to make connections with potential customers, and build relationships with them. Develop a strong connection and give-and-take. Listen to what your customers want, and give them what they’re asking for. Communicate with them as they want to be communicated with, and live in their world with them.

Social Media is not your billion person automatic storefront where you can expect to just post a few cat pictures then a sales link and expect the masses to come flocking to your website. The realistic expectation is that it will take some time and constant effort to build a strong following, then longer to build a strong relationship, then just a little bit longer to expect the steady stream of sales to begin.

MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES
All that being said, there are ways to reap the benefits of social media before the long efforts come to fruition for your small business. The most effective strategies for more immediate ROI are below:

• FACEBOOK: Use highly targeted Facebook Ads to grow your following, and to direct interested customers to pages which can offer your product or service for sale (aka “landing pages”). You can target by age, gender, interests, or any other demographics which help you reach your exact audience. Don’t worry about clicks. Worry about conversions (aka did people buy something). Getting a lot of traffic to click isn’t as important as get interested people to click, because you’re paying for each click. Make it count.

• GOOGLE PLUS: Google Plus (as of right now) is great for SEO, and local businesses. Google says that links on their social network don’t contribute to positive search engine ranking improvements, but the evidence we have seen suggests otherwise. Either way, it can’t hurt, right?

• PINTEREST: If you are selling direct from your website, make sure you “pin” each and every item for sale on your Pinterest account. In the description, put in the dollar sign, because products Pinned with dollar amounts get clicked at a much higher percentage than those without dollar amounts. Pinterest also puts a snipe graphic displaying the price. Pinterest is very e-commerce friendly.

• TWITTER: Depending on your business, Twitter is wide open. There are a million and one ways to use the 140 characters-only micro-blogging network. Use relevant hashtags (#ThisIsAHashtag) to allow other Twitter users to find your Tweets and increase your followers. Twitter has a great deal of noise, so build decent connections by following those users who you can partner with and utilize each other’s followers.

• LINKEDIN: Make business partnerships and connections via LinkedIn. Also, if you’re a B2B company, then LinkedIn is your best friend. Get a paid account where you can message and interact with anyone directly, even if you’re not connected to the, and insist your salespeople do the same. For B2B, you need to constantly build new relationships, network, and get out there to build strong relationships and partnerships. Cold calling is working less and less, so jump on LinkedIn, take out some ads, and start making connections with the business owners and influencers who will end up being your best customers.

EMBRACE LOCAL (Bonus Tip): If you’re a brick-and-mortar small business, then make sure you’re signed up with Google Places (now called Google Local), Bing Local, FourSquare, and Yelp. Sign up with the largest location-based networks, and encourage your customers to “check in” when they’re at your business. This is free advertising. Also, search engines are becoming more and more localized, so making sure you’re signed up with all the location-based networks will help you get found easier even if your normal SEO efforts are taking a little bit to kick in.

Following these best practices will definitely get you headed in the right direction. Contact Us to help you create the most efficient and effective social media marketing campaign possible. We look forward to helping you grow your influence across social media!

Last week we were asked to return to the Marcielle Presents TV Show in Pasadena, CA. The first time we were there, host Marcielle Brandler and our very own Louis Tanguay sat down for a 22 minute segment on Small Business Marketing. You can view that entire interview on our YouTube channel. This time, we were helping out Marcielle with a brand new article for her show’s website, entitled “Understanding Facebook Marketing.”

Check it out here, and let us know what you thought in the comment below!

Have you ever wondered why your automated posts aren’t getting the results you want? How about when you post the same piece of content on 10 different social networks, and there’s no bump in your website traffic? What’s going on? Does Social Media NOT WORK? I’m here to give away a Social Media Marketing secret that’s will be pretty obvious once I divulge it, but yet most marketers and Small Business owners don’t take the extra step in their strategic thought process to get to it.

Here it is: Each different Social Network has a different personality, and once you know how to address that particular personality, you’ll start seeing better results almost immediately. It’s like you’re trying to play basketball like you would play football, and drawing up basketball plays for a soccer game. While all of these are “sports,” you don’t approach each one with the same philosophies and strategies. Just like you can’t communicate with a rocker, a yuppie, a geek, and a cowboy the same exact way and be just as effective, you need to know your audience. You might even be speaking to a geeky cowboy, but you’ll talk differently if you’re at the rodeo with the same person than you would if you were at Comic-Con. I digress, but you get the point. Let’s talk about each of the Big 5 Social Networks used in business right now, and how to best communicate using each.

1. FACEBOOK

Facebook is the Big Boy on the block. Everyone has a page on Facebook and everyone is mesmerized by the potential of having all 1 billion Facebook profiles as their clients and customers. Hold yer horses right there. Facebook users are mostly not interested in your company. At least not in the “buy now” and direct sales/e-commerce kind of way.

When people sign on to Facebook, they want to see what their friends are up to, how the baby is, what’s Fido gone and done now, or what their crazy brother-in-law is posting now about whatever the political topic du jour is. What are the two things Facebook users constantly complain about? Privacy issues number one, of course, but the second biggest complaint are the ads and worrying about Facebook starting to charge money for something people use 6 hours a day on average and connects them to their entire social circle and have used completely free for years now…but I digress.  Facebook is essentially best for B2C companies. If you are a B2B, you’ll be better off on LinkedIn, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the biggest social network going right now. Just proceed accordingly and strategically.

To use Facebook most effectively is to do two simple strategies. First, is to take out some Facebook Ads which are heavily targeted to your exact customer and get more people to Like your page. Second, is to get your current customers to like your page so you can do the most important thing you can do on Facebook: build a strong relationship with them. Think of Facebook as mostly a publicity and customer relations tool. Post high-value, highly interesting content which your exact customers and target market want to see, and you’ll start building that relationship and trust. Then, when potential customers are ready to buy a product or service that you sell, you’ll be top-of-mind and the one they call…because you’re now essentially like one of their other friends. You’re trusted, friendly, and “there for them.”

2. TWITTER

Twitter is an interesting little beast. It’s widespread usage tells you that it’s incredibly popular, which it is, but it’s effectiveness in driving conversions and sales is sinking faster than the Titanic with Billy Zane on board. This past year, a whopping 0.2% bought through Twitter links. That’s zero-point-two percent. Want perspective? E-Commerce sales went up 17%, and 24% of all retail site traffic came from smartphones and tablets through Email Marketing efforts. So, what’s it good for? Absolutely something, don’t you worry.

Twitter is great as a place to learn about other things, things that are “trending” and what is making the rounds. Many journalists and writers use Twitter for the links that are posted. Professionals use it for the same reason. Twitter can drive traffic and awareness to your blog and website. From there, you capture leads, and go through your conversion process.

The best practice for Twitter, because there is so much noise on the network, is to get an account with a scheduler like HootSuite, TweetDeck, or whichever one works best for your tastes, and schedule out posts during peak hours (varies for industry, but it’s basically work hours in the mornings and weekends). Since many professionals use Twitter for professional reasons, there are your best chances to get your links clicked on.

Schedule out a few of your blog posts every day, and it’s OK to recycle and repeat on Twitter because of all the noise and constant Tweeting. Just don’t schedule the same exact post over and over again every hour for three days straight. Mix it up a good amount. Don’t forget to use hashtags that your potential customers and journalists who might write stories about you might be using to find your links and Tweets.

3. LINKEDIN

When you sign on to LinkedIn, are you interested in seeing your co-worker’s dog wearing a scarf and sunglasses? No. However on Facebook, you might “Like” the photo if it was funny or cute enough. LinkedIn is all business. Now, that doesn’t mean be a stuffed suit robot, but it does mean to keep it professional or at the very least “business causal.” Don’t say or post anything on LinkedIn that’s too personal, TMI, or something you wouldn’t say at a business networking function. Because that’s exactly what LinkedIn is…a business social network.

Join a few groups, engage in conversations, and make some good B2B connections. You can also use LinkedIn to get referrals from colleagues and those in your networks when you’re looking to make a few new hires. Post some great ideas for those in your target market and remember, it’s still social networking so if someone asks a question don’t be “that guy” who just immediately tries to close a deal right then and there. Help the person, answer the question, follow up, build that relationship. I see so many poor social networkers jump on LinkedIn and start blasting groups with their pitches and trying to get people to buy something. Just relax, nurture the relationship and you’ll do just fine.

Last thought, make sure your business has a business profile on LinkedIn and take out some LinkedIn advertisements if you’re a B2B company. They have started to embrace advertising on their network and so you should as well.

4. PINTEREST

Pinterest is all about pictures, ideas, and visuals. If you’re a writer, you may have a problem gaining traction on Pinterest. Even a photographer or a graphic designer, someone who’s very very visual and so is their service, might have issues because of the average Pinterest mindset. Pinterest is basically an “ideas board.” People see things either on Pinterest or elsewhere online and they “pin” that graphic to their online “pinboard.” However, a photographer is going to get “repinned” way more than they’re going to get calls for work.

Pintest for business purposes is very much a B2C tool and very heavily effective with e-commerce sites with shopping carts and a good number of product to sell, and new products which are added to the stores often. The Etsy crowd were the first ones to start seeing monetization, because it was a perfect marriage of both websites’ demographics and interests. With Pinterest, you can Pin every single one of your shopping cart items to your Pinboards, put your price and links back to the original shopping cart item,and there you have it.

Pinterest users can search by price, item style, etc, and if you put your shopping cart item, with the price, and a link back to your website’s exact shopping cart item you’re displaying, then you’re using Pinterest properly for monetization of your e-commerce business.

Don’t have an e-commerce business? Then you can still get some traction with videos. Because Pinterest is highly visual, videos work great for business, because the Pinterest user can still watch a nice visual piece and learn something about your company, your services, your expertise, or especially learn something you share with them!

5. GOOGLE PLUS

I’m going to say something that most people aren’t going to like. I should say more Googlers aren’t going to like. The prime purposes, right now, for using Google Plus are for brick-and-mortar businesses and for enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google Plus is still very new, and it’s morphing daily into more and more of an “all things Google, all in one place” kind of network as opposed to it’s own “Facebook competitor.”

If you’re a brick-and-mortar company (one with a physical location which customers and client can come visit), then you want to have a brand page on Google Plus. In addition to that brand page, you should have a Google Place page, and then merge the two together. Google is starting to call this “Google Local” with more frequency. This will help you with reviews, and help your business have complete information when someone around your area searches for your business and see the Google Maps picture with a bunch of pins from your competitors. Getting your Places and Brand Page merged to be one verified business will help you on your way to better local rankings.

Right now, Google hasn’t fully admitted this, but many SEO specialists swear that posting your blog posts on Google Plus enhance your SEO for the keywords contained in the title and content of that posted blog link. This makes sense, because Google would naturally want people to use their new Social Network, and what better carrot to entice us all than better rankings on their search engine results, right?

As more and more people connect their accounts, YouTube becomes more integrated, the new Communities areas start filling up, and you start getting used to Google’s social network, you’re going to use it more and more so you may as well jump on  there now and start getting familiar, because there’s a good chance it can be now just an important part of a piece of your marketing strategy, but an integral part in the near future. Hey, at the very least, you learn something new, right? How bad could that be?

6-ish. BONUS NETWORK: YOUTUBE

YouTube is a bonus one, because it’s not truly a “social network” but it’s more and more becoming one. Even though it’s heavily integrated with Google Plus, and it’s still a hybrid of search engine and video wasteland, YouTube is focusing more and more on profiles (even if they are connected to your Google Plus account), subscriptions and comments.

Your videos are starting to be ranked like websites are ranked. Not only is YouTube optimizing their search results like Google with keyword and title relevancy (which is owned and run by Google, so no surprise here), but User Engagement (amount people Like/Thumbs Up, Comment On, and Subscribe) is being counted more and more. When you start putting out videos regularly, and all of them start getting great engagement ratings, then all your videos (even the ones with poor engagement) will start ranking higher because you’re now viewed as a “trusted source.”

So, while YouTube is a hybrid of everything, it’s still incredibly important to your marketing strategies, especially since more and more videos are embracing video every year that passes.

So there you have it! Now, you’re ready to get to work! What’s that? We gave you too much work? That’s OK, because that’s what we’re here for. Contact Us and let’s talk about how we can help, or at least consult with you to help you figure everything out and get a plan together with you. You could always take our online marketing classes, too, which will help give you even more information and help…and the classes come with free consultations. Happy Marketing, and we’ll talk to you soon!

Circle Marketing’s Managing Director, Louis Tanguay, had the pleasure of writing a guest post on Susan Newman Design Inc’s blog about Why Facebook “Doesn’t Work” For Your Small Business. In this article, Louis explores Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, and how most small businesses don’t take full advantage of Facebook’s tools and communication features. Also discussed are the best practices for Facebook Marketing as well as key strategies to avoid due to their lack of effectiveness.

If you’re a small business owner, then this Facebook Marketing post is a must-read. It’s so good, we wish he saved it for our own blog, but c’est la vie. You can read the full article right here, and please be sure to share it to spread the word around. Enjoy!

Congratulations! You have a small business and you’re either just starting out, or you know you need some help to move to another level. You’re seeking out some advice and ideas. This is the first step to getting to that next level. You’re already ahead of the thousands of other Small Businesses which feel that “figuring it out” is the best course of action. This is why you’ll still be in business when they’re packing up the final boxes and wondering what went wrong.

CHOOSING COMPANIES
First bit of advice is when you’re choosing a Small Business marketing company to help you out, whether it’s for a website design, social media marketing, or any help at all, just know that it’s perfectly OK to judge a book by it’s cover. When you go to a company’s website and it looks horrid, their work is not aesthetically pleasing, or they won’t get specific with you on process or price, then it’s OK to feel that they won’t be able to help you achieve your goals. Many so-called “professionals” (so-called by themselves and no one else) and companies are just looking for as many clients and/or as much money as they can get. They don’t approach projects from that very important “win win” mindset. At Circle Marketing, for example, we don’t have “clients we close”…we have “partnerships we open.” This is because we want to be there for our clients every step of the way, and our very affordable packages and pricing are set up to measure your goals over the course of time and provide you with a very specific road map on how to do so.

Now on to the freebie advice! Yay!

YOUR WEBSITE AS A MARKETING TOOL
First thing first, you’ll need a new site in most cases. You should most likely have a CMS (Content Management System) site, which is focused on getting leads and selling your products and services. You’ll most likely want a blog, and might possibly even need forums, ad placement, or a number of other requirements, depending on your business. Your website is something you own and you control, and you won’t be effected by fads or trends. You want your website to be the main hub of content, information, and traffic for your business. If you’re getting more traffic on your Facebook page instead of your website, then your website isn’t being run properly. Everything you do in marketing should lead your customers and potential customers back to your website. There, you should be focused on capturing leads and increasing sales.

Your website should also be designed and developed with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind. This will help you rank higher on search engines for the search terms your customers are entering into Google, Bing and others to find your business. When you combine the idea that your website should look professional, is optimized for Search Engines, and you are focused on leads and conversions, then your site will be unstoppable and you should see your business increase just from a better website alone.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Next, you’ll have to figure out how you want to use Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Know that each social network has a different vibe, customer mindset and way of posting. Start on Facebook by creating a business/brand page, and asking people to connect with you there. Create some highly targeted Facebook Ads and publish only the best and most interesting and most helpful content which originates from your website. This way, you can pull your Facebook followers back to your main marketing hub, which is your website, and get more business. Facebook is an attraction tool, a publicity tool, and a customer relationship tool. Rarely is Facebook a direct sales tool.

Now on to Google Plus. At the time I’m writing this, Google Plus is rewarding their users with extra SEO muscle. So, get on Google Plus, create a brand page, and tie that in to your Google Places/Google Local page. Oh, you don’t have a Google Places page? Well, if you’re a brick-and-mortar business (i.e. you have a physical location where customers can go to) then you must have your business page on Google Places (aka Google Local). Connect the two pages together so you can post all your blogs, news, etc on one page, and have that one page be able to accept user reviews and be found easier when people are doing local searches on Google.

Bonus Tip: Also set up a Bing Local account as well, because Facebook and many others are starting to tie in to Bing and it’s popularity is rising. And…it’ll help you cover your bases.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
You’re going to get list on the top of Google’s and Bing’s search results two ways. The first way is you’re going to have to buy ads. The second way is by having some high-quality, long-lasted, completely 100% by-the-book Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Why mention “by the book?” Well, because there are way too many individuals and companies out there who know SEO takes a while and is never guaranteed, so they try to get a company on a long-term contract which the client can’t get out of. The best SEO strategies involve a lot of work, a little bit of money to pay a service or company to do that work, and also a lot of knowledge. Search Engines change their algorithms constantly to keep providing their users with the most relevant search results to their queries.

The basic idea of SEO is it’s like a referral system. Think of Google/Bing as your elite 5-Star hotel concierge. They know everything about whatever you want to know, and they’ll help you find whatever you’re looking for and give you the best advice and answers to your questions. These are modern day search engines. How do they know? They look at a great number of statistics, but the simplest way to explain it is that the more higher profile websites which are linking to your site and mentioning your site as an expert in your field, then the higher you will rank in the search results.

Hire an expert with proven results, no long-term contracts, and stay on them with charts and reports to make sure you’re seeing results…or move on to someone with a better reputation and better results.

Bonus Tips:
1. Get an Email Marketing and Email List provider like MailChimp or Constant Contact so you can regularly and easily communicate with your customers and leads.
2. Explore what other Social Networks might also be right for your particular business to use in your marketing. Examples: Pinterest is great for e-commerce, LinkedIn is great for B2B, Facebook is not so great for B2B and much better for B2C, and Google Plus is great for SEO (as of right now, which will probably change as Google keeps changing their search algorithms).
3. Buy some Ads on Google Adwords and Bing Ads. Until your SEO kicks in, you’re going to need visibility. To get great visibility quickly, you’re going to have to buy it. However, that’s why we’re suggesting SEO, so you won’t have to buy is for long!

With these tips, you’ll be able to hit the ground running and start going in the right direction. Give us a Call or E-Mail and mention that you saw this blog for a detailed and customized Free Consultation. We’ll help you figure out specifics for your particular business and target market, and we’ll help get you going in the right direction!

Half the lights went out in the New Orleans Superdome, where the game was being hosted. Finally there was something exciting. Something different. While the network scrambled to get a grip of what was going on, a room full of smart advertising professionals and corporate executives had a brainstorm.

60% of people who watch TV multi-task with a mobile device in their hands. Either a phone or a tablet, most TV “watchers” are only half paying attention. Knowing this, and knowing with the network unable to execute exciting material during the prolonged blackout, Oreo executives were in the same room with a small team at their digital marketing agency 360i.

While GoDaddy was grossing people out with their Super Bowl ad, and Budweiser was making people cry with their “man loves his horse just a little too much perhaps” commercial, Orea released the Tweet which didn’t cost them millions and won the day…

This simple ad’s perfection was in it’s rapid release and timeliness. The ad was ReTweeted over 14,000 times, and the same image on Facebook received over 20,000 Likes. People then took to blogs to speak of it’s brilliance (hmm…like this one?) further enhancing the free word of mouth and buzz surrounding this free social media marketing “ad.”

Technically, no, the ad was not “free” because Oreo had a staff on call, and they were paying the digital agency to release posts during the Super Bowl, but when compared with the ad buys for the big TV ads, one would say Oreo was not only the big positive buzz winner of the day, but definitely won with the most efficient brand marketing, hands … er … cookies down.

What was your favorite Super Bowl ad this year? Comment below and let us know what you thought of this post and all the ads. Want an intelligent social media marketing campaign for your company? Contact us now, and let’s talk about how to get started!

Many people have paid hundreds of dollars for webinars like this, but Circle Marketing and Broadcast Louder figured putting together this free 2-hour class would help Small Business owners kick off the new year on the right foot!

Click here to watch the webinar, but get a notepad ready because there’s a TON of information to help your business grow!

For those who want to move at their own pace, and prefer to have PDF’s instead of watch videos, please feel free to download the supplemental ebook by joining our email list below:

It’s a very exciting day for those who focus on the future of Facebook Brand Pages and what this means for doing business and acquiring fans on Facebook. Your Facebook Timeline Page is not a substitute for an actual website for many reasons, but it can be the most effective business tool you have other than your actual website.