23rd
August 2010
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Marketing using social media platforms can be a bit like trying to sell a product in a pub where all of your friends are. If you’re not funny, informative and effective, you’ll not get anywhere and, to add to your problems, you’ve just made yourself look foolish in front of your peer group. It’s a fraught business. Especially when you’re on a budget.
For the small or starter site owner, there are methods by which you can use Facebook to increase your traffic, or at least to consolidate your core group of fans, ensuring that they feel involved with your project and 100% behind what you’re doing.
On a limited or non-existent budget, we need all the tools we can get, and Facebook as well as Twitter can increase traffic if you play things the right way.
Don’t be annoying
As a rule of thumb, you probably don’t set out to be annoying in any aspect of your life, but social media has it’s own complex etiquette that’s still in its infancy, and developing.
When promoting anything you’ve created, make sure you pack your links with entertaining content or informative text or video, and keep an eye on how many times you’re promoting things. The issue with Facebook is that you’re literally surrounded by your friends. You really don’t want to look like you’re pushing your work onto them in a place where they come to relax.
Create a Facebook profile solely for your business
To avoid the problems involved in using your real life persona to push your business, you could always set up a dedicated account to your business. This is a double-edged sword used the wrong way, as your reputation may bite the dust if you can’t find fans, followers or friends to become Facebook buddies with your brand – so do this with caution and be sure you’ll get the right response.
Start a fan page
Less risky, set up a Facebook fan page and, if your web content is constantly updated, set up a feed so that fans of your product will see any developments on their homepage. Even better, they can comment on any new content without having to directly become involved in any comment debate. This suits some personalities, because they feel Facebook is a much less intimidating online environment than a blog or website comments section.
Get a discussion going
People can probably talk in your comments section or forum, but anywhere that you have a community discourse going on is to be encouraged. Remember that if someone has become a fan of what you do on Facebook – they’re probably pretty devoted to what you do. So it’s feasible you could use your Facebook fan page as the place for real geek-out discussion about your service – where your nerd army can talk at length about the finer details of your product in the safe environment of your designated Fan area.
Encourage Facebook feedback
You could quite easily start using the Fan page for a specific purpose. Say you receive a lot of feedback from users or potential new users, and they use a standard email to get in touch. You could do away with the emailing back and forth regime and realistically ask them to become a fan on facebook, where you respond to every query in person. They’ll feel they’re getting direct contact with the site-owner – and you’ll have won a new fan.
Status update your new content
Some of us not only have our news story update on the Fan feed, but also in our own personal profile’s feed. Some people have told me they find this annoying, but the vast majority don’t mind at all. Where most people status update about the sausage they ate for dinner, you’re within your rights to post a link to the latest thing you put on site. Nobody’s getting hurt, and if it gets noticed, all the better.
Have a loose attitude to who’s your ‘friend’
Obviously we don’t mean you should start making friends with reprobates, but it can be wise to be all-inclusive. Cynics may frown on those who get in touch and friend people they haven’t spoken to since the sandpit – but really, there’s no harm in it. A friendly word with an old real world friend will let them know what you’re doing now, and when they see what you’re up to in your feed, they might like it and become a regular on your site.
Consider Facebook exclusives
People, don’t have to follow you on Facebook – remember that it’s purely their choice to do so, and they’ve gone out of their virtual way to allow you some space on their feed. If you have time to offer them some exclusive content that’s Facebook only, then you’ll cement the value you give them and also make your fan area a desirable place to visit. It needn’t be a huge slog – maybe early heads up on podcast clips, extra blog posts or even just links to cool stuff. Small things are massively appreciated.
Think about advertising on Facebook
If you’ve got the budget, Facebook does carry targeted advertising, though there are conflicting reports on just how effective it can be. True, you have a potential captive audience of 500,000,000 users, but you’re also dealing with a very controlling social media site and, as a result, can’t be entirely sure how your ad is being used.
Before you make the jump into paid advertising there, instead of relying on the usual social media tricks, read around on the effectiveness of different kinds of advertising there are. We’ve provided some further reading below, so you can evaluate whether or not it would be worth your while.
Facebook’s advertising area.
Facebook’s secret ratecard
Promote your cause on Facebook
5 ways to make money on Facebook
This post was written by Liam Tucker of the excellent Watch With Mothers. Which is another great way to waste your day. – Want to write for the BaseKit Blog? – Drop us an email.
12th
July 2010
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We’ve started rolling out some cool new offers on BaseKit – the first of which can be found on our Facebook page – but only if you become a fan! So what are you waiting for – head over to Facebook and see what we have waiting fore you – if you’re not a fan just click the LIKE button to see what we have in store for you!
11th
May 2010
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Remember when the world was young and finding a copy of your book on Fly Fishing meant hours crawling through the local yellow pages (Only makes sense to us Brits! – Ed) or trusting to luck that ‘Six Gun’ Tex McCain was really a reliable plumber? Thankfully these days we have the magic of the internet, and thanks to BaseKit you can have a fully functional, great looking site for your local business. Fantastic right? But it does leave smaller business or individual users with a problem -how are you going to market your site?
There’s a mountain of marketing guides out there, but there is a tendency to assume you’re trying to build a multinational media empire. If you’re just trying to get a few extra people through the door of your cake shop then a lot of this advice really isn’t going to be suitable. Having a great LinkedIn network is fine, but are those international jet-setters really going to stop at your Grimsby Hardware Shop?
If you’re trying to raise localised traffic it can be hard to know where to start, and let’s be honest -if your site isn’t in the top ten when someone Googles ‘Launderette, Stevenage‘ then there’s no point in having a site. So let’s see what you can do to get yourself a decent search ranking…
Know your enemy…
Firstly, do your research. A few keyword searches with local names will let you know which local businesses are showing up – check out their pages and see what they are doing. You can use sites like wordtracker.com to see how and why their SEO is working and utilise it yourself.
Location Location Location…
Make sure you have your address displayed on every page so that search engines have something to grab hold of, and add this to any copy on the site as well: ‘ Great Yarmouth Electrical Goods’ for example.
Likewise try to add your district name in -’located within easy reach of xxxxx train station’ – be as specific as you can while making it sound natural.
You can also reach out to the local community through your page – try adding an events calendar or blog, and exchange links with other local businesses and blogs. This will add to your non-specific search traffic, raising peoples awareness of your business.
Put yourself on the map
More and more people are now searching for businesses through Google Maps, Bing and Yahoo Local or direct from their iPhone or mobile maps, but a lot of local businesses don’t take the time to exploit this. By taking a little time to build information rich profiles for these sites, you’ll give your business a massive advantage over your competitors. Go and visit Google Places (formerly Google Maps Local Business Centre), Bing Local Listing and Yahoo Local Business for starters. These engines all want the info because it makes their job easier, and it will ensure you rank highly in map searches.
You can also add your business in different categories and localise them be sure to put in ‘Garden Centre’, but make sure you also add ‘Sheffield Garden Centre’ with Google maps you can add up to five categories so make sure you use them all!
Exploit Niche Markets
If you’re set on marketing locally, then there are some major league strategies that will still pay dividends. Have alook online and you’ll probably find a Facebook group or two for your town, so why not start your own group? You can promote this through Twitter, Facebook, MeetUp –anywhere.
Likewise, try using your Twitter to offer promotions or post printable coupons on your blog or FB and ask group members for feedback –the more you get them talking the more they’ll be likely to visit you and your site –and add links to their own sites.
If you can help promote a local event or association here that’s good too, if you’re sponsoring a local school fete then you can guarantee that some proud parent will have filmed it –get that on YouTube and make sure your business is mentioned there too. Every mention counts.
Don’t get mad, get helpful
Have a quick search online for local directories. Nowadays its common practice for these to have ‘add review’ boxes –meaning one bad comment could be losing you a lot of business.
It’s important to be proactive here, check out sites like Yelp and Local.com –see what people have said about you. If there’s a problem then try to help solve it – and let other customers know why the problem occurred. You’ll foster great customer trust by taking a few minutes a day to personally reply to any negative comments –and hopefully garner a few positive ones in the process. If a local paper printed a positive review of your café, you might display it in the window, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t do the same with online testimonials, and if you have a lot of reviews then you’ll have a higher mention rate online, all helping your search position.
Get Natural Listings
Speaking of listings, take the time to fill out all those trade group forms you’ve been studiously ignoring all year. If you haven’t got the time to list yourself everywhere manually, there are plenty of universal listings sites that will submit your info for you for a small fee, meaning you’ll have more mentions and links, all of which mean great organic SEO growth.
Social Media marketers constantly talk about building communities. Remember above all that you already have one! If you want to get your business noticed online –and in the real world – get out there and get involved.
Guest Post from Matt Owen of Epic Win Media – Want to write for the BaseKit Blog – Get in touch!
27th
April 2010
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Now you’ve got your shiny new Basekit site – or sites – up and running, it’s time to get out there and promote yourself, and when it comes to digital marketing, any fule kno that social media is the place to be –at least right now. But with all the attention Twitter and Facebook are getting as promotional tools, there may be a network you’ve been unfairly dismissing – LinkedIn.
Over the past year, Linked in has undergone some dramatic changes that have transformed it from a business contacts site into a viable networking and promotion tool that gives you direct access not only to your customer base, but also to fellow professionals –meaning LinkedIn has forum capabilities sorely lacking from sites like Facebook. LinkedIn’s profiles are directly aimed at the business market, so they are likely to be open and honest, giving you great information on your allies – and rivals – in a complicated marketplace.
If you’re setting up a business empire using Basekit to build your sites, then you need to be in touch with the movers and shakers out there and LinkedIn is a great way to do it. Despite this, the majority of users still seem to be primarily using Linked in as a job search and employment site – big mistake! Make sure you get the jump on your competitors by avoiding the mistakes they are making and properly utilising the site. Here are ten quick tips to get you ahead of the pack:
1: Default Lies With You
Almost every profile I come across on LinkedIn has the same problem – settings left at default. With the URL it’s a fixable problem, but with My Company it’s a nuisance. If you haven’t taken time to enter your current business or employer name in this field do it right now (Click websites, then ‘other’ in the options to fill this out), otherwise people have to scroll back up to see who you are and what you’re pushing, then scroll back to click it. Remember the old maxim –if content is not reachable in 3 clicks then people won’t bother. Exactly the same principle here. Above all else, eliminate extra effort for people trying to find you.
2: Who Are U(RL)?
Make sure you take the time to change your URL. Much like Facebook’s much publicised move last year, you can set a personalised URL in LinkedIn, so make sure you exploit the branding and marketing potential this offers. Head up to the Edit Public Settings button at the top of your profile and change the Public Profile URL to your- or your business –name.
3: Complete your profile.
OK, so you may have a face more suitable for radio, but that doesn’t mean you can afford not to have a clear, businesslike photograph on your profile. Likewise, don’t be tempted to cover up with a logo or a gravitar -LinkedIn is about people, so brush yourself off and smile. Recognition and personality is key in generating new business. Also, make sure you’ve really thought about that job description keyline -nobody is typing ‘CEO’ into their search boxes, so think about your job title and how it relates directly to the service you provide. ‘Copywriter’ will work, ‘Internet Guru’ won’t.
4: Keep your friends close..and their friends closer
You can currently join up to 50 groups on Linked in –sounds like quite a few right? And how many people are there in the larger groups –and perhaps more importantly, what do they do? The average Google employee has about 40-50 connections on LinkedIn, but a group may hold hundreds, even thousands of talented people interested in what you are doing –people you haven’t contacted previously. Not joining up is a massive failure in your networking plan, so get out there and share. Even if you can’t keep an eye on all the groups you’ve joined your name will still be out there.
5: Go Public
It’s called Social media for a reason. Google’s offering live and social searches now, so make sure you’re profile stands out and is counted! LinkedIn is great for this because you can offer specific business information, and not worry about it being watered down or undermined by pictures of you feeding a dog cider at last year’s Christmas party. Don’t set your profile to private, but DO take care what you put on it. If it isn’t public then you may as well not bother in the first place.
6: Too Much Twitter
The easy option when linking Twitter is to set it to automatic and let it run itself. The smart way however, is to take five minutes a day and update manually – post relevant tweets and links –your customers don’t want to know that you’re meeting Steve for a pint later, they want to know “Ten great ways to find the perfect Lawnmower.” Whatever you’re selling, keep it relevant if you want to drum up extra business. All your tweets go on Twitter, things worth talking about and promoting go on LinkedIn. In essence you should strive for a balance, don’t put out too much noise – instead let people know what you are involved in, your interests or projects you’re helping on, not your laundry list.
7: Who’s Company?
Again, LinkedIn is all about business, so having a separate page clearly detailing yours is just common sense. The added bonus? You’re automatically tied into your employee’s networks, giving you broader influence and opening up new marketing opportunities. Initially businesses may have been concerned about receiving bad word of mouth from ex-employees because of this, but given the reach Social Media has these days then any negativity will find it’s way out, so you really can’t afford to miss out on the positive side of a full business site because of any hesitation you might have about this – and hey, you aren’t the kind of business that treats people badly anyway are you?
8: Only 100,000 Links On The Clock Honest Mate…
Don’t being a dodgy salesman. OK, so the bottom line is you’re here to promote your site and your business, but don’t go at it like a market trader. LinkedIn is not the place for your sales pitch. If you do, you’ll end up looking like a spammer. Send out thanks for connecting notices, but don’t add a salesline, it’s crass and off-putting, especially when the people connecting to you are already taking an interest in who you are and what you do. Don’t go for the heavy sell.
9: We Don’t Have To Talk About It – But You Should
Again, Social Media is about connecting, and while it’s great that people have a list of your stats on hand, talking to them is the best way to make sure they remember you and your business. Take part in relevant discussions whenever you can. In addition to great opportunities to promote yourself, you’ll end up with valuable information and the people you are questioning will remember your name. Get talking as often as possible. Getting feedback is free and sharing your own viewpoints and expertise will help you build an industry reputation –even if you’re a relative nobody, you can still advise Bill Gates on why your product will unblock his sink.
10: Are You Even Listening To Me?
Not responding. If someone comments, get back to them in a timely fashion. You wouldn’t ignore emails at work, so don’t forget to comment on comments. Exactly as you would with a blog, if someone is checking your profile out and questioning or suggesting something, get involved and create a dialogue with them. Letting them know you’re listening by responding to or making recommendations – just don’t dole out opinions too readily or you’ll end up seeming self-satisfied. It’s fine to give the odd recommendation to join a group -hopefully your connections will be savvy enough to offer them back so that you both benefit. It’s not a direct approach but it’s a friendlier one that will work better if you’re playing the long game (as any good business should be).
Guest Post from Matt Owen of Epic Win Media – Want to write for the BaseKit Blog – Get in touch!
