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Evaluating the effectiveness of your social media strategy is just as important as the strategy itself. Many small business owners forget about this part – don’t let that be you!

  1. Are your friends and followers increasing? It is very important to remember that an increase in friends and followers does not mean that profits will immediately increase too. An increase in friends and followers does mean you are doing something to attract attention, which is a good thing! If the number is decreasing, it is definitely time to change your strategy. You may be sharing content that is not relevant to your audience.
  2. Monitor the engagement of your followers. Are your posts and pictures getting comments and likes? Are tweets getting re-tweeted? Do your events have a significant following of people that will ‘attend’? These numbers can be monitored very easily. Make sure to be aware of them. You can also apply various tools (like Google Analytics) to receive deeper insights. Pay attention to which posts and pictures seem to be the most popular – and ask yourself why.
  3. Analyze what is working for your audience.  If you are seeing an increase in sales, consider what it is on social media that could have been responsible for the spike. In other words, what is your audience responding too? Was it a promotional discount or the free shipping option?

The takeaway: you should be regularly evaluating how your audience is reacting to your social media presence. If you are constantly up to date on your social media progress, you will find it easier to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

They say on February 14th love is in the air. But is it in your social media relationships? This time of year is about love and generosity. Make sure that that love extends to your online network. Take Valentine’s Day as a reminder to the real reason you are on social media in the first place.

This day typically has people evaluating the relationships that are important to them. Use this holiday as a way to show your users that you care and that they are important to you and your company. Share content that would be helpful to somebody today.  Share a romantic idea, a funny love story, singles inspiration – get creative. Let your followers and social media friends in on the love that is in your company. How did your company start? Probably with a passion or love for your product or service – share that.

Managing social media is about long term relationships. Companies and brands are at a point where they are trying to figure out the “secrets” to unlock social media success. In doing so, tools that track metrics are gaining popularity. Although these are important tools, social media is not just all about numbers. It is wonderful to follow users, add friends and get “Liked.” But more than that it is about following through, having meaningful conversations, and building real communities. Make sure that while you are keeping track of data, you are still keeping track of conversation. If your content is not getting reposted, don’t worry. Instead acknowledge the people that did respond. Reply to their comments and continue the conversation by asking another question. The people that comment on your content are users that are actually engaging with your brand – they may be interacting with you for more than just a discount deal or coupon code.

Cherish and nurture the social media connections you already have. Whether your users are married, in a committed relationship, have a crush or are celebrating love with family and friends – Valentine’s Day will is sure to be on their minds.

How do you get more people to watch your YouTube videos? One way to generate traffic is to use the power of Pinterest. To boost your business and increase your subscribers, link your YouTube channel with your Pinterest account. If you already have both a YouTube and a Pinterest account, you may as well leverage the influence of both these social media platforms.  Remember, your YouTube videos cannot help your business if they are not seen!  Here’s how to get started:

If you do not use Google Chrome, download it now (it will make this much easier. Google Chrome offers a “Pin It” button that lets you take an image from any site and put it to your boards.  Once in chrome, to get the “Pin It” button go to http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/ – then simply drag the “Pin It” link to your bookmarks bar.

Before you do any official linking between your YouTube channel and Pinterest, you must make sure your YouTube channel is fully optimized to your brand. Anything in your YouTube description box must have a URL/link back to your blog or company website. This is usually where viewers look to get more information. You also want to ensure that your YouTube profile is fully developed – add a personal photo or company logo, and keep your description short and sweet (all of this will help to leverage all of your traffic from Pinterest).

Let’s go back to the “Pin It’ button you downloaded earlier. Simply click the button to Pin the video you want to share. Create a board that is dedicated to your YouTube channel.  When coming up with a board name, remember to focus on keywords. Pinterest not only generates traffic from its own community, but also from Google Search. So it is very important to consider search engine optimization.

Now that you have pinned your video, it is time to add keywords to your pin description.  Whatever you do, do not leave this box empty. It is also a good idea to add the complete URL to your company site inside the description box. This makes it easy for viewers to get back to your page.

Since you have pinned your video from your YouTube channel, users who click will automatically be taken back to your channel. In linking your YouTube channel, Pinterest account, and company blog you are generating more traffic to all three of your marketing platforms. Remember to pin all of your videos!

 

Most small businesses feel a sense of urgency to get onto social media because of the tidal wave big brands have made on all social media platforms. Focus on your social media goals. Whatever they are, the bottom line should be to build relationships and grow customer trust. That means that social media is not the place to display your promotional copy. Get rid of anything remotely resembling a “BUY ME” button. Social media is about social engagement. Think of yourself in a social situation – do you spend the entire time talking about yourself? Hopefully the answer is no. This type of etiquette applies to social media as well. Just as you would in a social environment, strive to be interesting on social media. Post content that gives your followers or friends something to react too. If someone were to walk up to you and give you a compliment or ask you a question, you would never just ignore it. You would acknowledge it with a “thank you” or a reply. The same thing should be done on your social media platforms.

You are a small business. Your budget is probably much smaller than that of Starbucks. Inevitably, your social media strategy will be different than those big brands – that is okay! You don’t have to keep up with Pepsi. If you do not have the budget to giveaway the latest IPad – don’t do it. Offer a prize your company can handle such as a service, discount, or small product.  This also means that the participants in your giveaway are likely to be interested in your company, and not just in it for the free Ipad.

You have probably already picked up on the fact that there is no physical cost to join social media.  As a small business, marketing without fees probably sounds like the best kind.  But don’t be fooled – social media marketing is anything but free. Doing it right requires serious man-hours. The commitment to social media is unrelenting and endless. Engaging with followers and sharing valuable content is a full time job.

As a small business, you do not need to be present on every social media account. If you use Facebook over Google +, it does not mean you are a social media failure. The biggest error you could make is to have a Google + account that is completely neglected and shows inconsistent activity. It is better to have one or two active and up to date social media accounts than have five accounts that are not receiving adequate time and management.

Small businesses tend to make these mistakes, which can do serious harm to their social media success. Make sure your business gets it right!

Social media is generally not limited by budget – this is huge. The beauty of social media is that it is not just another advertising platform. This means that your advertising activity is not restricted to a few campaigns per year. Companies tend to conduct two to three campaigns on social media per year. It is important to place equal focus on your social media activity the rest of the time. Social media does not have to be limited, and this is something to take advantage of. Abandon your campaign-focused mindset and adopt a strategic one. Your mindset should treat social media as an opportunity to connect, engage with, and learn form your consumers in an uninhibited space.

 

Social media allows you to talk directly to them, capitalize on that. To better your social strategy, respond to your audience. . This is invaluable feedback that you cannot get as easily or as quickly with other advertising platforms. Get to know your customers by using social media as a resource. You have easy access to what pages they are “Liking” on Facebook and who they are following on Twitter. Use this information to find out what matters to your customers. By gathering this insight, you can more effectively engage. Once you have this insight and customer data, use social media to drive action for your business. Keep in mind that being personal and active on social media can go along way. Your online presence can do wonders for your company if you are sure to use it the right way.

Why use social media marketing?

Many of today’s successful businesses have been around for years, long before the internet was a viable option in marketing a product. Although billboards, TV commercials, and radio and print advertisements have been successful in the past, they will not have the impact they once did in today’s market. Many people no longer check the newspaper for movie times, they reference online venues. Many people no longer hand-write letters, they electronically draft emails. Many shy away from garage sells when they can utilize Craigslist. While some may resist the facts, this country and the rest of the world relies on technology more and more every day. This is not something to dread or dwell upon; it is something to take advantage of!

For anyone born after 1980, it is easy to notice the growing popularity of social networks and it does not take a genius to identify the direction in which our world’s social media market’s popularity will continue to move. People from the age of 20 to 29 use social media more than any other age group, with 41% spending 11+ hours a week on social media sites. Age 30 to 39 is the next most frequent user base of social media, with 37% of them spending 11+ hours a week on social media sites as well. While the younger age groups on these networking sites will be more interested in social status, the older groups will focus on marketing and advertising. Understandably, most people have heard of Facebook, which has become the largest social networking website to date. Facebook has over 500 million users, half of which log-on at least once per day. Among the US internet populace, 72% are members of Facebook, with ages 18-24 seeing the most rapid growth. That is 36% of this country’s internet users visit a single website each day! It would be exceptionally hard to find another channel with that kind of impact. Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogs are just a few of the other popular social networks available today, all providing remarkable accessibility to a large group of people.

Social media is the fastest growing marketing tool, and any business not capitalizing on its numerous capabilities could be at a disadvantage to its competitors. Waiting around and not taking advantage of this vastly growing marketing tool is an opportunity that companies are missing. Business is ever evolving and so must marketing campaigns in order to keep pace with the competition. So then why wouldn’t someone immediately get involved with social marketing? It cannot be money, as most of these networks are free. It cannot be experience, because anyone can outsource their social marketing for dirt cheap. Most people just do not know. They do not know what it is, nor understand its capabilities. But most importantly, they are unaware of the positive economic growth it will potentially have on their company.

Social media marketing is the attempt to broadcast various forms of media over social networking technologies, plain and simple. A few perks of social media include increased exposure, increased lead generation, gaining of new partnerships, increased traffic, and marketing cost reductions. On average, 88% of marketers using social media have reported increased exposure for their business. Almost half of these individuals who employed marketing tactics through social media for 12 months or less reported new partnerships gained. Users who spent 6 hours or less per week saw their lead generation increase, and 58% of small business owners using social media marketing were more likely to see marketing cost reductions.

The internet is providing this world with new products, capabilities, and tools that have never before been possible. Social media marketing provides the ability to potentially influence hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people for a fraction of the cost of outdated marketing methods. It is the responsibility of today’s businessmen to focus on the future of every market and the direction it is heading. Social media is a wise investment for almost any company and will be more beneficial the earlier it becomes integrated within a company’s strategic initiative. Social media networking is only going to grow, and my best advice at this point is to establish your brand as soon as possible through these means.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-industry-report-2011/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6602049

People who are not familiar with how internet marketing works might think that social media marketing is the new Search Engine Optimization. No, it’s not! Social media marketing is an effective supplement to any standard SEO endeavor that you do, but it can’t be used as a replacement. Implementing this strategy is like employing a PR firm once you’ve released your SEO-optimized website. On-page SEO is obviously not as captivating as social media marketing, but it is still the most significant effort you can implement to your website.

As for your social networking efforts, you should visit your existing social accounts, and focus on how you can bring more visitors to your website. However you have first to determine who your target visitors are, what keywords they use in searching for information in the search engines, and in what way your website can help them. Be sure not to miss any of these as you go through your optimization process. All of the social networking sites and traffic won’t result in anything if your target visitors are not part of your online connection or network.

If you didn’t earn the ROI, don’t fret. Most often, it is based on whom your target visitors are, where they can be find, the kinds of services or products you provide, and if your website genuinely supplies your visitors with what they’re searching for.

Applying basic SEO such as building a crawler-friendly website that is made up of relevant keywords that people often typed in the search engines to find the things you offer, shouldn’t be underestimated. These SEO factors can be considered the foundation of your SEO efforts to achieve results.

SEO & Social Media Marketing Guide is written for companies that don’t have the luxury of a big marketing budget, and don’t have the time or staff to devote to a full-time online marketing project. Get it today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5573060