This week Google finally announced that it was allowing businesses to create Google+ Pages for their brands. Since then there has been a lot of opinion in both directions about whether or not the pages are worth the trouble of signing up, and there are a few things that businesses need to keep in mind when considering a Google+ Page.
Peg McDermott
You probably already have a strong SEO strategy for your company's website, and of course that's important. Providing regular doses of fresh and relevant content on your blog, for example, is a great way to keep search engines interested in your site, which will in turn drive traffic to your business.
Sometimes in the world of social media, it's easy to get caught up in the idea that a greater following equals greater success for your business. So many people focus on "getting the numbers up" - increasing Twitter follower numbers, Facebook fans, YouTube channel subscribers, and so forth. However, there may be a sobering wake-up call if you manage to get your following to snowball somewhat, but aren't managing to convert those followers into customers. As so many social media marketers can tell you, just getting the following isn't enough - those numbers don't mean anything unless you can also engage with your audience in an effective way.
It happens even to the best of us from time to time - something thoughtless, inappropriate, or downright dumb gets said on a social network, people react, and next thing you know you've got a big scandal on your hands. In the context of a small or medium-sized business, even a minor uproar on a social network can spell big problems for you in terms of unhappy customers and a dip in sales. Just like in every other aspect of business, mistakes will be made from time to time on social media. Even if you're extremely diligent with your social media policy, there's not really anything you can do about the fact that people are human, and sometimes they say damaging or offensive things.
Ten years ago, internet marketing was much simpler than it is now. You had a website to promote your business, and that's exactly what it did. It was basically an online brochure that told your potential customers what you would provide for them, and gave them all the contact details to reach if if they wanted to do business with you.
Just when you thought you had the hang of this SEO and social media strategy stuff, a new player walked onto the stage: the tablet. Apple's iPad started a wave of tablet use that is beginning to change how we use the internet in a very real way.
By now you already know that social media is one of the big marketing tools at your disposal. Sometimes social media experts make it sound like all you need to do is open up a Twitter account, and suddenly you'll be interacting with thousands of people and watching your content go viral. If you've been using social media and have had trouble getting any momentum going, you'll know it's not really as easy as that. There are, however, a few things you can do to start getting the ball rolling in terms of engaging your target audience and getting them interested in passing on your message.
Recently, Netflix announced that its streaming content service would be separating from its extremely popular and successful DVD rentals service, and that the company would be rebranding the DVD service under a new name: Qwikster. Although the change in this case has been so well publicized (and criticized) that it's difficult to imagine the target market not hearing about the new brand, Netflix is still going to have to deal to some extent with what smaller business owners have to take into heavy consideration when rebranding: continuity of SEO.
Okay, so you've got a Facebook page for your business, you've started a Twitter account, and you're all hooked up on YouTube. Now what? How is all this social networking going to help you get what you ultimately need - sales leads? While having a social media presence is essential for modern businesses, creating accounts is only the beginning of what you need to do. Your social media visitors need to get a sense of your brand, of what kind of company they're dealing with, and of how your product or service can enrich their lives.
The world of social media can often seem like a free-for-all. Sure, social media gives customers a venue to sing your praises, which can lead to higher sales and a stronger reputation. The danger, of course, is that unhappy customers or visitors can take it upon themselves to post negative feedback about your business in a way that could be very damaging. This is one of the major reasons to monitor your brand very closely online.
If you are working with partners, associates, or employees in your business, there's no point in trying to pretend that the use of social media won't get complicated at some point. It's one thing when someone in the organization says something unacceptable in the office and it is dealt with internally, but when someone in your company says something unacceptable on the internet, the implications are much greater. Not only does it have the potential of being seen by millions of people, but it can have long-lasting consequences. Once an ill-advised tweet or Facebook update is out there, it's out there, and even if it gets deleted, often by that time it's too late and the damage is done.
If you spend any of your free time on the internet, chances are you have a personal Facebook account, Twitter account, and maybe a few other accounts here and there. If you're also using social media for marketing your business, then you probably have separate accounts set up under your company's name, as well. Regardless of whether you're a sole proprietor or have an office full of employees, someone has to be running your social media accounts, updating and responding to activity. That someone may be you, or it may be an associate.