Tip Tuesday: Twitter impacts your customers the most

Smart phones are everywhere. Adults and children alike can't put them down, using their crackberries and iPhones for everything from playing games to scanning business docs.

Something else smart phone owners use them for is social media. More specifically, Twitter. A study done by Compete.com, a web traffic analytics service, measured how consumers are using social media, and found that 43% of Twitter users access the service through a mobile device. Also, when it comes to engaging with brands, Twitter is the medium of choice, beating out Facebook and LinkedIn.

The study also found that 56% of Twitter users who follow a brand say they are "more likely" to buy their products, and 84% of Twitter users follow brands for updates on new products. Facebook and LinkedIn are important too, of course, but with all the smart phone addicts out there tweeting their hearts out, Twitter may be the dominant source of marketing to your customers.

If this data doesn't demonstrate the importance of using Twitter to interact with your customers, I don't know what will!

Tip Tuesday: Sometimes the best blogs are the simplest blogs

Just because the Internet provides you with a seemingly endless amount of space, doesn't mean you have to cram every last inch with words. It's not a clown car people.

If you're going to write a really long blog, the content better be really, really good, or readers are going to X out of your web page faster than you can say "click."

Besides, good content can come in miniature size too. Take Seth Godin's Blog, for example. Short and sweet; Effective and powerful.

Tip Tuesday: Measuring how far your tweets reach

I know you've either asked this question, or been asked this question: How do you measure your social media efforts? Some people just don't, or say that there is no way to measure social media. I agree that it is a challenge, but it's not impossible. And with websites like tweetreach.com popping up left and right, it's becoming easier and easier everyday.

Tweetreach.com allows you to search for a user name, a URL, a phrase, or a hashtag, and this website will analyze the tweets that match your search. Before you know it you have reach and exposure data for the tweet in question. It gives you the amount of impressions, and what type of tweet it was (@reply, retweet, or regular tweet), and provides you with pretty little pie charts (example below) to display the data.

So get your tweetreach on and find out how far your tweets have gone!

Tip Tuesday: Don't forget about Direct Messages

If you are using your twitter profile to promote or market an event/product/business or what have you, I guarantee you are posting like crazy, blasting out scheduled tweets every day, maybe even every hour. Don't get me wrong, that's a good way to get details out to the world, but what if no one is actually reading them? And if they are, are the right people reading them?

One way to know for sure is to send direct messages to the people who fit your "target audience" profile. A direct message will show up in their twitter inbox and only they can read the message. It's more personal, and it garauntees that they will actually read it, whether they want to or not (unless the person completely ignores messages sent to them, which would be wierd).

This may be a little more time consuming, but probably more effective. While the twitter platform only allows you to send one direct message at a time, there are ways around it. I read how to send direct messages to multiple twitter users through an application called TweetGuru. Very simple, and it will save you time.

Tip Tuesday: How to get more interaction on your Facebook page

Everyone knows how important it is to engage your Facebook fans, while sharing valuable and entertaining information. But how exactly, do you get more comments, more likes, more interaction?

Sharing links is great, but they take people away from your page. You need to engage your fans in a way that will encourage them to not only stay on your page, but have an opinion about your post and either like it or comment on it. One way to do this is to ask questions.  But you have to ask the right kinds of questions.



I found a list of 16 different kinds of questions you can ask, from a blog by John Hayden: http://www.johnhayden.com/. Below I've listed my favorites.

1. Ask specific questions: Don't ask open-ended questions that require long answers; your fans will skip right over that post. They don't want to do homework, so make it as simple and specific as possible.

2. Ask true or false/yes or no questions: Again, if a simple answer is all that is required, your fans will more likely answer.

3. Ask poll questions:  The "Questions" feature on Facebook allows you to create a poll. This one is fun; you can see which way the poll leans as more people answer. Plus, all your fans have to do is click on their preference; no need to even type an answer.

4. Ask directly: Especially if your Facebook page is new and you don't have much activity yet, ask specific fans you know personally to make a comment on your post. If  you tell them you would like their input and think it would add value to your page, they'll probabaly be more than happy to post something.

5. Ask fun questions:  You CAN go off topic with you fans. It will remind them that you are a person too, and it will help create more of a human connection with them.

Different types of quesitons are going to work better for some companies than others. Just keep in mind who your fans are (your target audience), and what motivates them to interact with you. Also, don't forget to pay attention when people answer your questions, and make sure to acknowledge them. Comment back and keep the conversation going.

Try some of these out and let me know how they worked for you!

Tip Tuesday: A real estate tab for your facebook fan page

If you didn't already know, Facebook has a variety of apps to help enhance your fan pages. If you are in real estate, a great one to have is the Market View app. It will add a "Real Estate" tab on the left hand side of your page, under the other tabs: wall, info, photos, etc.

This real estate tab shows a market snapshot of your area, including market data pulled from Zillow.com, school info from education.com, and a walk score-how walkable an address is based on its proximity to amenities. It even allows space for your logo and company info, and, for all you Realtors our there, up to 4 of your listings!

There is a premium version of this app you can pay for, which will get you lead capture, and more reach as far as your concentration area.

Click here to see an example of what a Market View real estate tab looks like. If you'd like to add the app to your page, go to http://apps.facebook.com/marketview/ and click on Facebook Tab. It will walk you through the rest!

Facebook News Feed Optimization

You've heard of search engine optimization, but what about news feed optimization? The news feed is the first thing everyone sees when they login to Facebook. That is where people see what their friends have been doing. You may not have thought about this before, but your news feed does not contain every post from every friend.

So what determines who's activity will show up on your news feed? And how do you know your activity is showing up in your friends' feeds? Facebook actually has a formula to determine this very thing. It's called EdgeRank:

 

I found this image from a blog by Jason Kincaid, written for TechCrunch.com. He breaks down and explains this formula better than I can, so be sure to read his article too, found here.

In a nutshell, the formula considers 3 things:

1. The amount of interaction between who posted the item and who is viewing the item
2. What type of activity it is (comment, like, share)
3. Time-how long ago the item was posted.

If you are using Facebook for your business, this demonstrates the importance of engaging with your Facebook fans. The majority of people who "like" a company or business will never re-visit the company's page. So how do you get your info in front of them again, and (hopefully) get them back to your page? You MUST get seen on their news feed.

Follow the formula. Engage! Interact! Encourage your fans to comment by asking questions. Ask people to share your posts. The more interaction between you and your fans, the more likely you'll show up on their news feed.

Tip Tuesday: The Rule of Reciprocation

If you participate in social networking for your business, you probably have some sort of goal to grow and expand your network. You also probably know that simply signing up and setting up a profile is not gonna cut it. It takes time, patience, and actively connecting with strangers before your online network begins to grow.

Well here is one rule of thumb you can follow that will help to expand your network, and probably help you get to know those strangers a little better in the process. It's called reciprocation. I first read this little tip on an ActiveRain blog by Margaret Woda.

It's simple, really. When someone comments on your post/blog/tweet, etc., you comment on their comment (I'm glad you agree, thanks for the comment John Doe!), and also comment on their blog (John, interesting tips, I'll have to try those out!). Also, if someone subscribes to your blog, subscribe to theirs. This process of reciprocation becomes sort of a "mutual exchange," as Margaret called it, and can be considered returning the favor.

Not every one will follow the Rule of Reciprocation, but those who do will benefit from the back and forth sharing of info (that's the whole point, right?). This mutual exchange of online communication could lead to more in depth convos through email or phone, and could even lead to a client, either directly or indirectly.

At the end of the day, all that matters is that you are interacting with those that are interacting with you, and in a meaningful way that will build relationships.

If Facebook were a country...

If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world. The ranking would look like this:

1. China
2. India
3. Facebook
4. USA

Yep, it would beat out America. That is HUGE. That should put in perspective how many people actually use this social media site, and should indicate the importance of including it in your business marketing plan. The fact that the average Facebook user spends 55 minutes a day, or 6.5 hours a week, on the site should also clue you in.

The audience is already there, staring at the screen. All you have to do is utilize the Facebook Ads, Groups, Fan pages, etc, to position yourself in front of those who could benefit from your products and/or services. (And by utilize I mean actively engage your audience, not just set up a fan page and never look at it again).

I received these facts from a social media marketing webinar a few weeks ago, hosted by social media experts Lewis Howes and Sean Malarky. If you Google these guys, or even just "Facebook Marketing," you'll come up with tons of how-to articles and tips for using Facebook effectively for your business. Here is one to get you started: 14 Powerful Tips for Marketing on Facebook.

Morale of the story: If you're not using Facebook for your business, start right away!

Tip Tuesday: Rule of thumb for managing contacts

I read a lot of blogs every day and come across numerous tips and advice that I find pretty helpful. So I thought I'd pick my favorite ones and share them with you on Tip Tuesday!

One of my favorite real estate blogs is inman news. If you are in real estate and you don't read this blog, you need to. Yesterday, Bernice Ross wrote about social media tips to win real estate clients.

In the article, she says that most people can't manage more than 150 people in their contact list. So if your list has over and above that magic number, it may be hard to organize it into a meaningful list of who's who.

Now I'm not suggesting that you start deleting emails and phone numbers. Just go through your list and note the top 150 people who are closest to your sphere of influence. Put those people in a separate list. Label it something like, "Top 150", or "Contacts of Influence."

So how does social media come into play? Bernice suggests setting a goal of connecting with 5 of those contacts everyday, either by commenting on their blog, sending them an interesting link through twitter, or writing on their facebook wall. In one month, you will have reached you entire list of 150.

Continuously reaching out to your contact list in this way will keep you in the forefront of their mind. When they need real estate help or have a friend that does, who do you think they will think of? Probably the last agent that contacted them.

The 80% / 20% rule of social media marketing

Keep this very important rule in mind while your posting away, marketing yourself or your business:

80% of your content should be informational, educational, or entertaining
20% of your content should be specifically about your brand's products or services

There are people out there on Facebook, Twitter, etc, who literally post ONLY about their business. When you are constantly promoting yourself like that, people are just going to tune you out. Most of your content needs to provide value to your followers.

Treat social networking like a cocktail party. You don't go to parties, hand out business cards, talk about yourself then leave, do you? Reach out to people online as you would at a party. Ask questions about THEM. Send a few direct messages on Twitter. Post an interesting article you read on Facebook. Be a resource, not an advertisement.

SEO Tips for LinkedIn-boost your search rank!

A few days ago, I listened to a Social Marketing Webinar run by Lewis Howes and Sean Malarky (social media experts). He shared some VERY valuable info about LinkedIn, including how to get your name to come up higher in search results.

First of all, login to LinkedIn right now. In the search bar at the top, type in a key word for your industry (ex. real estate, sports, interior design...etc.) See if you come up in the first few pages.

Now SEO is all about key words. Go through your profile and add your key word in these 5 places:

1. name and headline (job title)
2. current work experience
3. past work experiece (if you can)
4. summary
5. specialties

Once your done, search for your keyword again, and see where you come in. My key word is real estate. One thing to notice, is that real estate (and maybe your key word) is a VERY broad search term. It may be hard to get your rank up there without being a little more specific.

For example: I added my city to my search term. Go ahead, search- real estate indianapolis. See where I come in? As of today, I see myself at the #2 spot!! If you search more specifically: real estate investors indianapolis....I am the VERY FIRST person you will see.

Try it out yourself and get exposed!