Business Blogging

B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer), Business Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media for Business, Twitter, YouTube

No Secrets – The Success of Social Media in Small Business

.There really are no secrets when it comes to the success of social media as a business tool.  The sheer convenience of being able to communicate and interact with customers is enticing a growing number of businesses to jump on the social media bandwagon.


According to the 2011 Domainz eBiz Review, 50% of businesses with an online presence were using social media, compared with just 29% in 2010.  In the next 12 months, the majority of the 725 businesses polled plan to increase their investment in website and internet tools.

But it’s not enough that your business is using social media – you need to be using it in the right way.  That’s where marketing specialist Kerry Ensor, founder of Social Media Mgr, comes in.  The impact of specialist advice on business social media strategy can be the difference between success and failure.

Some local businesses have shared their experiences on how social media has helped them.

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Is anybody out there?


For social media to be effective you need to be where your customers are, … Read More

B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer), Business Blogging, Facebook, Social Media for Business

Know Your Audience

My son, who is 9, is involved a school programme called PrEP – Primary Enterprise Programme – an in-school programme designed to teach year  4 to year 6 children about business.

 

He has been appointed ‘Deputy Advertising Manager’.  I decided to be smart and instill my wisdom upon him.  So I started to say… “now these days advertising is an ‘old’ term and when marketing your products and services you need to be thinking about the internet and social media” (I said with the tone of enthusiasm and hype!).  He smiled at me and said, “Mum, you are just saying that because you are the Soc-al Media Manager but we are just selling to the school kids – the internet is no use to us!”.  Slightly taken aback, I then realised: wow he has grasped the number 1 rule of marketing! – Know Your Audience!  Smart boy!

 

Many people truly get caught up in the hype, or conversely, think only of how they would like to be communicated with, instead of considering their target audience.

 

This is never more true than with marketing your products and services in today’s world.  No longer are we just focused on what television programme or magazine does our target market tune into – we are now surrounded by more and more communication options and some of them are so affordable that it is a marketers dream.  Inbound marketing using blogs, social media, direct marketing and SEO, is now proven to generate more leads at a lower cost than traditional outbound advertising.

It is tempting to set up a profile on Twitter or Facebook or flick out emails to your database and start broadcasting our advertisements to this audience.  Some industries (eg. beauty industry, real estate) are so entrenched in this form of communication – one-way – that they continue to market this way in the social networks, forgetting that Social Media Marketing means being social and engaging with people.   Relationships first, Selling second.

 

Being in love with what you do can sometimes be a handicap and some people feel that they are being dragged into a dream that is not their own.  Some follow theories without understanding the reality of business and life.

Don’t get caught in the hype – stay focused on what is Real and Relevant.  Here are some key points to remember:

… Read More

About Us, B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer), Business Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media for Business, Twitter

The BLOG – the HUB of Social Media


The Blog is the Hub of a businesses’ communication and social media activity.

It is the space that you own (as opposed to 3rd party sites like Facebook) and that you can use to discuss anything related to your industry or of interest to your audience.    In essence it is an online community.

“Blog” is still a relatively new concept in the business world of NZ.  In fact 46% of major websites in NZ do not have a Blog on their website, despite the majority of them using them Facebook and Twitter as a marketing tool[1].

Where social media platforms can drive traffic to your website, the blog and its contents will keep them there and keep them coming back for more.

By building a Blog into your marketing strategy you will benefit from:

  1. Search engines like Google like fresh content and will reward your site with a high search ranking (especially if you use your keywords and post tags correctly)
  2. You can publish your own Content, when you wish and as you wish
  3. Your content is archived and always there (unlike a published article in print)
  4. The reader can interact directly with you by leaving comments and sharing the article on their networks
  5. Visitors can subscribe to your blog – and you will own that database… Read More

B2C (Business to Consumer), Business Blogging, Facebook

Facebook Marketing – Give your Customers More

I notice that many companies use Facebook regularly and are saying all the right things – “engaging” their customers with personable comments, providing them with information about what’s happening (“Come on in We’re Open”) – but this sort of marketing message doesn’t quite “cut it” anymore in today’s information overload/cluttered marketplace.

Here’s where they are missing out – they are treating Facebook as a standalone marketing communication channel.   They are treating this social media channel as marketing only and missing the bigger picture…

Sound familiar? then consider this:

Integrate and Link

You have the opportunity to integrate your social media channels into your business by providing a link back to your website (or better still, your Blog) to entice the reader to click through, visit your website and maybe even “share” that content with their friends.

Provide additional helpful information

Once your reader arrives at your website, you provide them with more… interesting and helpful content.

Engage your Customer and Sell

The result of this is extra traffic to your website, but even more than that, an interactive visit, thereby engaging your customer and adding value.  Ultimately this leads to trust and that potential customer is on track to become a true customer

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MARKETING MESSAGES and lost opportunities

Outlined below are some common Facebook posts, the consumer behaviour that can incur, leading to a lost opportunity to drive traffic to your OWN website, remembering that you do not “own” or control the Facebook platform (case in point AirNZ’s recent hiccups with a Facebook-only promotion) :… Read More

B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer), Business Blogging, Resources, Social Media for Business

Interacting and Engaging with Customers Online: Benchmark Report & Practical Tips

The Rules of Engagement: NZ Website Study Finds Plenty of Room for Improvement

46% of major websites in NZ do not have a Blog on their website, despite the majority of them using them Facebook and Twitter as a marketing tool.

Only 42% of major companies allowed other people to share content with only 12% allowing interaction in the form of rating or tagging content.

Yesterday I had just finished a phone call with a colleague discussing the differences of the NZ pysche compared to the US with regards to active online engagement, when this report: The Engaged Web in New Zealand landed on my desk (or rather in my email inbox).  What great timing and an opportunity to put pen-to-paper (or rather finger to keyboard) and update my own blog!

This report studied 50 most popular/highly trafficked NZ websites (nb. these are large-sized businesses) across a range of industry sectors to see how kiwi businesses engaged and interacted with their customers online.  The findings are interesting.  Conclusions are, unsurprisingly – “plenty of room for improvement”…. Read More