8 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know

Posted on | February 8, 2010 | No Comments

Posted by Nich O’Neill July 23^rd, 2009

You are the owner of a local small business and you are trying to figure out the best steps to get on to Facebook to drive new customers. It can be a daunting task and with little extra time in the day, how can you be expected to spend time emarketing your business on Facebook?

1. Go slow. It takes a little time to build up the residual returns, but if you stick with it, the pay off can be substantial. Many people hear that Facebook is a great way to promote their business but after trying it out for a few days or even a couple weeks, they don’t see a significant upturn in their sales. The difference between Facebook and more traditional promotional channels is that the small business owners need to invest a little bit of their time.

2. Contact your fans directly. The extra effort put toward social media marketing can go a long way and can even provide a rewarding experience as customers begin to provide feedback and communicate directly with you. When you first start growing, it’s a good idea to interact with each new fan on an individual basis. Send users a message after they’ve become a fan of your Facebook page. Build a relationship with each fan and they’ll become a fan and customer forever.

3. Facebook is contagious. Once you build a connection there’s a good chance the user will tell their friends. The main point here is that each new fan can be considered a new lead for a small business. Selling on Facebook though is subtle and should not be done in an overly aggressive way. Just become someone became a fan does not mean you should send them a message saying “Buy my stuff today!!!” Instead, reach out to each new fan individually to welcome them to your Facebook Page and begin a dialogue. Many times these initial conversations will lead to lasting business relationships.

4. Engage your fans. Keeping your fans engaged is an important component of any good Facebook strategy. How much time does it really take to come up with a clever status update? If you’re like me then catchy ideas occasionally pop into your head (or at least ones that you think are clever) when you are on the go. If you’ve properly configured your Facebook Page to work with your mobile device, you can instantly update your Page’s status while on the go. It takes very little extra effort to bring a smile to your fans and it’s something that they’ll remember.

5. Don’t spam, spamming your users with too many links gets old fast.

6.  Consider making your Facebook page an educational experience. Rather than looking for an instantaneous return, look at it as a long-term educational experience. As you improve your strategy, you’ll attract more loyal fans.

7.  Use coupons and other incentives. In addition to engaging users on Facebook, you want to get them making purchases. There are lots of creative incentives to drive people back to your page and to your business, test different marketing strategies and see which works best for your company.

8.  Emphasize mobile subscriptions. One of the best components of Facebook Pages is the ability to receive updates via your mobile device. Once updates come to your phone you can also reply to the updates making it possible for instant two-way communication. Facebook is a relationship marketing platform, not a direct sales channel. That’s why it’s important to take the time to build your relationships with others through Facebook.

Every small business can take advantage of the social media marketing opportunities that Facebook presents. If you would like to learn more about ways that your small business can benefit from Facebook and social media in general, fill out your information in the form below. We promise to not spam you and take your privacy seriously so we won’t give your email to anybody.If you would like to learn more about ways that your small business can benefit from Facebook and social media marketing in general, fill out your information in the form below. We promise to not spam you and take your privacy seriously so we won’t give your email to anybody.

SOS eMarketing
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David Schwartz
760.345.5069
eMail SOS eMarketing: http://bit.ly/udEP
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e-Marketing to 56 Million Women on Facebook

Posted on | February 7, 2010 | No Comments

Brette Borow is the President and Founder of Girls Guide To,  the “ladies only” guide to life, spends most of her days engaging with the community’s over 140,000 members.  There are over 56 million women using Facebook in the United States and for social media marketering it means if you have a brand, product or company that targets women, Facebook is the place to be.

Unfortunately, unless you’re a brand that every woman knows or loves, then just being on Facebook is not enough. Facebook has done a great job of giving eMarketers a powerful tool with its Pages product, but like most things in life, it comes down to execution. Quality counts whether it’s a Fortune 500 company or a friend launching an online jewelry site, is to remember that women are bombarded by marketing messages all day, every day. On the surface, Facebook is no different than the “real world”, constantly being pitched to and spammed is annoying. On Facebook, quality rises to the top more often than not.

Not only do women like to be heard, they also like to know they’re actually being listened to. If a fan posts a question on your page, answer it. If she compliments your brand, thank her. And if she complains about it, address information is passing by at lightning speed.  Facebook users do not want to see the same message posted multiple times in their feed. So if you’re promoting something through your Fan Page be sure to reword it and provide additional value before you post it a second time.

You need to remember that women tend to be the primary purchasers in their households, and that they tend to ask friends for advice about brands and products. Women are more than happy to share a good deal when they find one.

 The Limited was one of the first brands to really grasp that Facebook represents a huge opportunity to reach their women. They have started to embed actual retail offers into their news feed. But unlike other brands, they do not drive their traffic off of Facebook. Instead, their feed stories open up into widgets on Facebook that can handle the entire transaction right there. This clever use of technology is a prime example of ways that brands need to think outside of the box to reach their “social shoppers”. Keep your offers and processes clear and honest and always respond to feedback.

There are social media marketing tools:

1. Social Network Marketing Twitter and Facebook posts increase your rank on Google and, if used correctly, create a stream of referral leads
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Increased keyword tags and content influences rankings on Google
3. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) Google Ad words programs help your Google rankings and increase qualified sales traffic
4. Business Influence Marketing LinkedIn group’s postings are seen on Google and refer business customers to your site
5. Blog Sharing Prolog, Digg, Delicious, Stumbleupon, Technorati, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube are all effective referral sites and help rankings on Google as well as refer traffic to your site.
6. Landing Page Optimization Step up eCommerce sales conversions

For more information on social media marketing programs for small business contact SOS eMarketing.

David Schwartz
SOS eMarketing
Click to contact SOS eMarketing
760.345.5069
eMail sosemarketing@gmail.com

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Step up e-Commerce sales conversions with an optimized landing page

Posted on | February 2, 2010 | No Comments

By Peter A. Prestipino: http://bit.ly/aTDa2S 
From Website Magazine: http://bit.ly/nI2tB

25 Point Landing Page Optimization Review
There are hundreds of variables on landing pages that can be tested and used to influence visitor conversion. With pay per click prices rising and search engine optimization competition increasing daily, developing a compelling landing page is perhaps the most important way to keep costs low and the return on your advertising spend at levels that will keep you in the black.

Many marketers are taking aim at this initial user experience and testing elements that are widely seen as the most influential aspects of successful landing pages – here is a list of 25 such elements that should be taking into consideration with any landing page review.

 1.  Is there a visible call to action; what specific action do you ultimately want the visitor to take? Are there any barriers, such as a secondary call to action, which prevent this? Read more

95% Of Retail Products Not On Store Shelves

Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 2 Comments

More than 95% of all U.S. products can not be found in local stores. Don’t blame retailers if they don’t stock all your products. Their shelves can only hold so much inventory. The manufacturers of top brands would like nothing more than to be available to anyone, anywhere at any time, where retail shelf space is concerned, it’s just not possible.

New products regularly move other products off the shelf. Even if retailers have carried all your best products in the past, they could be bumped at any time to make room for something new. Consequently, day after day millions of consumers leave their local stores disappointed, faced with the choice between substituting with another brand, searching store after store or calling on the manufacturer to point them in the direction of the nearest retailer carrying their product. More and more consumers are shopping online to find their favorite products. Read more

Social Media Marketing: How Pepsi Got It Right On Facebook And Twitter

Posted on | January 31, 2010 | 7 Comments

By Leah Betancourt

Social media marketing campaigns are proving to be goldmines rich with customer engagement and insight that companies wouldn’t likely have otherwise. Companies like PepsiCo are going to extensive lengths to foster this type of collaboration with fans, and the payoff has been big.

Using social networking on Facebook and Twitter as well as other social network sties, Pepsi’s Mountain Dew division is several stages into its campaign to launch a new Mountain Dew flavor with the public’s involvement at all levels of the process. PepsiCo also just launched the Pepsi Refresh Project on January 13th. Rather than spending money on Super Bowl television ads this year, the company is spending $20 million dollars on a social media campaign.

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Spreading the word, You can’t influence all the people all the time, but you can try.

Posted on | January 29, 2010 | 1 Comment

Fans, Friends or Followers?

From Seth Godin, the father of “Permission Marketing” breaks it down into 4 groups.

http://bit.ly/cN1hKD

The work you do when you spread the word or run an ad or invent a policy is likely aimed at one of these four groups.

 

 
1. Strangers are customers to be, but not yet.

2. Critics are those that would speak ill of you, or need to be converted.

3. Friends are those that might have given permission or even buy now and then.

4. Fans are members of your tribe, supporters and insiders.

You already know the truth: You can’t please all these groups at once. And you also probably realize that each of us with an idea to spread has a knee jerk default, the one we lean to without thinking. Many marketers are evangelical, focused on strangers at all costs… they’d rather convert a new customer than revisit an old one. A cubicle worker, on the other hand, might focus on no one but the boss, at the expense of broadening her platform.

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For Luxury Products Marketers, You Might Be Surprised To Learn Who’s Using The Internet And For What

Posted on | January 28, 2010 | 2 Comments

Who is using the Internet and for what?
Too often executives make assumptions or have an out-of-date perspective of today’s Internet usage.  The Internet is a very active marketplace, even for people in their 50’s and 60’s.

Article by Gordon O’Neill
President and Chief Executive Officer
O’Neill Communications
http://oneillcommunications.com/2010/01/who-is-using-the-internet-and-for-what/

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Engage Your Facebook Fan Page Fans

Posted on | January 27, 2010 | No Comments

By Mari Smith
Published January 26, 2010 http://bit.ly/7hxSmq

A compelling, active Facebook fan page should be an integral part of your marketing plan.  With it’s 350 million users and average daily session time of 25 minutes, Facebook provides an exceptional opportunity for visibility, Google indexing, live search ability and fan engagement, whether you’re an individual or a corporation or somewhere in between.

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More People Getting On Board Social Network Sites Than Ever Before

Posted on | January 24, 2010 | 1 Comment

From Nielsen.com
January 22, 2010
Source: The Nielsen Company

Led by Facebook And Twitter, time spent globally on social media sites up 82% over last year. According to The Nielsen Company, global consumers spent more than five and half hours on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in December 2009, an 82% increase from the same time last year when users were spending just over three hours on social networking sites. In addition, the overall traffic to social networking sites has grown over the last three years.

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How’s It Going With Your Social Network Marketing?

Posted on | January 24, 2010 | No Comments

Request a free 5 Point Social Network Marketing Analysis
Report from SOS eMarketing

 

 

Are your fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter coming to your website?

Make sure you are getting a return on investment for all the effort it takes to run a social network marketing program.

SOS eMarketing is offering a customized, 5 Point Social Network Marketing Analysis Report to small businesses. We will cover the following:

1. Measuring Your Fan and Follower Base – Quality vs. quantity and are they appropriate for your business?

2. Customer Relationship Management – Are you engaging and managing the interests of your fans and followers?

3. Referral Traffic – How much customer referral traffic should you be getting on your website?

4. Sales Viability – Is your current program viable enough to produce enough inquiries and converting enough sales to justify its cost?

5. Blogging and Social Bookmarking – What is your presence in social media bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon and Digg and do you have a viable blogging program to generate unique content?

 
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SOS eMarketing is an integrated eMarketing firm. We use a mix of strategic eMarketing tools and traditional marketing strategies to increase qualified website traffic and brand awareness.

We develop customized marketing and promotional strategies that integrate Business Blogsites, Business Influence Marketing, Social Influence Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Email Marketing, Pay-Per-Click Advertising, Integrated Cross Media Sales Promotions, Branding and Integrated Marketing Communications.

Our industry expertise includes Specialty Coffee and Food, Security Technology, Industrial Manufacturing B2B and Consumer Products.

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Our Blogs

• 8 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know
• e-Marketing to 56 Million Women on Facebook
• Step up e-Commerce sales conversions with an optimized landing page
• 95% Of Retail Products Not On Store Shelves
• Social Media Marketing: How Pepsi Got It Right On Facebook And Twitter
• Spreading the word, You can’t influence all the people all the time, but you can try.
• For Luxury Products Marketers, You Might Be Surprised To Learn Who’s Using The Internet And For What
• Engage Your Facebook Fan Page Fans
• More People Getting On Board Social Network Sites Than Ever Before
• How’s It Going With Your Social Network Marketing?

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