Your Social Media Real Estate: And Why Your Competition Wants It

3May

Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

Over the years, we have had many potential clients come to us in a flurry of panic over what was being said about them and/or their company online. People were bashing their service, putting down their products, plagiarizing their content and even discrediting their CEO.

All of these clients were anxious for a quick fix to a situation that had spun way out of their control. In PR this is what they would call “Damage Control”, but in the social media marketing world this is what I would call “Reactive Marketing”.

But how can a brand make sure that they are not being bad-mouthed online?

If you are not even Googling your company name or your CEO every so often – we really need to talk. Every time you do something, offline or online, there is a reaction from your audience. It can be positive, negative or indifferent. But whatever that reaction is, you need to make sure that you can find as much out about it as possible – not only to protect yourself from bad word, but to also analyze the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and messaging.

First off, if you are not on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter yet – you really need to get on the bus folks. People are already having conversations every day about you, your brand, your competitors, or related subjects. Why wouldn’t you want to see this? Wouldn’t it make you more effective if you knew exactly what your target market was thinking?

Also, if you have not claimed a Facebook Page, Twitter Account or LinkedIn Company Page for your business, you are leaving yourself open to a world of woe. For example, we had someone come to us who had a horrible situation on Facebook. They had not created a Facebook page, but a group of disgruntled ex-employees had on their behalf. They were touting it as the “official” page, but were posting only horrible, terrible, frankly shocking content about the establishment. Working directly with Facebook (which are not the quickest movers on urgent topics like this) it took us nearly two months to get the situation sorted out.

That is two months worth of reactive marketing on Facebook in order to get this silenced.

We’ve had businesses come to us saying that someone has already claimed their Twitter account name. “Who would want to use my brand name in their Twitter account”? The answer – your competition. And guess what. When they took that name, you can’t have it, effectively losing your brand name on Twitter.

The point here is that if you are not monitoring yourself online and on social media sites, you are opening yourself up for a world of hurt. I’m not saying if you are not jumping into social media marketing head-first you are going the way of the dinosaur. Social media marketing is a wonderful growing asset to any marketing department, but you need to be fully informed before jumping in. I’m saying that you need to get in there and secure the real estate before your competition does.

While it only takes a few minutes to create an account on Facebook, it can take 2 months or longer to try to reclaim your business’s identity when it is stolen. Something to think about.

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Facebook Branding: What You Need to Know to Get Started

By Christopher Tompkins

3May

Facebook, Social Media, Uncategorized

When marketing your business online, branding is one of the key factors that you need to keep in the forefront of your mind. Keeping a consistent brand across all of your marketing collateral can help build not only a stronger overall brand, but also a synergistic marketing machine.

So why is it when you throw Facebook into the mix does branding continuity begin to suffer?

Let’s think about your marketing materials: your website, your brochures, your business card, your promotional sheets, your landing pages. When you were formulating your messages and branding, I’m sure that you took into consideration how it would flow through every aspect of your marketing. You want your logo to be consistent, your brand colors to be consistent, your message consistent, your contact information consistent.

And why did you do this? So that when you begin marketing your brand, it is easily recognizable, has impact, has credibility and easily conveys the message of your business.

The hard fact is that if your business has a Facebook Page – this is now officially another part of your marketing collateral. Which in turn means that it is another branding opportunity and one that you need to make sure that you can brand effectively.

How do you do this?

First, don’t over-complicate the task. Here is the simple way of auditing your Facebook presence for branding.

Open your website in one window and in a separate window, open your Facebook Page. Now look at the two: notice what is different in terms of the branding, imagery and message.

In particular, look at the following (as these are the main areas where I see many companies miss the mark):

Cover image: Do you have one? Does it have the same branding message, imagery, colors, etc as your website?
Logo: Is your logo pixellated? Is it the same logo design as seen on your website? Is it too small to be read or too large to be fully seen?
About Page: Does it have the following sections filled in: about, mission, company overview, general information and your contact info (including website)?

When dealing with your visual brand on Facebook, the above three items are what visitors to your page will see FIRST. So if any of them is not consistent with your overall brand, visitors may feel confused or think that you are not looking at the official page for the company….and more.

Take a minute and audit your Facebook Page against your website and overall branding. Make sure that your visual and written message is consistent. This will create another fully functional branding hub for you to pour content into.

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Keywords: The Forgotten Piece of the Content Marketing Puzzle

By Christopher Tompkins

25Apr

Uncategorized

If you are interested in marketing your business online, I’m sure that you have seen the surge in articles heralding the importance of generating original content in addition to having a solid content marketing strategy in place.

Having consistently updated content published on your site is crucial to getting more traffic from social media sites and search engines while creating a power of influence over your visitors.

I’m sure that this is where you might think we would start talking about how to write blogs and market them. This is not the case.

What I want to talk about here is what you need to do BEFORE you put pen to paper (do people still do that?) and begin formulating your first blog.

Keywords.

With all of the fervor over the power of content marketing, one aspect that I don’t think is stressed enough is the use of keywords when writing your content. Keywords are how people will be able to find you, your business, your services and your products online when searching for you – plain and simple.

Keywords also help you target the RIGHT market that you want to attract to your business.

Above and beyond this, keywords can make your website a powerhouse in Google (as they play a crucial role in SEO) and when used throughout your marketing materials (offline and online) can create a continuity with your overall strategy.

I have a two step process for keywords – in order to keep it simple and to get you to begin to formulate your first list.

First, write down who your target consumer is. Then write down what your key product/service offering is. Now you will have a good idea of who will be searching and what they will be searching for.

Second you want to formulate your list of keywords. A quick way to see what keywords you are currently using is to use a tool such as Wordle (http://www.wordle.net). This will provide a good baseline to grow from.

Then think above and beyond what you think “keyword” means and think more about how your target market would search for you on search engines like Google. Come up with a list of keywords (such as “elders” or “seniors”), or keyword phrases (which are short phrases like “assisted living facilities florida” or “senior memory development”) that you think your target market would use to try to find you online.

Need some help? Use the Google Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&__u=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS ). This will help you come up with some good ideas that are a bit more out of the box. Also, it will help you with coming up with more competitive keywords and keyword phrases that have high search-ability, but low competition with others in your market.

The point here is to come up with a solid keyword list that you can begin to use when formulating and executing your content strategy. The more relevant keywords that you pack into your blogs or updates, the more chances that you have in not only showing up in Google searches, but also social media searches for your topic.

Even better? This can constantly evolve with your business. I would suggest taking a look at your keyword list every month to see if it needs tweaked. A great tool to see how your keywords are working for your website (and social media) is Google Analytics. If you are currently not using this wonderful tool to monitor your website, I would suggest that you install it now. It is free and helps you see where your traffic is coming from and what potential customers are using to find you.

While the above task can be taxing, in the end it will truly help your content strategy get off and running with a bang!

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Your Social Media Prescription

By Dale Griffen

25Feb

Healthcare Marketing, Uncategorized

Recently, I was honored to be asked to write an article about social media marketing for Doctor’s Life Magazine. You can learn more about Doctor’s Life Magazine by clicking here.

Also – you can view article as it appears in the magazine by clicking here!

As I thought the information in the article could be useful to you, I am sharing the article below. If, after reading, there is anything that I can help you with – contact me directly: dale@gosalesandmarketing.com or toll free: 866-926-2636.

I hope you enjoy!

———————–

Sometimes our patients put off (or are afraid of) a visit to the doctor or dentist’s office. They know they should do it, but they procrastinate for one reason or another. Are you doing the same by putting off your ‘appointment’ with social media?

If you think it’s a passing fad, or may not be relevant to the healthcare field – think again. Here’s a test – think of the top 5 influencers or hospitals out there in your field. Now type in a search for “(Their Name) on Facebook (or Twitter)”. I bet you find almost all of them there, AND I bet that they have a decent following, as well as daily activity on their account. Let’s take that a step further – go and search for your competition on Facebook and see what they’re up to – you may be surprised.
But….how can you market yourself and your practice on social media? How can it help your business? How much time do you need to devote to it? Is your client base on social media?

If you would like answers to these questions, read on!

Channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and even Pinterest can have exponential benefits for your practice, give you the ability to educate your peers and patients, gain trust and approachability, and be positioned as a thought leader in your field.

Social media is a 24/7, worldwide, online, professional cocktail party. To effectively “work the room”, you need to show up to the party with a goal: perhaps of meeting potential referral sources, patients, or other revenue streams. Then proactively introduce yourself to lots of targeted people. You need to approach them with a sincere interest in them, asking them questions – not approaching them with a ‘pitch’ about yourself (because people like to hear about themselves first!)…then keep them engaged, make them laugh, give them something to remember you by. After the party you need to follow up and continue the conversation after the party.
Social media is very much the same – to be effective, you need to know what your goals are. Develop a list keywords and phrases that your potential referral source or patient would type into a search to find you. Then go out and ‘Like’, connect, and follow individuals, companies, or groups that you feel would be of benefit to you (or lead you to a potential client).

Next, start the conversation. Depending on the platform(s) you decide to use – ‘Like’ their page, comment on a post, or feature they have that you truly like. Talk about what they do first. Share a post of theirs on your social media channels, if you feel it would be of benefit to your followers. Be sure to thank or return the favor to anyone that does the same for you. And remember, just like a cocktail party, it doesn’t all have to be business…a cute picture on a Friday, an invitation to an event you may be hosting, or even talk about a community event if you’re posting locally.

It’s SOCIAL Media – so be SOCIAL! Your goal is to continue the conversation offline in order to get them to remember you and your services when they, or anyone they know, may need them.

Use your social media channels to their full extent. Use any applications that may help your use of these platforms easier. For example, link your Twitter account to your LinkedIn account so that what you post on one, it will automatically post on the other. Be sure to join the max of 50 groups on LinkedIn and post discussions in each group. If a LinkedIn group isn’t very prolific, leave it and join another, until you get to that “perfect” 50. Follow the people that you respect in your industry on Twitter, follow your ‘competition’ to see what they’re up to – stay ahead of the curve, and dominate your digital presence and recognized as a thought leader in your industry!

Now, where do you start? If you don’t have an account with these social media channels – visit their site and sign up. Claim your name before someone else does. Then optimize your profile – fill it out completely. Next, set up a schedule to do your online marketing consistently. Consistency is the most important action you could do with social media marketing!

In terms of the time it takes you (or your staff) to do the marketing, start with a goal of an twenty minutes a day. Maybe start with Facebook, as people are generally comfortable with how this platform works. It’s best to create a business page on Facebook, rather than use your personal page so that you’ll be able to operate it completely separate from that personal page. Then start getting connected! Post content that is educational, entertaining, and engaging. Ask for ‘Likes’, ask people to share the content you post.

What is content? Social media is PR – plain and simple. It’s not sales. Think of it as you would a billboard, but a billboard with muscle! It’s recommended to have less than 10 words on a billboard, and people spend about 3 seconds whizzing by it on their commute to work, before they start to ignore it (and that’s if they even notice it to begin with). Those with Facebook accounts, on average, spend nearly 8 hours per month on the site, much more than they spend looking at a billboard. Some other key differences are that the messages you post can be changed several times per day, have as many words as necessary, include images, links, your hours and directions to your office. Also, the messages are portable. So if a reader sees something they think would be valuable to someone across the country (or the world) they can share it with the push of a button! You can also get a pulse of what people want to hear about by listening and observing your competition, your peers, and respected industry leaders, and also by asking!

“But my client demographic isn’t on social media”. Wrong! It’s not just Generation X, Y, and Z that use social media! The largest growing users of social media are the 55+ group – the Baby Boomers and many of them are using it for their parents (incidentally called the Silent Generation) to find out more about everything from healthcare to what their peers think…and you know that people like to talk! Social media allows them to praise you, or show you where you may need improvement.

“What if someone says something nasty?” Not to worry, you being active on social media won’t increase any negativity, they’re going to say it anyway. But by being present on social media you’ll be able to see any negativity and address it. Having a presence allows you to spin it to your advantage, rather than just leaving it out there to fester. Also, don’t forget your privacy settings! You have the ability to approve posts before they go live on many of the channels.

Afraid of patient privacy, HIPAA, and other regulatory issues? With a simple disclaimer and common sense approach to your social media policy you’re covered! The Mayo clinic has a simple 12 word social media policy: “Don’t Lie, Don’t Pry, Don’t Cheat, Can’t Delete, Don’t Steal, Don’t Reveal”.

“I don’t have time to do this!” That’s where a social media marketing firm may be of assistance. Spending the time doing it yourself does take you away from what you do best. Having an entry level person do it can be tricky, as it IS your reputation they’re handling. Dedicating a higher level person or marketing manager may take them away from other marketing, and sales opportunities. Although social media works in conjunction with your operations and marketing team, having them do the day-to-day activities may be more costly than outsourcing it.

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The Importance of the Facebook “LIKE”

By Dale Griffen

20Feb

Facebook, Uncategorized

When it comes to the wonderful world of the Facebook “LIKE” there are two big differences. You can either click the ‘like’ button on a businesses or person’s page vs. clicking the ‘like’ button below a post, event, or photo. Here’s why both of these are important and have value to the page in question.

Clicking the LIKE button on the upper right-hand side of a Business Page serves two purposes. For a business, this is very important information to them, as it allows them to show the number of followers that they’ve gained utilizing social media, thereby tracking their Social Media ROI (Rate Of Influence). Secondly, although with Facebook’s new algorithm it’s not a guarantee, it most likely will boost the chance that you’ll get updates, event notifications, and a deeper connection with that person or company.

When you ‘like’ a comment or post, you are acknowledging that you saw, read, empathize, or agree with what someone posted. Doing so makes the poster feel good, knowing that their comment has impacted someone, and it lets that person know that you are interested. People and businesses that pay attention will then post more information based on what people ‘like’ or comment on. It’s all about engagement here.

The other two things you can do to help are to ‘comment’ and/or ‘share’ their Page or Posts with your followers. As ‘likes’ aren’t always shown in your news feed – shares and comments are. This is the Social part of Social Media. If you know someone that might like, benefit, or be able to help the person or business you’re following – click those little buttons! You can also share privately. Don’t be a social media ‘lurker’ – let people know what you think! (But make sure to be courteous!)

While we are talking about “likes” another topic to throw out there is two surefire ways to make sure that you see all of the posts from the pages that you HAVE liked in the past.

The first is clicking the “get notifications” button. To get ‘notifications’ (where the little globe at the top right of your page lets you know the number of new notifications to your Facebook account) make sure you ‘like’ the person or page – then hover over the name, then the ‘liked’ or ‘friends’ button and click ‘get notifications’.

The second way to keep abreast with your liked pages is to create an interest page – go to the ‘Add Interests’ button at the very bottom of the left column of your home page (you may have to click the ‘more’ button). Click ‘create list’.

Either click people, businesses, or categories you want on that list (or enter them in the search bar) and click next – then name your list, select a privacy setting, and then ‘done’. So that your list isn’t living at the bottom of the page – hover next to the named list, and click the pencil – then click ‘favorites’. Your list is now up at the top of your home page under your picture.

P.S. – Although this article is about ‘the power of ‘like’ you do not have to ‘like’ a person or page to subscribe to them in a list.

You can share your lists with your followers by going to the list, click ‘home’ > ‘interests’ > ‘more’ > , then ‘share’ up top.

And finally – on your own page or profile, don’t be afraid to ask people to share, comment, and/or ‘like’ your posts. Sometimes we all need a reminder!

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Are You Tired of Trying to Figure Out What a Blog Tour Is? If So…You’ll Love This

By Dale Griffen

11Jan

Uncategorized

In the online marketing arena, my peers and I tend to get sucked into using lingo that can sometimes be a bit too “exclusive”. Much like other industries where the terminology can not only be off-putting, but can cut you right out of the conversation, the online community can be a bit tricky sometimes to navigate.

For me, I really hate it. I think there is nothing worse than reading an article with the goal of getting actionable tips….and then finding yourself Googling ten of the terms in the article in order to make sense of it? Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been guilty of this in the past as well. That’s why I try to be as clear and to the point as possible. Our time is precious, so let’s just get to it, right?

This brings me to “Blog Tours”. I’ve seen this broadcasted far and wide, but never really saw an explanation that I thought hit the nail on the head.

Basically, toss the “cool” terminology out the window and think of this as a “blog comment” strategy. I’m sure you have gone onto a blog (or even a website) and read an article that at the end allows you to put in your comments. A simple idea, but it packs a punch!

Commenting on blogs is a wonderful way to build more links to your online point of sale, or your company website. In terms of SEO (search engine optimization) – it is definitely a golden child.

But how do you do this? Here’s my BLANK rules of blog commenting:

If you are using blog commenting for SEO purposes, before you even take time to read the article, scroll to the bottom of the page to make sure that there is a place for you to key in your website when you comment. If this is not here….there is no way to link you (unless you register to the blog or community which can be time consuming).
If you have to comment via Facebook, it will not pack the SEO punch that you are looking for. Again, having a spot to key in your website is the best option.
Once you’ve decided to comment on a post, first read the full article to see that it’s message is in line with your brand. You can disagree, but make sure that your comment is not vulgar in any way.
Think of the next three ideas as a “compliment sandwich”. Begin your comment by agreeing with a few points made in the author’s article.
The second part of your comment (the ‘meat’ of your activity here) should be you sharing your expertise. If you agree with the whole article, maybe share a quick story of something that has happened to you in this arena.
Round off your comment with a note of thanks for the article or something similar. You don’t want to sound too canned, so make sure to make it personal.
Then after you post your comment (or sometimes before) there is a button you can push to have all future comments sent to you via email. Click this, as you want to see how people react to your comment as well as have the opportunity to jump back in if needed.

It’s that simple. I suggest to help you FIND these blogs (which is the most time consuming effort), use a site like StumbleUpon, Zite, Scoop.it, Trap.it, AOL Editions, or even Google Currents to find random blogs within your company’s niche category. This site is easy to use and very straightforward. You can also you sites such as Alltop or even a simple Google search for keywords.

My final piece of advice is to make sure you do this on a consistent basis. If you comment on one blog a month, the SEO impact will be non-existent. I say shoot for two comments a day and keep up with it. After a week you will get in the groove and it will become second nature. Also there is a wonderful side-effect that I’ve found in searching around the web – you might learn something new!

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Healthcare Social Media Marketing: 5 Reasons Not To Wait Any Longer

By Dale Griffen

9Jan

Healthcare Marketing, Uncategorized

It’s exciting to see more and more healthcare organizations buzzing about social media marketing over the past year. Social media marketing is such a wonderful way to connect with members of your target market (including your customers, referral sources, patients, and their families and caregivers) I’m happy to see healthcare organizations are beginning to adapt their marketing plans to include a social strategy that extends beyond the traditional ‘face to face’ and old school collateral brochures.

As we at The Go! Agency handle many healthcare clients, the trend that we have seen when speaking with these various organizations is that many are struggling to get things off of the ground. Whether it be red-tape such as writing social media policy and procedure clauses, dealing with HIPAA guidelines or just superiors who are reluctant to invest time and money in this ‘new med‘ – push back has been a common problem.

While time will force these problems to vanish, there are quite a lot of advantages to being an early adopter as a healthcare organization. After extensive research, we have found many healthcare companies fall flat when it comes to their use (or misuse) of social media.

Here are a few of the reasons why healthcare organizations shouldn’t wait any longer when it comes to executing a social media marketing campaign:

1. Facebook is not just for Starbucks. With its millions of active users (and I stress the word “active”), Facebook has a sea of people that you can engage with from your healthcare organization. These people are consuming information in every category, not just the mega-brands. Everyone has their space on Facebook. Even better, with Facebook Pages you can categorize your organization fully, and configure locations and other valuable information for your target audience. Whether your business is local, national or international, Facebook has the ability to create real connections, support customer/patient communications and will help you let your audience know about any events, or exclusive information with just a few clicks.

2. Your audience (and competition) is on Twitter. The healthcare and medical community is not only on Twitter…they are active! Doctors, medical companies, hospitals and many more are offering updates, event news, guidelines and much more on a daily basis. Yet another massive and active community, Twitter is a hot spot for sharing information and you need to be in the mix!

3. There is a LinkedIn Group to fit your needs….or 50! Just adding your hospital or company to LinkedIn is wonderful and important step…but what if you could also add an additional audience of 50,000 to 1 million+? With LinkedIn Groups you can engage with potential customers/patients based on subject and location and get in front of them on a daily basis. Now that is coverage!

4. YouTube is the portal for promotion. Using video as a promotional tool is a must in the healthcare industry. Having the ability to illustrate what your company is capable of in addition to the skill of your team or products is imperative. Now imagine having the ability to place this video on the second largest search engine out there: YouTube. Fully branded and packed with information, this vehicle does nothing but build your profile, credibility and positive sentiment.

5. Act now or be left behind. As there are many organizations that are understaffed or unable to give the appropriate time to either do the social media or even pitch the idea of a campaign to the CEO….the organizations are simply trickling in. But this speed will begin to increase at a faster and faster rate. By being an early adopter, you can gain more market advantage and make a splash as one of the first organizations in your area to have a wonderful Facebook Page, an active Twitter account, a linked in LinkedIn account and a sharp and slick YouTube page.

I like ending with number 5 as there are many healthcare marketers out there that have received a lot of push back on social media from their organizations. But for every one, there are numerous others who are getting their campaigns approved and are launching effective social media marketing campaigns and claiming their social real estate. My advice is to get your plan together quickly so you don’t miss the boat!

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Social Media for Nonprofits: Raising Awareness vs Raising Money?

By Christopher Tompkins

raised-hands_volunteer_031612_blog-crop-800x335

9Jan

Social Media, Uncategorized

A topic that I am very passionate about is the idea of giving back. Whether it be by service, money or time – I believe that there is a lot of value in helping others.

As helping nonprofits is a passion, one question that I have been asked is how do nonprofits truly harness the power of social media to get results. This is a huge question but one that deserves my attention.

So in today’s newsletter I would like to address the top 10 ways that nonprofits can use social media to get results!

1. Get Strategic!

I am always banging on about the importance of a strategy, but let’s face it: with low budgets and, in many cases, volunteers doing a bulk of the work – a strategy helps create consistency, save time and maximize production. First, you already need to have a marketing plan in place. If you don’t….write one! Marketing plans can be irritating to write, but will save you time and money! I promise! Once you have your plan together, add a Facebook Page, LinkedIn Profile and Twitter account to your list. These are the main and most highly populated channels for you to do your outreach with. Study each of them to make sure that you are using them in the most effective way….don’t just dive in!

2. Messaging!

When you are doing outflow, updates, messages, comments and the rest on social sites, you really need to have a solid idea of what your brand message is. Make sure that your posts SOUND like the brand, and not like a toddler who just arrived at the party. You want to build credibility and visibility….so don’t use posts like this (which I have changed slightly to not shame the original poster): “great daiy 2day. Lots of qualetty donatuns REceive”. The best part – it was a huge national charity! Come on, would you give $100 of your hard earned cash to THAT?

3. Stop It Already With the Pushiness!

One thing that social sites enable us to do is to engage with our audiences. Time and time again I have said that everything you do in social media, no matter in what capacity, should bring value to your network. You want to engage, entertain and educate. This means not asking for money in every single post. Mix it up. Share some news articles that support your position that your cause is important, ask questions that are relevant, give thanks to your large supporters (and small). You can always work in a donations request, but if you keep being so pushy….you will push people right out of your network.

4. Video and Pictures? Really?

Yes, really. As a nonprofit you know about the power of a press opportunity and how public relations can greatly benefit the profile of your organization and in turn your bottom line. Now listen up: every nonprofit should have at least ONE person who is in charge of shooting video and taking pictures at any opportunity. When you share things like this in your social profiles, it not only illustrates the good that you do and your credibility as an organization, but it also helps donors to see what their hard earned dollars are going towards. And I have seen nonprofits miss this opportunity again and again. If something interesting is happening…don’t leave the camera and video camera at home. Plus….you don’t need to be shooting like a professional. Make the picture clear and the video solid and you are in good shape.

5. YouTube Ahoy!

Going on from point 4, video is another component that can truly shake up your online marketing presence. If you didn’t know already, YouTube is the SECOND largest search engine after Google. Yes…really. Setting up a channel is easy, its getting the content that can be tough. That’s why you should always have your camera on you to shoot something interesting. You can even do video blogs, or vlogs, where you can share your weekly, or even daily, news with your target market.

6. Where’s Your Link?

Something that nearly everyone misses, nonprofit or not, is promoting their social hubs outside of the given medium. Meaning, are you only promoting your Facebook Page on Facebook? What about the 10,000 people that are in your email database? Have you invited them? Is it in your email signature? Is there a link or “badge” on your website? Do you tell people about it? Is it on your business cards or brochures? You catch my drift. There is a whole world that wants to connect with you….they just might be elsewhere.

7. Stop Thinking “Build it They Will Come”

Unless you are an absolutely MEGA charity with loads of national and international recognition, you will not explode on social media over night. You have to roll up your sleeves and do outreach. I’ve spoken at many nonprofit marketing conferences and one question I get over and over is “Why isn’t my (insert site here) working?” The reason it isn’t working is that, on a regular basis, you are not supplying good quality content, you are not reaching out to other pages/charities/individuals, you are not sharing pictures/videos, your logo is pixellated….etc. Social marketing takes consistent and daily interaction, not a “look-in” every once in a blue moon.

8. Get Measuring!

Another popular question is “How do I measure the success of my campaign?” The answer once again is, sadly, roll up your sleeves and get to work. There is not one true blue measuring tool, you have to use various ones to track success. On Facebook, they provide “Insights” which you can find on your nonprofit’s Facebook home page. These are similar to Google Analytics and can be learned quickly. For Twitter there is Twitter Grader and Klout that can help you manage your growth and response rates. LinkedIn can be tricky, but when you view your profile it gives you a lot of useful information for tracking. There are also programs like HootSuite (which I love) that will create reports for you across social platforms. They may have a price tag, but time is money….and measurement can be tough!

9. Quantity Does Not Equal Quality

In the wonderful world of social media, there are lots of “gurus” who say that you need hundreds of thousands of connections to succeed in social media. What they are omitting is the fact that quality connections are more valuable. For example, if your nonprofit dealt with the homeless in Salt Lake City, Utah and you had 100,000 Twitter Followers who were based outside the USA….you missed your target a bit. Also, tools such as ManageFlitter will help you see how active your network actually is. Sometimes you may be very surprised! Quality people who are interested in your message are the only way social success can be reached.

10. You Are Playing a Long Game.

The last thing that I like to point out is that social marketing is about relationship building, not direct response advertising. What I mean by that is, unless you are a highly visible nonprofit, you won’t find instant “returns” on your campaign. You need to start new relationships and build them, which takes months of consistent effort. Remember – social media is an integral part of your marketing plan….it is not your ENTIRE marketing plan. While it is effective at branding, visibility, customer service and credibility, it works best alongside a thriving marketing plan. My advice: look at it as another marketing channel, not the golden egg of free marketing. While membership is free, your time and effort are not. It is a definite investment.

To round out this topic, I want to stress to all of you out there that nonprofit social marketing is extremely important, just don’t be misled into thinking that it is the only marketing that you have to do. Events, email blasts, exhibitions, speeches, advertising, public relations, etc are all still relevant and do work. Integrate a social element to your marketing strategy and don’t expect an immediate windfall. Stay consistent and realistic and before you know it, the benefits will begin to roll in!

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Social Media 101: Where Do I Start?

By Christopher Tompkins

9Jan

Social Media, Uncategorized

As someone who specializes in the online marketing arena, I meet and chat with people everyday who are interested in using social media to market their business. Not a big surprise right? But what you might be surprised to learn, is many of these medium-to-large firms have a major problem: they don’t know how to start.

While social media marketing advice can be found on every corner of the internet, most of it doesn’t address this problem or offer ways to enhance or “reinvigorate” an existing campaign.

So in this article I want to push aside the “Go Get ‘Em Tiger”s and technical mumbo jumbo and provide you with a fool proof step-by-step 101 list to get your social media marketing campaign underway in no time flat!

Let’s dive right in:

Step 1: Write Down Your Objectives

The first thing you’ll want to do is really identify what you are trying to achieve through using social media to market your company. Keep in mind that more leads is not your only goal. Think about possible objectives such as; engaging your current customers/clients, offering better customer service, building brand recognition, getting more local exposure….these are the types of objectives that you should be looking at.

Step 2: Know Who Your Target Market Is

A social media marketing campaign that is laser focused has the ability to reap better results than a broad shoot campaign. You don’t want to waste time here wading through unqualified leads….you want the real deal. Make a list of 5-10 target markets that you want to hit and keep it handy throughout your campaign. Having this list will help you keep your “eye on the prize”.

Step 3: Look at What Your Competition is Doing on Social Media

Many of us do a competitive analysis when we put together our marketing plan….so why don’t we do one when we are developing our social media marketing strategy? Usually the easiest way to begin this exercise is to go to their website and follow their social media links from there. If you can’t find the links there, login to sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and search for their company name. When you find them, see what they are doing and if it is successful. Are they getting lots of comments? Do they use lots of graphics and design elements? Are they posting often? Taking a look at these items can even give you good solid ideas of what you need to do…and what you don’t need to.

Step 4: What Are You Going to Say?

This is one of the trickiest things to come by as many organizations don’t have a wealth of available info to share. If your company does – the battle is nearly over! If not, it has just begun. Make sure that you are able to come up with content that is timely, engaging, entertaining, thought provoking and educational…or one of those 5. Also, think out of the box! If I was a healthcare organization, I would go to the website for the medical association that is within my niche and share some of their updates and tips, as they would be relevant and interesting to my audience. Sharing is caring….not stealing! But content is king folks.

Step 5: Choose Your Sites

Once Steps 1 thru 5 are complete, it is time to choose the social media sites you want to start using in your marketing campaign. Every business is different and some will find success quicker on one site than the next. There isn’t a hard/fast rule on this (while many say there is). All of the sites are constantly evolving and making it easier for businesses to get involved everyday. The playing field has changed greatly over the past years (and even months!) and there is a spot for everyone on all of the social media sites out there.

Step 6: Find a Good Support Site

Search and find a site to help you manage your accounts. There are free sites out there such as HootSuite, TweetDeck, SocialOomph and others that allow you to track, search and even schedule profile updates on the fly. When you create your plan, these sites will make it a little easier for you to manage your overall campaign.

Step 7: Create a Daily Plan to Ensure Consistency

Plans save time and money and ensure consistency, which is key in a successful social media marketing campaign. Your daily plan should contain a combination of Steps 1-6 and have daily time constraints attached. Also make sure that you identify who will be the touchpoint for the communications that you get as a result of the campaign. For example if you have a marketing team of 5, decide beforehand who will be in charge of delegation and qualification of the leads, information requests, comments, etc.

Step 8: Create a Form of Measurement

This is tricky, so I would suggest waiting until after your first month of social media marketing. At this point you will be able to see what sorts of results come in: website hits, likes, comments, messages, leads, etc. Once you get a handle on this, you will begin to understand what gives you the best results. Create a quick spreadsheet and track these measures on a weekly basis. As all of the sites have wonderful archives, it makes it a cinch to go back through the week’s activity to find what you need. If you are going to use your website to track effectiveness, make sure that you have an analytics program installed that can monitor where your traffic comes from. If you don’t, Google Analytics is a free and easy option to use (and the results are tracked wonderfully).

And you are on your way! The best part about social media marketing is that it is an organic process that can change from time to time. Don’t forget to audit your campaign monthly to see if any of your measures or activities need changing or updating. Staying consistent, organized and informed will help you not only launch effectively, but promote your brand successfully.

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10 Items That Will Boost Your Marketing Plan

By Christopher Tompkins

9Jan

Marketing, Uncategorized

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that not every business in existence has a marketing plan. But the question is: WHY NOT?

The honest answer is the fact that many of us have an aversion to the word PLAN. It immediately scares and intimidates us. Also, who knows exactly what needs to go in it and how you pull it all together?

Hard questions, but I think once you dive in and identify your goals and pinpoint your target market – you are ready to examine what is actually the toughest part, the marketing mix. Sometimes we can get overwhelmed with so many options, but here are some of my favorites and ones that I suggest to get my clients.

These are a mixture of online and offline marketing tools – ‘mixture’ being key. Notice that there are 10 items on the list, not 1. A marketing plan includes a blend of different tactics….not putting all of your eggs in one basket.

1. Email Blasts: Email blasts are great for getting your information in front of your target audience on a consistent basis. Make sure that they are packed with good information and that you schedule them on a regular basis.

2. Article Marketing: A great way to increase SEO and awareness is to share your blogs and articles on article marketing sites. Make sure that they are keyword heavy and really show off your expertise!

3. Advertising: While not an option for everyone, advertising in the media can reap wonderful benefits. Whether it is a free ad placed in Craigslist or a two page center spread in Fortune magazine, advertising is a wonderful way to get your message seen.

4. Social Media: PR is offline public relations and social media is its online sibling. While a relatively new addition to the marketing mix, this powerful medium not only helps you engage on another level with your target market, but humanizes your brand. It is a great way to engage your audience in real time.

5. Content Marketing: This is a very important, while widely ignored, aspect of the marketing mix. At the end of the day, if you have nothing to say or share – what reason does anyone have to listen to you. Press releases, blogs, articles, blurbs, announcements and the rest need to be a part of your strategy so that you have enough wonderful content to push through your various channels.

6. Public Relations: Another tried and true method of getting your brand name in front of the masses is through a media centric public relations campaign. Using talk radio, television, newspaper and magazines to get your content and brand out there is a wonderful way to grab attention and get more people interested in you and your message.

7. Video Marketing: Video is one of the greatest ways to engage with your audience. After all, YouTube is the second largest search engine (after Google). The biggest problem? The myth that it is expensive and time consuming. As more and more videos hit the web, there are more companies coming along, offering seemingly cost-effective solutions. Also, the technology for video is so advanced that you can even buy a couple pieces of equipment and hit the ground running yourself!

8. Contests and Promotions: These are very important aspects of your marketing mix as they drive traffic and interest like wildfire. Make sure that these “customer grabbers” are part of your strategy and be careful to not overuse them!

9. Podcasts: These are another one that, much like video, people tend to shy away from. But with sites such as iTunes and BlogTalkRadio out there….it is simpler than ever before. By following the instructions you can have yourself out on the airwaves in no time and into the iPods and speakers of your target audience.

10. Events: There are two sides to this one. You can attend an event or hold an event. Make sure to take part in events that are cost effective, not cost prohibitive. If you are going to spend $15,000 for a three day exhibition, have the average customer bring you $150 and think you can score 5 new clients – skip it! Brands like Sony and Simon & Schuster can handle it, but if you are a smaller business, make sure to do your homework and count the cost before!

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are many more things that you can throw into your own marketing mix. In order to make the perfect marketing plan, look at the 10 items listed above (in addition to your own suggestions), put them against your strategy and objectives and then match them up with your budget.

As a lifelong marketer, I know how small these budgets can be. Anytime I hear “marketing budget” I’m always reminded of something a fellow marketer said to me once. “My boss wants me to create a Taj Mahal campaign for 50 cents.” Pretty much sums it up right?

So start off with the least costly items and then add in the rest. These are not written in stone so if something stops working, drop it and plug something into its place. Just make sure to never replace a successful activity with an unproven one. If your $25,000 quarterly advertising spend is garnering $100,000 in business…..keep it going! I’ve known many companies to jump at the latest marketing activity to the detriment of their successful marketing activity.

To end here, planning is not something that should bog you down and is also not something that can only happen at the beginning of the year. As the landscape for us marketers is constantly changing, be adaptable and be informed. An educated flexible marketer is a successful one!

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