Posts Tagged ‘Google+’

 

Four Steps to Crafting a Connection Strategy on Social Media

Monday, January 28th, 2013

The amount of information and the speed at which content is currently produced may seem overwhelming. If you have a message, product or service to deliver to the masses you may wish to use social media to connect with customers, friends or potential buyers.

But you first have to be heard.

How among all the social platforms will your voice be heard above the throng of tweets, posts and status updates?

connect

Katherine Pangaro via Compfight

Step 1: Craft a Plan

The first step to standing out from the crowd on social media is to plan. We know of a jewelry company who thought it was a ‘good idea to get on Facebook.’ After opening a Facebook page and uploading a few pictures of jewelry  they were disheartened to see very few people connecting with their business. They didn’t have a plan.

We’ll get into a few specifics below, but the old saying “if you fail to plan you plan to fail” certainly rings true.

Step 2: Set Your Goals

While crafting your plan, be specific. Use the acronym S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-based) as a guide. Ensure each of your tasks includes each and every S.M.A.R.T. item.

Step 3: Solicit for Feedback

Once a plan is crafted, consider that draft one. Perhaps you want to connect with customers on a social network like Facebook. Once you’ve crafted a plan using S.M.A.R.T. goals to do that, ask someone (and we’d be happy to help) what they think of your plan. It could be that Facebook may be the wrong platform and Pinterest or Google+ may better serve your demographic. Get a second opinion.

Step 4: Remain Consistent and Flexible

Consisten and flexible may seem dichotomous, but they’re not. A good parent is both consistent as well as flexible. The sam remains true for social media. As social media continues to expand, consistently learning new trends and methods of connection enables us not to get in a rut, rigidly refusing to adjust to changes in technological advances.

 

 

12 Social Media Resolutions for 2013

Monday, December 31st, 2012

Even if you’re not making any personal New Year’s resolutions, you may want to make a few social media resolutions for the year to come. Here’s a list of some of the most important.

1. Stop using SMS.

Apple’s iMessage as well as applications like WhatsApp will bring the decline of the traditional text message.

2. Join Tout, the Twitter service for video.

Tout may do for video what Twitter did for 140 characters. Check it out.  

3. Tame down the colors.

Remember when webpages were black, dark and heavy feeling? Yes, those days are behind us. In 2013 we’ll see even more focus on photos, clean design and lighter colors.

4. Use the word ‘guru’ less when referring to social media experts.

The term “guru” was vastly overused in 2012. It’s time to move on. Sensei anyone? Maybe.

 5.  Get a decent profile picture on Twitter.

Unless you want yourself or your brand to be associated with a faceless egg shape, get a profile picture. A decent one at that. More Twitter tips for the non-savvy tweeter here. 

6. Connect offline too.

Yes, social media is a great vehicle to connection, but vehicles aren’t the destination–a coffee shop might be

7. Support a start-up.

A quick visit to Kickstarter’s discover page will give you a glimpse into the technology of the future–right now.

8. Use more pictures, less verbiage.

Yes, content is still king, but visual content is even more powerful.

9. Join the cloud.

From Amazon to Google Drive, the cloud is here to stay.

10. Ensure all websites and blogs you operate are responsive sites (learn what a ‘responsive’ site is by here).

People are consuming content via mobile platforms at an astronomically growing rate–make it responsive.

11. Get on Google+ and Pinterest.

They’re not only not going away, they’re growing. It’s time to jump in if you haven’t already. 

12. Social media for business moves from ‘what is it’ to ‘how do we use it?’

Margie Clayman @MargieClayman– Vice President of Client Services, Clayman Marketing Communications, Inc.  “I predict that in 2013 small businesses will start seeing social media more as a tool and less as an entity unto itself.  Instead of asking what social media is, they will ask how they should be using it and why.  In the end, this will increase the effectiveness of their social media marketing efforts.”