How the World Uses Social Networks [INFOGRAPHIC]
Mashable Social created a terrific Infographic that features data about usage of social media, like Facebook and Twitter, from 10 countries around the world.
Infographic design by Nick Sigler
7 Reasons Twitter Should be a Big Part of Your Online Marketing Effort
Even as Twitter closes in on 200 million members, and tweets are becoming an increasingly-popular way to spread breaking news and opinions, there are still quite a few businesses out there who haven’t seen the light. If your company isn’t taking advantage of one of the most important Internet marketing tools to come around in a long time, then why not?
Here are seven reasons Twitter should be a centerpiece of your company’s social networking plan:
It’s quick. How long can it really take to set up a profile and write 140 characters or less every day? The answer is not long enough for you to put it off another month.
It’s easier to market from Twitter than it is Facebook. Twitter’s messaging format lends itself well to marketing, especially compared to a site like Facebook. There’s a reason so many celebrities like to tweak their ads and recommendations… it’s a good forum for quick offer.
Tweets can easily go viral. The developers at Twitter have made it a snap to re-tweet something, pass on a post, or even add tweets to a website. Write something interesting or compelling enough, and you can be sure it will go far.
Using Twitter is good for the rest of your online marketing plan, too. You can use tweets to drive traffic to your website, point customers at your other social profiles, and even help your search engine rankings. In that way, it can be a real boost to the rest of your online marketing.
It’s more convenient than email. Once you’ve built up a following of clients, colleagues, and prospects, sending a tweet is much easier than putting together a mass e-mail — and is less likely to bother the other people on your list.
You can get instant feedback. Unlike a lot of other forms of marketing, tweets can start an instant conversation. Sometimes, that feedback can help you refine your message in our hurry.
It’s lots of fun. Even if these other points weren’t true, using Twitter would still be fun — for you, and your customers. Shouldn’t that be reason enough to try it for a few minutes?
Marcy Design, a Columbus Ohio Website Design company can help with all of your website and social media development.
Columbus Ohio Web Design – Marcy Design Launches New TV Commercial
Marcy Design, located in Columbus, Ohio, launched a new TV commercial to promote it’s web design, search engine optimization and social media services. See video of the commercial below.
Three Easy Ways To Find More Fans For Your Facebook Page
An empty Facebook fan page is a little bit like a restaurant with no diners — you can see it’s there, but the prospect of hanging out isn’t all that appealing. After all, if it was so great, why aren’t others interested?
For that reason, it’s important that your businesses fan page have many followers. It shows that people are actually interested in your business. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Sign up some existing customers first. If you’ve ever watched a coffee shop opening up in the morning, you’ll notice that some of the more savvy baristas do is put a dollar or two into the tip jar before the first customer has even come in, since that encourages others to do the same.
Your approach should be similar. Get your existing customers and friends to sign up first — you’ll have an easier time attracting others once you already have a few dozen.
Keep your updates and messages brief. Online or off-line, none of us have time for someone who talks too much. Make sure that what you add to your profile is crisp and to the point. It’s much easier to lose followers because you post too many messages than it is because you don’t post enough.
Make things interesting. Contests, jokes, and personal anecdotes are all a great way to keep followers interested. Being “all business all the time” isn’t exactly what Facebook is about, so make sure to mix it up and show off your lighter side once in a while.
And call Marcy Design at 614-224-6226 to improve your social media strategy!
Catching the Headlines
For a college kid any additional reading outside of the workload seems like a daunting task. When the choice between reading the newspaper, and taking a nap comes up, most tend to choose the latter. So when big news hits the stands most people flee to the Internet instead, particularly social media sites. You can almost guarantee that someone in your virtual social circle will be vocal about the news. This is very helpful especially for those who are not avid newsreaders.
It is interesting because even though I know people will post things going on in the news on their Facebook’s as soon as they hear, a lot of it still comes as a shock. I probably would not have heard about Michel Jackson’s passing until days after if my friends on Facebook did not post R.I.P. statuses every five minutes the entire day the news broke. You just don’t expect to see death updates after your friend posted what they had for breakfast.
Only after seeing such posts did I make the effort to go read about the news myself and even then I went to news websites instead of the newsstands, knowing that would give me a quicker update.
Through Facebook statuses I am able to get the headlines, and if interested can look them up myself. I can also see how others are reacting to the news thanks to the comment button just under the status. Reactions are probably the most entertaining when reading about the news. Some have good opinions, and others just want to cause trouble, which is amusing and annoying at the same time.
Facebook has turned into more than just a social scene. Mixing some educational and informative information within a popular scene helps social butterflies stay up-to-date with daily news while keeping up with friend activities.
Article by Kelly Krivicich
2Cellos Rocks the Web
How fast does the Internet work? Just ask the two Croatian musicians Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser. Both classically trained, the cellists decided only a few months ago that they wanted to put together covers of rock songs using only their two cellos. They uploaded a video they made for their rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” onto YouTube and within weeks it had over three million views and a call from Sir Elton John himself. “We always wanted to do something crazy, and new,” said Sulic in an interview with C Music TV, “make cello popular among the younger generation.” The boys just released their first, self-titled, album and are currently on a world tour with Elton’s band, making a number of TV appearances along the way.
Article by Kelly Krivicich
Using Humor in Marketing Methods
One of the most affective, attention catching elements used in social media marketing is, humor. We are being bombarded by thousands of advertisements a day through social media. To be one of the ads that people go back and look up, they have to stand out. Humor can make your company relatable. Connecting with people on a relevant level will set your company apart from the other thousands of ads. It also makes your company memorable, standing out in the consumer’s mind as an interesting business to check out beyond the commercials. Think of some TV commercials. Does the early flash mob guy from the AT&T ads dance through your memory? How about the boys being attacked by buffaloes and their State Farm agent transports them to the home office? These company names are forever engrained into my head because I thought their commercials were so funny.
Humor can transform a seemingly dull subject into something that is captivating and applicable to an everyday person. Social media marketing manager at Zoomerang, Jason Miller, wrote an article describing five quick tips on how to make your social media activity funny, and helpful.
The main theme in this article is that humor should not be underestimated. Miller explains how humor can “humanize your brand or company.” This is a good point to make because a lot of businesses present themselves too formally and can make people feel it is an un-relatable company. He also describes how humor can help or hinder your business, depending on how you use it.
Although in some cases humor just does not work. An example of this was on the website for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This legitimate disease awareness site had an article on preparing for the (possibly upcoming) zombie apocalypse. Although I find it interesting the site’s creators found it necessary to post this article on their website, I also find it weird they would do so on a website designed to give out information on such serious situations. Medical situations I feel should stay more on the serious side.
Humor may not be your company’s way of marketing but standing out from the crowd is key and I think adding a little wit will go a long way.
Article by Kelly Krivicich
Social Media is a Constantly Moving Target
When Apple unveiled Ping – its proprietary music social media site – within iTunes, it was more than a sign that big companies are becoming increasingly interested in using social networking as a marketing tool. It was also a reminder that, throughout the industry, things are always changing, and quickly.
Consider this: just a few years ago, MySpace had what seemed like an unassailable lead in terms of users, cutting-edge content, and “buzz factor.” Now, Facebook is the king of the hill, with Twitter gaining members and popularity every week. And even though advertisers have always seen social media as a potentially unique way to get in touch with customers, they’re only now starting to realize how it can work in tandem with video marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click, and other existing tools.
In short, the only thing you can really bet on with social media is that the future is going to be different. As a small business owner, someone who wants to use sites like Facebook and Twitter to bring in business, but can’t spend a lot of time and money on the effort, how are you supposed to keep up?
Here are a handful of tips for staying on top of the constantly-moving target that is social media marketing:
Look for big trends. Some things are going to fall under your radar, and that’s alright. It’s not important that you know the finer points of Facebook’s relatively new advertising program, for example. What does matter is that you know it’s out there, and that your options for using social media as a way to find new business are increasing. As long as you can see the big picture, you’ll be able to devise a winning strategy.
Use social media sites and profiles like ingredients. LinkedIn is great for different reasons than Twitter, which in turn is a lot different than the new Ping. For that reason, you don’t ever want to rely on a single site or profile to market you effectively; to get anywhere, you have to use them in combination without having any one ingredient overpower the recipe.
Strive for consistency. The only way to get better at marketing through social media is practice, and that’s a good thing – the more you post, make connections, and update your profiles, the more visible you’re going to become to other users and search engines. Try to work on your social media plan a couple of times a week. That amount of effort won’t overwhelm you, but it will keep you in the game and on top of the biggest trends.
Find an online marketing partner. The easiest way to shorten the learning curve is by teaming up with someone who has the time, experience, and expertise to figure out the ins and outs of social media marketing. Most often, that’s going to be your web designer or online marketing team. Take advantage of the help that’s available – the right partner can translate your business goals into a social networking plan for a fraction of the time and expense it would have taken you, and with better results.
Confused by social media and looking for a way to add it to your online marketing mix without breaking the bank? Contact Marcy Design today – we know our way around Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and how to make them a profitable part of what you do.
A Great Way to Leverage Social Media From Your Storefront Window
For retailers and small business owners, the main goal of social media marketing is often to find new customers and move them from the web and into a store. But why couldn’t things go the other way around?
Your storefront is a valuable piece of real estate; it might catch the eye, at least for a moment or two, of thousands of people every single day. Savvy marketers can use that space to advertise coupons, specials, contests, and more – via their profiles and fan pages on sites like Facebook and Twitter. QR Codes can be displayed on your door or storefront window to attract new customers as well.
Why send them online, when you could just try to bring them into the front door? There are a lot of reasons, but one is that they may be too busy to shop at the moment, even though they could be more inclined to look it up later. Another reason is that a fan page, full of feedback and complements from dozens of adoring customers could create a much better impression than any retail store ever could.
The whole point of social media marketing is to draw deeper connections with buyers. It’s ironic, but that can sometimes be easier to do online than it is face-to-face. Take advantage of that and try using your storefront as a way to draw people to your social media sites once in a while –sending them online could be a great way to increase your sales off-line. For QR Codes, social media and website design give Marcy Design a call!
Why Sites Like Facebook and Twitter Make It More Important Than Ever to Monitor What Your Customers Are Saying About You
“Reputation management” has become a buzzword on the Internet in recent years, and for good reason: people trust what others have to say about you, your company, and your new products whole lot more than they trust your marketing materials.
This has always been true, of course, but with the rise of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, it has taken on a whole new importance. That’s because it no longer takes a phone call or an in-person visit for a prospective buyer to get the scoop on your company. All they have to do is check out your fan page, look for tweets that mention you, or look for customer referrals on LinkedIn to get the same information. It’s instantaneous, and they can find out what they want to know before you even have a chance to make your case.
So what does this mean to you, as a business owner or marketing manager? It means that you should be proactive in looking for information – and especially customer impressions – on social media sites. Hopefully, you’ll be doing such a great job serving your customers that there won’t be anything negative to find. But if there is, however, it’s better to know at the time and try to resolve the situation than it is to start losing business without knowing why.
Social networking sites can be a big boost to your business, and your company’s reputation, but if you want any of that to happen, you need to keep close track of what buyers are telling others about you.
