Online Marketing for Local Business
Posts tagged Facebook Events
Top Myths About Social Media Marketing
14 years
by admin
in Uncategorized
Myth #2: I Can’t Measure the Impact / ROI of Social Media on My Business
The social media return on investment debate has been picked apart by so many intelligent and creative marketers, you would think it wouldn’t make this list. But it continues to rank high on the list of objections about social media and I completely understand why.
Since the interaction mechanisms are different with social media than traditional marketing, judging purchase intent and likely customers from social media behavior is a completely new skill for many marketing professionals.
But there are methods to measure the impact of your social media campaigns:
Include Your Phone Number – If your business has more of a consultative sales process, starting conversations on your social networks or blog is a great way to generate more leads. And then be sure to include your phone number in every update or post that you make. You can use a separate Google Voice number that allows you to track the number of inbound calls you receive from your social media activities.
Promote offline events – Facebook has a robust functions for creating events and promoting them. You can post pictures and event location information, while also inviting your entire fan base to participate. You can also send reminders as the event draws nearer.
Offer Coupons Exclusive to Social Media Channels – Make specific offers through each social media channel you use, like 15% off a purchase if you print a coupon from Facebook, or a buy one, get one free if you use a code that was sent out via Twitter. Keep a spreadsheet of the different offers and what the response rates have been, to allow you to optimize your marketing campaigns for each channel.
Connect Your Social Media and Email Campaigns – Many businesses have established email lists they use to stay in touch with customers. Drive visitors on your social media accounts to sign up for your email list to receive more information about your business. Getting social media visitors on your email list can connect you with people you might not otherwise reach with social media. Bolstering your email list gives you an additional way to inform people about offline events and specials, in case they don’t see a specific offer you make on a social media channel.
The important thing to note is that you CAN tie online behavior to purchase decisions or offline actions, so you can track the impact social media is having on your bottom line. Also, pay close attention also to the referrals from social media sites on your web pages and these people’s behavior compared to users who get to your site through other means.
Facebook Marketing Strategies and You
15 years
by admin
in Uncategorized
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past 4 years, and my dear readers certainly have not, you already know how popular and widely used Facebook is today.
Just a couple of years back, and you had to relentlessly encourage family and friends to join this social network (probably not long after others had convinced YOU to join). Nowadays, it’s rare to find someone who isn’t on Facebook.
At last count, Facebook had over 350 million users, and this number is continuing to grow as those final stragglers jump in. Facebook overtook MySpace as the number 1 social networking website on the planet early in 2009, and is now just behind Google in terms of online traffic. So it’s not hard to understand just how important Facebook marketing has become for websites and brands everywhere.
It’s A “No Pitch” Zone
One of the most critical things to remember about social media is that they are NOT places to blatantly or endlessly pitch your brand, product or service. Do this, and you won’t be gaining any favor from most social media users, will get largely ignored, and may even receive bad reviews.
Social media is actually better used for building relationships with potential customers or clients in the market. How can you do this? Start by:
• Post helpful information and links that helps them solve a problem.
• Personally chat with them to assist with problems or answer concerns.
• Create lots of content addressing the needs of users.
The bottom line –you want to be seen as genuine and helpful. This way, word will spread that you’re the “real deal”…and before you know it, people will soon become interested in what you have to provide in terms of products and services.
So the real nitty gritty of what you have to offer shouldn’t be shared on social networking sites such as Facebook. Instead, share helpful information in the form of teasers that will interest people enough to ask questions and wonder if there’s more. Offering free stuff is always a good tactic for garnering attention, too!
Marketing On Facebook
The great thing about Facebook is that from the outset, it has encouraged all users to use the website as a means of sharing information and marketing whatever they please. As a result, it has developed many ways for users to do this. You are not obliged to use every single one of them, but a combination of them can only improve your Facebook marketing.
Fan Pages
This is probably THE marketing tool out there on Facebook. On its website Facebook describes Pages as “a public Profile that enables you to share your business and products with Facebook users.” It is specifically designed for promoting a business and everything it has to provide. People can then become a Fan of your page and when they do this, they let their friends know that they’ve become a Fan of your page via their News Feed. The potential for your Page to gain a lot of popularity in a small period of time is great.
Events
Create events to be held at a certain date and time. Depending on your business type, they can be local, physical events, or virtual ones, for an international audience. The best part about creating an event on Facebook is that it can go viral, and before you know it, people will be attending your event in droves. It can be any one of the following:
• Seminar: It should be introductory and free but you could promote a paid one too.
• Webinar: A seminar conducted online which anyone in the world can join.
• Product/Service Launch: If you’re about to launch a new product or service, this is a good way to gain attention.
Advertising
Facebook finally introduced an advertising service about a year ago where people can put ads promoting their website or their Facebook Page and they Pay Per Click (PPC) or Impression (CPM). (It works in about the same way as Google Adwords.)
Not only can you target your ads to certain geographical locations, but given the nature of Facebook you can additionally attach your ads to various social actions. So, if you are a wedding photographer and wanted to promote your services, your ads could be set up to appear only to females between the ages of 24 and 30 and whose relationship statuses indicate they are “engaged.”
Embrace Facebook
If you want to market your website online, you’re doing yourself a grave injustice if you aren’t using Facebook marketing as one of your key strategies. Just be careful not to get caught up in it too much, or hire someone to assist you in your Facebook tactics, because it can become a very time consuming activity!